Exercise and Fitness: sticking to resolutions

[Iskaral Pust]

It turns out that taking a week off worked out pretty well.  Last Sunday I did push ups and other body weight floor exercises, but otherwise I was off for eight days.  That strain at the bottom of my lat is almost fully recovered and I've got more ripped rather than the expected flab and bloat from sloth. 

Back to the gym today for bench press, pull downs, etc, which went better than expected.  I was back to PB levels and it felt easier than before.  I was tempted to add an extra rep on the heaviest bench press sets, but not without a spotter. 

[baxus]

I've finally added running to my schedule in order to prep for upcoming half marathon.

This morning I've done a bit over 15km at a 5'/km pace, so I'm quite confident I'll get myself to the point where I'll be able to finish in 1h50'.

Since I haven't run more than 1-2km at a time since I started doing crossfit last June, I was wondering if I'll have problems breathing or something like that, but I haven't. The only problem I've had so far is that my legs felt heavy which I expected anyway.

[Iskaral Pust]

We had to cancel our spring break trip because my wife has bronchitis.  So I'm taking care of her and trying to stay out of the office all week, doing some work from home and still getting some time with my son.  

Upside is I can use our gym all week.  Today was squats, leg curls, dead lifts and calf press.  Good session, despite more nights of stress-ruined sleep. 

[Iskaral Pust]

This afternoon I was back in the gym for an upper body workout.  I started though with some cycling to loosen stiff quads after squats -- no noticeable benefit. 

Upper body weights went well: shoulder press, pull ups, etc.  I felt very strong and added reps on all sets to return to PB levels. 

Rest day tomorrow. 

[3CityApache]

Very nice training yesterday. The trainer said we're starting to increase the intensity of trainings and I can feel it in my calves and thighs today. We've made three series of 2.5k divided into three fast 400 meters laps, then 1k in HM pb pace and then very fast 300 meters. It was surprisingly demanding, but I felt great afterwards. Really appreciate trainings in Adidas Runners Warsaw.

[aceluby]

Did a 2 1/2 hour arm balance and handstand workshop on Wednesday and am still feeling it in my shoulders and core.  Yesterday's morning workout destroyed my legs.  So today I'm feeling like a puddle....

Noon yoga it is!

[Theda Baratheon]

I've lost just under 8 pounds this year but my legs especially have toned up quite a lot and I'm only 6 pounds away from my healthy weight range ...Nice.  once I get there I'll maintain it for a short while then try and lose another stone (ideally) but I'm feeling really good about myself - definitely think slow and steady is winning the race for me. 

[Iskaral Pust]

Saturday was an upper body session of bench press, pull downs, etc.  It went really well and I was at PB levels, despite some stiffness from another upper body session 48 hours earlier.

Sunday was supposed to be a legs day but we spent the day at the ER after my son triggered his peanut allergy.  He's fine now.  I'll look for a make-up session during the week.

[3CityApache]

I managed to sign up to the functional training session last night for the very first time at ARW and boy, it was intensive. I've got blisters on my hands from the medicine ball we were throwing for more than 45 minutes. And a quick tabata with burpees (8x20 seconds with 10 seconds breaks) in the end, before stretching. Just 70 minutes of work, but I was pretty tired. Today it is hills, and tomorrow I'm flying to Estonia for three days and probably won't have time for training, maybe some smimming in the hotel pool. 

I'm running my first 10k race since March half marathon on April 23th, it's a race accompanying Orlen Warsaw Marathon, the biggest in Poland. I'm aiming for a sub 50 minutes result, I wonder if I'm able to repeat the result from November last year.

[baxus]

I signed up and paid for the upcoming half-marathon in my hometown on April 22nd so there's no backing down now.  

I was on a vacation for 4-5 days last week so I missed my workouts and indulged myself foodwise a bit more than I probably should have, but it's ok.

In crossfit, we've started doing rope climbs which is hard on my hands for the time being. Hopefully, I'll adapt to it sooner rather than later.  

[Greywolf2375]

On ‎04‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 11:46 AM, baxus said:

I signed up and paid for the upcoming half-marathon in my hometown on April 22nd so there's no backing down now.  

I was on a vacation for 4-5 days last week so I missed my workouts and indulged myself foodwise a bit more than I probably should have, but it's ok.

In crossfit, we've started doing rope climbs which is hard on my hands for the time being. Hopefully, I'll adapt to it sooner rather than later.  

For the rope climbs, as quickly as possible get the legs involved.  I still hold on to the rope in a death grip - kills my forearms.

Had Fran yesterday (21/15/9 of thrusters & pull ups), took almost 1:20 off of my time.  Went from 5:12 to 3:54.  Definitely need to learn how to do butterfly pullups still.

[baxus]

1 hour ago, Greywolf2375 said:

For the rope climbs, as quickly as possible get the legs involved.  I still hold on to the rope in a death grip - kills my forearms.

Had Fran yesterday (21/15/9 of thrusters & pull ups), took almost 1:20 off of my time.  Went from 5:12 to 3:54.  Definitely need to learn how to do butterfly pullups still.

Thanks for the advice, I'm trying to keep most of my weight on the legs whenever possible and I'm even doing a decent job of it (for a beginner, of course) but my palms still get a bit irritated.

I guess it will stop happening as I start doing rope climbs more often and my palms get a bit harder.

Rope climbs had another unfortunate consequence - I seem to have pulled something in my right tricep. It's nothing major, I'm able to train, but when I do something like pushups it hurts a bit more than usual. Anyway, weekend is my rest time from crossfit so I hope it will get better.

The plan for the weekend is one run, maybe two if I feel up to it and the weather changes for the better. Otherwise, I'll spend most of my weekend in front of a computer.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

Runners, help me. I've recently gone back to work after nearly fourteen months and suddenly my back stiffens up when I attempt to run. If I push myself it's not so bad but I find it too painful to push at times. 

Is there a kind of stretching I can do to make this easier? My calves down to my Achilles get sore too. 

I appreciate any guidance you can offer.  

[baxus]

Running is a great workout but it doesn't do much for your core which are under more stress now if you're doing a desk job.

I'd suggest adding core exercises to your routine.

Obviously, this is based on some assumptions regarding your workout routine.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

2 hours ago, baxus said:

Running is a great workout but it doesn't do much for your core which are under more stress now if you're doing a desk job.

I'd suggest adding core exercises to your routine.

Obviously, this is based on some assumptions regarding your workout routine.

I don't really have one honestly. My job is equal parts sitting and standing, all told on days I don't run I could take almost 15k steps, I guess that translates into 12ish km daily. But that's about all that passes for exercise these days. I tried to  spend every free minute stretching yesterday and it seemed to help a little bit. 

[BigFatCoward]

Setting up a home gym?, I'm moving house shortly and my new job means i will be able to get to the gym a lot less.  The property has a very big garage, not quite double but not far off and i don't have a car.  i'm thinking about the minimum expenditure i can get away with and still have a decent facility.  

Cardio is taken care of as there are really nice parks to run nearby and good cycle routes to get some serious miles in.  i was thinking i could do pretty much everything i need with a pair of 32.5kg adjustable dumbbell sets, a pull up bar, some resistance bands and a bench with an incline facility.  Anybody think of any other basics that i should look at?

[baxus]

First off, congrats to you for being able to work out alone. That's one skill I never could master.

I'd recommend an olympic bar with some weight plates. That would allow you to do deadlifts, squats, cleans, jerks, thrusters, snatches, presses etc. And the plates alone could be used for a fair number of exercises. That setup would give you a lot of options but I'm not sure how much it would cost or if it would fit your budget.

[Iskaral Pust]

1 hour ago, baxus said:

First off, congrats to you for being able to work out alone. That's one skill I never could master.

I'd recommend an olympic bar with some weight plates. That would allow you to do deadlifts, squats, cleans, jerks, thrusters, snatches, presses etc. And the plates alone could be used for a fair number of exercises. That setup would give you a lot of options but I'm not sure how much it would cost or if it would fit your budget.

I agree.  When I had a home gym I had a bench, barbell and weights, plus an adjustable set of dumbbells.  If budget is a big concern, you can buy (un)used weight sets on Craigslist or similar at pretty low prices. 

Later on, I also added a cable stack for more back exercises like lat pull downs, cable rows, etc.  But the cost & nuisance is greater relative to the marginal benefit.

[OnionAhaiReborn]

On 4/12/2017 at 8:28 PM, Arch-MaesterPhilip said:

Runners, help me. I've recently gone back to work after nearly fourteen months and suddenly my back stiffens up when I attempt to run. If I push myself it's not so bad but I find it too painful to push at times. 

Is there a kind of stretching I can do to make this easier? My calves down to my Achilles get sore too. 

I appreciate any guidance you can offer.  

Might want to give planking a try, I have a sometimes cranky back and I feel like it's really helped me. I've never had much luck with stretching. Definitely do not recommend pushing through pain, that's very risky. 

[Starkess]

That's awesome! Congrats on the race.