Exercise & Fitness: it’s a marathon, not a sprint

[Starkess]

7 hours ago, 3CityApache said:

Almost same here. My pause from running is much longer though, I stopped in September 2021. Last weekend, after solid two months of almost an hour a day of indoor cycling, I tried the light 5k run and the freaking knee hurts again. And I won't be letting to cut it open again. Worst case scenario - I'll stick to cycling and smimming for good. But I will try to get back to running again, as I need to get back to playing tennis too, because I love it, which I can't say about running.

It's so frustrating! Here's to recovery for us both 

[Poppytint]

exercise, lots of activity (e.g. housework), I also like to walk a lot
sports breakfasts have been with me for many years. I take recipes from here https://shopwellabs.com/blogs/news/oatmeal-for-abs
I’ll tell you a secret, I still haven’t seen the press, but I don’t lose hope))

[Theda Baratheon]

Im trying not to jinx it too much so not speaking about it massively but am on the same journey I was this time 3 years ago where I became the healthiest I was (briefly) until I completely burnt out on 9 months of 6 day weeks with no holiday and then the pandemic happened…

but have lost a stone so far (with quite a bit to go), gained back a lot of fitness I lost when I got covid last July. And slowly and surely trying to work towards something better, more sustainable and healthier. 
 

fingers crossed it works this time…

Edited April 7, 2022 by Theda Baratheon

[BigFatCoward]

Fuck brexit and fuck covid. Its now 4 weeks since my bike went in for a service and they are still trying to source parts.  I've put on half a stone. 

[AverageGuy]

On 4/7/2022 at 9:52 PM, Crazy Old Guy said:

I'm starting a gym work-out next week.

Anything I should expect?

An hour. Lots of weights. Apparently guy's pretty good and it's near where I live, but I haven't done this in a while.

DOMS? Expect a good amount of muscle soreness for a couple days after your first workout. If you're getting a coach hopefully they won't push you too hard, but in the first week or two recovery is always a bit of a pain. Literally. It really does go away after that though.

Beyond that, if it's a one-on-one session you'll probably go through a few different exercises to get an idea about where you are. If you're going at least four times a week, they may split up the exercises somehow, but if 1-3x a week I'd probably expect full body. At the beginning the exact exercise matters less than figuring out your current strength and conditioning. If you're doing weights, there are six basic movement patterns, so maybe one exercise from each:

1. Vertical push (overhead press, military press, shoulder press, handstand pushups)
2. Vertical pull (pull-ups, lat pulldowns)
3. Horizontal push (push-ups, bench press, chest press)
4. Horizontal pull (Rows)
5. Knee flexion (squats, leg press)
6. Hip hinge (glute bridges, deadlift, barbell hip thrust, kettle bell swings)

There may or may not be auxiliary stuff or isolation stuff depending on what you say your goals are. 

Edited April 10, 2022 by AverageGuy

[Iskaral Pust]

1 hour ago, AverageGuy said:

DOMS? Expect a good amount of muscle soreness for a couple days after your first workout. If you're getting a coach hopefully they won't push you too hard, but in the first week or two recovery is always a bit of a pain. Literally. It really does go away after that though.

Beyond that, if it's a one-on-one session you'll probably go through a few different exercises to get an idea about where you are. If you're going at least four times a week, they may split up the exercises somehow, but if 1-3x a week I'd probably expect full body. At the beginning the exact exercise matters less than figuring out your current strength and conditioning. If you're doing weights, there are six basic movement patterns, so maybe one exercise from each:

1. Vertical push (overhead press, military press, shoulder press, handstand pushups)
2. Vertical pull (pull-ups, lat pulldowns)
3. Horizontal push (push-ups, bench press, chest press)
4. Horizontal pull (Rows)
5. Knee flexion (squats, leg press)
6. Hip hinge (glute bridges, deadlift, barbell hip thrust, kettle bell swings)

There may or may not be auxiliary stuff or isolation stuff depending on what you say your goals are. 

Those six are my entire workout program.  I do 1 & 2, 3 & 4 and 5 & 6 in three separate sessions on different days.  Ideally I would do three sessions per week, or even four if I can do legs twice.  But time and energy have been scarce lately.

[ithanos]

I've found that eating a high protein meal within an hour or two after intense training really helps me recover for the next day's activity. I haven't experienced any DOMS since prioritizing protein in that post training meal - and just as important is to sleep well that same night to implement that recovery.

[aceluby]

I started a 4 week MMA bodyweight program last week and it's kinda kicking my ass.  I've done it before, so none of the moves are surprising, but I can tell that my hips are tighter, my hamstrings strain more, and my knees have definitely gotten worse over the last couple of years.  I'm also remodeling my bathroom, so that might be part of it as well, but this makes me much more worried about the upcoming softball season than I have in the past.  Getting old sucks.

[Iskaral Pust]

I went on a sunshine vacation for spring break in mid March.  While I was there I swam and/or lifted weights every day.  It felt great.

Since I’ve returned home, I’ve struggled to exercise more than once or twice each week.  Part of it is always being so busy at work, but my motivation is just lower at home these past few months.  I show a lot of signs of burnout.

I’m returning to the office two days per week.  Hopefully getting out of this isolation will give me a fillip of energy. I need to get out of this rut.

[AverageGuy]

On 4/11/2022 at 6:18 PM, Iskaral Pust said:

I went on a sunshine vacation for spring break in mid March.  While I was there I swam and/or lifted weights every day.  It felt great.

Since I’ve returned home, I’ve struggled to exercise more than once or twice each week.  Part of it is always being so busy at work, but my motivation is just lower at home these past few months.  I show a lot of signs of burnout.

I’m returning to the office two days per week.  Hopefully getting out of this isolation will give me a fillip of energy. I need to get out of this rut.

That happens a lot, but as long as you do a little bit it makes it easier when you get out of the rut. Change in routine is usually helpful  And if not, maybe a change in workout routine? Motivation's a bitch, something to get excited about can help.

[ithanos]

Throwing this out for anyone who has struggled to set and progress towards a goal. Setting up goals is super easy. Which also makes them super easy to forget, defer and eventually ignore.

I've had success with setting up personalised countdowns on timeanddate.com and then saving that url as my browser's home page.

I failed on the first goal I set because it was too far out - 180days/ 6months. I kept deferring the actions needed to create the behaviour that would set me towards the goal and eventually the date come and passed and I had barely moved in that direction.

But when I set shorter goals (1mth, 2mths) I found that I was able to direct my energies to achieving them much easier.

The timeanddate site is simple to setup and personalise. I considered using a similar prompt on my phone's homescreen but since I view the phone often during the day it would be over exposed and I worried I'd become blasé about it. However, on the computer I would only see it maybe once a day when I start the computer and open the browser.

This was a goal date I had set at the beginning of this year, for the end of March, as a reminder of striving for better health outcomes. It's almost two weeks past now but I reached that goal successfully. I titled it after the L.P Hartley line.

https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20220331T08&p0=240&msg=The+Foreign+Country&ud=1&font=hand

This is my next goal date for the end of May. I want to get my bodyweight to under 100kg - 99 kilos and pray be never over this weight for the rest of my life. cue Jay-Z.

https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/winter?iso=20220531T00&p0=240&msg=I+got+99+problems%2C+but+a+bitch+ain't+one.+&font=cursive&csz=1

All the best in your endeavours everyone!
 

[Arakasi]

I’ve in the past been mostly fat (well not crazy so but 220-230ish at 6’2” with my worst in the 240s. Got lower at times but bounced back. Even when doing CrossFit which I did for a few years. But the last year or so I’ve focused on a program more on hypertrophy lifting. I guess powerlifting. Anyway I’m not really any lighter at around 230 but my body comp is much better. Turns out having a ton of muscle on you helps although I need to lose about ten pounds or so to get a more flat belly. I do plan to focus on that a bit for summer.

I’m happy that at 44 I’m the strongest I’ve been in my life. I just did bench at 235x4 today and was pretty happy with that on top of my recent 300 back squat x 8. (Sunday I’ll try to do 315x? and see how that goes) Goal is to get up to 1k combined squat/deadlift/bench. If I look at what I’m doing for reps and project it I’m likely already there but I like doing it for reps since I don’t want to hurt myself and prefer pushing it at a 6-12 rep range. Also looking forward to warmer weather so I can get out with the family every weekend for hikes.

Edited April 16, 2022 by Arakasi

[BigFatCoward]

Bike finally fixed. 415 quid for parts and labour. Thieving fucks. But it's getting desperate, weight gain has been dramatic.  

After 5 weeks and counting my arse is going to kill with heavy mileage. 

[ithanos]

1 hour ago, BigFatCoward said:

Bike finally fixed. 415 quid for parts and labour. Thieving fucks. But it's getting desperate, weight gain has been dramatic.  

After 5 weeks and counting my arse is going to kill with heavy mileage. 

You got a Brompton?

[BigFatCoward]

17 minutes ago, ithanos said:

You got a Brompton?

Nope. A merida hybrid. To be fair they have replaced every moving part and it had a full service so its like a brand new bike. 

[ithanos]

I mentioned the Brompton because of the cost, as I'm also in the market to buying one second-hand, primarily for commuting & travel but also exercise.  That Merida hybrid range looks very serious. When I used to ride to college in my younger years I had a road bike and a mountain-bike to choose from. The mountain bike was a grueling experience, especially when the winds picked up, but I got great exercise out of it. The road bike just seemed to let me glide from A to B and I got to the (fit) stage where I was getting to B without feeling I'd gotten much of a workout.   

[BigFatCoward]

7 hours ago, ithanos said:

When I used to ride to college in my younger years I had a road bike and a mountain-bike to choose from. The mountain bike was a grueling experience, especially when the winds picked up, but I got great exercise out of it. The road bike just seemed to let me glide from A to B and I got to the (fit) stage where I was getting to B without feeling I'd gotten much of a workout.   

My favourite bike was a lightweight hardtail mountain bike with locking suspension. I had two sets of wheels (one semi slick) so I could just swap wheels/lock suspension quickly depending on whether I was commuting or riding off road that day.

[Tywin et al.]

On 4/16/2022 at 2:39 AM, BigFatCoward said:

Bike finally fixed. 415 quid for parts and labour. Thieving fucks. But it's getting desperate, weight gain has been dramatic.  

After 5 weeks and counting my arse is going to kill with heavy mileage. 

Out of curiosity, how much did your bike cost initially? I've been meaning to buy a new one and the prices are all over the place.

ETA: I kind of want one of those with fat tires, but they're pricey.

Edited April 17, 2022 by Tywin et al.

[BigFatCoward]

32 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Out of curiosity, how much did your bike cost initially? I've been meaning to buy a new one and the prices are all over the place.

ETA: I kind of want one of those with fat tires, but they're pricey.

£1200. Its a hybrid with 28mm tyres. Perfect for my commute but not as much fun. 

[Tywin et al.]

9 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

£1200. Its a hybrid with 28mm tyres. Perfect for my commute but not as much fun. 

Guessing it's a high end one? I just looked at a few stores and most are under $900.