Hello my favorite weekly survey! And in turn, my fitness pals of tildes (sorry, we're pal. I don't make the rules). This week has been decent. I finished week 5 of my c25k program just this morning and ran a continuous twenty minutes! It felt great but also my heart rate was a lot higher for more of a duration than I wanted so I'll need to work on that. Got a 13min mile which I'm super stoked about! I had to postpone my Monday run because I ran out of my inhaler. It was a whole thing to get the new one, but I can't run without taking it first. I tried once and it was terrible lol.
My swimming has been great. Did a mile in about a half hour. I'll be looking to both do it quicker and then swim more. I was able to do it in two sets of about 16 laps each. An actual mile is about 35 laps in a 25yd pool. The pool, however, will be closed next week for cleaning and maintenance. I. Am. Devestated.
I still love spit squats. That's it lol. But diet wise I think I've been doing a bit better and watching quantity and quality this past week so I'm hoping to keep to that!
This year I finally took my health seriously, I quit drinking, lost 30 lbs due to that and better diet/exercise. I want to start weight lifting but I'm overwhelmed and intimidated. I don't want to be in the way as I learn my way around. I'm comfortable starting from zero, as we all start there, I just don't want to disrupt anyone else during the process. Any words of encouragement, or advice?
I was frustrated with my deadlift testing two weeks ago so I tested them again after my pivot block. Added 20kg to my previous max putting me at 220kg. Excited to see 230 in a couple months!
Started my next program, Calgary Barbell's Powerbuilding II. It is a hypertrophy/accessory oriented program that programs in a heavyish single in the competition lifts once a week. I'm really enjoying the higher rep schemes but it's clear that my workload is pretty low. Excited to see some better endurance gains. I always appreciate these high volume periods because they make me feel lighter and more energetic versus the high load/low rep schemes of a taper that usually leave me feeling beat up.
Seeing more progress on my cut. Again the higher rep/set schemes paying dividends increasing caloric deficit. It's slow going but I'm happy to see strength continuing to increase while I slim down.
I was officially diagnosed with Achilles tendonitis this week (I already knew I had it) and the doctor said no running for a month but I have a marathon coming up in a few weeks and my Achilles hasn't been hurting at all when I run so I'm going to just cautiously ignore what he said. This weekend is my longest run in the lead-up to the marathon so it's pretty important that I don't miss this run if I don't want to totally die when I run the actual race.
I've never really been interested in running a marathon in the past but I get days off of work for doing this so it's totally worth it. After I finish the marathon, I'm looking forward to doing more running of my own choosing--trail running and training for one specific 5k race because I really want to win one of their unique awards next year.
This week I finally got my 5k under 30 minutes! My 10K race is in 3 weeks and my ideal is to do it under an hour - I’m not sure this is going to be possible unless race day adrenaline gives me a serious boost, but I should come close!
I’ve been doing Caroline Girvans Epic I YouTube workouts and I feel so much stronger already. Looking forward to the day I can make it all the way through her videos without extra breaks.
M, W, Th, F - one hour of high intensity interval training class at a little hole in the wall gym near my house. I do this at noon, and then eat lunch and go back to work. It helps divide my day up into morning and afternoon. I've been doing this schedule since the pandemic started, I figure I might as well make use of getting to work from home instead of the office.
Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and Saturday morning: 2 hours of capoeira and conditioning class. Saturday is 1 hour of capoeira and 1 hour of helping the kids class, which is not usually a huge workout. I used to think that mastering a martial art meant you did that art and only that art, because any time spent not doing that art could have been spent doing that art. But now I like that the HIIT makes my capoeira better and capoeira makes my HIIT better.
Since my fitness is all class-based, I don't have to self-direct my fitness, I just go to class and do what they're doing. For the HIIT class, it's structured so you can choose the intensity of each round, you can go hard and heavy or go slow and smooth. I vary what I do based on the exercise and what I feel like I need that day. Thursdays I do both the HIIT and capoeira so I try not to lift the heaviest weights at HIIT so I save some energy for capoeira.
I've thought about taking up another art or stand-up paddleboarding or some other physical thing, but right now I'm at the limit of how much time I have available to workout without neglecting something else in life, like family or home maintenance. Maybe in the future I'll change things around, but for now I'm in a good steady-state.
Does anyone have any suggestions for online yoga, pilates, or similar videos? I'm in the market for something that's no nonsense, no spirituality/mysticism, and not some gym-rat barking orders at me. I just want to get stretchier and a bit less squishy in the middle. To quote my buddy Cairne, "My old bones ache. I pray this old body does not fail me."
I haven't committed to a routine because I'm depressed and I lack the energy to do so.
Last year, after a disastrous breakup, I tried to go into bulking up, originally doing bro splits then doing a 6-day PPL routine. Two months later I quit because I was just mentally and physically burned out. Also, I have a suboptimal diet for bodybuilding but not a lot of control over it.
A few friends (one's my bestie, one's his bro, and the other is a friend we knew from secondary school) recently talked me into going to the gym with them but I haven't had time to go with them, either because their gym times directly clashed with my work, or because I had conflicting plans. I just feel it's pointless unless I can get control of my life.
It feels so good to lift, but man, it's hard to get to the gym three times a week with all the bullshit of adult life. I'm sure there's all sorts of tips and tricks to embed it into your routine, but it seems like something's always in the way.
Going to the gym and PT used to be part of my profession, and it was a great daily habit. I honestly don't know how people find time for it in civilian life, and I guess I'm still struggling with my transition.
I had an amazing week last week (waking up early, getting enough protein, doing some kind of physical activity every day, trying new activities) but a little bit of undersleeping and funky weather meant that I missed my goals for this week. I know it's okay-- my knee was feeling funny, I still worked out the minimum I expected-- but disappointing!
As for new learnings:
conditioning classes are amazing. The sweat feels great.
I was too caught up on lifting efficiency for beginners (diminishing returns after 1-2x I think), that I forgot how much I enjoyed working out 5+ days a week.
My sugar, sleep, caffeine habits make me feel bad. I happened to reduce my consumption, then went back to it out of habit. I'm really internalizing the sluggishness as being related this time. I'm trying to take this week as a necessary reminder that although I don't dislike a lifestyle that has those late nights, sweets, and 2 cups of coffee a day, I do feel worse and would probably enjoy being without it.
little late but does anyone have the old c25k running program, but in just text format?
Many years ago I used the app developed by the c25k.com guy, but they've since sold and the app is now bloated with permissions it has not need for -- I just want the spreadsheet of days - run time - walk time.
Any idea where I can find such a thing or recommend an app that's simply a set of timers?
Late to this one but hoping to get some feedback. I'm at the point (really age) in my life where things like getting a sub 30 min Murph, passing the 1000 lb club, or running a sub-6 minute mile no longer interest me, I'm just looking to stay healthy and drop weight/muscle mass to make it easier on my body.
Does anyone have a workout program they really enjoy or have found to be effective? I know weight wise I need to be better about my diet but I'm trying to find a good program/regime to allow me to hit some decent but overall unimpressive numbers. I'm thinking 5k around 24 min, 5RM on bench/deadlift/squat in the low 800s, and additional accessory exercises to reduce the chance for injury.
I stay active by playing soccer 2x a week and going to the gym 2-3x a week but I've sustained some wear and tear (particularly in the knees/achilles) over the last few decades so anything that's somewhat mindful of that is great but honestly, any suggestions would help.
Hello my favorite weekly survey! And in turn, my fitness pals of tildes (sorry, we're pal. I don't make the rules). This week has been decent. I finished week 5 of my c25k program just this morning and ran a continuous twenty minutes! It felt great but also my heart rate was a lot higher for more of a duration than I wanted so I'll need to work on that. Got a 13min mile which I'm super stoked about! I had to postpone my Monday run because I ran out of my inhaler. It was a whole thing to get the new one, but I can't run without taking it first. I tried once and it was terrible lol.
My swimming has been great. Did a mile in about a half hour. I'll be looking to both do it quicker and then swim more. I was able to do it in two sets of about 16 laps each. An actual mile is about 35 laps in a 25yd pool. The pool, however, will be closed next week for cleaning and maintenance. I. Am. Devestated.
I still love spit squats. That's it lol. But diet wise I think I've been doing a bit better and watching quantity and quality this past week so I'm hoping to keep to that!
This year I finally took my health seriously, I quit drinking, lost 30 lbs due to that and better diet/exercise. I want to start weight lifting but I'm overwhelmed and intimidated. I don't want to be in the way as I learn my way around. I'm comfortable starting from zero, as we all start there, I just don't want to disrupt anyone else during the process. Any words of encouragement, or advice?
It's been a great week.
I was officially diagnosed with Achilles tendonitis this week (I already knew I had it) and the doctor said no running for a month but I have a marathon coming up in a few weeks and my Achilles hasn't been hurting at all when I run so I'm going to just cautiously ignore what he said. This weekend is my longest run in the lead-up to the marathon so it's pretty important that I don't miss this run if I don't want to totally die when I run the actual race.
I've never really been interested in running a marathon in the past but I get days off of work for doing this so it's totally worth it. After I finish the marathon, I'm looking forward to doing more running of my own choosing--trail running and training for one specific 5k race because I really want to win one of their unique awards next year.
This week I finally got my 5k under 30 minutes! My 10K race is in 3 weeks and my ideal is to do it under an hour - I’m not sure this is going to be possible unless race day adrenaline gives me a serious boost, but I should come close!
I’ve been doing Caroline Girvans Epic I YouTube workouts and I feel so much stronger already. Looking forward to the day I can make it all the way through her videos without extra breaks.
My typical week:
M, W, Th, F - one hour of high intensity interval training class at a little hole in the wall gym near my house. I do this at noon, and then eat lunch and go back to work. It helps divide my day up into morning and afternoon. I've been doing this schedule since the pandemic started, I figure I might as well make use of getting to work from home instead of the office.
Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and Saturday morning: 2 hours of capoeira and conditioning class. Saturday is 1 hour of capoeira and 1 hour of helping the kids class, which is not usually a huge workout. I used to think that mastering a martial art meant you did that art and only that art, because any time spent not doing that art could have been spent doing that art. But now I like that the HIIT makes my capoeira better and capoeira makes my HIIT better.
Since my fitness is all class-based, I don't have to self-direct my fitness, I just go to class and do what they're doing. For the HIIT class, it's structured so you can choose the intensity of each round, you can go hard and heavy or go slow and smooth. I vary what I do based on the exercise and what I feel like I need that day. Thursdays I do both the HIIT and capoeira so I try not to lift the heaviest weights at HIIT so I save some energy for capoeira.
I've thought about taking up another art or stand-up paddleboarding or some other physical thing, but right now I'm at the limit of how much time I have available to workout without neglecting something else in life, like family or home maintenance. Maybe in the future I'll change things around, but for now I'm in a good steady-state.
Does anyone have any suggestions for online yoga, pilates, or similar videos? I'm in the market for something that's no nonsense, no spirituality/mysticism, and not some gym-rat barking orders at me. I just want to get stretchier and a bit less squishy in the middle. To quote my buddy Cairne, "My old bones ache. I pray this old body does not fail me."
I haven't committed to a routine because I'm depressed and I lack the energy to do so.
Last year, after a disastrous breakup, I tried to go into bulking up, originally doing bro splits then doing a 6-day PPL routine. Two months later I quit because I was just mentally and physically burned out. Also, I have a suboptimal diet for bodybuilding but not a lot of control over it.
A few friends (one's my bestie, one's his bro, and the other is a friend we knew from secondary school) recently talked me into going to the gym with them but I haven't had time to go with them, either because their gym times directly clashed with my work, or because I had conflicting plans. I just feel it's pointless unless I can get control of my life.
I bought a trap bar to do deadlifts in a "better" posture, but recently my lower back pain came back.
I injured myself doing heavy deadlifts 5 years ago. The pain is above the left side of my butt. I think is the SI joint.
The next day after deadlifting I can't stay seated for more than 10 minutes without having pain. Not sharp pain, but awful soreness and tiredness.
It was not an issue after it went away in the past, but it came back recently. Like a month or two ago.
I guess I'll have to dial back and focus on bird dogs and glute bridges/hip thrusts all over again.
I fear this will haunt me when I'm old (I'm 37 now).
I went to the gym for the first time in a long time today. I have always really liked Martin Berkhan's Leangains methodology, especially his Reverse Pyramid Training workouts. I had a great workout and I felt awesome afterwards.
It feels so good to lift, but man, it's hard to get to the gym three times a week with all the bullshit of adult life. I'm sure there's all sorts of tips and tricks to embed it into your routine, but it seems like something's always in the way.
Going to the gym and PT used to be part of my profession, and it was a great daily habit. I honestly don't know how people find time for it in civilian life, and I guess I'm still struggling with my transition.
I had an amazing week last week (waking up early, getting enough protein, doing some kind of physical activity every day, trying new activities) but a little bit of undersleeping and funky weather meant that I missed my goals for this week. I know it's okay-- my knee was feeling funny, I still worked out the minimum I expected-- but disappointing!
As for new learnings:
little late but does anyone have the old c25k running program, but in just text format?
Many years ago I used the app developed by the c25k.com guy, but they've since sold and the app is now bloated with permissions it has not need for -- I just want the spreadsheet of days - run time - walk time.
Any idea where I can find such a thing or recommend an app that's simply a set of timers?
Late to this one but hoping to get some feedback. I'm at the point (really age) in my life where things like getting a sub 30 min Murph, passing the 1000 lb club, or running a sub-6 minute mile no longer interest me, I'm just looking to stay healthy and drop weight/muscle mass to make it easier on my body.
Does anyone have a workout program they really enjoy or have found to be effective? I know weight wise I need to be better about my diet but I'm trying to find a good program/regime to allow me to hit some decent but overall unimpressive numbers. I'm thinking 5k around 24 min, 5RM on bench/deadlift/squat in the low 800s, and additional accessory exercises to reduce the chance for injury.
I stay active by playing soccer 2x a week and going to the gym 2-3x a week but I've sustained some wear and tear (particularly in the knees/achilles) over the last few decades so anything that's somewhat mindful of that is great but honestly, any suggestions would help.