I had a pretty rough summer emotionally, but I finally got myself to start working out. My local gym closed in August 2022 so I got myself two adjustable dumbbells and a pull up bar. I'm following a three-day-a-week full body workout program I found online. So far, so good. On top of that I've always forced myself to walk at least 10,000 steps a day.
My main fitness "issue" (in quotes because it's not causing any health problems) is that, even as I approach 30 years old, I have severe trouble gaining weight.
I've given up (really age/wear & tear has forced me to give up) on hitting crazy PRs, sub 30 min Murphs, pushing past the 1000 lb club etc and just want to reach a decent level of fitness. Something like achieving unremarkable goals like a sub 27 min 5k and leaning out (diet is the focus here) without loosing too much strength. I want to lean more into conditioning but I don't want to adopt a running program that adds weightlifting for cross training purposes : I was hoping for a better balance.
For context, I play soccer 2x a week which is the source of my wear and tear which has led to persistent achilles pain that I can play through but will be with me forever. I lift 2-3x a week and combined 5RM for bench/squat/DL is ~800. Any one have an idea or could recommend a decent program?
Christ almighty these weeks keep getting shorter. Hi tildes fitness pals!! I've just been running and lifting this week. The rec center pool was closed for maintenance which was a downer, but my run ON Monday and Wednesday felt so good. Getting past that first 20min run was such a hump that I felt like I was floating! I'm still working on pacing and not gassing myself out the first mile, but I've gotten to sub 14min miles and that really just tickles me pink.
Also I totally lied when I said I could leg press 225lbs, I'm so sorry my friends. I weight lift at Chuze, and they have machines that are part of a circuit and ones that aren't. My sister and I had been using the leg press that was part of the circuit since that was usually open. Well, we tried the regular leg press machines and they were so. Much. Heavier!! I. Had to drop down to 160 initially because what the fuck? It was so hard to get the initial press out and just felt a metric ton heavier! I am annoyed that that even happens. I can only assume there's some mechanical differences between the regular machines and the circuit ones 😒
I have a 5mi hike planned this Saturday that I'm looking forward to. I would personally like to get there Hella early but my partner isn't a morning person lol. It's been a good week overall and I feel great that I've been sticking to it these past few months.
I completed my August challenge! I challenged myself to run every day in august, do one other workout every day, be strict about IF and not drink any alcohol for the month. I did skip a couple days in the middle when my back pain was flaring up to avoid injury, but I did it!
I lost: 2kg, 3cm around my waist, anxieties about running more often, some anxiety in general
I gained: the ability to do a workout consisting only of lunge variations (I historically suck at lunges), a more positive outlook, the view of myself as a runner, a few wrinkles (I assume this is unrelated but I’m still annoyed by it)
Before this I was running 3 times a week and doing one Pilates session. Going forward I plan to run 4-5 times a week, strength train 4 times a week, and continue 1 Pilates session.
Overall it was a really great month! I recommend setting yourself a tougher challenge if you’ve been doing the same routine for a while. It’s made me see myself in a much more positive light :)
Pretty typical week of just putting in the work and trusting the process. I did find a new exercise I really like: snatch grip romanian deadlifts. It really targets the hinge movement of the deadlift. Another silver lining is that this week is going more smoothly than last week as volume recovery comes online.
I've also hired a powerlifting coach to help me program around work stress and to reach for some goal. I'd like to get squat and deadlift to 500lb/227.5 before year end and aim for a 400lb bench in the next couple years.
I joined a gym with my partner this week. He has a long experience lifting but I don't. In the past I did running and yoga but could never seem to stick with weights. I do love the idea of it, but I can never quite get how to do it. I feel like my problem was I would go too hard too fast and inevitably burnout.
We've done 2 sessions and I made sure to keep it easy. I'm not as sore as I'd like to be but I know that's a short term pleasure that doesn't help my long term benefit.
I've been doing ATG aka knees over toes workout for lower body and trying to do that 3x a week. I'll work on a push and a pull day in between those days. I've been doing the math stuff since around January of this year and seen some decent improvement with my knee pain. I definitely feel stronger in my legs.
Nutrition wise I think I would be paying more attention to how I'm eating.
Been back in the gym since February, after several years off. Started with couch to 5k and then started doing Reddit PPL.
I'm 20lbs down from the start of the year, 205 to 180. I think I'm going to keep going until I'm at 175, I just want to trim as much fat as possible.
Haven't been able to be as consistent with my son off for summer, but he starts school in a week and I'll have way more time for the gym.
I'm planning to start bulking up at that point, I'm tall so I'll probably have to shoot for around 3200 calories. I've never been this consistent with the gym for so long, and 'trusting the process' is definitely working so far.
I'm excited to see how my body changes when I start bulking, I'm 33 but definitely still have noob gains to earn.
Do you guys that use Strava actually follow anyone? I guess a friend of family member might be nice for some people. But I think it’s be cool to follow someone off running/biking/whatever in exotic places and shared good pictures of it. Or being creative with their runs, like running past all the sightseeing spots in a city, or running marathons in all 50 states, etc. The people on top of the leader boards seem to have a decent number of followers, but the content isn’t that compelling.
I had a pretty rough summer emotionally, but I finally got myself to start working out. My local gym closed in August 2022 so I got myself two adjustable dumbbells and a pull up bar. I'm following a three-day-a-week full body workout program I found online. So far, so good. On top of that I've always forced myself to walk at least 10,000 steps a day.
My main fitness "issue" (in quotes because it's not causing any health problems) is that, even as I approach 30 years old, I have severe trouble gaining weight.
I've given up (really age/wear & tear has forced me to give up) on hitting crazy PRs, sub 30 min Murphs, pushing past the 1000 lb club etc and just want to reach a decent level of fitness. Something like achieving unremarkable goals like a sub 27 min 5k and leaning out (diet is the focus here) without loosing too much strength. I want to lean more into conditioning but I don't want to adopt a running program that adds weightlifting for cross training purposes : I was hoping for a better balance.
For context, I play soccer 2x a week which is the source of my wear and tear which has led to persistent achilles pain that I can play through but will be with me forever. I lift 2-3x a week and combined 5RM for bench/squat/DL is ~800. Any one have an idea or could recommend a decent program?
Finally found a fitness YouTuber that completely embodies my fitness philosophy: https://youtu.be/ug3UM3C1nig
Christ almighty these weeks keep getting shorter. Hi tildes fitness pals!! I've just been running and lifting this week. The rec center pool was closed for maintenance which was a downer, but my run ON Monday and Wednesday felt so good. Getting past that first 20min run was such a hump that I felt like I was floating! I'm still working on pacing and not gassing myself out the first mile, but I've gotten to sub 14min miles and that really just tickles me pink.
Also I totally lied when I said I could leg press 225lbs, I'm so sorry my friends. I weight lift at Chuze, and they have machines that are part of a circuit and ones that aren't. My sister and I had been using the leg press that was part of the circuit since that was usually open. Well, we tried the regular leg press machines and they were so. Much. Heavier!! I. Had to drop down to 160 initially because what the fuck? It was so hard to get the initial press out and just felt a metric ton heavier! I am annoyed that that even happens. I can only assume there's some mechanical differences between the regular machines and the circuit ones 😒
I have a 5mi hike planned this Saturday that I'm looking forward to. I would personally like to get there Hella early but my partner isn't a morning person lol. It's been a good week overall and I feel great that I've been sticking to it these past few months.
I completed my August challenge! I challenged myself to run every day in august, do one other workout every day, be strict about IF and not drink any alcohol for the month. I did skip a couple days in the middle when my back pain was flaring up to avoid injury, but I did it!
I lost: 2kg, 3cm around my waist, anxieties about running more often, some anxiety in general
I gained: the ability to do a workout consisting only of lunge variations (I historically suck at lunges), a more positive outlook, the view of myself as a runner, a few wrinkles (I assume this is unrelated but I’m still annoyed by it)
Before this I was running 3 times a week and doing one Pilates session. Going forward I plan to run 4-5 times a week, strength train 4 times a week, and continue 1 Pilates session.
Overall it was a really great month! I recommend setting yourself a tougher challenge if you’ve been doing the same routine for a while. It’s made me see myself in a much more positive light :)
Pretty typical week of just putting in the work and trusting the process. I did find a new exercise I really like: snatch grip romanian deadlifts. It really targets the hinge movement of the deadlift. Another silver lining is that this week is going more smoothly than last week as volume recovery comes online.
I've also hired a powerlifting coach to help me program around work stress and to reach for some goal. I'd like to get squat and deadlift to 500lb/227.5 before year end and aim for a 400lb bench in the next couple years.
I joined a gym with my partner this week. He has a long experience lifting but I don't. In the past I did running and yoga but could never seem to stick with weights. I do love the idea of it, but I can never quite get how to do it. I feel like my problem was I would go too hard too fast and inevitably burnout.
We've done 2 sessions and I made sure to keep it easy. I'm not as sore as I'd like to be but I know that's a short term pleasure that doesn't help my long term benefit.
Anyways, excited to finally do it!
I've been doing ATG aka knees over toes workout for lower body and trying to do that 3x a week. I'll work on a push and a pull day in between those days. I've been doing the math stuff since around January of this year and seen some decent improvement with my knee pain. I definitely feel stronger in my legs.
Nutrition wise I think I would be paying more attention to how I'm eating.
Been back in the gym since February, after several years off. Started with couch to 5k and then started doing Reddit PPL.
I'm 20lbs down from the start of the year, 205 to 180. I think I'm going to keep going until I'm at 175, I just want to trim as much fat as possible.
Haven't been able to be as consistent with my son off for summer, but he starts school in a week and I'll have way more time for the gym.
I'm planning to start bulking up at that point, I'm tall so I'll probably have to shoot for around 3200 calories. I've never been this consistent with the gym for so long, and 'trusting the process' is definitely working so far.
I'm excited to see how my body changes when I start bulking, I'm 33 but definitely still have noob gains to earn.
Do you guys that use Strava actually follow anyone? I guess a friend of family member might be nice for some people. But I think it’s be cool to follow someone off running/biking/whatever in exotic places and shared good pictures of it. Or being creative with their runs, like running past all the sightseeing spots in a city, or running marathons in all 50 states, etc. The people on top of the leader boards seem to have a decent number of followers, but the content isn’t that compelling.