"Fitness Club" Thread

GWC Community GWC Fitness Club
#821

Fitness for me is not about weight. Sure, my personal ideal of my body is a little slimmer, but that’s not the point. The point is that it’s stronger and faster. And I’m making great progress, especially in the last 2 months.

But tonight I have comments on weight. Since the meetup, when many of you actually saw me in person, I’ve lost 16 pounds. It’s the extra hour of cardio each week plus effective strength training.

This weekend I am going to my college reunion, which ends with a parade through campus of all the attendees, from class of 1936 to class of 2006. We all wear white and accessorize with our class colors. I realized this morning that the only even-sort-of white thing I have to wear from the waist down is the skirt I wore for graduation. So I dug it out of the back of my closet and tried it on–it fits and looks nice! That means that I am approximately the same size and weight now that I was when I graduated. I can live with that.

The reason that I try really hard not to focus on weight as the best indicator of my physical fitness is that the skinniest I’ve ever been was also the unhealthiest, in both body and mind. I don’t want to identify that particular weight or size as my ideal self because everything that went with it and contributed to who I was at that point was really kind of awful.

So maybe I’m actually thinking more about goal setting than questions of weight and weight loss. How do y’all determine your benchmarks and success measures in ways that reflect more than just one number or metric? How do you set goals that you can pursue in a way that makes you feel good and contributes to your overall health?

I’m getting a little introspective on this topic because I realized over the weekend that I have very nearly met the initial goal I set for myself when I started working with a trainer: get back into as good a shape as I was in before injuring myself. I’m there. But I am really enjoying working with someone who can constantly challenge me to try something new/different/harder. So I am trying to determine what’s next–what am I working toward?

Whatever ideas you have, please share!

#822

StarBuck - For me, it’s about the small personal goals - Can I fit into this, or can I do 20 full range pushups. It’s more about what I can do rather than what I look like or weigh (to a point). Maybe you can challenge yourself that way. That way the goal is always progressing.

I’ve been quite busy with work and arty endeavours so most of my brain power has been going on that, however I have not been slacking off the gym or diet as I’ve lost 3lbs in about 2 weeks, so it’s all good.

My handstand pushups are coming along nicely and I can do about 6-7 full range pushups against the wall and about 1-2 full range with my feet very very lightly touching the wall. My core is strong in that I can remain quite rigid for a while. So it’s all gravy baby!

I’ve got a new program that I won from a contest where the trainer devised a program for me, she estimated me at 16% body fat and said that I need to be around the 180-190lb mark for me to be at my ideal. I can live with that.

So I’ve been devised an upper and lower program and yesterday consisted of the upper.

Mobility drills were

Hand Claps - 1 minutes worth
Thorasic Rotation - 1 minutes worth
Cat pose to Crow - 1 minutes worth

Main exercises were

2 sets of 7 - Handstand Pushups
Narrow grip pushups to T-Rotation - 2 sets of 12
Fly Machine - 2 sets of 12
Row Machine - 2 sets of 12
Staggered Pushups - 2 sets of 12
Alternating Planks - 2 sets of 12
Ab Rollouts - 2 sets of 12

Very little iron was used, but OMG was I trembling and sweating by the end. I can also feel it in my pecs (which is what she said I was lagging - I have very good lat and back muscles which have taken over from the chest). It highlights how important exercise placement and choices make. From what I can see, it was a case of making sure that the back got tired first so that they didn’t have the strength to take over from the chest muscles.

#823

This week is not going well. I didn’t go to the gym yesterday because my knee was very stiff and sore and I didn’t want to push it. So instead I went to the store with my hubby - and promptly tried to rip my toe off with the door. If I’d gone to the gym it wouldn’t have happened.

I wanted to go again today but between the limping and very ouchy toe and trying to sort out new air conditioners because mine are dead…didn’t happen.

Sooooooo stress burns calories right?

#824

Last week Amazon had a free Android app that purported to guide you through a workout that will allow you to do 100 pushups after 6 weeks. It was free, and part of my fitness goal is to have a bit more upper body strength, and if an electronic device tells me to do something I’m apt to do it (Lead on, GPS!), so I figured “why not?”

My base number of pushups was 13. Not great, but hey you gotta start somewhere.

Based on that, the app told me I had to do 5 sets on “day 1”, of 10, 12, 7, 7, and then 9 pushups.

The first time I tried (Sunday) I got through the 10 and 12, but could not even do one more when it came time to do that first set of 7.

The next time (Tuesday. It says to always take a day off) I did the 10, but halfway through the 12 I failed. Backward progress!

Undaunted, I tried again yesterday (Thursday), my 3rd try on “day 1” and I did 10, 12, and then only 3 of the 7. Better, but I’m still not out of the gate.

But hey, 25 pushups (with 2 short breaks). That’s better than 13, no? :slight_smile:

I’m treating the whole thing like an Xbox achievement. I’ve done some crazy stuff to get some of those.

#825

Did things a bit different today. Concentrated on keeping my speed down and went 30 minutes straight.

#826

I didn’t go to the gym yesterday because my knee was very stiff and sore and I didn’t want to push it. So instead I went to the store with my hubby - and promptly tried to rip my toe off with the door. If I’d gone to the gym it wouldn’t have happened.
madamruppy

I’m in the exact same boat, about two weeks ago I hyperextended my knee somehow and I haven’t been able to do leg exercises since. It’s starting to feel better, but I feel guilty for missing leg workouts and I can’t use the elliptical machine without some pain. But I’ve been doing all my upper body workouts and hopefully by next week I’ll be back to normal.

I think I was in a bit of a rut because my eating habits haven’t changed but I’m trying some new healthy recipes this weekend and that’s got me feeling more energized about my workouts. Plus, I think I might be experiencing some delayed post-meetup blues, I’m really missing everybody this week.

#827

been a while so I thought I’d update for those who are not on my twitter or facebook feed.
I had my final Pilates class of six week course tonight, I am going to switch to an hour of personal trainer time instreead.

M E hips hurt I need to find a way to stretch them out or gain flexibility.

I’m not losing much weight but I’m off the beer for the forseeable future and making further changes.I’ll let ye know how I get on, will be walking in to work tomorrow either way and my dailymile.com posts update on twitter,.
see y’all on the flip side.
Phaze
on the “waiting for housemate to go to bed so I can frak BSG with pernfann” ID

#828

So after two+ years of me gently coaxing my kids into Tae Kwon Do with little baby lessons at home, the neighbor kids started taking it at a local school—and all of sudden, my kids take an active interest.

The teachers at the school are good guys who ask me why I don’t practice any more. Now that I’ve been rehabbing my back more aggressively, I don’t have a good excuse, and I’m at the school anyway.

So I’m fresh from my first real class/workout in, shite… going on six years.

Oh, my back and legs hurt.

Oh, it feels good.

ps. Wolverines

#829

Okay. Our trainer, Brian, has to STOP going to conventions or whatever. He keeps getting excited and bringing new, fresh HELLs to us!

We hurt. ouchie.

Wolverines!! fwump

#830

I’ll update my progress a bit later but for the hips, try doing some kneeling rockbacks.

EDIT: In terms of my progress, I’ve lost a further 6lbs which as me moving from 210 to 204lbs over about 3ish weeks. I’ve received a new program that is an upper/lower split complete with mobility exercises and cardio. Let me say that I haven’t even hit the hard weights and I’m sore all over. It highlights how good exercise placement and selection is key in being efficent with your exercise.

The diet side is good with me being in a deficit around the 1500 mark - It’s a harsh defecit but I respond well to that and as long as I get refeeds at good points, I’ll be fine. It’s good to start seeing the fat melt off while still retain strength. The mobility has helped as I can feel it in my back and more importantly my hips are getting to be much more flexible. My handstand pushups against the wall have me doing approx 5 full rep ranges before I have to stop and rest. In terms of freestanding handstands, my record for being inverted is about 7-8 seconds. This is capoeira style (Head facing forward rather than down).

The gym is starting to get empty but I’m not sure whether that’s cos of the nice weather or whether the motivation has been lost.

I still plan to dress up as Riddick for halloween :stuck_out_tongue:

A typical workout week is

Mon - Upper/Cardio
Tue - Lower
Wed - Light Cardio
Thur - Upper
Fri - Lower
Weekend - Rest

Upper routine consists of

25 - Handstand Pushups
212 - Alternating Staggered Pushups
220 - Alternative Planks
212 - Narrow grip Pushup to T-Stablisation
215 - Ab Rollouts
212 - Chest Fly Machine
2*12 - Row Machine

In between the exercises, I do mobility exercises. It seems a lot but it’s only an hour and the body is screaming. This is centered around my abs and pecs as they are my lagging areas. My upper back and lats want to take over the work. The structure of the workout is that these get hammered first so that they are so tired, they cannot take over.

I do have options for heavier weight exercises such as bench presses,etc…

Lower days are:

Reverse single leg squats
Hamstring Curl
Calf extension
Single Leg Deadlifts

The heavier option is

Deadlift
Chest supported step ups
Hip Thrusts - Works the hip flexors and glutes
Goblet Squats

as well as the filler/mobility exercises. The first time I did the first set of lighter weight type exercises, I was so wobbley on the legs that I had to rest on the way home and it’s only a 2 minute walk.

But things are looking good, clothes are fitting nicely and I feel that I’m getting healthier with each passing day.

As part of the cardio - I have to do burpees. So Bkitty, I envy you and hate you at the same time for making them look so easy. I was crying and I only had to do it for 2 minutes per set (I tended to average about 30).

#831

Decided to go for a walk for my second exercise time today. Of course, got about a quarter of the way through my loop and it started sprinkling. It looked like the rain was coming from the south (which is the direction I was going at the time), so I turned around and headed home. Still better than nothing, especially since I’ve been doing 20 minutes a cycle on my elliptical instead of 15 these past couple days.

Still above 280. I know it’s my food intake, but that’s a lot tougher for me to regulate than exercise for me.

#832

Ok, need some help on breakfast. I hear Audra saying breakfast is important…I know it is, but I am just lost being surrounded by bad choices. Obviously anything carb based is off. Fruit is all sugar and finding an omelette on my commute will be problematic.

Oh, and I haven’t figured out a way of getting a workout into my schedule. Haven’t stepped on a scale in a week, but I suspect no real change. Let’s just assume I am still at 190. :mad:

#833

Breakfast is important. It jump starts your body at the beginning of the day and helps your physical and mental selves both operate at peak efficiency.

I am all about oatmeal. You can get packets of microwavable plain oatmeal at any supermarket. You can eat it as you (I presume) drive from home to the subway/commuter train. I eat mine right when I get to the office.

Don’t limit yourself to breakfasty foods if those aren’t your thing. Any small portion of a whole grain or non-sugared-up dairy product is great. Hard boiled egg, brown rice, whole wheat toast, plain yogurt. I went on a quinoa breakfast kick for a while. I made a huge pot on Sunday and brought a serving to work in tupperware each morning.

Also, fruit is good for you! It’s full of vitamins and the sugars are simple. It’s ok to eat sugar (your body turns most of what you eat into sugar, after all)–just do your best to only eat unprocessed, naturally occurring sugars and not too much. An apple/banana/orange is a totally suitable breakfast, though I would be hungry by 11 if that were all I ate.

#834

Re: the breakfast discussion. If I eat too soon after getting up I get nauseous and sick, and basically the only things I can eat then (meaning, if I’m not up 3 hours before I have to go somewhere else LOL) are straight fruits or veggies, though usually fruit (Hm strawberries. Peaches. yum.). For me the key is to have something small and not try to make it fit into “omg BREAKFAST” if it’s not actually something I want to eat, or that helps me feel energized in the morning.

#835

Today I got within 2 pushups of beating day 1, after… maybe 6 tries (this app seems to think I’m freaking Superman). I did the 10, 12, 7, and 7, and then got through 7 of the final 9 before my arms just wouldn’t do it any more.

But that’s 43 pushups total across the 5 sets. I don’t care if I didn’t get the last 2. I’m pretty frakkin’ proud of myself.

(No opinion on breakfast. I work, eat, and sleep very odd hours)

#836

Fitting a workout or trip to the gym into your schedule is overrated. You can do a lot on the floor in your living room: pushups, roll over, crunches, repeat. It’s a start. And it don’t cost nothin’.

#837

Count me in as one of those who stuggle with getting breakfast in. I don’t like cooking first thing in the morning, I’m not a big cereal eater, and I’d rather get 15 minutes more sleep than making a bowl of oatmeal. The solution I’ve found that works for me is buying these in bulk at costco and taking one with me for breakfast at work. They keep me full 'til lunch and it tastes like a candy bar. I consider it a win-win.

#838

I take a medication every morning that needs me to wait an hour before I eat, so I am with you & Casilda on not eating right away. I eat when I get to work. Microwave oatmeal packets take 1 minute to prepare. I sometimes mix in a tablespoon of 100% fruit jam. Easy to eat at my desk and I’m already in the kitchen to get coffee so it’s not really any extra time wasted.

#839

Definition of irony: Getting interrupted from exercising by a call from your health coach.

#840

I need a little inspiration, guys.

I have been making my 3x/week workouts come hell or high water and have been feeling great. At least, feeling great when I am not in pain from yesterday’s workout.

But all I want to do this week is eat Nutella (this is unrelated to workouts, as I am currently on schedule and looking forward to tomorrow’s session).

Remind me why I should eat things that are better for me. Please and thank you.