The Exercise & Fitness Thread: The Struggle Is Real

[Raining_again]

you people need to post more i need people to live vicariously through!

i miss weight training SO BAD and its looking more and more likely that ill never be able to train, at least not in a competitive manner anymore. What a farce.

[sumo73]

I've never been that interested in keeping fit and hated sports at school (no surprise why I got the nickname sumo).

The lockdown was the perfect storm for my health to get worse and while I did exercise I know I didn't do enough. I concentrated on keeping my job because I knew I couldn't afford to lose that.I had a bad reaction to the Covid vaccine recently and released something else was wrong. I have a blood test later on today. 

Over the last few weeks or so I've been fixing up and riding more on my bike and using Wii Fit U/Just Dance a lot more. I've done 10,000 steps+ walking each day over the last few weeks but my legs can't take too much of it all the time. Regardless of the blood test I know I need to keep this up.

Edited May 13, 2021 by sumo73

[Sméagol]

12 minutes ago, sumo73 said:

and hated sports at school (no surprise why I got the nickname sumo).

It actually is.. You know Sumo wrestling is a sport right?

(say something on-topic)

Weather is getting better, so I try to go outside more to cycle. But I should do it more regularly.

I hope to take up swimming though, once things start to open up again.. Hopefully that's next week. Cycling doesn't train my arms, and I don't care for the typical gym exercises.

[sumo73]

2 hours ago, Sméagol said:

It actually is.. You know Sumo wrestling is a sport right?

(say something on-topic)

Weather is getting better, so I try to go outside more to cycle. But I should do it more regularly.

I hope to take up swimming though, once things start to open up again.. Hopefully that's next week. Cycling doesn't train my arms, and I don't care for the typical gym exercises.

Of course it's a sport but as I nickname I used to hate it but I'm fine with it now. Good luck with the swimming. It's a good form of exercise. 

[bob]

3 hours ago, sumo73 said:

I've never been that interested in keeping fit and hated sports at school (no surprise why I got the nickname sumo).

 

I'm hoping it's not because you used to wear a giant adult nappy to school...

[Ashley]

3 hours ago, sumo73 said:

I've never been that interested in keeping fit and hated sports at school (no surprise why I got the nickname sumo).

The lockdown was the perfect storm for my health to get worse and while I did exercise I know I didn't do enough. I concentrated on keeping my job because I knew I couldn't afford to lose that.I had a bad reaction to the Covid vaccine recently and released something else was wrong. I have a blood test later on today. 

Over the last few weeks or so I've been fixing up and riding more on my bike and using Wii Fit U/Just Dance a lot more. I've done 10,000 steps+ walking each day over the last few weeks but my legs can't take too much of it all the time. Regardless of the blood test I know I need to keep this up.

Yeah this is what I find is a shame about sport education. I think the vast majority of people given the time/options would find some form of exercise they like but sport education is very much focused on "make a team and play this competitive sport". I get that there are limits in terms of resources, but it is still a shame. I don't like competitive sport because I'm not great at any of them, and particularly in school it does feel humiliating when you aren't. But something like swimming, cycling and even sometimes running I like. Glad you've managed to find something.

[Raining_again]

7 hours ago, Ashley said:

Yeah this is what I find is a shame about sport education. I think the vast majority of people given the time/options would find some form of exercise they like but sport education is very much focused on "make a team and play this competitive sport". I get that there are limits in terms of resources, but it is still a shame. I don't like competitive sport because I'm not great at any of them, and particularly in school it does feel humiliating when you aren't. But something like swimming, cycling and even sometimes running I like. Glad you've managed to find something.

this this this this

 

if i had found weightlifting as a teen i would have been a fuckin powerhouse.  everything we did relied on depth perception which i dont have lol.  The only class I failed year after year. 

F - tries hard

lol

[EEVILMURRAY]

With gyms allowing classes I booked one and just gotten home... Holy fuck you can tell when things have gone to shit. Naturally I knew I had fallen behind but I didn't think I'd feel that bad when it was done. 

I'm so happy we ran out of time so we couldn't do all the core exercises. They always make me feel a lil nauseous, and I dunnae think I could've handled it 

[MindFreak]

Today I did interval running for the first time in months. 10 sprints of 150 m with a 5 m elevation - sprint uphill, walk back. I'm really feeling it.

It's also funny how weather affects my exercising at home. During the winter period (well, actually up to the beginning of May!) my performance has suffered, I couldn't run as fast or row as far as I could last year. Now the weather has become better so I'm warmer to begin with and I almost broke my record on distance rowed on Monday, no other change than it getting warmer outside. Now I don't feel so bad about my form again.

[Ashley]

Planning to do about another 6 weeks of this shredding diet so this is essentially a halfway check in to see how it's going. Some good progress although hopefully I'll start seeing it around my stomach soon! 

Checked as well and when I started seeing my PT (end of July last year) I was 67.8kg so I've lost 3.9kg. Weight loss itself wasn't the main goal, but nice to try and shift it from some stubborn areas. It's a shame he didn't have these fancy scales last year to compare but ah well. That's what pictures are for I guess.

[Goafer]

Tried a new route, with the end goal being this windmill. Wasn't sure if I'd make it, as it was pushing it a bit for an evening ride, but had plenty of time to spare. 16 miles total, so not a bad evening route.

And I did make it up to the actual windmill, but some weird family kept staring at me, so I didn't take a photo. Like, they literally didn't take their eyes off me the whole time I was there. Even when I sat the other side of the windmill, I could still see them out the corner of my eye, peering through the windmill at me. Fucking weirdos.

Edited June 15, 2021 by Goafer

[Ashley]

Should have just told them you were Don Quixote. 

[Goafer]

Not sure it counts as excercise, but I got to do some archery for the first time in about 8 years. My bow has been in a bag since I last shot and it was quite relieved to see it hadn't fallen to pieces in that time.

I'm not as good as I used to be, but I'm not as bad as I thought I'd be.

Edited June 21, 2021 by Goafer

[Goafer]

After finding the bike ride to the windmill fairly easy, I thought I'd try for double the distance and see if I could make it to Warwick. 

The journey there was fine and the return journey was easier than I expected, but still fairly tiring.

Overall it worked out at 30 miles with some pretty decent hills along the way.

[Ashley]

I really need to bother to find my bike in my mom's garage, then get it tuned up, then bring it back to mine then actually use it. 

[Goafer]

The Fitbit has done a good job of putting me back on track with my diet. Although I never wanted to log everything I ate, it's not actually as much of a pain in the arse as I thought, so it's working well. So well that I've lost half a stone in about a week. Can't imagine I'll maintain that rate, but it's a reassuring start and has given me the instant gratification I needed to get back into the old routine.

In terms of fitness, I'm pretty much where I want to be. The 30 mile ride to Warwick and back the other week was surprisingly easy overall, and I didn't feel any ill effects afterwards. I can pretty much cycle for as long as I want, although I do go at a slow and steady pace.

[MindFreak]

Went for a run today when I arrived at my parents-in-law, there is a fine 5k route at their place that isn't too hilly. 

I wasn't quite motivated and the first km was a bit of a struggle but ended up with a new best in the last five years or so: 20:13. I was battered afterwards, though, but I believe that if I could get a completely flat route I would be able to hit that 4:00 / km on a 5k. Hit 3 km in 12 minutes on this run. 

Also, recently I did a PB on the rowing machine 20 minutes, which is my standard rowing workout (that and 8*500 m intervals). Did 5,719 meters. Beat my previous record by a little about 30 m which is actually quite an improvement. 

Edited July 11, 2021 by MindFreak

[Goafer]

Managed the ride to Warwick again. Bit harder this time, but I just took it steady and plodded along at my own pace.

[bob]

Managed the ride to Warwick again. Bit harder this time, but I just took it steady and plodded along at my own pace.

Get out of the road!

[Goafer]

14 minutes ago, bob said:

36 minutes ago, Goafer said:

Managed the ride to Warwick again. Bit harder this time, but I just took it steady and plodded along at my own pace.

Get out of the road!

It's ok, the roads were oddly quiet. Almost like there was a big event or something.

[MindFreak]

Went on the scales when i got into work today. 67.4 kg - down from 69.3 in late November. That's pleasing as I have been working from home almost entirely since then.

[Ganepark32]

So a week and a half before I was supposed to, I've managed to hit my main goal exercise wise. I've been working 45 to 60 minute intense workouts in recent weeks to finally get below 91kg and help flatten my stomach around my belly button and today I hit 90.4kg on the scales and I've pretty much flattened my stomach so yay.

And I've managed to do it with a hamstring injury which I've been nursing with massages and stretching for the last couple of weeks (think the increase in intensity of cardio and static bike workouts and not adequately stretching so annoyed at myself for it but still its been awful just walking at times with it) so I'm chuffed that I've managed to get myself back to the weight I was when I was last weighed at my doctors in late 2018.

Right now I'm just focusing on improving form for things like press ups and such to build more strength and build up my muscles. Hoping that my hamstring will settle in the coming weeks so I can start the next stage of my workouts which is to get back to running. Already been doing long walks at a brisk pace so hoping to graduate to at least jogging smaller distances and going from there soon, though that will not only depend on my hamstring healing but how my ankle joints are as they're giving me problems that I think I'm going to have to see my doctor about.

But yeah, all these 7:30 am workouts have paid off massively and I'm feeling physically better for it, even with my aches and pains at the moment. Mental health side of things is slowly coming round too and my diet has been better in the last couple of months than its ever been. Having the small little goals I've got in my head will hopefully keep me on the straight and narrow going forward.

[Ashley]

That's great to hear. Glad it's going well!

[Ashley]

So a year ago I signed up to a personal trainer and had my weigh in and photos today.

The main goal was never weight loss but I've lost 12kg and got down to 5% body weight which surprised even me. Been on a shredding diet for 14 weeks now (and slightly more intense the last 4) but I've never been starving myself. Just having good quality satiating meals. Also having to send photos of all my meals made me more conscious about what I'm eating so my cooking has really come along in the last year too. 

One of the reasons I leaned in so hard to it (having tried and bounced off in the past) is because it gave me something to do. Unexpectedly being in this country last year, in a city where I don't know anyone, it became the one good thing. A few hours a week where there's something positive going on. It's been a nice relief. 

Looking forward to now bulking up more and getting bigger. This last year (particularly last 3 months) has proven I can commit to it. That being said, I plan to open a bottle of red tomorrow and I'm so looking forward to it! It's been over 4 months since I last had red wine. In those four months I had one weekend back in mid-June where I had alcohol and that's been it. But it's also been nice to cut back on that given dependency does run in my family. 

Anyway proof is in the pudding, but the pudding is in his underwear so I'll post it in a spoiler tag for anyone that doesn't want to see that.

Spoiler

 

 

[bob]

Wow, your neck got longer too.