Cause Workin' Out is 'fun' to do...

[elfprince13]

hauled 3 wheelbarrows of dirt, carried + stack about a 1/3 cord of wood, and moved a couple cabinets and dressers.

[Luet]

Well, I joined the gym. I have yet to actually go work out though. Hopefully on Monday.

[Gravity Defier]

I am about to head out for my workout and I'm not looking forward to it. My left knee, same as before, is bothering me again and it's not an option to favor it/go easy on it.

ETA:
It felt like it would buckle a few times and will probably hurt tomorrow but for not, it's okay.


ETA 2:
I get a kick out of seeing a guy try something, assuming it's easy because women can do it, and then watching how he does worse than the women.

[locke]

ran about 5.2ish miles in my hour today. basically what I did last week. coming up to the treadmill after my warmup I was feeling more worn out than I should. I attributed this to my sleep deprivation/poor sleeping the last week or two and specifically the last two or three days. I didn't try very hard the first thirty minutes or so, while I was watching the second half of idol. I find these contestants this year so boring, other than Adam Lambert (who I didn't like at all prior to the top 10 or so) and I was about to just give up again, but then I switched the channel looking for something else and landed on biggest loser. took about fifteen seconds of watching their last chance workout and I was reenergized for the entire second half of my workout and made up all the ground from the weak first half workout and managed to match my distance from last week.

the solution, though, is clearly that I need to get more and better sleep. I think I"m going to start tracking when I go to bed and trying to enforce a 2AM max bedtime. I get up at 8;30 or so currently so that'd be a generous 6.5 hours which is about what I need.

[locke]

5.66 miles today in my 60 minutes, I'm getting further, which means my strength/endurance is improving.

[locke]

row 500 meters, 10 burpees, run 200 meters

three sets for time: 22:49.5

slower, but considering I've not been rowing or doing burpees in my warmup (as i should be doing) not too shabby.

at least I didn't quit halfway through this time.

In other news, I've been tracking my calories, and while the past few days were in the 1800-2200 range that I'd like to have, today was 2700-2800 range. I ate a late supper I had no business eating (wasn't famished, so I didn't need it) which put me over the top, but last month I would have thought this a fairly normal day, maybe 2200, cals top. sort of explains why I maintained weight all of march, 2700-2800 is maintence weight for me, and eating naturally seems to balance to that level for me. If I can maintain a deficit for the next six weeks, I should be close to 195, if not near my goal weight of 190.

[elfprince13]

2 days ago I did 2 x 6 mile bike rides in around 35 minutes each. This means I'm REALLY out of shape. I'm doing it again today to see how much time I can shave off.

[Eaquae Legit]

Swimathon day today! Wish me luck!

[Rei]

Bonam Fortunam!

[Eaquae Legit]

I done it! 1:47:43! I was aiming for under 2 hours and hoping to hit 1:50, so I'm well pleased with myself tonight!

[CezeN]

Dad got an ab belt.
I've started using it.

Any lazy person's dream....a belt that shocks abs into your stomach without you actually having to do any work.

Workout without the work.

[neo-dragon]

I tried one of those things ages ago. I hated the sensation. I'm not convinced that they work as advertised either. I'd rather just do actual exercises.

[elfprince13]

I split wood for 2 hours today. X_X I could barely lift my arms afterwards.

[locke]

went to the gym, did my warmup and then just decided to get on the treadmill and see how long I could run at 7.5 mph, answer, a disappointing 3.5 minutes or so. a mile took me about 11:30 minutes, but that's with the long warmup I did on the treadmill as well, getting up to speed gradually.

[locke]

this weekend I decided I was either bored or fed up with crossfit and I wanted something more rigorous, scheduled and well something that's worked pretty well for me in the past. I'm not entirely abandoning crossfit though, I just bought two of coach Rippetoe's books and the dvd to build my own program from, but until I work that out, I'm going to be my first ten week program of MaxOT in five years. The last time I did ten weeks, this was the result (warning: adam in naught but boxers, click at your own peril!)
http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww15 ... ession.jpg
http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww15 ... rofile.jpg

those pictures represent a 10 lb fat weight loss, a 3 lb muscle gain, for a seven pound overall loss, and 2.25 inches off my waist line. :-p

So I worked up the first four weeks workout rotation and did my first workout tonight. I maintained my crossfit warmup, which was a terrific idea, as I was much more ready to go for the weight lifting than in my non warm up past. I'm doing a three day a week rotation, rather than five, as this is easier to maintain and can be molded to the week night activities as necessary. Today was back, traps, and delts. the only exercise I found my positive failure point on this week was the front dumbbell raises, the rest I'm still working up towards that, which is as it should be on a first week.

all the heavy set exercises (all to 6 reps except the second heavy set of raises) I did:

Lat pull down (plus five set warmup for the whole session) 3 sets
dumbbell rows - 2 sets
Good Mornings - 2 sets
deadlifts - 2 sets
dumbbell shrugs 2 sets
standing dumbbell front raises - 1 set, 1 set failed at 3 reps (:()
standing military press - 2 sets.

I am going to be sore tomorrow. I'm already starting to feel sore in my traps. oy.

[locke]

walk to gym - 3.6 miles. treadmill 5ish miles in 60ish minutes (it reset on me when I paused it to get a drink of water from the fountain after about 38 or 42 minutes.) :-/ This used to be my hardest workout of the week. not so anymore on the max ot program. so I'm going to push myself a bit less harder on cardio day and just enjoy watching my shows while building up endurance a bit.

[locke]

chest and arms day at the gym. got to the gym, congratulated myself on getting there early and promptly, got to locker, realized I hadn't brought my lock or workout sheet as I'd grabbed the wrong bag to carry my workout stuff in. had to come back home, get those things and head back. doh. Good workout, though.

[starlooker]

Worked out 6 days last week! Worked out on a machine at the gym, took a very long walk with my boyfriend, swam three days, and yesterday, I did my "strength" workout. Today my legs hurt madly, and occasionally I notice some soreness in my arms. But nothing too terribly irritating, and well made up for by the fact that I am really proud of myself.

The biggest thing that's motivating me right now is I've noticed that on the days I work out I get much, much, much better quality sleep.

[locke]

I've been working out regularly. I switched to heavy weights two weeks ago, got some helpful books and dvds that have radically improved my form.

Unfortunately, I am deeply, almost obsessively unhappy with my body, so much so that the aggravation nags at me constantly, though I've passively/actively hated the f****** thing for years. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it. I've got some wild ideas about distracting myself by maybe getting a weekend job that overlaps a day or two on my other job and working seven days a week, two of those days twenty hour days. Or I'm toying with the idea of just doing extreme cardio every day for a month. I know these ideas are about equally smart, but I'm so frustrated at nothing ever changing (and being unwilling to stick by a plan that will probably result in changes) that I just want to angrily hit something, or in this case, do something drastic and stupid.

What I can do.
Stick to my workout, four days, three of weights, one of cardio, I've got a solid program going here, I have a habit of going, and I like going. I may have made a friend at the gym today. yay me.
Stick to my diet. If I track my calories I can stay at 2000 or just below. It's a f****** pain trying to eat 1800 or below, but I think my aggravation with the difference between 1800 and 2000 might be the difference that keeps anything from actually happening. I have shaved more unhealthy things from my diet and my resistence of snack food and candy is growing. Easter was a vicious, unchecked setback though.
Stick to my plan of pictures, measurements, weight etc, gives me a somewhat less subjective scale to evaluate myself on.
Actually get to sleep by midnight if not before midnight. This is the one that always, always destroys me. If I have to get up at 6:30AM I won't go to bed til 2:30 or 3:00, I hate and loath going to bed, but my constant state of sleep deprivation is only hurting me in my weight loss and body image goals.
Avoid sugar like the plague, Foods made with flour for the most part taste terrible to me anymore (the possible exception being pie crust), like the ice cream cake at work today, the cake part, horrendous, like ash in my mouth. the ice cream part, heaven. If I eat a hamburger with the bun anymore I get indigestion afterwards So for the most part I broke the addiction to flour like I broke the addiction to soda, now, if I can kick the last legal 'cocaine' habit I've had since childhood, I imagine that will also help.
I've brought portions more under control of late, I planned out my meals this week and have stuck to them (other than abovementioned ice cream cake), so those are two somewhat positive habits.

Just a matter of dragging the rest of my life into order kicking and screaming is somewhat of a chore. Like laundry, I hate doing it, but for a fat, lazy, single 25 year old, I need to focus and get my ass in gear and my head in the right place. ugh.

[locke]

woot! new personal record on bench press, 180x4 for one set. last week I did three heavy sets of 155x6, 165x6 and 170x5 (had a spot/assist for the sixth one so it doesn't count). this week I did 170x5, 175x5 and 180x4 (had a spot/assist on the fifth one) for my three heavy sets. four more weeks and I'll be close to benching my body weight, which has been a desire of mine for years!

and I weighed in at under 205 for the first time since March.

[Jeesh_girl15]

Who says we have to "work out" at a gym? And it is fun sometimes. Not that I have to work out. I play soccer, basketball, volleyball, and I do swimteam. I was thinking of joining the track team. Not that you all have the time to do all that I'm sure. I don't have to support a family, or go to college, or go to work everyday.

Anyway, My dads been dieting, and he's lost more than 20 pounds in the last month without going to the gym. He walked for awhile every night while my sister and I cleaned up from dinner. He was so excited when he got under 200, he bought himself a 300 dollar pistol. And he had said he bought it for me. Oh well, It was kinda fun to shoot.

Off topic - My dad asked me what color I wanted for "my" pistol, black or pink. I said black cause i hate pink. My mommy said I should have told him pink. It would have been hilarious to watch him shoot a pink pistol.

[locke]

Squatted my body weight today! my heavy sets this week were 170x5, 185x5, 195x5 and 205x5

Last weeks were 155x5, 165x5, 175x5 and 185x5, so a very strong improvement. great workout today. Last two days have been somewhat off the wagon in terms of diet, unfortunately, partially due to my feeling I needed a treat or three in response to my car's battery dieing, but I plan on staying more on top of things this weekend and into next week. I'm thinking of doing a cardio session on Sunday too, if my legs are feeling up to it.

[locke]

I nailed the deadlifts today, and for the first time feel really good about my form. I finally 'got' the negative portion of the lift, as well as the starting form. I've still got some kinks to work out on the pull, but it's mostly all there. and with the form more solid, my weight I'm pulling on it went up to 200.

My presses were somewhat better, not great, still more work to do on that lift in particular.

two more max ot workouts and then I'm done with this program, and I think I'll try Rippetoe's version.

[buckshot]

I hope PT counts as working out , It hurts , you got to stick to the program to get results, you get to use all kinds of different equipment ( some border on tortureous). In short I think it sucks more than a bi-weekly trip to the gym.
But the shiny spot is the deep massage afterword !

[locke]

worked out six days this week monday-saturday. sunday is looking likely as well as I'll skip monday for a screening.

also I pretty much defeated a ton of temptations to go out and gorge on something. urg. stupid body wanting to stay fat, sending hunger signals I don't want or need. :-p

[elfprince13]

2 x 6 mile bike rides on Friday.

[starlooker]

Went and met with a trainer for a complimentary session on Friday. She mostly had me doing weights, upper body work, etc. Which is what I wanted, as I really need to work on muscle strength. Went back to the gym today and I remember MOST of what she told me -- not everything, unfortunately. Also, I have discovered some muscles I was really not aware existed before

Here's the thing that I found awesome, actually. I'd been having a TON of pain below my right shoulder before I did the work out for almost a week. Just sore as all anything - I think from a swimming/crossramp workout I did. After I did the workout with the weights, it felt way, way better. Sore, but in a different way. Woke up the next morning, and it was the same. Sore, but better. Until last night, when it started to hurt again. Went, did a light workout with it today, and presto! Workout-sore, but not hurty pain sore. This is good to know.

[Bowen]

My work out plans for this week:

Monday: 1-2 hours of racquetball
Tuesday: Tree removal
Wednesday: 1-2 hours of racquetball
Thursday: I'm planning a 3 hour hike
Friday & Weekend: I may go up to the in-law's farm to work all weekend fixing fence. Carrying those metal fence posts can be brutal.

I guess the only bad thing about my workout plan is that there is very little that can be measured directly. Even still, I'm looking forward to it.

[locke]

Went and met with a trainer for a complimentary session on Friday. She mostly had me doing weights, upper body work, etc. Which is what I wanted, as I really need to work on muscle strength. Went back to the gym today and I remember MOST of what she told me -- not everything, unfortunately. Also, I have discovered some muscles I was really not aware existed before

Here's the thing that I found awesome, actually. I'd been having a TON of pain below my right shoulder before I did the work out for almost a week. Just sore as all anything - I think from a swimming/crossramp workout I did. After I did the workout with the weights, it felt way, way better. Sore, but in a different way. Woke up the next morning, and it was the same. Sore, but better. Until last night, when it started to hurt again. Went, did a light workout with it today, and presto! Workout-sore, but not hurty pain sore. This is good to know.

this is probably because a weighted multi joint exercise more fully and efficiently stretches muscles than a simple stretch or aerobic exercise does, the contraction and relaxation of the muscles is enhanced by the use of weight because they have something to work against, or something pulling against them. at least that's how I remember it from what I've been reading today about exercise physiology. I could look up an exact quote to be more accurate. :-p

[locke]

first day of starting strength workout program. I'm doing sets across for the work sets (heavy sets after warmup sets) 3x5, so I did 3 sets of 5 reps at 205 on squats. I could have gone heavier but I wanted to play it safe and I'm still concerned my form is not as good as it could be

and then I did 180x3x5 on bench press, except the last set I failed to get the fifth rep, damn. still positive failure is a good thing as it means there's enough overload to induce strength and power gains for next week.

and then I did body weight chinups for three sets, I got 7 reps, 7 reps, and 5 reps. Considering I hadn't done a set of chinups really ever, that was pretty good, I thought. Tomorrow, probably an hour and a half to two hours of cardio while I watch my Idol finale, this time I shall remember a water bottle.

[Bowen]

I was lucky enough to make it to the gym both Monday and Tuesday to play racquetball. The tree removal went well on Tuesday, and I'm on schedule to play racquetball today as well. Hurray!

[Young Val]

30 Day Shred.

That's all I have to say.

Ok, that and "ouch."

[Bowen]

30 Day Shred.

That's all I have to say.

Ok, that and "ouch."

That does look brutal. Way to go!

[Mich]

30 Day Shred? Pff. Try the 100 day pushup challenge!

[Young Val]

Believe me. There are plenty of push ups in the shred. Level three includes TRAVELING PUSH UPS.

ETA:

ok, I clicked on the link and instead of the 100 push ups (I remember we discussed that up thread) I saw the burger spoof and laughed until my (already sore!) sides hurt!