September Fitness Thread!
Anyone else need a little structure with their fitness commitments? In the past months (since Sept 2010), a few of us certainly made working out and exercise a new, healthy hobby. Makes a person feel proud to accomplish goals, right?! BTW, I can totally tell the difference in my body from the workouts I committed to last month. It's working and I haven't been calorie counting as strictly as I was before the Fitness Group. Thanks for support everyone :)
This will go Throughout September in hopes that a whole month is enough to start a new, healthy habit of working out regularly. Tell me what you want to accomplish this week. Studies show that if you write it down, and say you WILL do something, you're more likely to stick to your word. It doesn't hurt to know that you'll report how you did either. No judgments here. If you missed a workout, let's talk about it and get you back on track. That's what we're here for :)
Set your own goals and keep us posted. I plan to update my progress every time I do something active.
You are OUR inspiration. Talk to us. Tell us what you've done. Drop by and see how motivating it can be to read about the progress of others. If you're feeling behind, talk to us. We're here for you.
Informative "How-To's":
Dork -to-Diva: Great pictures of how to perform a routine
5x5 weight-lifting program: Scroll down for calendar; click on links for informative videos
Hal Higgons Running Programs: Scroll down, select distance, select level (novice, intermediate, advanced, walk). This helped me train for a half-marathon last summer
Couch-2-5K: Never ran a 5K before? Here's the baby steps that get great reviews. Scroll down for the calendar
Original Post by dbackerfan:
I do my boot camp - Crossfit class on non lifting days 3 times a week and lift 3 times a week with Sunday being my normal rest day.As long as you don't get burned out or start to show signs of fatigue doing something every day is ok- it's just when one thing begins to suffer because of the overwork then additional rest days would be needed.
dbacker - Didn't you suffer a stress fracture not too long ago? The reason I ask is because this is the exact same schedule you were keeping before when it happened. I noticed you mentioning to someone to scale back if injuries occured or general burn out. Don't you think your stress fracture was most likely caused by doing intense training six days a week? Just a thought, but maybe following your own advice would be a good idea. I am not trying to be a smart ass. I just don't want to see it keep happening to you. What if you took weekends off or cut you lifting sessions back a bit timewise and did some metabolic work after lifting? You have said yourself that you are way more careful with your eating now, so taking a few days off won't hurt you. Just concerned..
My workout today :
5x5 w/ 515lbs on the hack squat machine (sled weighs 45lbs and I had 5 45's and a 10 on each side). My Top Squat attachment isn't set to arrive for a few more weeks so for now I am stuck on the HSM. It is still kicking my ass though since I am going heavy and ATG on each rep. In all honesty, the only thing missing is my shoulder issues. Still though, I wish I could be squatting with a bar.
4x5 w/ 275 on bench press. On the fifth set I could only do four reps, so I will stick with 275 until I hit all 5 sets.
5x5 w/ 235 on barbel rows. Got through this easily.
Overall my body is really taking to 5x5. It is more grueling than 3x5. The last two sets always suck. But I am liking it a lot. The only thing that sucks is that I am too exhausted to do any conditioning after lifting anymore. I have been resorting to a 2 on 1 off schedule where I lift one day, hit the heavy bag hard the next and take a third day off before repeating. I am starting to miss the Prowler.
Original Post by vyperman7:
Original Post by dbackerfan:
I do my boot camp - Crossfit class on non lifting days 3 times a week and lift 3 times a week with Sunday being my normal rest day.As long as you don't get burned out or start to show signs of fatigue doing something every day is ok- it's just when one thing begins to suffer because of the overwork then additional rest days would be needed.
dbacker - Didn't you suffer a stress fracture not too long ago? The reason I ask is because this is the exact same schedule you were keeping before when it happened. I noticed you mentioning to someone to scale back if injuries occured or general burn out. Don't you think your stress fracture was most likely caused by doing intense training six days a week? Just a thought, but maybe following your own advice would be a good idea. I am not trying to be a smart ass. I just don't want to see it keep happening to you. What if you took weekends off or cut you lifting sessions back a bit timewise and did some metabolic work after lifting? You have said yourself that you are way more careful with your eating now, so taking a few days off won't hurt you. Just concerned..
Turned out the stress fracture was just some tendonitis - no fx showed up on the 2nd set of xrays - I started wearing my tennis shoes with my orthotic inserts and am happy to report no foot pain anymore.
I did drop my level of intensity of workouts, but mostly due to this darn breathing issue - I only go to the crossfit/ boot camp class on Tues and Saturday - taking thursdays off and Sunday's. I also am doing NROL fat loss I lifting program for now - no intense high impact stuff just a few lifts. I have been trying to get in some metabolic work after lifting since the routine only takes about 30 minutes and with the 10 min warm up - but once again due to my lung issues I'm having more of a hard time being able to breath well enough to keep up more than 3 sets of 30 seconds of work with 30 sec rest in between.
I have switched from Spriiva to Advair for the COPD and it seems to help- but its been only 2 days now that I've done that. I have to use my rescue inhaler before class / lifting and it does help. I am also going to see about getting tested for Valley Fever cause I'm thinking that dust from Phoenix storms has done more to my lungs than just inflaming and kicking the COPD back in- after 2 years of never having taken a drug for the condition.
Also I have scaled back my intensity of what I try to do in the class due to both the foot not wanting to reinjure it and also the fact I can't breath!!
hi all - got up early and ran this am...7.2 miles felt great in the beginning, but then i slowed down a ton. spending the day at a soccer tourney...i am bummed that the food is so unhealthy.
hope everyone has a great day!
dbacker - Glad to hear that you are taking two days off per week and that you are scaling things back a bit. Also, that is good news that it wasn't a stress fracture.Lately what I have been doing is intense 5x5 full body one day, heavy bag and swimming the next, and then taking the third day off. So it works out to a 2 on and 1 day off schedule. When I was doing 3x5, I had enough energy to get in 15-20 minutes of conditioning after lifting. But now with 5x5, I am just spent after lifting. Those extra two sets really make a difference. The thing I like about the heavy bag is that you can get your HR way up, and it doesn't mess with your lower body recovery from lifting like sprinting, burpees, Prowler, etc would if you did them on non lifting days.
My workout today :
30 minutes on the heavy bag. 20 kicks per leg, and then 100 punches as hard and as fast as I could. That made up one round and it takes about two minutes. So then I give myself a minute rest between rounds. Then after the bag, I jumped in the pool and swam some laps. The pool where I am at is really small (only about 30 feet across). So what I will do is swim ten laps, take a minute break, etc.. Swimming is a great full body exercise and I love that it is low impact too. Plus, nothing feels better than swimming after you have been in a hot garage hitting a heavy bag.
I took Saturday off to rest for today's 5K fun run. I figured I would end up walking half of it (like I did the 3K fun run last month) since I've never run that far before. I did 2K on the treadmill on Monday, and 3K on Friday, and that was the furthest I've run. I figured, as long as I finish, that's okay, and my goal was to be able to run the entire 5K by the next fun run in November.
To my great surprise -- I actually ran the entire 5K! Granted, it was a very slow run; it took me a little over 47 minutes. But I did it! Without walking! *dance of joy*
If anyone had told me 6mos ago that I'd actually be able to run a 5K, I would have laughed at them and told them they were mad.
Today was absolutely crazy, but fun.
Started out with going to the Village of Oak Creek for the cross fit class which today was tabata based work consisting of russian twists, squats and high pulls( kettlebells), side planks, push ups and criss crosses ( scissor kicks?) after the workout drove down the street 2 blocks and attended a volunteer orientation meeting at teh Hilton and walked the grounds learning where things were going to be and getting familiar with the layout .
Then went to a hiking store in West Sedona and got me some lifting chalk- went home showered and changed and got ready for a wedding. then probably a total of 2 hours on the dance floor - hard core cardio dancing - I don't do slow dances LOL!!! Had a riot probably drank more then I burned even with all the dancing. I know the dancing was intense cause had to use my inhaler at one point. Awesome time!!
roman - congrats on the 5k...AWESOME!
dback - sound fun!
today I went to a spin class. I tried to go to the awesome class I did for the last two sundays, but the studio was totally full...not one bike! So I went to a different gym and still got a good spin workout in. finished with abs.
Made it to yoga yesterday and got my hips nice and loosened up. Probably my favorite thing about yoga!
This morning I got up and hiked Camelback (big-ass mountain near my house; 3 miles roundtrip with about 1300 ft elevation gain). Overall time was pretty good - 58 minutes - but my lungs were killing me at the top and my heart rate got all the way up to 195! I think I need to get back to more cardio as I haven't been doing a lot, and it shows. HRM tells me I burned 750 cals, though :D
My wife has been sick since Tuesday. Thursday, we drove all day to N. UT for my Dad's upcoming (89th) birthday party.
Friday: I got DW's cold, but we still are doing races on Saturday. We went for early packet pickup in a nice park, figured out where we would park the next day, and where the start line was etc.
Saturday: I wasn't too sick in the morning, and did the 10K. My wife did the 5K and was in the top 10% of her age group in spite of her cold. It seems kind of unfair that she runs so little and does so well, but I am glad for her. She is fit from hiking and the elliptical machine, but has only run about 30 miles this whole year.
Sunday: woke up a lot sicker, and missed out on a family breakfast, but I will be OK enough to make it to the Birthday party this evening.
OGR - Sorry to hear about you being sick. You are definitely dedicate to do a 10K when you know you are coming down with a cold. Very cool on your dad's 89th. Hopefully you feel better soon.
Original Post by awestendorf:
Made it to yoga yesterday and got my hips nice and loosened up. Probably my favorite thing about yoga!
This morning I got up and hiked Camelback (big-ass mountain near my house; 3 miles roundtrip with about 1300 ft elevation gain). Overall time was pretty good - 58 minutes - but my lungs were killing me at the top and my heart rate got all the way up to 195! I think I need to get back to more cardio as I haven't been doing a lot, and it shows. HRM tells me I burned 750 cals, though :D
Sounds like a good workout. Always nice to be outside and have fun. Although, if I had to guess I would say that is less of a cardio problem and more of a strength/anaerobic issue. Since your legs were killing you, this means that they had to work harder which tax your lungs and HR more. With NROL, you have been doing sets of 8 or more reps right?
Try this :
For the next month start doing 5 sets of 5 on squats 2x per week using 85-90% of your 1RM. Super heavy deep squats (below parallel) will work your anaerobic capacity more as well as give you more lower body strength. This will definitely help. After your squats, do 15-20 minutes of hill sprints. This will help strengthen your lung capacity and your anaerobic endurance. After doing this 2x per week for a month, try the hike again. I can almost guarantee that it will go better and you will have added only a bare minimum amount of cardio. I wish you were here so I could put you on the Prowler. The absolute best anaerobic conditioning tool ever invented IMO.
Recently a guy made a post on the Stronglifts Facebook page about taking a cardio output test on a stationary bike at school. The person giving the test was amazed that he was able to maintain a lower, steadier heart rate on the highest resistance level, despite not doing any real cardio in s workout program. Since he squats heavy, his legs didn't have to work as hard at a higher resistance level.
Original Post by vyperman7:
Original Post by awestendorf:
Made it to yoga yesterday and got my hips nice and loosened up. Probably my favorite thing about yoga!
This morning I got up and hiked Camelback (big-ass mountain near my house; 3 miles roundtrip with about 1300 ft elevation gain). Overall time was pretty good - 58 minutes - but my lungs were killing me at the top and my heart rate got all the way up to 195! I think I need to get back to more cardio as I haven't been doing a lot, and it shows. HRM tells me I burned 750 cals, though :D
Sounds like a good workout. Always nice to be outside and have fun. Although, if I had to guess I would say that is less of a cardio problem and more of a strength/anaerobic issue. Since your legs were killing you, this means that they had to work harder which tax your lungs and HR more. With NROL, you have been doing sets of 8 or more reps right?
Try this :
For the next month start doing 5 sets of 5 on squats 2x per week using 85-90% of your 1RM. Super heavy deep squats (below parallel) will work your anaerobic capacity more as well as give you more lower body strength. This will definitely help. After your squats, do 15-20 minutes of hill sprints. This will help strengthen your lung capacity and your anaerobic endurance. After doing this 2x per week for a month, try the hike again. I can almost guarantee that it will go better and you will have added only a bare minimum amount of cardio. I wish you were here so I could put you on the Prowler. The absolute best anaerobic conditioning tool ever invented IMO.
Recently a guy made a post on the Stronglifts Facebook page about taking a cardio output test on a stationary bike at school. The person giving the test was amazed that he was able to maintain a lower, steadier heart rate on the highest resistance level, despite not doing any real cardio in s workout program. Since he squats heavy, his legs didn't have to work as hard at a higher resistance level.
No, no, it was my lungs, not my legs. My legs were tired of course, but actually not bad compared to some prior trips up the mountain. I have asthma, so that's part of it, as is the (crappy) air quality here, but really I was just working a little harder than I'd like to be.
When I say I need to do more cardio, I don't really mean more steady state, although I do plan more running and hiking now that it's getting nicer out. Really though I meant more interval/HIIT stuff - so anaerobic for the most part.
I cannot imagine doing hill sprints after 5x5 squats - OMG! Sadly, there are no hills here. My program right now doesn't include heavy squats that often, but I have done them many times in the past and I do go below parallel. Heavier moves in NROL 4 Abs (including front squats) are 1-8 reps (varies each time). The lighter moves are 8 reps with the exception of core work which is 10-12.
I would LOVE to try out the prowler! I wish the PT I went to had one. He's got some heavy tires we get to play with when it's not a million degrees outside, at least.
Ah.. I read it wrong. You did say lungs. I don't know why I saw the word legs..LOL
In regards to hill sprints, you could always do them on the treadmill. Put it on 10-12% grade Start with your feet on the sides and grab the center HR monitors. Then bring your feet onto the treadmill (left first followed immediately by your right) and keep holding onto the center until you have your balance. This should take about a second or so. Then let go and run your sprint. Then once you are done with the sprint, grab the center HR monitors again, and hop off onto the sides left to right. It takes a little bit of time to get used to, but once you get over the initial paranoia of slipping, it is actually much easier than you think.
The hop on and off method is great because you don't have to mess with changing speeds or a lag in the machine slowing down or speeding up which was always the main reason for not doing sprints on the treadmill before. But once you master the hop method, sprints on the treadmill are great. I like them because you are forced to go faster than you could on your own to keep up which provides an even more challenging workout.
** In regards to the Prowler, does your gym have Plyo boxes and glider discs (used for doing advanced mountain climbers on the floor)? If so, grab a few glider discs. Then flip the Plyo box upside down on top of the discs. Then grab a few weight plates and put them in the middle of the box. Then you can drive the Plyo box just like a sled. It is a good idea to use the discs if the facility is carpeted, because you don't want to start a fire..LOL Or you could also do plate pushing as well where you stick a 45lb plate on the ground and sled push it back and forth.
Heehee, no worries :)
That's a good point, I've not tried treadmill sprints using the hop on & off method but maybe I'll give it a try! I've definitely used that method before on normal speeds to get water, tie shoes, etc.
I think normal sprints are probably enough for me right now, honestly. They kill me every time. But I can get going pretty fast on my short little legs - checked my garmin from a few weeks ago and my top speed was under a 5:00 mile, so over 12mph - twice my normal pace!
Original Post by vyperman7:
** In regards to the Prowler, does your gym have Plyo boxes and glider discs (used for doing advanced mountain climbers on the floor)? If so, grab a few glider discs. Then flip the Plyo box upside down on top of the discs. Then grab a few weight plates and put them in the middle of the box. Then you can drive the Plyo box just like a sled. It is a good idea to use the discs if the facility is carpeted, because you don't want to start a fire..LOL Or you could also do plate pushing as well where you stick a 45lb plate on the ground and sled push it back and forth.
could you use "furniture movers" / valslides for these glider discs? How much room would you need for these as well? The gym I use isn't very large but with my lung issues I don't know how long of a "runway" I'd need before I couldn't continue.
Original Post by vyperman7:
** In regards to the Prowler, does your gym have Plyo boxes and glider discs (used for doing advanced mountain climbers on the floor)? If so, grab a few glider discs. Then flip the Plyo box upside down on top of the discs. Then grab a few weight plates and put them in the middle of the box. Then you can drive the Plyo box just like a sled. It is a good idea to use the discs if the facility is carpeted, because you don't want to start a fire..LOL Or you could also do plate pushing as well where you stick a 45lb plate on the ground and sled push it back and forth.
Well, I don't belong to a gym, but I have glider discs and Plyo boxes, so I could rig something at home. We don't have a big stretch of carpet though, but maybe a towel under the plyo box on hard floors?
Original Post by dbackerfan:
Original Post by vyperman7:
** In regards to the Prowler, does your gym have Plyo boxes and glider discs (used for doing advanced mountain climbers on the floor)? If so, grab a few glider discs. Then flip the Plyo box upside down on top of the discs. Then grab a few weight plates and put them in the middle of the box. Then you can drive the Plyo box just like a sled. It is a good idea to use the discs if the facility is carpeted, because you don't want to start a fire..LOL Or you could also do plate pushing as well where you stick a 45lb plate on the ground and sled push it back and forth.
could you use "furniture movers" / valslides for these glider discs? How much room would you need for these as well? The gym I use isn't very large but with my lung issues I don't know how long of a "runway" I'd need before I couldn't continue.
Valslides would probably work. My only worry is that Valslides are a bit skinny and glider discs have more width. What you could also do is try plate pushing like in this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttsY_R0QCjc.. I actually commented on this video months ago as you will see a YouTube member mentioning the Prowler. That's me..LOL In regards to how much room, you could get a good workout with 20-30 yards if you do a few rounds of round trips in. As you can see from the video, the path the girl is using isn't very long which is why she is doing round trips. This is actually what I had clients do for a long time in the upstairs hallyway where I train people until I discovered the Prowler.
Original Post by awestendorf:
Original Post by vyperman7:
** In regards to the Prowler, does your gym have Plyo boxes and glider discs (used for doing advanced mountain climbers on the floor)? If so, grab a few glider discs. Then flip the Plyo box upside down on top of the discs. Then grab a few weight plates and put them in the middle of the box. Then you can drive the Plyo box just like a sled. It is a good idea to use the discs if the facility is carpeted, because you don't want to start a fire..LOL Or you could also do plate pushing as well where you stick a 45lb plate on the ground and sled push it back and forth.Well, I don't belong to a gym, but I have glider discs and Plyo boxes, so I could rig something at home. We don't have a big stretch of carpet though, but maybe a towel under the plyo box on hard floors?
A towel on the hardwood would work good as well. As I mentioned above, you could put one 45 or two 45's stacked down on the towel and plate push. Since you are in a lower position it gives you an even better workout. Something like this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LtDW1GES-8
Roman: CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
Since Wednesday night I took too long to cook dinner, I didn't lift...which meant that I lifted on Thursday instead, did a metabolic workout on Friday, and made myself lift on Saturday (and I almost never work out on weekends, so I was proud of myself). I also really wanted to start doing 2 metabolic workouts per week, so I also made myself do a metabolic workout yesterday afternoon. Again, go me! I was very sore from lifting the day before, so it was probably a good thing to get those muscles all warmed up and then stretch and foam roll afterward.
Saturday: FBB Phase 2, Workout A2
Wood chop: 3 x 8 w/ pink resistance band
Plank: 2 @ 65 s, 1 @ 40 s
Dumbbell squat with offset load: 3 x 8 @ 25 lbs
Dumbbell alternating overhead press: 3 x 8 @ 10 lbs per side
Single-leg bent knee deadlift: 3 x 8 @ 20 lbs
Chinup: did 2 sets of negative pullups instead
Alternating lateral lunge: 3 x 8 @ 20 lbs
Two-point dumbbell row: 3 x 8 @ 25 lbs
Also did a metabolic workout on Sunday. I had a question about this: how many circuits should be my eventual goal?
Original Post by crazypotato98:
Also did a metabolic workout on Sunday. I had a question about this: how many circuits should be my eventual goal?
I think the eventual goal is to do one minute of each of the first 4 exercises with no rests then you get to rest a minute or 2 then on for for more 1 min sessions, for 2- 3 rounds. I never got further than the first week 1- 4 workouts even then was taking a lot longer rests than spelled out.
Ah, good to know. Because I've read that if you do HIIT, it shouldn't be longer than 20 minutes. Right now doing 30-on, 30-off, I'm at 13 minutes, I think. But of course I want to progress. It's an odd feeling only exercising 13 minutes in the day, even though I'm on my feet doing cooking, cleaning and grocery shopping the same day. I feel like I ought to be doing more, but the Cosgrove lady only says you can add an additional cardio day if you feel like it. Maybe I'll work up to that and do a DVD that I like on my 6th workout day.
had to take an unplanned off day - my lungs heart and my feet are sore from too much dancing on Saturday and my back and abs hurt from either too much dancing or the class I took Saturday morning. bummed
