Noname123

If weightloss is your goal don't hyperfocus on activity. I love exercises and will promote it to anyone looking to become stronger and striving for a goal- however weight loss is purely what you eat. Set up a nutrition plan and stick to it if shedding weight is your primary focus and then start integrating activity once you have a solid nutrition habit.

Yep. This is all body comp and a good chunk of genetics unfortunately. I'm at a healthy weight and have been running my face off this summer as well as strength training. You can see my upper abs. Lower abs? I wish. It's genetics. (stats are at 5'3", 113 lbs) I'm going to keep running for the next few weeks and will likely lose a few more pounds before the season ends. This winter I'm planning on eating heavy protein, focusing on strength while maintaining medium distance runs and then when I cut back my diet in March I'm hoping to see better results in the ab department while staying right around this weight. And I'm not sure why endurance training wouldn't work to whittle down fat- you can visually tell with me what weeks are my heavy long runs and which weeks I've eased up off running.

Ok. I've recently become a runner. It's taken years to admit it but I'm here. I run 10ks in the am during the week and if I'm not racing on the weekends I do a long run. Other than when I'm pushing my long runs past anything I've done before or push myself hard in races I don't really get sore. Here's what I do to keep my legs fresh. 1. Before my run. Dynamic warm up. DO NOT STRETCH BEFORE RUNNING. Leg swings forwards and backwards, side to side, high knees, butt kicks. Do these for 5 minutes or so to get your legs loose. 2. After my run I stretch and ice my joints. My favorite is a hip stretch where you lay your back flat on the ground, put your legs up against the wall and let gravity spread them. Opens up hips and stretches hamstrings. 3. Every morning starts off with a shot of concentrated Tart Cherry 4. If I miss a day of running I do active recovery. Walking/hiking/climbing- make sure you're moving your body and using those muscles.

Yep. The bags for females are usually 75-110 lbs and for men it's 120-150. If it's raining even more since they hold water, it's a huge pain!

Honestly, this is why Obstacle Course Racing appeals to me. You need both. Everyone who races these competitively are LEAN. But they're strong. They can do rigs and support their entire bodies with their arms, they can carry a 50 lb wreck back and run it for a mile, they can pull 150lb weighted bag and slowly lower it down- and on top of that do this in between running 6 minute miles. You can have agility, speed and strength- however it's difficult to train for all 3 once you reach a certain point and you won't excel in any one over someone who is just concentrating on that one area (endurance/speed runners at your same level will be faster, lifters at your same level will lift more, however when you use all 3 in conjunction you'll come out ahead) You can have both strength and leanness. (Some of the consistent top competitors for visualization on what lean strength looks like) These guys won't be able to deadlift 600 lbs, but they're still insanely strong. It just depends what kind of strength you're looking for.

Well what are your big goals? Having small goals just to have them won't keep you engaged. Plan a road map. Make it pretty and put it somewhere so you can reference it back when you're feeling low on motivation. Then take that giant goal and break it down into smaller goals. Mark up your calendar or make a new poster for each leg of the goal up until your giant one. Example: Goal is to lose 100 lbs. You can turn it into 6 goals of 15 lb weight loss and 1 of 10 lbs. Give each segment 5-6 weeks or if you want to mold it after the NF challenges lower the leg of each goal and add more 'checkpoints'. Then from there break it down even further. HOW do you lose the 15 lbs in 6 weeks? Fix your dessert habit? Make a goal of whittling it down to 1 night a week. Including more veggies and lower high calorie foods in your diet? Make a goal to eat 5 servings of veggies in a day. Any giant goal can be taken, broken down into manageable pieces and those broken down into 'bite size' achievable and actionable parts. This can be done for performance, fitness, aesthetic, mental health....just gotta pick a goal and roll with it!

Hey all you Rangerinos. Not doing a challenge this go around because I suck at posting but anything major as always will be put on my battlelog. That said, anyone who is running or cycling this go around check out the app in the playstore called charity miles. They donate 25 cents for every mile ran and 10 cents for every mile biked. Since I'm logging miles anyway, I just pop this open with mapmyrun and nike run club in the background and hit the pavement. You can pick a number of charities listed, I've been running for MS this week. Plan on changing it up every week (Also come find me on mapmyrun or nike run club, I need friends Lahna87@gmail.com)

I used to do fasted workouts. for 45 minute cycle classes with a few 'breaks' and HIIT training it worked pretty well. When I started lifting afterwards I did about 100 cals or so in cashews or 1/2 protein bar with carbs. That worked well too. Only eat during or between workouts as Raincloak said if you are doing LONG hours of intense exercise. I don't take gels for my long runs under 15 miles and only eat heavy 'snacks' during races that are 10 miles + (OCRs so there's a lot of cross training elements in those). If you don't get dizzy and your goal is weightloss fasted workouts may be for you. If your goal is performance then try to put some fuel in the tank before you hit your workouts. Eating for aesthetics and performance are two different things.

For me looks, aesthetic and weight always failed after the first two weeks. I geared towards performance....and boom, it's like a light switched on. What exercises will help with dancing? Sign up for a yoga/pilates class. Do something where you're trying to hit physical goals and then EAT for those goals as well. Find dancers you admire, the top in your division (I have no idea what that's called in dance terms) and follow them on social media. Find out what they do, how else they work out, how they eat. Once I started molding my life like the endurance and OCR athletes I wanted to compete with I started seeing big changes. You might fall in love with a new exercises and become inspired to do something you never thought you'd do!

Ok. Here's the thing. Running kinda sucks for a long time. Even when you get into it SOME part of the run will suck. You'll get runners highs too though. That said, runners are runners. There is no judging (though there may be some internal monologue going on like 'hey blue pants I'm going to catch you and you're going to make my split faster!') but it's pretty friendly. Keep at it. After weeks you'll get more comfortable with it and after a few months it'll be routine. You'll get faster and faster and build endurance. You have to remember. It takes time. Keep at it, even if you regress for a few days and run slow AF miles and push.

Hi Scouts. I think I might be a scout in denial. I'm all about OCR so for the longest time I told myself I wasn't a runner because I lifted and did a lot of strength training. And I realized I signed up for a couple ultramarathons this year without thinking much of it (first one Nov 6!!!). Guys, I think I'm a runner.

So proud. You missed one part of the write up though. That part where you write you're excited to crush it again next year. And then maybe do it again on Sunday. I'm conquering the UB on Sat next year for sure. If you're crazy enough to double beast it, I'll join you on your Sunday lap.

Go and have fun. I'll be at Wintergreen but the environment is super supportive, you'll have a blast.

I'll be there, running competitive in the am and then might do a fun lap when I'm done!

There's a spot at the Navy Yard that does aerial silks ( and trapeeze flying!!!) You should totally do it. Tons of fun!