TennisGeek

Main quest I don't want to be "skinny fat", and play better tennis. In the first challenge, I was able to get into the groove with my workouts, so I want to build the success on top of it. Main Goals: #1. Shave off another 2lbs of fat based on Fitbit scale. I average 5 days of weight x body fat % at the beginning and ending and see the difference. A: >=2lbs: A (CHA +3), B: >= 1.5lbs (CHA +2), C: >= 1.0lbs (CHA +1), D: >= 0.5lbs, F: >= 0lbs. #2. Strength training for tennis I play tennis regardless at least 4 times a week. (I already played 4 nights this week, not counting tonight.) It's been difficult to make the strength training priority, cuz when I wake up, some area of my body is always sore. But, I'll keep nailing it 3 times a week. A: 3 times/week (STR: +2), B: 2.5 times/week (STR: +2), C: 2 times/week (STR: +1), D: 1.5 times/week, F: 1.times/week #3. 50 pushups without break nuf said. The goal is set PRETTY high for me. Anything more than 35 is a smashing success. A: 50+ (STA: +3, STR: +1), B: 45+ (STA: +2, STR: +1), C: 40+ (STA: +1, STR: +1), D: 35+ (STA: +1, STR: +1), F: below 35 Side Quest: My sleeping before 1am in the bed has been a total failure in previous challenge. However, I kinda have a hunch about how to fix this. As in Steve's blogs, to change, I need to have a habit. For sleeping, it's about "no digital devices" seems to be the key. WIS, CON: +3 for establishing the routine and 80% success rate. WIS, CON: +1 for establishing any kind of routine. This has really big impact on my overall life, so give myself a big points if I can pull this off. Life goals: Nicer to my wife. It's a complicated long story that I don't want to get in. WIS: +2, CHA: +2

Unfortunately, the bike season is pretty much over for me, but over the summer/fall, I did a few scenic rides. I wanted to create/plan the route before going out, and as I'm riding, I wanted my iPhone to do the navigation. All those "tracking" apps like mapMyRide doesn't do a boo for navigation while riding. Cue sheet thing is pretty hard if the route is complicated. A regular car navigation apps like CoPilot, etc. works in some degree but it's geared toward moving from point A to B, and not meant to be good for scenic "go here and there" kind of navigation. So, I used "ridewithgps", and mapmyride web sites to set up the route, and create gpx or ctx file, and loaded it to dropbox, and then used "co-rider" last time. It was a frustrating experience as the co-rider kept thinking that I'm at the destination when I was at the start since the route was a loop. While riding, though I could not use the voice guidance, but the map moved along and worked OK. But, near the end, it froze, and sent me to the road I was not supposed to, because I did not realize the app froze. It's not necessary that the app is only for iPhone, but since you carry a phone - be it Android or iOS - I want to use it. My question is - what do you use for the bike navigation for rides? The secondary question is, how to secure the phone on your bike when you do the bike navigation?

I started biking since this May, after my doc recommended. I bought a commuter. Fast forward to now, after about 1,800 miles, I bought a road bike, so I have a commuter and road bikes. I started the clipless since July. I fell 3 times the first day, but never while bike moving. After that, I fell twice in first week. I'd say that clipless is helpful to maintain the speed, but if your goal is to exercise and moving from point A to B, I don't think that clipless is must. My woman friend rides everywhere with a cruiser, and easily goes 30+miles. Having said that, when I had a bit soreness in one of legs, clipless really helped, because I can use different muscles. At the beginning, I was intimidated on the road, but that the woman friend showed me the light. If she can do it, I can do it too. Having good friends, and riding with friends made me comfortable riding on the road and gained the experience of being on the road. As you said, go with what feels right, and, since you cannot win against cars, just be patient, and stay safe.

Same here. I don't get much support at home either. Unfortunately, your transformation pisses them off. It peer-pressures them to get fit that they don't want to.(OTOH, my coworkers and tennis pals are more inspired.) You need to get mentally strong to shrug it off because you are not doing anything wrong. Openly ask your close people to not say anything negative or discouraging about you improving fitness. Insist that "I want to get stronger". Every time I catch someone says to me "You don't need to push yourself so hard" or "You don't need to lose weight", politely ask "I don't want to stop improving my fitness now so please don't discourage me." It's going to take some time for them to swallow the hard pill that you are no longer "one of them". BTW, never ever show off your fitness or weight.

The details are here. I aced on my primary goal of reducing body fat %, and educating myself about the workouts was excellent. But other things are not good. I totally f#$%ed up on other things. The other thing I noticed is that, I want to have more balanced life. I put too much effort on gaining strength and getting fit that other things are not followed up too well. It didn't make me very happy. I'm always being pushed around by coming up with time for workouts, thinking about workouts, and evaluating the workouts. Setting priorities is important, but balancing out to have normal life is just as important to me. For last 6 weeks, I don't remember watching TV at all. Maybe while sitting down eating food, I might have turned on TV, but as soon as it's over, I had to head out to workouts, playing tennis or riding bike. OTOH, I now know I can push myself much more than I thought I can. I added the workouts to the bike commute and playing tennis. That's something I learned. For next round of challenge may be to make the workouts more efficient, like 3hours max per week and still get results, so that I can do stuff I like in my life.

6 week challenge wrap up 1. Body fat The grading - F: >=18.0, D: >17.5, C: >17.0, B: >16.5, A: <=16.5. Result: A- (STR +1, DEX +1) Sep. 11 - Sep 16 Body fat % 17.4 Oct. 25 - Oct. 29 Body fat % 15.94 17.4 - 15.94 = 1.36 % fat reduction. 160lbs * 1.36 = 2.18lbs fat lost. If i take the original goal, it's A Even if I slide the starting fat% as 17.5, I still lost 1.36% body fat, which is B. So I'll say it's A-. 2. Workout Grading - A: 3 times a week. B: 2.5 times a week. C: 2 times a week. D: 1.5 times a week. F: less than 1.5 times a week. Result: A. I did workout 3 times on top of tennis and bike rides. It wasn't easy. Improved my chin up from 2 to 10 during 6 week. I can pull up multiple times from zero. I learned what kind of workouts I can do in my basement. I can do workouts even if there is nothing around me. More over, I now feel like I have to workout every other day. (STR +1, CON+1, WIS +1) 3. Sleeping Grading - A: 5 times or more a week, B: 4 times a week, C: 3 times a week, D: 2 times a week, F: 1 or less. F There is no question that my sleeping continues to be a big issue. I have to regroup and come up with an attack plan on this subject. I may pick this as next challenge. SIDE QUESTS World computer exchange volunteer work: D I started the work on writing down the steps of my volunteer work, but I spent more time on the actual volunteer work at WCE. Conclusion: Fitness/weight wise, I've been eating clean except necessary cheat days. (I found out needing cheat days hard way). Since Sep. 16th, (162.1lbs), I probably lost 2lbs or so, all of lost weight is in fat+water. The body fat% reduced by 1.3% which is about 2lbs fat. Looking at the weight and fat % graph by Fitbit scale (attached), I've lost nearly 10lbs in 3 months while maintaining muscle weight. My fat % is probably 16%. Looking at myself in the mirror, it's not too far from actual number. So, the fitness wise, it's a successful 6 weeks. Sleep needs improving. This is clearly my weakness that is preventing me to have more energy throughout the day. The rest of life part is taking a bit of "less priority". I'm focusing on food/exercise so much that the rest took a bit of back seat. I need to find a better balance of life/fitness goal. Next tasks are to find efficiency in food prep and workouts. Although I'm resisting, I think the gym membership is a necessity as it makes the workout more efficient. The other thing is that, playing tennis and workouts conflict big time. After I do back squat, it's hard to move on the tennis court afterward. When you do lateral arm raise with weight and go to tennis court, it's hard to serve. Clearly, the training is needed to make the shoulder stronger for serving better, but, doing both at same day is troublesome. I need plan out the playing time and workout time more wisely. I've definitely earned that I'm one level up. P.S. I love my NF hoodie.

I'll try the seat position. Thanks. I'll wrap up the challenge tonight. I know the guild. It's monk. Tennis is a martial arts. It's a one-on-one sport. Power, speed, balance, strength, endurance, dextality, deception, anticipation, mental and physical toughness are all important part of beating other guy. We don't hit each other directly, but we use a weapon (racquet) to hit an object that is moving (ball) to win the battle. You need to perform under pressure situations, keep cool in the battle, and come up the right answer to the attack in split seconds. The tennis game is a physical chess match and chaotic zen. I think this is the definition of martial arts.

I have a personal experience with needing cheat day. I started losing weight since May, learned Paleo around July to August, and paleo 80% since August. In September, I hit the wall. I was still eating the same and exercising the same as before but the weight loss stopped. That time, I had so many head rush late afternoon everyday I thought something is wrong with me. "Weight loss stoppage" + "Head rush - lower metabolic state" = My body metabolism is slowing down. was my conclusion. And, I found out cheat day. So, around the end of September, I started the cheat day on Saturday dinner to Sunday afternoon, not just caloric deficit but higher carbo as well. (Beer!) With the caloric deficit just about -200 - -400 everyday + a cheat day/week, my weight started going down again, and also I don't get much head rush anymore. If I knew, I'd probably did cheat day from beginning. Now I know it, I look forward Sunday, eat home fries, ride bike, and beer!. I make sure the caloric overdose is minor - +200 - +400 range which means I just eat sane amount of food I want to eat. It's good for both body and soul, and is worth considering when you think you hit the wall.

Wednesday and Thursday this week, I played tennis 2 hours each. I was freakin' tired. There is no way I can do Friday morning workout. I was still tired Friday evening. Today - Saturday, I wanted a bike ride, which I did for 30 miles. Bike ride is a "leg" heavy cardio, but if you do long enough, you'll feel your lower back. So before going to bike ride, I did a short body weight only workout. Battle log: Pull up: 5, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4 Hammer pull up: 8, 6, 4, 6 Prisoner squat: 30 and stopped - I realized I am going out to bike ride Bicycle kick: 42 Push up: 23, 18, 20

Wednesday Oct. 23, 2013 battle log: Bar upright row: 50lbs - 10, 6, 9 Wrist curl: 15lb 25, Reverse wrist curl: 15lbs 15 Dumbbell lateral raise: 15lbs 10, 7, 9 Decline pushup 14, 12, 13 Bridge crunch / Bicycle kick: Enough to feel pain Resistance band torso rotation: 15, 14, 12 Guest workouts: Chin up: 9, 6 Back squat: 50lbs - 32, 60lbs - 21 I had to stop the wrist curl after feeling a bit of pain in my left wrist. Wrist curl+twist/rotator cuff are for injury prevention for my tennis so it's not a big deal skipping some. I can add weights to my back squat but at my basement without squat rack, I don't feel safe over 60lbs. Chin ups are getting there. Push ups - I put a 40lb pellet bag on the bench to make it 4 - 5 inches higher for decline pushup. Last night, I went to bed before 1am! Yay!

Thanks. Weight-wise, I've been on it since May. I was about 190lb in April - 6 months ago, and now down to 160lbs. I'm trying to lose fat while keeping muscle. I have to wait and see the result a bit longer. 'TIl comin' to NF, I was noticing the notion of "low carb" but didn't know much about it. NF gave me a ton of info and helping me a lot. The bike ride is actually suggested by my doc, after being cleared for exercise I bought one for my commute. It's like going back to kid again, riding bike everywhere, and over summer I rode about 1,600miles. I ended up buying a new-ish rode bike - that was a rental bike of LBS - so significant discount. It's not the greatest but way faster than the first one.

I have the same problem. I set the goal pretty low. Going to bed before 1am. So far, twice I went to bed before 1am, and that's probably generous. I've been F every week so far. I keep the chocolate flavored whey protein on my desk and if I feel like I want something, I make a shake. It's not yummy but 50/50 water/whole milk make it much better.

10! Monday morning battle log: Chinup: 10, 7, 6, 6, 5 Barbell bent-over row: 50lb 15, 70lb 12 80lb 10 Dumbbell flye 10lb 17, 15lb 9, 11 Plank: 2:07, 2:04 Decline pushup from bench: 15, 13, 14 Wrist twist: 15lb x 2 20, 20, 25 Bicycle kick: 30, 30, 35 First time ever, I did 10! chin ups. Very pleased, and it set the tone for the rest of work out. Instead of bothering to change the weight of dumbbell for one-arm row, I changed the workout to do the bent-over row with barbell. Because I have one bar and a set of dumbbells, this works much better. Last Saturday, since I didn't do any core related workout on Friday, I did a core circuit training using Sworkit for 15 minutes before going to tennis. It works and I really think whoever came up with circuit training is pure evil. And Sunday, I went to a bike trail with my new road bike. It's very flat 12.25x2 = 24.5 miles and I was averaging 16mph+ which is good 2mph faster than my hybrid bike. With the weather getting chillier in New England, bike season is over and now is the time to buy bikes!

I'm feeling some mental fatigue. Workout seems like a chore. Food - still doing well but I don't have a lot of energy for cooking at the moment. I cannot care less about the side goals I set for my first challenge. I have to find a way to renew my energy for the challenge.

I worked out before going to office. I'm starting feel mental fatigue for workout now. I did not feel like doing any core exercise. It has something to do with feeling sore back from tennis but it's more to do with mental. Battle log on Oct.13 2013: Dumbbell pullover: 35lb 10, 10, 12 Pushup regular: 23, 25, 20 Pullup: 4, 4, 5, 5, Rotator cuff: internal, external 15x3 Inverted row: 19, 13, 16 Hammer curl: 35lb - 8, 6, 6 Bonus: Bar squat 50lb 21 My right tricep/elbow is sore from pushups. It needs some rest. Very pleased with pullups. I'm getting there. Barbell squat with 50lb 21 reps is interesting. I can do a lot more but I'm scared of aggravating my left knee problem.

Wednesday battle log: I did it in the morning before going to work - bike commute. Bar upright row: 50lb - 8, 6, 4, 6 Wrist curl: 15lb 30, 20, 13, Reverse wrist curl: 15lb 15, 18, 13 Dumbbell lateral raise: 15lb 9, 5, 10lb 10 Push up: 13, Decline pushup 12, 9, 10 Core workout: Sworkit core circuit training 10 minutes of pure hell Yesterday, I decided "100 push ups". Well, not in one shot, and some are knee down push ups. I did 60 total from knee and 40 total regular pushups in many many sets throughout the day. I would like to do all regular 100 push ups in row but you have to start somewhere.

Today's attack plan for Monday night. This unfortunately has to happen before heading out to play tennis. Chinup: total of 30 as many sets as I need. Dumbbell flye: 15lb x 10 x 4 One-arm row: 45lb 10 x 4 Dumbbell wrist twist: 40lb 10x3 Core body weight circuit training for 15min by Sworkit Bonus: Push ups if I have time. Result: I only had 30 minutes before going to tennis. Chinups: 8, 5, 4, 2, 2, 3. After tennis, I came home and added 6. Dumbbell flye: 15lb 12, 12, 10 One-arm row: 45lb 8, 8, 11 I did the core circuit training using Sworkit for 10 minutes. It's from hell. I can do 8 chin ups now. I hope I can hit 10 by the end of challenge.

I woke up early Saturday morning, and worked out what I can. From last night's tennis, my shoulder and lower back are sore. I need to rest my shoulder at least a day to do rotator cuff exercises. Result on Sat. Oct 12. morning: Pull up: 2, 2, 2, 1. Switched to inverted row: 13, 12, 16 Dumbbell pull over: 30lb 12, 35lb 8, 9 Hammer curl: 30lb 12, 8, 10 Bicycle kick: 30, 30, 30 P.S. I live in a two family house and early morning WO in basement work up downstair people. So, no more on weekend morning.

My next workout is "Friday". Usually Friday night. I did not play tennis last night and tonight. I'm itching to play tennis. I'll play tennis and there is very little chance of Friday workout in evening. I am planning a 48mile bike ride on Saturday, so doing "Friday" workout on Saturday morning is no good. I don't think I want to workout after the bike ride either. I do it either tomorrow morning, or wait 'til Sunday morning. Well, it's not like I don't exercise, I'm doing a lot of exercises I like and just hard to squeeze in the workouts.

I'm sorry about your mother. Your words are heartbreaking. Please remember that your loved ones don't want you to beat up yourself. You cannot change what happened. Be strong and make your every day as awesome as you can live with your family and friends.

In terms of workout, I do not like to give myself excuses but the hardest part is to make the workouts high priority. I have not missed any workouts, but I am not doing as much as I'd like to do. My workout loses out to day job, cooking healthy meals, having fun with friends on weekends, daily chores like food shopping and washing dishes, and most importantly playing tennis. I spend at least 6hours/week for tennis. Planning workouts and doing workout efficiently is getting easier as it goes on. I cannot tell you how I hate thinking about doing plank as I start a workout. At the same time, once it's behind, I have a great feeling about the accomplishments that I can pull it through. OTOH, other stuff is much harder. Side goals, like going to bed by 1am. I have some metal blockage about going to bed. I have to dig deeper myself to figure out. And, the life goal, I made a small step forward, and I have to put in my time to make it happen. I think I have to use all my nerd mentality to break down the problems to smaller chunks to make it seems doable. The tool is to write it down the steps you know you can do it, and crossing it out.

As I came home around 9pm by bike, I have no choice but do the "Wednesday" workout tomorrow morning. It might be a blessing in disguise since my whole upper body is still sore from tennis last night. So, the plan of attack tomorrow morning: Dumbbell lateral raise - 15lb, Bar upright row - 45lb, Resistance band torso rotation, Wrist curls - 15lbx2, Decline pushup from bench, Bridge crunch See how it goes. It is getting easier to plan the workout. Result of the "Wednesday" workout on Thursday morning. Dumbbell lateral raise: 15lb - 10, 8, 5. 10lb - 10 Wrist curl and reverse curl: 15lb 15, 14, 15 and 10, 10, 10 Resistance band torso rotation: 15, 34 (obviously too light), 10 Decline pushup from bench: 10, 14, 13 Bridge crunch: 30ish x 3. Bicycle kick: 30 Bar upright row: 50lb 10, 8, 5, 5 Guest workout at the end - bench dip: 20 (Up from 13 last time I tried), Chin up: 6 It was a B+ to A- effort.

Every time I play tennis, it's been full two hours of full speed. I'm so exhausted from Sunday night that tennis will take a day off. But my knee is not bothering. It's time to add some lower body exercise to the menu. Today's plan of attack: Chin ups - try to beat PR 7, Wrist twist - 25lb, 30lb, Plank 3x, One-arm row - 40lb Try to make 10x3 (was 10, 8, 8) Guest workouts: Standing deadlift 105lb. Single leg squat + single leg side hop. Result: I did not have time Monday night. So the "Monday" workout happend on Tuesday morning. I woke up a little early for that. Chinup: 8, 6, 7 Plank: 2:32, 1:31: 2:05 Bicycle kick: 30, 32, 35 Dumbbell flye: 10lb - 22, 15lb - 10, 10 One-arm row: 40lb 15, 45lb 8, 8 My whole body felt dull from tennis, and could not hold the body for planks. OTOH, Chinups were 8 (PR), and total of 21 without any help. I did not do any of leg workouts, or deadlift. I ran out of time and also my groin is sore from tennis. I give B for the effort but was not as max effort as it could be. Other front: sleeping still is not good. But, I was in bed around 1am last night after MNF.

Since Saturday (today at this point) is fully booked, I did the workout before tennis again. I had 25 minutes, 5 for warm up. I did not want to waste time on changing weight, so I gave up the standing deadlift or changing the weight of dumbbell. Result: Pullup (assited) 10, 10, 10 Hammer curl 30lb, 10, 10, 10 Dumbbell pull-over 30lb 10, 10 15 Rotator cuff internal/external 15, 15 Bicycle kick I took not much break between the sets. I wish I had more weights for the bar so that I don't have to take weights out and use it for dumbbell. I played tennis for two hours, and played pretty well. I was very pleased to see that my serve had better pop. I was quick all night. After playing at the tennis club, I did a bench dip (13, 13) and decline push up 15. I'm off to a full day of volunteer work at World Computer Exchange now.

It's Wednesday, and I'm honestly looking forward to workout after 6 in a row. But, I'm going out for tennis tonight so I have to figure out how to make time for the workout. I cannot do the workout at the tennis club and I must take shower at the club. It's likely that I change the outfit for tennis and workout at home before I go out. So, I need some adjustment and probably I'll have 20minutes at most. I'll try the regular Wednesday workout as much as I can in that time frame. An office admin guy was an army reserve. He was bringing us the mails and packages. At age 62, he said he does 100 push ups every morning, and just went to the floor and started doing push ups with ease. I just did regular push up in office. I was able to do 25. I instantly respected him. You gotta earn it. So, the plan of attach for tonite. Dumbbell lateral raise - 20lb each arm Wrist curl, reverse curl - 20lbx2, so I don't have to change anything. Bar upright row - 45lb Decline pushup from bench Bicycle kick - I am liking bicycle kick as it's simple, quick, and works a lot of muscles, and very exhausting. Inverted rows if I have time. Result: I had time between 8:00pm - 8:30pm. After 5 minutes quick warm up: Wrist curl 20lb - 10, 15lb 10, 14, Reverse wrist curl 20lb - 10, 15lb 10, 13. Dumbbell lateral raise, 15lb 10, 6, 10lb 10 Decline pushup from bench 12, 10, 10 Bench dip 13, 13 Inverted row 12, 12, 10 Bicycle kick 30, 30 I did not want to waste time for changing the weight of bar, so I gave up and did inverted row instead. I had to move between sets much faster than before. By the time I walked up to the car, I was totally sweaty. I started playing tennis 9pm, and finished 11pm, for 2 hours. I also did a mile run today after lunch. After coming back from tennis, I had a banana, a cup of whole milk + protein powder, some almonds and ibuprofen. (It's a bad idea to have ibu with empty stomach.) It's not a good idea to go out and play tennis after dumbbel lateral raise. I was struglling to serve. My arms felt heavy. I think I have to alternate tennis day and workout day. Tomorrow, I may have to go out for a dinner. So, I want to play tennis on Friday. Thus, the next workout is likely on Saturday instead of Friday.