Bookworm_Tess

Crosstraining: full body strength. Done. And I'm super tired 

Chuck taylors are for strength  

DAY 1/14: Street run, though it was one in the afternoon. It was cloudy and not very hot (South hemisphere, it's summer up here!).

It was an easy run, not a challenge to my condioning level. Yet

10' WALK + 6x (2' TROT + 3' FAST WALK) + 10' WALK

I just started running! Today! After a period of contemplation and a couple false starts, I finally got it going, just this morning.

I'm not really a beginner here. I started the sports & exercise thing a few years ago (2014). Back then I was right here, in the Rebellion!  I must still have journals lying around the NF's server.

I've been off for a while but now I'm back bc I need the exchange.

I'm an adult-onset athlete, and when I started out, I wanted to try everything. I was/am so freaking curious.

I've done beach rugby, swimming, free weights, bodyweight, biking, crossfit, muay thai and boxing. I know it looks like I don't know what I'm doing, but I have a hectic life, and I do what I can when in the situations I find myself. Apart from being sick/injured, I haven't spent a month without some kind of training for the past four years. So there you go, it's working.

For myriad reasons, all related to being broke af, I decided to start running. I got these great nikes someone gave me as a present, working legs, conditioned body and strong core. I got all I need and some more. So I put them pretty pink nikes on this morning, got out the door and did the first run on a program I got off a magazine online.

Here is the goal: DO THREE RUNS A WEEK, FOR 5 WEEKS

It's a program to prepare for a 5K run, which I'm hoping will take me out of beginner level in running.

I don't really plan on racing any time soon, bc I can't afford registrations lol. I am really, tottaly broke, it's hard even to explain it. Suffice to say I haven't been eating as weel or as much as I would like.

What else is going on:

STRENGTH It keeps me sane. Some people lift for power, some for fun, some for fitness. I lift for mental health. I got a cheap gym membership, which is highest priotity (higher than meat), and I plan to work out twice a week, on days I'm not running.

SWIMMING I got that membership on a promotional deal, which allows me a swimming session per week. I like it, I am good at swimming. It works off pain (I'm battling chronic fatigue and it hurts like rheumatism) and eventual DOMs. 

DIET I put on loads of weight during the worse of chronic fatigue and the bad anxiety period right before it (when I wasn't lifting, I must note). I came up with a low-cost diet system in which, after sunset, I can only have either salad or soup. I haven't been very faithful to this system bc let's face it dieting is hard. My favorite cheats are popcorn, for enjoying some TV with my SO, chocolate cookies and pasta. I'm a hell of a cook and I make awesome pasta. So it's hard...

I also do work whenever any comes my way (I'm an unemployed lawyer, so there's always some little thing to do). And I study. And actually this is what I do, I study. For 20-25 hours a week. I'm that kind of nerd.

I'm preparing to enter civil service as a public attorney, so this takes up most of my time, discipline and energy. But running is not very time consuming, and it realieves stress, and it will help me with my extra weight, and it's a skill I can work on by myself, and it's something to do outside the house when you can't afford outings... SO LET'S RUN!

16 hours ago, Waldo said:

TBH tho I've always drank diet in bars (when not drinking beer).  Rum tastes better in diet, something I figured out prior to my 21st.  

dammit i miss rum

and as a sober person on a diet, I drink a shitload of diet soda and have no issues with that

Every person is a special snowflake, and their neurological makeup is always different. As such, you expose different people to different substances, some will get addicted to some shit and other to something else. That's how you get all those people saying they're hooked on marijuana. I don't doubt them. They say they need help, they should be given help.

That's the thing, when people say they need help with stuff, they should be given help. Even if some time later they realize ity was not that but something else, people should be given help when they find themselves struggling with any kind of substance use.

I haven't disappeared! Haven't given up either. Against all hardships, I'll finish this challenge the best I can. And since I'm not even near getting good at pushups, Imma need myself another one.

So I took "the bar" (license examination for practicing law) last Sunday and I didn't go well. I put an enormous amount of effort into getting prepared, as you can imagine, specially on the last few days. The thing is I'm pretty proud about my grades, and I have been working on them for many semesters (my avarage is 8.7/10), and I wasn't about to just give that up so I could focus on the examination material, so I didn't really have all the time I needed to prepare and left some stuff out. I particulary left out a subject that has very little relevance on everyday life (there have been exactly 22 actions filed on that subject, in the entire 24 states, over the course of a couple of decades), and that was exactly what they asked of me in the test.

We are asked to write a petition for a hypothetical case, and we are expected to know what kind of action we intend to use to solve that particular hypothetical problem. It's a classic mistake to get the action wrong, and that's just what I did. For instance to write a petition to cease and decease when you actually needed a tort suit, or something like that. The thing is, if the type of action is wrong, they don't even read your petition, it's a 0, and you're out. Try again in four months.

So I lost some sleep over that, before and after, and now I'm mending the pieces of my pride here and getting ready to get back in the fight.

As for the challenge, week 3 *I left my notes on the number of pushups at home and will be editing soon to include it*.

Pushups: ...

Diet: ONE! day (argh)

Muay Thai: 2/3 days

Diet-wise, the problem is I was working my ass off with the "bar" thing, and it is very hard to study a f**ing lot and be hungry at the same time. I managed to keep my days within the diet, but as soon as got home in the evening after a long day (and had to study a few hours more), I fell in every kind of trap.

But that's how life goes. No one said shit was easy.

On 21/05/2016 at 5:50 PM, Kiki Dee said:

I felt the same way about med school!  Then about internship... then residency... then registrarhood... You get the picture.    And *then* I had children and realised what "no time to work out" really meant... From what my brother in law says, the early years out of law school can be much the same.  So I think the habits you're building now, when life is crazy, are going to serve you well through the rest of what is sure to be a really busy, exciting, stimulating, but time-poor life.   I love your challenge and I love the way you write, will be following along!

 

(For the record, I do think I'll eventually have "enough" time to sink into my exercise goals.  In about 2 years time when I finish training and reach consultant.  Because then I don't intend to ever work full time again!)

Hey, Kiki, thank you for the encouragement. The important thing is to not wait till *then* to starting working on strength, conditioning & skills, because we don't want to be unprepared when the time to have time for the gym finally comes, right? A little bit right now is better the all of it in the future

--> New week starting out! Week number three, new chance to do it all perfect and get a high grade on the challenge! Hehe! Everything is salvageable still!

Week two was kinda bad. Here are the numbers:

Pushups: 3/7 days - Accumulated week 2: 70 - Accumulated challenge: 111

Diet: 2/7 days (so bad!)

Muay Thai: 2/3 days

So I'm gonna make week three impeccable! Today I already went to Muay Thai class and did my pushups (only 10 as this was one hard practice this morning). Dieting in the morning is easy, it's the evening that's the tricky part! But I'll stay strong and power through!

This is the last week before my license examination (bar) and I still have a lot of work to do. So it promises to be a crazy week. I'm just glad my hormones are on check for this week lol. Silver linings, right.

I like lawyering and getting good at Law too, and I am, getting pretty good at it.

But I miss the other side.

I just have to put this out there: I can't wait for the semester to end and for law school to end for good and for me to have time to dedicate to sport & exercise again! It's just so great! I miss it like fuck. I was just at a restaurant now and saw this superstrong dude wearing a crossfit t-shirt and I was like envying the guy. I want people to see the strength in me too. I want to irradiate this piece of my identity. I want to be able to work on it for real, and to improve and to get good at it.

*sigh*

Back to the work desk.

Lots of people said lots of stuff, here's my two cent also. You will have to quit soda. For good. If you let yourself have one glass of the stuff, you'll make it alright to have a second one, even if the next day, or week, and before you know it, you'll be right back where you started.

I have had to kick both tobacco and alcohol, and believe you me, you have to give shit up for good. Maybe diet soda won't destroy your life like alcohol does, and maybe it's not as hazardous to your health as tobacco, but if it's bothering you as in you have even tried to kick it before, but can't, pal, you have a problem.

Don't try to substitute one thing for another, it just send signs to your brain that the stuff is in. Quit. Drinking. Sweet. Stuff. No soda, no whatever crystal you were having, no sweet'n'low in your coffee. Just water, plain coffee, plain tea (sparkling water is great stuff. Oh, and booze, since it's not a problem for you). Yeah it sucks but not as much as giving up alcohol, I'll tell you that. I lost an entire piece of my identity. Heads up: maybe you'll lose something too.

You'll just have to deal with the withdrawal. Yes, it will be horrible, and it doesn't take five days, oh no. Tobacco was the thing that got the best of me. I was constipated for like eight weeks. I had tantrums, insomnia, melancholy, for a few months. But if you let the sutff in, you'll just gonna re-start the cycle.

People think that because something is not absolutely dangerous like crack it's not addictive. It's not like that. If there's something you just can't seem to shake and it bothers you, if it has become a problem that you constantly think about, "oh, I should quit it, I must, I just have to", then you have to face it like it is. That's addiction man. And it's not going anywhere.

*dancing around the office and singing* I can see cleary now the rain is gone.... I can see aaaaaall obstacles in my way...

One thing that can be said about PMS and midterms both is that they pass...

I'm tired, but I'm still an A student and already making plans for graduation (at the end of the year). Got my CV updated yesterday and I gotta tell you, even I am impressed with myself. People should definitely hire me. I rock. Imma make a million for some lucky firm someday. Or maybe I'll live in material poverty and intellectual wealth for the rest of my life, which is fine too

Tue, Wed & Thu were a little tricky and I didn't either go to muay thai class or do the pushups. So it's just Monday and today, Friday, which is better than nothing.

Also, I lost a pound hehe (an entire one!)

Pushups

Accumulated pushups: 101

(6 out of 11 days)

Diet

As soon as PMS broke, I got a decent eating day. (1/5, this week)

Muay Thai

Took some effort to make the second day. And I did it. (2/3, this week)

I feel really shitty today. I have one of those energy-sucking PMSs combined with midterms anxiety. I got a stiff neck and sore feet and knees and trouble focusing and difficulty sleeping. I just wanna lay down and cry.

Still I push. Did really well on last Friday's and today's tests. Got still one test on Thursday and a presentation on the same day. I'm so tired I can't even look up the judicial decisions I need for the presentation Thursday morning. And I still have one more round of work this evening. Thank god it's menial stuff! #halfabrain

Slipped on the pushups during the weekend when I got distracted with schoolwork. But Monday got right back to it and delighted to feel form improving.

Pushups

Accumulated pushups: 61

(4 out of 6 days)

Diet

Not one day without slipping! Doing bad! PMS, disorganization, anxiety, too much time away from home - excuses abound... so does fatty tissue.

Muay Thai

All days I could have gone to class I did go. (2/2)

Challenge related: 10'' top hold + 8 reps yesterday and 20'' hold this morning. It was six o'clock. I didn't find it in me to push.

Muay thai related: I saw Ong Bak on netflix last night. So. Fucking. Cool. It's such a good movie it has replays, as in football matches? It was like "look at this backward flip again, it was just too good, or this fall, or this jump, or look at this explosion three times". Really good stuff.

Hello everyone. Me, I'll be doing pushups this time. Pretty excited about it yey!

So you people here are all martial artists, is that it?

Logistics: comments on

So I felt to get really good at pushups I should do them everyday. It's also a lot easier to control frequency, and to stablish the habit, doing something every single day. But I then I thought to myself, should I do them everyday? Is it safe? And then I turned to the internet to get better informed on the subject.

I came to the conclusion the internet is an idiot. (Not to mention often a liar.) There was even this one guy who stated pushups is not a resisted exercise. And you thought you were lost in strength & conditioning vocabulary, huh?

So I have to pull this one out of my own hat. Let me think this through, and out loud:

1. My goal is not to gain muscle or even strength per se, but to get better at this one movement. So I don't think any long rests will be required. I'm going for everyday then.

2. I have been injured before and I know how it feels. I'm very good at ignoring the signs of injury on the make, but I'll try to be alert. If I feel I'm overdoing, I'll stop, pause, give up, leave it for later... whatever I feel necessary.

3. Everyday is the for practicing, not the actual pushing up. Whenever I feel the necessity, I'll do planks instead in order to protect the joints and give the muscles a different stimulus.

4. Different stimuli make for a happy life (I just made this up). So I might do different stuff on different days to see how it feels and whether it helps with acquiring the skill. Inclined pushups, top holds, bottom holds, fast, slow, full, half, wide and narrow, eccentric, concentric, and whatnot. You never thought that could be so many possibilities to one simple exercise, did you?

I'm psyched! Lets do it!

On 06/05/2016 at 5:49 PM, Pavowski said:

I was wondering the math on that, too. 1000 in 4 weeks is 250 per week... if you work them 3 days that's like 80 per day -- no slouch!

 

I think I might have found an element of MY challenge this time around...

On 06/05/2016 at 11:21 PM, Grizzy said:

This is awesome! So 1000 pushups would be around 35 per day for a 4 week challenge?

People, I'm a literary person. At this very moment, I have Melville in my purse and Lovecraft in my mind. I meant an ALLEGORIC thousand. As in really a lot of pushup, as many as I can, but I won't be counting them. You Americans are too numerical I meant a more Chinese thousand, see? Hahaha

On 06/05/2016 at 10:03 PM, mmead0105 said:

You got this!! Push ups are pretty hard for me too, I just don't know why. You just gotta keep pushing...literally

Pushups are hard period. You just gotta keep pushing

On 05/05/2016 at 5:27 PM, Pavowski said:

Now this is a swell challenge.

 

And you might end up swole at the end of it.

 

I'm ... so sorry.

I adore bad puns. Keep it up! \o/

Will be publishing the logistics in a minute. Working them out.

For now, what I have to say for the challenge is that last muay thai class, after it was over, I rested for a couple of minutes as I folded my wraps, and then just dropped down and pushed a couple sets of ten. Despite being tired, I think I observed pretty good form. My poor paws hurt so much afterwards...

LOGISTICS

1. Practice everyday

It could be straightfoward pushups or planks if I'm sore/tired, or some variation if I'm bored.

2. Time of day: before shower

Everytime before I hit the shower I'll drop down and merrily push myself up. That way I don't have to worry about breaking sweat or proper clothing or putting aside a special time of the day to practice. More than one shower per day means more than one practice session per day, even if just a quick plank.

3. Number of reps

As stated below, I'm not aiming for 1,000 pushups, but for an ALLEGORICAL thousand, as in a whole lot of pushups. But I do think it should be fun to count them and add the sum at the end. I think I might impress a nerd or two around here at the end hehe

4. Goals

• Good form
• Stamina
• Strength

I'll make chicks at my muay thai gym sorry they ever picked up that pad to hold to me (badass posing). (Lol: since i'm a beginner, I don't really fight anybody, I just throw blows at pads. Good times.)

I'll be posting before/after videos so we can all laugh at/ be impressed with my pushing up skills as a group

Side goals

a. I'm dieting *sigh*. I have to push my bodyweight down since I like lifting my own body around and all my doctors told me to. So the side goal 1 is to keep to the (professionally prescribed) diet during the whole duration of the challenge. Not a piece of candy off.

b. Go to muay thai practice at least three times a week (building on the previous challenge).

There's one thing I covet that doesn't cost any money. That is being good at pushups. Used to be I wanted to be able to do a proper push up. One proper push up. I got there. Depending on the day, I'm able to do a couple sets of a few proper pushups and then some not so proper more (form breaks and I keep going as well as I can in hope of developing strength).

But then I took up Muay Thai, and now I'm often required to perform push ups at the end of the training session, after quite some punches thrown at pads, and burpees, and being generally tired and sore. Then my true pushup skills show, and they're shitty.

When tired, I can't control the lowering phase and let myself just fall to the floor, and I can't engage my core & hips properly and let my butt drop when pushing up. And then there's the problem of sheer numbers. I can't do very many of them pushups. My coach asks me for twenty, I can barely give her twelve. She lets it go because I'm the only one in the tatami trying for a proper form.

So the challenge now is getting good at pushups.

I'm good at other things. I'm good at planks, I do them regular, reverse, sideways, for pretty long. I'm good at core exercises, I can do an almost perfect jackknife, I can go for very many reps of full crunches. I do not suck at squats any more. I learned a few skills in the past couple years. There is no reason why I can't get good at pushups.

But why pushups? Because it's the most basic exercise there is. When an instructor wants to assess your fitness, first thing they'll ask you to do, is to perform a pushup. Fist thing they'll teach you to do, is a pushup. Pushups develop arm strength, shoulder strength, core strength, shoulderblades stability, core & hips control, even your wrists get some off it. And I'm suspicious pushups might just be the gateway to heavier exercises. I mean how do you expect do to impressive stuff if you can't even do the basic, catch my drift?

Then there's the fact that Bruce Lee was a master of pushups. And anything Bruce Lee was a master of is something worth striving to learn. Am I right?

If you really push it during the BW workout, after about an hour, as the muscles start to feel the fatigue, you get tired and sleepy. That's when you slip yourself some camomile tea & go to bed

Add some burpees to the workout. They're awful, so awful they'll make you absolutely tired when it's time for bed.

Hooray, new challenge!

Hey, doesn't it work if you just cut up the tofu and put it in the pan with a few veggies? That's what I do with chicken. And beef. And sausage. And rice, and pasta. And sometimes other veggies. Just season with fresh herbs and seeds & voilá: a meal to make all nerd fitness nerds proud of you!

See you on the next one! Stay strong!

Alright! Week four was a win, despite my aversion for the beach, with two muay thai practices on the previously set times, and a strength save at the end!

This challenge was definitely a pass!! Hooray!

Here's a nerdy victory dance specially for you guys

No victory dance yet. The muay thai coach decided to have a "different workout" this morning and called everyone, form the 6 am. and from the 7 am. classes, to be on the beach at six.

First, I hate the beach. I live in a third world city by the sea with other 4 MILLION people where part of my job is to know the conditions of water sanitation. Plus, I hate the beach in the early morning, when ALL people on this part of the city go there to "exercise", flashing around mall-bought shiny gear to do the very little whatever they do. I hate the burgeois, I do.

Second, it's hard enough for me to be up at six to be able to eat a full hour before working out in order to avoid reactive hypoglycemia, I would have to be up at five to be there at six. When I didn't even want to be there.

Third, it was raining!

I mean, come on!

So I'll be doing a strength workout by myself later today or maybe tomorrow. Then I'll come back for my victory dance. *shakes the tailfeather*

that pic, with that puppet, is the best yet on the history of introductory posts

welcome to the nerdy revolution. let's find something to read! no, wait, let's do some pushups and then find something to read!