Bookworm_Tess

I'm all alone again. No instructors. For the past semester I had been working out at this awesome gym with this great PE instructor and for once I was getting results! It was expensive as fuck, but I have never been so strong, safe & pain-free. But a new semester arises and things changed a lot. I'm really, really broke, like, really broke. (For a change, huh?!) I gave up working to finish Law school (this is my last year and I have a shitload of things to attend to so I can get my degree). I have to pass the "bar" (local license examination) and turn in my senior thesis. Also, I'm preparing for a very competitive public post (attorney for the State). On top of that, I thought it'd be a good idea to take up German too. (May I just say... NERD!) So there you are. I have no time to go to the gym and very little money to find solutions with. Thankfully, there's a gym in my condo, fairly well equiped, the only two major things I feel are missing are safety bars on the squat rack, which have served me more than once, and a bar where I could hang from for pullups and stuff. And the PE instructor of course. (I miss him so much...) With losing my instructor and my gym routine, I have just kinda let things... slide... and I'm currently some six weeks without regular exercise (I have randomly hit the condo gym, no routine tho). I'm going fucking crazy. As in crazy crazy. Craze ass bitch. Touring crazy town. Looney tunes. Bananas. Just last Saturday I had a panic attack sitting in my living room alone trying to watch a movie. I feel depressed and anxious and losing control of shit. I feel like crying and lose my appetite. I have intrusive thoughts and can't focus on work. Working out's my goddam zoloft and I know that. Have known it for some time. Overcame fucking addiction with it. Yet I let it slide. Shouldn't have let it slide. So goddam hard to do it by yourself. So I came back to NFR, maybe the community can help me keep the routine going. We shall see how it goes.

Out of pure, candid curiosity -- what do you have against Rippetoe? (I'm not crazy about him but I generally listen when he speaks.)

I. Am. Schocked. SOCKED! I'm at a business where there's sweat all the time and people actually get to the point of smelling. Futhermore, I play rugby, beach rugby, which means sporadic blood, sand down our buttcracks and fungi on my feet soles (which creep in from the tears on skin from running barefoot on the filthy urban sand). And yo'all realtionships with your hand calluses is the most disgusting thing I've ever heard in fitness. Hahaha Congrats, guys. Specially the one guy who rubs his callus against the knurl of the bar.

So I've been looking around the Internet.... when you're into weights there are a few girls around you can look up to, weightlifters, powerlifters... But there aren't any girls when you're talking BW strength, are there?

My back pain is already much better. It doesn't hurt all the time anymore nor does it hurt as bad when it does. I have patiently been doing the first steps of CC and adding some isometric training to try and preserve my muscles. I'm a girl, muscles come extra hard for us. Gotta take good care of them. Here some thoughts on my BW work so far: Isometric holds: I love isometric holds. I have been working with them for almost as long as I've been training for strength. They're good for when your joints are sore, and they make excellent warmups and they're extra fine for learning body control and focus. It's only been a week so it's too soon to tell how they're affecting my size or my strength. Wall pullups: these are the Step 1 for the Pullup series in Wade's program. They're extremely easy and boring. But I'm dutifully putting in the work. Wall pushups: Step 1 for the pushup series. Extremely easy and kinda frustrating because I'm already able to perform full pushups, but also dutifully following the program. Shoulderstand squats: now things are not so easy any more. I've felt the need to spend some time doing shoulderstand holds so that I can learn how to be in that position safely and comfortably before piling up reps. You see this has the potential to put a lot of pressure on the cervical spine and I don't want that. I learned after a while in the hold that you have to intentionally stabilize the scapulae so that your weight lies on your shoulders not your neck. Tricky thing tho. Haven't met the beginner standart yet for that exercise. All lower body work I'm getting is wallsit holds. Knee tuck: the first of the Leg raises series. It's a hard movement I had never tried, but it's not impossible. With some focus and practice I believe I can get good at that pretty fast. What else? I've also been doing some random exercises such as situps and jackknife situps and some lunges and burpees, stuff I learned at crossfit, as warmups or when I feel I have a little more to give to the workout when the "work sets" of step ones are done. I have actually missed doing burpees. Can you imagine that? Also a couple of moves I remember from my very short time at yoga. It's hard to find a class that fits my schedule, since I work in the morning and go to school in the evening. Nobodu teaches classes in the middle of the afternoon :'( And all the mobility workout I can remember and fit into 10 - 20 minutes before I start the warmup. I like it and I feel it's important given my history with injuries. Finally, I've set a routine plan in wich I do workout A (pull & leg raises) on day 1, workout B (push & squat) on day 2 and then rest the third day (forcibly). Let's see if that works!

@BigGuy47 thank you for the link! Mark Rippetoe to the rescue, as usual Only it got me thinking... I'll have to develop a whole of a lot more strength on these lilli fingers of mine in order to pull all my 75 kilos hanging from those very lilli fingers...

CUT THEM OFF?? WITH A KNIFFFFFFE? I thought that was the last thing I should do! Really did. Lol. Thought they were there for a reason.

It's not that I'd like to avoid them, I know they'te unavoildable and I'm evrn kinda proud of having them. It's that they're DIFFERENT, and painful. They never used to get this big or painful when I was crossfitting. And I was spending TIME hanging from a bar there. So I figure it's something I'm doing wrong? All I'm doing right now is isometric hanging holds so I don't lose grip strength as I go throug the earlier steps of Convict Conditioning. There's also an equipment change, now I have a slim wodden bar to hang from.

Hooray! \o/ I'm new to the style. I was into lifting and tried crossfit for a while but that's really no my cup of tea. But then I realized I prefered the BW exercises than the barbel ones... So I just started out with Convict Conditioning. I am able to perform a few full pushups and I was doing pullups with an assistance band at the box, but I thought I'd go right back to the beginning as the book suggests since I'm still kinda new to fitness and have some old injuries (left knee, lower back). I plan on keeping to CC for a while, maybe mixing it up with some other movements to build foundational strength, and then I'll see where things take me. I fancy ring work, parallel bars work... but that's just a goal right now I just thought I come by and say hello. Hello!!

So this is where the other women into pullups and pushups hang out?

I got around to doing my first CC workout today. I had planned on doing it yesterday, but I donated blood yesterday and had blood pressure issues afterwards. They had to give me IV fluids to keep me from passing out lol. I was so embarassed. Basically they took a pint of my good blood and repleced it with a cup of sodium chloride solution. I spent the day with a major headache and some fatigue. But all I needed was rest & food, I woke up just fine today. As the very first CC workout is ridiculously easy & fast, I threw in a long, nice moblity work sessions, including some moves I got from yoga, to relieve the back pain, and then a long isometric session as warm-up. Still, I finished the workout within 45 minutes. PUSHUP Step 1 - Wall pushup: 2 x 10 LEG RAISE Step 1 - Knee tuck: 2 x 10 -- one with outrageous form, one slightly less horrifying, it's harder than I thought. As I'm told low mobility and weak grip can hinder CC progressions, I was careful with my mobility work and did some hanging holds to maintain grip strength while the program doesn't have me hanging from a bar. I can feel my hand is strong from all the bar work at crossfit. I wish I wouldn't lose it. I'm also a bit worried about my beautiful strong shoulders... will push-ups be enough to keep them until I'm ready for handstands? And my feet and some cool muscles I have around my knee, those are definitely the results of loaded bars. Will they go away? As long as the pain goes away too, it's a trade I'm willing to make. Not happily, but... Oh fuck I already miss the weights

I've seen the one on StregthUnbound, I liked that very much. Gonna check the other ones out, thank you.

Little musing on learning and coaching: when I read stuff published in the physical education niche, not fitness freaks, but profissional teachers and coahes, they usually refer to something called a motor repertoire (sounds much better in Portuguese), which is the repertoire of movements each individual can perform. Apparently (I've been learning these stuff "by ear") it's something you acquire as a child, much like linguistic skills (my teaching specialty). I was never a sports-loving kid. I'm a nerd. I'm a cool nerd, but a nerd. My favortite places were always libraries and bars (wherefore the cool). Plus, I'm a girl. Girls are taught to sit still, to not play like boys, to not climb trees lest our underpanties will show, to not get dirty. I was vetoed by my male playmates from many a ball game... and videogames too, actually. Of course girls do all that, climb, play ball, get dirty... just not as much as boys. Everytime my mom got mad at my filthy clothes, seh'd go why can't you behave like a little lady? Whereas boys heard other types of telloffs. So, yes. I need a coach to show me how to run properly. As I needed one to sow me how to do a pushup (that coach was a girl too yey). As I'll probably need one to show me the next obvious thing down the road. Have you seen me throw a ball? I think I'll need to adress that sometime...

One more thing: I have nothing to hang myself from for the pulling movements, except for ceiling... hum... what do you call them in English... those square logs that go across the ceiling? But that's too big for my lady hands (lol... just... LOL)... So I'm just going to invest in something. I between getting TRX or rings. I plan on hooking them onto that ceiling log that's not optimal. The ceiling in question is not too high tho. Which one do you think would be best? Or just a simple doorway bar?

Thank you guys, I'm totally gonna jump into it and see what can be learned & gained from there. I got a coach to teach me running at the same time (now that working out in my home freed up the gym fee money) so I think I'm about to have a productive time fitness-wise. I'm all about learning the stuff. Yes, I want to get strong and do cool feats of strengths, but my real goal for the past couple years has been achieving autonomy regarding the care of my body and my strength. And from what I've heard, here and other places, there seems to be a lot of learning to be gotten from CC. @BaconHunter: I loved your blog. Haven't even read it yet, it's just that shot of you on the bottom of a pistol squat smiling like a toothpaste ad...! Hahaha I just LOVED it. Totally gonna read it. ... and hey where are all the other ladies interested in pullups and pushups?

I'm starting out on a new path in my strength journey. I got a little anxious about finding the next step when I "broke up" with my last modality (not without giving it a good honest try), but I have to say as soon as I started lining up my options, I felt exceited and liberated. And I'm extremely glad I found Convict Conditining & really hope this will work out, seen as every coach out there really competent on bodyweight exercises is probably working with crossfit (it's really getting big out here now and there's massive money to be made on it). So here I am, with a little experience gained on bodyweight movements from my six months of crossfit and a self-help book. And NFR. Aka you guys I'm really really excited about starting, I see lots of benefits to be gained there and I can't wait to do my workout the way I like it again, which I didn't get to do in the box: slowly, focusing on form & thinking about what I'm doing, having some control over my own process and, best of all: BAREfoot! I love doing stuff barefoot and I had to use trainers in the box! Worse: as all my money was mobilized on paying the fees for the box, I couldn't afford flashy gear, and as crossfit is a very expensive modality, it attracted lots of rich people, which paraded several hundrend bucks worth of feet gear alone. And me in my rundown chucks. (I really felt like I didn't belong. I meant to stay longer, over a year, so I could learn more and use that knowledge later on my training carreer. But my back couldn't hold it. Nor could my self-respect. I got really tired of finishing last every damn WOD.) Tomorrow will be my first workou of Convict Conditioning. Due to some injuries I bring from my weakling time and my clumsy attempts, I'll start right at the beginning. (Even though I am able to perform several dozen reps of full squats and full pushups, like all crossfitters... but with what quality form?) Also, I'm just waiting on some money that's about to come and I'll go see a PT regarding my back pain. I got real responsibility with my body, don't worry. Have a great week all of you! Let's all end it stronger than we started it off!

I just read Convict Conditioning and I'm totally excited about starting it! I loved the book, the program, the simplicity of it etc. I'm usually good at having a critical stance regarding ultimate fitness programs, but I confess I can't see any problems with convict conditioning, though I'm sure they're there. Any thoughts, anyone? Anyone successfully followed it? Anyone started out and quit? Got bored? Got hurt? Got strong as fuck & awesome & happy & healthy? Thanks for any insight. (I guess I mostly want to talk about the book... ) My background: Tried some gym here & there but got bored. Got six months of crossfit in but gave it up because it's too crazy for me & i'm too slow for it. I have some experience swimming (that was my first modality). I'm also part of a beach rugby team (sevens) which I'm not currently practicing with because of back pain. Lower back, low lumbar & top sacral: bulging discs :'( My current fitness level is somewhat decent on account of crossfit (just gave it up) except for the back pain.

ou guys realize redfoot bailed right after someone suggested TDEE & IIFYM, right? after that this whole thread became about self-affirmation of random people's beliefs on food & nutrition, right? but it's not about me. it's about redfoot. and I'm not coming across, my linguistic skills impair me. lemme try again then. in proper english. Dearest Redfoot You should find some objective way of quantifying what you are eating if you feel you are eating too little, because it's possible, or if you're feeling lost. Calories are the greatest tool out there for doing so, but you could also quantify it by managing your macros, or amount of food in pounds, or kilos, or portions. But the bottomline is you need to objectively quantify it to know what you're doing. Because at one point advice like clean your eating doesn't help anymore. All the people overweight out there are not shoving garbage down their pieholes. And it is possible to eat too much food. And two pounds of vegetable a day is bulshit. As all the meat you can eat is bulshit. And banning grains and starches and all things whose cabon is linked with oxigen and hydrogen is bulshit. It all sound really breakthrough, but it is not going to work for long periods of time. I know it because I have tried them and monitored results while doing so. The truth is getting leaner is really hard and any one approach is not going to do. It is going to be complex and long and it's going to change as time goes by and your body changes. Thus you may get hungrier over time. So if you really feel the need to eat all things, eat something. It is *the only* way of effectively managing hunger. And find a way to have some control over this something so it doesn't turn to, or seems to turn to, too much. Sincerely yours Tessie

Right. Not about me, but about how to eat even less. I offered my experience and got dismissed again and again. You cant really blame me for getting pissed. But you know, go drink warm tea for dinner and do yoga for lunch. I've been into that trip and back. You guys have a nice ride.

Yeah. Which is why I totally get fighting for sport but I never get past the concept of getting beaten up for sport..

Oh and I use my bicycle as a means of transportation, I've never had a car, I've walked long distances for ever. Plus for the past two years I've swimmed and lifted and calisthenic-ed and now I'm crossfiting. Weight? Doesn't budge. So maybe it's a little bit more complex than "clean your eating". And I gotta say nobody's really sure what "cleaning" your eating really means, so. One has to do the work and find out what really works for them. And people do get hungry, by the way. Often.

Dudes. I've been eating vegetables since I was a little kid. Loads of it. I'm third generation Weight Watchers lol. I'm Brazilian, I grew up eating fruit from the trees. My vegetables dealer brings me a basket of organic vegetables and another one of organic fruit a week. I eat no processed food. I don't eat dairy, I don't drink alcohol. I don't overdo neither meat nor starches. I'm still 15 kilos overweight. Just saying.

How do you like my new profile picture? Lol. It's my way of putting my game face on for the new semester

I don't know, folks, it sounds like this guy (girl?) is hungry. Then maybe techniques for eating less, or for keeping eating to a minimal, like, hang in there, this too shall pass, may not be ideal. Because in my personal experience, I can only go so long hungry without breaking down and effectively eating all things and then gaining all the weight I had lost back. If you go doing all the exercise you feel like, which is a GREAT thing, it's like conquering your own body over, it may need a bit more food, you know. Personally, I'm astonished at people who do like stronglifts or whatever on 1200 calories a day. I really think they're lying. I recently decided to take on crossfit (not easy, I'll tell you that), and my intake went CRA-ZEY for a few weeks before it settled on rougly 300 calories above what it was. I can only control this process by monitoring intake and results. I hate doing this, but I'm having a real hard time losing weight. This is the only thing thats helping some. Knowing what's going on and claiming control over it. Then I use calories as a tool. It's a great tool to have in your box.