Tough_For_Cancer

Thanks for all the advice guys. Good to know it will get better :-) And agreed Turtle - Marathon training definitely has to be my top priority right now :-)

Hi Everyone I haven't been on here for a while but I'm back as I'm desperately in need of encouragement! I'm currently training for the London Marathon and want to balance out my running with a strength programme of some kind. I recently went into my gym to meet a trainer who had put together a programme for me. I've never done any barbell training before and we started doing 3x15 deadlifts with about 100lbs. After doing these I was huffing and puffing, sweating and felt sick, there was no way I was completing the rest of the workout so I cancelled my session and went home! The thing is, I really would like to get started with a plan like strong lifts 5x5 or starting strength to supplement my running but what we did during that session was just too much for me to begin with. I think I would have been better maybe just doing 5 deadlifts at my max weight? So on one hand I'm really discouraged, on the other hand I'm really pleased to have actually stepped in the gym and done something with free weights and I really like the plan my trainer has put together - I just maybe need to scale it back a bit! So, my question is, should I swallow my pride and get back in the gym or knock it on the head until the marathon is over?

Thanks for all the advice guys and girls. Tomorrow is first day back in gym since posting so will be working on those negatives! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Everyone I bought a Garmin Forerunner just after Christmas and for the past 4 weeks or so I hve been using to heart rate train. I've been following the training plan in Roy Benson's Heart Rate Training book which advocates building up an aerobic fitness base by running at approx 60 - 75% of max heart rate for 8 - 12 weeks or until you can run in that zone without your heart rate going above the upper limit for the zone. I usually run around 8.5 minute miles over 10k pace but running in this zone is limiting my pace to about 11.5 minute miles. My question is: will I ever get quicker?!! Running in this heart rate zone is sapping the fun out of my runs. However I have noticed that since I started that the runs are very easy effort, I'm feeling no aches, pains or niggles and my waist size is dropping. I have events throughout the summer and would usually be following a training plan with regular interval and tempo sessions by now as I prepare for my events. Should I stick with building my aerobic base and hopefully see my pace improving within the 60 - 75% zone or should I park this type of training until the winter when I can build up a good aerobic base through the cold months when there are no races on the calendar? Any similar experiences and advice would be much appreciated :-) Thanks!

Thanks for the advice guys. It sounds like I need to build negatives and hanging into my routine. I would leave the bar up and practice whenever I get the chance but i have two small children and it's not particuarly safe with them around. Having said that I think my son will be able to crunch out a few pull ups soon ;-) Nice blog BH :-)

Hi Everyone I've recently started Convict Conditioning and am really struggling with the pull up progressions. I rarely get to use my pull up bar for my doorway at home but I do have a pull up bar/monkey bars at my gym. At the moment I can just about hang off the bar for twenty seconds but everytime I try again after that I get diminishing returns. Can anyone recommend a good progression or starting point for pull ups? Thanks!

Hi Everyone So, my name is Ben, 32 years old, this is my second Nerd Fitness challenge. I wrote those words nearly one year ago as I started my second Nerd fitness challenge and whilst I continued to exercise towards my challenge goals life intervened with my ability to update Nerd fitness and my participation in this forum fell by the wayside. So now I'm back with a renewed committment to bodyweight training and Nerd Fitness! So, now it's time to get serious with body weight training! My overall goal is to get down to 15% body fat but I also have side goals of being able to complete the following movements: A pull up (still can't do them) One legged squat One arm push-up Hanging leg raises and the plan is to do this by: 1) Eating clean: Lots of fresh veggies, lean meats, healthy fats etc. 2) Following Convict Conditioning and committing to completing a CC workout three times a week. I'll be doing a full body workout in every session rather than 2 exercises per session as recommended by Coach Wade 3) Continuing to run as normal. That means around 15 miles a week. At the moment i'm heart rate training and trying to build my aerobic fitness base. I realise it could take me substantially longer to complete these movements than it could to hit my desired bodyfat goal!! I have a few events booked up this year including two Tough Mudder's and two Wolf Runs so most of my training will be in 6-8 week blocks, each one culminating in an event. So, provided I stick to this plan (and with kids, family life work etc. who knows what obstacles will be thrown in the way!) here's how I plan on distributing my shiny new points: Strength (STR) - physical strength - 3 pointsDexterity (DEX) - agility and speed - 2 pointsStamina (STA) - Endurance and Energy - 2 pointsConstitution (CON) - ability to resist damage and disease - 3 pointsWisdom (WIS) - intuition and sense of things around himselfCharisma (CHA) - force of personality and physical attractiveness Looking forward to meeting some Assassins alongside the friends I've made on NF so far :-) Hope your challenges go well!

Just checking in to see how it goes. Looks like a sterling effort and some good progress :-) What kind of bike do you ride? Your garage project sounds super cool. Will you be posting progress pics as you go along? I'm trying to do a "mancave" project in my garden - somewhere where I can workout, play my guitars etc. So far I've pulled out a fence at the back of the garden to create some space (we had a false boundary fence) and also cut down a large tree that was preventing me from putting in a summerhouse or other outdoor structure. I'm absolutely useless with D.I.Y. though never built anything, don't own any tools. Hopefully one good project will teach me some of the skills I need to maintain our home a bit more and I'll also acquire some basic tools along the way. Keep up the good work!

My daughter would love these!! I'm thinking on Saturday we could do breakfast for dinner now, although it does mess with my whole OCD everything should be where it should be vibe!

Hi Guys Sorry about the lack of progress posting, despite my best resolutions to be more active in the community during this challenge kids, work etc. keep doing their best to get in the way. Last week was a good week. After bootcamp from hell the DOMS was back with a vengeance! Wednesday felt like someone had set fire to my limbs and then pummeled them with baseball bats. By the time Thursday rolled around I was moving about like Boris Karloff in Frankenstein and making slow, guttural groaning noises. Decided enough was enough on Thursday night and went for a three mile run which I completed in 27 minutes. Friday I did Convict Conditioning at home and I've now started the 30 day plank challenge to put some core work into my routine throughout the course of this challenge. I've also added one rep, per set, per exercise as per the programme. Still not sure when I add in that third work set. I guess it's once I reach intermediate standard on my exercises. If that's correct then I'll be adding in some third work sets for some of my exercises next week. Saturday I went for a 6.5 mile run which I completed in 56 minutes. Pleased with how my running's going at the moment. Feel like I should be in good shape for the Wolf Run in 3 weeks time, provided I stay injury free. Sunday, I felt completely burned out. Slept on the sofa for three hours in the afternoon and then polished off three huge slices of homemade banana cake which my wife had baked with a mug of tea. Followed by Sausage, egg and chips with a Yorkie bar for tea!! Very unlike me but i think, because I've stuck to my clean eating relentlessly for a few months now, I was due a bit of a blow out. I don't really ever do cheat days so maybe these are something I should factor in. Anyway, my weight and waist were both up a bit on Monday. I think this is just a result of Sunday's binge and it wasn't a real reflection of my progress. I weighted and measured myself yesterday (Tuesday) and today (Wednesday) and found that my weight had dropped compared to a week ago so pretty sure Monday's was a false reading. Determined to get my bodyfat % as low as possible by the end of this challenge as I would then like to start focusing more on calisthenics and eating a calorie surplus to build mass. I've also signed up for another Tough Mudder - think I have a serious TM addiction!

Cheers! It wasn't pretty, that's for sure. That second round of circuits looked more like Apocalypse Now than the Dirty Dozen.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I got my revenge my making him a particularly weak cup of tea in the office today. Who's laughing now?! Unfortunately, in the immortal words of Sir Elton I'm still standing and stiffer than I've ever been. No sitting down for me at the moment! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Arghhhh!!!!!! Today is utter pain. Spent the best part of today walking like John Wayne due to some serious post-training muscle soreness. Yesterday was training with the guys and our unofficial team leader decided that we hadn't been training hard enough recently and we all needed to be put through our paces! We don't call him Beastmaster McNasty for nothing! So.... training looked something like this: 1 mile warm up run 40 squats 100 yard sprint Lunge back to starting line 30 squats 100 yard sprint Lunge back to starting line 20 squats 100 yard sprint Lunge back to starting line 10 squats 100 yard sprint Lunge back to starting line 10 squats 100 yard sprint Lunge back to starting line 20 squats 100 yard sprint Lunge back to start 30 squats 100 yard sprint Lunge to start 40 squats 100 yard sprint Lunge to start then....... Rope climb x 2 20 16 kg medicine ball twist and slams x 2 20 20kg kettle bell snatches x 2 20 tyre flips x 2 20 hitting tyre with hammer (there must be a name for this?! I shall call it "Hammer of the gods!" x 2 20 bicep curls with the Bulgarian Bag x 2 20 weighted squats (more, squats, really?!!) with the bulgarian bag x 2 Cool down run although this was more like a waddle by the time we'd finished! So tonight I sit here typing this, slathered in deep heat with my foam roller ominously waiting for me. Was great fun though - will try and get some photos of next week's session.

Hi! Came to your challenge via the Assassins. Some good goals there and have the same home life/fitness challenge as yourself so thought I'd swing by and offer some support for a fellow dad!

So, week one down! Didn't exactly stick to my training plan last week as kid related commitments meant no Convict Conditioning on Sat and no run on Sunday. Did manage to get in a fifteen mile bike ride on Sunday though and even made a new friend along the way - a fellow cyclist who was riding the same route as me! Had a good interval run on Thursday and another decent recovery run today. The tempo and interval runs are definitely paying off on my overall running with my average pace down to about 08:30 minute miles. Eating was good last week. Lots of salads, stir-frys, sweet potatoes etc. Might have over done the red wine on the weekend though. So, without further ado, this weeks stats are: Weight: 176.4 (4 ounces down from last week) Waist: 35 inches Bodyfat: 18% Six weeks to go now until our family summer holiday. I'd really like that body fat figure to be closer to 14% and my weight closer to 171 lbs. Just need to be consistent!