Cayleigh

Yay! Totally down for a mid-October hike.

mightstone2k I'm down to join you for any of those adventures, I've been wanting to do a pdx meetup for awhile - maybe we should just organize something and hope people show up!

mightstone2k I'm down to join you for any of those adventures, I've been wanting to do a pdx meetup for awhile - maybe we should just organize something and hope people show up!

Hey you guys! I would love to meet up with any fellow NF'ers here in town! Should we set something up? Happy hour? Or something more active, like a bike ride or hike? I am free most evenings and weekends - any days/times that you all would prefer?

The title says it all: After a few months of regular workouts I can finally do a real push up! This was my challenge goal last time and it took me a little more than 6 weeks but I got there! Next stop: pull ups! That might take a little longer

Hi everyone, I'm excited for challenge #2 but I might need a little guidance formulating it! Is "get stronger" a reasonable main quest? I'm trying to analyze what my motivation for all this is, and it's kind of hazy. What makes you guys passionate about these workouts - is it the exercises themselves, or the activities they help you with? I am excited by the idea of ninja skills but I don't really do anything at the moment that requires them! So I guess I'll be doing some soul searching during this challenge, but here's what I came up with so far: Main Quest: Level up at least one progression in each exercise from the startbodyweight.com program (beginner version, so squats, horizontal pulls, push-ups, planks, and leg raises). My current levels are: unassisted squats to parallel, horizontal pulls from the door knob, 3/4 push-ups, side planks, and straight leg raises. Some will be easier than others, but the push-up one's been going slow, so I might change this to level up TWO levels, we'll see. Goal #1: Do the beginner's routine from startbodyweight.com 3x per week. If I get stuck on anything, ask for help instead of skipping any of the exercises, and don't skimp on the warm-ups and stretching! Track everything so I push myself to make improvements every workout. Goal #2: Figure out the best way to eat to gain strength quickly. I'm gonna have to do some research, but I'm guessing maybe... Paleo? Do the same principles apply to both weight lifting and bodyweight training in terms of diet? Suggestions welcome here... Goal #3: Pick some kind of fun activity that benefits from ninja skills... rock climbing, parkour, some kind of marshal art? Anything! And take a class, or find a buddy who wants to try it out with me. The idea here is to find some fun things that I can apply my growing strength and flexibility to, for added motivation and also just to experience some new things & new people. If there are any Portlanders on here I'd love to find an adventure workout buddy for any of the above activities! Any suggestions on how to fine tune this more?

Hey sorry I haven't been on the forums for awhile! I kinda fell of the wagon for a little bit, I got de-railed as I kind of re-vamped my strategy. But I'm doing pretty good, I started following the routine at startbodyweight.com and I like it a lot so far. Especially for the pushup progression - it has me doing 3/4 pushups, basically a regular pushup on the way down and a 3/4 on the way up. It's definitely more effective than the lower incline pushups in that it's getting me way closer to the actual form of a regular pushup. I haven't tried to do one regular one yet, but I'm super close!! Woop! Best of all though, I'm getting into a solid routine for a whole body workout. I'm already starting to think about what my next challenge will be! It's awesome of you guys to check up on me I need to re-vamp my workout log, it's a mess right now since I switched. Hopefully will do that soon.

Checked out startbodyweight.com and it looks great! I think I will give it a try. I also agree I need to spend some time thinking about my goals. Right now it is just "get stronger" but I need to probably work out some specifics at some point Thanks for the help!

Honestly I've just been doing this one since I found it and it felt like exactly what I needed. I haven't looked around for upper body stuff but I'll definitely let you know if I find anything good. Maybe try looking at that same guy's other videos, since he seems to know what he's doing. If you find something please let me know! Haha! I hear you on the steel girder thing. I hope you can try it eventually and that it helps. After doing this for about a week I can *almost* touch my toes (still bending the knees a tiny bit but not much) and I've pretty much never been able to do that. There are still parts of the routine I really struggle with but it's made a big difference so far.

Thanks for checking in you guys! I am doing pretty great, still making progress although it seems a little slower now at this elevation. I just got some advice on maybe focusing on lower reps, so I am thinking of changing up my plan just a little bit! I'll update again when I get that figured out. In the meantime that link above should still work for seeing my progress log. Last workout my plank was waay shorter than the last time. I'm not sure why but I did spend about 4 hours biking that morning (did Bridge Pedal, over all 10 bridges in Portland, it was so fun!) and my lower back was really tired afterwards. So hopefully that's all and I'll be back to approaching 2 minutes next time, woop! Thanks for the support!

Thanks PaulG, that's quite a different approach. Since continually improving my strength is the end goal here, not being able to do a ton of push-ups, seems like adopting this strategy might be the way to go. Speaking of Steve's programming, what do you think of the BBWW? Any suggestions for someone just starting out? I know it's a broad question but there are so many suggestions and possibilities floating around here that it can be kind of overwhelming... thanks!

Thanks for the tips. I will give them a try. I think I have to be OK with slow progress too

Hi all, I'm working towards push-ups by doing inclines. I just switched to a lower level and it got a lot harder, like way harder than my last move from the wall to the kitchen counter. That's all fine and good except now I am doing really low reps. I'm following Steve's advice and doing 4 sets, working towards 20 reps each before I move on. My question is, I've gone from doing 20 reps/set to doing about 6, and even though I go as far as I can on each set I don't feel like I am getting as much of a workout, and I feel like I am going to progress slower this way. Should I be doing more sets? Or maybe trying to do it twice in a day? Or are there other exercises I can supplement it with to help with my progress? (I am already doing planks but that's about it) Thanks for any recommendations

Hi Orphos! I'm working towards a single push-up too. Good luck and keep us posted

Try this yoga routine... it's doing wonders for my lower back issues! Maybe wait until you're not feeling stabby knives in your back though? I don't know, I'm not a doctor http://www.doyogawithme.com/content/deep-release-hips-hamstrings-and-lower-back

I hope you try it and enjoy it as much as I do - I did it again last night and it felt just as good! My whole body still feels great from it today and I've noticed myself walking and sitting much more naturally and comfortably. Good luck!

Week 1 update: Here is my challenge log! I just moved from the kitchen counter to the couch arm, which is about a foot lower. It made a huge difference, I could only do 6 reps on the first set. I also felt it a lot more in my abs instead of just my arms. Getting closer to the ground though! https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QULxYKRNb56fOLKAjLcTZ5L0obZ6HxMd-AAdqG5adnE/edit?usp=sharing

So far so good! My only slack move was not doing anything active on one of my off days, but otherwise I've been sticking to it and making steady progress! After my workout today I'll post my log. Also I feel like I just had a big breakthrough, not for push-ups but for overall health and exercise form! I posted it here in case it helps anyone else Yay, it's nice to hear that it works! I'm pretty much doing the same progression - I just graduated from kitchen counter to couch arm! Thanks for the encouragement and congrats on getting to 15!

Wasn't sure where to post this but I recently discovered this yoga routine that has been a total game changer for me, and wanted to share in case it helps anyone else out! I've struggled a lot to do body weight squats with good form. I just couldn't get myself low enough and felt that it was more of an inflexibility/tightness issue than lack of strength (although I'm sure that doesn't help). I've been analyzing my posture and form lately as I've started exercising more and realized a lot of my hangups come from my lower back, which just feels weak, inflexible, and excessively curved in (maybe some hyperlordosis going on?) Anyways I recently went through this yoga routine and it felt AMAZING - like all of the troubles above just melted away as my hips and lower back opened up and relaxed. At one point during the routine I laughed out loud because it felt so good and felt like exactly what my body has been needing for a long time. The main reason I thought to share this is because after doing this routine, on a hunch I tried a body weight squat and the difference was like night and day! I could drop below parallel like it aint no thing! Ok, it was still physically challenging, but I felt that I could finally do it with proper form. Besides just the squats I also feel more comfortable going about my day; walking, standing, and sitting in front of a computer feel a lot better having stretched out and opened up this muscle group. I think this is going to have a big impact on my daily life as well as my exercise goals - I hope some of you will enjoy it as much as I did!

Thanks everyone, that would be great if I could get to 10! Can't imagine that right now but hopefully I'll get there

Hi! I'm starting with a very basic challenge: I want to be able to do at least one regular push-up with great form! I've never been able to do one and I can barely even do them on my knees. Main quest: At least one perfect form push-up! Bonus if I can get to 5. Mission #1: Every other day do 4 sets of wall/elevated pushups with 2 min rest in between. Work from wall to elevated to the ground as I'm able to do 20 on all four reps (http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/02/15/proper-push-up/) Mission #2: Every other day, do two planks as long as possible with 2 min rest in between. Mission #3: On the days I'm not working on the exercises above, do something else active, like ride my bike or go to yoga. Motivation: I eventually want to start strength training (barbell exercises) but when I started a beginning lifting program, I didn't feel strong enough to have good form even using just the bar with no weight. I decided to go back to the basics and build up some strength and flexibility with a body weight program before I actually join a gym and start lifting. Thought push-ups would be a great place to start - when I achieve that I'd like to get to a pull up and learn good squat form... but starting slow for now.