Darth Thorn

AS you guys have obviously noticed, I've been busy as hell lately, and I haven't been doing a good job of updating this.

That's the bad news. The good news is that, for the most part, I"m keeping up with my goals for the challenge. M/W/F Workouts are happening consistently, and I've gotten my SO involved, which helps with accountability and scheduling. I'm still not in a place where I can do the entire thing in one sitting, but I am doing it all in one day (I'm basically doing the body weight a few hours before or after the weight strength training, and I'm periodically reducing the amount of time between the two.)

I'm moving back to 100 lbs with my workout this afternoon, which is going to be a good way to transition into spring break this coming week, where I won't have access to weights.

Transferred to Ziost for training, and the climate shift is making it hard to keep my schedule. Doubling up the body weight to compensate given that it doesn't appear that it's ever going to thaw out here.

(Aka, I got snowed in which made using my weights, which I only have room for outside, kind of impossible. I'll be doubling my bodyweight routine during my work delay tomorrow as compensation, and hopefully Friday will be thawed enough to do things properly. IF nothing else, this first week has been an excellent crash course in how to deal with obstacles.)

I have a really basic question, but when you're doing an exercise circuit, do you do all of the sets of a particular exercise before moving on to the next, or do you do one set of each and then go back and do it again? Is this just an issue of preference, or are there actual benefits to doing it one way?

So there's good news and bad news coming off day 1 of the challenge. The bad news is that I definitely underestimated how much this was going to take out of me. The good news is that I have a plan to change things up and make my goals more fitting to where I'm starting.

I don't know if it's the weather and my general feeling of being drained thanks to suffering through an internship I hate, or if I backslid further than I expected in the last couple of months, but it doesn't really matter. 

To make this doable going forward, I'm going to spend the first few workouts of the challenge adding exercises one at the time. I got through the warm up bag circuit, big 3 lifts for strength training, cool down bag circuit, and stretches this time. Tomorrow I'm going to do my bag circuits, and Wednesday I'm going to roll the other two lifts into my strength circuit. 

With some motivation, and a little bit of luck, I should be up to doing the full circuit by next Wednesday.

Two steps forward, one step back. 

Another Star Wars themed challenge?

Subbed.

At the risk of echoing what other people have already said:Free standing bags move around a lot, and if you push with any real force they're going to wobble/fall over, but I figure half of the exercise is chasing the damn bag around and picking it up when you get too enthusiastic.

Plus, if you're throwing your non-push techniques right, the bag might get a little bit of motion to it, but it shouldn't ever fall over, which makes it a decent indicator for when you're pushing too much instead of actually hitting.

The only major down side is that unless you get one of the XL bags where the padding goes almost to the floor, you're cutting out a pretty significant contact area, which makes it difficult to practice any knee-level kicks.

I know Nerd Fitness is down on the Dark Side, but we're not talking about the unhealthy fad dieting dark side here! We're talking about the "No-holds barred, Channel your passions, Smash all obstacles, Defeat all challengers, Free yourself from the bounds of your own doubts" Dark Side! For my first Nerd Fitness challenge, I'm drawing inspiration from the SWTOR Character that I've drawn my name from, and the unique blend of Mandalorian and Sith Traits that make him an unstoppable monolith of morally questionable Power

Main Quest: "The Making of a Sith Lord."

Establish a significantly more intense, maintainable baseline of activity and Strength

Total Level 1 Stat Rewards

STR:3|DEX:2|STA:2|CON:1|WIS:2|CHA:0

Total Level 2 Stat Totals:
STR:3|Dex3|STA:3|CON:2|WIS:3|CHA:0

Sub Quest: "The Discipline of the Mando'ade,"

Strict Adherence to a Workout Routine (STR:2|DEX:2|STA:2)

 

Strength Training (3 sets, M/W/F)

• Bench Pressx10
• Squatx10
• Deadliftx10
• Overhead Pressx10
• Barbell Rowx10

Body Weight (3 sets, M/W/F)

• Pull-upx10
• Chin-upx10
• Squatx20
• Knee-to-elbow crunch x10
• Side Lungesx20

Bag/Endurance circuit (2 set split before and after Strength and Body Weight on M/W/F, taken consecutively on T/TH in the AM and PM for a total of 4)

• 20 Combo (Jab, jab, cross, hook, body shot, elbow strike)
• 40 round kick (20 per leg)
• Jump-up burpeex10

2 minutes stretching for cool down

Sub Quest 2: "The Power of the Dark side,"

Strength Training to lift 165 pounds in 3 major lifts (Deadlift, Bench press, squat) (STR:1)

I'm currently training around 100. I stepped back from 110 to 85 because I started doing 3 sets instead of 1, but I want to recover the ground I've lost and make more progress.

Sub Quest 3: "Imperial Rations," (CON:1|WIS:1)

I eat out way too much. I used to be a lot better about this, but I spent a lot of time traveling and in hospital waiting rooms last semester, and that's really mucked things up for me. My job now has zero physical activity, which is an even bigger reason to stop putting crap in. I want to reduce the number of times I eat out to 3 per month. Because February is almost over, and I can't think of a good way to metric out the last week, this quest will begin on March 1st.

Side Quest: "Mysteries of the Force," (WIS:1)

Spend 1 hour each day reading something intellectually stimulating/professionally relevant. I'm going to be bouncing back and forth between History, Information Security, and Philosophy

Books include

• Countdown to Zero Day
• Augustus
• Imagining the Internet
• Deus In Machina
• George Washington's Secret Six

General Topics Include:

• Studying for Security+ Certification

Generic Sources include:

• MSN and Pulse News Aggregates
• ISC Diaries and News posts

Thanks for the tips! I'm more in the second category (I'm kind of leaning on 14 years of martial arts for the form and working more around exhaustion and endurance), so I'll definitely try to keep the cadence varied. I know from previous experience that if I just try to throw myself at the bag for a set amount of time, I end up kind of listless and unfocused, so I'm not really keeping a routine there to strictly follow so much as a guide so I have something to fall back on when I get three punches in and go "Okay, what next?"

Okay. I took a couple of days, prodded around the limits of my current physical comfort zone, and read over some of the resources recommended, and I've come up with a revised workout. The goal is to build an overall sense of physical activity and competence. I still can't think of a really specific goal or set of goals, other than that I want to keep incrementing towards being able to lift my body weight +

Strength Training (3 sets, M/W/F)

• Bench Pressx10
• Squatx10
• Deadliftx10
• Overhead Pressx10
• Barbell Rowx10

Body Weight (3 sets, M/W/F)

• Pull-upx10
• Chin-upx10
• Squatx20
• Knee-to-elbow crunch x10
• Side Lungesx20

Bag/Endurance circuit (2 set split before and after Strength and Body Weight on M/W/F, taken consecutively on T/TH in the AM and PM for a total of 4)

• 20 Combo (Jab, jab, cross, hook, body shot, elbow strike)
• 40 round kick (20 per leg)
• Jump-up burpeex2

2 minutes stretching for cool down

I've done the Jedi before and felt pretty well worn for my efforts.

I hadn't ever seen the Winter Soldier or the Riddick, but they look promising. Gonna fold those in next week probably.

I don't want to sound like a jerk, and I'm afraid that I might, but for someone who is self-described as moderately active, your routine doesn't even look like a decent warm up to me.  

 

 

I'm serious.  

 

Though you don't tell me how many exercises you're doing in a set -- and if you're doing 200 body weight squats, disregard everything I'm saying here-- but your entire body weight routine looks like something I would describe as one circuit and would recommend doing at least six times.   Mr. Freaksho already hit on a lot of the other concerns I have here, but the biggest ones that I have are that there is about exactly zero intensity to that workout, it doesn't have any kind of marked recovery, there's no variation, there's really no.... anything.    If you do that same body weight routine every day and don't increase the reps, decrease the rest intervals, or do something else to mix it up, your body will adapt to that so quickly as to render it useless in no time flat.    And although I love the fact that you are doing the big three lifts, you haven't described an actual routine and you aren't likely to get much out of it.

 

As far as the office thing goes...  I've been sitting desks for years.  With almost no effort on my part, I usually (per my pedometer) have walked at least 6k steps and maybe as many as 7.5k by the time I go home.  I park about as far away from my office as possible, and every 45 minutes to an hour I get up and walk a lap or two.  After about the third time people see you doing it, they don't even notice.  It's also an opportunity to say Hi to your coworkers and be seen.  Unless you're working in a boiler room or call center, I don't understand why you can't get up and wander once in awhile?  Take the long way to the bathroom?  I do.

Nah man, you don't sound like a jerk. If I didn't want advice, I wouldn't have asked.

I'm sure I'm not doing enough--I don't really hang out with anyone who makes a big deal out of being active, so I was flying blind when I put this together.

I suppose I"m probably just hypersensitive being the new guy and an intern about looking like I'm not doing enough, which probably has a lot to do with my hesitation to get up and walk around. So I probably just need to get over that. Okay, problem solved. I figure out a way to move around more while I'm at work.

In terms of a workout routine, though, it looks like I need a lot of help. The major issues I'm seeing are variation, intensity, and frequency, and frankly I don't know where to start on any of them. Like I said, I'm flying blind here and doing more than anyone else I know, which might be a big part of my problem.

Since my compitence is clearly a lot lower than I expected, can you recommend a good weekly setup for a complete novice? If not, can you point me towards a good resouce with a few good rules of thumb I could use to put my own plan together?

I can preface this by saying I don't have access to a gym. It's not out of the question in the future, but for the moment I have my own personal weight bench, a pull up bar, and a punching bag. So anything I do is going to need to be either doable with a bar or body weight.

Don't neglect posture and mobility.  Desk work can wreak havoc on you in a way that's not easily resolved by chunking a bunch of activity together at the end of the day.  I'm working really hard right now to undo 15 years of it.

I'm just not sure how to do that. The office I work in (at least for the next 2 months or so) is very traditional, so there's not a whole lot of room (socially or physically) to stand up every couple of hours and be active in any meaningful way. I can (and right now do) get up and walk around a little bit, but even that's kind of a stretch in this place.

So I really don't know what to do. I end up going home exhausted and out of energy every day just because it's draining to be seated and inactive all day. My long term goal is to get into an environment that's healthier overall, but for the moment I have to finish this internship to graduate, which means 8-5 at a desk.

The goal behind the daily is to maintain the feeling of activity on off days. I've been adding sets as a way of increasing difficulty since adding weight isn't an option.

I'm in a cube, which prevents any sort of spaced-through-the-day approach.

I'm doing the 1-2-increase weight for ST because way back when I first started I had that recommended as a go-to progression schedule, but if there's a better way I'm open to trying something new.

EDIT: After a bit of introspection, I can be somewhat more specific

I'm a tall, wiry sort of person. I enjoy this, and I want to maintain and improve upon that sort of shape. I'm currently lifting 105 on bench, deadlift, and squats, and my end goal is to be lifting my body weight. I don't have a timetable for this, mostly because I don't know what an appropriate timeline for increasing from 105 to ~165 would be. 

I also really enjoy the way I feel after having done this body weight circuit, and I can't put my finger on why. I like climbing and jumping, and being constrained to an apartment that's the closest I can get to simulating that kind of activity, so I'm unlikely to drop that entirely. 

"Face the facts. Then act on them. It's the only mkantra I know, the oinly doctrine I have you offer you, and it's harder than you'd think, bebcause I swear humans seem hardwired to do anything but. FAce the facts. Don't pray, don't wish, don't buy into centuries-old dogma and dead rhetoric. Don't give in to your conditioning or your visions or your fucked-up sense of...whatever. FACE. THE. FACTS. THEN act."

~Quellcrist Falconer

"We don't have a word for hero. Being prepared to die for your family and friends, or what you hold dear, is a basic requirement for a Mando, so it's not worth a separate word. It's only cowards we had to find a special name for."

~Baltan Carid

Working my way through Countdown to Zero Day, with Augustus: First Emperor of Rome next on the to-do list.

I'm setting up a daily routine to keep active in the face of transitioning from a moderately active job to a desk-based office job. Previously my job involved walking around for 4-6 hours 2-3 nights a week, now it involves computer work from 8-5 on 3 days a week.

My goals are mostly to stay in shape, but I'd like to continue progressing towards my weightlifting goal of being able to bench, squat, and deadlift my body weight+

THE PLAN:

Bodyweight Routine (Daily):

1 set Pull ups

1 set Chin Ups

1 set body weight squats

2 sets side lunges

2 sets knee-to-elbow crunches

1 set high jumps

3 minutes on heavy bag

Weight Lifting Routine (m/w/f):

1xBench

1xSquat

1xDeadlift

My progression plan is to add a set to the body weight routine every two weeks, and to alternate between a second set and additional weight on the strength training routine.

PROBLEMS WITH THE PLAN SO FAR

My biggest problem so far has been staying focused. Switching from just having a designated "Workout time," Every couple of days to having that set aside time be an every day thing has been kind of difficult. I'm not sure if there's an issue with my routines that's causing that, or if it's just a function of having to change a year or more of ingrained habit, but any critique, suggestions, or advice would be appreciated.

Two questions

 

1) What color is your guitar?

2) Who's you favorite 80s band?

1) I'm but a lowly pianist, and an out of practice one at that. 

2)Man I am so bad at remembering years I couldn't tell you. There isn't much I don't like though. 

I assume you're talking to me if not please ignore my stupidity. 

This is something I've had a problem with for a long time. I was a really husky kid in middle school (to the tune of 17X lbs), and that built up a lot of self consciousness that I've been trying to shed for a long time. I took these pictures at the beginning of the year because my SO always makes a big deal when I dress up for stuff (it doesn't happen often), but I never really feel like I look the way I know logically I do.
 

 

Anyway, I don't know where exactly I'd find a picture of someone else that I could compare to, because mentally I'm still way outta touch with what I actually look like. 

Greetings all, 

I'm a 22 year old from NC, studying to be a pirate Information and Computer Technology. I'm a huge Star Wars nerd, and I have an undying love for History, Law, mythology, and The Dresden Files. I've played around in RPing forums in the past, and I've been known to tramp around Tumblr, but I've never really approaching a pre-existing community like this before. 

I've been using Nerd Fitness for inspiration and to help plan my workouts for a little over a year now, but I recently started working at a desk 8-5 most days, and I realized I was going to need a little bit more than just my own "can-do" to keep on track with that schedule and environment. My workouts of choice include Deadlifts, Bench Press, Squats, Planks, Pullups, and sinking time into a punching bag. 

I also love longboarding, and I'm hoping the weather here clears up a little so I can start doing that to get to and from work. I also want to get into freerunning, but I'm not quite sure where to start.

I'm looking forward to diving into this community, and I hope it'll be an enriching experience.