Spezzy is back

[spezzy]

 

Okay, so! I'm back

 

I thought about taking two challenges off instead of just one. However, I'm struggling with is not having any sense of in person community where I'm at right now (I moved across the country 4 months ago, and am struggling feeling like I belong in this new location), so I think this will be good for me. 

 

This challenge is going to be focusing on some habit based goals. Big lifting numbers are cool and all, but I truly believe that consistency and habits are the roots of all of this, are what gets you to the big numbers, and that the years of consistency and habits I had in place are the reason that I've been able to give myself permission to put my physical fitness in the backseat for the last 8 months, while maintaining my weight and the majority of my strength. So now it's time to build up the habits and consistency again. 

 

FITNESS RELATED:

1) 4+ lifting sessions each week  (currently at 3-4)

2) 1+ cardio session each week (steady state, 20 minutes, can be combined with a lifting session) (have done 1x a week the last 2 weeks)

3) 2+ 10 minute walks every day (currently this is random)

 

**The cardio one is the big wildcard here. Repetitive motion is what makes my hip act up, so if it does start to do that, I reserve the right to break it up into multiple sessions. 

 

WORK RELATED:

1) No watching TV while working at my desk. This is just a bad habit that makes things take longer than they should, and there's nothing worthwhile on anyways. 

2) Use Pomodoro Technique when possible (meetings and phone calls it's not - but the rest of the time it is)

3) Start 2 work days a week with reading for 20 minutes on a work related topic. 

 

LIFE RELATED:

1) Schedule in everything at the beginning of the week, including:

—> Gym time

—> Meal prep time

—> Personal time

 

2) Delete all games from my phone (with the exception of Pokemon Go, and that’s only to be used for walks, and when possible, will only be used on my watch)

3) Practice breathing at least 2x per day

4) No Snoozing. This is going to be the hardest one - I use a vibrating alarm, so can't set it far away from me. Will take all the tips here, sometimes I don't notice I snooze until later. 

 

And that's it! Nothing fancy, not a lot of gifs, but a really good list of things for me to focus on.

 

Good luck on your challenges, y'all

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following! Don't worry about the gifs, we can help with that. What's important is your goals are good.

[RedStone]

 

 

[Harriet]

Excellent goals. We're here to nod approvingly and provide animal gifs. 

 

[Grumble]

Spezzy's back,

back again.

Spezzy's back,

to lift again.

[Mike Wazowski]

[JessFit]

Ugh, the no snoozing is a struggle! I've heard of apps where you have to actually go take a picture of another room to get the alarm to shut off, but I've never tried them. 

[Scalyfreak]

Returns right in time for GRumble's new mini challenge...

 

There is no way this is a coincidence!

[spezzy]

On 4/22/2019 at 10:28 AM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Following! Don't worry about the gifs, we can help with that. What's important is your goals are good.

 

On 4/22/2019 at 10:51 AM, RedStone said:

 

 

 

On 4/22/2019 at 11:17 AM, Harriet said:

Excellent goals. We're here to nod approvingly and provide animal gifs. 

 

 

On 4/22/2019 at 12:10 PM, Grumble said:

Spezzy's back,

back again.

Spezzy's back,

to lift again.

 

On 4/22/2019 at 12:55 PM, Mike Wazowski said:

 

 

Thanks all!

 

[spezzy]

On 4/22/2019 at 3:54 PM, JessFit said:

Ugh, the no snoozing is a struggle! I've heard of apps where you have to actually go take a picture of another room to get the alarm to shut off, but I've never tried them. 

 

haha, yeah, I've heard of those too! The biggest problem I've been having is that my fiance HATES alarms, so I use my apple watch and have it on vibrate. So trying to find an app that vibrates on my wrist that also makes me get up. 

 

5 hours ago, scalyfreak said:

Returns right in time for GRumble's new mini challenge...

 

There is no way this is a coincidence!

 

 

ha, a volume challenge on movements I can actually do (well, kind of, I'll have to do ring pushups)? I'm in. 

[Harriet]

On 4/21/2019 at 8:25 PM, spezzy said:

 

4) No Snoozing. This is going to be the hardest one - I use a vibrating alarm, so can't set it far away from me. Will take all the tips here, sometimes I don't notice I snooze until later. 

 

The only thing that helped me with this was practice. I was always more motivated to sleep in than to get up. But recently I was extremely frustrated by always being tired, and I knew sleep hygiene was a piece of the puzzle, so I used that wave of motivation to get up at the same time every morning for several weeks. I had this mantra "wake up, get up", because I knew sleeping in was bad for my sleep quality. Sometimes I would just poke one leg out from under the covers at a time before getting up... anyway, it became a habit. Now I don't set an alarm, I just get up whenever I wake up, which is actually better for me because sometimes the alarms would wake me up in the middle of a sleep cycle and I'd be groggy. 

[bigm141414]

 

Oh hai there. Welcome back, there was a request for animal gifs? I'mma just camp out here. 

 

 

 

[spezzy]

On 4/23/2019 at 11:36 PM, bigm141414 said:

 

Oh hai there. Welcome back, there was a request for animal gifs? I'mma just camp out here. 

 

 

 

 

[spezzy]

Updates! 

 

So this last week was likely a bad week for me to start, but I wanted to anyway. 

 

Here's an update on progress towards goals: 

 

Fitness Related - I was doing great here, and then ended up going into Washington D.C. on Wednesday to spend the day with some family that was in town. It was amazing and totally good for the soul, but I walked somewhere between 8 and 10 miles (10 according to Pokemon Go, 8.15 according to apple watch), which has caused my hip to be super inflammed for the rest of the week (it still is, today). 

 

So I'm going to say that counts as the cardio day. 

 

For lifting, I lifted Monday, Friday, and Sunday, though Friday and Sunday didn't go great, but I went. I wanted 4, but that wasn't realistic with my hip. 

 

This week I need to plan a bit ahead because my gym is mostly closed this weekend to host a meet. 

 

Walking I need to play by ear the next few days.

 

Work Related:

--> I have not started any days with reading but included that on my schedule for this next week

--> Better about tv, but not great. Goal is a little better each week. Same with pomodoro. I set it up to remind me to set the timer, so that's a good thing. 

 

Life related:

--> I scheduled out Monday last night, and i'll likely do nightly for the rest of this week, and then try to do 2 days at a time next week. 

 

The rest hasn't happened. Still working on a good plan to make that happen. 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I hope your hip clears up soon.

[spezzy]

4 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I hope your hip clears up soon.

 

Thank you! It's starting to, it's just when it gets super cranky I just have to... wait. 

 

However, changing my training style so I won't have to anymore

[spezzy]

okay, so. 

 

Basically what I've realized over the last week is that my actions aren't supporting my goals. This sounds negative, but it's actually a really good realization for me. 

 

Sooooo let's change that.

 

Made time for the gym today and did all upper body stuff because hips are still sore. 

 

Today - 

Feet up bench press ladder - 70kg, 75kg, 80kg, 75kg, 70kg all for 3

Ring Dip - 5x10

Dumbbell - incline bench, flys, back flys, curls

[Scalyfreak]

2 hours ago, spezzy said:

okay, so. 

 

Basically what I've realized over the last week is that my actions aren't supporting my goals. This sounds negative, but it's actually a really good realization for me. 

 

No, it actually sounds like progress.  

[spezzy]

It looks like I'm doing weekly updates here, hah. Will try to update more, things have just been busy.

 

Yesterday I actually had a HUGE win - my gym was holding an event, but the gym was still open. I picked out a secondary gym to go to, but they were also holding an event - so instead of over analyzing it I decided to just go to the gym and get whatever workout I could in. 

 

Ended up PR'ing my beltless back squat at 280, after not straight bar squatting for a good 6 weeks. So that was really nice. 

 

Otherwise, last week was good but not perfect. 

 

Fitness -

1) 4 lifting sessions - DONE

2) Cardio Session - was holding off on this until the inflammation went down in my hip, likely okay to start up again this week though!

3) Walking - same as above. 

 

Work Related:

1 and 2 I'm giving myself a C. I'm making progress, but not quite there yet. 

3) I haven't started any days with reading, I keep forgetting. Have added a sticky note to my computer. 

 

 

Life related:

These are all not really going at all. I've been trying to schedule ahead, but mainly doing the night before (that's better than before though!)

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

22 minutes ago, spezzy said:

Life related:

These are all not really going at all. I've been trying to schedule ahead, but mainly doing the night before (that's better than before though!)

If there is improvement, I'm going to disagree with you and say that things are going. They are simply slower than you would prefer.

 

 

Congrats on the PR, and I'm even more excited that you went ahead and made the best of the situation and worked out despite all the other stuff going on.

[Scalyfreak]

2 hours ago, spezzy said:

Life related:

These are all not really going at all. I've been trying to schedule ahead, but mainly doing the night before (that's better than before though!)

 

If they're better than before, that still counts as progress though. They may be crawling instead of going, but as long as they're moving, isn't that what matters?