Scalyfreak vs Stress Hydra, Round 2

[Scaly Freak]

On 9/24/2019 at 6:06 PM, Curl Brogo said:

Also, you don't need the grime, but make sure your kombucha you use to innoculate your starter has grime. The grime means its real. Some kombucha is just tea with vinegar and lemon and yogurt runoff.

 

One of the bottles with grime has been half full and left alone in a fridge for two days. When I opened it this morning there was a little baby scoby floating around in there. I feel safe in assuming this means it's  real kombucha.

[Mike Wazowski]

14 hours ago, scalyfreak said:

ThredUp has my clean-out bag! According to my agreement with Self-Indulgence, that means we now are allowed to purchase one single thing from their website. I searched and searched and found a purse that practically screamed "I belong with you!" in color and pattern, so I applied my welcome discount code and placed the order. They offered to include a clean-out bag at no charge, so why not? I have more things I can get rid of.

That's awesome!!! Love the idea of cleaning out stuff you don't want in your closet for stuff that just screams you!

 

And this thread is seriously inspiring a fancy knife set making its way onto my long-term material upgrades want list. But I will stay strong for a bit on that one!

[miss_marissa]

On 9/25/2019 at 9:22 PM, scalyfreak said:

 

Make gym fun again. Did my first Madcow lifting workout last night, and learned that I had completely underestimated how much longer it takes to do a workout when you actually do all your accessories. I also learned two more things: 1. My poor core muscles have been horribly neglected while I fixated on nothing but power lifting. 2. Doing heavy squats while you have sever doms from a couple of days ago, is actually not more difficult than doing heavy squats without doms, just more painful. Lots more painful.

 

Heavy squats and deadlifts work your core is one of the talking points I hear a lot in beginning powerlifting programs/forums. Which is technically true, but misleading as hell.

[Harriet]

2 hours ago, miss_marissa said:

Heavy squats and deadlifts work your core is one of the talking points I hear a lot in beginning powerlifting programs/forums. Which is technically true, but misleading as hell.

 

How do you mean misleading? I always read that deadlifts and squats wouldn't make my midsection bigger, but they did. I grew erector spinae and abs where there was previously nothing, but I lost no fat so I'm just thicker now. Still waiting for some pecs/sub-scapular depth and glute growth to balance things out *shrug*. 

[Scaly Freak]

2 hours ago, miss_marissa said:

 

Heavy squats and deadlifts work your core is one of the talking points I hear a lot in beginning powerlifting programs/forums. Which is technically true, but misleading as hell.

 

I don't think it's misleading so much as an incomplete statement. Yes, they will work your core (though not as much as farmers' walks), but then we forget to explain that over the long haul, they're not enough to sustain and continue to challenge strong core muscles. Just like we have to graduate from dumbbells to barbells if we want to lift really heavy weights, we need to graduate from challenging our abs only in compound lifts, and add in exercises that target them.

 

My personal experience is that my core muscles grew a lot stronger when I first started out with Stronglifts, because there was nothing there to begin with. Now that there actually are muscles there, tagging along as an afterthought while I do a squat is not enough to challenge them anymore, and they have stagnated.

 

Of course, I'm just speculating here. All I know is, doing situps and planks is a lot more difficult today than it was a few years ago, when I did a lot more targeted core exercises.

[miss_marissa]

40 minutes ago, Harriet said:

 

How do you mean misleading? I always read that deadlifts and squats wouldn't make my midsection bigger, but they did. I grew erector spinae and abs where there was previously nothing, but I lost no fat so I'm just thicker now. Still waiting for some pecs/sub-scapular depth and glute growth to balance things out *shrug*. 

 

27 minutes ago, scalyfreak said:

 

I don't think it's misleading so much as an incomplete statement. Yes, they will work your core (though not as much as farmers' walks), but then we forget to explain that over the long haul, they're not enough to sustain and continue to challenge strong core muscles. Just like we have to graduate from dumbbells to barbells if we want to lift really heavy weights, we need to graduate from challenging our abs only in compound lifts, and add in exercises that target them.

 

My personal experience is that my core muscles grew a lot stronger when I first started out with Stronglifts, because there was nothing there to begin with. Now that there actually are muscles there, tagging along as an afterthought while I do a squat is not enough to challenge them anymore, and they have stagnated.

 

Of course, I'm just speculating here. All I know is, doing situps and planks is a lot more difficult today than it was a few years ago, when I did a lot more targeted core exercises.

^^kind of this?

 

They do certainly work your core, but I've found that squats and deadlifts work your core so that it's stronger for.... you guessed it! Heavier squats and deadlifts!

If you want to do something like handstands, a dragon flag, or strict toes to bar you would have to do some additional core training. (or probably develop a six pack? Although idk, maybe just being lean enough gets you there) I also find that a lot of the core "stuff" could do a much better job of integrating your core strength with the rest of your body. Because it's not just strength; it's stability, balance, learning when to contract and relax, etc.

[Scaly Freak]

I took a mental health day off work again today, and slept in until almost noon. Looking at my FitBit sleep log, the number of hours I slept last night is higher than the number of hours I slept the entire week before today. That's really not a good sign, and it reminds me once again that Stress hydra's most effective mode of attack still is the Insomnia Debuff.

 

Cut back on the stomach liner solvents. The French Press at my desk continues to provide coffee that is a lot less acidic than the travesty from the break room. I've also cut my soda consumption to nearly nothing, and stopped eating very greasy food for good measure. The stomach lining may have healed, but it's not fully recovered yet.

 

Make gym fun again. In hindsight, starting a new and comparatively demanding program in the middle of Round 2 against Stress Hydra, was probably not a good idea. Lack of sleep and inability to fully benefit from the little food I ate, means I skipped a couple of workouts simply due to a complete lack of energy. If I'm so tired I nearly nod off in the car while driving home from work, doing anything other than resting that evenings seems counterproductive. That said, I did enjoy my first workouts with the new program and though I normally find accessories boring they were fun this time around. I will start over with week one tonight, and see what I can do to prioritize sleep, so gym can remain possible.

 

Carry-over from previous challenge: Attack Procrastination I checked the Walk to Mordor challenge, and apparently I had not been updating the spreadsheet since back in May. Ooops. So I did that.  

 

ThredUp has sorted my bag and accepteda little less than half the items I sent, which apparently is just a bit above average with bags sent to them. They have listed the items and if they sell, I get a small amount of money. Since I didn't do this to make money, I don't care that it's not a lot. I'm now looking forward to seeing if they actually do sell to someone.

 

And the purse arrived, and it's awesome. I'm very happy with my first successful thrift store purchase.

[CourtnieMarie]

many good choices here! i hope you are able to get in more sleep this week, is there anything you can do to make sure it happen or is the lack of sleep more due to poor sleep quality?

[Gemma]

 Oh, good call on the taking a bit of a break when your energy was so low. I've been there and done that with the struggle to stay awake on afternoon drive, that is some scary junk right there. Sleep = Pri 1  <- smart smart smart move!

 

How are you doing this week?

[Scaly Freak]

45 minutes ago, CourtnieMarie said:

many good choices here! i hope you are able to get in more sleep this week, is there anything you can do to make sure it happen or is the lack of sleep more due to poor sleep quality?

 

It's a combination of poor sleep quality, which in turn is caused by some incredibly aggravating factors, and going to bed far too late for my own good. A second Stress Hydra has made an appearance, this one outside work, and though it is somewhat smaller than the work Hydra, it's still causing some damage. (Why do we have families? Why can't they be optional?)

 

31 minutes ago, Gemma said:

 Oh, good call on the taking a bit of a break when your energy was so low. I've been there and done that with the struggle to stay awake on afternoon drive, that is some scary junk right there. Sleep = Pri 1  <- smart smart smart move!

 

How are you doing this week?

 

Thankfully, the one time when I did nod off I was sitting at a traffic light and waiting for it to turn green, so no harm was done to anyone. It was still scary though, and I have absolutely no desire to repeat that experience, ever. The adrenaline spike kept me awake the rest of the drive home.

 

I'm tired this week, but still determined to go to the gym tonight (and now that I've posted it here I have to!). I'm trying really hard to not fall into the trap of de-prioritizing self-care just because I'm short on time and energy. Now that my stomach has recovered, it's no longer forcing me to keep my diet on track, so you get one guess what's happened with that. Ooops?

 

Looking at my goals for this period, I think I am going to need to adjust them a little bit. I will see about doing that tonight.

[Harriet]

On 10/4/2019 at 12:36 PM, scalyfreak said:

In hindsight, starting a new and comparatively demanding program in the middle of Round 2 against Stress Hydra, was probably not a good idea. Lack of sleep and inability to fully benefit from the little food I ate, means I skipped a couple of workouts simply due to a complete lack of energy. If I'm so tired I nearly nod off in the car while driving home from work, doing anything other than resting that evenings seems counterproductive. That said, I did enjoy my first workouts with the new program and though I normally find accessories boring they were fun this time around. I will start over with week one tonight, and see what I can do to prioritize sleep, so gym can remain possible.

 

Yes, low sleep and low food do not make for happy lifting. But yay that the new program is at least potentially fun and not boring. 
 

1 minute ago, scalyfreak said:

Thankfully, the one time when I did nod off I was sitting at a traffic light and waiting for it to turn green, so no harm was done to anyone. It was still scary though, and I have absolutely no desire to repeat that experience, ever. The adrenaline spike kept me awake the rest of the drive home.

Oooh, that is a bit scary. Here's hoping the stress hydra takes some damage soon. 

[JustCallMeAmber]

Glad your stomach is feeling better! Hope you have fun at the gym and then get some rest

 

 

[Scaly Freak]

Unfortunate change of plans: I am not going to the gym.

 

I was all set to go get changed and go work out, when I managed to hurt myself in the most bizarre way. Somehow, while I was sitting on the couch talking to Husband, our Sleeping Sidekick managed to quietly materialize right around the corner. I did manage to avoid stepping on her, thanks to some improvised contortionist acrobatics, and resumed my walk towards the workout clothes in my closet. It only took a couple of steps to discover that something in my right knee has gone wrong. It's not injured, but it is very stiff and a little tender, and when I did a couple of experimental body weight squats, the knee immediately started to really hurt in the tender spot, in a way that makes me scared to put weight on it.

 

Since this is the knee I injured a couple of years ago, I'm paranoid about it, and I have rescheduled the gym visit for tomorrow evening. I will spend tonight babying the poor joint, and monitor it closely to make sure it's ready for heavy squats tomorrow.

 

I will also try my hardest to take advantage of this unexpected opportunity to go to bed early tonight. Okay, earlier. 

[Harriet]

23 hours ago, scalyfreak said:

It only took a couple of steps to discover that something in my right knee has gone wrong.

 

That's so random and annoying. Usually the cats just make me stumble by replacing my foot somewhere not viable for balance. Anyway, I hope it's nothing much and gets better soon.

[Scaly Freak]

My knee does feel much better today. My mental health status is at a less than optimal level.

 

You know how sometimes something goes very bad at work? To the point where you have to drop everything else you're working on to fix this one thing, or the fecal matter will hit the fan in a bad way? I am currently juggling three such things at work, all three equally urgent.

 

All hail World Mental Health Day tomorrow.  

[Harriet]

3 hours ago, scalyfreak said:

You know how sometimes something goes very bad at work? To the point where you have to drop everything else you're working on to fix this one thing, or the fecal matter will hit the fan in a bad way? I am currently juggling three such things at work, all three equally urgent.

I don't, actually. But I guess I know those panic filled hours where several very important things seem like they must be done but cannot but must. At least it will be over soon (I hope... usually crises can't go on forever otherwise you all have to take turns sleeping). I hope you find a way to get regular small sips of calm throughout. 

[JustCallMeAmber]

14 hours ago, scalyfreak said:

You know how sometimes something goes very bad at work? To the point where you have to drop everything else you're working on to fix this one thing, or the fecal matter will hit the fan in a bad way? I am currently juggling three such things at work, all three equally urgent.

.. After which your boss gives you a handsome raise and the rest of the week off, right?

 

Glad your knee is feeling better!

 

[Mike Wazowski]

Oof, that's rough! Best of luck juggling and/or mopping up all the fecal matter - and hopefully you get some well-earned rest after it all!

[Scaly Freak]

On 10/10/2019 at 1:02 AM, Harriet said:

I don't, actually. But I guess I know those panic filled hours where several very important things seem like they must be done but cannot but must.

 

 

 

 

On 10/10/2019 at 12:30 PM, JustCallMeAmber said:

.. After which your boss gives you a handsome raise and the rest of the week off, right?

 

 

On 10/10/2019 at 2:52 PM, Mike Wazowski said:

Oof, that's rough! Best of luck juggling and/or mopping up all the fecal matter - and hopefully you get some well-earned rest after it all!

 

[Harriet]

On 10/14/2019 at 9:48 PM, scalyfreak said:

 

Oh dear. I have a feeling this isn't a depiction of your enemy  

[Scaly Freak]

1 hour ago, Harriet said:

 

Oh dear. I have a feeling this isn't a depiction of your enemy  

 

Sadly not. Final challenge update to come in the very near future...

[Scaly Freak]

Cut back on the stomach liner solvents. Fail.

 

Make gym fun again.  Fail

 

Carry-over from previous challenge: Attack Procrastination Two of my items have sold on ThredUp! I'm making pocket change on the sales, but that's not the point. It's fun to see them being purchased by someone. However, I haven't even tried to deal with any of the many other things I have been procrastinating on, after this, so this also ends on a fail-ish note.

 

Last Thursday, I destroyed two of Stress Hydra's heads. One of them respawned briefly (the one involving a legal compliance audit), but I was able to slay it again before it reached full strength. Then I failed my save against Insomnia. And against alcohol, greasy food and candy. And then Husband's Stress Monster, that he has been fighting, broke out from work and invaded everything and things got worse from there.

 

At the time I wrote them I was worried my goals may have been a little too ambitious, and it turns out I was right. For next challenge I will learn from the wisdom of @Gemma and get back to basics.

 

Scalyfreak forfeits Round 2.

[miss_marissa]

On 10/8/2019 at 9:06 PM, scalyfreak said:

Unfortunate change of plans: I am not going to the gym.

 

I was all set to go get changed and go work out, when I managed to hurt myself in the most bizarre way. Somehow, while I was sitting on the couch talking to Husband, our Sleeping Sidekick managed to quietly materialize right around the corner. I did manage to avoid stepping on her, thanks to some improvised contortionist acrobatics, and resumed my walk towards the workout clothes in my closet. It only took a couple of steps to discover that something in my right knee has gone wrong. It's not injured, but it is very stiff and a little tender, and when I did a couple of experimental body weight squats, the knee immediately started to really hurt in the tender spot, in a way that makes me scared to put weight on it.

 

Since this is the knee I injured a couple of years ago, I'm paranoid about it, and I have rescheduled the gym visit for tomorrow evening. I will spend tonight babying the poor joint, and monitor it closely to make sure it's ready for heavy squats tomorrow.

 

I will also try my hardest to take advantage of this unexpected opportunity to go to bed early tonight. Okay, earlier. 

Ugh being an adult sucks.

 

Sorry that you've had such a rough go the past few weeks. Hoping for smoother sailing for you ahead.

[Scaly Freak]

31 minutes ago, miss_marissa said:

 

Sorry that you've had such a rough go the past few weeks. Hoping for smoother sailing for you ahead.

 

Thank you. You and me both...

[JustCallMeAmber]

Blankety-blank Stress Hydra... Sorry things didn't go the way you hoped they would, and I hope things settle down for you soon! Hang in there!

 

(Puppy hugs are best hugs)