[Gemma]

My usual pattern:

 

• Start Day One, Zero Week with excitement! and planz! and energy! and motivation! Sometimes even with some version of the fancy tracker systems that some of my nerdfriends use so beautifully!
•  Zero week and part of week one: ^all of the above^ still in place, doing all the things I said I was gonna do, posting regularly, keeping up with several other Nerds' challenges and cheering along, whoo-hoo look at me go!!!
• Week 1 / 2 ... realize that it is all just too much, scrap some of the goals, get distracted by other new ideas, ixnay the fancy tracking chart, taper off posting here and cheering for my fellow Nerds, basically completely wander off path. 
• End of week five, wake up and say "whoa ... wow ... is that over already?!? Oops."

 

Not optimal. Now I'm going to try something else. 

 

Just. One. Goal. 

 

One. 

 

And it is this. 

 

*** Bodyweight strength training at least 3 days/week *** 

 

I'm not even specifying a workout because it will change soon(ish).  I'm up to workout 35 of 43 of GMB Elements, and when that is done I'm going to do ... something else. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 

 

 

 

The candidates (all also GMB programs, as I own them, like them, and have had success with them)

• Integral Strength (probable)
• Floor Loco
• Mobius 

 

We'll see. 

 

 

No particular theme. No fancy tracker. Just do a thing, and then accountabiliatize about it here when I've done it. (Or not done it.) 

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

My about me/intro:

Spoiler

I'm a 55 year old grandma (grandmother name: Gamma) living in the swamps of North Carolina. Our Grandminions are an 8 year old princess (The Magpie) and a 7 year old Batman fanboy (The Raven). 

 

I'm a U.S. Navy veteran, married to a retired Marine (The Hubs), empty-nested after raising three boys to surprisingly successful adulthood. Now I work for a Marine Corps leadership school as the Academics Officer, which is a fancy title comprising faculty development, curriculum updates, and being the tattletale spy/procedures police when the Marines who run the school violate headquarters policy 🙄

 

My canine best friends are a big black boxer-pit named Apollo and a tan n' white Aussie Shepherd/Whippet/who knows what else muttgirl named Cassiopeia - Cassie for short. 

 

Fitness history:

 

Ages 3 - 7: Ballet

14-17: Shotokan karate

18-43: U.S. Navy, doing aircraft mechanic stuff and the minimum fitnessing necessary to pass the nonsense run/push-up/crunches test every 6 months. There were a few years of Tae Kwon Do in there before I hurt my back, and a few years of bellydance training and performing with a troupe in OKC before I transferred to a different state. 

43-50: Almost entirely sedentary

50-53: Barbell weight training, mostly in the Starting Strength model, progress hampered by ridiculously frequent injuries

 

<we interrupt this timeline to insert a bloody awful global pandemic that shut down all the gyms>

 

8 months ago I started doing GMB stuff, and now I'm hooked on it because ... I've been doing a fitness thing for eight whole months and I haven't injured myself and had to stop, heal, take two steps back and start over!!! That has never ever happened in my life ever since those first childhood years of ballet. I always* get hurt! 

 

*Recently diagnosed hypermobile joint syndrome accounts for much of this. Innate clumsy distractedness and a tendency to push myself to do things I don't have a foundation for is a big part of it too. 

 

 

My alter ego, ADHD-powered superhero Arctic Fox, is heckin' strong and can walk and chew gum at the same time without spraining an ankle. She can stop miscreants in their tracks with her intensely uncomfortable Disapproving Gamma Stare and can instantly immerse herself in learning about any topic that triggers her Insane Hyperfocused Curiousity. She carries the Time Sword to compensate for her innate time blindness, and the Shield of Focus to help her stay on task. TurboSkates generate short-lived but incredibly productive bursts of high-energy movement and work, at utterly random and unpredictable intervals. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alanna]

Here for GMB and simplicity!

 

[RES]

1 hour ago, Gemma said:

I'm so here for this...

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following to support anyone of the throw-spaghetti-on-the-wall-to-see-what-sticks school.

[Klutch]

I did just one goal last challenge. 100% support!

[sarakingdom]

GMB is tempting. I like a lot about their approach. And I hear they now have options that aren't 45 minutes a day, which is more realistic...

[h3r0]

Just. One. Goal. Is Awesome! 

[Elastigirl]

Here to cheer you on.  I didn't know that you were a grandma, or 55. That's super encouraging for me to have  50 year old who also does GMB stuff!   I love your avatar. Mind if I borrow your Time sword and Shield of Focus occasionally? I feel like I sure could use them.

[Harriet]

On 3/20/2022 at 7:48 PM, Gemma said:

My usual pattern:

 

• Start Day One, Zero Week with excitement! and planz! and energy! and motivation! Sometimes even with some version of the fancy tracker systems that some of my nerdfriends use so beautifully!
•  Zero week and part of week one: ^all of the above^ still in place, doing all the things I said I was gonna do, posting regularly, keeping up with several other Nerds' challenges and cheering along, whoo-hoo look at me go!!!
• Week 1 / 2 ... realize that it is all just too much, scrap some of the goals, get distracted by other new ideas, ixnay the fancy tracking chart, taper off posting here and cheering for my fellow Nerds, basically completely wander off path. 
• End of week five, wake up and say "whoa ... wow ... is that over already?!? Oops."

 

Hey, this is eerily similar to what I do! Except I get exhausted rather than distracted.

 

On 3/20/2022 at 7:48 PM, Gemma said:

Not optimal. Now I'm going to try something else. 

 

Just. One. Goal. 

 

One. 

 

And it is this. 

 

*** Bodyweight strength training at least 3 days/week *** 

 

 

Awesome. I wish you spectacular singularity of focus.

[Epsilonte]

Yes! Nice goal!! Here to see you slay that goal!  

[Gemma]

 

On 3/20/2022 at 5:01 PM, sarakingdom said:

GMB is tempting. I like a lot about their approach. And I hear they now have options that aren't 45 minutes a day, which is more realistic...

 

I have really enjoyed everything I've done with them so far. Every workout in Elements has a 15, 30, or 45 minute option, all with the exact same exercises at shorter/longer duration or fewer/more circuits.  

 

On 3/20/2022 at 11:38 PM, Elastigirl said:

Here to cheer you on.  I didn't know that you were a grandma, or 55. That's super encouraging for me to have  50 year old who also does GMB stuff!   I love your avatar. Mind if I borrow your Time sword and Shield of Focus occasionally? I feel like I sure could use them.

 

Waaayyy too many of my friends have decided that 50 is 'old' (as if!) and given up trying to improve their health.  The older I get, the happier I am to find people my age or up who *haven't* scheduled their first hip replacement/spinal fusion yet. My new inspiration hero is  GMB trainer Stephen Stern - this article was written a while ago, he is 72 now and still doing All The Things. On his 71st birthday he posted this playlist: Fun at 71.  #lifegoals

 

Help yourself to the gear! 

 

 

Zero week so far, strength workout count stands at ONE:

 

Sunday - nuthin' (excuse: busy)

Monday - nuthin' (excuse: have to be at work early)

Tuesday - nuthin' (excuse: work, early. except not really, b/c my early morning certification was rescheduled to Friday. 🙄)

Wednesday - Ha! Fresh out of excuses. Worked from home due to a scheduled power outage on campus, did a 30 min Elements workout

Thursday - 15 min Resilience workout: Wrists, shoulders, and back 

 

I'm really glad that zero weeks exist.  This was my first week back in "normal" routine after two weeks away (business travel +staycation), and I feel like I have to learn everything I ever knew about time management all over again. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Elastigirl]

 

Waaayyy too many of my friends have decided that 50 is 'old' (as if!) and given up trying to improve their health.  The older I get, the happier I am to find people my age or up who *haven't* scheduled their first hip replacement/spinal fusion yet. My new inspiration hero is  GMB trainer Stephen Stern - this article was written a while ago, he is 72 now and still doing All The Things. On his 71st birthday he posted this playlist: Fun at 71.  #lifegoals

 

Exactly, that's why I was so excited when I realized that you were in your 50's. Too many of my friends just figure that it is inevitable that they will get less and less mobile and weaker as they age.  I love Stephen! Watching him is super encouraging. I hadn't seen that playlist-thanks! Are you on the GMB's alpha posse forums (subscription cost) Stephen is a trainer. He always has the most encouraging things to say

 

[Gemma]

2 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

 

Are you on the GMB's alpha posse forums (subscription cost) Stephen is a trainer. He always has the most encouraging things to say

 

 
I am a member of the alpha posse, and Stephen pops in to my training log on a regular basis to offer advice and support and atta-girls.  Love it!

 

My favorite alpha posse funny story - they were doing a Q and A bit at the beginning of either a zoom session or a podcast, and they had gotten several questions on SnapFaceGram about the meaning of the name 'alpha posse'. Andy said that it doesn't "mean" anything; they chose that name because it was the closest they could get without copyright issues to the name "A-Team." He's a Mr. T fanboy. Who knew?

[RES]

5 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Waaayyy too many of my friends have decided that 50 is 'old'

50 is NOT old

[Elastigirl]

1 hour ago, RES said:

50 is NOT old

Truth!

[Gemma]

18 hours ago, RES said:

50 is NOT old

Ain't even close, that's why it's so frustrating watching my peers just stop running marathons, lifting, tough mudder, whatever, because 'I'm getting to o__ for that' - bleh.  On the other hand, my mom just turned 73 and still teaches 3 yoga classes a week and swims laps almost every day. She learned how to teach yoga on Zoom when the shutdowns started, too. I was so proud; she is even more tech-challenged than I am. 😆

 

 

Zero week so far, strength workout count TWO:

 

Sunday - nuthin' (excuse: busy)

Monday - nuthin' (excuse: have to be at work early)

Tuesday - nuthin' (excuse: work, early. except not really, b/c my early morning certification was rescheduled to Friday. )

Wednesday - Ha! Fresh out of excuses. Worked from home due to a scheduled power outage on campus, did a 30 min Elements workout

Thursday - 15 min Resilience workout: Wrists, shoulders, and back 

Friday - 15 min Elements workout

 

I seriously thought about using the 'but... early morning certification' excuse again, but the rarely-seen but highly appreciated Sensible Corner of Brain™ gently (then firmly. then aggressively.) reminded me that even if 30 minutes is impossible, 15 minutes is a great deal better than nothing. *sigh* Thanks a lot, Sensible. Where you been? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RES]

2 hours ago, Gemma said:

I seriously thought about using the 'but... early morning certification' excuse again, but the rarely-seen but highly appreciated Sensible Corner of Brain™ gently (then firmly. then aggressively.) reminded me that even if 30 minutes is impossible, 15 minutes is a great deal better than nothing. *sigh* Thanks a lot, Sensible. Where you been? 

Ugh, I need to send a search party for my Sensible 🤔 thank you for this reminder

[Epsilonte]

50 is soooo not old! Made me think of Greta Pontarelli. She is a poledancer that started pole at 59 or something, she is 71 now.

I mean:

 

 

#lifegoals

[Gemma]

7 hours ago, RES said:

Ugh, I need to send a search party for my Sensible 🤔 thank you for this reminder

Pretty sure it's the neighborhood stray cat of brain functions - it shows up when it feels like it, meows for food and attention, and then disappears for a day or a week or a month or however long it bloody well feels like. 

Perhaps I should offer chopped ham next time it shows up ... 
 

7 hours ago, Epsilonte said:

50 is soooo not old! Made me think of Greta Pontarelli. She is a poledancer that started pole at 59 or something, she is 71 now.

 

#lifegoals

 

I love her! Holy cow, that was awesome! 

[Alanna]

Great comeback in zero week! Sensible brain to the rescue  

 

 

[Scaly Freak]

13 hours ago, Gemma said:

it's so frustrating watching my peers just stop running marathons, lifting, tough mudder, whatever, because 'I'm getting to o__ for that' - bleh. 

 

This is where we all pause and remind ourselves that Keanu Reeves is 57 years old and still making John Wick movies.

 

Carry on.

[Emissary2Ornj]

On 3/24/2022 at 7:33 AM, Gemma said:

I feel like I have to learn everything I ever knew about time management all over again.

I am continually surprised when a familiar challenge comes up (big or small, mundane or extraordinary; doesn't matter), and I  have to rework and re-navigate like I've never done it before. This is a weird phenomenon and I'm selfishly glad I'm not the only one it happens to. It's kind of comically puzzling. I guess even if we've faced things before, every situation is new? And we're not the same exact person as last time? 🤷‍♀️

 

I am ALL for simplifying things in order to maximize success. 

[fearless 2.0]

This is a wonderful thread! I enjoyed reading your bio. And I agree, if you dont move after 50 you might as well order a wheelchair. Im 54 and although I am not as fit as Id love to be ( injuries ) I will never get tired of trying to move around in all kinds of ways. Thank you for being in service! my father was US military too and I admire you guys! 

[Harriet]

On 3/24/2022 at 12:33 PM, Gemma said:

Waaayyy too many of my friends have decided that 50 is 'old' (as if!) and given up trying to improve their health. 

 

That's sad because then you have to live several decades in poor health I'm not giving up until the last hour before my death, whereupon I shall probably have some pasta and red wine and a nice lie down. Might even skip flossing my teeth.

 

On 3/25/2022 at 10:35 AM, Gemma said:

I seriously thought about using the 'but... early morning certification' excuse again, but the rarely-seen but highly appreciated Sensible Corner of Brain™ gently (then firmly. then aggressively.) reminded me that even if 30 minutes is impossible, 15 minutes is a great deal better than nothing. *sigh* Thanks a lot, Sensible. Where you been?

Ooh, nice to see her show up. Always a welcome guest. Except of course when one doesn't want to be sensible. Which is, now I think of it, quite often.

[RES]

6 hours ago, Harriet said:

I'm not giving up until the last hour before my death