Dirty's closing in

[DirtyLittleSecrets]

Main Quest

 

Be able to complete the Marines Physical Fitness Test with maximal scoring. 100 sit ups in 2 minutes, 8 pull-ups and 4.82 km in 21 minutes (4:20 minute kilometer).

 

Challenge Goals

 

Goal #1: Row, row, row my boat

 

DEX: 4  STA:1

 

I'm great at starting challenges late this month! At our local box they're having a virtual contest to see how many meters they can row compared to others online. I decided to follow it along in my own way and participate as a silent member. The challenge is to row 100,000 meters by the start of February. Since I started late I need to row 4,347 meters per day to meet the quota.

 

 

 

Goal #2: Tighten my belt time

 

CON: 2 WIS: 3

 

I want to bring a lunch to school everyday and try cut down on the amount of food I buy at the cafeteria. I didn't get as much OSAP as I thought I would so I need to keep my groceries under $25 per week and my entertainment funds under $25. I can do this, it's not giving into being lazy and packing a lunch.

 

 

 

Goal #3: Pull myself off this plateau.

 

STR: 3  STA: 1

 

Still working on pull ups, trying to get one unassisted before the end of the challenge. The arm routine I'm doing now has seen some great results so paired with the rowing and continuous work on them I'm hoping to make it there.

 

 

Side Quest:

Complete Marine PFT again

 

WIS: 1

[DirtyLittleSecrets]

Update so far:

 

Goal #1: Row, row, row my boat

 

 

8th: 4750 meters

9th: 5000 meters

10th: 5000 meters

11th: 7500 meters

12/13th: N/A

14th: 11250 meters

 

Total: 33500 meters

To go: 66500 meters

 

So now I have to row just under 4000 meters per day to reach my goal. I've substituted rowing for running this challenge since if I tried to do both forms of cardio I would be over training and frankly burning far too many calories.

 

 

Goal #2: Tighten my belt time

 

Since coming back to school I've have had one meal (breakfast this morning) and bought 5 teas from the cafeteria. Making some vegetarian food tonight that I can pack for my lunch tomorrow (which is important since I have an early class).

 

Also switched my morning tea from a sugar and milk laden English breakfast to a green tea sans anything. Going to ask my boss if I can bring in a kettle so I can make teas at work to try and cut down on Tims runs.

 

Goal #3: Pull myself off this plateau.

 

Did my pull up training (assisted with a band but putting a lot more emphasis on the eccentric movement so it's cut the amount I can do in half) and assisted dips today. Played around in the gym doing some movements for my new functional interval training class (F.I.T for short) and enjoyed the movements so far. Since getting back into the swing of things my training days have been pretty regular and today I had one of the more experienced guys at our gym compliment my squat form. Since I had just toned back my weight to ensure proper form I was pretty happy .

[EmCee]

Damn on the rowing! Great job making up some of your deficit!

[JuiceeTarget]

Rowing is such awesome exercise, I was on crew in undergrad and loved it. I might have to steal that idea for a challenge one of these days. Tightening your belt should be doable but difficult. Just need to plan ahead!

You'll get that pull-up before you know it!

[DirtyLittleSecrets]

Damn on the rowing! Great job making up some of your deficit!

 

Rowing is such awesome exercise, I was on crew in undergrad and loved it. I might have to steal that idea for a challenge one of these days. Tightening your belt should be doable but difficult. Just need to plan ahead!

You'll get that pull-up before you know it!

 

Thanks guys . I love this challenge so far and I'm really enjoying it. Rowing is definitely something I am glad I took the time to learn proper form for.

 

15/01/14 update:

 

Rowed 7500 meters today before my shift. It's an active recovery day so I took my sweet time and completed it in 45 minutes. Just enough time to fit in a shower and a Greek yogurt before work. Didn't eat at the school cafeteria, brought a snack and a mini dinner to work for my 5 hour shift. Fritattas are made for tomorrow morning and a lunch packed for the small break I have between class, helping my friend with her practical exam, and work.

[Mikroftt]

I miss rowing.  I used to use the machines at college but since I graduated no longer have access to one.  Was a great workout!  Keep it up!

[DirtyLittleSecrets]

16/01/14

 

Completed the second mini challenge as my workout and rowed 3500 meters today. I'm  helping a friend with her practical exam so I'm staying later at the school then heading to work. After that I get to see my boyfriend so I packed a lunch as well as a dinner to get me through till 8.

[Dizz]

Nice job on the rowing! That is such a great exercise for working multiple muscles.

[DirtyLittleSecrets]

17/01/14:

Boyfriend was in town and we ended up closing down the bar the night prior (he's a beer rep so it's kind of his job). Had an 8 AM workout class and practice for my friends practical exam+ the exam. Needless to say I was a very tired girl. Took an hour nap and had some girl time with my friends.

Didn't feel the greatest this morning so I decided today would be a day off. I'm going easy in the gym tomorrow, just rowing 15,000 meters to make up for the past few days and a basic body weight workout prior.

Good news is my grip strength is up by 4 kg since last year. Our program makes us perform physical health assessments on one another periodically and my grip strength and push up tests both needed improvement. So I'm rather happy I did better .

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[EmCee]

I have terrible grip strength, I really need to take the time to work on it or I'm gonna be a very pissed girl when I have the back and leg strength to pull more weight off the ground but not the grip.

[Mikroftt]

What kind of tests do you do for the grip strength?  As a climber I am curious.

[DirtyLittleSecrets]

I have terrible grip strength, I really need to take the time to work on it or I'm gonna be a very pissed girl when I have the back and leg strength to pull more weight off the ground but not the grip.

 

Yeah, I'm very fortunate in the fact I'm catching on to this very early in my training. Still in the needs improvement category but progress is good .

 

What kind of tests do you do for the grip strength?  As a climber I am curious.

 

We use a grip strength dynamometer. As a climber you might already have an excellent score but you could benefit from grip strength training!

 

22/01/14:

 

Few crazy days at school! I did a great deadlift class on Friday but haven't been feeling well so I've missed the gym. Yesterday I passed out for 15 hours so it's safe to say I was exhausted.

 

Did a light workout today. Rowed 4500 meters.

 

Total rowing: 49000 meters

 

I need to row 5666 meters per day for the next 9 days to make my goal. I can do this.

[DirtyLittleSecrets]

Rowed 10,000 meters yesterday and concentrated on arms and shoulders. Showed up to work this morning for the opener shift and found out I have the closing one . So since someone called in I replaced them and am still going back tonight. Great for my paycheck, not so great for my rowing.

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[Rabbi]

This is a serious amount of rowing -- great efforts! How long is it taking you to row 5k?

 

When I started in April, I couldn't do a pull-up. (I could kick and thrash myself over the bar once with great effort. It wasn't pretty and I don't think it counts as a "pull-up.") I got there by...

• banded pull-ups -- using a heavy band at first, then progressively lighter bands as I made progress
• ring rows -- you don't actually need rings to do them, you can hang from the bottom of a table too
• graviton -- if your gym has one, this is a great way to progressively reduce the assistance you get in your pull-up. I started out at about 100 lbs. of assistance and dropped it by 4.5 lbs. (=1 plate on our machine) every 1-2 weeks until I got down to about 40 lbs. of assist. At that point, I was able to get my first unassisted pull-up. It took me about 20 weeks to get there.
• jumping pull-ups -- jump up, catch and hold yourself at the top, then lower yourself slowly
• losing weight! I dropped about 30 lbs. in six months which made my pull-ups much easier! Note that I can now easily do a weighted pull-up with a 35-lb. weight on my belt, so I could do more than one pull-up even at my original weight.

Good luck! Keep up the great efforts, doing pull-ups is an awesome goal!

[DirtyLittleSecrets]

It's taking me a little under 30 minutes (26-28 minutes normally). Not fast yet but I was really concentrating on technique.

I'm pretty much doing all those pull up progressions except losing weight. I don't have any weight to lose and am actually trying to gain weight now.

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[Rabbi]

It's taking me a little under 30 minutes (26-28 minutes normally). Not fast yet but I was really concentrating on technique.

I'm pretty much doing all those pull up progressions except losing weight. I don't have any weight to lose and am actually trying to gain weight now.

 

Good for you! Just finishing 5k is an achievement, I think that your times are great.

 

The only other pull-up comment I would make is: "set impossible goals and achieve them." I remember starting workouts that included 5 sets of 10 pull-ups and thinking "impossible" even with the assistive techniques I was using. But I did them anyway because my coach said so, and of course the more effort I put in the easier it got over time.

 

Good luck!