[theredphoenix] Female that wants to start weightlifting

[theredphoenix]

Hi All! This is my

 

EPIC ADVENTURE OF FITNESS AND TRAVEL!

 

Been reading posts up here for ages and getting really excited- but was at university and was pretty poor at the time. So i picked up the running shoes and finished the 10k race the other week . Feeling pumped, and i know i can do stuff now, and keep committed! I also graduated with a first and have a job *YAY* so i'm going round trying out all the gym's in the area. But i need some help on where the hell to get started? :S. Bit confused with it all. Mostly i'd like to become stronger generally. I'm quite thin and my cardio isn't bad, but i feel really weak . I'd absolutely love to be able to do proper push ups, chin ups and handstands (of which i can do none of). I also want to become fluent in german (already advanced), and travel a lot! 

 

I guess my first goals would be signing up to a gym, and finding a weight training programme i could do, but as i said.. I'm a bit lost where to start or what guild i fit into. I want to keep up the cardio, and gain strength, but i also love the assassin side and want to be able to do body exercises and balance. Can anyone help? This site is a lot to take in Thanks!!!  

 

MAIN CHALLENGE: TO BE ABLE TO DO A HANDSTAND

But it's going to take a looong time... So my subquests areeee...

 

Sub Quest #1: JOIN A GYM + COMPLETE WORKOUT AT LEAST 3x A WEEK

STR: 2|STA:2

 

A+: exercise 5x or more a week for all 6 weeks

A-B: exercise 3x a week for all 6 weeks

C-D: 2x a week for all 6 weeks (miss a few)

F: Anything less

 

Sub Quest #1: BY THE END OF THE SIX WEEKS 10th NOVEMBER BE ABLE TO DO 10 CONSECUTIVE PUSH UPS

STR: 2|STA:2

 

A+: 10 Consecutive Push Ups

A-B: 7-9 Consecutive Push Ups

C-D: 4-6 Consecutive Push Ups

F: Anything less

 

Sub Quest #1: PLANK FOR ONE MINUTE

STR: 2|STA:2

 

A+: 60 SECONDS

A-B: 45 - 59 SECONDS

C-D: 30 - 44 SECONDS

F: Anything less

 

 

SIDE QUESTS

LIFE QUEST #1: SORT OUT MY PERSONAL BRANDING FOR WORK

WIS: 2|CHAR: 2

 

A+: Logo (+vectorised), website, business cards, cv, maya rig 

A-B: Logo (+vectorised), website, business cards, cv

C-D: Logo (+vectorised), business cards, cv

F: Anything less

 

LIFE QUEST #2: SAVE UP FOR A GO PRO + START PUTTING MONEY ASIDE TO TRAVEL

SAVE UP A £1000 RAINY DAY FUND

WIS: 2|CON: 2

 

A+: Go pro bought + £500 aside for holiday

A-B: Go pro bought + £250 aside for holiday

C-D: Go pro bought

F: Anything less

 

 

• (Putting these here to remind myself what they are XD)
• Strength (STR) - physical strength
• Dexterity (DEX) - agility and speed
• Stamina (STA) - Endurance and Energy
• Constitution (CON) - ability to resist damage and disease
• Wisdom (WIS) - intuition and sense of things around himself
• Charisma (CHA) - force of personality and physical attractiveness

Strength workout 3x a week (for 6 weeks)

1%

1%

 

10 Push Ups 

1%

1%

 

 

Putting aside travel money + buying go pro 

1%

1%

[theredphoenix]

Oh shoot i forgot to put my name in the title! D:

[jaex]

I like your goals.   Best of luck!  Since you are trying to find what guild you want to be in, why not add a goal where you try out different new exercise regimens throughout the challenge?

[theredphoenix]

Yeah sounds good! I think i'm somewhere between assassin and ranger, so i'll try out the ranger-type exercises for a while with some balance stuff thrown in but cool idea!

[theredphoenix]

UDPATE: WEEK 1: DAY 2 (CHALLENGE 11/08/2014 - 22/09/2014)

 

Hi all! Go home and did this work out tonight, only got through two sets though till my limbs gave up XD. Also could only do kneeled press ups for now, and i'm not getting all the way to the floor which sucks - ah well! I also added some handstand exercises onto the end and managed to do a headstand for a couple of seconds before I fell over. I've decided to do these body workouts for the next six weeks before i join the gym, to get my strength up to get full use of the weights when i do join. Feeling pumped!  Also! I've decided to become Lara Croft - sexy, intelligent, she packs a punch and can climb mountains, lara's no pushover. I also love how much she goes exploring and travelling (maaajor passion!) and in the past have love training with bows and arrows, as well as guns. So this is the image i want to create for my goal. 

 

my goals:

Sub Quest #1: JOIN A GYM + COMPLETE STRENGTH WORKOUT AT LEAST 3x A WEEK

STR: 2|STA:2

 

1 of 18 down!

 

Sub Quest #1: BY THE END OF THE SIX WEEKS BE ABLE TO DO 10 CONSECUTIVE PUSH UPS

STR: 2|STA:2

 

Can only do 10 kneeled push ups so far, and i can't get the whole way down and i have to take a few breaks. 

 

Sub Quest #1: PLANK FOR ONE MINUTE

STR: 2|STA:2

 

Tried this out - can already make it around 20 - 30 seconds

 

 

SIDE QUESTS

LIFE QUEST #1: SORT OUT MY PERSONAL BRANDING FOR WORK

WIS: 2|CHAR: 2

-Progress: Completed the final vetorised logo and design for my branding - woop!

[khodabae]

Best of luck with the handstand! That is on my list too.

[theredphoenix]

End of the first week! Feeling pumped. After the doing this workout for the first time, i could barely get up the stairs for two days, so i had to have a rest XD. But just did it again last night and feel a bit stiff today but okay! Also, managed to do a headstand for 20 seconds twice! So yaay progress .

[theredphoenix]

Hi all! It's a wednesday, i've got up early and had a workout even though my legs were sore and my bed was realllly comfy. Doing the neila rey 30 days of power up challenge. Day one has gone well, thighs were still really tight, so i skipped most of the squat + lunges. I diiiid

14 x cross climbers

10 x plank rotations

14 x donkey kicks

8 x push-ups (still can't do full push ups, ended up trying them on my knees but i can't get down very far, so i ended up using the couch to make it a bit easier and did 10 instead.)

and then to make up for the lack of leg excercises I through in some chair assisted pull ups and plans (30 seconds yay!)

 

 

Oh also last night did some more 30 second headstands - tried to do the full handstand against a wall but it's too scary to kick my feet up over my head XD

So i boop you! How's all you workout stuff going guys? 

[ChristArtist]

Hi Girl!  you seem to be in several areas!

 

I'm an Adventurer Ambassador - and I'm here to help you out!

I"m running a bit late, I'm sorry for that!

 

But - Go read some stuff in my storming the castle accountabilibuddies - 

 

Last week we had some guest posters from all of the guilds.

 

I'll be following your thread - and if you need anything, just pm me!

 

BTW, thanks for posting the lara croft work out! awesome!

[theredphoenix]

Hi Girl!  you seem to be in several areas!

 

I'm an Adventurer Ambassador - and I'm here to help you out!

I"m running a bit late, I'm sorry for that!

 

But - Go read some stuff in my storming the castle accountabilibuddies - 

 

Last week we had some guest posters from all of the guilds.

 

I'll be following your thread - and if you need anything, just pm me!

 

BTW, thanks for posting the lara croft work out! awesome!

 

Hi nice to meet you! Yeah i'm really confused about which guild i fit into... I guess whichever lara would fall into? I like doing endurance stuff like running, but i'm also trying out some bodyweight stuff right now, but i also want to do free weights haha! Also-  the lara croft workout is actually the genius of Neila Rey - whose website i found when i was trying to find some cool workout programmes. Her whole website is packed with different nerd workouts, it's really cool . 

 

Also- any advice for push up people out there? All the workouts i'm doing right now (even though i'm doing as many elevated push ups as possible as well as chair assisted pull ups) seem to leave me out of breath and my legs aching, but i feel like i'm not really making any progress on my arms - and i really want to reach my 10 push ups goal. 

 

Alsoooo for anyone who knows anything about nutrition... I keep getting these "crashes" during the day where i have the symptoms of really low blood sugar even though i've eaten :S? And if i have a normal sized mean i'll get the opposite, pretty much makes me sluggish the rest of the day - and my diet's not even that bad . 

[ChristArtist]

So, thought. .. first, don't worry about the guild until you have completed level 1.

Then, let me get you some information.

Have you checked out the first five posts on storming the castle?

And, have you read the ebook from Steve. ..15 mistakes that beginners make?

Start there. .. calm down. .. and go cuddle a kitty!

;-)

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[Hazard]

Oh shoot i forgot to put my name in the title! D:

 

Taken care of.

[ChristArtist]

Thanks hazard!

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[Jerem The Great]

Hey! Just remember, knee push-ups lead to no increase in regular push-ups. Best to start with inclined push-ups and make that incline less and less as you go!

 

Looking like you're doing great!!

[Preliatornex]

Hey! Just remember, knee push-ups lead to no increase in regular push-ups. Best to start with inclined push-ups and make that incline less and less as you go!

 

Is that true? I never knew that. In Steve's workouts I am sure I have seen him recommend knee push-ups if you can't do regular. Such as in the Legend of Zelda workout where he says:

• 10 Triforce Push ups (Hands together so they make a Triforce shape - can do on knees if you have to).

   

I know that is a special kind of push-up, but I am sure he has said that elsewhere with regular push-ups. I just couldn't find a reference quickly enough.

[ChristArtist]

Knee pushups are an acceptable progression... and easy to share.

Some of us have found that inclines have led to better standards sooner. .. but how do you specify an incline. ..mine is counter height, a friend does his at tire height, and many in between.

Knee pushups will lead to gains. .. it depends on where you are starting from. Some can't do any. . Even knee, and start with wall pushups! It's all about where you are. ..

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[wildross]

I've never seen it discussed.  (knee vs inclined).  I'd stick with one (for you knee pushups since you've already started), for at least a month before trying the other.

 

The other issue may be food/nutrition.  Getting stronger = building muscle = need protein.  Lack of protein may lead to the other issues you mentioned as well.  Most of the time, for muscle building the recommendation is 1G of protein per pound of lean body weight.  Any idea of what you are getting?

[holographicSam]

Becoming Lara Croft is an awesome goal! Congrats on all your progress so far, and good luck with your push-ups. Those things can be really frustrating to build up when you have trouble doing even a few real ones!

 

As for your diet... Maybe try eating smaller meals and snacking a lot? I know that I get hungry/tired pretty easily, so I tend to pack a large lunch and just eat it throughout the day.

[lullaby88]

Hey! How has the last week been going for you? Are the knee push ups getting any better for you?

[theredphoenix]

Omg i go away for a few days and i get soo may posts! Thanks for the support everyone you made my week!

 

@christartist - thanks,  i won't worry too much yet about guilds and point systems- just try and get through the first few weeks eh? And i have read the 15 mistakes that beginners make, not sure about the storming the castle? 

 

@Hazard - thank youuuu, although the title now lies anyway because i didn't go into weightlifting yet haha

 

@Jerem The Great - Yeah thanks! Ever since i've been doing inclined push ups where i can and i can feel the difference in my arms the next morning :3. And thanks for the encouragement :D

 

@Wildross - Yeah thanks, i'm just using whatever surface/floor is avaliable to me at the moment haha XD. And i have no idea about protein per pound or any of that :S

 

@HolographicSam  - Thank you! I would love to be lara, she's pretty epic... And i loved the video game, although some of it was a bit silly :3. It was between her and woman woman as far as female heros go, but lara won over ultimately. And thanks about the push ups - it's pretty demoralising to not even be able to do one, because i'm not horribly unfit... And a lot of people i know who aren't as fit as me can do quiet a few easily. But i tried the snacking thing by putting some of those fruit bars in my bag for when i "crash" and it's definetely helped . 

 

@Lullaby88 - thanks for being the post that reminded me i haven't posted in ages... Update to followwwwwww

 

So this week has been pretty mad - I've been doing the 30 day powerup challenge and was on day... three i think? (I'll put a link to it and the pictures below if anyone's interested. Ended up having to take a day off because i ran out of time on the thursday, but i was quiet sore anyway.

But then have been progressively feeling more and more ill for the rest of the week and haven't got much done - especially today, don't know if it's something i ate, but myself and the boyfriend were not feeling great today.. wondering if we got food poisoning.

 

Any who, i got to see some of the photos from the 10k race i did and i got really inspired! So don't think I've given up . I've been adding extra push ups and things into workouts and things randomly haha, and also i can do a 30 second headstand now which is cool - too scared to get my legs over my head for the handstand, and i think my knees are too weak anyway. We also had a very lara-croft-ish moment yesterday, when at 11:30 PM the boyfriend and i finished watching eternal sunshine of the spotless mind and thought... fuck it let's drive to paris for the bank holiday! So i were were like...

 

So excited and really wanted to go, but it was just out of our price range unfortunately.. le sigh, sooooon! It's still nice to know at some point we can be that spontaneous . Anyway, hoping to get back on the horse tomorrow and be fighting fit. Hope everyone had an awesome bank holiday

 

Also.. i freakin love the relationship in eternal sunshine - it's a great film if you haven't seen it, and it's weirder than i remember it... Still the couple in it really reminds me of where i am right now with my boyfriend (noot the breaking up point haha). But yeah, freaking adorable. Ahh life is good <3

 

 

 

[lullaby88]

Omg i go away for a few days and i get soo may posts! Thanks for the support everyone you made my week!

 

@Lullaby88 - thanks for being the post that reminded me i haven't posted in ages... Update to followwwwwww

 

That's what we are here for! Being supportive and useful!

 

Hopefully, this week goes better for you. Good job on the headstand!

 

Keep up the good work! 

[ChristArtist]

[emoji304][emoji189]

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[theredphoenix]

Hi guysss - quick update from a sunburnt englander . Had a really good day on friday - felt better than i have in ages. Went for a 3k run, came back, did full workout and added a bunch of extra workout for my arms at the end because i felt great. Had a break yesterday, and going to try and do some arms today - because i still feel like i haven't made much progress on the press up front, and they never really feel like they ache the next day after i've worked out? :s. Also, might have to lower "handstand" to "headstand unsupported" for now- i just don't have the arm strength to hold myself up right now XD. If i can get the balance right then that's half the battle  

[theredphoenix]

Wow so that was hard.. just finished another 30-day work out challenge, this one was:

 

warm up

 

20 secs squats

20 secs lunges

20 secs push ups

 

1 minute rest

 

To be completed 5 times 

 

 

Arms and legs are shaking, phew. That was a tough one. Also tried to do some pull ups at the end - managed two tiny ones XD. Go team nerd fitness!

 

 

Also, feel like i'm making progress on the push ups - i can do about ten on my knees now (with lots of yelling and grunting XD) Still just fall to the ground if i try and do it on my toes though so feel a bit like 

Anyway! We shall persevere! Going to do some headstand practice when my arms don't feel like jelly

 

EDIT: Oh also, i think i've been doing push ups wrong until recently - i've started to actually bring my shoulder blades back when i go down, and i think i'm actually working out the right areas now  

[ChristArtist]

Those shoulder blades. .. they'll get you in trouble every time!

Great job!

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