Hybrid's First Quest! *throws down gauntlet*

[hybrid756]

Hello!

*deep breath* I hereby announce to all the internets that I am leaving the safety of my current unfit life to embark upon my Quest Of Badassery!

MAIN QUEST

To be small, strong, and fast. Therefore, at the end of my 6 week challenge I need to be smaller, stronger, and faster than I am now. My plan is to do this in the following measurable ways:

- Smaller: As I currently drink coffee with sugar, I will, by the end of the 6 weeks, drink no more than one sugared beverage per day.

- Stronger: I will complete the beginner's bodyweight workout every 2-3 days.

- Faster: To improve my cardiovascular fitness, and aid in the Smaller part of the plan, I will go for a walk at least 6 days out of 7, outwith my normal routine, whether it's just round the block, or to the opposite end of the city and back. Since I find the walking habit easy to take up, and I want to be able to run, I will add bits of running into my walks, so that I can run for a whole minute by the end of the 6 week challenge. That might not sound like much but I'm more concerned about building the foundation of new habits right now

There, I feel better now I've said that. So, for tomorrow... I will:

- Go for a walk.

- Run for at least 5 seconds a few times during this walk.

- Drink no more than 5 coffees with sugar.

- Do the beginner's bodyweight workout for the first time.

Onwards!!

[hybrid756]

I forgot to add my...

LIFE QUEST

I work bar shifts, and find it all too easy to end up getting to bed at 6am as a matter of course, then when I'm up and it's starting to get dark and cold by 2pm, I don't feel like going outside and I start to get depressed, and my sleeping pattern goes all to hell, I will:

- Get up by midday at least 5 days out of 7.

- Get up by 9am at least 2 days out of 7.

This is a habit I started a few weeks ago which is really helping me keep on top of everything and makes me feel good. So, I think it's really important I include it, because all the MAIN QUEST stuff I'm going to be doing follows on much easier as a result. So I know that I can't multi task, but my quests both fit together and I know how much it helps for me to prioritise this

It's 2am now, so maybe I'll be up by 9 and maybe not, but I'll definitely be up by 12 and getting the Badassery done tomorrow. Looking forward to it!

[hybrid756]

HARDWARE UPGRADE COMMENCED!

- Up at 10am. Yay mornings

- 1 coffee with sugar.

- Going for a walk at lunchtime.

- BBWW done! Here's my starting point:

- 20 min warm up (it's really cold...)

- Squats: 20 x 2

- Push ups: 10 x 2 (knees)

- Lunges: 20 x 2

- Rows: 10 each side x 2 (3.75kg dumbbell)

- Plank: 15s x 2

- Jumping jacks: 30 x 2

Notes!

- I totally thought I could do squats, because I used to do them with dumbbells, and I'm quite confident in my form. Thing is, I could only do about 10 at a time, and doing 40 in a short space of time was a challenge! Endurance is something I want to work on, because I have, er... none. So, I'm happy with that!

- Push ups OMG OUCH. My poor weak little shoulders. There was shouting. There was swearing. But there were 2 sets of 10 push ups! Once I stop swearing at push ups, I know I need to move on to the next progression. They're awesome. I can't wait to be able to do a real one

- Lunges are alright, but I'm not sure if I had my form right. Felt like I was jerking about too much, or maybe out of balance. I'll investigate that.

- Rows. A bit too easy with that weight? I used to do them when I was working out before, with the same weight (3.75kg). I want to check my form in case I'm lifting with my arms? If I did this right, I was trying to pull with my elbows, slight curve in the back, and using my hand as a hook, trying to remember that it's not an active part of the move. That's how I remember it anyway (I hope that's right!). If I don't feel that in my back muscles a bit tomorrow, I'll put the weight up

- Jumping jacks. AWESOME! A WHOLE SET OF SOMETHING CARDIO-RELATED WITHOUT SWEARING!! WOOOOOO!!!!!1111oneone

I didn't have breakfast. Not used to working out in the morning. Hell, not used to getting up in the morning! So I stopped after 2 sets because I was starting to get a bit shaky. I'm usually not hungry first thing, and I don't eat until I am. Usually. But if I'm going to work out again in the morning, I'll make sure to eat something anyway, because I think I could have possibly got through the final set if I'd eaten something earlier. I'll remember that for next time and try again to see if I get on better.

Oh and I completely forgot about this but it's so true, post workout showers are awesome.

Tomorrow!

- Get up by 12.

- Go for a walk. Run 7 seconds a few times during this walk.

- Drink no more than 5 coffees with sugar.

(Edit: my phone won't let me scroll and change the text. Anyway! Hit all my goals for the day! BBWW x 1; Walk (3-4 miles?) x 1 with 4 x 5 second running intervals; coffee with sugar x 3, can of fizzy orange juice x 1, All that and I was up by 10am! Working (probably) until midnight-1am tomorrow so Friday might be a late start, need to get my early mornings in! And since I want something to measure: 188lbs (I'd like to be under 182 after 6 weeks, but I know how my weight fluctuates, so I'm not going to obsess over it or make it a goal, it's just for quick and dirty stats )

Also, I want ALL THE POINTS. Since I started the challenge halfway through (I hope this is right...), I want to attribute 5 points after 21 November if I've succeeded. As follows:

+1 STR (If I can do more in my workouts than at the start)

+1 CON (If I'm down to one sugary drink max per day by then)

+1 STA (If I can run for 30s after 3 weeks, as my 6wk goal is a minute)

+1 WIS (If I'm keeping up progression with these habits)

+1 CHA (Because I will be a more awesome person after 3 weeks if I keep this up)

[hybrid756]

Day 2!

Man, I'm out of practice... I can't believe I used to skate 3-4 times a week for 2-3 hours at a time, walk dozens of miles every week, plus do countless hours of bodyweight exercises and yoga... Seriously I used to do this for fun. 2 days after my first round of BBWW and I was late for work because I dropped my keys on the floor on the way out then had to walk down 3 flights of stairs which took so long I missed my bus

This must mean my body is adapting! w00t!

So today: Go for walk? Done. Maybe a mile.

Add 7 second running intervals to this walk? Done, 4x7. I was afraid my legs were going to buckle from the soreness, then I realised... "Yay! OMG this is actually easier than walking! I wish I could run to work!!..." So hopefully soon I can run for the bus I'm about to miss because it took me so damn long to get down the stairs ).

Drink no more than 5 sugary drinks? Done! 1 blueberry protein smoothie which I'm counting for having 11g sugar (the only known protein drink in central Glasgow...), 1 small hot chocolate at work and 1 coffee with one sugar when I got in from work.

And... I'd planned on getting up at 9, but body says no: 11 it is. One thing I noticed yesterday after getting back into working out even just this once? I could not keep my eyes open last night, and I slept like a baby. For a LONG time. At least 10 hours (I usually wake up after 7 hours without an alarm). And for a chronic insomniac? BEST. THING. EVER.

I call today a success!!

Tomorrow:

- Get up whenever. Late in from work tonight, and gotta get cracking on 2 uni assignments for next week so I want my mind and body fresh and adequately rested.

- No more than 5 drinks with sugar.

- Go for a walk.

- Add 9 second running intervals to this walk.

- Attempt BBWW again. I'm not sure if I'm ready but I want to try. Promise I won't bust myself up. I just want to see how my body handles this again after 2 days. If I need to wait another day, I'm cool with that. If not, awesome

Onwards!

[TheAccountant]

Man, I wish cutting out sugar in my coffee would come CLOSE to making a difference in my calorie intake.  You rock.

[hybrid756]

Man, I wish cutting out sugar in my coffee would come CLOSE to making a difference in my calorie intake.  You rock.

Oh, it doesn't really make much of a difference. What too much sugar DOES do is make me ravenously hungry and liable to scarf down tons of other crap. Plus it makes me feel sluggish, fuzzy-headed, and messes with my sleep pattern. Too much eating of other crap and a messed up sleep pattern puts me more at risk for depression, which makes me eat tons of other crap and makes me sleep all day and not want to work out or study or pick up more shifts at work.

Ultimately, cutting down on sugar is a Level 1 rat-killing exercise in making the foundation of good habits

[hybrid756]

Gah! Damn rats keep biting me in the leg.

 

Got called in to work on Friday until god knows when o'clock, so that was that day fecked.

 

Yesterday was pretty wiped out from work and need to get cracking on 2 uni assignments that are due in on Thursday which I need to do more work on to get the results I want. 

 

No moping about though! Yesterday, I went for my walk / 9 second intervals run, and managed 2 intervals of 30 seconds! That's my 3 week goal, so I'm going to keep doing that every time I go out. Which, given the pile of maths I've left myself, isn't likely to be in the next few days. So, I'm going to put the schedule on hold until Monday (not because that's International I'll Start On Monday Day, but because I've got uni deadlines until Thursday, then am working all weekend - damn hospitality jobs at xmas... see this is why I need to do well at uni!).

 

*casts Protect & Vigilance*

 

I'll do what I can when I can until then. Really laying off the sugary drinks, and I hit my 30 second running goal already (my throat was burning and my legs were shaking after the second interval, that's how unfit I am. My god!).

 

I suspect that by 21st Nov I should hit a few level up points though probably not all of them. I'll start again as Level 1 for the next 6 week challenge. Getting organised so I'm not snowed under cramming for uni assignments is going to be a big part of that, as is figuring out my sleeping pattern because that's all gone to hell too the past few days.

 

*engage Steelguard*

[hybrid756]

Gah! Total n00b gamer experience, that last post was me shouting "Halp!" I'm getting shot! How do I hide behind this burnt out car?!"

 

So. I know why I didn't do BBWW again. I hate working out at home. I want to know my bf% estimate because I've been faffing around for a year and a half at the same weight. After trying to get my hard hat to fit and get the workout done, and wondering WTF was up with me, I figured *gasp!* either it was too hard for me, or I don't know how to recover properly. So for 10 days I flailed about figuring out what the problem was. First! I am more unfit than I thought. Good, I have more progress I can make than I thought. Second! I want to be a gym person. I want fitness as a hobby. Third! I'd been slipping with my intuitive eating (goal is for it eventually just to become Eating). Fourth! I want somewhere I can escape to work out, not in my bedroom, where I study and sleep and play video games. Fifth! I want something productive to track that's not food (that makes me binge, I know it's not for me). Sixth! I need to find a hard hat that fits my head better, by eliminating obstacles that are stopping me from working out when I want to.

 

1. I faced the fact that I'm starting from nothing with fitness, and decided I shall start with the basic compound lifts at 1 x 5 with the bar. If I can do 5 x 5 with the bar in 6 weeks, I'll be happy. Goal is to work up to being able to start Stronglifts 5 x 5 when I'm ready (whenever that is). I also want to incorporate some HIIT later, but at the moment, I'm going with a moderate amount of moderate cardio after my lifts.

2. I joined my local uni's gym. As a OU student / NUS member I get full membership for £20/month. I do tutorials at this uni every now and again, and the gym gets good reviews, and I've always wondered about it when walking past, so that's that sorted.

3. I started taking a few minutes before eating to work out if I really want what I'm eating, or if I'm just bored/tired/emotional/whatever. Result (because I've had a lot of practice with this way of eating, yay progress!) was less cookies, more meat and veg. I could live off salmon, pork chops, steak, and roasted carrots and peppers. One ginger biscuit last night and that felt like enough. I love not bingeing Tasty tasty

4. See 2.

5. While shopping after work last night, I happened across a new scale that measures bf%, checked and it gets good reviews online. £20. Decided it's worth the investment. I can't afford any other type of bf% monitoring, but it's hardly going to say I'm 22% when I'm 42%. I'm 47.8%! Gah! Well, knowledge is power. Yay.

6. I currently get about using all day tickets on the bus, so when I'm going out, I like to get everything done in one day, to minimise cost. I did a bit of research, and I can get a student weekly ticket for the price of 3 day tickets, so I've grabbed my student card and off I go. That way I can go to the gym whenever I want. Went to bed at a reasonable time, so that I can get up and in the gym during the day before everyone else piles in after uni/work. Put myself on day shifts this weekend so I can keep my sleeping pattern on this schedule easier. Prepared my gym bag with all the stuff I need to just grab it and head out.

 

So, today is gym exploration, warm up, 1 x 5 squat, bench and deadlift with the bar (because I've done similar with dumbbells so these are the ones I'm most confident with getting my form right on my first day at the gym. Still terrified though!) then 30 mins of moderate pace cardio, stretching, then go home. I got a book so I can monitor my lifting progress. I plan to go twice a week as that's all I'm ready for, and get some walking/swimming in on my days off. 

 

Daunted but excited!

 

And I think I should have WIS +1 for figuring this out

[mitch_dee]

Hybrid, great job on really analyzing what you want and what is the important focus for you right now.  For most people that can be the hardest part.  Congrats on the gym membership and exploration, you have really solid points for going to the gym, just keep that motivation and continue pushing yourself.  Before you know it you will be pressing 2 plates, not just the bar.

 

I'll be keeping an eye on you and I know you will be putting up great success!

[hybrid756]

Hey mitch_dee! Thanks for the encouragement Today was a great success, I left the gym today grinning from ear to ear (and slightly wobbly in the legs...).

 

Sooo... my gym is awesome. I went at about 2.30pm thinking it'd be quite quiet, and it was. It's enormous!! They have the whole Olympic weights setup in one room, it looks really well kitted out. I didn't go in there, but headed upstairs where they have all the cardio gear and machines, and another huge free weights area with lighter weights and plates. Hit the treadmill first for a warm up (15 mins including one whole minute of running, HOLY CRAP!! - Not what I was focusing on, but I was still a bit cold and wanted to get the blood flowing a bit without spending all day walking on the treadmill lol). Looking petrified, I wandered over to the weights section feeling very confused. Which bar do I start with? Which rack do I use? Which way round does the bench go? (Yeah, I got it the wrong way round...). Picked up a bar that felt like about 5lbs and was still looking confused when one of the staff came over to help. I told her the lifts I was going for today (squat, bench, deadlift... because the form for those felt easiest for me to remember so at least I had a plan) and she provided me with a 15kg bar and pointed me in the direction of the 5kg training plates, showed me how to use the rack, got me to do some reps until my form was good, showed me which way round the bench went (d'oh!) and off I went! I know I said I'd do 1 x 5 of each, but once I got the hang of it, I couldn't help but do 5 x 5 anyway

 

So for my first time lifting anything more than a 5kg dumbbell... 1st workout results! (I'll post them here to keep track of them).

 

5 x 5 squat 15kg

5 x 5 bench 15kg

5 x 5 deadlift 25kg (I don't think I should be doing that many deadlifts normally, but it felt light enough and I wanted the practice. Promise I'll drop that down if I need to as the weight goes up!)

 

After years of joining gyms on and off and busting my ass trying to do mega cardio when I have no endurance then feeling ashamed of my body and hating myself and going off to binge eat my way up another 10lbs while declaring that I HATEZ TEH GYMZ so many times... this was an absolute breath of fresh air! I have NEVER enjoyed a gym workout before, but I left there today feeling like I owned the world! So different to have a game plan that goes: warm up - lift - feel badass - stretch - shower - leave. I can't wait to go back You heavy lifters have a new convert!

 

Came home, had a lovely peppered medium rare steak with a few chips and a pile of roasted carrots, and passed out on the sofa watching Mr Hybrid playing Shadow of Mordor. Conversation went: Him: "hey babe, you want a shot?" Me: *snoring* It's midnight, so I'm off for an early night (on my schedule that's early).

 

I said I'd do 30 mins cardio afterwards as I need to work it into my routine somewhere, but afterwards I just felt totally drained and relaxed and was like, I'm outta here for the day. My fitness will improve and I can work it in over time. I like a nice swim and a sauna so I can get onto that if I'm sore or stiff a day or two after. And I should point out that my gym looks like something out of the Crystal Maze, which earns extra awesome points.

 

I'm working tomorrow, Friday, Saturday. If it's open on Sunday I'll head back then. I'm not sure if it's open on Monday. If it's not, I'll go on Tuesday. But now I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to lift next. Thinking squat, overhead press or barbell row (or both? does that work?) and... something else? I'll read up and see what I need to be doing next. And after that, starting with the tiny 1.25kg plates, I'll start adding weight to the bar and go from there! I feel like I've just joined some secret clan of awesome badassery that I didn't realise existed

 

I know that was a mini-dissertation...

 

SO MUCH AWESOME. I wish I'd done this years ago.

[hybrid756]

Right, so... the whole food thing.

 

I've been eating at maintenance for a year and a half, but I don't know what that is in calories and macros. It's 2 years since I started recovery from binge eating disorder, and I suspect that the initial 30lbs I got shot of were binge weight that I used to maintain on top of what I have now. Recovery has gone / is going extremely well, but every time I try to track my food intake, I go nuts and relapse. Hmmmmm. Now if diet's 80% of this thing (or thereabouts) then I need to find a way round it.

 

Finally I find a use for evernote!! Instead of trying to add foods into My Fitness Pal as I go, I'm just going to write something down when I eat it, just WHAT IT IS. I'm eating 'normally' (whatever that means for me) and it's taken me so long, and I ain't gonna screw that up. I figure that if I can add up my calories and macros a week behind and average them out, I can find out what the biggest culprits are in screwing my progress. Then, if I want to eat that thing, I can just be extra judicious with my intuitive eating techniques around that food, and find out if I really want it or if I just want an hour of gaming or a chat or a walk or a sleep or whatever. In the hope that my calorie intake will start to adjust when I look it up again a few weeks later, and my eating habits should naturally adjust over time. Long way for a shortcut, but whatever. I just feel that if I decouple the act of tracking a food from the act of actually EATING that food, it won't send me headlong into a binge cycle.

 

Thinking out loud here. This could work.

[mediaguy99]

Hey mitch_dee! Thanks for the encouragement Today was a great success, I left the gym today grinning from ear to ear (and slightly wobbly in the legs...).

 

Sooo... my gym is awesome. I went at about 2.30pm thinking it'd be quite quiet, and it was. It's enormous!! They have the whole Olympic weights setup in one room, it looks really well kitted out. I didn't go in there, but headed upstairs where they have all the cardio gear and machines, and another huge free weights area with lighter weights and plates. Hit the treadmill first for a warm up (15 mins including one whole minute of running, HOLY CRAP!! - Not what I was focusing on, but I was still a bit cold and wanted to get the blood flowing a bit without spending all day walking on the treadmill lol). Looking petrified, I wandered over to the weights section feeling very confused. Which bar do I start with? Which rack do I use? Which way round does the bench go? (Yeah, I got it the wrong way round...). Picked up a bar that felt like about 5lbs and was still looking confused when one of the staff came over to help. I told her the lifts I was going for today (squat, bench, deadlift... because the form for those felt easiest for me to remember so at least I had a plan) and she provided me with a 15kg bar and pointed me in the direction of the 5kg training plates, showed me how to use the rack, got me to do some reps until my form was good, showed me which way round the bench went (d'oh!) and off I went! I know I said I'd do 1 x 5 of each, but once I got the hang of it, I couldn't help but do 5 x 5 anyway

 

So for my first time lifting anything more than a 5kg dumbbell... 1st workout results! (I'll post them here to keep track of them).

 

5 x 5 squat 15kg

5 x 5 bench 15kg

5 x 5 deadlift 25kg (I don't think I should be doing that many deadlifts normally, but it felt light enough and I wanted the practice. Promise I'll drop that down if I need to as the weight goes up!)

 

After years of joining gyms on and off and busting my ass trying to do mega cardio when I have no endurance then feeling ashamed of my body and hating myself and going off to binge eat my way up another 10lbs while declaring that I HATEZ TEH GYMZ so many times... this was an absolute breath of fresh air! I have NEVER enjoyed a gym workout before, but I left there today feeling like I owned the world! So different to have a game plan that goes: warm up - lift - feel badass - stretch - shower - leave. I can't wait to go back You heavy lifters have a new convert!

 

Came home, had a lovely peppered medium rare steak with a few chips and a pile of roasted carrots, and passed out on the sofa watching Mr Hybrid playing Shadow of Mordor. Conversation went: Him: "hey babe, you want a shot?" Me: *snoring* It's midnight, so I'm off for an early night (on my schedule that's early).

 

I said I'd do 30 mins cardio afterwards as I need to work it into my routine somewhere, but afterwards I just felt totally drained and relaxed and was like, I'm outta here for the day. My fitness will improve and I can work it in over time. I like a nice swim and a sauna so I can get onto that if I'm sore or stiff a day or two after. And I should point out that my gym looks like something out of the Crystal Maze, which earns extra awesome points.

 

I'm working tomorrow, Friday, Saturday. If it's open on Sunday I'll head back then. I'm not sure if it's open on Monday. If it's not, I'll go on Tuesday. But now I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to lift next. Thinking squat, overhead press or barbell row (or both? does that work?) and... something else? I'll read up and see what I need to be doing next. And after that, starting with the tiny 1.25kg plates, I'll start adding weight to the bar and go from there! I feel like I've just joined some secret clan of awesome badassery that I didn't realise existed

 

I know that was a mini-dissertation...

 

SO MUCH AWESOME. I wish I'd done this years ago.

 

I always find it SO MUCH EASIER to do cardio before the weightlifting... gets me warmed up and not exhausted afterwards.

 

Welcome to the Assassins

[hybrid756]

Thanks, mediaguy! I can't wait to get stuck in with the next challenge FWIW, my cardio capacity is in the bin... I think I'll need to stay at the same level that I did the other day, because my legs & shoulders are STILL aching, hamstrings feel super tight, and to top it off I've come down with the plague *angry face*

I know I want to be lifting much heavier and I'm impatient to become super-fit right away, but it looks like my focus right now should be on teaching my body to do the workout it just did, but more efficiently, and with quicker recovery. I want to be able to hit the weights every other day but my CNS has something to say about it (do more practice on your form and balance), my endocrine system has something to say about it (figure out which foods feel like the best fuel for what you're doing), and my immune system has had A LOT to say about it (sleep more, drink more water, cope with stress better). So yeah, no extra plates for me just yet. Once I can do that same level of workout every other day without busting myself up, I can ramp things up! I'm hoping I can be there by the end of January but hey... It happens when it happens. A barbell is for life, not just for Xmas

And no way I could go near any more cardio after that... Hell, I was dozing off in the shower.

[hybrid756]

Well, since that's the 21st over I guess that's time to sign off on this challenge! I'm gonna post notes up in here until my new one begins in a few weeks

What I've got out of this (5 points because I only did 3 weeks):

- 2 STR for starting Stronglifts (1 point for finding a program I like and I can do, 1 point for lifting more than I ever have before!).

- 0 DEX because, well... That's for later.

- 1 WIS I already got for working out a useful plan.

- 1 STA for being able to run for one minute.

- 0 CON because I haven't worked on my nutrition at all.

- 1 CHA for getting over myself and making my way to the free weights section

Next challenge will be working on better workout recovery, increasing strength if I can (learning form and recovery comes first though), and focussing on my food tracking idea to get myself to a place where I can start losing fat without backpedaling 2 years of binge eating recovery work.

Onwards! Again!

[hybrid756]

Uhhh... what the crap?? I just measured myself and I'm the same weight, the same bf%, but my chest and waist have gone down 1 inch each and my hips have gone down by 1/2 an inch. I've been checking those for over a year and they never go below 36-38-45, now 35-37-44.5! 

 

Not looking for an explanation for this just had to note it because it's never happened before. Plus, I woke up with no more DOMS (damn you tight hamstrings!!), and no plague (w00t!).

 

Off to work on a spreadsheet to track my progress (and, duh... study. My programming's well behind). The only macros I'm working on right now are gonna be in Excel, but still...

 

[Xisiqomelir]

Not looking for an explanation for this

 

I have one anyway

 

 

I have some comments about weight changes.

 

Reasonably, one can expect to lose around a pound of fat a week if the body fat proportion is excessive. More can be lost if very obese, and fat loss becomes harder as one gets leaner.

 

One can also expect to gain a 1/4 pound of lean muscle mass a week assuming training is significantly intense, protein intake is sufficient and adequate time is given to recovery.

 

Retained water weight also fluctuates, and this one can be almost entirely erratic. Sodium and carbohydrate dietary intakes, respiratory and urinary activity, along with many other factors contribute to whether fluid weight increases or decreases.

 

The net result of all of these is that total weight can change dramatically in all sorts of directions as you try to get fitter. So feel free to disregard your scale entirely if you'd like (at the very most I wouldn't bother with more than 1x a week).

[hybrid756]

Yeah, I was just surprised to have shrunk after hitting the gym ONCE (it hit me back pretty hard). My measurements have been constant for a few years. Just a nice surprise, is all!

[hybrid756]

By the way, I thought the gym was open until 9 tonight, so I got there at 4... And they decided to shut at 4. Had a really emotionally taxing day today and was looking forward to throwing the bar around to let off some steam, and now they're shut until the 27th. I was really looking forward to it as well, but hey... There's bigger problems. I'll go back when they're open again. So I learned 2 things today:

1. I really couldn't be bothered going to work out, but I know it's not about motivation, it's about a commitment I made to myself. Not a feeling of not wanting to do it because I'm dreading it but I have to because I resigned myself to endless hours of torture on the elliptical because I have to "get skinny for summer" or some other shizzle like that, but... A feeling of I really cannot be bothered making my way up there because it's cold and windy and raining and I had a rough day and I do kinda want the instant gratification of sitting in front of Netflix eating a pizza, but I know if I just make the journey then I'll feel stronger and accomplished and kinda badass afterwards because I love myself and I deserve to feel like that for it's own sake.

2. I used to deal with stress by hitting the other kind of bar, which always left me feeling like crap (and broke, with more problems than I started out with). I think that this will do me the world of good not just physically, but mentally, too. That thing Henry Rollins said I think... You can go about your business and someone can tell you you're god, or you're an asshole, but the iron doesn't lie. 200lbs is always 200lbs (or in my case right now, 33lbs or 55lbs depending on the lift... But same difference). No matter who gets on my case for whatever reason, if I can lift the shit I think I can, then I AM as strong as I think I am, and no fraking person on this earth can tell me otherwise, and there's a feeling of safety and self-sufficiency in that. I like that.

I persevere.

[Xisiqomelir]

After years of joining gyms on and off and busting my ass trying to do mega cardio when I have no endurance then feeling ashamed of my body and hating myself and going off to binge eat my way up another 10lbs while declaring that I HATEZ TEH GYMZ so many times... this was an absolute breath of fresh air! I have NEVER enjoyed a gym workout before, but I left there today feeling like I owned the world! So different to have a game plan that goes: warm up - lift - feel badass - stretch - shower - leave. I can't wait to go back You heavy lifters have a new convert!

 

SO MUCH AWESOME. I wish I'd done this years ago.

 

It's funny how incorrect the perceptions of lifting are among the general public.

 

I have some more comments about general programming. If your goals are mainly physique-related (this is what I get from the first post), I would focus primarily on diet and then on strength. I would omit all cardiovascular conditioning entirely for now, unless you have a specific endurance goal you want to achieve (5km timing, marathon participation etc).

 

There are excellent reasons to do so, already written up by Andy Morgan.

[hybrid756]

Calling it a day on this challenge.