Miw-Sher tries again

[Miw_Sher]

Hey guys,

 

so, after failing my last challenge and going on a fitness hiatus, I decided to have a go at this again.

 

I haven't been completely fitness-less. My eating habits are as decent as they can be on a minimal budget, and I have managed to keep up Reddit's Bodyweight routine for a month now. I have also been doing some of Darebee's challenges and am really looking forward to the moment I can take upon some of their tougher ones.

 

However, at a 14-hour workday rhythm, it has been really hard to pick up the pace, so I am turning to Nerdfitness again to motivation. I have seriously missed the community.

 

I have seen that quite a few things have changed here, so I feel a bit lost. I will try and catch up and check in at least once every couple days to report on my progress.

 

My overarching goal is: Achieve a consistent fitness routine, with small exercises done daily.

 

My future career will involve sitting 10-12 hours a day. I NEED to include daily exercise in that.

 

Goal 1: Strength Training 3x a week.

 

This will predominantly be Reddit's Bodyweight workout. However, given that I will be home at my parent's a couple of weeks, I may choose a circuit instead if it is more practical. The key for me is to not lose the rythm.

 

Goal 2: Incorporate Darebee's Foundation Programme into my morning routine

 

Link: http://darebee.com/programs/foundation-program.html

Goal 3: Knee Pain Routine

 

I have had increasing knee pain since I stopped working out. Part of this was due to a pair of shoes I have now ejected from my home, but part of it definitely has to do with loss of muscle mass and constant sitting. I have no idea why, but I swear it gets worse when I sit for long periods of time.

 

So, the plan is now to do this routine twice a day:

(For those interested this is the website I used to put the routine together: http://www.knee-pain-explained.com/knee-pain-exercises.html)

 

Beginner Routine:

Straight Leg Raise
Glute Bridge
Kick Backs
Heel Raises
Sit to Stand  (also a great warm-up/drill for squats)

Additionally, do this every 20-30 minutes of sitting:

Long Arcs
Knee Marching

 

 

Life Goal:
 

Adulting:

Part 1/1: Empty my To Do list.

 

- Register somewhere as a resident (long story)

- Retrieve my Bachelor (long story)

- Set up a CV

- Make list of possible internships

- Finish building IKEA bed

- Bank business

 

 

Part 2/2: Finances

 

- Set aside 100 €

- Pay off all loans

[Miw_Sher]

Since I only joined in late this evening; I have decided to not count today as part of the challenge. Instead, I will consider I have started a day later and finish a day later (on the 29th);

 

So today is a "Day 0" of sorts.

 

Day 0 recap:

 

Not much done in terms of fitness goals. Took one step towards getting my BA certificate, though.

 

Also did Day 1 of the Darebee Foundation Programme.

[Miw_Sher]

Day 1:

 

I have the flu. 

 

The morning started out very well... some small troubles waking up, but then I managed to get my morning routine done and Day 2 of the Darebee Foundation programme and was still able to comfortably have my coffee and breakfast before going to work.

 

Then, by the time the evening came around, I was sore all over, shaking, and spend the night dealing with random fever bursts.

 

Recap:

 

Morning routine:

 

5 minutes mobility drills

Reddit Workout Mobility Exercises

 

Knee Routine (morning and evening):
10x Straight Leg Raise  

10x Glute Bridge            
10x Kick Backs               
10x Heel Raises
1 min Sit to Stand

 

Day 2 of Darebee Foundation programme - check.

 

Regularly did knee exercises while sitting.

 

Day 2:

I skipped my morning routine in favour of sleep, took some medicine, now fever is down. I decided to still do the knee routine since it is not particularly taxing in terms of efforts. Will wait until tonight to see what to do about the foundation programme and strength. 

 

 

 

 

[Jonesy]

Uugh I'm sorry you got the flu. I swear every challenge start people get sick!

 

Good luck on your challenge and I might have to steal your leg routine for a later challenge! Following along.

[Miw_Sher]

Uugh I'm sorry you got the flu. I swear every challenge start people get sick!

 

Good luck on your challenge and I might have to steal your leg routine for a later challenge! Following along. 

 

Yeah, I don't know how many people I see starting a challenge and then one week later - well, I guess I am sick now.

So, I decided not to strength train today and keep things calm and quiet. I did however do my morning and evening knee exercise routine, same stats as Day 1. I can definitely feel it - they are very simple exercises but they target the muscles nicely.

Day 3 of Foundation was a fight routine, but Day 4 was jus stretching, so I decided to do that one instead. I am really happy I did. I actually feel better now, which is making me question if there are any studies showing the impact of light physical activity during illness.

Overall, I am quite happy with today. I have plenty of time to get to my strength routine, and given that the meds seem to be working wonders (seriously, what exactly did that pharmacy lady give to me?) I am confident I will be able to do my Friday and my Sunday routine.

 

 

 

 

[dancezwithkittehz]

Helloooooo there, Miw_Sher! 

 

First, UGH flu!  I hope you feel better soon!

 

Second, I see that you have yourself tagged adventurer, but taking a look at your cool bodyweight training you are working on has me thinking you may also want to give the assassins a look! I am one of your friendly Assassin Guild Ambassadors; we are all about the wacky bodyweight (in addition to so many other things!) and we have a love of cat GIFS and memes galore! 

 

Regardless of where you decide to go in the long run I will be sure to check back on how your progress is going! And if you have any questions about assassin stuff or bodyweight training I am happy to lend an ear and hopefully useful advice. (And cat GIFs...If you need cat GIFS I will always supply cat GIFS! Or whatever your preferred brand of cute, fuzzy, and/or silly!)

 

 

Please come check out the assassin boards some time and say helloooooo. Here are some threads that may be of interest:

 

The Assassin Guild Info & Announcements  (official guild announcementy stuffs)

The Assassin Phonebook  (what are current assassins up to?)

 

The Assassins' Den (chat with the assassins!)

 

[Snarkyfishguts]

Oh no flu!!! Get well soon!

 

I'm following along and cheering for your success!!

[Miw_Sher]

Hey all.

 

So, in case you are wondering ow "getting better withing 3 days" went....

 

It didn't.

I flew back home and promptly had to endure another three days fever, followed by three more days being unable to sleep due to coughing fits.

I am finally starting to recover. I was going to start doing my morning routine today again, but then another sleepless night made me decide against it. I will do my knee routine tonight however, and tomorrow I will attempt at getting my shit back together and get back to my daily routine. I am supposed to do strength training but I will just test the ground for tomorrow, and then at some point next month I will really need to figure out what the deal is with my immune system. It has been ridiculous over the past year and it's getting me worried.

Cheers.

[dancezwithkittehz]

Oh no. I am glad you are finally starting to feel better but that sounds super frustrating. Crossing fingers that your immune system behaves and lets you get back to routine!

[Jonesy]

Oh no. I am glad you are finally starting to feel better but that sounds super frustrating. Crossing fingers that your immune system behaves and lets you get back to routine!

 

I second this ^. 

[Miw_Sher]

Hello hello,

 

I managed to more or less get back into my routine, I am doing my daily exercise and even did my strength routine yesterday. I still have some leftover cough though which is kind of annoying and holds me back a bit, but I am getting there again. I am now on day 6 of foundation and increased the repetitions of the knee exercises to 13. (I increase them by 1 every two days)

 

However, I completely fell off my daily routine, study schedule after keeping up a rather strict agenda for hover a month I was really proud of. I am really trying to kick myself back into it, but it's amazing how much breaking momentum can screw over all good habits you broke.

Adulting is going ok, some things I can't take care of while I am back home, and for some stuff I took all the necessary administrative steps and am now in the "waiting for people to get back to me" phase. I urgently need to make some time for my CV though. Ugh.

[dancezwithkittehz]

Yay increased knee reps!

 

If the study habits have really fell by the wayside maybe starting with baby steps of like 3 days a week or something might be a good idea? Some kind of smaller incremental steps in order to get yourself back to where you want!  Rebuilding habits can be so frustrating!!!

[Miw_Sher]

Yay increased knee reps!

 

If the study habits have really fell by the wayside maybe starting with baby steps of like 3 days a week or something might be a good idea? Some kind of smaller incremental steps in order to get yourself back to where you want!  Rebuilding habits can be so frustrating!!!

 

Unfortunately, I have a big project to hand in in less than a week, so that is really not an option. :/ I kind of accepted the notion that I will be late for it, but I am still pissed off to no end.

However, tomorrow I am flying back home (the only bright aspect of all this story is that I was staying at my parents', which is cool because it meant I was not alone during the worst days), so I will just do a major respawn then and suck it up. Changing evnironments helps in these cases.

[dancezwithkittehz]

Ugh. It's so frustrating when life gets in the way of meeting goals, but it sounds like you have a plan and I have faith you will get yourself back on track

[Briniel]

How come I've only found you now!? Sorry to hear you've been sick, but it sounds like you're still going and doing as much as you can. Just keep it up, you'll get to where you want to be in time

[Miw_Sher]

Ugh. It's so frustrating when life gets in the way of meeting goals, but it sounds like you have a plan and I have faith you will get yourself back on track

 

Thanks for the support! I am doing my best.

 

How come I've only found you now!? Sorry to hear you've been sick, but it sounds like you're still going and doing as much as you can. Just keep it up, you'll get to where you want to be in time

 

No idea, probably because I have not been that active around here, mostly popping in to let people know I am still alive. You seem to have been going strong, though!

 

So, yesterday I started doing Reddit's Bodyweight routine again. Still working on form. Haven't added any reps, but haven't lost any either. Wohooo...

 

I need a better way to track reps though, I tried making my own spreadsheet, but it sucks. does anybody have any ideas/suggestions for this?

[Briniel]

why did your spreadsheet suck? What did you expect from it that it couldn't do? I use a spreadsheet to track my workout and get along with it just fine, so it's hard to offer suggestions

[Miw_Sher]

why did your spreadsheet suck? What did you expect from it that it couldn't do? I use a spreadsheet to track my workout and get along with it just fine, so it's hard to offer suggestions

 

It wasn't very practical layout-wise, and did not allow me to track as accurately as I wished, or add notes. But excel is the bane of my existence. One day, one day I will sit down and master it. For now, every time I try to make something in it, it sucks.

[Jonesy]

I feel you on the spreadsheet front. Just when I think I have excel figured out something pops up and frustrates me or I can't figure out how to make something look nicer. I'm a huge visual person and if it looks gross and unorganized I have a hard time using it. 

 

When I was last working out, I printed off fitness tracker sheets from a pinterest site I found. It was cute and colorful and everything I needed. I'm currently working on making one myself but that's my suggestion, print outs and a neat workout binder to hold it all.

[Miw_Sher]

I feel you on the spreadsheet front. Just when I think I have excel figured out something pops up and frustrates me or I can't figure out how to make something look nicer. I'm a huge visual person and if it looks gross and unorganized I have a hard time using it. 

 

When I was last working out, I printed off fitness tracker sheets from a pinterest site I found. It was cute and colorful and everything I needed. I'm currently working on making one myself but that's my suggestion, print outs and a neat workout binder to hold it all.

 

I will have a look! It'd actually be cool to have my workouts in paper form.

[Miw_Sher]

Ok, so it's nearly over, isn't it? (I am counting until the 28th... going only to the 26th is weird to me).

 

Abit late, but let's do a quick evaluation...

 

Goal 1: Strength Training 3x a week.

 

Done to the extent possible. Still have two to go to succeed a the challenge.

 

Goal 2: Incorporate Darebee's Foundation Programme into my morning routine

 

Yep. Day 17 finished an hour ago.

 

Goal 3: Knee Pain Routine

 

Forgot it twice, otherwise always did it.

 

Life Goal:
 

Adulting:

Part 1/1: Empty my To Do list.

 

- Register somewhere as a resident - check

- Retrieve my Bachelor - check

- Set up a CV - still needs to be done

- Make list of possible internships - this wasn't even on my ToDo list, actually... I had something else instead so I completely forgot about this. I did that thing instead, though.

- Finish building IKEA bed - scheduled for Friday

- Bank business - check, waiting for answer

 

 

Part 2/2: Finances

 

- Set aside 100 € - check

- Pay off all loans - check on one, waiting for the bank details for the other

 

* * *

 

So, overall, not too shabby except the internship thing. Given that I DID clear my urgent ToDO list, and that I won't be able to send out my CV straight away either due to illness-related reasons, I will let that pass. I just need to finish up my CV to consider that one a success. Better start working on it!

 

I decided not to level up this time, let's consider it a warm-up round, getting back into the forums.

 

Also, I now have a daily battle log, yaaaaay!

 

 

 

 

[Jonesy]

I think its a great idea to use the first one as a warm up. I'm pretty sure that's why they make all newbies start as a rebel.

 

Even using this challenge as a warm up, you're doing a pretty solid job. Good Job!

[Miw_Sher]

Thank you all for following me despite my absence and late start!

 

 

I have finally caved and decided to do the next challenge with the Assassins. This will be the first time I really pick a path in terms of fitness, so I am really excited.

 

Thread is here: http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/78918-miw-sher/

See you all there!