Charlie_Quinn: Maximum Effort

[Charlie_Quinn]

 

This isn't really a Deadpool themed challenge - but all Deadpool gifs and pics are welcome - it's more inspired by his catchphrase in the movie.  

 

I’ve been coasting along for the last few challenges, which has been fine, sometimes it’s good to take a step back and relax. I’ve still seen a few improvements in my performance over the past weeks including beating obstacles at races that I've never done before. It got me thinking, if I put more effort in, how awesome could I make myself? So now it’s time to put that extra effort in. I know I can make some noticeable gains in my strength, speed and endurance if I put my head down and get on with it. I'll be running this challenge from week 0 and maybe stretch it over into the next challenge if all goes to plan.

 

In the words of DP

 

 

Get stronger

Finish the Nia Shanks’ “Get Strong!” program

This is an 8 week program, I’m in week 4 now and so far it’s been great.

The plan is a circuit based bodyweight program involving a variation of a pull-up, push-up, single leg squat, glute bridge and walkout. The main reason I brought the program was to finally do bodyweight chin ups without assistance (and eventually move onto pull ups). The program calls for you to increase the difficulty of each exercise every 2 weeks and in week 1 of this challenge, I’m due to move down to the teeny tiny resistance band. The final resistance band!

If all goes well with the x-small band, I should be able to move onto bodyweight chin ups and in theory, I should be able to perform multiple reps. In theory! The plan calls for 4 sets of 5 reps and I must admit, I’m a little skeptical that I’ll be able to complete 5 bodyweight chin ups, let alone 4 sets of them. If I can, great! If not, then I’ll break away from the plan slightly and do as many reps as I can unassisted and then finish up the workout with the resistance band - or possibly half reps or negatives. I haven’t decided yet.

tl/dr version; if I can do more than 1 rep of a dead-hang chin up by the end of this challenge, I’ll be a happy bunny

 

Get faster? Or go further? Pfft! I’m a Ranger. I'll do both!
Weeks 0 + 1: Run, just run. Week 2 +: Half Marathon training plan

 

I’ve let my running slip recently as I haven’t had any big distance races to train for. To get back into the swing of things, I’ve spent the last few weeks going out for “casual” runs without my running watch. I just wanted to enjoy the run without getting caught up in analyzing every little detail of my run. 
I’ll continue to do that till week 2 of this challenge but after that, I need to start training for the October half marathon. I wasn’t too happy with the plan I picked for the last half I did (I picked one based on time instead of distance and I think it was meant for people that run faster than I do). I’m switching to a different one that is a 4x a week plan so I’m not expecting this to be easy. All kicks up the ass to get me running will be appreciated

 

 

“Having a healthy mind is just as important as having a healthy body”

I’ve found myself getting quite stressed and anxious recently and I’ve been looking for ways to deal with this. The meditation part of last month’s Ranger mini was a real eye opener for me and since then I’ve tried to do some form of meditation whenever I’ve had the chance or if things start to overwhelm me.

The aim will be for me to do some form of meditation or relaxing exercise at least twice a week. I don’t want to make this something that I make myself do daily as that feels counterproductive. If I’m stressing about not getting my meditation done one day that it defeats the purpose of it. The relaxation exercise isn’t limited to meditating. Yoga, colour therapy or sketching in my sketchbook will also count.

 

I have an OCR mid-way through this challenge but it's only a 12k so while I can use it to test my strength gains, the real test will be on August 20th when I have an 18k OCR - which also happens to be my birthday! I'll be running with others who are slower than me but it will still be a test of my endurance and strength over a longer distance.

[Wild Wolf]

HAHA! Like I'd miss this! Love the goals, CQ. 

 

 

Wolf

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Is okay, X-Men bullshit have time for you.

[NeverThatBored]

1 hour ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

Get faster? Or go further? Pfft! I’m a Ranger. I'll do both!

 

I love this. Following! 

[Rurik Harrgath]

Encouraging Dead Pool gifs and memes?  You really ought to be careful what you wish for with Wolfie roaming about. 

 

[Evicious]

I'll be your kick-in-the-ass for running.

[DarK_RaideR]

Why are you reading this? YOU SHOULD BE RUNNING!

[Mr_Willes]

 

Oow yeah this is gonna be great!!!

[Maigs]

Following!

[skinNbones]

Hey CQ ! Another great challenge  . Following along again - although not sure if I should with Willes and Wolfie already started with the Deadpool giffery ...

[Jarric]

Following along for more awesome OCRness (and Deadpool, much Deadpool).

 

[EricMN]

6 hours ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

I’ve been coasting along for the last few challenges

 

Anyone else choke on their drink of choice while reading those words?

[iatetheyeti]

Deadpool everywhere!

 

...not that that's a complaint.

 

Following along. And as for this:

 

6 hours ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

tl/dr version; if I can do more than 1 rep of a dead-hang chin up by the end of this challenge, I’ll be a happy bunny

 

You will absolutely be able to do it!

[Terra]

Following for the motivation of watching you kick ass and Deadpool (I'd post something but Its dangerous to search for anything Deadpool at work!)  

[Wild Wolf]

This challenge will be my happy place

Wolf

"Maximum Effort"

[Mr_Willes]

4 hours ago, Wild Wolf said:

This challenge will be my happy place

 

Wolf

"Maximum Effort"

 

Move over, i'm finding it mighty cozy in here 2!

 

 

[DarK_RaideR]

Too many Deadpools on the dancefloor...

[Evicious]

So, I ran this morning. It wasn't a fast run (like, at all) or a particularly long run either - but I ran.

 

Your turn!

[Charlie_Quinn]

I don't look at my challenge for a day and look what happens. So much Deadpool! I guess I did ask for it!  

 

@Wild Wolf & @mr_willes - The 'pool is strong with you two! 

 

 

21 hours ago, Evicious said:

I'll be your kick-in-the-ass for running.

 

Just now, Evicious said:

So, I ran this morning. It wasn't a fast run (like, at all) or a particularly long run either - but I ran.

 

Your turn!

 

Going to get out this evening after work. It's my first day back at work after a long weekend and I'm instantly stressed so I'm in dire need of some running endorphins! 

Thanks for the ass kick!

 

17 hours ago, EricMN said:

 

Anyone else choke on their drink of choice while reading those words?

 

I guess I meant I haven't had any fixed goals on the last few challenges, more just a vague "do exercise and stuff". Now I have a plan and some crazy "what if?" thoughts running around my head.

 

16 hours ago, Terra said:

Following for the motivation of watching you kick ass and Deadpool (I'd post something but Its dangerous to search for anything Deadpool at work!)  

 

Don't worry, Wolfie and Mr Willes seem to have the DP stuff covered! 

 

17 hours ago, iatetheyeti said:

Deadpool everywhere!

 

...not that that's a complaint.

 

Following along. And as for this:

 

 

You will absolutely be able to do it!

 

I kinda-sorta can do 2 chin ups as of last week. The ROM isn't quite there and the second one is very ugly so I'm not counting it until I can them properly, from a deadhang, and with good form. 5 weeks seems a reasonable amount of time to get there, right?

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

After a lovely few days off to recover after Saturday (I've never had a 6k leave me feeling so battered) I'm starting my challenge tonight.

My plan for the evening is going to depend on the weather:

Raining - go for a run, do BW workout at home afterwards

Not Raining - pack resistance band and suspension trainer in a back-pack, run to the park, do BW workout in the park and run back.

 

I'm hoping it's not raining.

 

When I left the flat this morning, I noticed the management company were ripping down the old playground that's in the middle of the estate. I'm praying they are replacing it and I'm wishing really really hard that they are going to put up a set of monkey bars!

[iatetheyeti]

18 minutes ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

I kinda-sorta can do 2 chin ups as of last week. The ROM isn't quite there and the second one is very ugly so I'm not counting it until I can them properly, from a deadhang, and with good form. 5 weeks seems a reasonable amount of time to get there, right?

 

Five weeks is absolutely reasonable  

 

I can get about halfway into a second rep, then things just sort of disintegrate. It's weird, like my elbows get confused about which way they're supposed to go and start gravitating inwards...

[Evicious]

*crossing my fingers you get your monkey bars*

[Nymeria]

Following, of course!

 

4 hours ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

I kinda-sorta can do 2 chin ups as of last week. The ROM isn't quite there and the second one is very ugly so I'm not counting it until I can them properly, from a deadhang, and with good form. 5 weeks seems a reasonable amount of time to get there, right?

 

It really depends.  Pull ups are tricky, and you shouldn't focus too much on the end goal, since it can easily feel like you're making no progress at all.  And even after you get your first pull up, you might not be able to repeat it right away.  You really just need to be consistent with working on them, and you will make progress.  It sounds like you're almost there!

[skinNbones]

^^^^ I hear that. I really lost heart with pullups - which is why I switched to chinups. They seemed to go easier and for me at least, I could do some bro curls to push my chinups on.

We're thieves and we're bad guys. That's exactly what we are. We gotta find our own way.

[Charlie_Quinn]

12 hours ago, Nymeria said:

Following, of course!

 

 

It really depends.  Pull ups are tricky, and you shouldn't focus too much on the end goal, since it can easily feel like you're making no progress at all.  And even after you get your first pull up, you might not be able to repeat it right away.  You really just need to be consistent with working on them, and you will make progress.  It sounds like you're almost there!

 

Hello! My plan has me doing assisted chin-ups practically everyday so it's almost like a GtG program. I've made progress in the last few weeks but I'm remaining realistic about it, I know I'm not going to suddenly bust out 10 perfect chin ups in 5 weeks! As lovely as that would be! 

 

12 hours ago, skinNbones said:

^^^^ I hear that. I really lost heart with pullups - which is why I switched to chinups. They seemed to go easier and for me at least, I could do some bro curls to push my chinups on.

We're thieves and we're bad guys. That's exactly what we are. We gotta find our own way.

 

I've not even attempted a pull up yet! I want to try a neutral grip pull up (palms facing each other) as these are supposed to easier on your wrists but I've only got a straight bar so I'm not able to.

 

17 hours ago, Evicious said:

*crossing my fingers you get your monkey bars*

 

It's just an empty playground right now so I'm crossing my fingers and toes!

 

17 hours ago, iatetheyeti said:

 

Five weeks is absolutely reasonable  

 

I can get about halfway into a second rep, then things just sort of disintegrate. It's weird, like my elbows get confused about which way they're supposed to go and start gravitating inwards...

 

Maybe you could play around with different grip options too and see if that helps. Do you get any pain in your elbows at all? When I first started working on chin ups I started getting a lot of pain in my left elbow but weirdly that hasn't happened this time.

[iatetheyeti]

13 minutes ago, Charlie_Quinn said:

Maybe you could play around with different grip options too and see if that helps. Do you get any pain in your elbows at all? When I first started working on chin ups I started getting a lot of pain in my left elbow but weirdly that hasn't happened this time.

 

I think I'm going to play about a bit with neutral grip, though given I'll have to use my rings for it (I also only have a straight pull up bar) I'm not banking on any solid results. So far I've not had any pain in my elbows, which is weird because that was one thing I expected to happen (especially considering my right elbow's injury history!).