Perfection is an insult to the Gods [NeverThatBored]

[Severine]

16 minutes ago, fleaball said:

Fenwayyyyyy.

 

Provided people I know are going, I will go! I need to start talking to some of the Boston nerds everyone keeps telling me are all over these forums.

[Lara]

 

12 hours ago, NeverThatBored said:

Today in Aikido I learned that your grip is way stronger if you connect your thumb to your pinky/ring fingers instead of thumb to index finger. I immediately wanted to try this with pullups, and my grip did feel much more secure! Still can't quite get my chin over though. :/

That is good to know. I'll try to remember next time I do chin-ups.

[NeverThatBored]

Week 2 Day 2 Update

 

Things I did:

• 28g of fiber but way too many calories. I think part of the struggle is just readjusting to healthy eating after the past nonsense month, and part of it is that I need to make sure to get enough sleep, and part of it was eating too little for breakfast/lunch.
• Skipped yoga in favor of sleep, and was still tired all day. Boo.
• Bootcamp! It was actually kind of an easy workout, which was a shame! But it was cool to see people I hadn't seen in a while there. Now that the summer evening classes are over, I have to decide if I'm willing to haul myself out of bed to go to a 5:30am class once a week. On the bright side, I might be able to finally get on a M/W/Fri workout schedule.
• Forced myself (compassionately) to do chores and dishes and meal prep even though I'm tired and didn't want to. I knew I would feel better if I got some of this stuff in order.
• Walked at lunchtime

Tomorrow:

• Maybe yoga finally? Probably more sleep instead.
• Workout in the evening
• Make September bujo tracker/pages
• Cook some carrots to finish up meal prep
• Probably vacuum to continue to make my environment more comfortable
• Track fiber, meditate, walk, etc.

[NeverThatBored]

100 KB Swings done for the mini! I'm still learning proper form, but I think I'm getting the hang of it?

 

I added matcha to my breakfast smoothie today for an extra caffeine boost. Here's hoping it works!

[Jarric]

Glad you enjoyed the Spartan, looks like you had an awesome time! Great write-up as well!

 

With the rope climbing thing, it's actually surprisingly easy once you get the hang of the footlocking technique. You just need to tie a rope to something and keep practicing until you've got that down really.

[NeverThatBored]

1 hour ago, Jarric said:

Glad you enjoyed the Spartan, looks like you had an awesome time! Great write-up as well!

 

With the rope climbing thing, it's actually surprisingly easy once you get the hang of the footlocking technique. You just need to tie a rope to something and keep practicing until you've got that down really.

 

Yeah, that's kind of what I figured! It doesn't look like it's that hard once you know how to do it. I just need to find somewhere that I can climb a rope. 

[shaar]

Catching up on your SPARTAN AWESOME!!  Great photos, YOU DID IT!! ^______________^

[NeverThatBored]

YOU GUYS I just had the BEST BEST BEST idea for a challenge theme and this is TERRIBLE because I already had a DIFFERENT BUT ALSO AWESOME challenge already planned!!!

 

 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH  

 

#rangerbrain

[NeverThatBored]

Week 2 Day 3

 

I am definitely NOT in my groove today. I am tired and my brain did that thing where it feels fatigued and decides that the only possible way to treat fatigue is to eat french fries. Whoops. I've also just been collecting underpants and dealing with a bunch of rangerbrain issues about approaches to food lately, which is stalling me too. <--- That sentence has so much NF jargon in it. Wow. 

Things I did:

• Worked out kind of late because I was dragging my feet. But I convinced myself to do it by making myself a deal. I would do the workout as quickly as possible without taking as many breaks as usual, and in exchange I could decide not to worry about hitting my rep goals if skipping breaks made them harder. 
  • That said my bodyweight dips have been suffering for several weeks now, so I'm moving them to the beginning of my workout to focus on them. That magically helped me improve my inverted rows, so I'm hoping it will help with dips too. I am also trying to figure out how to warm up for dips properly, since I think that's part of the problem too. 
  • I attempted jacknife pullups and failed again, so I guess I'll add a few more reps to my 1-leg supported pullups and see if that helps at all in about 3 weeks. At that point I'll also experiment with different leg supports and see if that helps me at all. I guess jackknifes aren't actually all that different from inverted rows with elevated legs when you think about it.
  • ALSO I am thinking of reverting from 1-arm incline pushups to diamonds or something because I don't feel like they're doing anything for me. 
• Walked at lunchtime
• Ate 2 healthy meals before my brain demanded french fries for dinner. Whoops. :/
• Made September bujo pages 

Tomorrow:

• Do some dang yoga already
• Cook those dang carrots already
• Aikido
• Have a good food day and track fiber
• Vacuum 

ALSO I might have started toying with an idea for one of those elaborate gamified challenges you see around the forums sometimes with PVPs and fancy stuff like that. Would any of you guys even feel like humoring me and playing along if I did something like that?

[Artemis Fernweh]

I might be interested in a gamified challenge. Not quite sure what it all entails but it sounds like fun.

[NeverThatBored]

1 minute ago, Artemis Fernweh said:

I might be interested in a gamified challenge. Not quite sure what it all entails but it sounds like fun.

 

(Me neither)

[NeverThatBored]

I'm feeling frustrated and tired, so I'm trying to keep this in mind today:

 

 

(Sorry for the 2 million posts)

[Harihead]

So sorry about the fatigue. I went through that on Monday, and finally caught up to myself. Now I'm an energized dynamo.

 

Sometimes when you're tired, it's best to just go with it. Here's hoping for a revitalization soon!

Hang in there. 

[NeverThatBored]

I love the first day of the month! I get to CHANGE MY CALENDAR PAGES and CREATE A NEW BUDGET and it's the best.

 

September is especially superior because it is my birthday month. *starts celebrating 2 weeks early*

[shaar]

1 hour ago, NeverThatBored said:

September is especially superior because it is my birthday month. *starts celebrating 2 weeks early*

 

METOO METOO METOO

 

*SEPTEMBER PARTIES*

 

[NeverThatBored]

I just did a chinup...???

 

I never try chinups because pullups are cooler and I make all of my workout decisions based on what I think is cool, but wow??? I did a chin-up???

[Maigs]

Nice job NTB!

[NeverThatBored]

13 minutes ago, Maigahane said:

Nice job NTB!

 

Thank you!!

 

I just did it again, so that means it's real, right? Fun story...well, two fun stories:

 

Story 1. When I was in pre-school back before teachers weren't allowed to hug their students and other such nonsense, I had a teacher who let my sister and I have slumber parties at her house sometimes. (I have no recollection of why or how this came about, but they were always super fun kid paradise parties.) Then I moved on to a different school for elementary school where she did not teach. At School 2, we had PE class on the playground and one thing we had to do was pullups on the monkey bars. Everyone took turns while the whole class watched. And for some reason I hated this?? And every time it was my turn I would throw a tantrum and cry and refuse to participate. #playgroundterrorism Then one day they had Sleepover Teacher call me at school to negotiate. She said that if I stopped throwing tantrums and just tried the pullups, I could have a fun sleepover at her house. I immediately agreed. AND THAT SLEEPOVER NEVER HAPPENED. I am still mad. How can you just lie to a child like that?? #neverorgiveneverforget

 

(Tbh I don't think I've ever gotten over anything in my life.)

 

Story 2. In middle school we had to do fitness tests, and pullups/chinups/top-of-bar holds were part of the test. I was unsurprisingly too short to reach the bar. But they were prepared! They provided a milk crate for this sort of thing. Well, I was STILL too short to reach the bar even standing on the crate. So that year they let me just skip that part of the test and I think about that every time I do pullups.

[Maigs]

Even when I was a skinny kid who spent most of my free time in a tree I could never to a chin/pullup. We had to try every year in elementary/middle school for the fitness test and I always just hung there. So a big goal for me is to be able to do a chin-up

[NeverThatBored]

2 hours ago, Maigahane said:

Even when I was a skinny kid who spent most of my free time in a tree I could never to a chin/pullup. We had to try every year in elementary/middle school for the fitness test and I always just hung there. So a big goal for me is to be able to do a chin-up

 

I'm sure you'll get there before you know it! And it will feel so awesome when you do! I remember that pretty much none of the girls could ever do pullups/chinups on those tests, so achieving it feels very girl powery.

 

The big thing that has helped me with pulls lately is learning little bits and pieces about form. Like, for the longest time I've been doing inverted rows and my chest just never seemed to get anywhere near the bar. Then I read something about tucking your chin back and suddenly when I did that, I could get several inches closer? And I learned that tip the other day about gripping by putting your thumb towards your ring finger/pinky, and I think that helped too because my grip felt way better. And another big one was pulling your elbows in and back instead of out and away.

 

It's like the fussiest exercise in the world!  

 

 

[NeverThatBored]

Week 2 Day 4

 

It's weird to me that Thursday is only day 4 out of 7. It feels so much further into the week!

 

Anywho. I tried to put that whole "rest, not quit" concept into practice today, so I took it easy. I did not end up doing yoga or even going out on a walk. I think that's probably ok. What I really would have liked to do is watch a new show to relax, but I had Aikido so that eats up the evening. I haven't watched anything new in a while, which is mostly a good thing! But it is a nice way to veg. 

 

Things I did:

• Not much! Aikido in the evening, where only two of us showed up. We got to practice everything that will be on the test, and we're continuing to work on that as it gets closer. 
• CHIN-UPS. I managed 3 and failed at like 5 others. But 3rd time's the charm, so that means I can officially do a chinup now. Sometimes I type it with a - and other times I don't use the -. So much suspense! Which way will I type it next??
• It was a good food day too. My carb cravings were fierce, but I was fiercer. I've been craving potatoes/sweet potatoes a lot lately, and I'm not sure if that's because my body needs starches or because I'm in a carb addicted state right now. I have a longstanding #givemefrenchfriesorgivemedeath policy though, so it's ok as long as I don't eat other stuff with said potatoes. No dietary approach I've ever tried has banned french fries, and on the flip side I've somehow never found myself abusing that policy?? That implies something about the importance of not outright banning stuff. Hmmmm
• 26g of fiber today
• Also DOMS. If you want some squat DOMS, I HIGHLY recommend doing some pulse squats. They always get me.
• Made a meal plan for next week, so I know what groceries to buy when I get home on Sunday

Tomorrow:

• Maybe try to get a yoga session in since I was singing the praises of daily yoga just last week
• Workout during the day since I'm leaving after work to visit my friend this weekend
• Pack and leave for the COLOR RUN after work! I am excited to have people throw colors at me. 

[bker1370]

19 hours ago, NeverThatBored said:

September is especially superior because it is my birthday month. *starts celebrating 2 weeks early*

 

 

17 hours ago, shaarawy said:

 

METOO METOO METOO

 

*SEPTEMBER PARTIES*

3

 

Count me in on the September birthdays too

[Jarric]

Well done on the chin-ups (chinups?)! Hope you have fun at your colour run

[Maigs]

11 hours ago, NeverThatBored said:

And another big one was pulling your elbows in and back instead of out and away.

I noticed the difference in this one when I did inverted rows the other day. My back and shoulder really felt it.

 

11 hours ago, NeverThatBored said:

And I learned that tip the other day about gripping by putting your thumb towards your ring finger/pinky, and I think that helped too because my grip felt way better.

Ah, I read your first post about this before I went to the gym last night but forgot about it! I'll have to keep it in mind next time

[NeverThatBored]

My hands are mad at me.

 

Spoiler