Manarelle: the next iteration

[Manarelle]

Challenges: 

• 21: Mar '17 - Handstands, languages, work pants #1
• 22: Apr '17 - Breathe, stat daily to do list
• 23: May '17 - Grey Jedi Code, maintain
• 24: Aug '17 - End of parkour and master's degree, bad nutrition advice
• 25: Sept '17 - Respawn, fix food intake, Kenpo
• 26: Oct '17 - Joined a gym, work pants #1, Halloween outfit
• 27: Nov '17 - Thor bracer, work skirt, Kenpo
• 28: Dec '17 - Mjolnir, Japanese, work pants #2
• 29: Feb '18 - Kenpo, languages, work pants #3
• 30:  Mar '18 - Mjolnir, Thor bracer, Kenpo knife, gardening

 

I'm not sure what iteration of myself I'm on at this point, but it's time for a new one. My gentleman and I are getting back into things we did before I started the masters degree, my body is definitely not in the same place it was back then (for the better), and neither are my hobbies. Since spring is almost here, I figure this is a good time to mark a next iteration, of sorts. Not a start over, but a new "this is my starting point" to gauge progress from, mentally and physically.

 

 

 

Goals: 

• Handstands: If I'm serious about my life goal, I need to get on this. Adding 5 minutes of handstand work on cardio days.
• Languages: After 10 weeks of focusing on the thesis, the languages and my area knowledge took a hit. I'll stick with the Japanese during lunch, but the 5 minutes of French/Russian in the evening needs to start with Duolingo, then progress to either online courses, history, or catching up on regional news. 
• Sewing: As much as I love the results of sewing, I really don't enjoy actually doing it. But I need to. I will finish 1 pair of work pants this challenge. (I hope). 

 

My usual exercise and food regimes will continue, and hopefully I'll be able to add in gardening this month. We're supposed to have a rather large snowstorm starting tonight; I'm hoping it's winter's last hurrah and then real spring will come. Let's see how it goes, shall we? 

[Grandkai_NL]

15 minutes ago, Manarelle said:

Adding 5 minutes of handstand work on cardio days.

Why not everyday? Or is that too taxing for your wrists?
The funny thing is you reminded me of an old post made on the site: https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/how-to-handstand-better-than-luke-skywalker/

 

Following ofcourse  

[peelout]

Like this?

[Grayspeed]

I look forward to seeing how you progress from your new starting point 

[Manarelle]

7 hours ago, Grandkai_NL said:

Why not everyday? Or is that too taxing for your wrists?

 

Some of it is still tentatively learning to trust my shoulder with the rotator cuff tear. I tried to do a handstand last week and the progressive ripple of snaps and pops that went from my wrist to the shoulder on that arm was intimidating enough that I stopped immediately. Some of it might just be getting older, but it didn't feel right, so I want to work back up to it without overdoing things. My weights days are already very upper-body intensive, so I'm not sure adding more would be a good idea (routine in the spoiler). I tried going with "I'll just do a quick 5 minutes when I get home instead of with the workout" in the past two weeks and it bombed horribly, I think I did three attempts in 14 days. So, formalizing it without pushing too hard.

 

Edit: Tonight's "handstand work" was literally on all fours and feeling pain in my shoulder just in putting weight on it at that angle. Made is for 2 minutes then switched to core work. Baby steps.

 

Spoiler

Workout schedule:

• Cardio    Mo/Ww    
  • 30 minutes or 2 miles
  • Handstand practice
• Weights  Tu/Th   (PT only on Sunday)
  • Rotations w/resistance band in 4 directions
  • Lateral rows w/resistance band
  • Precision jumps
  • Scap raises
  • Lateral raises
  • Russian twists
  • Running in place - knees up
  • Incline pullups
  • Incline pushups
  • Straight-leg (ankle) jumps
• Rest        Fr
• Parkour   Sa

 

4 hours ago, peelout said:

Like this?

 

Definitely.  Maybe not yet, but it will happen. 

[Grandkai_NL]

4 hours ago, Manarelle said:

learning to trust my shoulder with the rotator cuff tear.

Ahh i see. Indeed better to go with baby steps. 

[Stonie]

Following  

[Nina-Rose]

Can I ask why you're choosing to sew work trousers if you dont like it? 

Also, sounds like a great plan for moving forward from your current iteration :-D  I keep thinking I can do handstands and then I remember that although I don't feel 'more grown up' it has actually been 10 or 15 years since I did one...

[Asa Pond]

Following! 

 

But I am with Nina-Rose on this - why do something if you don't like it?

[m rips]

Following!!  I totally know how you feel with the sewing, I'm kinda the same with knitting. I love seeing my completed project, but at the time I don't always enjoy it. Sometimes, I do, it just depends on my mood. 

[Manarelle]

9 hours ago, Nina-Rose said:

Can I ask why you're choosing to sew work trousers if you dont like it? 

 

1 hour ago, Asa Pond said:

But I am with Nina-Rose on this - why do something if you don't like it?

 

1 hour ago, mmead0105 said:

 I love seeing my completed project, but at the time I don't always enjoy it. Sometimes, I do, it just depends on my mood. 

 

@mmead0105 hit it on the nose. Three years ago, when I started this job, I spent a stupid amount of time trying on pants in every store in the mall (literally, even ones that catered to "old people" and teen-oriented stores). I found one style that kinda mostly fit, and they were discontinued a few months later. I've periodically gone back and done the same thing, but just not having any luck (14" difference between waist and hips, and muscular legs = haha, no pants for you!). So while I don't particularly enjoy the sewing process, I really enjoy having tailored clothes that fit properly. 

[Asa Pond]

Ahh that makes sense. 

[Nina-Rose]

Awesome, glad you get something out of it at least then!

[Suzaqu]

Here for your challenge and very intrigued by the idea of sewing pants, I can never find any that fit!

[imjustarogue]

Like this, right?

[Teancum]

Following! 

[Mr.Six]

On 3/14/2017 at 11:11 AM, Manarelle said:

So while I don't particularly enjoy the sewing process, I really enjoy having tailored clothes that fit properly.

I think this is really badassed.  And the essential equipment for every kingsman agent is a bespoke [pair of pants]...  I have an asipirational goal of starting to make my own vests / waistcoats.

[Manarelle]

Week 0 update:

• Handstands: @Grandkai_NL shamed me into doing this every day. Made a few progressions, at 30 seconds in exaggerated downward dog as of yesterday. 
• Languages: Success. Also got word that the Russian tutor I had a while back is free again; scheduled a lesson for Wednesday next. 
• Sewing: Surprise, surprise, not much progress. Got the new back pieces cut out, and promptly lost motivation again. Need to step this up this weekend.

In other news, the regular cardio/weights workouts are progressing - scap raise weight was upped, incline pushups were lowered (and my goodness, the difference that makes!), and precision jumps are at 5 my-feet distance with about 75% success. There's still snow on the ground, so no gardening yet; I should take that as motivation to sew, instead of just being grumpy at the lack of warmth. 

 

Unrelated, I have a bad habit of being very patient with new workouts/stretches right up until I see improvement, and then - regardless of how long it took to get that far - assume that the next level will be super easy and I can push right to it. For example, I've been doing hourly stretches at work for the past year and a half. In that time, I've gotten from barely brushing the floor with my fingertips to putting my fingers (but not palms) flat on the floor. Having hit that point, though, I find myself expecting that I'll be able to do flat palms within a few weeks, and somewhat miffed that it hasn't happened yet. I guess that's patience, level 2, and I haven't hit that level yet. 

 

Not ginger, either.

[Grandkai_NL]

1 hour ago, Manarelle said:

@Grandkai_NL shamed me into doing this every day.

Oooh you're over exaggerating. I was just asking a question...

But i hope you see a lot of improvement by doing it every day.

[Jonesy]

What progression are you at in your handstands?

[Nina-Rose]

I recently found I can touch the floor with my fingers and because that SEEMED effortless, I've been getting frustrated about how hard trying to push my palms down actually is.

[Manarelle]

5 hours ago, Grandkai_NL said:

Oooh you're over exaggerating. I was just asking a question...

But i hope you see a lot of improvement by doing it every day.

Had to rib you, just a little.  Seriously, though, thanks for the push. I was holding back too much; starting at ground 0 has been very helpful.

 

1 hour ago, Jonesy said:

What progression are you at in your handstands?

I'm doing hollow-body rocks with both legs halfway out for core. For wrist/shoulder strengthening/stability, I'm holding kind of a downward dog pose, but on my toes to put more weight on the arms. I can hold that for about 30 seconds before things start hurting. I would like to get that to a 1 minute hold before moving my feet higher. 

 

41 minutes ago, Nina-Rose said:

I recently found I can touch the floor with my fingers and because that SEEMED effortless, I've been getting frustrated about how hard trying to push my palms down actually is.

Isn't that ridiculous? I wish I knew why the brain works that way. Grats on reaching the floor though! 

[Love_Of_Snuggles]

Can you really learn a lanuage with just 5 minutes a day? If so, I know whats going to be on my daily taks list. 

[Nina-Rose]

10 hours ago, Manarelle said:

Isn't that ridiculous? I wish I knew why the brain works that way. Grats on reaching the floor though! 

It is, in reality. I think it's because I used to be able to kind-of do it and I still think of myself as roughly the same age. I'm just-about still in my twenties and thus its only a while since I could do it before... except in reality, it's like. 7 years  My brain can't comprehend that it wasn't a few months ago that I could almost stretch my palms, and thus my body must still be able to do it after a couple of reminder practises. *sigh*

[Manarelle]

1 hour ago, Love_Of_Snuggles said:

Can you really learn a lanuage with just 5 minutes a day? If so, I know whats going to be on my daily taks list. 

 

Not as quickly as if you devote more time per day, but yes, you can. Having learned multiple languages at various stages in life, I'd say that the "daily" part of it is more important than how long you devote to it per day. The 5 minutes part is a bit of a fake-out: I usually end up spending more than 5 minutes, but the theory is that you can't weasel your way out of 5 minutes, so you're infinitely more likely to actually do it on a daily basis if 5 minutes is the baseline for success. If you use Duolingo, 5 minutes is roughly 1 review and 1 new lesson. You'll go far if you do that daily.