Greetings exalted one(s)

[MariahSnow]

Hi everybody!

 

I've been collecting underpants at Nerd Fitness for a while, so I figured I should come out of the woodwork and actually show my face. So... hi! I'm new. I've been "working out" for the past 3-5 years, but mostly just running on a treadmill like a hamster. I was recently training for a marathon and got a stress fracture in my left foot during peak training. So I decided to start lifting weights because all the doctors said that my foot was probably trying to compensate for my ankle which is compensating for my knee which is compensating for my hip/glute. For about the past month I've been hitting the weights 3x a week and fitting in some cardio (low impact, swimming and cycling) 2x a week and watching my diet. Which brings me to my next point... I'm one of those unfortunately lucky people who never gains or loses a pound. I've been 5'11 and 155lbs since college when I was wolfing down burritos and tater tots 3x a day. Even when I was running 30 miles a week, my weight never changed. This might seem awesome to some people, but it's incredibly frustrating because I can't seem to put on muscle or lose fat. That's why I'm here. I read Staci/Spezzy's transformation story and it made sense to me. I am/was a cardio fanatic but I never actually saw any real improvements in my body. And I'm pathetically weak. I've tried to do pushups for years without any real success. A 30-sec plank is a struggle. I deadlifted for the first time last week (after collecting thousands of underpants watching YouTube videos), and I could only deadlift about 30 lbs. I want to see 50 on that bar in the next month!

 

Ok so, here's my "character"

 

Race: I'm definitely an elf (skinny and tall)

Profession: I'd really like to be a Ranger, mostly because I'm in the middle of A Storm of Swords and Jon Snow is kind of a girly crush for me (hence the name).

STR: 2

DEX: 2

STA: 4

CON: 2

WIS: 3

CHA: 2

 

 

[Laureleye]

Glad you're finally selling off your underpants collection and joining in.  If yoiu haven't already done it, run on over to the ranger's challenge forum and dive into a short warm-up challenge.  Welcome to the rebellion.

[Jakob Kopfeld]

Hi Mariah Snow

Great that you decided to start posting! It's a really nice place and everyone is very supportive of each other. As Laureleye already said, you can take the currently running challange as a warm up and dive right into the upcomeing one. Do you have any goals or aspirations you might want to share with us? The more people know about it the more you are accountable which leads to higher success rates!

[MariahSnow]

My current goals are really kind of sad.

 

#1 - Do one nose-to-the-ground pushup.

How I'm working on this: I read some article (and now I've forgotten where it came from) that said to do 4 sets of X reps of incline pushups. Once you get to 4 sets of 20 reps, go to a lower incline. Then go to your knees. Then try real-deal pushups. I'm currently doing pushups every other day (except this week is kind of jacked up because I don't want to work my chest 2 days in a row and I forgot to do them one night because of personal drama family stuff) Right now I'm at 4 sets of 20 on the bar in my kitchen, and planning to move down to the counters, then maybe a chair, then knees.

 

#2 - Do one pullup.

I don't really have a good strategy for this other than working on general upper body strength. Any ideas? I need to go buy a pullup bar so I can do negatives or chair-assisted pullups. Maybe set them up the same way I set up the pushups?

[MariahSnow]

Also, I've noticed that a lot of people in my life are negative. They'll make comments about my food choices, or comments regarding other people's weight (like I'm supposed to join in and rag on someone with them?). Or they comment about my exercise routine. Unfortunately, some of these people are unavoidable (like my boss), but one of my goals this year is to ignore/avoid/remove those people from my life (in that order; 3 strikes and you're out!)

[ceethegreat]

Love that goal to remove/avoid the negative people in your life! 

[Jakob Kopfeld]

Your Goals aren't sad, quite frankly, they ARE AWESOME! Also great that you decided to share them

 

Everybody has to start with the hand they're dealt, not everyone can win the genetics lottery. The important part is that you decided to live healthier and get fit. You have goals, you have a plan, the only thing that is still missing is time. And time hast the wonderful habit of passing by itself. 

 

Getting rid of negative people in your life takes a lot of courage and can be hard at times. But it's the best thing you'll ever do, trust me on this!

 

You can find a comparative guide for doing a pullup right here. I am currently following this guide myself (3 weeks in) and I gotta say I like how it works out so far. One of my challange goals to be completed before 17th of Feb. is doing a genuine pullup, so I'm working hard to reach it.

 

Good luck with accomplishing your goals!

[Jakob Kopfeld]

Also, I've noticed that a lot of people in my life are negative. They'll make comments about my food choices, or comments regarding other people's weight (like I'm supposed to join in and rag on someone with them?). Or they comment about my exercise routine. Unfortunately, some of these people are unavoidable (like my boss), but one of my goals this year is to ignore/avoid/remove those people from my life (in that order; 3 strikes and you're out!)

sorry double posted

[MariahSnow]

You can find a comparative guide for doing a pullup right here. I am currently following this guide myself (3 weeks in) and I gotta say I like how it works out so far. One of my challange goals to be completed before 17th of Feb. is doing a genuine pullup, so I'm working hard to reach it.

 

Thanks for the link! I'm currently at Level 1 - dumbbell rows. But I started at 10 lbs in early January and today I moved up to 12.5, so I'm headed in the right direction. I was eyeing down the smith machine this morning to use for bodyweight rows.

[Jakob Kopfeld]

Body weigth rows are awesome! I did Dumbbell rows until I was at about 17,5kg and could do that for 3 sets of 8, but I think swichting a little sooner woulda been fine aswell. Now that I dominated the BWR at about 45degree I'm gonna switch to assisted pull / chin up once a week aswell as 1 session BWR at a lower angle