Estral's Battle Log

[Mazarine]

I don't have clear goals yet, but eventually I'd like to list them here. 

 

I want to be strong, so I'm starting shovelglove today. I went out and got a new 6 lb/2.7 kg sledgehammer for the top of me, and I've been doing squats for the bottom half. 

 

I want to build endurance and stamina, so I want to walk more than I have been. 

 

I want to set a couple of goals for new skills to work on, but I haven't figured out what those will be yet! 

 

Watch this space!

 

[Mazarine]

Today I did 50 squats total; 30 in a row, then a 30 second break, then 10 more, 30 second break, and then the last 10. 

So far I've walked 6 km (and probably won't do much more serious walking for the day). 

I bought a 6 lb sledgehammer and will do shovelglove before the day is over. 

[Sloth the Enduring]

Following for Shovelglove.

[Mazarine]

Ok so my first attempt at shovelglove! I cobbled together a routine and I got through it twice in 14 minutes, with 7 reps for each arm each time. It was hard, and I broke a sweat! Woo!

 

My routine! I suggest a power metal playlist to accompany your workout!

 

Shovel the Coal, Stir the Cauldron, Grab the Arrow, Shoot the Bow, John Henry, Paul Bunyan, Finish the Survivors, Hail Reinhard. 

[Mazarine]

Squats: 55

Distance walked: 2.1km/1.3 miles

Shovelglove: Completed routine x2

 

I hardly walked today, but I did do a lot of house cleaning, so I suppose that makes up for it? Shovelglove got rough towards the end, and I definitely started sweating, but my partner was in the room and said I looked cool and like I was having fun, so... I'm into it! My favorite is Shoot the Bow, even though it's one of the hardest movements. 

 

Tomorrow my goal is to do the squats and the shovelglove in the morning first thing, and see if it does anything for my energy levels for the rest of the morning. 

[Bearlee]

Dammit, was going to comment that Sloth is the only other person I know of that is doing Shovelglove but he's already been here. How did you ever come across Shovelglove? And following.

[Sloth the Enduring]

 

Dammit, was going to comment that Sloth is the only other person I know of that is doing Shovelglove but he's already been here. How did you ever come across Shovelglove? And following.

 

 

 

 

I've got my radar set up for Shovelglove. That's how you find the interesting people.

 

[Mazarine]

2 hours ago, Bearlee said:

Dammit, was going to comment that Sloth is the only other person I know of that is doing Shovelglove but he's already been here. How did you ever come across Shovelglove? And following.

 

I don't honestly remember! I heard about it a long time ago, totally forgot about it, and then recently when I decided to try to get my shit together it came to mind as something to try out. 

[Mazarine]

Squats: 60

Distance walked: 4.6 km/ 2.9 miles

Shovelglove: Completed routine x2

 

Shovelglove was more difficult today than it has been the first two days. Why?

 

I tried to find a good walking path near my apartment today, something that's away from people, but no luck. But I am currently trying to plan a nice long weekend walk in the woods with my partner. I'm a bit scared, honestly, but I'm going to try to lean into it and enjoy it the best I can. 

 

60 squats today! 40 of them were straight through, and according to this website I was one away from scoring "excellent." That's a good feeling! Tomorrow is a rest day in the squat challenge I'm following, which is also a good feeling.

 

I included some supermans and some bridges today, for lower back and booty purposes. 

 

I do feel like I'm way behind, in a way. I know it's not a race here, but looking at everyone's goals and challenges... you guys are all training for marathons and running for more than a few seconds, and... jumping, and obstacle-ing and stuff. You're all so cool! 

 

[Sloth the Enduring]

Everyone starts where they start. When I first got here I was working on doing push ups off a counter and finish 3 rounds of Shovelglove.

[Mazarine]

Squats: rest day

Walked: 4km

Shovelglove: rest day

 

Today felt lousy. Not sure why. I feel like I didn't get anything done. I did make a delicious salad from a recipe that @TophGal gave though, so that was good. I also baked for the pub I still sometimes work at and might've eaten a few of the cookies. 

 

 

[Elastigirl]

You are doing great! On your rest day you walked 4k and made a nommy salad, that is a win.  Agreeing with Sloth, you start where you start. There are lots of people like you who are just starting. It wasn't until I was 45 that I did anything with strength training. 

[Mazarine]

Thanks, you guys are super encouraging!

 

Today I finished my shovelglove and my squats before 6:15 am! I haven't walked much today but that will change in a few hours when I go out with the pup. 

[Bearlee]

I had the same concerns as you about how well others seem to be doing compared to me and I've been around a while (in my thread from 5/4/17, would post here but not that smart). But then I calmed down and realized I'm doing much better than I was before. No more wheezing after climbing stairs, memory is improved, blood work is better, and generally just feeling happier and having hope. Just remember to take it one day at a time and think what little thing can I do today to make myself better for the future. And eventually those little wins will lead to a snowballing effect.

 

Said before following, but forgot to hit the button. That has been rectified now.

[Mazarine]

I'm on some kind of weird emotional rollercoaster because you guys are so inspiring but then today I weighed myself and my weight is steadily going up. I went on a long vacation to see family during April and ate like total shit because where I live doesn't have stuff like Chipotle and Cheezits, but as soon as I got back home I went strictly healthy. I got back on April 24th and I've somehow gained about 4 kilos (almost 9 lbs) since then. How? Hoooowwww? I've been doing my very best to stay under my calorie cap, and as we all know I've been adding in exercise, so I'm not sure what the deal is. But it sucks. On the bright side, I tried measuring my thighs and booty today (will have partner help me to get an accurate read later) and I think I've gone down about an inch on everything. High, low, high! Ugh! How do you guys manage this, or is this not normal?

 

 

[Ana Fini]

Well my battle is the opposite, to gain some (healthy) weight. I usually give it a month to really assume that I've changed my weight. I can weight myself every day, several times a day and it changes all the time. There's so many factors that can influence it. Specially for women, the bloating with the menstrual cycles... You are probably just retaining some water, maybe you're eating lots of carbs. It is perfectly possible. That doesn't really mean much.

Your measurements and exercises progress is everything! 

 

Keep going! Don't let the numbers let you down!

[godjira1]

hi estral, 

 

let me share my experience with the weighing scale, and how to make your relationship with it a healthy one. 

a. it is useful. it tells a stat. but without context (i.e. your inches/measurements, fat %) it can be very misleading. that said, if your inches are up, and weight up, then it's generally going the wrong way unless you are underweight.

b. weigh yourself no more than once a day AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME, preferably the first thing you do. i do it as a ritual every morning <for the last 3 years>.. i do 10 air squats, 10 pushups against the counter, 10 jumping jacks, then i hop on. There is massive variation thru the day, and you want to eliminate that as you are just looking for a trend. 

c. Don't sweat the daily, but a 5 or 7 day average will tell a pretty good story. 

d. It's ok to experience setbacks. Just get up and try again. 

[Sloth the Enduring]

Big weight fluctuations are generally related to water retention or loss. If you're training hard enough to get DOMS your muscles are inflamed and holding water, more carbs means more water, plus monthly issues.

 

Make sure you're measuring at the same time each day and track long-terms trends and not focusing on daily fluctuations. Tracking measurements is more difficult, but much more useful.

 

Keep working the process, you'll get there.

[Wobbegong]

Way back in July, @Hazard shared this spreadsheet for weight/measurement tracking. I'm a big spreadsheet fan, but the best thing about this one is that you can track your daily weight and it'll spit out a weekly average for you so you can see trends more easily. Well, that and it handles all the heavy lifting on the math, haha. 

 

Somewhere else in his thread is the men's version of otherwise basically the same thing, for those interested. 

[Mazarine]

Thanks, you guys! I'm still pretty upset, but you've made me feel tons better. I'll keep up with the measurements and see how it goes. @tyrannosaurus rose I will get some measurements done tonight and plug them in... I'm a little nervous to see what the numbers say!

 

Yesterday's stats: 

 

Squats: 65

Distance walked: 4.6 km/ 2.9 miles

Shovelglove: Completed routine x2

 

The squats and shovelglove were finished before 6:15 am, woo! I don't know if I'll keep that up, though. It didn't happen today, anyway.

 

I'm going to add some counter push ups and hopefully work my way towards being able to do a real one in the (probably far) future. 

 

Expected workout today: 

 

70 squats

4ish km walked

2 routines of shovelglove

20? counter pushups

10 supermans

20 hip rises

 

This is where I'm going this Saturday with my partner and my dog. https://goo.gl/maps/H8Bi2cDfpq22 It's a tiny nature preserve, so I don't know if I'll get killer kilometers or anything but it'll be a change of scenery from my every day dog walks and you know, forests are nice. 

[aishah hope]

The park looks gorgeous! I hope you guys have fun. I ran into the same problem with very little immediate weight loss (and some gaining here and there) at first - it was pretty alarming to me too but I'm just trying to wait it out and be patient and have faith. Sending happy thoughts! You are fabulous, I admire how diligently you're keeping up with your workouts.

[Mazarine]

Squats: 70

Distance walked: 5km/3.1 miles

Shovelglove: Completed routine x2

Counter pushups: 20

Supermans: 20, small quick ones

Hip rises: 20

 

Boy am I sweaty!

 

Today I did my squats and then directly after I went on a walk, and it was... really difficult. My lower back felt extremely tight. No pain, no muscle soreness or burning, just... tight. And I was pressing my hands into my lower back like pregnant ladies do, which helped ease it but not a lot. I ended up having to sit on a bench for maybe five minutes and that helped it a LOT. What the heck is going on? Are my lower back muscles just very weak? 

 

And then I got home, did my shovelglove, and I think I lightly pulled/hyperextended one of my upper arm muscles, probably from not controlling the hammer enough. There are certainly a bunch of lessons for me today!

 

 

 

[Ana Fini]

That was probably a sign of lack of glutes activation.

Try adding glute bridges to your routine and squeeze them also in your squats.

There are also some very good stretches that you can do before going to sleep that help you.

Hope it goes away soon!

[Sloth the Enduring]

I'd suggest taking a couple days off from Shovelglove. It builds a strong and sturdy back, but your back is fragile until it gets used to it.

 

Are hip raises the same thing as glute bridges? Ana is right, everyone should do those in their warm up.

[Mazarine]

Last night I got in bed and brought my knees toward my chest and sort of rolled my knees to the left and right, if that makes sense, and it brought significant relief. I'm embarrassed to say that I did do hip raises/glute bridges yesterday, AFTER all this. Today when I stretch I'm going to try to add in a bunch of stretches for the gluteus medius especially. 

 

Expected workout: 

Hip rises/glute bridges: 20

Other stretches: Gonna try these out

7-10 km walk, not sure how far we're going to go

Squats: 75

Supermans: 20, small quick ones

Counter pushups: 20

 

Does anyone have/want to use Snapchat? I plan on snapping my walk in the woods today