TIME TO GET RRRIIIIIIIPPED!!!!! - the exercise thread

Bro, do you even scroll?

 

I have two weeks off so I'm hoping to get some quality exercise time in. Mainly I want to correct the hyperlordosis (pronounced spine curvature) I've got going on. The back pains aren't fun.

Part of me wants to go swimming, but I'm pretty sure I have negative buoyancy. For real: I can't tread water. I can't float on my back. Regular front crawl, etc, is beyond hard because I'm permanently sinking. I've taken lessons, but it didn't help. Does anyone else get this?

 

@Nertbugs your body fat percentage has a lot to do with floating; more fat = easier to float. Fat distribution and lung capacity (air is buoyant) can be a factor too. My super skinny sibling sinks like a stone. So does my super muscular friend.

 

They make floaty-belts for adults, or I'm pretty sure you could Macguyver one out of half a pool noodle and a cloth belt or rope.

 

I alloted myself 40min swim time from day one.
Day one: 400yrds on 50yrd splits
Today: 1250yrds on 200yrd splits with a 4.2min split time.

I'm nowhere near my old racing time, but I'm not going for racing splits so much as packing as much distance into that 40min as I can (Which means swimming faster but it's not as nitpicky or demanding as shooting for a set time? Idk)

Anyway. Progress!

 

Friday I did 10 pushups and the basic workout from the Foundation Training book - my aunt's a physical trainer and does medical massage, and she says it should help my hip issues. Saturday I swam for an hour and a half and Sunday I swam for two hours! A good half of that time both days was socialising and not focused activity, but it was still doing stuff. I don't do laps or racing or anything, just swimming around.

 

I added a set of Dead Bugs to my exercise regime and oof. I'm going to feel that in the morning.

 

I ran a 10K trail race this morning! I didn't run it particularly fast, but between the hills and the heat, I didn't expect to. The scenery was super pretty. Overall good experience!

Spoiler: Terrible post-race picture

 

You look damn good for having run 10k! I'd look like an exploded beet.

 

(thread necro?) so i was talking about my feeble efforts towards fitness with my friends and one of then went 'oh so my brother's a personal trainer what do you wanna do, i can give advice'

basically i am definitely overweight, bordering on fat. i've actually done okay on the body-acceptance front so i won't be trying to lose weight so much for the sake of appearance (while i won't object to that, i don't hate myself in the meanwhile) but inability to move at even an energetic walk without getting puffed, as well as struggling to bend enough to put my shoes on, is definite incentive to improve my overall fitness. i'm very sedentary and i struggle to get myself to leave the house because of anxiety issues- and the last place i lived at wasn't conducive to anything attempted in my room, because there was a very noise sensitive shift worker living downstairs.

so the plan right now, given the advice from my friend, is to get the old wii out of the closet and get wii fit started up again, for a guide for stretching and yoga (and i remember the boxing was really fun, actually). and then alternate weight lifting (i'm gonna need to work out a cheap substitute for buying actual weights...) with interval training. i'll be going for daily walks- half hour at least, an hour if i'm feeling up for more- and i use Zombies Run to get myself through that (as i struggle to just go walking for the sake of walking, i get bored and brain-bad easily without mental occupation) and use the end of story-segments as a cue for me to jog/run for as long as i can stand, and then walk through the subsequent song and next story segment. imma be putting all these fitness goals into Habitica (which is what HabitRPG has been rebranded as) so between that and tweeting my Zombies Run shamble-records, hopefully those will help keep me doing a bit of something every day.

another friend has also managed to wrangle a free personal trainer session for me, so i can ask for advice on the weight-lifting aspect. otherwise, i'm gonna try to keep it all as low-budget as possible, i really don't have enough money to sneak a gym membership into the budget.

actually i might try setting up the wii fit tonight, i'm up late anyway so i may as well stay up a bit longer for that.

 

For small amounts of weight, household items like canned food or water bottles work pretty well. There's a lot of stuff you can do with a 16oz can of tomatoes in each hand.

 

noted! i tend to be a big milk drinker so i was thinking i could get a couple of 2L bottles of milk over the next couple weeks- and then wash them out and fill them up with water. that way i can start out with lower amounts of water and increase it as needed.

(bugger, the wii fit doesn't appear to be working :c i'll keep troubleshooting it in the morning, but it was kinda old to begin with so i don't have high hopes)

 

there's a pretty useful book called you are your own gym that's got a massive collection of exercises that don't use anything but you. it even includes ways to make the same exercises harder or easier. (just, ignore the diet stuff, it's kinda shame-y and not very practical)

 

The trick with lighter weights is to do many reps \o/

 

I love swimming, and I love going on adventures outside (but only when I have someone else with me, to make sure I don't get lost and die because lol no sense of direction or location in space time)

exercise is weird like, I can carry all the grocery bags in one go and I can do yoga and I can climb up and down steep slopes with some help from tree roots but I am physically incapable of doing a push up. Seriously. I have never been able to do a single push-up in my life. I can barely even plank, "girl push ups" are a strain. I can walk all damn day but give me a task that involves basically standing in place like doing the dishes or cleaning the cat box and my legs start cramping up after several minutes. When I had a job on my feet people complained about their feet all the time but my feet were fine but my legs and shoulders wanted to murder me.

fucking muscles, how do they work?

 

Craving dance/martial arts classes again.
I think I do well in a class setting, but like. I wish there were classes for my level? Or like, that I knew what I was doing. Boo.

 

reminder to not try to do too much and burn out, and there's no shame in not being able to do a lot just starting out, go for consistency over volume, for muscle memory as well as habit
eventually you'll find the thing you enjoy and it will become more rewarding to you than a chore, a lot of people get bored doing simple exercises
i like to skate because i'm trash, but it also helps me get around and keeps me active so my energy levels don't get shitty
i like to listen to music while i do exercises because i not only get to listen to music, but it helps me time myself, so if a song is like 3-5 minutes i know when to switch exercises, and getting to the end of the album keeps me motivated for like 20-30 minutes so it's easy to stay motivated for hours, i hate doing the same thing for a long time so making it feel like i did multiple things helps

 

I listen or watch let's plays when I exercise personally. The noise helps keep me amused and it's also a nice way to time things. That and I always try to make it a religious devotion, because the gods do love practical things and I am easily motivated by faith. Which is an exceptionally niche way to motivate!