OCR Fit Club (Summer Session)

[Steben]

http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=15945

This competition of sorts was invented by myself in an effort to counteract my own tendency towards laziness in starting and keeping to an exercise routine and diet. Not that I'm a total fatty, but I certainly need to keep active, or I will be one day soon.

This is not a head-to-head competition with your fellow community members! Rather, consider it as a competition against yourself. For the most part, you're setting your own rules, and you're setting your own goals.

Here's how to participate.

• The game lasts from now until Saturday, August 2nd.
  

• Anyone may jump in the game at any time they choose.
  

• To play, you have to come up with at least one goal for your personal heatlh that you'd like to meet over the course of the summer, that is, by August 2nd or sooner. Here's a tip: keep your goals S.M.A.R.T.!
  

Specific: Say more than "Be Healthy". You goals need to mean something.

Measurable: Try to make your goal something you can measure. Numbers are nice here... do you have a set weight you'd like to see yourself at? Would you like to be able to run a mile in a certain time?

Attainable: Don't pick goals you'll never be able to reach, at least within the time limit. Be realistic... but don't underestimate yourself either!

Relevant: Don't pick goals without a reason. I could go through life without being able to bench press 200 pounds... I just don't have a need to be able to do that. However, a related, relevant goal might be to build arm muscle, to impress the ladies?

Timely: Don't say you're going to go to the gym every day if you'll only have access to a gym during a few weeks of the summer. Keep in mind your other activities and base your goals on what you'll have time for.

I won't be checking to see if you goals are "smart", since it's all kind of subjective anyway, but setting your goals carefully will help you make sure that you will be able to meet them.

• Design some sort of health plan for the duration of the game that will help you meet your goal or goals. This could be an exercise routine, or a diet, but for best results you should commit to both. The questions that you should be able to answer with your plan are What, Where, When, and How.
  

If you're not sure where to begin, check out the Community thread linked above for ideas. Also, many colleges offer fitness consultation as part of your student fees (that's how I'm going about this), so if you're in university, look into that.

• Once you have your goal(s) and health plan, post them in this thread!
  

• To stay in the game, you'll need to check in every weekend by posting in this thread. Include a day-by-day summary of your exercise and/or eating habits, and point out any inconsistancies with your health plan. We don't need (or want) an essay or excel spreadsheet or anything, a sentence or two per day is fine... you shouldn't have to say too much if you kept to your plan anyway. No one's gonna do perfect, but in order to be held accountable you need to be honest and fess up if you falter in your plan... this should help curb the temptation to ignore it as often.
  

• You may always adjust your goals or plan in order to make them more ambitious, but try not to wuss out and make things easier on yourself. Just announce it when you check in the thread.
  

• How do you win? Well, you get to decide if, at the end of the summer, you are a winner. Ask yourself these questions:
  

Did I meet my goal? Did I exceed it? Or, at least, did I make some progress towards it?

Did I make a solid plan, and stick to it for the most part?

Will I commit to continuing to make healthy choices, even once the summer session has ended?

If you can answer "yes" to all those questions, heck, sure, you win. Maybe we can arrange for some sig badges for those who make it all the way through.

I'm acting as judge and organizer for the event, and I reserve the right to remove anyone from the game for inactivity, so don't forget to check in! But I won't be anal about it or anything... the point isn't the game itself, but in getting everyone involved to stay healthy and active.

If you have any questions, post in the thread or send me a PM. The game starts... NOW! So set your goals, design your plan, post it here, and get started!

---

PARTICIPANTS:

• Steben
  
• Geoffrey Taucer
  
• Fishy
  
• DragonAvenger
  
• Global-Trance
  
• The Derrit
  
• LuckyXIII
  
• amarriedmegaphone
  
• Vivi22
  
• Majin GeoDooD
  
• Mechasonic4ever
  
• The Dennis
  
• The Xyco
  
• Blake
  
• Patrick Burns
  
• OA
  
• Kenobio
  
• Blue Magic
  
• Lord.Roderick.i
  
• Random Hajile
  

[Steben]

Okay, and I'll start us off.

GOAL

I'm 6'0" and 195. My goal is to knock that down to 170. I used to know my body fat percentage, but I managed to lose my record of it, but I believe that 170 would put me in a pretty healthy range, assuming I don't gain much muscle mass. I'm trying to get in touch with the Lifetime Wellness and Fitness people at my university, and hopefully do another fitness assessment, so maybe I'll adjust this once I get those results back.

THE PLAN

Diet:

I'll start out by cutting my caloric intake to 2000 calories. I haven't done the math of my typical caloric intake yet, but I have a strong suspicion that it exceeds that number easily. This first week should be interesting to see how that works out. To do this, I'm gonna cut out the fast food, and stick to grilled meat (goodbye fried chicken ), fruits, and veggies. Also, no more ranch dressing... although I'm unsure how I'll eat raw vegetables without ranch. I'll find a way.

I think I should invest in a little notepad to carry around with me, just to keep track of what I eat...

Also, I want to cut my soda drinking habit. Just for starters, let's say... one glass of diet soda a day? The rest should be water. This doesn't really directly pertain to my goal, but it's a good idea anyway, I figure.

Exercise:

Okay, I'm going to set up two different plans, depending on whether or not I'm in Auburn, since I don't have gym access elsewhere.

Since my main goal is weight loss, I need to keep the cardio going no matter where I am. So when I'm not at Auburn, 30 minutes a day running, not counting warm-up and cool-down. My neighborhood at home is pretty good for that sort of thing, so I think that'll work out okay. I'll run six days a week, taking Sundays to rest. Also, I'll try to work on increasing my distance run in that time over the summer.

When I'm in Auburn, I have a few more options. I like the elliptical machine, because it has less of an impact, and I like having numbers in front of me telling me how I'm working. So, on weekdays I'll do the elliptical machine for 30 minutes not counting warm-up or cool-down, including 15 minutes at at least 9 mets. I'll also do some weight training for another half hour, which won't help me lose weight, but I wouldn't mind having some muscle to replace the fat with, y'know? I think I'll gloss over the details on the weight training for now, since it's been a couple months since I last went... I'll figure out what I need to be doing and add that to my plan at the first check-in. On Saturdays I'll go to the track and do 30 minutes of running, since the fitness center is only open from 3pm-5pm on weekends this summer.

I wouldn't mind any feedback from those of you more knowledgeable about this sort of thing than I. I'm ready to get started... in fact, I think I'm going to the track now.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

GOAL

I want to be able to consistently hit and hold an iron cross, a maltese, and an inverted cross by the end of the summer. Furthermore I'd like to be able to press from either front or back lever to a cross, and from cross to a maltese.

I want to bring up my endurance enough to make it through a complete floor routine without watering down any of my passes. (That's about 70 seconds, so it's all anaerobic endurance.)

I want to have my left-leg split all the way down. (All 3 would be great, but I think that's unlikely to happen, and the left leg is the one I'm closest on)

In short, I want to be able to come out of retirement as a gymnast and compete on floor, vault, and rings again next year.

THE PLAN

Diet:

I'm not going for a specific number of calories, but I really could afford to cut back on the junk food and eat more fruits and vegetables.

For the last few months, I've been going through oreos at a rate of about a package every two days. There is no way in hell I'm going to completely give up oreos, but I'll at least try to cut that back to a package a month.

I'll also cut down on the gingerbeer and 7-up, and try to stick with milk, orange juice, and good ol' water.

I'll try to have fruit or vegetables with every meal. This is definitely something I need to work on.

Exercise:

For the rings strength: daily work on crosses and malteses, in addition to my normal strength workouts.

For endurance, I will try to do windsprints for 70 seconds at least twice each workout.

For flexibility, I'll be doing at least 2 minutes total in each split at the end of every workout. (I've been meaning to do this for awhile, and I've kept not doing it.)

BTW, should we post pics? So we can have "before" and "after" pics to compare at the end of the summer?

EDIT: also, how specific should I be with descriptions of my exercise plan? Should I post my entire strength list?

EDIT 2: Same question for my rings goals. Should I post the routine I hope to compete?

[Patrick Burns]

GOAL

To be able to run 5 miles at about a 10 minute pace again.

To get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep most days. This last year I've had very irregular sleep patterns, and my overall health/mood has suffered. I'll have to get up at about 5am for work this summer, so I've got tot get my act together or I won't be doing so hot.

THE PLAN

Run 9 miles a week by the end of May, 12 miles per week by the end of June, and 15 miles by the end of July. I plan to run 3-4 times per week.

Be going to sleep around 10 by the end of May, and 9 by the time work starts in the beginning of June.

[Steben]

BTW, should we post pics? So we can have "before" and "after" pics to compare at the end of the summer?

EDIT: also, how specific should I be with descriptions of my exercise plan? Should I post my entire strength list?

EDIT 2: Same question for my rings goals. Should I post the routine I hope to compete?

Again, how detailed you want to get is totally up to you... my job is just to make sure people check in, to keep everyone accountable. More detail is better for others who may be curious about what other people are up to, however. Personally, I'm not an exercise geek... it's something I feel I should do, so I'm making myself do it. However, more details should spark more discussion amongst those of us who are more into that sort of thing.

And yeah, I'm gonna put up a Before picture for myself sometime this weekend. It's optional, though.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I know I sound like a conceited asshole saying this, but the main reason I'm hesitant to post a before picture is because I'm afraid it might scare off other potential participants. I'm a gymnast; modesty aside, my before pictures will probably look better than most people's after pictures. That's why I'm asking you whether I should post them.

On a different subject, if we have anybody with expertise in building up anaerobic endurance, I'd love to hear from them.

[big giant circles]

I know I sound like a conceited asshole saying this, but the main reason I'm hesitant to post a before picture is because I'm afraid it might scare off other potential participants. I'm a gymnast; modesty aside, my before pictures will probably look better than most people's after pictures. That's why I'm asking you whether I should post them.

On a different subject, if we have anybody with expertise in building up anaerobic endurance, I'd love to hear from them.

OMG he is srsly liek, SO HAWT. RAWR.

[Patrick Burns]

I know I sound like a conceited asshole saying this, but the main reason I'm hesitant to post a before picture is because I'm afraid it might scare off other potential participants. I'm a gymnast; modesty aside, my before pictures will probably look better than most people's after pictures. That's why I'm asking you whether I should post them.

On a different subject, if we have anybody with expertise in building up anaerobic endurance, I'd love to hear from them.

If someone is scared off because of that, then I doubt they would have the constitutions to tackle serious behavior change anyway.

Not that I plan on posting body pics of myself, but the more content this thread has the better.

[Steben]

I know I sound like a conceited asshole saying this, but the main reason I'm hesitant to post a before picture is because I'm afraid it might scare off other potential participants. I'm a gymnast; modesty aside, my before pictures will probably look better than most people's after pictures. That's why I'm asking you whether I should post them.

Tell you what, wait until after I post my before picture... I'm pretty sure I won't scare anyone off anyway.

EDIT:

Okay, here they are.

The hair's disheveled because I just got out of bed. The body's rotund because I never was involved in anything more strenuous than marching band in school. Hopefully by the end of the summer I'll be able to see a difference.

Incidentally, I PMed everyone in the other thread who said they were interested in participating, so hopefully we'll get more people joining soon. I'm gonna start a list of participants in the OP.

[Fishy]

GOAL

I used to be able to climb a V2, possibly even a V3 on a good day, and although I weigh the same as I did, it used to be all muscle, now it ain't muscle at all.

Goal is to be climbing V4 by the time limit, which is when I go to Uni where they have a massive climbing wall I can get ultra fit with. Basically its preparation for the serious shit (and the ladies of course).

THE PLAN

I bought myself some new climbing shoes yesterday, some nice velcro Boreal Jokers, so we're ballin'.

Diet:

Imma cut my chocolates and bad sugars from my lunches and dinners and replace them with fruit, probably apples/pears. I eat "ok" apart from the chocolate, not amazingly but not in a damaging way.

Exercise:

Get up dem walls? My friends have started going twice a week, Tuesday and Friday, of which I'm doing only the latter, mainly for transport reasons. Once I pass my driving test in June, I'll go twice, maybe even three times once i get back into it. Each time we go is generally about 3 hours of on off climbing and messing around. Its a very intensive sport that powers you up amazingly, so I'm optimistic that I will be back to my former sexy self.

I don't know if I want to post the before picture until I have the after picture as well. I'll take one, I just don't know id I'm comfortable posting it.

[DragonAvenger]

I'm game.

The Goal

Overall, I'm looking to do more moving in general. I would also like to start doing some light lifting, for toning, not strength.

The Plan

Part A consists of having a treadmill downstairs. I have set up my SNES in front of it, and currently I'm walking while playing Breath of Fire (which I've never completed. This morning I just got past the Stone Robot). I plan to get through at least this game, and a couple other SNES games that I haven't beaten or haven't played in a while.

Generally I'm walking at about 2.5 mph. Nothing super fast, but doing it for 45 minutes (hopefully I'll bring that time up) isn't too bad.

Part B will include some weight lifting. I have a set downstairs, and some exercises that I used to do, and hopefully will motivate myself to restart. I'm looking to be able to do controlled slow lifting to tone my muscles.

Part C is more optional. Running isn't really an option nowadays because of my knees, but I'm considering pulling out my rollerblades or bike. More fresh air would be good.

Part D is also optional. My summer job as a secretary of summer school has moved to a closer school to home, and I'm considering riding my bike to work to save gas. This idea is dependent on the weather, my motivation, and whether or not the second half of the day will involve moving stuff from one school to another (we're getting a new high school, and I might have to be moving my band stuff from the old to the new).

[Random Hajile]

GOAL: To tone myself and have a defined muscle shape in my upper body.

THE PLAN

Diet: I'm going to cut down drastically on all the junk food I eat, and make sure that I prepare fairly healthy balanced meals.

Exercise: Intense ab and push-up routines every night before bed, combined with at least an hour of intense cardio 3 times a week. (Lol, ultimate frisbee)

I'll get my before pic in a bit, I start today.

[Global-Trance]

Oh oops! I haven't logged in here for about a week. Sorry, Steben!

I suppose the competition is mainly us competing with ourselves so as long as we are better off than when we first start then we can consider ourselves a winner. So let's not be hesitant to show pictures of ourselves. I think it's a great motivator for improvement. If you are happy with the "after" pic, then isn't that what matters? We can all be "conceited assholes" about how good we look after the summer.

GOAL: Improve overall flexibility and make immense improvements in my cardio-respiratory system while slowly toning the muscle through various eccentric and isometric exercises... also begin some gymnastic exercises!

THE PLAN

Diet: More balanced carb and protein intake. I tend to have too much or too little of one thing. I don't eat junk food or drink soda so I think I'm okay there! I should drink more water though.

Exercise: Increased amount of self-myofascial release, static, and active stretches. Five miles a day, five times a week. Core training five times a day. Resistance training three times a week, covering the entire body.

I suppose I'll put up a pic later.

[Kenobio]

Very cool idea, Steben!

Anyway, I'm actually in pretty decent shape but I certainly would like to drop a few pounds and most importantly improve my diet.

Goal: To drop a minimum of ten pounds of fat (I'm currently ~188 at about 5'11) while cutting down on fast food.

The Plan

Diet: The life and diet of the college student (for some) generally centers around laziness, convenience, and freedom to eat what is tasty and ultimately unhealthy. Thus, I plan to quickly begin eliminating fast food as well as other unhealthy foods from my daily life. Routine trips to Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and wherever else I go will stop, and no more huge half pound burgers on the weekend. From now on I'm going to eat healthier and cook more for myself. Also, I'm going to try to completely stop drinking soda and maybe cut down on beer as well.

Exercise: I actually get a pretty good amount of exercise, as I do a lot of walking and play basketball several times a week. However, I plan to incorporate some sort of light daily workout that I can do in the mornings or in the afternoon. This light workout would include roughly 60-80 pushups (currently I do around 40 a day), several sets of jumping jacks, crunches, and hopefully a few other exercises (suggestions are welcome!).

Goodluck everybody!

[The Derrit]

I suppose it's my turn to put out the goal sheet!

Goals

I want to maintain, if not raise, my cario- and anaerobic fitness levels. Being a rower they are pretty high right now, and it would be very easy to let them fall down to, well levels I don't really want them at essentially.

Like GT, I want to get started on gymnastics-style physical training. My definite goal in this area is to be able to hold an advanced tuck planche, or at the very least a tuck planche, for 45 seconds by the end of the summer. Advanced tuck might be a stretch, but I'd like to be well on my way there by the end of summer. I also intend to work on solidifying my handstand, and handstand to press after that. EDITED DUE TO DIVINE INTERVENTION FROM TAUCER

I also want to keep up my weight and sprints schedule from last year. It served me well and I intend to use it again.

THE PLAN

Diet I need to have a much more balanced diet. I eat a lot of high carb foods, but I need much more variety in order to produce optimal results.

Exercise Some erging (shoot me) along with hopefully rowing in a single this summer should help me maintain my aerobic levels. For the gymnastiscs, hopefully Taucer will enlighten us all! I've learned some things through the internet that I have put into my plans, but expert advice is always nice. Also, as I previously mentioned, my weights and sprints schedule will be retained from last summer.

I'll put up a picture when I find a camera.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Like GT, I want to get started on gymnastics-style physical training. My definite goal in this area is to be able to hold an advanced tuck planche, or at the very least a tuck planche, for 60 seconds by the end of the summer. Advanced tuck might be a stretch, but I'd like to be well on my way there by the end of summer.

In my opinion, 60 seconds is a bit excessive for planches. I'd start working the next difficulty level once you can hold a given position for 45 seconds, if that.

Another great exercise for planches (and one not mentioned on Sommers' website) is pressing down from a handstand. Do a handstand, straddle, and try to press down towards a planche. See how close you can get without falling. Of course, this requires that you be able to hold a static handstand -- and I HIGHLY RECCOMEND that anybody wishing to incorporate gymnastics into their training work on handstands, since that is really the one skill that the entire sport is based on.

[LuckyXIII]

GOAL:

Drop @ least 20 lbs - from 200 to 180. I'd really like to regain my singular chin and not have hybrid fowl/double. And I want to look sexy in my OCR shirt, not...like I do now.

PLAN:

Diet

- Reduce fat intake (going for more skim milk in my coffee)

- Reduce soda intake

- Reduce junk food intake in general

- Increase veggie consumption

Exercise

- Run at least 3 times a week around a nearby lake

- Working out with weights every other day (routines found here: http://exercise.about.com/cs/exerciseworkouts/a/weight101_2.htm?p=1)

Thanks for the idea of getting this whole thing going. Aside from random posts and frequent lurking I actually feel like I'm getting somewhat involved in the community!

[Steben]

C'mon, guys, don't let me be the only shmuck with shirtless pictures of himself on this thread!

Alright, with ten people, this thing's getting off to a good start. Make sure you all keep up with your plans, cause I expect to hear how you all kept to it come this weekend. I've got a text file on my desktop to keep up with my own diet/exercise habits... should be interesting to look back later this summer to see how I've improved.

[The Xyco]

My participation in this competition is tentative at the moment because there is a chance I may land an internship in Washington DC and my access to a gym there is going to cost at least a hundred times more than access at home or at uni.

That said, I"m going to go ahead and throw my hat in the lot.

GOAL:

At 6' 3" and weighing in under 170lbs, with a waistline >31", I frequently fall victim to being interpreted as "stick" and unhealthily thin. I didn't spend two years at the gym getting in tip-top shape to be called Skeletor, so I'm shooting to add about 10 pounds of lean muscle, with comparable strength gain -- all without losing definition (even becoming more so, if possible).

I'm not really interested in having big bodybuilder pecs or biceps, since they would interfere with the type of physical activity I do (primarily martial arts), plus I'm a big believer in working the entire body. It's going to be an all-around gain.

PLAN:

Since I'm shooting for lean muscle development, it's going to come very slowly. I'll have to work with both strength & size gain without losing definition. I'm working in stages, currently on my 4th week of upper body strength sets (generally 3 sets of 8 reps full-body workouts, about 2/3 are upper body). Once I get some slight weight gains from that (3-6 lbs), I'll switch over to two weeks cardio/circuit training, and then repeat the process with adjustments to compensate for disparities in gains and losses.

Diet will have a big impact on this plan. Going to have to work it carefully between the strength and circuit weeks.

Going to increase my overall protein intake. Protein supplements tend to make me feel ill, so I'm using different food sources to get surplus protein. On a budget, eggs are probably the easiest and cheapest source of protein, but the cholesterol gains can be killer. Going at 3-4 eggs about 4-5 days a week. Also drinking lots of skim milk, and eating cooked/grilled meats when I can.

Living near the ocean gives me access to fresh fish and shellfish, which is amazingly healthy when prepared properly -- loaded with protein and antioxidants. I'm going to learn to probably cook fish/shellfish and try to make at least 50% of my meats seafood.

I don't drink sodas, so that's no problem, but I could do with more water intake. Especially if working in the heat of summer. Going to cut back on Vitamin water considerably (probably save some money doing that as well).

Going to keep my carb sources in Smart Start cereal, pasta, and whole-grain breads. Generally I consumer carbs throughout the day before my workouts (which are usually undertaken in the two hours before dinner), with my proteins following. I'll keep up with this plan, but stick to it a bit more religiously.

I'm not giving up General Tso's Chicken though. Unhealthy as it is, I deserve some guilty pleasures at least two weeks or so. But I've started getting it with more vegetables now. Every little bit helps.

With all this, and if all goes according to plan, hopefully I'll end up with more muscle to work with in definition gains by the time the fall semester rolls around. I'll also be set up with more healthy eating habits. I already start to feel lazy and stagnant if I don't visit the gym every other day, hopefully I can get that way in diet.

[MechaFone]

Whoooo boy. After seeing some of the body pics here, I'm convinced you'll see none from me. No way. You will, however, have my participation in this program, which I greatly approve of. Maybe for once it could get me motivated.

I weigh in at 260 or higher. Proabably higher. I'm at 6'2, so 210 or 200 would be a much better weight for me. I don't really know, I'm not knowledgable about weight and height stuff.

I'm also not a gymnast, nor a runner, I'm pretty much in the worst shape of my life and probably in the worst shape of anyone here.

My personal goal, to reach by August, would be to jog around my neighborhood for at least 20 minutes at a time. If I can make more than that by the end of the summer, I'd be fucking shocked. So, count me in, and I'll fave this thread so I'll see it every time I open the 'net. Thanks for setting this up, Steben.

[Steben]

Whoooo boy. After seeing some of the body pics here, I'm convinced you'll see none from me. No way. You will, however, have my participation in this program, which I greatly approve of. Maybe for once it could get me motivated.

I weigh in at 260 or higher. Proabably higher. I'm at 6'2, so 210 or 200 would be a much better weight for me. I don't really know, I'm not knowledgable about weight and height stuff.

I'm also not a gymnast, nor a runner, I'm pretty much in the worst shape of my life and probably in the worst shape of anyone here.

My personal goal, to reach by August, would be to jog around my neighborhood for at least 20 minutes at a time. If I can make more than that by the end of the summer, I'd be fucking shocked. So, count me in, and I'll fave this thread so I'll see it every time I open the 'net. Thanks for setting this up, Steben.

No prob. And really, I don't think anyone here will judge you if you put up a picture. But even if you don't want to post it publicly, you could take it, and then post it with your after picture at the end

[LuckyXIII]

No prob. And really, I don't think anyone here will judge you if you put up a picture. But even if you don't want to post it publicly, you could take it, and then post it with your after picture at the end

I would have to say I like that plan better.

[Arek the Absolute]

joining

goal and other stuff to be posted soon

requesting extension of game till the end of august or mid sep

my goal is going to be something that is gonna take a bit so i need the extra time

doing a double goal of losing weight/building muscle mass AND getting free running tricks down

[Global-Trance]

Three months is a lot of time. If you need more than three months to have your body make any adaptations you're doing it wrong.

[MechaFone]

Hokay. My first entrance is: jogging for about eight and a half minutes without stopping. That's actually pretty good for me. I had to stop for about ten seconds so the neighbor's dog would stop trying to rip my legs off. Note to self: NEW ROUTE.