OCR Fit Club (Summer Session)

[LuckyXIII]

Maintaining at 180...faltered a little towards the week's end, but we're back on track today w/the DDR and a new weight routini.

[Majin GeoDooD]

Had a decent week last week, only got to work out twice (forgot work was closed on July 4th, d'oh!). I've still been doing great with eating better, and I'm still maintaining my 218-220 weight even with working out sporadically.

[MechaFone]

Not much to say about last week, really. I worked for two days and had the rest of the week off. Big four day weekend (the fifth day was out sick)

So now I'm sore after the first day back at work and it's back to square one.

[The Derrit]

I'm really bad at checking in... my apologies.

There's nothing new for me to say really, still training by my schedule and its going amazingly. Its funny, while I've gained tons of strength, i'm the same weight. and i really don't know how. I wouldn't mind a few extra pounds here and there...

[Vivi22]

Check in.

Finally back to running. Ran twice towards the end of the week. Took a couple of days to rest after since I'm really not used to it anymore. My muscles will need some time to get back into it. Did some strength stuff at a playground on one of those rest days. That was about it. I'm kind of looking forward to leaving for some courses on the 24 just because I'll have free access to a gym on campus for the month I'm gone.

[Katsurugi]

I'm really bad at checking in... my apologies.

There's nothing new for me to say really, still training by my schedule and its going amazingly. Its funny, while I've gained tons of strength, i'm the same weight. and i really don't know how. I wouldn't mind a few extra pounds here and there...

Perhaps you are just losing fat and gaining muscle weight. It happens. Reduction of fat is more important than losing overall weight. If you are pretty fit, and stop all physical activity, you would lose weight, but that would just be your muscle wasting away. Muscle is heavier than fat. So yeah, weight isn't really a good way to gauge your progress if you are doing weights. If you're trying to reduce solely fat, and doing aerobics, then weight would probably be a more appropriate way to keep track.

I haven't been progressing as much as I'd like to. I've thought about adding some more weight. My arms have been getting more of a workout than my chest. As for abs, I've gotten farther with using those decline sit ups so I'll be sticking with those. On days where I attempt handstands, I've also tried to work out delts and lats. But seeing how I use my delts when doing handstands, it's kind of counter-productive. I want to see if I can move that to another day.

[Bren]

It's like something hit me, on this last mini vacation I just came back from. I had a revelation that I seriously need to get in shape, so lately I've been doing crunches and pushups (kind of sporatically but I hope to get into a habit soon) as well as an aerobic routine (by which I mean play DDR failoff on my highest skill level for about a half hour or so)

I'm hoping to flatten out my chest and abs; maybe more than that if possible.

[The Xyco]

Well I'm fucked. Pretty much out for the goal this summer.

Been afflicted with some bizarre abdominal issue that has a variety of symptoms for the past couple of weeks. One of which causes pretty nasty muscle cramps when jogging outdoors -- even if only for a short distance. It's only hit me once so far, but I'm going to have to take it easy, lest I exacerbate a minor issue into a major one.

Pretty sure it's a pulled/strained abdominal muscle I managed to fuck up while embarking on a new daily stretching routine. One stretch involved sitting on my knees and laying my back all the way to the floor (with legs tucked in), like a bridge position but lying down (I did the bridges too). Did this for three or four weeks -- and I never bothered to warm up first. Whoops.

Now I'm pretty much stuck out of jogging until it clears up. Going to try my luck at using the exercise bike as a substitute in the meantime. Hopefully it won't last all too long.

Thankfully, strength training is still in-bounds, as I was able to hit the gym last night and came out just fine (had the whole facility to myself, too). Can probably still do circuit training as well -- so I won't be completely invalid, though I'm sure my mile time will suffer a bit.

The lesson? ALWAYS WARM UP BEFORE STRETCHING.

For serious.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Check in.

Decent week, but not a great one. I've been slacking off a bit on my cross work, and I can't hold a flat iron cross anymore, so I need to get back to strictly doing that every day.

My planche seems to be steadily getting stronger, though.

[The Derrit]

Perhaps you are just losing fat and gaining muscle weight. It happens. Reduction of fat is more important than losing overall weight. If you are pretty fit, and stop all physical activity, you would lose weight, but that would just be your muscle wasting away. Muscle is heavier than fat. So yeah, weight isn't really a good way to gauge your progress if you are doing weights. If you're trying to reduce solely fat, and doing aerobics, then weight would probably be a more appropriate way to keep track.

This is all very true, but I'm a relatively slim guy, weighing in at 190 6'4", so its not as if i've got tons of fat to spare. I don't mind being light, as by my sport its a good thing, but I feel like at this weight there will be a limit to my power. So we'll see how it goes.

[Majin GeoDooD]

I had another sub par week last week, only got to go to the gym once. I really gotta get myself back into my normal pattern.

[Vivi22]

Went running a few times last week. I was busy towards the end of the week, so I wasn't able to get much done then, but I have managed to lose at least 3 pounds so I'd say I'm back on track. I'm also back on track with the diet as I've been keeping to a reasonable amount of calories, and only eating healthy food.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Had a hell of a day today. In the morning, I went to work out with a buddy of mine, and we spent the morning doing almost nothing but strength (with an occasional break to go throw some triples on trampoline)

We spent a lot of this time in a spotting belt on rings. I came up with a strength sequence that we took turns doing: Cross, victorian, backward roll to cross, press to maltese, lift to planche, press to inverted cross. My shoulders were dead by the time I was done.

After about a half hour break, I want back into the gym and spent another two hours or so doing strength (mostly arms and shoulders) and stretching (my left-leg split is getting really close to being all the way down)

[Halt]

Im planning to start back up on my training when i send my laptop out. a half mile 2-3 times a week. i dont have much time for anything else. xD

[MechaFone]

Not much to say this last week. I've taken a walk a couple times, so other than the work I do, I haven't gotten a lot of excercise at all. I am starting to get into a bit more walking, so that's something, right? Eh.

[The Xyco]

Alright, made it back into the gym. Abdominal issues seem to be dying down, so I was able to crank out a couple miles on the treadmill along with about 4 miles on the bike.

Also busted my ass on strength work. Woo.

[DragonAvenger]

Won't comment on being late again...oh wait I just did.

Last week was alright. I wasn't able to bike the last three days due to having to travel to the high school after finising the first half of my job. I'm hoping that on any days that occurs in the future I will get up a little earlier to walk on the treadmill.

Saturday was a family picnic, and I played a lot of badmiton. It's surprisingly tiring, and I was sadly pretty sore the next couple of days. I should take up tennis or something.

[Katsurugi]

Lately, I've been getting in some ultimate frisbee on the weekends. So that has been good and fun for running. But there really is no way of telling how far I've ran. The down side is that I have some serious turf burn all over my leg. It makes running difficult, especially the burn on my knee. Since it hurts only to raise it really high, I think I can still run.

My theory proved to be right the last time I went to the gym. I am not pushing enough weight. I'm happy to find out that I have been progressing rather than plateauing. I just have to keep up the drive. For both inclined and standard bench press, I am now pushing 60 lbs for most of my sets except for one set of 65 lbs. I don't know if I'll reach my goal. But at least I will end up a lot closer to it.

[Global-Trance]

Oops haven't been posting here. I'm still doing well. I've been working out less now despite being a personal trainer. Though my ring training has increased so I am seeing phenomenal gains in that area, but cardio is dropping a bit. It's being maintained by sprint training though.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Had an excellent workout this morning, took it easy in the afternoon. Spent a bunch of time doing rings strength in a spotting belt.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Took the morning off, then went in and did several full rings routines, from beginning to end, with all the strength holds. Here's my routine (which I will try to film sometime in the near future):

Back uprise to piked iron cross

Press to maltese

Lift to planche (still working on this part)

Forward roll, back uprise to straddle planche

Press to inverted cross (need to work on holding this)

Drop forward, back uprise to L-support

Pike press handstand

Gaint to handstand

Double layout dismount (needs work; I can get enough rotation, I just need to work on straightening it out to a full layout position)

[The Xyco]

May not be as screwed as I thought. Abdominal issues seem to be on their way out.

Probably can't pack 10 pounds of tight muscle in three weeks, but I can certainly lay the groundwork for proper development for a few months to come.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

OK, yesterday, I got to all three of the events I'm competing. Several full routines on rings, all my biggest passes on floor (don't actually have a routine yet -- I'm waiting for the new code of points to come out, so I can figure out what I need to work on to get maximum value out of my routine), and got in a few good vaults.

Also, I've selected the first meet I will (hopefully) be competing in this season. It will be in Orlando, FL the weekend of January 23-25.

Anybody interested in a Florida meetup? I'd love to have some support in the audience.

[DragonAvenger]

Checking in for last week. Good week at that. When I didn't bike, I walked, so every day I did at least something. This morning was a different matter, but I'm hoping to get on the treadmill later today.

[Penfold]

OK, yesterday, I got to all three of the events I'm competing. Several full routines on rings, all my biggest passes on floor (don't actually have a routine yet -- I'm waiting for the new code of points to come out, so I can figure out what I need to work on to get maximum value out of my routine), and got in a few good vaults.

Also, I've selected the first meet I will (hopefully) be competing in this season. It will be in Orlando, FL the weekend of January 23-25.

Anybody interested in a Florida meetup? I'd love to have some support in the audience.

That would be awesome to see, though in all honesty Fl. is a long way for me to go. If you can get some footage of it, though, I'd definitely like to check it out.

So did the STP on the 12th, and can honestly say it didn't go at all like I expected. Got food and rest at the midway point and was back on the road approx. 6.5 hours in, and up until 75% of the way in (about mile 150) I was set for arrival at the finish after an estimated 13 hours. After a series of three flats (and only having the equip to handle 1.5 of them, thus relying on the goodness of others to get back onto the road), I lost about 1.5 hours, which sucked. That wasn't the worst news, though. After mile 25 (about 1/8 in), my right knee started to bother me, with infrequent but very sharp pain. It didn't seem like I had been doing anything weird in my technique to cause that, so I just kept on keeping on. It gradually got worse, to the point where by about mile 155 it became almost constant, and as sharp as ever. I had to gear up and increase my cadence just to avoid putting more pressure on that side, slowing me down several MPH - adding frustration, I would no longer be able to push to maintain speed with a baseline, so I couldn't even think of drafting. Stopping, unclipping, and starting up again was worse from then on than getting a digit cut off, but I've come to far to quit. At the final rest stop prior to the finish (about 20 miles out), I nearly fell as I dismounted, and walking felt almost as bad as biking. Making it into Portland, whoever was in charge of spray painting the direction markers on the pavement made an error, telling riders to take a right when going straight would have landed us at the finish directly. This added 15-20 minutes more on bike, but worse yet 4 more times I had to stop and unclip. In the end, it took me approx 16.5 hours, arriving at the finish at 9:04 that night, and the last near quarter was one of the most painful experiences of my life (which is saying something). Despite these factors beyond my control, I have trouble accepting my poor time in the end. At least I can say pain is no longer a factor when completing my goals.

Going to the doc on the Monday following, I was told the ileo-tibular band tightened up and the cause of the pain was it rubbing against the joint upon extension. So relieved it wasn't the joint itself, or anything else with a long heal time. Put me on an anti-inflammatory for 10 days (so I still have a few days left), but that didn't stop me from playing and overdoing it with hooverball that Monday evening, or Aikido that next evening. Pain pretty much stopped Thursday, and there was no discomfort in doing push press (in regard to the knee extension anyway ) on Friday.

Back doing Crossfit for real today, though still not back up to 100% yet. Made up the WOD from yesterday (nicknamed "the filthy fifty"... 50 of: 24" box jumps, jumping pullups, 1 pood kettlebell swings, walking lunges, knees to elbows, 45-lb push press, back extensions, wall balls at a 10 ft target, burpees, and double unders), and got it done in a little over 40 minutes, which isn't bad but not where I should be. Side note: wtf, jumping pullups take longer and overall are harder than regular pullups! It's doing that jump to the bar after the box jumps I guess...

EDIT: Now that STP is over, I'm determined to start doing proper handstands, handstand pushups with good form, and take steps in the planche progressions. Did frogstands (about 20 sec x 3) and handstand holds against the wall (about 30 sec x 3, while gently pushing off with my feet and bringing it back) after the WOD today, and will continue with that for now.