OCR Fit Club (Summer Session)

[The Derrit]

Hey, I'm back for my checkin.

I can't be as specific with my workouts as most of you, because at the time I'm not planning them myself, but I can say I've been having two two hour practices per day up until today this week. I learned much to my surprise they burn rediculous amounts of calories, to the point where I'm considering eating even more than I do now (which is significant). It's going great though, I'm going to post a picture soon of where I am now, and its a bit fudging on before and after, but its something at least .

I've also been doing static L holds every day. They're slowly improving, I'm doing sets of 3 for about 15 seconds each at the time. When I get home I'm getting those rings too, can't wait to start on that.

[Majin GeoDooD]

I think I did pretty good this week.. still doin the DDR routine, did it on Tuesday, Wednesday, and today. My routine on Wednesday was a bit shorter (25 mins), so I did an hour today to help make up for that.

I had Quiznos on Wednesday and Thursday, but I incorporated that into what I was eating and doing each day (Thursday I worked; I rarely eat while at work so it kinda balanced out).

On Tuesday I started a crunches/pushup routine. I think I did 100 crunches/10 pushups on Tuesday. I increased the crunches to 150 on Wednesday, but did 100 again yesterday. I can do the crunches fine, it's those damn pushups that get me though..

Hopefully they have that sinkhole fixed soon so I can start hitting the gym, until then I'll just have to kill myself with DDR

[LuckyXIII]

DDR effin' rocks. Which version do you have?

[Majin GeoDooD]

DDR effin' rocks. Which version do you have?

Stepmania

[Global-Trance]

Okay I'm here for Weekly Check-in. I kinda don't want to re-iterate the stuff I've been doing but here's a quick rundown. All resistance training is numerous sets with usually heavy weight. All runs are 40-50 minutes.

Weekly Check-in

Monday

One Hour Resistance Training

Five Mile Run without Stopping

Tuesday

One Hour Resistance Training

200 Floor Stair Climb (via StairMaster Equipment / Approx 4.6 Miles)

Wednesday

One Hour Resistance Training

Five Mile Run without Stopping

Thursday

One Hour Resistance Training

200 Floor Stair Climb (via StairMaster Equipment / Approx 4.6 Miles)

Friday

Half Hour Resistance Training

Five Mile Run without Stopping or Slowing Down

So I'm feeling pretty proud of myself that I've been hitting long distance runs without stopping immediately after an hour of heavy resistance training.

Now all I need is some rings...

[Vivi22]

My diet is the same as before. I haven't been as good with the exercise in the latter part of the week, but I'll be back at it this week for sure.

Monday: Went for a 2 hour walk downtown to order the power supply for my new computer.

Tuesday: Went climbing in the evening for 45 minutes. Tried doing only runs that were extremely challenging to complete, or actually impossible to finish at my current level of strength. I'm a strong guy, but my core strength and strength to body weight are a little lacking.

Wednesday: Went for an hour bike ride to pick up my power supply. Jiu Jutsu in the evening.

Thursday: I had some very sore muscles and joints from Jiu Jutsu so I decided to have a proper rest day.

Friday: Another hour long bike ride.

Today I may not get out for anything as a friend and I may be assembling my computer, but if not I'll try going out for some interval training. So far I've lost about 10 lbs. If I keep going at this rate I may have to set a new goal for the summer.

[LuckyXIII]

Stepmania

Hah! That's cool. That's on PC, right? With that, you could conceivably have every single song from every DDR game in one, couldn't you?

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Don't have a day-by-day breakdown; I'll start doing that next week.

I tried a new method of organizing my strength workout; I split up my workout into groups of 2 more-or-less complimentary exercises, then did 2 maxed out sets of each one. For example, dips and pull-ups. I'd do as many bulgarian dips as I could do, then without stopping for a break, as many pull-ups as I could do, then back to dips, then back to pull-ups, maxing out every time. THen I'd go on to the next pair of exercises.

My strength workouts usually last an hour to an hour and a half, but I was more or less dead after 45 minutes of this. It was great. Felt like a got a lot more done in a lot less time.

Also, I put together a rings routine this week. I found that I'm a lot closer to some of my goals than I thought, and a long ways off from others.

What I've been doing up until now is heavy strength once a week, and light stuff every day, but I think I'm going to bump the heavy strength up to twice a week.

Gonna try to stick to a schedule:

Monday: Floor, rings strength

Tuesday: Heavy flexibility

Wednesday: Floor/vault and light ring strength in the morning, heavy general strength in the afternoon

Thursday: Vault in the morning, vault and rings (mainly routines) in the afternoon

Friday: Floor/vault and light ring strength in the morning, whatever I feel like doing in the afternoon

Saturday: Day off. Perhaps some light rings strength, but that's it

Sunday: Heavy strength, both general and rings-specific. Then I'll take a break for lunch and come back for flexibility

[Majin GeoDooD]

Hah! That's cool. That's on PC, right? With that, you could conceivably have every single song from every DDR game in one, couldn't you?

Yup, that's the idea

[Steben]

Alright folks, it looks like we're missing quite a few people from this week's check-in. Namely.

Fishy; DragonAvenger; Kenobio; The Xyco; amarriedmegaphone; Blue Magic; Lord.Roderick.i

I'll shoot these guys a PM.

Now that we're about two weeks into the game, and summer's really starting to get underway, I know personally I'm finding it tough to keep up with my fitness plan. But it's more important to keep with it now than ever, because once I make running and working out part of my routine, it'll be a natural thing rather than something I have to make myself do.

I'm hoping that these folks just haven't bothered to check in, rather than trailing off on their fitness plan.

On that note, I'm gonna shoot off the PM and then go for a run.

[Vivi22]

Alright folks, it looks like we're missing quite a few people from this week's check-in. Namely.

Vivi22

Umm, I did check in. It's at the top of the page.

[Steben]

Umm, I did check in. It's at the top of the page.

My bad! Sorry!

[Fishy]

Did my usual climbing, getting much much better already.

Did a V1 grade at a 35% incline several times. I did a bunch of sit ups when my arms got tired. Equally, I went to see pendulum which was a cardio in itself; An hours walking around london then 3 hours jumping like I had snapping turtles in my underwear. I feel a lot stronger already!

EXERMASIZE!

[Global-Trance]

Worked on the arms today and then did cardio.

Barbell Bicep Curls

12 reps @ 30 lbs, 10 reps @ 50 lbs, 10 reps @ 60 lbs, 5 reps @ 80 lbs.

Barbell Skullcrushers (Triceps)

12 reps @ 30 lbs, 10 reps @ 50 lbs, 10 reps @ 60 lbs, 5 reps @ 80 lbs.

Climbed 200 Floors on the Stairmaster right after.

Edit: Also just bought me some rings. :D :D :D I can't wait to destroy myself with those.

[MechaFone]

Whoops! I've gotten myself into a bit of a random "pattern".

I haven't been running much, more walking, this past week. Need to get back into that pattern...

Saturday I did a lot of walking, I took my family to the zoo and did some walking for four and a half hours, kept out of the sun, etc. I've been getting into drinking more and more water and less soda, though that Saturday I did start the day with two cups of coffee, where I did witness the truth of caffiene (gah, sp?) making you pee more, 'cause I needed to stop at every other exhibit. Still, lots of fun mixed with lots of walking.

I've been working on my stomach muscles more recently, doing 30 sit-ups while watching TV.

I did at least 80 yesterday in the course of an hour and a half, so for me that's not too bad. I plan to pick up my running this week, so I'll keep you all posted.

[Vivi22]

I've been working on my stomach muscles more recently, doing 30 sit-ups while watching TV.

You know, in high school I actually did the same thing and ended up being a crunch machine. It didn't take long before I had worked up to being able to do pretty much any number of crunches without stopping. I think I started with about 50 or so a night in a few sets, and eventually it turned into 500 a night in one set. By that point it's not really helping you though, not to mention that it's incredibly boring. There's a reason I stopped doing those. I whole heartedly support doing some exercises while watching TV though. It's a great way to keep yourself distracted from things like fatigue or boredom that can sometimes set in, while staying active during your favourite shows.

[Katsurugi]

Conditions have somewhat interrupted my flow. Mainly, I've had to move from my one dorm to another one over the past two days. It's not like I haven't done anything though. The heavy lifting should count for something. But I didn't do anything that really isolated any one muscle group. On Friday, I tried to do a handstand and I failed. I should have figured that someone who couldn't bench to much couldn't do a handstand... and well... there you have it.

Today, I found out the gym closes at 7 PM during summer hours. I got there at 7:30 PM. Anyway, I guess that serves me right for going into New York City and getting a haircut. (But I needed one as I'm going to a rather formal event next weekend...) I am adjusting my schedule for the summer and definitely will be going tomorrow.

Also, I'd like to bring up an issue. This just might be exhaustion. But I went running for two days in a row last week. On the third day, I was very winded after running only one mile. Does this happen to you guys too? I stretched and everything and I felt all right. It just felt like I hit a wall very hard... a lot harder than usual.

[Global-Trance]

If you don't do cardio much, you just might need a bit more rest. I find that the body can adapt to cardio-respiratory training the fastest. Just keep at it and you'll be fine. As for handstands... they aren't easy... and they're more about shoulders, back, and core... not chest.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

What's giving you trouble with the handstand? Is it strength or balance?

A good way to work handstands without a spotter is to start by doing it against a wall. Stand with your back to the wall, put your hands on the floor in front of you, and walk your feet up the wall. As you walk your feet up, you can walk your hands in a bit closer to the wall until eventually you're in a handstand with your belly against the wall. One thing I like about this is that in order to get your hands really close and hit a full handstand, you are forced to hit the proper shoulder extension, something many athletes (including far too many gymnasts) don't do all that well.

The other thing is just practice. Having a spotter sometimes helps. But handstands really take awhile to get a feel for (for most people).

The trick (to the extent there is a trick) is to stay tight and straight and use your wrists and hands to adjust the balance; if you start to fall forward, push down with your fingertips. If you start to fall backwards, push down with the heel of your hand. As your shoulders get stronger, you can also use them to control the balance. Technically, correct technique is to do as little as possible with the shoulders (aside from keeping them tight and extended), but if you don't plan on competing as a gymnast, I don't see how it will really matter. Heck, your shoulders will probably get a better workout from it if you're using them to adjust your balance as well.

It may take months (or even a year) to get it to the point where you can really hold it, but when you hit that tight position and find the balance point, it just feels so damn good it's worth all the trouble.

EDIT: Did a bit of vault, and a bit of strength today, but not as much of either as I would have liked to. My shoulders were completely dead today: couldn't do crosswork at all. I did, however, manage to hold a straight-body, legs-together planche for 15 seconds, a personal record for that skill.

Also worked a bit on building anaerobic endurance; I had one of my girls time me for 70 seconds of short sprints, punch fronts, and press handstands without stopping. (I chose 70 seconds because that's the upper limit on the length of a floor routine).

Tomorrow's a flexibility day, but on wednesday I'm gonna see if I can get in some more tumbling, since I really haven't been doing that enough lately.

[DragonAvenger]

Week 2 check in:

Done a little more walking, and some more biking, which I'm proud of. I'm trying to cut back on snacking, also, but not putting in a real effort to it.

Found out that I most likely will NOT have the job over the summer that I was going to bike to and from, which means the time I spent pulling out the bike was partially wasted (including buying a new helmet). I will continue to bike, however. Or at least try to.

I have the urge to pull out DDR and get good at it. LOL

[Global-Trance]

Light snacking is healthy for you assuming you are exercising. More meals at smaller portions is where it's at.

[LuckyXIII]

I have the urge to pull out DDR and get good at it. LOL

DDR is where it's at!

[Katsurugi]

With the handstand, I'm thinking it now balance. It seems strength isn't too much of a problem. But I'm always wary of stuff that requires my wrist since I have a good feeling that my right wrist never quite fully recovered when I sprained it. Anyway, I will try it at the gym rather than home/dorm where the ground is hard and unforgiving. ;_;

As for DDR, I've been itching for a game or two. Terra - Doll is a great song to play on heavy.

[DragonAvenger]

Light snacking is healthy for you assuming you are exercising. More meals at smaller portions is where it's at.

Absolutely it is, but notice wordage. I'm doing too much snacking, so I'm trying to cut back. Also, most snacking I'm doing is whatever comes out of he cabinet(Chips, cookies). The bad stuff. Just trying to curb it a little.

[Steben]

GEEZ

Running in this 90-degree weather is killer.

That is all.