The 2018 Exercise Motivation Thread

[rubysmama]

jtbo Brrrr.... -17F is -27C That is really cold !!!!

Winchester the fitbit blaze is the one I was considering, as I want the heart rate. I'll have to compare it with the Polar M400 and see which would work best for the price and my wants.

I walked again yesterday. Only 23 minutes. But I've only missed one day in the last 10, so I'm at least getting into a routine.

 

[furmonster mom]

I was afraid to run at first, too. I have a frayed meniscus in my left knee, and my right would pop and twinge like crazy. However, as I lost weight and strengthened the muscles around the knees with training, I began to jog short distances during my walk. The first few times, yah... my knees puffed up with pockets of fluid. But I kept it up anyway, giving them time to recover after each round. It's been 5 months of weight training and other exercises, and my knees are holding up much better these days.

Even so, I'm still mixing the running with walking. Last couple times I've tried to keep a pace of alternating 100 paces walk/100 paces jog. It's actually a little harder than what I was doing (jog until breathing hard/walk to recover), and the overall pace seems to be a bit faster.

 

[foxxycat]

good day for a ride. almost 60 out. 13 miles. 90 minutes. but I took a lot of breaks and walked a few steps up hills. Saw turkeys and Canadian geese. The air force had their big jets doing exercises so I got to watch two land and take off as the road wraps around the airport. Pretty cool. Ready for bed.

 

[jtbo]

I did manage to do bit slower ride, but it was still too fast.

 

[Norachan]

I did the same kind of thing furmonster mom . I used to run a lot when I was in school, but after a break of more than a decade I started by running to the first lamp post, walking to the second until I'd built up my stamina again. Even when I was doing 45 minute runs I'd let myself have a couple of walking breaks and walk up the really steep bits.

My neck is feeling a lot better today, but I've decided to avoid head stands this week and do arm balances instead. 90 minutes of Vinyassa flow this morning.

 

[Winchester]

Norachan I hope your neck feels better soon.

Wednesday -
12/12 hours with 300+ steps per hour

This morning -
3 miles on the treadmill

 

[jtbo]

New day, new ride, 1 hour with average heart rate being 90% of maximum that it did go today:


I did cut out beginning as it was a warmup and also there was some hiccups with GPS, tunnels and GPS don't mix too well.

 

[Norachan]

Norachan I hope your neck feels better soon.

Wednesday -
12/12 hours with 300+ steps per hour

This morning -
3 miles on the treadmill

Thank you Winchester. It does feel a bit better now. I tried one teeny, tiny headstand today. I did an 80 minute advanced posture flow, which I'm sure did wonders for my upper body strength.

 

[Norachan]

I walked for 90 minutes on Saturday, then did about 30 minutes stretching after that. I was hoping the tracks would be OK to run on soon, but they're muddy and covered with huge pot holes and boulders after the winter. I'll have to wait until the FC come and roll them flat again.

90 minutes of yoga on Sunday and Monday. It's getting warmer so i'm getting more flexible again.

 

[Winchester]

Sunday -

3.5 miles on the treadmill
I did not do the 250+ steps per hour, but did manage 11,191 steps

Something's wrong with my step/mileage again. Since an update, I'm not getting the steps I should be getting per mile, BUT I'm getting way more mileage. For example, 11, 191 steps = 6.73 miles (and that's way off). I checked my stride and that's the same as it's always been. My Fitbit makes me crazy sometimes.

 

[dalpaengi]

Hi, guys, I'm new to this thread but I'm gonna backlog.

Tomorrow, I start my very first gym program with a trainer (with a nutritionist guiding me through the food side of my lifestyle change). I go twice a week to start off. At home I'll just be doing treadmill and resistance band workouts. Maybe two times a week, I dunno yet. I definitely don't want to overdo it too fast or I doubt I'll stick with the program.
Previously, the only things I did consistently was walk 3 miles a day. That got boring.

I'm really hoping this helps me with my Add, Executive Function issues and lethargy. I'm trying not to make this so much about weight loss. For some reason that always ruins me.

 

[furmonster mom]

Welcome dalpaengi

I think you have the right idea for starting out.

When I started working with a trainer, it was for weight loss, but the type of training I decided on was for strength. I felt that I would get the best of both worlds that way, and I have.

I did tell my trainer right off the bat that I did not want to be obsessive about food or weight, that I felt if we focused on strength the other would follow. He has done exactly that, picking up on the idea that I wanted to be able to hike again, so he has focused on things that would help with that goal.

Working with a trainer also helps with that accountability factor. He has me marking down my exercises on a calendar, which is a subtle motivation for me to keep going.

As for food, he did have me log my food for a couple months, and we talked about nutritious alternatives and portion control. He never overloaded me with information, but rather would take just a few minutes each session and cover one little topic. While it seemed obsessive at first, I discovered some eating patterns that I hadn't been aware of, so in the end it was a good thing (and I haven't needed to keep the log up for about a month now).

Ultimately, I had to be willing to follow his lead and do the things he asked of me. He's given me the tools, but it's still up to me to use them.
We'll be rooting for you as you progress on your own journey to strength and well being.

 

[Winchester]

Welcome to the thread, dalpaengi and good luck to you!

Monday -
3.5 miles on the treadmill
12/12 hours with 300+ steps per hour
15,070 steps for the day - 7.95 miles

 

[rubysmama]

Welcome to the thread dalpaengi

I didn't do an actual walk yesterday, but I was out and about, so I guess that's good too.

I've started marking my walking times on a calendar. I find that, plus posting here, helps motivate me to walk, especially on days when I really don't want too.

 

[furmonster mom]

Weight training today.
My trainer gave me a little progress summary on a few of my "big move" exercises.
Leg press - up 50
Standing Hip Flexion - up 8
Seated Calf - up 20
Seated Leg Curl - up 22
Barbell Bench Press - up 10
Low Row - up 22
Shrugs - up 5
Hammer Curl - up 3

We focused a lot on legs in the beginning, so I'm not surprised that most of the improvement is in that area. I've never had a lot of upper body/arm strength, so even a little improvement there makes me pretty happy.

 

[Norachan]

Nice to have you with us dalpaengi It must be nice to have a trainer. All my teachers are on YouTube

Tuesday I did 90 minutes of yoga.
Wednesday an hour of yoga and about 90 minutes yard work. Hauled out a load of dead wood and started clearing out all the weeds and thorn trees before they got too strong a hold.
Thursday was 2 one hour yoga sessions. One working on inversions and balances, one deep stretch.

Just an hour of yoga today.

 

[foxxycat]

Monday and Tuesday I went to the gym-been a long time. Monday did 35 min on bike. Tues I did 20 min bike and 20 min weights trying to find where I am since it's been months-I lost some of my upper body strength but I was able to pull down 70lbs for lat pulldown. I used hand weights for curls/shoulder press but started at 5 and 8 lbs. My right elbow is acting up so it's hindered my progress. I kept the 5lb for all exercises on right hand and left hand used 8lbs. Did some dips and pull ups on weight assist machine-didn't want to start off too hard because having sore chest/back muscles really stinks. Did leg curls at 15 n 25 lbs.

This coming week I hope to make it 3 times to the gym. Slowly progress back to 6 days a week.

The following week I will make it 4 days and add a day each week that way it takes me a bit to progress-I can't ride the bike since we just got a foot+ of snow dumped on us so back to the gym while I wait for the junk to melt LOL.

My other goal is full motion pushups=classic style. Without using the table=want to do 22 pushups in recognition to the 22 people a day for military suicide awareness=and plank as well...that's hard to do! But I am up to the challenge!

 

[jtbo]

What do you think of this?


Close to 3 hours.

3165 Calories did say bye bye. Total for today over 5500 calories.

Weather was typical, wet, dark, snowing, also cold.


There would be group ride tomorrow, not sure if my legs allow me to join that. Then again I did not feel any pain on my legs today, but I did burn more energy than I had available, so at one point I got really tired.

Maybe I really should start to bring water and something to eat on my rides so that I could get my legs feeling pain again, no pain no gain they say and there has not been much of gain.

 

[jtbo]

Monday and Tuesday I went to the gym-been a long time. Monday did 35 min on bike. Tues I did 20 min bike and 20 min weights trying to find where I am since it's been months-I lost some of my upper body strength but I was able to pull down 70lbs for lat pulldown. I used hand weights for curls/shoulder press but started at 5 and 8 lbs. My right elbow is acting up so it's hindered my progress. I kept the 5lb for all exercises on right hand and left hand used 8lbs. Did some dips and pull ups on weight assist machine-didn't want to start off too hard because having sore chest/back muscles really stinks. Did leg curls at 15 n 25 lbs.

This coming week I hope to make it 3 times to the gym. Slowly progress back to 6 days a week.

The following week I will make it 4 days and add a day each week that way it takes me a bit to progress-I can't ride the bike since we just got a foot+ of snow dumped on us so back to the gym while I wait for the junk to melt LOL.

My other goal is full motion pushups=classic style. Without using the table=want to do 22 pushups in recognition to the 22 people a day for military suicide awareness=and plank as well...that's hard to do! But I am up to the challenge!

It is so nice to read you going gym again, hey spring is slowly winning winter, there might be still new snow, but it is melting already on bright days, so it will be back into books of living for 2018 again, winters are zombie time, would rather have a year without darkness and snow!

 

[Norachan]

You still have so much snow jtbo ! Ours is all gone now, it's warm enough to go out and start on the yard work.

90 minutes of yoga on Saturday and Sunday.
1 hour of yoga and 1 hour walk yesterday.
Today I spent about three hours clearing up outside. Raked up huge sacks of dead leaves, cleared a load of branches, did some pruning and weeding and patched up a weak spot in the fence.

So tired now!