The Daily Workout Thread :D

[Hsiang-Lin]

12/3/06 Result: Completed

12/4/06 Goal:
Chest workout

Great job, SmellyOrc! Sweating is one of the signs I use to gauge my intensity. Also, I made a new realization today to the power of concentration:

Today I really felt weak and unmotivated. But I checked back on this thread, read a few bodybuilding articles, and BAM I was in the gym (haha I woulda gone there anyway, but the quality of the workout woulda been much lower without the motivation).

Now as I was running, I was using energy from my subconscious. This is weird and I've been playing with this for a few days now. Before you do any kind of exercise, relax yourself and sink into your subconsciousness. You should feel total sensation throughout your body and feel very grounded. It is at this point you can really isolate your muscles and move a particular muscle group at will.

So today before I ran, I did my grounding routine and I thought of my heart as the muscle. This enabled me to focus solely on my heart and allow it to control the way my legs and arms moved. I felt so grounded that I felt my body was like a steel machine plowing through resistance.

Afterwards, I felt like I had really worked hard during my run. It was a quality run instead of just another run that went through the motions and distance. This is something new for me, but if you're interested try it out! I feel it has made my workouts more intense and more fun. I really feel like I'm working my muscles and heart with quality instead of just quantity.

David Mitchell, have no fear. The fact that you even posted on this thread shows you have it in you what it takes to lead a healthy lifestyle. You're better off than me when I first started! I could only do 1/2 a push-up per day.

I was just looking back since this thread has started and it has been 23 days. Who knows where we'll end up in the future?

"Ain't nothin' but a peanut."
-Ronnie Coleman

[cela]

Hsiang-Lin, your posts are very motivating - thanks for your thoughts.

I am now trying to consciously shift my mind into each muscle as I weight train - I found it difficult at first, but did notice a difference in being able to isolate particular muscles. Hopefully, practice makes perfect!

4.12.06 Result: Completed
5.12.06 Goal: 1hr PT session

[Hsiang-Lin]

12/4/06 Result: Completed

12/5/06 Goal:
Leg workout (ooh, burn baby)

Thanks, Claire! It feels good to have others working along with me and I hope to return the favor by motivating you guys when it's most stressful or bitter.

Also, I found out this morning why warm-up is so key for weightlifting. For cardio, you want to get your heart pumped up so you can do a variety of warm-up exercises for that.

But for weightlifting, the focus of the warm-up should be to isolate those muscles you wish to work and find that "sweet spot." Once you find that "sweet spot," you can crank out the hardcore sets without having to worry about form. So the point is to get you in rhythm and proper form during the warm-up so that when you do the main core of the lifting, you can focus 100% on just flexing the muscles through the motion. I did this this morning and found I could really stimulate the muscles a lot more during my main workout sets than before.

And the funny thing is I'm going lighter and lighter in weight! As I find out more how to stimulate my muscles effectively, I find I had little nuances before that were bad form and I have to lower the weight to obtain that maximum stimulation. Which is pretty funny because I feel stronger and stronger with lighter and lighter weight! Anyway, catch y'all later!

[SmellyOrc]

Today's practice:

Practiced one-armed push ups and pistol squats again. Damn those are hard
2x 25 crunches and sit ups, 30 secs pause in between sets
6x6 crunches and sit ups, 20 seconds pause in between sets
1x10 highly elevated normal push ups
5x40 seconds in the L-shape thingy, 30 secs pause in between sets.

Status: Done

P.S. Reduced morning workout so some simple 2-legged squats and 20 normal push ups for the moment. Don't have enough discipline to do crunches and sit ups on an empty stomach.

Edit: Anyone know some good exercise for the hips? I can't seem to get my leg stretched out in front of me

[cela]

5.12.06 Result: Completed
6.12.06 Goal: 45min weights

Great work, everyone! Can't help you with the hip exercises, SmellyOrc - I need to work on my flexibility too!

Cheers,
Claire

[Hsiang-Lin]

SmellyOrc, are you looking for flexibility or hip strengtheners?

If you are looking for flexibility, the simple sit on the floor and reach for your toes works. But as I've realized these past few days in experimenting with the concentration technique, if you want to improve flexibility efficiently you need to focus on the muscles you want to stretch as much as possible.

For example, when I want to touch the floor standing stiff-legged, I make the tiniest adjustments in my footing even when I'm already hunched over at max. distance because I can feel that one leg is being stretched more than another. You want to balance yourself so you can feel that deep stretch in both hamstrings of the legs. I've only been doing this technique recently and I'm much more flexible than before when I just leaned forward as far as I could without concentrating on the muscle.

[Hsiang-Lin]

12/5/06 Result: Completed

12/6/06 Goal:
1) Run 2 miles, coast to 300 calories
2) Abs workout

Darn it, missed my breakfast this morning. Instead, I opted to finish my entire leg workout. Oh well, hopefully these suckers are burning by tomorrow!

Chuggin' along...

[SmellyOrc]

Today:

Practiced pistol squats throughout the day, no improvement today
6x10 crunches, 20 secs pause
6x10 sit ups, 20 sec pause
Practiced one-armed push ups
1x60 secs in L-shape thingy
4x40 secs in L-shape thingy

Status: Done

[Hsiang-Lin]

12/6/06 Result: Completed

12/7/06 Goal:
Back + forearms workout

"Ain't nothin' to it, but to do it."
-Ronnie Coleman

[SmellyOrc]

Today's practice:

Practiced pistol squats again. Really need to stretch those hips
6x10 crunches, 10 secs pause
6x10 sit ups, 10 seconds pause
Practiced stabilizing on one arm, preparation for one-armed push ups

Status: Done!

Might even go out next week to buy new shoes and clothes to start running Hope my damned hips will allow that, though...

[cela]

6.12.06 Result: Completed
7.12.06 Goal: 30min cardio

Observation: I was just out at lunch, and had to walk up a fairly steep hill back to my car - normally I find it quite difficult, but today was easy - I've built up more leg strength in 3 weeks of focussed training than the last 6 months of sporadic, half-hearted workouts. Yay!

Cheers,
Claire

[Hsiang-Lin]

12/7/06 Result: Completed

12/8/06 Goal:
Biceps + calves workout

Hey, good job, Claire! I'm noticing improvement in my strength and energy as well. Tomorrow's gonna be the first time I do a full-blown workout on my biceps since I last strained my wrist. Yeaaa

[SmellyOrc]

Today's practice:
Practiced one-armed push ups. Didn't do any pistol squat practice, knees and butt are already hurting.
6x10 crunches, 10 secs pause
6x10 sit ups, 10 secs pause
1x10 elevated push ups (2-handed)
4x40 secs in L-shape thingy, 30 secs pause

Status: Done! Not sweating though Might go start doing some Tae Bo Saturday...

[David Mitchell]

Hsiang-Lin, thanks for the encouragement. I've not exercised since Saturday, but I do have a decent excuse: Monday morning I got sick, and I'm just getting back to normal. I'll try a few push-ups tonight and set my goals for tomorrow afterwards.

[cela]

7.12.06 Result: Not Done - no excuses, just feeling crappy.
8.12.06 Goal: 45min weights

In regards to the feeling of crappiness yesterday, I have come to the insanely obvious realisation that I cannot eat whatever I feel like and have no ill-effects whatsoever.

So, that is a lesson learned, and I shall hopefully eat for health and strength in future. I'm into week 3 of my 12-week challenge, and want to make this worthwhile. It would be incredibly disappointing to see no difference in those before-and-after photos, even if I am gaining strength.

Thanks to everyone who contributes to this thread - it's great to check in every day.

Cheers,
Claire

[Hsiang-Lin]

12/8/06 Result: Completed

12/9/06 Goal:
1) Run 2 miles, coast to 300 calories
2) Abs workout

Haha, Claire, I felt the same way last night too. I missed my lunch so I was starving for dinner. I ate a pretty healthy meal initially, but I was feeling uninspired and wanted a cheat food. So I ate a really greasy cheese tortilla and it threw my system off since I've been eating pretty clean lately. So I know what you mean. It can have a big effect on our mental state.

David Mitchell, good luck!

Ciao everyone

[David Mitchell]

Well, I forgot to try anything last night. This morning I managed seven push-ups, but it was harder than I expected. I'll try for eight push-ups and fifteen squats tomorrow, about half of what I did a week ago.

[SmellyOrc]

Today's workout:
40 minutes of Tae Bo (Billy Blanks Basic Boot camp)

Status: Done! Was sweating just a bit

[cela]

8.12.06 Result: Completed
9.12.06 Goal: 30min cardio

[SmellyOrc]

Today's practice:
Practiced one-legged squats again. Still no improvement.
3x4 one-armed push ups on an elevated object, both arms
6x10 crunches, 10 secs pause
6x10 sit ups, 10 secs pause
6x40 secs in L-shape thingy, 30 secs pause
Tried some stretching techniques from Pavel Tsatsouline's 'Relax Into Stretching' book.

Status: Done!

[Hsiang-Lin]

12/9/06 Result: Completed

12/10/06 Goal:
1) Stretching
2) Pushups, 25x4
3) Situps, 23x4 (upper), 20x4 (lower)
4) Stretching

Gonna keep it a light one tomorrow b/c I'm sick

Talk about bad timing, finals are next week too...Lightweight!

[Erki]

Hi people!

I haven't payed much attention on this thread...

I see you have your goals for each day and so...

Do you have any patterns, like what you're going to do on Mondays, Tuesdays and such?

[Hsiang-Lin]

Hi Erki,

I actually have a pretty random plan, but there's a structure to it. I'm exercising with the mentality of a bodybuilder who's trying to grow mass so I tend to lift weights more than running.

I basically run 2x a week and separate the other days into weightlifting specific body parts. Also, the weightlifting schedule is offset in such a way that each week is slightly different in which bodyparts I weightlift.

For example for next week my schedule is gonna look something like this:

Monday - Legs
Tuesday - Shoulders + traps + forearms
Wednesday - Running + abs
Thursday - Chest + forearms
Friday - Triceps + forearms
Saturday - Running + abs
Sunday - Biceps + forearms

I might vary it around depending on how I feel the night prior.

So basically I want to keep myself motivated and keep things interesting enough so I mix up my exercises each week. If you would like more specifics, don't hesitate to ask and I'll post up more.

[SmellyOrc]

Today's practice:

Practiced one-legged squats again, no progress
3x1 1-armed push up on my right arm (with 1 elevated leg, too!). Left arm ain't quite there yet.
6x10 Crunches, 10 sec pause
6x10 sit ups, 10 sec pause
6x40 secs in L-shape thingy, 30 secs pause
Stretching

Status: Done!

And question to the morning-runners (if there are any): Do you eat anything (like a banana or something) before you run?

[Hsiang-Lin]

12/10/06 Result: Completed

12/11/06 Goal:
Leg workout

SmellyOrc, I'm a morning runner and I normally don't eat anything before I run. I just have a glass of water about 30 minutes before to flush out my system. I also find that I don't feel as bloated near the end of my runs when I don't eat. Also, it depends on your goal. My goal is to gain mass and supposedly not eating before you run AND doing it in the morning is a terrible combination.

But I took the compromise and figured I'd rather have a more hardcore workout than a little extra mass maintained. I may be stupid in choosing so, but I'm opting for health + mass and not just mass. So basically I choose the hardcore, but prob. inefficient route instead of the efficient, and less hardcore route.

[David Mitchell]

Yesterday I did manage eight push-ups and fifteen squats. Today I did ten push-ups, I think. I'll do that again tomorrow as well as twenty squats.

[Hsiang-Lin]

12/11/06 Result: Completed

12/12/06 Goal:
Shoulders + traps + forearms workout

Nice improvement, David, I'm upping my weightage and reps as well.

Phew...gonna be a hectic week with finals.

[SmellyOrc]

Today's practice:
2x4 one-armed push ups on my right arm, left arm still ain't strong enough
6x10 crunches, 10 sec pause
6x10 sit ups, 10 sec pause
1x30 normal push ups (goes a lot better now )
6x40 sec in L-shape thingy, 30 secs pause
Some other exercise I learned from Tae Bo
Practiced one-legged squats too, no progress.

Status: Done!

[cela]

9.12.06 Result: Completed
10.12.06 Result: Rest Day
11.12.06 Result: 45min weights completed
12.12.06 Result: 1hr PT session completed
13.12.06 Goal: 45min cardio

I didn't realise I hadn't updated for so long!!! Also, I've never posted my weights session, so I'll do that now too, so I can see when I've upped my weights or reps.

Squats (bar only) 2x12
Lunges (with 10lb dumbells) 2x12
Push-ups 2x max (which is about 5 at the moment!)
Dumbell Chest Press 20lb 2x12
Reverse Lat Pulldowns 70lb 2x12
Pyramid Curls 20lb 2x12
Upright Rows 30lb 2x12
Lat Raises 5lb 2x12
Tricep Dips 2x20
Crunches 2x30
Russian Twists 2x10

Looking forward to upping the weight on the Upright Row and the Lat Raises this week. I'm still trying to perfect my form on the Squats before going too crazy there.

Keep up the great work everyone.

[Hsiang-Lin]

12/12/06 Result: Completed

12/13/06 Goal:
Run 2 miles, coast to 300 calories

Phew, getting tired already early in the week. Claire, I'm doing the same with the squats. I go lighter than usual and focus on stimulating the muscle. My legs are still sore from yesterday's workout which is a good sign.