"Do something" Journal. Join me?

[RBid]

Greetings.

I've decided to murder an extended rest period. I'm a family man who works a lot, and my hours won't let me get a regular schedule in at the gym. Naturally, that is not an excuse to skip exercise! Because I can't hit the gym with a buddy or work out with a trainer, I'm going to get this thing going as a way to hold myself accountable.

My background:
I'm 36 years old. By most standards, I'm very fit. 6'2", 182 pounds-- basically, built like Anderson Silva from the UFC, but with a slightly flatter stomach. Around the time I was 22-23 years old, I was a personal trainer. In my past, I spent years being in the gym 3-5 times each week.

General Goals:
At this stage of life, I am very happy with my weight and general body type. I don't feel the need to gain weight, and I don't need to lose weight. What I do want to do is recover lost capability. I want to regain muscular endurance, and to reestablish the type of good habits that will keep me from losing the shape I have today.

Specific Goals:
In the short term, I want to be able to do 10 pull ups in 1 set, again. I used to be able to do 12 with a 25 pound dumbell between my feet. I should be able to do this.

My plan:
1. I'm giving myself 20 minutes to do pull ups and push ups, 3 times each week. Ideally, I'll be doing them MWF.

2. I'll warm up first to avoid injury.

3. Once I'm ready, I'll do as many as I can in my first set. Once I hit my limit, I'll keep doing sets until I'm at 20+ total done. Pull ups will be done without lower body swinging or kipping up. Negatives will be controlled.

4. Immediately after I drop off the pull up bar, I'll be doing sets of quality push ups. Negatives will be controlled. My back will be straight-- I won't let my butt stick up, or hips sag.


Day 1: (pull ups/push ups)
7/15, 3/10, 3/10, 2/10, 2/5, 2/5, 1/5

That totals 20 pull ups, 60 push ups.

That took me 15 minutes, 41 seconds. I could not have done another pull up within the 20 minutes.

Next up:
Evaluate on Wednesday. If my body feels capable, I will do this again that day. If not, I will get back at it on Friday, then again the following Monday. I will post on Wednesday, to make sure that I keep this going.


Join me?
Feel free to pick a goal, and put a post about what you're doing in the thread. I don't care what it is, as long as it's something you'll be working on steadily. We can use this thread to support and encourage each other.

Looking forward to seeing where we can be in a month!

Read More

 

[RBid]

No joiners, so far.

So it goes! I will not be deterred! My body is letting me know that today is not a good day to continue. It's going to take a couple of days to recover properly. I'll evaluate the aches on Friday. If I have recovered by then, I'll go. If not, I'll aim for Monday. I'm excited to work my way back to the point where I can do this 3/week.

 

[OLDNEWBIE]

Good luck! Push ups and sit ups kept me looking/ feeling O.K. till my late 40s. A hernia got me off track and now I bike. I've no excuse for not doing push ups and sit ups now except being lazy, might start again soon.

 

[jdub75]

Hey, sounds like a plan. I started something like this about 2 1/2 years ago (35 at the time) to prepare for PT test for police tryouts. I also was running a few days a week. Stick with the sets, you will quickly increase your numbers. I never was a pushup guy until 2 years ago, and quickkly got to around 30. One of the tryouts I finished in the top 5...not shabby for an old timer like me!
Just listen to your body-things dont heal up that fast anymore!

 

[RBid]

Thank you for the encouragement, guys! Feel free to jump in with posts or plans of your own, of course!

 

[trainsktg]

I've mentioned it elsewhere before, but since you are interested in bodyweight exercises, check out 'Convict Conditioning', a progressive calisthenics program. After about a year and a half doing nothing but a combination of CC and kettlebell swings and cleans, I'm stronger and more flexible now at 48 than I ever was doing isolation exercises with weights and machines, which were a major part of my regular routine since age 11. I've been so pleased with my CC and kettlebell results, I sold off the last of my weights, bars and benches last summer.

Keith

 

[RBid]

I'll look into that, Keith!

Memorial Day work:

Body finally felt ready to go, again. I was displeased with what I was able to do, but happy to have been able to do something.

Pull ups:
7,3,2,2,1

Push ups:
10,10,10,10,10

Totals: 15, 50.

As with last week, I went right off the pull up bar to the floor for push ups, with no rest. After push ups, I rested 2 minutes.

I didn't even match last week. I did something, though. That's progress.

 

[jdub75]

I like the sounds of the convict conditioning...the results that is.
Have you looked into "100 pushups" training? Google it, there is the same for situps & running routines, but its basically what you are doing, but they pay a lot of attention to your rest period between sets for maximum improvement & least chance of injury. I had very good luck with that type of training in my mid 30's

 

[trainsktg]

I think the only thing convict in Convict Conditioning is the name. To my knowledge no one has ever seen the author Paul "Coach" Wade in person and its probably mostly just marketing gimmick. But the program itself is good and whoever wrote the book knows his stuff.

I wish I'd have discovered CC decades ago, but in a way I did, I was just too dumb to see it. For those that are old enough to remember the old Ford vs. Chevy York Barbell "Strength and Health" vs. Weider "Muscular Development" magazine days, the former always concentrated foremost on building physical strength whereas the latter on building large muscles. The latter also had fancy ads for the latest gadgets and machinery, color pictures, better paper and an overall nicer layout, so guess which one quickly dominated the minds of dumb, impressionable youth...like me? It took me darn near 35 years to get that junk out of my head and begin to focus on real health and real strength. Many of the incredible feats of strength of the old time strongmen featured in CC were also heavily analyzed in S&H, but I glazed right over it trying to be the next Arnold. Like I said, dumb.


Keith

 

[RBid]

Wooohhhhaaaaaa!!! My body let me go again, today! I'm hoping to feel great again by Friday! I wasn't able to push forward today, but I am doing what I can to get my body back to feeling like this is normal.

Pull ups/push ups:
6/10, 2/10, 2/10, 2/10, 1 (plus 2 controlled negatives/10, 1 (plus 2 begs)/10, 1 (plus 1 neg)/10.

Totals:
15 pull ups, 5 controlled negatives, 70 push ups, in 18:40.

Aiming for X work done in under 20 mins is helping me get into the routine. It's easy to set aside 20 mins, and easy to say, "just a few minutes more to push through!"

 

[Galant]

Im proud of you mate. Keep up the good work

This is for the warriors on the board . . . MMA - You vs Them By Machinemen (HD) - YouTube

 

[RBid]

Thank you, Galant

 

[GOG]

I quit smoking! The exercise part starts first thing in the morning.

I used to do push ups, shoulder dips, reverse dips, crunches, leg lifts and knee outs. That's the agenda with repetitions to increase as I can add them.

No more ice cream for a while either.

 

[RBid]

I quit smoking! The exercise part starts first thing in the morning.

I used to do push ups, shoulder dips, reverse dips, crunches, leg lifts and knee outs. That's the agenda with repetitions to increase as I can add them.

No more ice cream for a while either.

That all makes a lot of sense!

 

[RBid]

I have it a go last night. Here it is as: pull ups/push ups

7/10, 2/10, 2/10, 2/10, 2/10, 1 (plus two negatives)/10, 1/10, 1/10

18/80, total, in 17 minutes.

 

[RBid]

I haven't been posting here, but have been active. Instead of doing MWF repeatedly, I have been doing Tues & Fri, which has helped get some progress. I'm up to 8, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2 for pull ups, and starting to feel strong while doing them.

I still have a ways to go to get to my goal of 10 in the first set, but I think I can get there in a month or so. After that, it's on to a new short term goal!

 

[stratbastard]

I was an amateur body builder for about 25 years, but the last 8 or 9 I more or less spiraled downward... paying most of my attention to getting my 2 kids through college and paying for it $$$! Found myself close to turning 55 and way out of shape, topping 230+ at 5'10''. Here's what I did:
1) Added 50% raw food to my diet, just stirred it in with my rice, beans, and chicken. Added in the occasional fast to surprise my metabolism.
2) Started walking up college Hill every day, graduated to Skinner's Butte, then finally was ready to go up Spencer's Butte every day for the last year.
3) Started lifting weights again, adding lean muscle mass while losing fat (thank the stars for muscle memory!). Concentrated more on high rep stamina sets rather than bulk building higher weight load sets (easier on these old joints too).
My results are certainly satisfactory... down to 195 pounds and stronger again... not strong like my youthful days of course, but can at least bench 300 pounds on any given day. My wind is much much better also. Next step is to start taking a weighted pack up Spencer's Butte... adding more weight as I improve.

 

[simon99]

I think this is a great thread and hope that more people jump on board. With the mental philosophy and lifestyle of prepping and tactics, physical fitness is, and should be, a priority. Lack of a fitness regimen or having nagging health issues will greatly impact your response and overall tactical advantage.

Personally, I hit the gym at least 5 days a week, but strive for 6. I alternate between cardio and strength training and ( don't laugh) yoga as it keeps me flexible despite adding muscle mass, it also helps me work on my mental strength which I believe is important. Being diagnosed with Celiac disease this year has also forced me to make some changes in my diet. I eat a very low carb, lean protein with vegetable diet along with fish and supplement my menu with protein shakes.

So far so good....