Anyone else getting fit in Covid?

[Magnum Valentino]

I'm only doing short runs atm so just drink plenty of water before and after. What do long distance runners do to stay hydrated?

Drinking water after is like relief from heaven but doing so before makes me all heavy and bouncy in the tum, which is fucking horrible.

[Drygate]

Anyone going to try a keto diet to survive covid?

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899900721000988

Seems a bit extreme to me.

[Magnum Valentino]

You get to drink butter coffee on a keto diet, which is one thing I miss from when I got all fat last summer. Putting butter and oil in my coffee because Jim Carrey showed it to Norm Macdonald.

[JamesTC]

The running bits are:

Queen - Don't Stop Me Now (practically made for running that one)
Confidence Man - Better Sit Down Boy (my snooker walk-on theme)
Scissor Sisters- Any Which Way
Donna Summer - MacArthur Park (Extended Suite)

I really enjoyed going through all of the Queen albums when I started running as I hadn't long before bought the three CD sets. Gave me motivation to push on a bit more and run a bit longer so I made it to the end of each album. Also gained a new appreciation for their early stuff as I have always been more a fan of their later stuff (the last three albums are still my favourite, mind).

Of all the Queen songs, I found Keep Yourself Alive was the best running song.

Drinking water after is like relief from heaven but doing so before makes me all heavy and bouncy in the tum, which is fucking horrible.

I just have a little swig before the run. Don't take water with me for anything 6 miles or less.

[JaDanketies]

Gf presented me with a very late birthday present of a hip flask from Salomon that goes on a belt thing that can also hold your mobile phone. Used it for the first time today and it's a game changer. It's like the difference between being on a leash or off a leash.

I don't know how great Salomon are but my gf is definitely the kind of person to do the research. Usually I would always stay within a few blocks of my house and leave a big bottle of water hidden in the front garden. Now I've got the water on my hip it really feels like the world is my oyster. Currently in the second-biggest park in town and they've got those outdoor gym machines. Last week I was doing exercises on children's monkey bars that are about 60 yards from.my home.

Oh and I got a brand of shoes based on nought more than the recommendation of someone itt and my gut feelings about the product on the website. I got Fresh Foam Arishi v3 trainers and they cost £75 with delivery. I've spent more on boots but this is far and away the most I recall ever paying on trainers.

[thugler]

You really don't need to drink anything if you're not running for an hour plus at a time. When doing this i would usually hide a bottle of water somewhere safe to come and glug from.

Shoe wise, i prefer a more minimalistic design (but not those dumb glove things either) with no big heel, seems to have reduced injuries a fair bit and some of the shoes lasted me years and well over 1000 miles.

[amateur]

I've never been able to drink water while running, tried doing it on an organised 10K and it threw me right off. Forgot how to swallow.

I did a very low impact half marathon and didn't need to drink at any point, but that might just be me.

[Norton Canes]

Cycled to our office on campus yesterday lunchtime for the first time in months. I'd forgotten what a great commute it is - 5k, mostly flat with a couple of gentle uphill stretches - no wonder I was much fitter this time last year having done that five times a week over most of winter. Irregular half-hours on the rollers this winter haven't been anywhere near enough to compensate.

[JaDanketies]

Also there have been a few people itt who seem to be saying that they only run, and it's no good for weight training, etc.

I was familiar with hiit training, especially through that Insanity course I linked earlier, so I mix up a bunch of different 'circuits'. Like I might do squat jumps for a bit, and then belt kicks for a bit, and do mountain-climbers, and high knees with arms outstretched, and I've got those weights that you strap around your wrists. And when you're exhausted from running, you can flick to one of the other exercises and work on some other muscles while your calves recover. I look like The Ministry of Silly Walks though.

Was out for way more than an hour yesterday because of that water bottle.

Sad to learn that my Google Maps Timeline is almost always logging my exercise as walking rather than running.

[El Unicornio, mang]

This guy does great workout vids, most of it without the use of gym equipment, sometimes using cheap improvisations like 50lb sandbag in a backpack. And he's Russian so you know it's gonna be the real deal

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_nfjMmJlJXrhl2xbP9wgRA/videos

[Hank_Kingsley]

I was lucky enough to already have a weight bench and dumbbells before lockdown (because I dread the idea of going to gyms and having burly men laugh at my small penis) and now I've been using it...properly? it's been great. I've lost over a stone and am at a healthy body weight waist size now.

The real game-changers have been: i) volume training, basically doing 10x10 reps at 60% of your max (this has made my tits huge, no lie) ii) the Farmers Walk, picking up the heaviest weights you can, and walking back and forth in your garage/garden/front room until you can't. It's great if you don't like to think too much about things. iii) goblet squats, I could never get the hang of squatting with a bar but holding a heavy dumbbell like you're holding a chalice chest oddly feels quite natural. You can crank out the goblins (as I call 'em) at quite the volume and get a nice taut bum that will be the envy of all your mates.

[All Surrogate]

For goodness' sake, post some flexing pics, guys!

[Blue Jam]

Hahahaha... maybe if you post some more pretty pictures in the all-new PHWOARGH thread!

[JaDanketies]

I was going to share a cringeworthy pic of myself with no shirt on looking sexy (taken 5 years ago) amongst all that phwoarr thread malarkey but I couldn't think of the time nor the place.  I had it on my Tinder profile back then and my gf says it almost made her swipe left.

[shiftwork2]

Anyone remember small world?  That guy was ripped, and he showed us his pecs and the whole lot actually.  Sort of like me before I let myself go.

[Voltan (Man of Steel)]

For goodness' sake, post some flexing pics, guys!

This was a few years ago. I look nothing like this now.

[Dex Sawash]

small_world linked to an image of himself wearing the penis extension from the penis extension thread but I was scared to (c)lick on it.

[Blue Jam]

Successfully completed my Donna Summer Challenge yesterday! Managed 20 minutes, 2.69km, without stopping, soundtracked by the extended edit of MacArthur Park bookended with some Kraftwerk and Quincey Jones. I may not be going too fast but that's a massive deal for me and my crappy little lungs, I'm actually really proud of myself!

Is running really not all that good for strength? My legs seem to be getting firmer, more so than when I was doing loads of cycling last year.

Gf presented me with a very late birthday present of a hip flask from Salomon that goes on a belt thing that can also hold your mobile phone. Used it for the first time today and it's a game changer. It's like the difference between being on a leash or off a leash.

Just looked these up and they look very handy, might order one as I went for a bit of a hike round Arthur's Seat the other day and really fancy going for a nice long run there as soon as my crappy little lungs are a bit less little and less crappy.

Fucksake, I'm a running bore and it only took six weeks. Plus a load of corticosteroids, but still, arrrgghhh.

[JaDanketies]

Scales this morning said 12st 13! This makes my BMI 25.2, and it's supposed to be 25 at the most. First time it's dropped under 13st for many years. Starting weight was 14st 2.

I would've potentially shared a before and after pic with you all but I don't take many pictures of myself. I'm not sure if anyone took any pictures at Christmas when I would've been around my highest weight. Annoyingly, I also dieted and exercised intensely over a period of about two months last Summer, and there are plenty of photos around then. I guess that's yo-yo dieting. Gotta maintain it this time. Plan is to get to about 12st 5 so I've got a bit of wiggle-room and then keep a close eye on my weight so it doesn't go over 12 10.

Here's the cringy pic I was talking about before. I was probably about 12st 6 or 7 in this.

[popcorn]

Congrats. I've been calorie-counting for 2 months now and the overall trajectory is very much correct - ie, down - but it's maddening how up-and-down it is. Hit a new low three days ago but I've managed to gain a kilogram since then apparently. Before that I was stuck at more or less the same weight for almost 2 weeks.

[bgmnts]

I like to weigh myself after a big shit or two just to feel like I've lost an extra pound. In the scheme of things it doesn't make a difference but every little helps.

Won't be posting hot nudes here like JaDanketies though

[Rich Uncle Skeleton]

like a lot of people I thought this was going to be the year to get myself sorted. however due to a mix of being fairly ill yet not taking care of myself food wise I've got more on my face and a belly on the go but I can still see my ribs through my skin. looks really weird to me!
i thought the whole lot of me would just have blobbed out. shows what i know about the human body but think i'm going to have to just make myself get out and about again

[Voltan (Man of Steel)]

Looking forward to the first workout in months where I'll be able to open the garage door and let some natural light in. It just feels better exercising in daylight with a breeze blowing through than in a closed garage lit by a single bulb.

Perhaps my spirits will be sufficiently lifted that I'll actually start the cardio training I've promised to do for the last decade. Probably won't though.

[thugler]

Got back into strength training (mainly bodyweight stuff) and have been quite good about keeping to a routine which I spread out over the day quite casually. Have beaten pretty much every personal best I had. Running has gone absolutely to shit though, I don't know if this is a consequence of the strength training, but I feel like I've completely lost the knack for it, even shorter distances are a bit of a slog at the moment. Along with that I seem to be incapable of drinking anymore, 2 beers and I have an awful hangover, what the fuck is that all about!

[bgmnts]

Going back on the sertraline has made me so drowsy I am struggling to even walk. Hope that fucks off sharpish.

[Kankurette]

I fucking hate running but I do walk a lot, even though it's a major fibro trigger. I went for a long walk with one of my aunties, who lives near me and who I hadn't seen for a while, the other day and was in agony the next day. Was worth it though.

I will be over the moon when my gym is back open tbh. I love going on the different machines and doing weights with my iPod on.

[JaDanketies]

Got jeered at by two different people when I went for my run tonight. I think this is the first time anyone has jeered at me, and it happened twice. COVID restrictions obv.

Second guy was actually driving past on a smartphone making like 'yeaaah' noises, which I enthusiastically made back at him. can't imagine that going viral mate

[Blue Jam]

Think I might go back to doing a couple of BodyPump classes per week once the gyms reopen. My brain finds weight training boring as fuck but my body evidently likes it as I tend to gain muscle pretty easily. BodyPump works for me because it's basically weight training with rhythmic music to make it not boring.

Used to do a class called Pound which uses drumsticks but Pound is basically lo-fi Beat Saber so I don't think I'll be bothering with that again. Could be tempted to do a Pound class with Chuck Tingle as the instructor.

[Schrodingers Cat]

Just ran my first ever (unofficial) half marathon this morning (21.2km). At 6:16 per km the pace was (and let's be fair to me) piss-poor. But given that at the start of February I couldn't run the 3.5km to the next village, I'm pretty pleased with myself. Well, I will be soon. Right now everything hurts and I want to die.

[Mr_Simnock]

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