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March 28, 2024, 03:22:15 PM

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Anyone else getting fit in Covid?

Started by Johnny Textface, November 07, 2020, 01:13:03 AM

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JaDanketies

gf appears to be turning a corner and hopefully joining me in our fitness journey. Kinda hoped she would've joined me in January, I don't really have much left to shift. I should put it all on again so we can do it together. 

tbh part of my motivation was to make it easier for her to start, yknow if I'm eating salad and exercising then it's easier for her to do it. It's very hard to talk about the issue of diet and exercise in a relationship. There's been a lot of beating around the bush.

GMTV

Quote from: I.D. Smith on April 18, 2021, 08:05:14 PM
I just finished Week 5 of Couch to 5k and today was the first big jump from doing multiple smaller runs in the session, to just one big continuous run, this time for a single 20 minute stretch. I was a bit concerned at first when I was already out of breath and my legs feeling like lead after only 5 minutes, but thankfully I managed to push on through that and make it to the 20 without stopping or slowing to a walk. Made sure to keep any inclines to a minimum, which unfortunately meant my route was up and down the same stretch of pavement alongside the main road with all the car fumes that entails, but I really don't think I'd have made it if my route had included the hilly suburban streets round my bit.

Feeling vaguely proud of myself for not quitting on it, which I'm prone to doing when I've only got myself to motivate me. I'm not necessarily new to running - pre-Covid I was doing it regularly on the treadmill as part of my gym routine - but for some reason I find outdoor running so much harder, and I've also been pretty much non active the past year until I started this[nb]I really, really struggle to motivate myself to workout outside of a gym. Gyms seem to have some magical effect on me where I have 1000% more energy and motivation to work out when I'm inside them. I think it's because there's no distractions, so all I can do it workout, whereas at home I'm going for a seat every few moments and that leads to checking my phone, watching a bit of telly, reading a magazine, and before I know I've been sitting for 20 minutes since my last set.[/nb], so I'm quite glad I've stuck with it and not cheated at all.

My only concern is I don't seem to get the running high at all anymore. It had long since dropped off pre-Covid, but after a year off I had kind of hoped it would've come back, like the caffeine buzz you get from your first coffee after a long period of abstinence. Does that ever come back?

Apparently the running high can take around 6 months to come back, which is a bit of a bugger. I think that's why it can be so difficult to get back into a training routine, as the cost benefit analysis doesn't work until you've been doing it for a while.

jaydee81

Quote from: I.D. Smith on April 18, 2021, 08:05:14 PM
I was a bit concerned at first when I was already out of breath and my legs feeling like lead after only 5 minutes, but thankfully I managed to push on through that and make it to the 20 without stopping or slowing to a walk.

Every time I run, there's a period between 10 and 20 minutes into the run where I just want to stop, I hate it, I don't want to do anymore, I hate running, I'm sick of it. Sometimes my legs are a bit stiff or I'm a bit tired, but it's usually my body saying 'I don't like this and we need to stop.'

After then it's usually enjoyable again. I can usually pick up the pace a bit. Obviously at this point I'm drenched in sweat, possibly panting loudly and gritting my teeth like a lunatic to extract every inch of effort from my body.

Blue Jam

Running belt arrived but sadly I'll have to return it as the pocket is too small and flat to comfortably house both a smartphone and an inhaler. Or even just a smartphone and a set of keys.

Just ordered something called a "tactical fanny pack" in lairy DPM. Sounds like something Sterling Archer would wear with his Tactleneck:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B089F2754P

It's not a bumbag, it's a TACTICAL FANNY PACK, alright?

Having a little break from Coach To 5K and tried the Nike Running Club app for the first time yesterday (thanks again for the recommendation, jaydee81) and am enjoying the cheeky Saaaarf Laaaahndan philosophical stylings of Coach Cory. Very motivating. I managed a 22-minute run, didn't have an asthma attack and my hip is almost pain-free now, that was encouraging. Weather's getting a bit warm now so next time I'll ditch the jacket with pockets, wear my loose top and see if the TACTICAL FANNY PACK spurs me on any further.

mothman

What am I meant to be looking at? I click on the link, it's Amazon, but there's nothing there.

Blue Jam

Weird, it works for me. Can you see this?



It is a TACTICAL FANNY PACK. The water bottle holder is detachable and I figured the big pocket would be good for my phone while the smaller pockets could hold my keys and inhaler. Maybe it could also accommodate a few tactical items like my little birdwatching binoculars and my Swiss Army knife, if I decide to take it hiking.

mothman

See what?

Spoiler alert
Sorry, I'm being silly, I can't see anything because it's camouflage. I'll get me coat.;-)
[close]

Blue Jam

Oh FFS I am dozy. Thought I was being crap at linking images again ;)

jaydee81

Wow, it looks like you could take a picnic with you in the tactical fanny pack.

I tried to do an interval run with coach Cory the other week. After running at 'an 8' for 2 minutes, I had to abandon the interval run and just reduce it to a jog, as coach Cory interjected with 'OK let's take it up a level... great!... and slow it down... awesome.'

I did a Fartlek (interval) run the other week, which actually made me chuckle as the coach kept talking about how funny the word Fartlek was.

Fr.Bigley


frajer

Started properly back on the bike at the end of March and definitely feeling the benefits again, physically and mentally. Lovely shiny Vitamin D rays certainly don't hurt either. Lovely stuff.

Blue Jam

Quote from: jaydee81 on April 20, 2021, 10:20:01 AM
Wow, it looks like you could take a picnic with you in the tactical fanny pack.

I tried to do an interval run with coach Cory the other week. After running at 'an 8' for 2 minutes, I had to abandon the interval run and just reduce it to a jog, as coach Cory interjected with 'OK let's take it up a level... great!... and slow it down... awesome.'

I did a Fartlek (interval) run the other week, which actually made me chuckle as the coach kept talking about how funny the word Fartlek was.

The tactical fanny pack could only carry a very small picnic. Maybe a can of Fanta and a sandwich and a couple of scotch eggs. It looks huge with nothing next to it for scale, but it arrived today and I'm happy to report that it is just the right size for me. The front pockets are the perfect size for an inhaler (or two), the flat pocket behind them is just right for my phone, and the main compartment is roomy but sits very flat if you put nothing in it. The water bottle holder should be handy for longer runs, and it being detachable makes it less bulky for shorter runs. It might look a bit cheap in the photo but up close it seems pretty sturdy and for my needs at least the design is better and much less gimmicky than that of all the specialised running belts I looked at.

Put the tactical fanny pack over my tactical fanny for today's run. It really was a game-changer, allowing me to run in lighter clothing (no more running jackets with pockets, I found those were getting too hot for this nice weather) and it felt secure and kept my earphone cable from flapping about too much.

Did the 3km Nike run with Coach Cory being all cheeky and irreverent and the 25 minutes flew by. Pace is still rubbish and I'm definitely still more of a jogger than a runner but what the hell, I would never have dreamed of having this much stamina four months ago.

Running out of Coach Cory runs, think I might try the Mo Farah one next. He's got a good voice for it.

popcorn

Just had my first ever gym session with a personal trainer.

I've been murdered. I've been actually literally murdered by a man. I thought I was going to get a bloke to show me how to do push-ups properly. Instead I was subjected to a gruelling torture regime during which I would have betrayed every single one of you to just make it stop. I've never worked so hard in a single hour of my life.

My body was contorted into shapes beyond mathematical understanding. I alternated between feeling dizzy and nauseated. Words ceased to make sense. For the final five minutes, while the trainer had me doing combos in boxing gloves, I was half-collapsing onto the punching bag. It took me three minutes to walk down the three flights of stairs out of the building because I'd all but lost the use of my legs. It reminded me of having to learn to walk again as a child after all the surgery.

I arrived home still wheezing. I ordinarily finish exercise hungry enough to eat a house but the thought of eating anything makes me feel ill. But I did drink four pint glasses of water.

The man was terribly nice. Same time next week!!!!!

mothman

If I ever get serious (unlikely, frankly) I think a personal trainer would be the way to go. But I guess I'd have to join a gym, and stuff that.

popcorn

I can't make the slightest move at the moment without saying "christ"

Zetetic

Was any of it at least slightly arousing?

jaydee81

If you need him to back off, try calling the trainer 'Dad' repeatedly. It'll take a while but it'll make you both consider what it is you're trying to achieve in this relationship

Janie Jones

Quote from: popcorn on April 22, 2021, 08:31:46 PM
Just had my first ever gym session with a personal trainer.

I've been murdered. I've been actually literally murdered by a man. I thought I was going to get a bloke to show me how to do push-ups properly. Instead I was subjected to a gruelling torture regime during which I would have betrayed every single one of you to just make it stop. I've never worked so hard in a single hour of my life.

My body was contorted into shapes beyond mathematical understanding. I alternated between feeling dizzy and nauseated. Words ceased to make sense. For the final five minutes, while the trainer had me doing combos in boxing gloves, I was half-collapsing onto the punching bag. It took me three minutes to walk down the three flights of stairs out of the building because I'd all but lost the use of my legs. It reminded me of having to learn to walk again as a child after all the surgery.

I arrived home still wheezing. I ordinarily finish exercise hungry enough to eat a house but the thought of eating anything makes me feel ill. But I did drink four pint glasses of water.

The man was terribly nice. Same time next week!!!!!

I'm quite jealous of this. Reminds me of when my friend hired a personal trainer who came to her house and worked her so hard she vomited onto her kitchen floor. I was artlessly impressed by that and sought out a personal trainer for myself but my fella was into the Alexander technique and just made me spend an hour minutely twitching one buttock at a time, I didn't even get out of breath let alone puke. So I gave up on him. You're definitely going to see results if you keep it up.

JaDanketies

My fiancee and I used a personal trainer for a month or two. It was great, he was good, and it was dead effective. It was usually done in a local gym as well, so you could go and have a swim and sit in the steam room afterwards. We couldn't afford it at the time though so we had to jack it in.

My BMI dipped into the 'normal' range for the first time in a long time yesterday.

popcorn

#379
Quote from: Janie Jones on April 23, 2021, 09:43:58 AM
I'm quite jealous of this. Reminds me of when my friend hired a personal trainer who came to her house and worked her so hard she vomited onto her kitchen floor.

I can imagine it. I'm not kidding when I say I felt sick a few times. Also I woke up in the night feeling really nauseated but it passed quickly.

Walked down the first flight of stairs out of my flat this morning, then had to take the lift down for the rest. Genuinely can barely walk. For some reason going downstairs is harder than up. I keep saying "christ" out loud. Everything else is pleasantly sore, it's just my legs that are fucked. And bumhole.

Blue Jam

Quote from: popcorn on April 23, 2021, 11:19:37 AM
For some reason going downstairs is harder than up.

Are you at werk? You might want to use the disabled toilets today. Needing to use the handrail to sit down, that's the best bit.

jaydee81

Quote from: popcorn on April 23, 2021, 11:19:37 AM
For some reason going downstairs is harder than up.

My mum believes in 'up the stairs for your heart, down in the lift for your knees.'

mothman

I can now climb several flights of stairs without breathing heavily (though having to wear a mask to do so, at work, does make it harder). But going back down remains a hazardous prospect, my knees are fucked and will remain so however much less mass/inertia they're being subjected to.

Fr.Bigley

Always makes me laugh that when the barometer for fitness is a flight of stairs,but there is some truth in it. Had a housemate that always banged on about being as fit as a fiddle and skinny (just a stoner,no effort) but when he'd climbethe stairs to the house, literally 20 steps,he'd be blowing like a blue whale and look like he'd done an iron man in a diving suit.

I smoked like a chimney then and took great mirth moving wardrobes and beds up single handedly without so much as a slight sigh.


Blue Jam

I think popcorn is referring to the delayed onset muscle soreness that you can get in your thighs the day after after doing squats, yoga etc. For some reason walking upstairs is fine, while walking downstairs just makes you go "Ow... ow... ow... ow..."

(correct me if I'm wrong here poppers. And if I'm not wrong, get a foam roller on those thighs- bladdy lahverly)

I used to get out of breath walking upstairs and I was always a bit embarrassed by it. The ol' inhaled corticosteroids seem to have put a stop to it now.

Fr.Bigley

Oh no no don't get me wrong, I wasn't trying to suggest that that wouldn't be the case, just purely anecdotal, I've blown a gasket many times, I was just talking about how some folk can be super arrogant about being svelt and not putting any effort in purely by being naturally thin. I meant no disrespect..you cunts.


NB: my knees are also shagged from years of running on concrete so I feel your pain.

Blue Jam

Did a 4K run this morning, coached by Nike Running Club's very own Shalane Flanagan, perky American distance runner. Pace was rubbish, probably because I was struggling in the heat, and I had to stop a couple of times for a few puffs on the inhaler, but I'm not beating myself up about stopping anymore.

I also saw a sausage dog. Sausage dog spotting is a big motivator for me.

Rich Uncle Skeleton

Did a 1080p cycle this morning, first proper bike ride in around 6-7 years. Barely any uphill just meandering round a park but my legs are fucking caning! guess there's parts of your legs that just don't get pushed when walking/running but right now I'm regretting saying yes to a 15 mile trip there and back in 2 weeks time!!

Quote from: Blue Jam on April 23, 2021, 04:22:17 PM
I also saw a sausage dog. Sausage dog spotting is a big motivator for me.

love a bit of sausage dog spotting, Bath is sausage dog central these days

JamesTC

I saw an Irish Wolfhound yesterday. That was fun. They are huge fuckers.

Blue Jam

Awwww Irish Wolfhounds are gorgeous. I saw a lovely geat big Airedale today, very woolly and in need of a trim, magnificent. Also saw a pair of Dulux dogs recently, not the most popular breed these days so that was good to see.

The best part of running is the dog-spotting. I actually record the number of sausage dogs I spot. Just as an arbitrary statistic, a point of interest, a bit of extra motivation. Think my record was four, but the single sausage I saw today was a dapple so probably worth a few more points for rarity. It gave me a bemused stare. Always fun to get a bemused reaction from a dog.