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March 28, 2024, 09:14:23 PM

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Anyone else getting fit in Covid?

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

Previous topic - Next topic

popcorn

Nice one Neville. I've never been able to do a pull-up in my adult life.

BUT IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN.

popcorn

in fact I think I'm going to do one right now.









hnnghhh


hnroghhhhhhh




grogohohohhhhhhh

nggggggggg






:(

Neville Chamberlain

Pull-ups are HARD. It took me ages before I could do proper, strict pull-ups. I was able to do a few as a teenager, but then I stopped any kind of strength sport and, the first time I returned to a pull-up bar 27 years later aged about 42, I found myself just flailing around helplessly and hopelessly, achieving nothing more than, say, a couple of inches of upward movement. The prospect of moving my entire body weight up towards the bar felt utterly impossible. Undeterred - and call it a mid-life crisis if you will - I made it my mission to do five pull-ups. I started out with resistance bands to help drill the technique, if only for a couple of reps. However, for a long time, I found that as soon as I tried without the resistance bands, I was unable to replicate anything like the smooth technique I'd perfected with the bands and still felt like a dead weight, unable to pull myself up anything more than a couple of inches - and all this despite the fact that I obviously had a strong back thanks to two years of fannying around in a gym (so doing rows, lat pulldowns, etc.). I just didn't know how to activate the back muscles for a pull-up. Then, one day, it happened. I seem to remember I rotated my shoulder and upper back muscles back a lot more than usual and suddenly found myself shooting up towards the bar. And that was that! Once you've done one, it's just a question of pushing for the next one. Always with strict form, though - quality over quantity: that's how to build real strength. And watching endless videos of young, topless Russian men doing perfect pull-ups. Oh, and losing weight. Losing weight really helped.

Neville Chamberlain

Quote from: popcorn on June 17, 2021, 01:29:07 PM
in fact I think I'm going to do one right now.









hnnghhh


hnroghhhhhhh




grogohohohhhhhhh

nggggggggg






:(

ACTIVATE YOUR LATS!!!

Blue Jam

I have never been able to do pullups either but haven't actually tried since acquiring my AWESOME LATS. Might go and hang off the back of an Edinburgh tour bus like Vin Diesel.

Bazooka

I've lost half a stone in a week, eliminated carbs completely(complex carbs, not green veg carbs) and power walking twice a day, and summer is the best time because it's easier to sweat out crisps.Flying back to China July 31st so got to look good for my lady, although quarantine food will probably cause me to lose even more, and can go mental when I get released.

thugler

Quote from: Bazooka on June 17, 2021, 02:07:40 PM
I've lost half a stone in a week, eliminated carbs completely(complex carbs, not green veg carbs) and power walking twice a day, and summer is the best time because it's easier to sweat out crisps.Flying back to China July 31st so got to look good for my lady, although quarantine food will probably cause me to lose even more, and can go mental when I get released.

Got to be mostly water weight mate, you can't lose half a stone in a week. Still, good job!

popcorn

#487
Check it out, maggots. You are reading the posts of someone of ABOVE AVERAGE FITNESS. Not my words - the words of Apple Inc:



I've no way of knowing how accurate Apple's VO2 max measurement is as an absolute figure - for all I know my real number is tragically low. To be honest, it still seems unlikely to me that I am a man of average fitness, though perhaps the average man is quite unfit. However, I'm hoping the watch is basically consistent in *how* it measures VO2, and that its gradual increase reflects some genuine improvement in my studly bod.


Chart from March 2021 - today.

The moral of the story is that if your fitness is low right now, you can apparently improve it quickly and dramatically with just one hour of gruelling nightmare cardio a week, and see immediate, measurable results. And the the shitter your fitness is the more quickly you can boost it! Note that fixing baldness is still difficult and expensive.

imitationleather

An hour of nightmare cardio would ruin my entire week though.

popcorn

sounds like the words of someone of BELOW AVERAGE FITNESS to me!!!

shiftwork2

Timely, as I have just achieved BELOW AVERAGE FITNESS.  Prior to this I was a LOW FITNESS no-mark.

Reach for the stars.

Blue Jam

#491
What do you mean by one hour of NIGHTMARE CARDIO, poppers? Do you break that down into three 20 minute sessions or just rag it to fuck in one go? Also what is the exercise? I find all cardio to be NIGHTMARE CARDIO.

Meanwhile I have just ordered myself a nice BodyPump set:

https://mirafit.co.uk/mirafit-20kg-studio-pump-set.html

Some of the ones available on Amazon looked a bit flimsy, with bars in multiple sections that have to be assembled, went with Mirafit because Mr Jam ordered some weight plates from them near the start of lockdown and they're good quality. £90 is also cheaper than most of the flimsy sets on Amazon, think this set looks sturdy enough though. There are plenty of BodyPump workouts on YouTube so I'll be sorted.

I've realised I just get bored really easily working out and need music and a rhythm to distract me, so now it's BodyPump and Beat Saber all the way.

popcorn

Quote from: shiftwork2 on June 20, 2021, 01:31:00 PM
Timely, as I have just achieved BELOW AVERAGE FITNESS.  Prior to this I was a LOW FITNESS no-mark.

Reach for the stars.

Congrats! You will probably be ABOVE AVERAGE FITNESS before I am HIGH FITNESS (I think it's unlikely I will ever reach HIGH FITNESS).

Quote from: Blue Jam on June 20, 2021, 02:12:51 PM
What do you mean by one hour of NIGHTMARE CARDIO, poppers? Do you break that down into three 20 minute sessions or just rag it to fuck in one go? Also what is the exercise? I find all cardio to be NIGHTMARE CARDIO.

I do a one-hour session with a personal trainer once a week. The exercises vary each week but follow a pattern of some warmup cardio for 5 mins, then weights and sit-ups and that kind of thing, then a proper cardio workout on a treadmill, bike or rowing machine for about 15 minutes that leaves me properly fucking knackered, then more weights and sit-ups and that kind of thing. Then finally, worst of all, a circuit, which is where you have to do three really hard exercises in a row without a break - eg lift this weight up and down 10 times fast, then jump on this box 10 times fast, then push a heavy box as fast as you can down a track, spin it round and push it back again, all without stopping, x3. The circuit is usually the point at which I feel true exhaustion, not just cardio pain, as if energy is seeping out of my body - I am suddenly unable to keep pushing the box.

I would say it only really amounts to about 25 minutes of true nightmare cardio - the rest makes your muscles sore but doesn't make you want to die. Also the first session was the most difficult exercise I'd ever done in my life, but since then my body has coped far better.

On top of that, I do occasionally go to the gym and do much gentler weights/cardio, and I walk 13k steps a day on average. But I was doing the walking before I started the training - I think the training is 90% of what made the difference.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

"Body Pump" is just about the grottiest thing I've ever read.

popcorn

Maintaining this above-average-fitness thing has been perilous. After weeks of solid gains I'm oscillating between 43.1 and 43.2. Don't send me back! I don't want to be below average again.

Rich Uncle Skeleton

Right, nothing brings CaB together like helping get rid of Rich Uncle Skeleton's moobs! Two years of back issues and depression so generally not looking after myself are catching up with me. I've had the occasional belly before and I know I probably shouldn't be so bothered but as a tall lanky bloke I'm aware I shouldn't have what i assume would be classed as AAs if I was a woman.

Have sorted myself out diet wise and getting out more walking and a bit of cycling but I assume there's other things I should probably be doing that will shift them quicker?

jobotic

Was going to run tonight but it's raining so I'll probably eat crisps instead. I used to like running and was quite good at it but totally lost the desire. Done a lot of cycling recently so I'm not inert but how to get the will to run back?

Bernice

Quote from: Rich Uncle Skeleton on June 27, 2021, 07:47:33 PM
Right, nothing brings CaB together like helping get rid of Rich Uncle Skeleton's moobs! Two years of back issues and depression so generally not looking after myself are catching up with me. I've had the occasional belly before and I know I probably shouldn't be so bothered but as a tall lanky bloke I'm aware I shouldn't have what i assume would be classed as AAs if I was a woman.

Have sorted myself out diet wise and getting out more walking and a bit of cycling but I assume there's other things I should probably be doing that will shift them quicker?

The best exercise routine is always the one you can stick to. Running is great for burning calories, but if you fucking hate it (or want to smash a fruit bowl full of chocolate oranges down your gullet as soon as you're done) it's not particularly useful.

At the least though, I'd recommend tracking your walks/cycles (using something like Strava, maybe think about investing in a fitness tracker at some point) and trying to slowly up your mileage or intensity as you go. Keep track of your weight, see what works, adjust if you're getting nowhere.

popcorn

Quote from: Rich Uncle Skeleton on June 27, 2021, 07:47:33 PM
Right, nothing brings CaB together like helping get rid of Rich Uncle Skeleton's moobs! Two years of back issues and depression so generally not looking after myself are catching up with me. I've had the occasional belly before and I know I probably shouldn't be so bothered but as a tall lanky bloke I'm aware I shouldn't have what i assume would be classed as AAs if I was a woman.

Have sorted myself out diet wise and getting out more walking and a bit of cycling but I assume there's other things I should probably be doing that will shift them quicker?

If you are sporting some moobs and belly (and you wouldn't be the only one) then the only cure is to burn more calories than you consume until the fat fizzles away from your slovenly bod. But don't do it too quickly or you may do more harm than good.

If you're already keeping your calorie intake low then great, but you might want to get a calorie tracker app to make sure you know exactly what's going in and out of yer.

Consider any exercise you do bonus points. If you walk for an hour or two every day you will burn off the equivalent of around a Starbuck's cookie - so worth doing, although not eating the Starbucks cookie in the first place is faster still.

I have found using a fitness tracker greatly improved my interest in exercise, to my own surprise.

I think the most useful thing you can do is to weigh yourself every day at the same time - after you've had a piss and before you've eaten anything - and write down your weight. Over the weeks you will learn if you are losing weight, and how quickly. You can then adjust your lifestyle to suit. Never do anything without data! You will get lost and fall in a ditch.

Sorry if you already knew 100% of this. Good luck!

popcorn

Quote from: jobotic on June 27, 2021, 07:54:04 PM
Was going to run tonight but it's raining so I'll probably eat crisps instead. I used to like running and was quite good at it but totally lost the desire. Done a lot of cycling recently so I'm not inert but how to get the will to run back?

Bit of a repeat of what I said above but have you tried a fitness tracker? I never thought I'd find any way to enjoy exercise, but it turns out just looking at data has done the trick. I now obsess over my daily active calories.

Dex Sawash

Quote from: Rich Uncle Skeleton on June 27, 2021, 07:47:33 PM
Right, nothing brings CaB together like helping get rid of Rich Uncle Skeleton's moobs!



Compression shirt, sorted

popcorn

I've lost almost 14kg, more than 2 stone. Feeling smug.

Tried to learn to deadlift over the weekend and couldn't get the posture right.

bgmnts

Congratulations, that's a huge amount!

popcorn

When I hit my next target weight I am going to celebrate with absolutely fucking loads of ice cream.

JamesTC

There are some lovely low calorie ice creams that you could gorge on now without feeling bad. Had a tub of Asda Cookie Dough ice cream which was just over 300 for the entire tub and was incredible. Had loads of protein and fibre too. The only problem was it was nearly three quid for the whole tub.

popcorn

Quote from: JamesTC on July 19, 2021, 11:14:20 AM
There are some lovely low calorie ice creams that you could gorge on now without feeling bad. Had a tub of Asda Cookie Dough ice cream which was just over 300 for the entire tub and was incredible. Had loads of protein and fibre too. The only problem was it was nearly three quid for the whole tub.

Ooh

Definitely getting some of that.

bgmnts

Quote from: popcorn on July 19, 2021, 11:03:21 AM
When I hit my next target weight I am going to celebrate with absolutely fucking loads of ice cream.

That's the hammer. Put it all back on for a laugh!

If I'm ever a healthy weight for a land mammal, I'm going to eat until I have a mini stroke.

popcorn

God I'm so incredibly sexy. Who could not want to shag me.

Calorie counting is ace and easy, recommended to all fatties.

olliebean

Found an old Bullworker in the back of a cupboard, which apparently only takes 7 seconds per exercise per day, so that's me sorted.

Quote from: popcorn on July 19, 2021, 10:48:08 AM

Tried to learn to deadlift over the weekend and couldn't get the posture right.

Congrats on the weight loss.

Mark Rippetoe is a bit of a twat but his Starting Strength book and coaching method is very highly regarded by people in the strength training field. This explanation for setting up for the deadlift is pretty much foolproof.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2OPUi4xGrM