Rock bottom is when you put the shovel down.
I’m still feather light, but quite smoking tobacco. My chest got slightly larger from the pushups and my arms are looking more defined. Still need to eat more healthier but have started to eat more salads/fruits/vegetables. Drinking a lot more water, though I drank a few redbulls during memorial weekend(red bull girls were at the track day and was dead tired the next day, probably due to the rebull so I drank another).
Quitting smoking is a huge HUGE deal if you like being in shape.
My dad has been off them for about 10+ years now, he’s 53 or so; he plays in lacrosse tourneys lol.
Wouldn’t have been able to if he didn’t quit!
Yo, I’m a chronic lurker and not part of this challenge, but seeing this thread got me moving on improving my own fitness.
Therefore I want you chaps to do well, so I hope you don’t mind me posting this.
Couch to 5K Plan
It’s a running podcast for total scrubs. I’m doing this and liking it.
Lump of text story/experience so far
Spoiler
If anything I’m verging on being underweight at 6’3" 154 lbs, however I haven’t had any extended periods of exercise in about a decade. Whenever I have exerted myself in recent years via sport, labour intensive DIY etc, I wind up with aches and strains that last weeks. I’m seriously unfit, have negative muscle, atrophy abound, fucked up posture and I smoke too.
Having said all that shit, I recently came across the above podcast. It guides you from absolutely zero exercise to running 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) in 9 weeks. Tomorrow is my last run of Week 2 and I have to say it’s going much better than expected. I went into it thinking I’d be sore as fuck afterwards and give up, but actually it seems like just the right amount. Enough to make me sweat like a bastard, but not enough to kill me. It gets easier as the week goes on too.
Having something properly structured for beginners takes away the confusion of wondering what I can and can’t do. You run in short bursts, walk for awhile to recover (60 and 90 seconds in the first week) and repeat for 20mins with 5mins walk at the start and end for warm up/cool down. I think having something timed out like this really helps because it stops me from listening to my brain when it has doubts. Like setting out to do 10 sit ups, but you get to 5 and it says “Ahh fuck it, that’ll do”. Following along to something makes it a lot easier to keep going.
I’m actually starting to look forward to this shit. Which is odd because I’m a lazy twat. Even back in my high school peak, where I was one of the fastest sprinters (probably due to height because I didn’t practice) I hated anything over 400 metres. I’m currently covering 2 miles over the course of a podcast and that feels pretty good considering a few weeks ago I was doing sweet fuck all. There’s also a basic Strength & Flexibilty podcast you can do on the days between runs. First couple of weeks haven’t been very taxing but it builds up to push ups and shit, which I can barely do currently.
The only downside to the podcast is it’s by the British NHS, meaning it features fucking awful royalty free music. It’s presented by a British woman though, you like posh sounding women right? lol.
So yeah, like I said this thread helped give me a kick where it was needed, and if this podcast helps any of you out that’d be quality.
i made some changes to my diet this last month. i used to eat about 6 homemade burgers a week and carne asada on weekends, i’ve switched it up to tilapia and salmon fillets. they aren’t as filling as the meat servings but the rice and vegetable sides help. i miss the mexican rice too,but i’m trying to watch my sodium levels. i run/walk about 2 miles on the treadmill and lift weights for the rest of the session. by the end of next month i hope to focus on cardio and ab workouts and do weights sparingly. i’ve read fruits help with cutting weight too so i’ll be adding more of those to my diet.
Recap of May
I start going to the gym with my friend during the first two weeks, felt great and woke up with energy the next day. Plus, I gain 10 pounds, since hitting the weights there did more for me than lifting at school (I think I should do cardio at school). I did a good job of keeping High Fructose Corn Syrup and bread out of my diet (I’m still mad salty that assholes use that in bread). I don’t think I’m going to change my diet since all I do is eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a few snacks in between. The last two weeks on the other hand, I did the opposite. I skip out on going to the gym and especially went ham on pizza and soda during Memorial weekend. I have to use June as a month to catch up. I just need to head back to the gym and when I can’t, do workouts at home.
I’ve started lifting heavy again. My shoulder seems fine, so I’ve started slowly upping weight. It takes me a lot longer to work out now because my body needs more rest between lifts. What I could do in 20-45 minutes at 25 years old now takes me around an hour at least.
But it does feel pretty good. I did have a bit of pain but I’m hoping that goes away over time, and some numbness but I stop when it feels like it might get bad.
I know I’ve posted functional strength is more important, and it is, but nothing beats fat loss like weight lifting and sprints. So until I get to a decent weight, I will keep lifting. Really only about 2 weeks into really lifting routinely again, but I think it will work.
I haven’t been doing as much bodyweight stuff, but I will ramp those up going forward. I still can’t get myself to work out twice a day, but I’m beginning to do at least one workout a day which is better than the 0 I kept doing because my body kept needing so much time to recover. I’m back on creatine, which has really helped.
I still need to lose about 40 lbs of fat and gain about 15-20 lbs of muscle, so still a net drop in weight. I think it might be doable in 2-3 months, but really if I can even burn 20 lbs of fat off that would motivate me a lot by itself.
I am going to take time off and really try to get this straightened out. If I can work out a few times a day, it could even happen fairly quickly. I’m not a big fan of running, but I guess that’s something you can do repeatedly throughout the day.
I’m not gonna hit my goal but I’m chugging along. I only have eight pounds to go so it’s doable but my diet isn’t that great and I’m going on vacation at the end of June and plan to eat everything I see. I’m glad I joined this challenge because I feel way better and stronger then I did a couple of months ago and my love handles have shrunk just enough that I’ve started wearing a couple of my old shirts again.
I knew i forgot to do something today. checking in for May.
I worked out almost every day (missed 5 workouts) in May, either sprinting or using the weights. I’ve gone up 10 lbs since I started in all of my barbell exercises (70lbs now for OHP, Squats, & Rows). I’ve also doubled the amount of pushups i do from 25 to 50. I do pushups on my knuckles since my wrists are pretty weaksauce. Because of this I end up working out my triceps and shoulders a lot more. I’m doing 90 reps of ab workouts now whereas in the beginning i was only doing 50 reps. As far as my diet is concerned, I’m still eating fast food. I seriously need to learn how to cook for myself. An upside is that I’m also drinking a veggie smoothie every day, which are pretty easy to make. I’m also drinking only water. I’ll have the occasional beer, probably once a week.
My goal for June is to cut out the take out, drink two veggie smoothies a day, and to have a perfect workout streak.
Good stuff everyone, this month I will be more focused because my bday is in july so id like to drop 20 more pounds by then
No takeout or at least once a week, more water and more consistency while working out, I starting swimming too so with the heat and summer time I should be burning calories just walking to and from work
Checking in.
Been so bad, I ate ice cream all week. Checked my body fat percentage and I’m still at 9% 
Spoiler
Fuck you Shadow Ace. Still salty you said I couldn’t join this :mad:
Didn’t you say you had the body of Adonis and all that?
sips coffee
It’s been going well for me since i got my shit together. Down to 176 with 12% BF. Im gonna keep pushing the limit to see if i can get down to 170 by the end of this shit.
I think your confusing your camo index in the day time with your body fat tbh…
I will need you and the other fitness guys for the judging portion in july tho…
The final judging is at the end of July right?
For some odd reason, I feel indignant being judged by Beta. :shrug: Who knows?
I actually do alot of 5ks, atleast once or twice every month. Recently did a relay called to Beach to Bay (Leg 5 -4.2 miles). Only tip I have about running is try and stay away from the treadmill. And invest in a good pair of shoes, don’t be frugal when it comes to your feet. I thought I was dqed anyway from the first month so I didn’t bother posting for this month. But good luck to you guys none the less.
Soooo I’ve gained like 5±1 lbs of muscle since this thread was started.
check-ins due 6/30, final pics for season 1 are due july 11th (give you one extra week to burn 5 more pds… lol)
I really think it’s bullshit that i have to do a fitness test on a treadmill.
I mean i can do 4 miles no sweat in like 30 minutes. But going unnaturally on a treadmill for longer than that and the test is done if i touch any part of the treadmill? Plus it is hell on knees
Way to go is eliptical