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Exercise Thread ~ 1/5 - 1/11


Negin
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Leaving in 15 minutes for a cycle class followed by a barefoot class. Thinking of some fitness goals for 2014. My last years goal was to become consistent. I did that....now I want some true measurable goals.

 

Some ideas:

Run/hill climb 1000 miles

Run a few more 10ks, a 15 and a 1/2 marathon

Learn to lift heavy, properly

Maybe get a certification of some kind if the opportunity comes up

 

 

So, do any of you have any fitness goals?? I am trying not to focus on weight. I am focused on diet. I eat very cleanly. Now, I need to focus a bit more of micro and macro nutrients making sure I get what my body needs and portion control...I tend to eat too much, even of a good thing.

 

Maybe we can keep each other a bit accountable to our goals. No high pressure! Just a rah, rah!!! You can do it!!!

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Faithe, 

 

I'll play along.  I was thinking about this recently too.  I'm super consistent with my workouts and I don't have any weight loss/gain goals but I need something to aim for because I'm a list sort of gal. 

Your post made me boil down my goals to a coherent and short list.

 

  1. Barring accidents I'd like to continue with my consistency and be injury-free this year by listening to my body and not overdoing things.
  2. Continue with MMA. I'm not going to focus on gaining rank though.  I just want to be the best martial artist I can be.
  3. 75 consecutive standing flutter kicks in a row against a bag.
  4. Be able to do 20 gorgeous, to my nose, push-ups without difficulty.  (I'm going to train with the 100 push-up challenge that I started and flunked in December.)
  5. Be able to do 5 full body chin ups and pull ups.  
  6. This may sound dumb but I've been working on my posture and it's improved, but I'd like to get to the point to where it becomes second nature whether sitting or standing.

 

Note- #1 is actually my most important goal (and life skill) to achieve this year.

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Walked 4 miles. Too slippery\ snowy to run. I'll probably do some stretching later. No goals for me. They totally derail me and suck all the love I have for running or yoga right out of it. I'm too competetive. I need to leave it for fun.

I hear ya!!  I am very competitive also!  I think I want some ME goals that really have nothing to do with anyone else. 

 

I am going to have a goal not to be derailed or allow any fun suckage!  My workouts are purely my playtime and I need to keep it that way!

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Sunday: TRX with a friend and step class

Monday: the plan is to lift (squat, overhead press, deadlift) then go to BodyCombat.  These past few minutes I have had so many excuses that have kept me from lifting.  It is pretty disappointing since I was in a routine and saw so much progress since starting last February.  It's going to be frustrating to feel like I am starting over but I am going to try to keep positive.

 

I'll be back later with some goals.  

 

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No exercise for now.  I have some stomach bug. I'm pretending that I'm on a low calorie diet.:D   I am hoping that when I feel better I stay away from sugar, and I think I need to cut down on my wine (very sad, but it's a lot of calories). 

 

When I dizziness is gone I plan to run.  I also want to add some short bouts of yoga into my day, maybe just some breathe work. 

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No exercise for now.  I have some stomach bug. I'm pretending that I'm on a low calorie diet. :D   I am hoping that when I feel better I stay away from sugar, and I think I need to cut down on my wine (very sad, but it's a lot of calories). 

 

When I dizziness is gone I plan to run.  I also want to add some short bouts of yoga into my day, maybe just some breathe work. 

 

I hope you feel better soon.   :grouphug:

 

I am also cutting down on the wine, I enjoy it too much. A glass of wine every now and then turned into one every night which turned into two.  It shows on my waist and it makes me too sleepy in the morning.  

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No exercise for now. I have some stomach bug. I'm pretending that I'm on a low calorie diet.:D I am hoping that when I feel better I stay away from sugar, and I think I need to cut down on my wine (very sad, but it's a lot of calories).

 

When I dizziness is gone I plan to run. I also want to add some short bouts of yoga into my day, maybe just some breathe work.

I hope it resolves quickly.
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Oh boy, I am sore!

Day 3 in a row of cycle class. Also did a s ulpt class tonight...

 

New goal...work on strengthening my abs. After 7 babies, gaining and losing massive amounts of weight etc., my abs are AWOL. That is having a bad effect on my back and hips....not to mention my self esteem.ðŸ˜. I need a killer ab routine that eases into sit ups. I can NOT do those for beans. Another goal...doing a real sit-up without using my neck to lift.

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Oh boy, I am sore!

Day 3 in a row of cycle class. Also did a s ulpt class tonight...

 

New goal...work on strengthening my abs. After 7 babies, gaining and losing massive amounts of weight etc., my abs are AWOL. That is having a bad effect on my back and hips....not to mention my self esteem.ðŸ˜. I need a killer ab routine that eases into sit ups. I can NOT do those for beans. Another goal...doing a real sit-up without using my neck to lift.

I hear you. My abs are my weakness. They are sort of like the overused elastic on an old pair of panties . If you find this amazing workout let me know.
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Oh boy, I am sore!

Day 3 in a row of cycle class. Also did a s ulpt class tonight...

 

New goal...work on strengthening my abs. After 7 babies, gaining and losing massive amounts of weight etc., my abs are AWOL. That is having a bad effect on my back and hips....not to mention my self esteem.ðŸ˜. I need a killer ab routine that eases into sit ups. I can NOT do those for beans. Another goal...doing a real sit-up without using my neck to lift.

Make sure to stretch out your hip flexors to get the most out of any core work out. I did so much nearly pointless ab work for years and would get discouraged with the slow progress and quit for awhile. Over and over. Once I started stretching out my hip flexors, the work made so much more of a difference. Now, I have had 2 c-sections and my tummy will never be teensy bikini ready but I have serious core strength and it looks much nicer overall.

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About to soon do 4 Miles of Leslie. 

 

I hear you. My abs are my weakness. They are sort of like the overused elastic on an old pair of panties .

Me too. 

 

Make sure to stretch out your hip flexors to get the most out of any core work out. I did so much nearly pointless ab work for years and would get discouraged with the slow progress and quit for awhile. Over and over. Once I started stretching out my hip flexors, the work made so much more of a difference. Now, I have had 2 c-sections and my tummy will never be teensy bikini ready but I have serious core strength and it looks much nicer overall.

 

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Oh boy, I am sore!

Day 3 in a row of cycle class. Also did a s ulpt class tonight...

 

New goal...work on strengthening my abs. After 7 babies, gaining and losing massive amounts of weight etc., my abs are AWOL. That is having a bad effect on my back and hips....not to mention my self esteem.ðŸ˜. I need a killer ab routine that eases into sit ups. I can NOT do those for beans. Another goal...doing a real sit-up without using my neck to lift.

I didn't have time this morning to read the whole thread past yours- so I may repeat someone else but I wanted to throw in my 2 cents worth.

 

You can see in my siggie that I have 7 children too.  Abs and lower back were my original goals when I started trying to get back into shape a couple of years ago.  Don't let anyone tell you that after babies (even with a c-section) you cannot get your abs back.  I had pretty severe separation of the ab muscles (Diastasis recti) so crunches and sit-ups were out for me at first. In fact I rarely ever do crunches because now they are so easy I'd get bored to death before I'd get tired.

 

I concentrated on core strength and eating/ hydrating well.  I had to cut out flour (not gluten) when I realized it was one of the main causes of my arthritis flare ups.  I only eat flour now on special occasions or when it would be socially awkward not to.  After that I lost about 2 full inches off my waist and they haven't come back.

 

Lots of elliptical machines and paying attention to my posture.  Lots and lots of planks- there are a million variations for planks to keep you from getting bored and to keep you from overworking the same exact muscle groups.  I also started doing hanging leg lifts at the gym. -That is a killer ab and lower back workout and easy to make increasingly difficult for yourself without straining your neck.   Martial arts also is basically a core workout and if you are paying attention to good form it's great for flattening your abs, especially because you are doing so much hip work.

 

My abs are stronger and flatter than they were in my 30's.  More to the point, I haven't had any back twinges or pulled back muscles in a couple of years.  

 

Oh, and my workout yesterday was MMA class, today the gym is closed due to weather so I'm just stretching and otherwise taking the day off.

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Sunday--60 min elliptical (I've upped the length from 45 min--yay me!)

Monday--60 min elliptical using a different program (I don't normally do 2 days of cardio in a row, in fact Sunday was supposed to be a day off, but the end of this week is crazy-busy and I may not get to scheduled exercise.)

Tuesday--Pilates focusing on abs and thighs (Blogilates.com monthly calendar)

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Last night I did an hour of restorative yoga.  It was a great routine on YogaGlo that gave long stretches and a chance to wind down.

 

This morning I wanted to run.  I ran 3 easy miles on my treadmill then spent time stretching.  I'm still not recovered and I felt weak during the run.  I haven't eaten much over the last few days, so I think that was the main issue.  My heart rate was a bit high for such an easy, short run, but still, it felt good to run.  

 

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Today: Step class with the athletic circuit

 

Yesterday I did get to the gym early enough to lift before class and I am so very sore today.  I am cursing myself for taking such a long break (from lifting), it was only supposed to be two weeks but ended up being almost three months.  Unfortunately I didn't get to do deadlifts because the gym was very busy and the olympic platform (where I like to do the deadlifts) was taken the entire time.  I can't imagine how sore I would be if I would have done them so maybe it is better. 

 

To the person that asked about core strengthening - my core has shown the best results since I started squatting and deadlifting heavy weights.  If you have access to a barbell and weights try it out :)  If you don't have access to specialized equipment then do planks and their many variations.  IIRC planks are better at isolating the muscles in your core and they do not strain your spine as much as crunches/situps.

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I'm feeling like I want to step it up a notch. I love the ease of hill hiking, meaning I can do it whenever it works for me but I'm thinking along the lines of a little more structure.

Pilates and a modern dance class interest me most. Really what it comes down to is that I'm finally at a place wrt homeschooling and mothering where there's a little room for me now. Such a strange feeling ;)

It's inspiring to read of you all carving out time for yourselves 'cause I know it's not easy for various reasons, obvious and subtle :D

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Rieshy, since you love plank work (so do I), have you ever heard of the Horizontal Conditioning dvds? They incorporate all kinds of creative plank work, and can be pretty brutal, but they are sone of the most effective workouts I have ever done. The developer, Sandra, does use small weights, a step, and stability ball, but they are mainly bodyweight exercises, which I love for home workouts.

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The hip flexor thing for abs is that if they are stretched out, none to the ab exercises work as well as they could because you're abs aren't engaged as well when your hip flexors are tight. I was skeptical when this was first explained to me. Yet I noticed more of a difference after a week or two or following that advice than I did after a month or more of doing much more intense core workouts in the past. Now I notice how much more work my abs are doing when I work out.

 

I would say my abs are back- I have a very strong core. But for me, the skin fold will not go away without surgery I am unwilling to have and I have some mega scars and faded stretch marks. That's why I say that I will never have my stomach back or wear a teensy bikini and that is more a function of genetics and circumstance than any thing else.

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The hip flexor thing for abs is that if they are stretched out, none to the ab exercises work as well as they could because you're abs aren't engaged as well when your hip flexors are tight. I was skeptical when this was first explained to me. Yet I noticed more of a difference after a week or two or following that advice than I did after a month or more of doing much more intense core workouts in the past. Now I notice how much more work my abs are doing when I work out.

 

I would say my abs are back- I have a very strong core. But for me, the skin fold will not go away without surgery I am unwilling to have and I have some mega scars and faded stretch marks. That's why I say that I will never have my stomach back or wear a teensy bikini and that is more a function of genetics and circumstance than any thing else.

 

I remember hearing about that when I was first doing Pilates.  I think if your hip flexors are tight you don't engage the psoas muscle as well and you pull more from your lower back.  

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The hip flexor thing for abs is that if they are stretched out, none to the ab exercises work as well as they could because you're abs aren't engaged as well when your hip flexors are tight. I was skeptical when this was first explained to me. Yet I noticed more of a difference after a week or two or following that advice than I did after a month or more of doing much more intense core workouts in the past. Now I notice how much more work my abs are doing when I work out.

 

I would say my abs are back- I have a very strong core. But for me, the skin fold will not go away without surgery I am unwilling to have and I have some mega scars and faded stretch marks. That's why I say that I will never have my stomach back or wear a teensy bikini and that is more a function of genetics and circumstance than any thing else.

 

 

I totally get what you are saying.  Flexibility is so key.  I always gained a lot with pregnancies so I sport some serious stretch marks and my skin, as I age, is not as supple.  Gravity is also not so kind.  I would never have surgery though- this is my body and I take care of it and it takes care of me.  I don't mind the reminders of my children or my age.  I even like my smile lines.

 

 My husband likes to joke that our bodies are hermetically sealed and cannot fathom why would anyone want to cut into it or poke it unless it was a matter of life and death. 

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Rieshy, since you love plank work (so do I), have you ever heard of the Horizontal Conditioning dvds? They incorporate all kinds of creative plank work, and can be pretty brutal, but they are sone of the most effective workouts I have ever done. The developer, Sandra, does use small weights, a step, and stability ball, but they are mainly bodyweight exercises, which I love for home workouts.

 I'll have to look these up.

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I gained very, gery little each pregnancy (actually lost weight my second pregnancy due to hypermesis- FUN, right?!) and the stretch marks are still...extensive. So are my relatives regardless of size so I think I get to blame genetics for the zebra stripes. I love my body tho and am more than happy to rock a more modest two piece suit. I like that FB meme- you're body isn't ruined, you're a tiger whose earned her (expletive) stripes! ;)

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Forgot to post yesterday. I did lots and lots of housework and stretching-type stuff. 

About to do 4 or 5  Miles of Leslie.

 

The hip flexor thing for abs is that if they are stretched out, none to the ab exercises work as well as they could because you're abs aren't engaged as well when your hip flexors are tight. I was skeptical when this was first explained to me. Yet I noticed more of a difference after a week or two or following that advice than I did after a month or more of doing much more intense core workouts in the past. Now I notice how much more work my abs are doing when I work out.

I would say my abs are back- I have a very strong core. But for me, the skin fold will not go away without surgery I am unwilling to have and I have some mega scars and faded stretch marks. That's why I say that I will never have my stomach back or wear a teensy bikini and that is more a function of genetics and circumstance than any thing else.

Thanks for the helpful explanation. And yes, I am fully with you on the surgery thing. 

 

 I would never have surgery though- this is my body and I take care of it and it takes care of me.  I don't mind the reminders of my children or my age.  I even like my smile lines.

 

 My husband likes to joke that our bodies are hermetically sealed and cannot fathom why would anyone want to cut into it or poke it unless it was a matter of life and death. 

Love this. Totally agree. Love what your husband says. 

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Last night I did some yin yoga before bed. A nice routine that focused on hamstrings.  I ran this morning. I'm starting to get back to normal.  I ran 4 miles and my heart rate stayed within the proper range.   I'll be doing yoga later.  I'm trying a 40 day challange.  It's with Kundalini yoga.  You do the same kriya for 40 days.  I'm doing a short, easier one which is supposed to help with emotional well being.  The teacher is Kia Miller, and the practice is on YogaGlo.  Yesterday was day 1.  

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Yesterday I took a much needed break.  

Today:

-Weights - squat and bench press

I am STILL sore from squats on Monday so I did less weight when squatting today.

-30 minute step class, this class is intense because it is purely high cardio without a lot of time to let your heart rate recover.  That type of challenge is exactly what I need so I think I am going to keep it a part of my weekly routine.

- CX Worx - 30 min core class

 

I am tired.

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after doing something to my meniscus, and icing/elevating/resting for a couple months, I finally got back to doing yoga today.  my knee handled it better than I  was expecting.  I'm hopefull things just need to be restrengthened and I can get back to where I was.

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The hip flexor thing for abs is that if they are stretched out, none to the ab exercises work as well as they could because you're abs aren't engaged as well when your hip flexors are tight. I was skeptical when this was first explained to me. Yet I noticed more of a difference after a week or two or following that advice than I did after a month or more of doing much more intense core workouts in the past. Now I notice how much more work my abs are doing when I work out.

 

Sorry to sound a bit stupid this early in the morning, but does this mean to stretch the hip flexors before doing any ab work? I'm thinking yoga poses, etc. - anything to stretch the hip flexors. Thank you. :)

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I totally get what you are saying.  Flexibility is so key.  I always gained a lot with pregnancies so I sport some serious stretch marks and my skin, as I age, is not as supple.  Gravity is also not so kind.  I would never have surgery though- this is my body and I take care of it and it takes care of me.  I don't mind the reminders of my children or my age.  I even like my smile lines.

 

 My husband likes to joke that our bodies are hermetically sealed and cannot fathom why would anyone want to cut into it or poke it unless it was a matter of life and death. 

I am never going to have a bikini body. That is really not my goal  My goal is to reduce back pain,  and maybe be able to bench press a bear, should I ever have the need.  My stomache has been stretched and unstretched too many times for it to be beautiful.  I am ok with that...I just really, really want it to be functional.  Oh,  I am the plank queen!!!  Only,  my arms and legs are so strong,  i think they are compensating for my weak abs.  I can not do a sit up without using momentum or pulling from my neck.  I am thinking leg lifts, reverse curls and hanging leg lifts might be the thing.

 

As far as diet...I am grain, dairy, soy, sugar, alcohol free.  I also do not eat any nightshades.  I have some auto-immune issues that I have been adressing with diet.  So far,  I am now medication (except for synthroid) free and 35 lbs. down from my lowest adult weight.  I weigh what I did at 12!!!  LOL!  I built my body to a point that even after nursing babies for 20+ years,  I dont even really need a bOOkshelf!  I am not too skinny either....just compact and strong...where I should have been in my 20's, if I was not 65 lbs overweight then.....

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