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Fitness Weekly Discussion
What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started a new diet or have a new recipe you want to share? Anything else health and wellness related?
I’m gearing (hurr hurr) up for a 66-mile bike camping trip this weekend on the Virginia Creeper trail with a couple of other folks. We’re going up the trail on Saturday, then down the same way we came on Sunday. I’ve been managing to squeeze in 50 miles a week of riding, so I should be in good enough shape to do it without issue!
I've had a many-years-long problem with my energy/focus/brain-function/motivation ... probably/mainly due to low-T. I recently found a promising new experimental medication (enclomiphene, for the curious) that will probably help, started taking it yesterday.
This morning, I re-re-re-restarted my (preferred) morning routine, including yoga, meditation and basic bodyweight workout. It's too soon to say if the medication is helping (probably at least a week before I can tell), but I'm already at least optimistic and as a result, psychologically motivated.
For the first few days, I'm just doing a couple sets of burpees and a light 10-minute yoga routine. From there, if my motivation lasts, I'll gradually start stepping things up, following the original "Yoga With Adriene" 30-day routine on youtube that I love and doing the standard routines on /r/bodyweightfitness (first just the easiest "minimalist" routine, then work back into the more ambitious routines that I used to do).
Over the past several months, just with walking and aggressive dieting, I've managed to drop ~40lbs. Kind of plateaued the past month, but I'm hoping to start seeing more progress on that front (I have ~25lbs more to go), if I can stick to the new routines.
I have two 100 lb kettlebells that I use for farmer’s carrys. I’ll walk around the basement for about two minutes or until I can’t hold my grip on them any longer. Since COVID took over and I paused my gym membership, I’ve mainly been doing exercises like this, that I can sneak into 5-ish minute breaks several times throughout the day. The farmer’s carry is great with heavy weight because you feel it almost all over afterwards — in your forearms, your hands, your shoulders, back and even your legs. I know when I’ve really pushed myself because I’ll get a sort of floating sensation after putting the weight down, like my arms are drifting upwards and each step feels like it is being pushed up a bit. I also notice that I sleep really well at night after doing several sets of these during the day.
Damn, those are some monster bells. Have you found them useful for much outside FWs, e.g. are you able to deadlift both at the same time?
Nope, I pretty much only use them for FWs. I got them in unusual circumstances and would normally never get exercise equipment like this. I first tried FWs as a way to find something to do with them. I can deadlift them but I have an Olympic bar and prefer that for deads. But the kettlebells work really well for FWs.
I've been slowly getting more frequent at lifting weights. My SO and I have powerblocks so we no longer have to go to the gym for most of our lifting (a blessing because the racks and weights are always busy where we go). I'm very excited because I've gone from 10lbs to 20lbs on my curls which is impressive for me and it's a noticeable difference when lifting everyday items. I'd like to get further but I need to make sure I stick with it and lift every week.