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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've been trying to improve my health this year by eating better broadly and by getting back into regular exercise. I'm walking a mile+ every weekday at lunch (we have a lot of snow or Id run) and trying to work regular lifting back into my routine. Im lucky enough have a small gym space at home with a mini cage and am following this routine since the last week of 2025
Chest/Abs day
Back/Arms day
Legs/Shoulders day
I started out doing around 4 lifts per day and have gradually been adding the others in. I hit the full slate this week. The doms killed me for the first week or so but Ive gotten to the patter n of three days on, one day off and repeat. I'm not the type of person who needs to do Monday = Chest, Tuesday = back etc so the shifting schedule isnt hurting me so far
Im only pushing a tiny bit of weight right now but hoping to increase 2.5 or 5 lb increments for each cycle until I find my limits
Climbing check in: still unable to do v5's but regularly crushing v4's. I think im going to have to start strength training on my back and add more core exercises. Additionally, a greater focus on finger strength.
Im back to losing weight, somehow its only mid week and im down more than 3lbs which is not healthy but damn does it feel lighter on the wall. Ive also switched to eating a bit more carbs for my meal before going to the gym, the extra hit of energy is noticeable.
I’m on your same level w the V5s. Once you get one tho, you’ll know what’s up. At least that’s how I felt when I got my first five a year ago… That leap is harder for me than the one between 3s and 4s.
The gym I go to has rowing machines, and I do 2000m every day. Hopefully my split is 2:20, but it’s a good way to get set and warmed up to climb, then lift weights afterwards.
I definitely had that realization between v3 and v4 haha. Just a matter of time and the right setter...
I row when i can for sure, great exercise and criminally underrated. My regular gym doesnt have a machine unfortunately.
If you don’t do any top rope, think about adding it in. For me, it wasn’t that I lacked grip strength, but grip stamina.
Yeah for sure, i think ive been slacking on the top rope lately because the boulders are a more social event, lots of folks hanging about usually. Ive got a 5.11+ that im projecting but have been stuck on one of the moves as well.
Do you down climb as well? There was a period that i did that religiously and it was a really good exercise. Just a shoe ripper unfortunately.
2x a week strength training continues…
Went yesterday and the day’s recommended exercises focused on lower body (glutes, hamstrings, quads… I had to google them, these terms were not part of my vocab :)). The sumo squats destroyed me. It’s only the third session and I am having a lot of fun! Even if today is, as expected, a day of very sore legs.
I’m trying to keep track of my eating; random online calculator says I need 1500 on training days and I am definitely not used to eating past 1000-1200…
Can I ask what your strength training routine looks like? Im curious to see what others are doing and how often.
Im the opposite for intake. I need around 2k calories per day and I drift over that if Im not careful. I'm lucky enough to wfh and its been great for my sanity and time but not so great for my eating habits :D
I'll try my best to answer but disclaimer, I have not "exercised" until very very recently and this is my first time specifically working on strength training vs., you know, just cardio!
First, context: I'm going to a muay thai gym that happens to offer general (ie. not related to muay thai) strength and conditioning classes. They're not "classes" in the same sense as like, say, a Zumba or Pilates class where you show up for X minutes and do guided exercises as directed by an instructor. It's mostly self-directed where the coach who runs these classes will provide a suggested set of exercises for a particular day that he'll rotate every day of the week, but these are suggestions and you can do whatever you want really if you'd like. I'm currently going in 2x a week as that's just how my schedule works, but did obtain a kettlebell and some dumbbells to add at least one additional day at home.
So for yesterday there were:
4 sets of front heel raised dumbbell squats, 8 reps
4 sets of back heel raised dumbbell squats, 8 reps
4 sets of sumo squats with kettlebell, 10 reps
4 sets of Romanian deadlifts, 10 reps
But number of sets and reps are really up to the individual. So far I've just gone with the recommended number of reps/sets and they take me like a full 60 min when other folks who have been doing this for a while at this gym crank them out in 30 minutes (and then keep going). I'm 4'10" with noodle arms so uh... my current limitations are probably not a terribly useful reference!
I wish I could write down what we did for the previous two sessions but I actually do not remember the names of the exercises outside of kettlebell swings and hammer curls... but I'll probably write down future ones going forward!
That seems... low? If youre doing strength training im assuming youre trying to bulk? If so, unless youre like 100lbs, even 1500 seems like a calorie deficit.
I am currently 85 pounds and 4'10" :')
my strength training goals right now just amount to, "I would like to be able to carry my week's groceries without multiple trips to the car" and "I need a side activity that isn't just playing more video games"
Holy moly! Thats exciting, i get the calories now. God, if i so much as look at food i have to record 1500 calories. As a man who refuses to do two trips, im excited for you to be able to do the same lol
Monday update! I was told a different coach runs the Monday sessions and that his classes focus more on mobility. What I didn't know was that he does run it like an actual class, unlike the Tues-Friday sessions, so a full hour-ish of directed warmup and workout exercises.
I don't remember the names of the warmups but they took up the bulk of class time... lots of nerve glide stuff
Today's actual workout which ended up being like a tiny fraction of class time:
Recommended 4x sets; the warmup portion took a bit longer than usual because a good chunk of us were new and needed some time for corrections, so the coach said to try to just aim for at least 2 sets (and stay longer if needed, even past the usual gym closing time). I went with 2 full sets and a third with half the repetitions just because I felt I could do more... but not THAT much more.
The calorie thing is not too bad so far, at least on the gym days! I just have a breakfast in the morning, then a small semi-lunch at 3-4pm, and gym at 6. I come home and I am absolutely famished so finishing a meal is not difficult at all.
As a side note, last week I had serious DOMs after the Wednesday workout and I ended up not being able to go back on Friday because my legs were just not having it! So I just tried to get some dumbbell curls in at home the rest of the week. They were good by Sunday.
This year I started my own little workout routine. It isn’t built around a goal weight or certain performance outcomes but rather around incentives that get me to do specific fitness activities.
The framework is simple:
100 days of cardio,
100 days of weightlifting, and
100 days of yoga.
Together, that covers cardiovascular conditioning, muscular strength, and mobility.
Where I’ve failed in the past is using rigid weekly targets like 3x a week or X amount of days per week, and so on. If I missed a week, it felt like the streak was broken, and it was harder to restart. This time, I'm trying to remove streak pressure.
The rules:
I can do these activities on any day.
I can do a mix or all activities in a day.
I can take weeks off.
I can do nothing for stretches of time and still continue the program.
To count as an activity completed:
Cardio: at least 20 minutes with an elevated heart rate.
Yoga: at least 20 minutes of stretching in a day.
Weightlifting: at least five different exercises, with at least three reps per exercise.
Those minimums exist so a day can count even if I don’t have the time or energy for a longer session. It keeps the routine flexible and sustainable.
To reinforce it, I pay myself $5 for each workout I complete. Most of my equipment is at home, and I don’t pay for a gym membership, so the money functions as a clean reward system. Over a full year, that adds up to $1,500 in guilt-free spending tied directly to staying active.
So far it’s been working. This month I hit the point where I’m about 10% of the way through the goals, and I’m trying to stack as many days as I can while momentum is high. I'm trying to bank enough money for either a Nintendo Switch 2 or the Steam Frame.
But the real objective is consistency. Building healthy habits with an incentive structure that makes it easier to choose movement, stay disciplined, and reward myself for following through. I have avoided tracking my weight thus far. Maybe in another month or two I can introduce healthy eating in the incentive plan when the weather gets better. The biggest thing I have just tried to do there is cut out alcohol.
After beating myself up over my poor fitness routine adherence, I think I've finally managed to pull around the corner. This week my apple watch finally stopped recommending I lower my move goal. One of the things I was really worried about has been that I've been eating some really low quality food - burgers, french fries, and things like that - which made me worry I was gaining weight and so I've been avoiding weighing myself. But the last time I weighed myself I actually managed to lose a little bit, so I'm still doing good after all. I guess when walking around for so long in amusement parks, It really is OK to treat yourself a little.
I have been on a ferocious cut. Not even that I'm eating very little (I'm not), but I've just been swimming a hell of a lot. 2hrs continuously every day from 7:30PM-9:30PM at a pool which is only a 15min walk from my house. Of course I never leave the slow lane during this, but that's fine.
Even doing extremely casual swimming for that long will burn huge amounts of energy. It also has helped with my sleep enormously.