Lif's Journal

Don't worry I'm sure you'll be fine.

The main thing is to believe in your Head and Heart to guide you. Belief is nearly everything, so Chin up, walk tall, be strong, and GOOD LUCK .

Thanks! I was bored last night so I did the sit-up and push-up tests. Basically, you do as many as you can in a minute and then compare your scores to average scores for men and women. For the push-up, they do offer modified push-up for women with the scores adjusted slightly. The push-up test average scores are adapted from a survey of fitness assessments of adults and law enforcement. The sit-up test scores are from another fitness assessment. I got superior in the push-up (greater than or equal to 42 - I did 50 and wanted to die haha) and excellent in the sit-up (37-43 - I did 38). I know I can break 43 and get superior in the sit-up, so I'm going to do it just to say I can Now those will probably be my best since I spend the better part of my time doing push-ups and sit-ups. We'll see how the others go.

Now for the bad news...my stove doesn't work!!! And I just got a bunch of chicken, ground turkey, and eggs with no way to cook them. This is slightly causing a mental breakdown since I don't really have any real protein sources besides the uncooked bits in my fridge and 1-2 scoops of protein powder left. Hopefully, my stove works in a few hours.

Great job on the pushups (50 - Wow!) and situps!
Sorry about your stove.... Do you have a microwave? I know it is not the best option for cooking, but it might do in a pinch.

I was regretting those pushups today in Krav haha. I'm not sure if anyone is familiar with punching, but I was having a bit of an issue keeping my elbows in. I don't normally have that so I'm assuming it's due to the weight training in some capacity. I'm just going to have to work on punching more often. I'm a bit stiff and uncoordinated, but I already feel more powerful than I did the last time I was in Krav class. My classes up here are a lot harder on you mentally and physically. There's really no forgiveness during the classes. If you chicken out, you're doing pushups. If you don't hit hard enough, pushups. Etc. If you don't feel like you're going to vomit during class, then you're superhuman. I don't think I've ever gotten through a class without feeling nauseous at some point. Not to scare people who may be interested in Krav, it's great but it's supposed to be hard. And for whatever reason I really love it. I need to work on being harder in class though. Time to toughen up.

I do have a microwave. I'm just not a big fan of the idea of microwaving as cooking (they just kind of scare me ), but I can microwave the eggs I guess if I can't get someone to come look at the stove soon. I figure powder for a day isn't that bad, assuming I can either get it fixed by Monday or find someone who has a stove I can use for an hour or so. I do have some chicken I already made up yesterday, so I have that as well.

So, I did pretty average on the one mile walk. I'm assuming the run is going to be lower than I expected as well. I'm not the best at speed. Running (and I guess walking) has never been one of my strong points, so I'm going to start doing interval run/jogs for the rest of my twelve weeks (I think I have 8 left now). I'll see if I grow into running a bit more and then decide where I'll take it after eight weeks. I'm not making it my main focus though, because I don't want it to take away from the routine I have now.

Ate about 2200 calories today. Feel a little weighed down, but ate most of them after I was in Krav which was just a bad call at my part. Too many carbs later in the day as well, but I definitely realized today that I need to up the calories. I was exhausted far more so than usual, and I got a good 9 hours of sleep. I'm going to double the amount of oatmeal and increase the protein I eat in the morning and hope that provides me a bit more of a boost.

Four Weeks Down

I've had no change in weight, and I actually lost my measurements from the first week so I have no idea if my measurements have changed (I think I've lost about an inch on everything, but I'm guessing). BUT I have increased my weight on every exercise but the shoulder press, skull crushers, and curl. Most of this is because my gym only has weights in fives and tens, so jumping five pounds doesn't allow me to complete the amount of reps I want. However, the next four weeks, I'm focusing more on increasing weight and decreasing reps.

What I've learned in the past four weeks:
-I always skimp on my cardio. My solution is to just go to Krav more often. I love it, it's good cardio, and I don't get bored.
-I need to be more consistent with my diet. I'm eating the right foods but all over the place.
-I need to spend more of my 'down' time moving. I feel like most of my free time is spent either on my computer or reading something. Need more walking.
-I need to be consistent in every area!!!

Next Four Weeks:
-3 sets of 6-8 reps + increased weight on every exercise
-Krav and Striking Class
-Cardio for 20-45 minutes five days a week (Krav counts as cardio, but I want to start completing 20-45 minutes of cardio after my weight sessions regardless of Krav since I haven't been doing that)

I have the same problem with weight increases in my gym. Some are as bad at 15 lbs, because not all of the machines have the 5 and 10 lb drops on them. I aim to hit 8 reps on each exercise. As soon as I do, I increase weight and drop to five. If I can do it awesome, and if not, I work my way up to 10 reps at the lower weight, then try again. This has helped keep my gains consistent. Good Luck!!

And I really admire your honesty about your weak spots. Admitting to skimping on cardio (I so do, but I so lie about it!) is kind of a big deal.

Way to be awesome!!

Good one Les. I used to employ a switching up style like that in the early days. going up 3 reps from an initial range, tner adding a fixed amount to things and going back to the lower number.

Lif, you don't necessarily need more active downtime. If you're training hard on the weights, eating right, and adding the prescribed Cardio in, you'll be fine. Adding a lot of walking in, could, depending on duration, type of terrain, speed etc etc, be counterproductive, or hinder change, so don't think that's necessarily a route to go down, it may or may not be.

You're in a cycle of change regards training and diet, you just need to be patient, go easy on yourself, remember you're human, and just keep learning, and doing your best to change anything that currently isn't quite right and might require it.

Yes, that inconsistent fluctuation in weights your Gym has, isn't ideal, and they should be doing better to make sure weights go up in standardised increments. Any decent manufacturer would manufacture them that way.

Most dumbbells go up in either 2kg, (4.4lb), or 2.5kg, (5.5lb), increments, until you get perhaps to something like 30kg, 66lb), then they go up in 5kg, (11lb), increments perhaps after that.

You seem to be doing a great job and you should be proud of yourself. You're only 20, so you're still plenty young, learning, and adapting. It obviously will tkae time, but you will get there.

Just keep smiling, and no getting frustrated or beating yourself up, and keep focusing on where you want to be. This is not just for the soon to be, but also for the rest of your life, so think of it as a Marathon not a sprint

.

Thanks! I didn't start seeing any real change in my fitness level (or my diet) until I was brutally honest with myself. As soon as I sat down and figured out what I would have the most trouble with and accepted that, I picked up a pretty solid routine which is what I do now. I know I can just keep building on it, so it's kind of fun now just learning about how I can improve on everything.

And weights are so much fun (well, sometimes)! I'll try what you mentioned about switching up the reps and weight. I think that'll definitely help. Thanks!!!

You need to be aware though, that one two Arm / Leg exercises, adding weight means the added weight is split about 50 /50 onto two limbs.

One Leg or one Arm exerises, can't have the same weight increases as it's all going onto one Limb.

So in that instance add half what you would for a double limb exercise, and if not, because such a weight isn't available, wait until you can handle another 4-6 reps, before increasing on those single Limb exercises.

Hopefully that makes sense.

Thanks, Boss Man. I actually hadn't thought of the one to two limb exercise difference. That makes me feel a bit better. I like the marathon image. I just get a little impatient sometimes. But since I do plan on keeping this lifestyle for the rest of my life, I'll try not to overwork myself so that I hate it. Then it wouldn't be enjoyable anymore.

So, sometimes planning doesn't always work. Lesson of the hour right there. I had a retreat this weekend, ate horribly, got sick, and missed two workouts. Sounds weird, but I'm glad it happened. I've been straying off eating well, so it was good to get a wakeup call that I will get sick if I eat like that. So, back to writing out what I'm eating. I'm also just going to plan my entire week out on Sundays. I did it yesterday and now it's kind of like a little checklist. I can modify it if need be, but for the most part I just highlight as I go through my day. Also, back to preparing food beforehand regardless of how busy I am. Because I know in a time crunch, I'm not going to sit down to make one meal. Might as well make it all for the week. Now, I'm just cooking up some rice and chicken to make my larger meals throughout the week. It smells like basil and it's wonderful.

I'm also going to try and incorporate some jogging into my week to build up into running. But for the most part, I'm focusing on being consistent with what I eat. It's the most important thing to me at the moment since I haven't been feeling a 100%.

Glad you're feeling better now. Don't want you barfing all over the forum.



Sorry couldn't resist .

You get things back on track soon enough. It's all a learning curve, but the main thing is you didn't have a major wobble and lose it for several days.

Keep going, you're doing great by the looks of things .

No wonder I haven't been in here for awhile.. It seems like barf ... JUST KIDDING!!!
How did your week go?

Icky icky

The week went alright. I bought a big bag of apples and have been having a fine time munching on those. Besides the apples I ate like I normally do, so I don't feel like curling up in a corner anymore haha. I got another cold too, so I've been going to the gym at night so I get enough sleep in the morning and that makes me feel all whacky. Starting Monday, things are getting back on my normal schedule. I'm a bit crazy about things being under control.