How about a permanent monthly fitness skills thread?

I'll play. I'm not quite in the same park as other people here and my goals differ, but I'll play anyway. Last year I plateaued in one of my lifts with 91 pound dumbbells. I've always wanted to hit that century mark. Something about 100 pound dumbbells is magical to me. I've spent the greater part of several months restructuring my lifts, emphasizing lower weight and higher reps in hopes of moving up and eventually breaking 91 pounders (yes that's an odd number, but then again my dbell weighs 6 pounds and uses standard plates. so 91 pounds is 6 pound bar, 8x 10 pound plates, and 2x 2.5 pound plates). I've always lifted just to see how much I can push, and right now I'm plateauing on my dumbbell bench at 91 pounders. IF, I break 100 pound dbells, my new goal will be to hit body weight on each arm...or 130ish pound dbells. And yes, I do work out my legs as well. I do a 2 day split twice a week. Chest/back one day and legs/arms the next day. Cardio whenever I feel like it. No ballistic lifts for me here...slow controlled movements. The last rep usually lasts at least 30 seconds if not longer since I'm really pushing. Then again, I used to train exclusively for strength, where I do sets of 1-2 reps at 95%+ 1 repetition maximum.

5'7
133 pounds
6.6% body fat (this is relatively constant; I'm an ectomorph) according to a DEXA scan (dual X-ray absorptiometry; they use this fancy flat bed X-ray scan to check for bone mineral density among other things; it's the new standard for body fat testing). I have access to this machine for free and am getting certified to run it myself at my uni for my grad program.

As far as progress is concerned, when I lowered the dbells (a couple months back), I went down to 66 pounders (6x ten pound plates and the bar). I've gone up by 5 pounds each time every couple weeks. Today I increased to 81 pounds. In two weeks I'll probably go up to 86. I do 5 reps per set.
 
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My kettlebells showed up today:D After 2 months of inactivity, it sure doesn't take much to show you what muscles are being worked:p I thought I was going to pull something just getting them out of the PO (2X35lb), and I'm not sure the gal at the counter didn't:eek::foot:

Really, they're very versatile:thumbup: I've spent the last few hours looking at various exercises online, and I don't think I'm going to need much more equipment for a while. Between these, bodyweight exercises, some aggressive hiking plans this summer, and a sensible diet I should be a lot skinnier by next winter:cool:
 
Awesome, Walter. it's a lot of fun. Swings, snatches when you get to them, and TGUs will do anything you need, though 'juggling' is a hell of a lot of fun
 
Koyote

Does the CC demand that you avoid KB work during the program, or do you just feel you need to devote yourself entirely to the CC? I find with swings I am fresh enough to do other type of work. Strange I know, but it almost seems to give me more energy.

I have a 16kg and 24kg that hopefully will ship out this week, they were backordered, can't wait to get them. Swinging with DB's is not the same.

I may start a 21 day KB fat melting boot camp next week. This would stem the tide til my bells arive.

I love the accountability idea Koyote and all your writing on the subject!
AI
 
CC works well with kettlebells. the current regime I am working on is daily intensive, but once I settle it down a bit I am adding KB work back in. The CC program includes a couple regimens that should work fantatic with daily KB swings. the Good Behavior and Veterano cycles should do great with a limited fat burning swing regimen.

there is a lot to be said for short workouts multiple times per day that leave you feeling pumped instead of worn
 
Anyone start their program with the new year? I start my diet portion of the Monster Method next week. Vic at Metro Martial Arts and Fitness was kind enough to help me with the diet and journal part as I'm already training at his gym. He started a whole class of people participating in his Metamorphis program. The last group was losing up to 20 lbs per student per 8 week session. That's exactly what I need.

Did kettle bells yesterday. Still a little sore (in a good way).
 
Hey Koyote I just saw this thread and I think its a good idea. My biggest problem with training is that I lose my motivation. I find other stuff to do and whatnot. This should help. Not only having this to help keep me going, but I am taking weight lifiting classes in college that I have to go to and then I train in MMA on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. I figure all this together should be good enough for me and I'll get to be where I want.
 
woodstock31 said:
Anyone start their program with the new year? I start my diet portion of the Monster Method next week. Vic at Metro Martial Arts and Fitness was kind enough to help me with the diet and journal part as I'm already training at his gym. He started a whole class of people participating in his Metamorphis program. The last group was losing up to 20 lbs per student per 8 week session. That's exactly what I need.

Did kettle bells yesterday. Still a little sore (in a good way).
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I started a new program with the new year. I'm still working out details, probably going to tweak to focus a bit more on weak spots (upper upper body and bridging) and I'll need to add back in my kettlebells once I figure out exactly how my running schedule is going to work for the current weight loss phase.

My prospective plan is to continue my daily grinding bodyweight strength training, add in some small snatch cycles twice a week, and work 3 days a week on sprint/walk intervals.

diet wise, I need to chock myself back into a bit of weight loss, so I'm going to go for a 2 week burn, living on protein shakes and salad, then I can work back up to a fair level of veggies and fruits with my meat.
 
I hopped back on the wagon as of Monday. I have to have a strict, uninterrupted schedule or I won't do it. The dang holiday season killed me for over a month. I'm back now.

I don't have any current tape measurements; here's where I'm at:

Height: 5'5"
Weight: 148lbs
Size 32/30 Levis 501's. I could go down to a 30/30, but my thighs are too large. I can wear the 30/30 loose-type jeans; but, like 501's, so I go up to a 32/30.
Lower-body fat: 7.8%/ Upper-body fat: ~11-12%

I started last January at 185lbs, 36/30 pants, and a fat round face. I'm almost to my goal.

My diet is mostly paleo for athletes, now that I'm running and working out. I will occasionally eat a non-paleo treat, maybe once every week or two.

My current exercise routine is:

Mon/Wed/Fri: 15-30 minutes on the eliptical machine to warm up, then run outside. I'm coming off of a 6 week hiatus, so I'm running 1 mile, then run/walking another 2.5 miles.

Tue/Thu/Sat: Weight training. Tue: Lower body & Core. Thu: Chest, Back & Core. Sat: Shoulders, Arms & Core.

1 week's workouts are strength training, with the other 3 week's workouts focused on endurance.

I also do three sets of push-ups and crunches Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri mornings. I was doing sit-ups, but the skin just above my asscrack gets rubbed raw and causes me issues when it's time to workout; so, I switched to crunches. Currently, my three sets of push-ups are 35/25/20, and my sit-ups are 45/25/15.

I'm working on pull-ups also. Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri I do 6 sets of pull-ups; 3 palms-out and 3 palms-facing each other. As of right now, I can do 6 palms-out and 9 palms-facing each other back to back. The next 4 sets are with weight assistance.

My goal is 135lbs, and 5-6% body fat. Running 10 miles, 3 times a week. 20 palms-out pull-ups and 20 palms-facing each other pull-ups, back to back.

My goals sound a little steep, I think. I think they're very realistic, though. 13lbs to go on weight loss. About 6% fat to loose. Within the month, I'll be running 2+ miles at 8min/mile; within 3-4 months, I'll be running ~6 miles at 8min/mile. Pull-ups will come. I couldn't guess accurately on the pull-ups, maybe 3-4 months for 10/15, and so on.

Most of this is me getting back into the shape I used to be in, 11 years ago.
 
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Chris- have you looked at leg raises, hanging or flat on the ground for the abs? I know I'm getting a lot more out of them than I ever did with crunches, though I still have a bit of gut to contend with....
 
koyote said:
Chris- have you looked at leg raises, hanging or flat on the ground for the abs? I know I'm getting a lot more out of them than I ever did with crunches, though I still have a bit of gut to contend with....
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Yes, I do them; but honestly, I don't get much out of them or crunches. Here's my core exercises after my workouts (typically when I'm glucose crashing:)):

1 set of each exercise, then the next...
Decline bench crunches: 25/20/15/10/5
Back extensions on Roman Chair holding 10lbs plate: 25/20/15/10/5
Oblique extensions on Roman Chair holding 10lbs plate: 25/20/15/10/5
Oblique extension twists on Roman Chair holding 10lbs plate: 25/20/15/10/5
Hanging straight leg raises: 25/20/15/10/5

If I've properly eaten through out the day, and carbed up on brown/wild rice before the workout, I start glucose crashing at the very end. If not, then I start to crash at the second set of core exercises, typically the twists.
 
I'd like to tag along, though I know I have very little I can add in the way of strength and endurance building but I'm not to old to learn.

One thing I have gotten very good at is portion control and understanding the effect of hunger on me. I started off using a system I heard Billy Gibbs talking about with Terry Gross on NPR about how as a former fat guy he lost the weight and keeps it off. It's rather simple really, he eats half of what he normally or used to eat. When the food is brought to him at a restaurant and the sever asks "Anything else" he says yes, please bring me a to go bag and he divides the food before he starts eating.

I started out this way, figured it was a good way to start and it was. I have modified it a bit as I learned that the pangs of hunger played havoc with my resolve to loose weight. So before it really kicked in I would measure out a 1/4 cup of mixed nuts, cereal or things along those lines, just to manage the hunger and again for me it worked.

Last Jan. I was 264 lbs, 44", 5'11" and 56 years old, no problems with cholesterol, no high blood pressure all the numbers well within the range for a healthy man. Last time I stepped on the scales I was 198 lbs, my most recent jeans are 36 and starting to get loose on me but I'm still 5"11" and 56 at least for another month.

My energy level is very good, I ride the bicycle when I can and take the stairs when it ain't an emergency. I feel great, in a week we head up to our annual Rendezvous where I'll be walking 5 to 10 miles a day, chopping wood, setting up canvas and BSing with friends of over twenty years.

Life is good.
 
Following Koyote on JWilliams contest has been one of the most influential roles in getting me to get back into shape, so I wanna thank both Jake for starting the contest, and Koyote for posting his progress.

I haven't been taking measurements, as that is not what I was after, I just want to get back to my ideal weight and get some muscle tone back.

You can see my tracker in my signature, and here is a graph of my progress. In the last 2 months I've lost 16lbs. and that's with Thanksgiving, and Christmas setbacks. I've been doing pretty well I think. My current goal is set at 180, but I will probably lower it to 165 or 170 once I hit the 180 mark.

wcP6LKi.png


For me, it's just been food portion control, and riding my bike alot. I've been trying to ride 2-3 times a week, except for this week, as I'm recovering from some nice laceration to my leg from my ride this last Saturday. I know Jake can probably appreciate these.
Probably shoulda gotten stitches, but the two deep ones are holding together alright with butterfly bandages...

4239920344_be222bf6da.jpg
 
hushnel said:
I'd like to tag along, though I know I have very little I can add in the way of strength and endurance building but I'm not to old to learn.

...

Last Jan. I was 264 lbs, 44", 5'11" and 56 years old, no problems with cholesterol, no high blood pressure all the numbers well within the range for a healthy man. Last time I stepped on the scales I was 198 lbs, my most recent jeans are 36 and starting to get loose on me but I'm still 5"11" and 56 at least for another month.

My energy level is very good, I ride the bicycle when I can and take the stairs when it ain't an emergency. I feel great, in a week we head up to our annual Rendezvous where I'll be walking 5 to 10 miles a day, chopping wood, setting up canvas and BSing with friends of over twenty years.

Life is good.
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You will get a lot of double takes at the Rendezvous! That's a pretty massive difference.

It's not important to know a lot for what I think the thread is about, more a matter of supporting each other and maybe even discussing what types of goals make sense.

stingray4540 said:
Following Koyote on JWilliams contest has been one of the most influential roles in getting me to get back into shape, so I wanna thank both Jake for starting the contest, and Koyote for posting his progress.

I haven't been taking measurements, as that is not what I was after, I just want to get back to my ideal weight and get some muscle tone back.

You can see my tracker in my signature, and here is a graph of my progress. In the last 2 months I've lost 16lbs. and that's with Thanksgiving, and Christmas setbacks. I've been doing pretty well I think.

...Probably shoulda gotten stitches, but the two deep ones are holding together alright with butterfly bandages...
Click to expand...

Thanks! Seriously, posting about it has helped me immensely in keeping going.

The weight loss numbers are great. The main reason for measurements is that once you get past a certain point in weight loss, the shift in body composition makes it more useful (and fun) to track body fat percentage over actual pounds.

And as far as the cut- you are supposed to carry your biking knife in a sheath. You know that, right?


:D
 
Tonight's run was great! This is Run Day 2, after a 6 to 8 week fatass hiatus. I ran 2 miles, walked for 2 minutes, ran .75 miles, walked 1 minute, and finished up the rest of the mile.
 
Well if you guys dont mind me taging along as well. Hurt my knees so stoped working out for a few months again. I need to lose 30lb as my goal. I got a versa climber machine which helps alot. I call it the heart attack machine. Used to do 150ft climb and would stop at 800ft. Now im trying to get back to it and started at 500ft with a goal to get to 1000ft. I also started to do the 100 push ups program. Does anyone know of other programs like the 100 push ups??? I were also giving a machine that mounts to the wall with weights and cables, No idea how they called. But im trying to find out what difrent exercises i can do with it...... I want to try to lose 5lb each month.

Sasha
 
Sasha:

I'd highly, highly recommend a progression program I'm using that can take you from post injury physical therapy level to ... pretty uber strong. It's a new book, with a pretty "in your face" title of Convict Conditioning. I've been working the progressions (yes, starting with WALL PUSHUPS and other girly things) for a month and it's done some pretty amazing things for me already.

I'm not onto a level where I'm doing pullups yet, but I just jumped up on the bar this afternoon from exuberance and snapped out 3 picture perfect full height palms forward pullups easier than I could do one a month ago. Shocking, since I've been doing "beginner steps" the whole time. I'm seriously stoked about this book.

For websites, reading through beast skills is worthwhile, there's about a million blogs that have useful information.

search for bodyweight exercises and try to make a progression system (this is what CC is, in a nutshell) and take care of the joint and tendon building by going slow.

For losing weight- you can't out exercise a bad diet. Hushnel's portion control is fantastic as a method, there's also something called eat-stop-eat that i'm getting more and more into.

The nutshell is always: eat less (intelligently) and do more (intelligently) :thumbup:
 
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