Rong's mini 2 week fitness blog

I doubt anyone will give a Shit so this is pretty much just to motivate and/or publicly shame myself.

3 yrs ago I was pretty fit, surfed regularly, played 5 a side footy, lifted weights at home and was proud of my body. Never been hugely built, but was solid with a good body shape.

I had sprog number one 3 yrs ago and sprog number two 1 yr ago and have done exactly no exercise since as kids take a huge amount of time and effort and leave you totally exhausted at first and I guess I just got out of the habit. I'm now pathetically unfit and have a bit of a gut, no chest or shoulders and am out of breath if I run 100 meters. I also ruptured a disc in my lower back in November which seemed to be down to being in appalling shape rather than any major incident.

I'm on a two week training course so in a hotel with a gym and determined to make a lifestyle change starting yesterday.

Yesterday I rowed for 15 mins which left me knackered.

Today I went on an exercise bike for 5 mins, rowed for 10 mins and did 8 laps in the (rather small) pool before getting cramp and stopping.

My schedule for the rest of this course.

Wed: 5 mins on bike, 15 mins rowing, 10 laps.
Thurs: 10 mins on bike, 15 mins rowing, 10 laps.

Go home for weekend on Friday.

Next week:

Sun: 10 mins on bike, 15 mins rowing, 10 laps.
Mon: 15 mins bike, 15 mins rowing, 10 laps.
Tues: 15 mins bike, 15 mins rowing, 10 laps.
Wed: 15 mins bike, 15 mins rowing, 20 laps.
Thurs: 15 mins bike, 15 mins rowing, 20 laps.


It's not a lot, but it's a step in the right detection and hopefully going to be a springboard for long term fitness. I'm almost tempted to add a photo of myself to add to the public shame/self loathing but too ashamed to so it. That said, I prob look better than any fattys you have seen but it's all relative to what you were and what you want to be.

Feel free to abuse me for failing or just for being so pathetic to have got in to such poor shape. My self loathing is motivating and you adding to it can't hurt. So abuse me, ignore me, whatever.

Take a before picture! Trust me, you'll want it afterwards. You don't have to post it until you have a good after pic!

Pic tooken.

Self loathing/unhappiness with how I looked was the only thing that eventually got me keen on getting healthy again. If you have that, you'll be fine IMO.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by rong

Feel free to abuse me for failing or just for being so pathetic to have got in to such poor shape. My self loathing is motivating and you adding to it can't hurt. So abuse me, ignore me, whatever.

don't be a slob etc.

whatever, i'll stick to abusing you if you fall off the wagon and fail to set out what you started to do. So keep on it. If you want to be able to retain any self-respect and dignity. That helping? hope so.

Good luck with the fitness marathon. Would be interesting to see the before/after pictures.

Wednesday Target achieved, sorta.

I did:
5 mins on the bike.
15 mins rowing.
Then, as I felt good, I did another 5 on the bike.
Only managed 8 laps before getting cramp in my toe again so stopped then.

But I'm happy enough with that.

Originally Posted by daven

So keep on it. If you want to be able to retain any self-respect and dignity. That helping? hope so.

That's what's driving me. TY.

Advice needed.

Am I better off cycling/rowing for longer or for the same time with greater resistance? G

Jyms advised me to do bursts and they killed me so I'd recommend them, 1 min high resistance going flatout then 1 min rest repeat. Takes less than 10 to feel exhausted

Originally Posted by rong

Advice needed.

Am I better off cycling/rowing for longer or for the same time with greater resistance? G

It really depends on your goals but for the most part doing intervals of higher resistance and higher intensity with rest periods are far better than long slow steady state aerobics for overall fitness and losing fat. Here are a few articles explaining why.


Is Aerobic or Anaerobic Training Best For Getting Rid of Belly Fat? | Poliquin Article

The (Many) Negatives of Aerobic Training | Poliquin Article

How to Counter The Many Negatives of Aerobic Training | Poliquin Article

Thurs: same as yesterday. Content with that.

Thanks jyms. Will bear that in mind.

Just got back home after 4 hour drive. Not been to the gym today as checked out of hotel this morning. Have a strange urge to do some exercise. Feels odd.

Originally Posted by rong

Just got back home after 4 hour drive. Not been to the gym today as checked out of hotel this morning. Have a strange urge to do some exercise. Feels odd.

do some exercise - i just checked back to see whether this was a planned rest day. Turns out it is. So I won't give you shit just yet...

Just arrived at the hotel after a 4 hr drive. The last thing I wanna do is exercise, I'm hungry and tired and my, admittedly dull, colleagues are drinking in the bar which is incredibly tempting despite their dullness. Alas, off to the gym I go.

Also, been thinking about my opinion on what I consider fat for a guy. My answer is simply if your belly protrudes further than your chest when standing relaxed. That's what I aim to change.

Managed 15 mins on the bike and 10 rowing. I changed how I used the bike to 1 min low resistance and moderate pace, then 1 min higher resistance and sprinting, then back and forth for 15 mins. Fucking exhausting. Didn't go for a swim as knackered now. Not quite following my regime but as long as I at least do something I'm satisfied and the change in bike strategy has killed me for today.

Originally Posted by rong

Also, been thinking about my opinion on what I consider fat for a guy. My answer is simply if your belly protrudes further than your chest when standing relaxed. That's what I aim to change.

Amen to this

FTR ITT:

Fatty
Tries
Rowing

ah ha ha ha ha

Haha too true.

Today did the same as yesterday but hit it much harder on the bike, at one point my heart rate hit 170 and I was concerned I might die. This time I put the rower on the hardest setting and kept the same pace as I was before which is about 35 strokes per minute. That was by far the toughest work out I've had and it felt great although I was exhausted.

Guns n rises appetite die destruction got me through it.

I guess I should address the deviation from my original plan. Basically I don't care as long as I'm doing something and doing more than the previous day and I think increasing the intensity is more productive than increasing the duration although I intend to maintain the current intensity and increase the duration a little tomorrow as I don't think I could go much harder with my current level of fitness.

Now I've started doing regular exercise i can't believe I didn't do it for so long as I'm feeling better both physically and mentally already and I've only been at it for a week and a half.

Longer term goals are surfing twice a week from April onwards (I'm a little bitch when it comes to surfing in the cold) and taking up climbing this summer.

Same as yesterday. Tried to push it further but couldn't. Today is the first day I haven't felt able to do more than the day before which is a little disappointing, though I'm not reading anything into it.

Forgot about this, blog was a huge success in terms of it helping me to get to the gym 9 times in 11 days, so a dramatic change for me. That includes both last Wednesday and Thursday where again all I did was 25 mins workout but the intensity increased each day.

Back home now, so got to keep it up. Getting the rowing machine out of my shed today for easy access and regular use. Want to have joined gym within a month.

TY for reading.

Bump. Just bought an exercise bike. Will be cycling through an hour of the wire each night. The drive for fitness continues.

hows your diet?

Far too high in carbs. But my fitness is so poor that that's my initial priority.

Originally Posted by rong

Longer term goals are surfing twice a week from April onwards (I'm a little bitch when it comes to surfing in the cold) and taking up climbing this summer.

where are you exactly?
surfing and climbing are both near to my heart

Perranporth, Cornwall, England. Great little surfing beach, live about 2 mins from the beach. But its currently 1c outside and there's no way I'm getting into the water until mid April.

I think you should take up wrestling and emulate this local hero:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...h-Cornwall.jpg