Fitness!

A third for Brooks! Will definitely be at the top now!
I scheduled a virtual fitting for today with Fleet Feet, thanks @debianlinux ! Will keep y’all updated on my experience
i am the 4th to add to the Brooks list.
I use their trail running shoes even for running because I love the cushioning (Caldera are my preferred) and overall comfort.
The specific cushion in the Caldera makes running easier on the joints as it allows for a softer landing.
I have also a pair of Hoka One One (Speedgoat) dedicated to trail running only (which are now unused for over a month, due to Covid restrictions..._ and I love them, but have a different fit, seems slightly narrower for me, but no complaints in relation to injuries.

good plan in getting a proper fitting, as it will eliminate the risk of future injuries!
 
So had my virtual try on which was awesome to say the least. The people at Fleet Feet are really cool and knowledgeable. I decided to go with the Hoka One One Elevon 2 since I was told I was a neutral fit with a little more padding. They gave me New balance and Saucony as well. Liked the Hoka a lot more. excited to run in them!
 
So had my virtual try on which was awesome to say the least. The people at Fleet Feet are really cool and knowledgeable. I decided to go with the Hoka One One Elevon 2 since I was told I was a neutral fit with a little more padding. They gave me New balance and Saucony as well. Liked the Hoka a lot more. excited to run in them!

Awesome, I've heard nothing but great things about Hoka's!
 
Since my March half my right hip has been bothering me so I decided to take a few weeks off from running to focus on stretching and strengthening my core. I stumbled across the Nike Training Club app and love it! It's a free app that offers all sorts of workouts, with and without equipment. They have categories for endurance, mobility, strength and yoga and different levels of workouts within them. They also have workouts ranging from just 5 minutes to an hour. I've been keeping the 30 minute Floor to Core and 14 minute Runner Flexibility workouts in constant rotation.

If you're looking for some home workout ideas I definitely recommend you check this app out!

 
I have been having so much trouble with motivation lately. My stress is up and that means my body hurts more. I also need to dial my nutrition back in. No more sugar.
 
Little late on this but go here RossTraining.com - Low-tech, high-effect training solutions for beast mode aficionados and fitness enthusiasts

This guy is a straight up beast, respected boxing trainer, and bodyweight exercise guru. I don't know your level of fitness but be warned...his stuff is intense but he'll always suggest options on how to get there if you cannot perform a certain exercise. I've been using his stuff since the early 2000s - I have two of his older physical books (one of which is beat up from so much use) and a couple of his books on download (Infinite Intensity and Never Gymless are great and can be gotten from his site). He also adds in motivational and nutritional stuff in his books - besides only exercises and workout plans.

If you can get to Home Depot (and this is from one his books) go get a few 50lb bags of sand, duct tape, and freezer bags. Fill each bag with sand - not totally full. Don't worry about exact weights, but a gallon-sized bag should hold 5-7 lbs of sand each. Double bag them and then close off with duct tape wrapping. Now you have sandbags. Put them in a backpack to whatever weight you want - do squats, pushups, pullups, dips, running, tricep extensions, bicep curls, etc/. Get yourself a sea bag/green military duffle for the sandbags. You can do squats, clean & press, snatches, rows, shoulder press, sandbag throws, duck walks while holding, farmer carries, etc. His logic behind sandbag training is also that of who he trains - fighters. As he put it, when you, for example, press a bar w/ weight the weight remains in place and static. But when you overhead press a bag of sand it shifts as you move it and your muscles have to compensate - much like how a human body you're trying to manipulate doesn't stay still.

If you have a cheap sled then tie some rope to it. Again, load with sandbags and do sled pulls.

Here is a sample circuit workout (Google any of these movements if not familiar or ask me):

Pull ups x 80% of max
Squats x 100
Divebomber pushups x 25
Lunges x 100
Plank x 1-min
Burpees x 25
Diamonds (close-grip) pushups x 35
Jumping jacks or jump rope x 1-min
Squat jumps x 20
Superman x 20
Chin ups x 80% of max
V-ups x 30

Rest 1-3 minutes
Repeat for a total of 3 circuit completions
Finisher: 1-mile run

A good core workout:
The Triple Impact -


V-ups x 30
Chinnies x 30
Knee Hugs x 30
Repeat for a total of 4 circuit completions (if x30 is difficult start at x15)

Finisher:
Hip swings x 10
Plank x 1-min
Repeat for a total of 3 circuit completions

Pyramids

Pick 3 exercises and order them 1, 2, 3. At each step use their number in the sequence (1, 2, 3) as a multiplier. So, at step 1 you do 1 rep of Ex1, 2 reps of Ex2, 3 reps of Ex 3; at step 2 you do 2 reps of Ex1, 4 reps of Ex 2, 6 reps of Ex3, so on and so forth. Climb to step 10 and then back down.

One of my favorite combos:

Exercise 1 - Pullups, chinups, or a variation (commandos, wide grip, close grip, L-ups)
Exercise 2 - Divebombers
Exercise 3 - Squats

Climbing up and back down will result in 100 pullups, 200 divebombers, 300 squats.

Another good pyramid that is also killer (so only up to step 10 - no need to go back down unless you hate yourself)

Exercise 1 - plyometric pushup (i.e. clap pushups; don't actually worry about clapping; focus on lifting yourself off the ground with explosive force and a good pace)
Exercise 2 - burpees
Exercise 3 - squats

Try to limit resting.

Burpee Mania (pyramid) (I like this at the end of a workout cause I know the last thing I need to do is suffer through a bunch of burpees)

Burpees x 5
Pushups x 10

Burpees x 5
Pushups x 10

Burpees x 10
Pushups x 10

Burpees x 10
Pushups x 10

Burpees x 15
Pushups x 10

Burpees x 20
Pushups x 10

Burpees x 15
Pushups x 10

Burpees x 10
Pushups x 10

Burpees x 10
Pushups x 10

Burpees x 5
Pushups x 10

Burpees x 5
Pushups x 10

Finisher: V-ups x20 (do 3 sets)

Death by Burpees (a coworker into Crossfit presented this to me; I like it also at the end of a workout when I'm already gassed anyway so why not hurt a little more, right? I'm usually done by level 16)

Start a stopwatch.

Do one (1) burpee. Congratulations! You have the rest of that minute to rest.

When it gets to 1-minute (i.e. you have entered the second minute of the "game") do two (2) burpees. Again, enjoy whatever's left of that minute rest. Honestly, it will probably take you about all of 5 seconds to do 2 burpees so you'll just be standing there with your respective genitalia in your hands like an idiot for the rest of the minute! It will get harder, don't worry.

Basically, as you climb higher and higher you are doing more and more burpees with less and less recovery time. So, by, say, round 12 it might be taking you 35-seconds to do those burpees. Then you only have 25 seconds to recover until you have to do 13 and you're starting to really feel all the burpees that came before just building up. You will get gassed.

You'll eventually get to a point where you're taking almost the whole minute to complete that round and have seconds, if anything, to rest and begin the next round.

It ends when you cannot successfully complete that round's number in the allotted minute.
Damn, this is wild. I will definitely be looking into this
 
My lower back hurts so bad right now. I've been doing cat and cow yoga stretches and attempted a strength workout today. I got 40 minutes in before my body told me no more. I'm feeling weak because I haven't worked out much this quarantine. Gyms are supposed to open on Friday, at 25% capacity, no classes, no locker rooms, no water fountain, only laps in the pool, no free swim, and no child care. The hubs and I will have to alternate to work out on machines, but I am definitely going to focus on strength training.
 
Aight, so this quarantine/dadbod is starting to get me down. Now that the last beer has been drunk from the fridge and the weather is getting warm enough I felt it was time to replace one habit for another. Gonna get back to running in the evenings and doing some bodyweight exercises. Might start sharing some of my Fitbit runs here so I can keep myself honest and maybe track my progress.

Let's do this...
 
Aight, so this quarantine/dadbod is starting to get me down. Now that the last beer has been drunk from the fridge and the weather is getting warm enough I felt it was time to replace one habit for another. Gonna get back to running in the evenings and doing some bodyweight exercises. Might start sharing some of my Fitbit runs here so I can keep myself honest and maybe track my progress.

Let's do this...
Join the endomondo challenge linked somewhere up there.
 
Aight, so this quarantine/dadbod is starting to get me down. Now that the last beer has been drunk from the fridge and the weather is getting warm enough I felt it was time to replace one habit for another. Gonna get back to running in the evenings and doing some bodyweight exercises. Might start sharing some of my Fitbit runs here so I can keep myself honest and maybe track my progress.

Let's do this...
 
C90741BA-80BB-4484-8D43-55BD4718EFD8.png

First run in probably a year or more and it was not as awful as I was expecting. Was waiting the whole time for something to give out whether it was a shin, a knee, or a blistered heel. I was probably 80-90% effort the whole way which didn’t feel so great. Probably going to need to take it easy on the next several runs to save something for strength training afterwards.
 
View attachment 47377

First run in probably a year or more and it was not as awful as I was expecting. Was waiting the whole time for something to give out whether it was a shin, a knee, or a blistered heel. I was probably 80-90% effort the whole way which didn’t feel so great. Probably going to need to take it easy on the next several runs to save something for strength training afterwards.
701F55A9-24C1-4730-BA81-B27B5DD16B18.png
Rainy night and I am nothing if not consistent from my previous run. Negative splits make me happy.

I need to find a nice 5 mile loop and try to keep miles 3, 4, and 5 around that 9:00 to 9:30 pace.
 
I'm not a Crossfitter and I've never done this challenge; but, since one of my coworkers is into it and tomorrow is Memorial Day and I've nothing to do being limited to my building during a 24-hour lockdown, it's time to try The Murph.

Anyone else interested in doing it should give it a try...it sounds like it will be a fun go. I believe you can register w/ Crossfit and maybe put your times up (I don't know....didn't really look into that since I only care about doing the workout).
It is:

1-mile run
100x pull-ups
200x push-ups
300x air squats
1-mile run

Preferably while wearing a 20-lb vest, which I'll do. I've read under 60-minutes is a goal to aim for. I feel good about getting under that number.
You can piece out the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats anyway you like. I've read a good strategy is to do them in 20 sets of 5xpulls/10xpush/15xsquats. That seems manageable.
Interesting. I’ve heard of Murph, know a bit of backstory, and have seen people doing it at the gym but this is the first time I’ve seen the program.

2 or 3 times a week I bang out 4 sets of 25 pull-ups in under 15 minutes (no kips). Air squats seem like a joke to someone who regularly squats 2.5x body weight but 300 is a big number nonetheless. 200 push-ups is well within reason, I know I can struggle out 100 without stopping in under 3 minutes. I can run under a 7 minute mile but it destroys me to do it So I am guessing my second mile would necessarily be 10-12 minutes.

Getting under 60 minutes for the lot seems achievable but ridiculously fatiguing. I would expect every minute under 50 minutes to be a milestone of progress. Can it be done In under 30 minutes? That seems truly Herculean.

But all that with a 20lb vest sounds like self murder and I wouldn’t think I could beat 60 minutes weighted without quite a lot of practice
 
I’m curious as to what you mean about air squats being a joke? I regularly do weighted squats but air squats are also a regular part of my workout (normal sets being 30, high sets being 100). Is it only because they aren’t weighted? If that is the reason, I have a lot of thoughts on that but I’ll leave it alone.

As for the time, I’ve seen numbers around 30-40min for people who do it regularly. There is one guy who documented himself doing a Murph everyday for 30 days. He was able to sustain multiple times~35 min and a best of, I think, 28 min.

Ive read trying to keep both miles at ~10 is good for the overall goal of sub-60. I can do a sub-6min mile (I run w a vest sometimes and ~8 min would be more likely w that weight) but I don’t want to gas myself and will prob keep the first mile ~10 and see if I’ve anything left for the end.

I’m pretty confident in a sub 60 only cause most of my workouts involve a lot of body weight and HIT/fatigue training. I agree though, it sounds like murder - but I think that’s the point. I’ll let ya know how I do.
I mean I have never really trained air squats but I feel a certain degree of (maybe irrational) confidence I could knock out all 300 in one go and only really manage to get my heart rate around 150 and feel some lactic burn in my quads. It’s been a while but I used to regularly do 100 SSB squats with more than body weight on the bar in under 10 minutes. It was absolutely brutal, though. Maybe I am seriously underestimating the effect of 300 air squats. Like, I said, it’s a big number and it would certainly contribute to the overall fatigue, I would just anticipate it being the easiest piece of the program.
 
I'm not a Crossfitter and I've never done this challenge; but, since one of my coworkers is into it and tomorrow is Memorial Day and I've nothing to do being limited to my building during a 24-hour lockdown, it's time to try The Murph.

Anyone else interested in doing it should give it a try...it sounds like it will be a fun go. I believe you can register w/ Crossfit and maybe put your times up (I don't know....didn't really look into that since I only care about doing the workout).
It is:

1-mile run
100x pull-ups
200x push-ups
300x air squats
1-mile run

Preferably while wearing a 20-lb vest, which I'll do. I've read under 60-minutes is a goal to aim for. I feel good about getting under that number.
You can piece out the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats anyway you like. I've read a good strategy is to do them in 20 sets of 5xpulls/10xpush/15xsquats. That seems manageable.
i'm curious about this but I've no way to do the pull ups.
what could be an acceptable replacement?
If I do 100 crunches instead, can I say I have done the Murph?
 
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