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Drop And Give Me 20!

EJCC

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In which EJCC decides to be her own ESTJ drill sergeant.


Preliminary Exercise Plan:
  1. Kung fu 2-3x per week (lessons will start in a couple of weeks -- so excited!)
  2. Push-ups and sit-ups every day (or every other day at minimum)
  3. Hopefully starting on this thing once I've done just push-ups and sit-ups for a while

Motivated myself to do this because the only real physical activity in my life is walking. Yes, I do a lot of walking (due to not having a car), but I'll need to do more intensive and regular exercise if I want to create a sustainable fitness regimen for the foreseeable and potentially car-driven future. I don't like running, I don't like team sports that much -- never have -- and as much as I like hiking, there isn't a lot available for the car-less around where I live. So I had the idea to start this kung fu thing, since I've tried martial arts before, at various stages in my life, and really liked it. The lifestyle factor is pretty great, too, re: energy and self-improvement and whatnot. And maybe I'll make some new friends!

The above explains the kung fu idea, but the other workout goals are mostly because gym equipment bores me and gyms cost money. Whereas I can just get these things done when I get home from work, without paying for anything.

(I don't have a food plan, because I eat pretty healthy already, but if I find more healthy food to switch to, I'll update this blog thing accordingly. I'm a little concerned that if all goes well with this, I'll lose a bunch of weight* -- which I don't necessarily want to do, because I don't want to buy all new clothes -- so in that case I guess I'll up my protein intake?)

Anyway... time to hold myself accountable. Onward!


*I don't really need to; I'm 5'6" and 145-ish lbs at present, and have been around there since my mid teens
 

Eluded_One

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Would you like 20 twinkies or doughnuts? Grasshopper, I shall teach you the 8-way kung-food technique.
 

Eluded_One

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The above explains the kung fu idea, but the other workout goals are mostly because gym equipment bores me and gyms cost money. Whereas I can just get these things done when I get home from work, without paying for anything.

In all seriousness *cough*, I'm the same way, I get really bored if the workout doesn't also involve some form of mental exercise as well. At my fighting gym, there's many women that take Capoeira. It's one of the more graceful martial arts, and at it's highest levels, can be very physically demanding.
 

EJCC

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Would you like 20 twinkies or doughnuts? Grasshopper, I shall teach you the 8-way kung-food technique.
Ooh -- doughnuts please?

Does your technique involve beer as well?

DrunkenMaster_DVDcover.jpg
 

EJCC

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Day 1.

Four reps of modified push-ups, 60 secs in between.
- 6
- 6
- 4
- 4

Three reps of sit-ups (all the way up -- whatever you call that type of sit-up):
- 10
- 8
- 8

Plank (not on knees) until my arms shook -- 20 seconds.

Sticking with modified push-ups for now, since I'm too weak to do a full push-up with good form. Filmed myself doing them to see if my modified push-up form was otherwise good, and it was, so I'll keep doing what I'm doing.

Using hundredpushups.com for my push-up regimen. Middle column.
 

wolfy

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A sit up all the way up is a sit up. In a sit up usually you have your legs anchored, unanchored is a crunch. You need to think of something for your upper back too. To balance the push ups. Some kind of rowing movement.
 

EJCC

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A sit up all the way up is a sit up.
Ok cool. What do you call the ones where only your shoulders leave the ground?
In a sit up usually you have your legs anchored, unanchored is a crunch.
Good to know! I had my feet underneath my couch.
You need to think of something for your upper back too. To balance the push ups. Some kind of rowing movement.
What would you recommend for someone who doesn't own any weights?

Did a little Googling just now, found this thing -- something like that?
 

wolfy

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Yeah, but you don't need to lie on the floor. You can lean at a 45 degree angle and do that. That is a really good sequence actually.

Yeah crunches. Do something where you extend your legs for the lower abs too. Like this. Keep lower back on the floor. Or reverse crunches.

248Bfig2.PNG


This exercise...

day54.jpg


is good as a starter for working the hips and works well with the ab exercises. You can do them in sequence. Crunches... hip bridge... reverse crunch... hip bridge and so on. Keeping the body under tension.
 

EJCC

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Awesome -- will try some of this out tomorrow. Thanks wolfy!!
 

Eluded_One

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Ooh -- doughnuts please?

Does your technique involve beer as well?

DrunkenMaster_DVDcover.jpg

Only when one finds one-self in dire circumstance.


Four reps of modified push-ups, 60 secs in between.
- 6
- 6
- 4
- 4

Three reps of sit-ups (all the way up -- whatever you call that type of sit-up):
- 10
- 8
- 8

Try adding stretches before you workout. You're going to need it for almost any martial art. I like to take my kindle out to read while stretching; it helps ignore the pain.
 

EJCC

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Day 2.

Alternated these (with reps in parentheses):

- Push-ups (6-8-6-6, per instructions)
- Sit-ups (6-6)
- Hip bridges (25-20-got bored)
- Lying leg extensions (6-8 each leg)
- YTI (once: 8Y, 8T, 8I. I was WAY harder!)
- Plank at end: 15 seconds

Stretched like crazy at the end, because my mid-back and shoulders were so busted from yesterday. (My push-up form was pretty bad because of this.) Here's hoping the stretching will make a difference -- want to be able to have a fresh start tomorrow.
 

EJCC

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Day 3.

Did a TON of walking, and it was really hot out -- plus still sore enough to not be comfortable with push-ups or sit-ups. Got started on other stuff, then got too tired to do more sets.

6 leg lifts
14 hip bridges
16 elbow to knee crunches

Fingers crossed I won't be so sore tomorrow.
 
Last edited:

EJCC

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Going to start tallying sleep hours as well. I don't sleep as much as I should.

Edit: I know I said I wouldn't talk about food, but I'll just post this here because it makes more sense in this file, in the TypeC filing cabinet.

Pretty much every workday, I do this:
- Grab coffee and no breakfast, race out the door
- Eat desk snack (trail mix with almonds, cashews, and dried fruit) for breakfast
- Get hungry at about 11am, have a healthy and nice lunch at a brunch-y hour
- Get hungry again at about 3, but tired of desk snacks (as they were breakfast), so grab something unhealthy from the vending machine

If I had a breakfast I could grab on the go, this wouldn't be happening. However, what I keep around my house is cereal and milk, which you actually have to assemble and shit. (WHAT A PAIN.) So...

NEW PLAN
- Make tons of smoothie (peanut butter and banana?) at the beginning of the week, then freeze it
- Grab frozen smoothie as well as coffee in the morning -- drink coffee during hour-long commute while smoothie thaws
- Drink smoothie when you get to work at 9
- Eat a later lunch at maybe 1 or 1:30
- Keep something lightweight and sweet* at your desk to satisfy the sweet tooth
- Eat regular desk snack in the afternoon, when snacks should be eaten!


*I like these guys, personally.

3588.png


Used to keep them around all the time, but then ran out and forgot to buy more. Lesson learned!
 

Randomnity

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Hey, welcome to the exercise blog club! I should really start updating mine again.

*I don't really need to; I'm 5'6" and 145-ish lbs at present, and have been around there since my mid teens

I didn't realize we're totally body twins! Haha, cool. I wouldn't worry about losing too much weight unless you really go overboard with diet changes - it's hard to do with just exercise.

I also tend to be very consistent in weight (ranging from 135-150 over the last 10 years, but most often around 140-145). I went from ~145 in Jan to ~140 now, with a brief dip down to ~135-138 a few weeks ago (yeah, crappy scale), with the uptick probably from the fairly ridiculous amounts of bread/cheese eaten while traveling recently, lol. Maybe very slightly looser pants, and maybe ~1" smaller waist (I'm bad at measuring that too) but no new clothes needed yet. I feel a lot better with the regular exercise, though. :)

PS - I did kung fu for a couple years and it was awesome. Hopefully you have a good instructor, and if so you'll probably really like it! I mostly stopped because learning the "choreography" (forms) was really frustratingly hard for me, but the rest of it was really fun.
 

EJCC

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Day 4.

Got home late and didn't have a ton of time -- plus was still a bit sore in my shoulders and abs.

4 push-ups
10 hip bridges
20 bicycle crunches
8 Y-T-I
7 leg extensions
6 push-ups
10-second plank
25-second wall sits


Didn't eat breakfast like I should've.
Slept about 6 hours. Set to get 7.5 tonight.
 

EJCC

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Random food-related tidbit: I'm probably not going to drink beer for a while. For whatever reason -- I'm attributing some of this to seasonal allergies -- whenever I drink beer, I sneeze after my first sip or two, and then my nose starts running. No other symptoms. This had never happened to me until maybe February or March, and it's annoying to the point of making me want to quit beer altogether. Hopefully when my histamine activity has calmed down, beer won't do that to me anymore? Anyway, there's one source of calories down for the count.

-----------------------------------------------------

Hey, welcome to the exercise blog club! I should really start updating mine again.
Thanks! :cheers: Make yerself at home!

I was kind of saddened by the lack of active individual blogs here. I like reading the multi-person main exercise challenge blog, but I can't post supportive things in there, so it's not as fun. :(

Anyway -- yes, please keep posting in yours!
I didn't realize we're totally body twins! Haha, cool. I wouldn't worry about losing too much weight unless you really go overboard with diet changes - it's hard to do with just exercise.
That's good. In a perfect world I'd lose fat and gain muscle in a way that would ensure that all my clothes fit, but I don't know how it's actually going to work. I guess I'd rather err on the side of losing weight, than gaining weight (from gaining muscle and not losing fat).
I also tend to be very consistent in weight (ranging from 135-150 over the last 10 years, but most often around 140-145). I went from ~145 in Jan to ~140 now, with a brief dip down to ~135-138 a few weeks ago (yeah, crappy scale), with the uptick probably from the fairly ridiculous amounts of bread/cheese eaten while traveling recently, lol. Maybe very slightly looser pants, and maybe ~1" smaller waist (I'm bad at measuring that too) but no new clothes needed yet. I feel a lot better with the regular exercise, though. :)
Huh! Maybe we really are body twins. I wish I knew what body type I am -- mesomorph etc -- so we could compare that too. But since I've looked mostly the same for the past ten years (155 when I was 12, dropped to 145 when I was 13, and have been between 150 and 140 since then), and since I've been fairly inactive for most of that time (except for walking), I have no idea what my body is going to do when I start exercising daily/every other day. I guess we'll find out!
PS - I did kung fu for a couple years and it was awesome. Hopefully you have a good instructor, and if so you'll probably really like it! I mostly stopped because learning the "choreography" (forms) was really frustratingly hard for me, but the rest of it was really fun.
I've heard good things about this particular instructor, and the Yelp reviews were great :) I'm hoping that since I've done some Tai Chi, that will help with the form stuff, which was apparently a big issue for other friends of mine.
 

Randomnity

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Huh! Maybe we really are body twins. I wish I knew what body type I am -- mesomorph etc -- so we could compare that too.

Haha, I really have no idea either, for the same reason. I think it's harder for women since we don't really put on much muscle, and most of us are quite a bit "rounder" than guys, so it's hard to tell. I'm guessing I'm closest to mesomorph since I'm kinda...sturdy? Maybe endomorph. I don't know if they're even scientifically valid anyway. :shrug:
 

EJCC

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Haha, I really have no idea either, for the same reason. I think it's harder for women since we don't really put on much muscle, and most of us are quite a bit "rounder" than guys, so it's hard to tell. I'm guessing I'm closest to mesomorph since I'm kinda...sturdy? Maybe endomorph. I don't know if they're even scientifically valid anyway. :shrug:
I dunno either, but bodybuilders seem to swear by them? So there's that.

I'm almost positive I'm not an ectomorph, mostly through process of elimination -- both of my parents used to be skinny, but that was because they were very active, and they gained weight pretty quickly when their lifestyles became more sedentary. I'm not big-boned, I have long arms, and I'm somewhere between pear shaped and hourglass figured (in terms of breast to waist to hip ratio). I don't have a hard time losing weight OR gaining weight (which is why I was worried about weight change -- my consistent weight is almost entirely because of consistent walking and eating habits, and every fluctuation has been due to lifestyle changes). The only endomorph trait I relate to is that I am not a morning person and am a heavy sleeper. Which I guess would narrow it down to mesomorph, but if that's true, then I'm the weakest and least athletic mesomorph in the world, lol.

/rambling

Anyway -- sturdy as in big-boned as well? Broad shoulders?
 

Randomnity

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I dunno either, but bodybuilders seem to swear by them? So there's that.

I'm almost positive I'm not an ectomorph, mostly through process of elimination -- both of my parents used to be skinny, but that was because they were very active, and they gained weight pretty quickly when their lifestyles became more sedentary. I'm not big-boned, I have long arms, and I'm somewhere between pear shaped and hourglass figured (in terms of breast to waist to hip ratio). I don't have a hard time losing weight OR gaining weight (which is why I was worried about weight change -- my consistent weight is almost entirely because of consistent walking and eating habits, and every fluctuation has been due to lifestyle changes). The only endomorph trait I relate to is that I am not a morning person and am a heavy sleeper. Which I guess would narrow it down to mesomorph, but if that's true, then I'm the weakest and least athletic mesomorph in the world, lol.

/rambling

Anyway -- sturdy as in big-boned as well? Broad shoulders?

I'm not really sure about the relative proportions of any of my body parts or bones. I'm either thoroughly average-sized, or just bad at comparing my proportions to others. :laugh: I don't have major problems fitting into most clothes. I do have noticeably more sturdy legs than most women my size. Good old soccer legs. Mostly muscle, in theory. Other than that I don't really know. I'm also either pear or hourglass depending how you define it.

I haven't really ever changed my diet or overall exercise levels drastically, so it's hard to tell what would happen. I'm not really great with self-discipline to put it mildly, so I stay in the somewhat-possible realm of very gradual habit modification instead of the hopelessly doomed (for me) diet/exercise plans. Although I guess the exercise challenge has been a fairly casual exercise plan, and that's been going pretty well this year for the first time ever!
 

EJCC

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Day 5.

Exercises with sets of reps in parentheses:

Push-ups (5, 6)
Lying Leg Extensions (8, 7)
Hip Bridges (11, 15)
Y-T-I (10)
Plank (12 seconds)

I need a more consistent workout plan. Will make one later. Maybe tomorrow.

6.5 hours or so of sleep. Was more bleary this morning than I have been in probably a year. (Going to attribute that to the exercise.) Set to get 7 or so hours in tonight.
 
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