My Quest: To Become a Spartan
- Thread starter FreeFall
- Start date
Taking a bit of a rest day, so I just did the same full workout from last night without hitting the treadmill. It was really more to loosen up the muscles than anything else.
It's about time to change up my routine, so either late tonight or tomorrow I will post what I've been doing exactly and what I have at my disposal to hopefully get some input about the change.
It's about time to change up my routine, so either late tonight or tomorrow I will post what I've been doing exactly and what I have at my disposal to hopefully get some input about the change.
Time for a longish update.
Two miles, followed by a full body workout, and then another mile to cool down. I was feeling really good, and I'm starting to become a believer out of rest days like never before.
Last night involved some of the first indications of improvement. The first involved chasing two cats around campus...don't ask, haha.
The second was a challenge put forth kind of randomly. We were next to a small parking garage, and a friend didn't think that I would be able to pull myself up to the next level. I did rather easily until I realized my hands were getting pretty scraped up from the rough surface. Rather than completing the task, I decided that I might need my hands in the next few days. My friends were still pretty impressed though, especially after seeing the damage.
I'm afraid I won't be able to post the upper and lower body routines as I had planned. I have been doing the exercises that came with my Swiss ball with some slight variations. However, after looking at the chart that explains the motions, I can't find names for the exercises, making it that much harder to describe what I have been doing. However, I can safely say that both upper and lower body routines involved ab work and I have seen more results from this that anything before.
With that being said, it is almost time to change it up and shock my muscles again, so I am listing what I have available at home in hopes of any suggestions that will help with my new set of short term goals listed at the end.
Available Equipment
The trusty treadmill.
My Swiss ball.
A pull-up bar (door frame).
A Bowflex Sport.
An old weight bench that I would have to pull out of storage with around 200 pounds of free weights if I remember correctly.
I decided to take my measurements today since it had been a while since the last attempt. These should be at least a little more accurate than last time.
Waist: 34
Hips: 40.5
Forearm: 10.5
Wrist: 6.5
Neck: 14
I've also decided that Mondays will be when I weigh in for the week. I'll give an update on that sometime tomorrow.
With that in mind, I still seem to be losing weight at a pretty good pace, so I plan to continue the cutting. My current short term goal is to get it somewhere under 175, depending on tomorrow's weight. If that goes well, I may either shoot for 170 or begin a light bulk when I seem to plateau.
Thanks for reading everyone!
Miles Logged in 2008: 25.00
Two miles, followed by a full body workout, and then another mile to cool down. I was feeling really good, and I'm starting to become a believer out of rest days like never before.
Last night involved some of the first indications of improvement. The first involved chasing two cats around campus...don't ask, haha.
The second was a challenge put forth kind of randomly. We were next to a small parking garage, and a friend didn't think that I would be able to pull myself up to the next level. I did rather easily until I realized my hands were getting pretty scraped up from the rough surface. Rather than completing the task, I decided that I might need my hands in the next few days. My friends were still pretty impressed though, especially after seeing the damage.
I'm afraid I won't be able to post the upper and lower body routines as I had planned. I have been doing the exercises that came with my Swiss ball with some slight variations. However, after looking at the chart that explains the motions, I can't find names for the exercises, making it that much harder to describe what I have been doing. However, I can safely say that both upper and lower body routines involved ab work and I have seen more results from this that anything before.
With that being said, it is almost time to change it up and shock my muscles again, so I am listing what I have available at home in hopes of any suggestions that will help with my new set of short term goals listed at the end.
Available Equipment
The trusty treadmill.
My Swiss ball.
A pull-up bar (door frame).
A Bowflex Sport.
An old weight bench that I would have to pull out of storage with around 200 pounds of free weights if I remember correctly.
I decided to take my measurements today since it had been a while since the last attempt. These should be at least a little more accurate than last time.
Waist: 34
Hips: 40.5
Forearm: 10.5
Wrist: 6.5
Neck: 14
I've also decided that Mondays will be when I weigh in for the week. I'll give an update on that sometime tomorrow.
With that in mind, I still seem to be losing weight at a pretty good pace, so I plan to continue the cutting. My current short term goal is to get it somewhere under 175, depending on tomorrow's weight. If that goes well, I may either shoot for 170 or begin a light bulk when I seem to plateau.
Thanks for reading everyone!
Miles Logged in 2008: 25.00
This morning's weight: 177.4
After eating some yogurt, I ran two miles before I started getting ready for work.
When I was done shaving, I stepped back onto the scale out of curiosity. This time it read 176.4, a whole pound lighter. I knew I sweat a lot, but dang! A whole pound of water weight?!
Miles Logged in 2008: 27.00
After eating some yogurt, I ran two miles before I started getting ready for work.
When I was done shaving, I stepped back onto the scale out of curiosity. This time it read 176.4, a whole pound lighter. I knew I sweat a lot, but dang! A whole pound of water weight?!
Miles Logged in 2008: 27.00
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Another mile followed by upper body work.
As promised long ago, here are some pics of my current state. They're black and white to hide the tanlines I've had for too long
Sorry about the overall quality. I don't have much experience taking pictures of myself.
Like I've said several times, I've still got a while to go, but this is the first time I've had the courage to put up pictures.
As promised long ago, here are some pics of my current state. They're black and white to hide the tanlines I've had for too long
Sorry about the overall quality. I don't have much experience taking pictures of myself.Like I've said several times, I've still got a while to go, but this is the first time I've had the courage to put up pictures.
Another two miles. That was rough. I broke down and had a donut instead of my normal yogurt this morning, so my body wasn't expecting that. Still, I think I'm getting the hang of this cardio thing, even if I'm not liking it too much
I'm logging three miles since I forgot last night's.
Miles Logged in 2008: 30.00 (10% there, baby!)
I'm logging three miles since I forgot last night's.
Miles Logged in 2008: 30.00 (10% there, baby!)
Another mile tonight. Slowly but surely I'm gaining ground.
Instead of the normal upper body workout I tried something different tonight. Inspired by the pushup challenges I've read in different topics, I decided to try my own. I got to 150 on the Swiss ball before my arms started giving out and my form was suffering. Sets were 30, 20, 30, 30, 30, and 10. The set of twenty was when I thought I wasn't going to be able to make it to 100, but I dug deep and went farther, even if it did take me close to half an hour.
To go along with the Spartan theme of this journal and my small cardio goal, I aim to be able to complete 300 pushups in the same amount of time.
Miles Logged in 2008: 34.00
Instead of the normal upper body workout I tried something different tonight. Inspired by the pushup challenges I've read in different topics, I decided to try my own. I got to 150 on the Swiss ball before my arms started giving out and my form was suffering. Sets were 30, 20, 30, 30, 30, and 10. The set of twenty was when I thought I wasn't going to be able to make it to 100, but I dug deep and went farther, even if it did take me close to half an hour.
To go along with the Spartan theme of this journal and my small cardio goal, I aim to be able to complete 300 pushups in the same amount of time.
Miles Logged in 2008: 34.00
Good question.
Right now I don't want to get much bigger if at all. I'm wanting to get more definition before I make that decision though. At the moment, I'm thinking a strong, lean look suits me more with my smallish frame.
I've started to track my calories much closer than before, but I'm still kind of new to the concept. Before I was just concerned with "eating healthy." I signed up for a FitDay account yesterday, so hopefully that will help a lot.
Right now I don't want to get much bigger if at all. I'm wanting to get more definition before I make that decision though. At the moment, I'm thinking a strong, lean look suits me more with my smallish frame.
I've started to track my calories much closer than before, but I'm still kind of new to the concept. Before I was just concerned with "eating healthy." I signed up for a FitDay account yesterday, so hopefully that will help a lot.
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Thanks for the comments!
Right now, I'm only doing body weight exercises with my Swiss ball. Before that was some light Bowflex training, and soon I hope to bring my free weights out of storage to change things up again.
Today, however, time was short. I had time for a mile on the treadmill before working on my abs:
2 sets of 50 crunches
2 sets of 25 oblique crunches (50 total on each side)
2 sets of 25 leg raises (50 total on each side)
2 more sets of 50 crunches
I'm doing more research on dividing my workouts so that I target specific groups on certain days, leading to a better schedule overall.
Miles Logged in 2008: 35.00
Right now, I'm only doing body weight exercises with my Swiss ball. Before that was some light Bowflex training, and soon I hope to bring my free weights out of storage to change things up again.
Today, however, time was short. I had time for a mile on the treadmill before working on my abs:
2 sets of 50 crunches
2 sets of 25 oblique crunches (50 total on each side)
2 sets of 25 leg raises (50 total on each side)
2 more sets of 50 crunches
I'm doing more research on dividing my workouts so that I target specific groups on certain days, leading to a better schedule overall.
Miles Logged in 2008: 35.00
Thanks. This is why I joined. I've been mislead like so many others on how to best achieve results. I guess it's time to bring in the weight training.
Other than the information on the site, do you suggest any more material on exercise in general? I look every time I'm in a bookstore, but I'm overwhelmed and don't want to be misled again.
This morning I logged another two miles. After work this afternoon I will step things up again.
Miles Logged in 2008: 37.00
Other than the information on the site, do you suggest any more material on exercise in general? I look every time I'm in a bookstore, but I'm overwhelmed and don't want to be misled again.
This morning I logged another two miles. After work this afternoon I will step things up again.
Miles Logged in 2008: 37.00
Thanks, I'll be sure to pick up the book, hopefully this weekend. You have no idea how much help you've been, Derwyddon!
This misinformation is definitely what has hindered me in the past. I'm sure I'm not the only one to follow a fad workout until I get frustrated with the lack of results, causing me to quit until the next fad hits in the awful cycle.
The latest was based off a book on the "Navy SEAL workout," and got me into body weight exercises. I still believe they're great for what they do, but when somebody begins to lose weight, they lose the resistance they need to progress. Now that I've realized that, it kind of seems counterproductive.
So tomorrow is my rest day, which is convenient. I hope that I am able to bring the weights back out like I keep saying, but that is a decent workout itself. I might make a run to Books-A-Million in search of the book too.
I also decided to focus even more on my cardio until I learn more. It may be a bit much, but I'm afraid of doing something wrong and either injuring myself or waste time. It's much harder to go wrong with jogging.
With that in mind, I ran another two miles tonight.
Miles Logged in 2008: 39.00
This misinformation is definitely what has hindered me in the past. I'm sure I'm not the only one to follow a fad workout until I get frustrated with the lack of results, causing me to quit until the next fad hits in the awful cycle.
The latest was based off a book on the "Navy SEAL workout," and got me into body weight exercises. I still believe they're great for what they do, but when somebody begins to lose weight, they lose the resistance they need to progress. Now that I've realized that, it kind of seems counterproductive.
So tomorrow is my rest day, which is convenient. I hope that I am able to bring the weights back out like I keep saying, but that is a decent workout itself. I might make a run to Books-A-Million in search of the book too.
I also decided to focus even more on my cardio until I learn more. It may be a bit much, but I'm afraid of doing something wrong and either injuring myself or waste time. It's much harder to go wrong with jogging.
With that in mind, I ran another two miles tonight.
Miles Logged in 2008: 39.00
I do, but I'm rarely online. It seems to be a bit too addicting for me, so I try to stay away unless I have to. Then again, I may have to take you up on that sometime if I have a specific question. Thanks!
Still in the process of getting the free weights ready to use. Taking much longer than I thought. With that in mind, I spent my time on the cardio like I had planned. I logged four miles in 45 minutes. I've never spent so long on my treadmill before. It was an enlightening experience.
Since I wasn't used to it, I ran half a mile, then walked a quarter mile and repeated until the last half mile. With that, I walked a sixth of a mile and ran the last third.
Uggh....fractions hurt, haha.
Miles Logged in 2008: 43.00
Still in the process of getting the free weights ready to use. Taking much longer than I thought. With that in mind, I spent my time on the cardio like I had planned. I logged four miles in 45 minutes. I've never spent so long on my treadmill before. It was an enlightening experience.
Since I wasn't used to it, I ran half a mile, then walked a quarter mile and repeated until the last half mile. With that, I walked a sixth of a mile and ran the last third.
Uggh....fractions hurt, haha.
Miles Logged in 2008: 43.00
Weighed in at 175.4 this morning. That felt good. I think I can actually tell a difference just from last week's pictures, so I might take some more later this week.
I ordered New Rules of Lifting this afternoon and finally got the weights out. Yay progress! I could have bought the book today, but didn't want to pay the price they were asking for. Instead, I got in nearly ten dollars cheaper at the cost of waiting a few days. I can live with that. Until it comes in, I will be focusing on the longer cardio sessions. I think they're actually starting to grow on me
With that, I logged another four miles tonight, pretty much the same as last night, just a bit faster.
Miles Logged in 2008: 47.00
I ordered New Rules of Lifting this afternoon and finally got the weights out. Yay progress! I could have bought the book today, but didn't want to pay the price they were asking for. Instead, I got in nearly ten dollars cheaper at the cost of waiting a few days. I can live with that. Until it comes in, I will be focusing on the longer cardio sessions. I think they're actually starting to grow on me
With that, I logged another four miles tonight, pretty much the same as last night, just a bit faster.
Miles Logged in 2008: 47.00
I would suggest buying jillian michaels first book, winning by losing. I bought it on friday, and finished it today. It's very enlightning. she talks about taking weightloss from three approaches, self, science, and sweat.
It really showed me that I have to belive in myself to succeed.
It really showed me that I have to belive in myself to succeed.
Looks like a good one. I might just have to pick that one up as soon as I finish New Rules. Thanks, Christi!
Just a short update before work. Ran another three miles this morning, plus took some new pics to show the change that can take place in just a week (at least in my eyes). They should be up later today. I'll probably just link to the topic in the pics forum this time instead of taking up room here.
Miles Logged in 2008: 53.00
Just a short update before work. Ran another three miles this morning, plus took some new pics to show the change that can take place in just a week (at least in my eyes). They should be up later today. I'll probably just link to the topic in the pics forum this time instead of taking up room here.
Miles Logged in 2008: 53.00
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