JCC 2017 Fitness Goals

Oh the walk in the pure, crisp cold felt so good this morning. I feel so alive on days like this.

In addition to walking and reading my positive thinking book, I am stretching using the Ultimate Flexibility a complete guide to stretching for Martial Arts book again. Also picked up the Shaolin Workout book which compliments the UF book in that some stretches are show from a variety of angles instead of head on; plus there are meditations in this second book which aren't sappy*. I realize where I am now requires me to take the initiative. And the stretching has already helped my knees and at work.

*Thankfully, there are no cranky old sifus telling me I have to carry two pails of water up many, many stairs. I'll leave that to the pros.

 

Have you mastered walking on rice paper?

 

Got my average monthly workouts above 15 for 2016, so I'm pretty happy with that. That's a 50% rate, basically. This year, looking to increase that to 20/month. With that, however, comes a need to incorporate more strength / muscle building workouts. I find myself 90% of the time (or more) doing a cardio workout. Which is fine and dandy, but there's a reason I've been on a weight plateau for two years (well, multiple reasons). Need to do better about travel and using more of the hotel fitness center. I too often just slump into the treadmill and blame fatigue/exhaustion/etc. for not pushing myself.

My nutritional lifestyle (I refuse to call it a diet, because you go and come from diets) has been stable (and a boon to my overall health) for three years now. That's worth celebrating. I'd like to take it a step further this year and learn to cook with Tofu, incorporating that in at least once per week. Anyone got tips and good recipes? I've found one tofu that I enjoy out to eat - in Spring Rolls at Tokyo Joe's.

With that in mind, I'm not setting a scale goal this year. I still haven't reached the one I set three years ago, but I'm about a trillion times healthier. I wouldn't mind losing another pant size, and I'd love it for this year my doctor to not say "all your vitals look good, but your bad cholesterol is just barely outside the range of good, so I'd like to see you get that down".

 

Just went for another hike in the woods. There's a hard icy crust on top of the snow today. It would almost always hold my foot up for just a moment, then break and drop me about 6-8 inches into soft snow. Walking through that stuff is exhausting and not fun.

 

a new inspiration for us all? 105 year-old cyclist

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38514422

 

you did a tri last year, right ? I've done a mini tri, thinking of doing a duathlon this year, if I can find one with a pool-based swim-not sure I want to fork out loads of dosh for a wetsuit if I'm only going to use it rarely (also not sure my build is suiting to open water swims, being a skinny git)

 

Have started using dumbells recently to raise my arm strength. Also going for walks, cause the dogs need walking haha! Though did get sun burnt which is a bummer.


Also if anyone is interested:
http://themindunleashed.com/2015/09...-yogi-from-turkey-who-looks-half-his-age.html

 

Now you're talking!

I wish more people would do strength training. Strength is like the vessel that holds the other physical qualities. The more strength; the more capacity for endurance. I'm all for building a bit of muscle, too, but for most athletes this isn't desirable. Strength, on the other hand, is key to performance in pretty much any sport.

Gratuitous picture of elite endurance athletes working on strength in an attempt to jedi mind trick all the distance runners here into incorporating some squats, lunges, deadlifts and turkish get ups into their regime

 

personal fitness goal for 2017.

Lose 65 lbs. (actually started on this one 25 Dec.)

How? Improved diet and a daily exercise program.

Hunh? More fruit, more water. Less breads, no full sugar soft drinks, reduced meal portions.

Type exercise? walking and cycling to cardio for 20 minutes daily.

challenges: injured knee, back injury, shoulder injury.

status: I'm gonna shank the bum who left donuts at my desk.

but: I've lost 6 lbs since starting. which aint bad, considering the holidays.

 

This is so true!
And it's a lot more fun than it looks! My first major in college was exercise physiology, we had a strength and conditioning class which had a lab that was all weight lifting. We had to learn to do it safely ourselves, and then teach two other people. I was pretty obsessed with doing power cleans.
Unfortunately, I fell out of practice after the class was over because people in the gyms I went to weren't very nice about girls lifting. (This was quite a few years ago, and long before Cross-Fit became a huge thing, so attitudes might have changed) and it kinda sullied the experience for me.


The gym in my building only has the bar on a track (looking it up, it's called a Smith Machine?), so I stick to using dumbbells.

 

Did about 4 miles of cross-country skiing last weekend, snow was perfect. But we had some freezing rain a couple days ago and now you practically need ice skates to travel through the forest.

 

those are called rip-currents. going out is easy. getting back is a cast iron bantha.

 

is Pittsburgh as cold as places like Green Bay & Chicago ?

I may have to go alone to swim pool tomorrow, my better half not keen on winter swimming. Something about wet hair or similar

 

Congratulations, yeurgh! Why didn't you tell us you had a contract to model for a photo shoot?

 

Ah, ok, my secret 'other' life as Conan the Smurf has been outed

Crom, I have never smurfed to you before, I have no smurf for it etc.

 

Do you wanna smurf forever?

 

Smurf you, Crom.

 

Conan! What is best in life?
To smurf your enemies, see them smurf before you, and to hear the lamentations of their smurfs!