Climbing out the Well

[Ceolobo]

Hello everyone,

I'm Sam, a new face in this community, and looking to build fitness again after about 15 years of a heavily sedentary lifestyle coupled with major depressive phases and disordered eating. That's the titular bottom of the well I find myself in. After having spent my teenage years very involved in sports, it's been a struggle to face the reality of the point I now have to start from, and I've had my share of attempts at a fitness habit throughout the past decade. All of those ended in me either getting terribly bored with the program or overdoing it and suffering setbacks early on.

This time around, I'm setting myself some handrails that I'd like to stick to so that the journey to a fitter, healthier me is more likely to be a continuous one:

1. Start slow. I picked out the "Baseline" program to follow, as it pretty much picks me up where I am in terms of skill and endurance. Completing the Level 1 number of sets feels strenuous enough that I get the sense of having done something without feeling like I'm overtaxing my body or struggling so much that it is discouraging.
2. No stress over missed days. If I miss a day of workouts, I won't stress about it and tell myself I have to make up for it or start over to get it right. I'll just continue the program where I left off the next day I manage to work out.
3. Mix it up. If I look at a scheduled set of exercises and get that dread feeling of boredom, I will just find a different workout to do. No more forcing myself to stick with a program to the point of hating the process.

There's also a ton of other stuff that I'm trying to fix in my life right now, but I do feel like moving around more is a good starting point for all of it as it can help me feel accomplished and energized and break through the inertia of just sitting at my desk and gaming all day.

I also hope to get involved with the community here a bit. I'm not big on the typical forms of accountability like being checked in on and nagged about whether I completed my workouts, but a back and forth of encouragement and positivity is always welcome.

Cheers to everyone,
Sam

 

[Ceolobo]

I'll start this off directly with my first two days of logging:

Tuesday, 26.11.2024
Baseline Program Day 1
- 10 chest expansions
- 10-count raised arms hold
- 10 wide arm circles
- 10 arm circles
3 sets completed

Notes: Good to start off with upper body as that's easier for me. Relieved shoulder and neck stiffness a lot. Feeling the burn during those arm circles.

Wednesday, 27.11.2024
Baseline Program Day 2
- 10 sit to stand
- 10 side leg raises
- 10 calf raises
- 10 side bends
3 sets completed

Notes: First set of sit to stand was very wobbly, second and third got more stable. Side leg raises difficult to perform correctly, felt very jerky especially on the left side. Side bends relieved lower back pain. Endurance was taxed but not overtaxed during sit to stand and leg raises.

 

[Mamatigerj]

Welcome to the Hive! It looks to be a solid plan, and you are off to a great start.

 

[Fremen]

Welcome

 

[Anek]

Hello and welcome!

 

[MadamMeow]

Nice to meet you!

 

[princess_sarena]

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii new person!!! Lovely to meet you

 

[aku-chan]

 

[Ceolobo]

Hey again!

Thank you all for the warm welcome and the encouragement. The motivation train is still running strong. Today, I even found myself doing my workout earlier than intended after already thinking "eh, I can just do it after lunch." Now lunch isn't even here yet, but I can already log my success.

Thursday, 28.11.2024
Baseline Program Day 3
- 10 hip rotations
- 10-count balance hold
- 20 chest expansions
- 20 alt chest expansions
3 sets completed

Notes: This one felt pretty easy, although I could feel the burn in my shoulders on the last set of chest expansions. Hip rotations felt choppy, it's definitely good to work on mobility there. Balance hold worked well on the right leg, but I had some difficulty on the left leg. This is a bit surprising as I expected to have more difficulty with the right side which is where I've torn the forward ankle ligament twice in the past.

Overall, I'm having fun with it so far and I'm already noticing an improvement in my day-to-day mental state. In part it's probably also that the weather has gotten nicer over the past couple of days, but I feel more mentally present and a bit more energized. It's just a little easier to do the things necessary to feel like an actual human being rather than a blob of misery. Big win there. ^^

 

[Ceolobo]

Another day, another workout. A bit late today and it took some convincing myself to do it, as I'd had a busy day already. Sorting out finances and e-mails and getting a fresh haircut to feel like myself again. I'm proud of myself that I stuck to it, though, and did the workout.

Friday, 29.11.2024
Baseline Program Day 4
- 10 side jacks
- 10 step jacks
- 20 raised arms clench/unclench
- 20 raised arms side clench/unclench
3 sets completed

Notes: Another easy one in terms of exertion. The heart rate did go up a little during the side and step jacks, but I feel I was hampered there by not having the motion coordination down that well. So I did them relatively slowly to not mess up the form completely. Raised arms hand clenches felt extremely easy.

 

[Ceolobo]

No workout yesterday, but today I got right back to it with Day 5 of the Baseline program. I'm challenging myself to not feel negative about the missed day, and am very proud that I managed to just do the next workout today without much fuss.

Sunday, 01.12.2024
Baseline Program Day 5
- 10 sit to stands
- 10 calf raises
- 20 arm scissors
- 20 scissor chops
3 sets completed

Notes: Sit to stands are still tough, but worked much better than on day 2 of the program. Notably less instability in the knees and slightly less taxing on my endurance as well. Calf raises were good for the achilles tendon. Arm exercises very easy.

 

[Ceolobo]

Today was a difficult day. Due to a mix of ADHD and depression, some days are really difficult to get through in terms of executive function, to the point where I have to put things like "Take a shower" on my to-do list and treat it as the challenging task that it is on that day. I did manage to get myself going by interspersing small tasks with a bit of Stardew Valley gaming, and it worked out pretty well. I got all of my basic necessity tasks (personal hygiene, taking out some trash, doing some laundry, workout) done, as well as some extra tidying. For a day like today, that's a win.

Monday, 02.12.2024
Baseline Program Day 6
- 20 march steps
- 10 hip rotations
- 20 arm raises
- 20 arm circles
3 sets completed

Notes: March steps were fun, I got into a kind of bouncy rhythm, trying to get my knees up high and making the motion snappy. Arm raises and shoulders got me a bit of a burn in the final set. Hip rotations still feel stiff, but starting to get a bit better.

 

[Ceolobo]

Another bad brain day today, but I'm doing what I can. I hope I can soon feel the sense of achievement again that can go with checking things off my list. Hate it when those pathways just seem to shut off and I get no positive feelings out of completing tasks. -.-
Ah well. This will also pass again. Until then, I'm doing my best to keep on going without overloading myself.

Tuesday, 03.12.2024
Baseline Program Day 7
- 20 arm extensions
- 10-count raised arms hold front
- 20 arm raises
- 10-count raised arms hold side
3 sets completed

Notes: Focused on keeping my shoulders down and back during all exercises. Felt weirdly weak today. Arm workouts are usually easier for me, but today the movements felt kind of choppy. Probably just an off day.

 

[Ceolobo]

I took a day off from everything yesterday. No workout, no attempts to do household stuff, etc. Perhaps that was exactly what I needed, because today I'm feeling better and more energetic again. I'll still take it slow, just in case I was overtaxing myself already with the amount of tasks before yesterday.

Thursday, 05.12.2024
Baseline Program Day 8
- 10 sit-to-stands
- 10 heel raises
- 10 side bends
- 10 hip rotations
3 sets completed

Notes: I focused strongly on form over speed today. All movements felt more stable and fluid, so I can definitely feel an improvement in mobility and body control. Sit-to-stands are still taxing on my endurance and thigh strength, but my knees feel a lot less wobbly while performing them.