Goal + Action = Reality

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Posture challenge Day 28
Calves of Steel challenge Day 14
Daily step goal
Treadmill, 30mins while reading
Rehab squats 3 x 10
Single-leg balance on balance board 30secs es
Leg drills - hadn't done some of these for years. I'll probably feel them tomorrow...

Yesterday I fed the wrong wolf.

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Posture challenge Day 29
Calves of Steel challenge Day 15
Daily step goal
Treadmill, 35mins, ZR 5k training, W2, W/O3 I don't really like running. Why then, TN, you ask, why do you do it? Well, I like having run! While I'm doing it, it's not really much fun, but when it's over, such a sense of achievement!
Decline biceps curl 3 x 10
Shoulder press 3 x 12
Single-arm row 3 x 12es
Cross-body lateral raise 2 x 10 (just now realised I hadn't done the third set. Oh well)
Lat pull-down 3 x 10

Dug out the Advent calendar I bought late last year (or possibly early this year). Very excited. It's tea! A different tea every day. Also gearing up for Fit December, and, of course, the Snowball Fight!

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Calves of Steel challenge Day 16
Push-up Streak Day 1 - yes, I know I'm 'late' starting this month's challenge at the end of the month, but I decided to do it a) as wall push-ups - yes, I could have done the Wall Push-up challenge but I didn't want to do those progressions, because b) as finger-tip push-ups. A challenge indeed with hyper-mobile fingers which is kind of the point. I have to tense my fingers to ensure they don't lock out the wrong way. Basically, I want to strengthen my fingers and this seems like a good way to give it a go. Let's see how it all works out.
Daily step goal
Treadmill, 30mins while reading
35 mins various mobility exercises

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Calves of Steel challenge Day 17
Push-up Streak Day 2
2 Minute Mobility Day 1 I adapted this slightly, doing 15 sec external rotation and 15 sec internal rotation each side. And I made sure I changed direction of the torso rotation halfway through.
Fit December Day 1
Daily step goal
Stationary bike, 40min Norwegian 4x4
Decline biceps curl 3 x 10
Shoulder press 3 x 12
Single-arm row 3 x 12
Lat pulldown 3 x 10

Got the Advent calendars (including my Advent tree) up. Had my first cup of tea from the tea one. Interesting.

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Tea advent calendar here too Enjoy the discovery!

 

[agc]

Push-up Streak Day 1 - yes, I know I'm 'late' starting this month's challenge at the end of the month, but I decided to do it

You know what, I might start this challenge too (tomorrow - I'm about to go to bed!). I've missed the boat on doing it with the rest of Darebee so it'll be good to have someone to go through it with, albeit a few days behind.

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Calves of Steel challenge Day 18
Push-up Streak Day 3
2 Minute Mobility Day 2
Fit December Day 2
Daily step goal
Grip training

Had to go out today so didn't bother with the treadmill walk - I just parked further away.

@agc Don't want to harsh your vibe, mate, but I'll not be doing this challenge every day so you'll likely not only catch up, but pass me. Given I'm doing them on my fingertips, I think it wise to give these hypermobile dactyls of mine the occasional day off every now and again. Yeah, call me a wuss.

 

[agc]

@agc Don't want to harsh your vibe, mate, but I'll not be doing this challenge every day so you'll likely not only catch up, but pass me. Given I'm doing them on my fingertips, I think it wise to give these hypermobile dactyls of mine the occasional day off every now and again.
Yeah, call me a wuss.

All good, take care of your fingers!

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Calves of Steel challenge Day 19
Push-up Streak Day 4
2 Minute Mobility Day 3
Fit December Day 3
Daily step goal
Treadmill, 34min. As earlier said, I don't really like running but I think it's worth doing a bit of occasionally. To that end, I shall do a weekly session of: 10min walking warm-up, 10mins walk/run drills (like the ZR ones), and then 10mins gentle running, followed by a few minutes cool-down. That's as much running as I want to do. Today I nearly quit doing that ten minutes (it is still hard for me, due to the lack of rebound), but I told myself that my legs were tired, not burning painfully, that I was panting but not gasping for breath, so there was absolutely no reason to quit before the ten minutes were up. Think, I told myself, how much better you'll feel knowing you ran the whole time and didn't wimp out. Sometimes I actually listen to myself!
Biceps curl 3 x 10
Shoulder press 3 x 12
Lat pull-down 3 x 10
Grip training

'Tis the time of year to re-evaluate. No point in starting that at the beginning of the year - I've got to be ready to go! So I've spent about a month building myself a personalised programme, looking at really, conscientiously, rebuilding my knee and associated bits (VMO, quad). I've had to add in

this darned femoroacetabular impingement, but if I want to be mobile in my old age (or even in my middle age), I've got to fix myself up and if that means dropping my ego down the loo and starting again with chair squats to build the muscle, then that's what I'll do. So I've got three "heavy" days of cardio (Norwegian 4x4, running, incline walk) with weights, three light days of cardio with leg skills (primarily Taekwondo drills that I haven't done in an absolute age and decided to sneak in here), and one day of mobility/flexibility/yoga/pilates - probably do a follow-along or two, each week. There is also balance training included, and grip. Enough to keep me interested. And then, of course, there'll be the occasional Darebee thing - Fit December, right now, and the Snowball Fight to come. It's taken a while because I've really drilled down to what I have to do, plus what I want to do (gotta keep it fun too!) - in short, this programme would suit nobody but your mate, TN. Still doing a bit of tweaking, especially re the FAI - how much glute work (really, as much as possible!), when to upgrade, etc etc. I could wait until the New Year to begin this, but what's the point of that? I've already (loosely) started, and it'll firm up over the next couple of weeks.

If Australia was sensible (then there'd be a lot of crap we wouldn't have to be dealing with, but hey), but if it were, we would start our seasons at the solstices and equinoctes like normal people (and like I personally do) and then we would not have just recorded our first, in 100 years, sub-zero summer temperature.

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Calves of Steel challenge Day 20
Push-up Streak Day 5
2 Minute Mobility Day 4
Fit December Day 4 - hall pass
Daily step goal
Treadmill, 30 mins while reading
Balance
Grip

So much for my fine words yesterday. I realise that in dealing with the FAI, some of the things I've put in my programme will have to be put on hold for a little while, probably a couple of months. Not cancelled, just delayed. That's all right because nothing is time-sensitive. Even Fit December is going to present a few problems as quite a number of exercises are hip-centric and that's not good for me yet. Some days I can just increase the number of reps of the exercise(s) I can do, but other days, such as today and tomorrow, will have to be Hall Passes. I want to continue with the programme, like to participate in the event, but I must also recognise that right now there are some things (okay, a lot of things) that I should avoid doing. It happens. Not the end of the world. FAI takes some time to recover from, especially with hEDS, but I'll get there. Just have to be moderate.

Made a mistake today. I planted a couple of little strawberry plants in my strawberry pot and left it unguarded outside. Went inside to try to figure out what the heck was going on with the roll of chicken wire I'd bought. It took me about 15 minutes to unwind the 7m of narrow-gauge wire wound around the chicken wire (which had also been wrapped in plastic because we can never have too much single-use plastic floating around the place, right?). You know, if I had really wanted 7m of wire, I'd have bought myself some. On a reel to make it useable. Not wound around and through a roll of chicken wire! What Einstein thought that was a bright idea! Anyway, by the time I got out again, the chickens had eaten off every leaf from my baby strawberry plants. Rotters. The pot is fenced off now and I hope there is enough left for them to regrow. I've put a barrier around one of the veg beds and tomorrow I'll do the other before planting them up. Honestly - chickens, can't live with them, can't eat them. Wait, hold on...

 

[CODawn]

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Calves of Steel challenge Day 21
2 Minute Mobility I realised this morning that I definitely should not be doing this challenge. Not the hip things. I wink at them in Wake up! because I've been doing that for a while now and it's a habit, but I don't think it would be wise to push it too much. I can do every second day of this challenge and I shall because I find that last 20 seconds of arm circles to be... challenging.
Fit December Day 5 - hall pass. Hip stuff
Daily step goal
Treadmill, 40mins 1-11% incline and down again. This too I shall have to cut back on. Reduce the incline, spend longer on a flat cool-down. Next time.
Wrist curls 3 x 20
Reverse wrist curls 3 x 10 - same weight but wow!
Incline rows 3 x 10
Banded pull-aparts 3 x 10. Note, if you have some old therabands lying around, test them carefully before using them. They tend to snap when they get old! Like some people I know...

I find I'm not really so disappointed by the derailment of my plans. I've reframed it all. I can introduce some of my plan, and that's fine. Get used to part of it and then slowly introduce more. Less likely to burn out that way. Easier to see if bits work as I hope. The hip is already starting to feel better, but this is really just a relaxation time for it, a loosening up and a calming down of guarding. Once it's totally calm, I can s-l-o-w-l-y start to build up to prevent a recurrence, but that's a way down the track. Last night I slept (as recommended) with a small pillow between my knees and that made the hip feel so much better. Or rather, it didn't hurt. It doesn't really matter which because I got a decent sleep.

Warming up here. Creed came in panting from lying outside in the sun and dropped down onto the concrete floor with a crash. You'd think falling to a hard surface with that impact would hurt but he doesn't seem to mind.

 

[Mamatigerj]

Sounds like you have a solid plan, but adding some.

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Calves of Steel challenge Day 22
Fit December Day 6 - ouch
Daily step goal
Treadmill, 30mins while reading.

I'm thinking of packing myself up in a box and putting me away for a bit. I have a list of things I am allowed to do and another (longer) list of things that are currently prohibited. But that latter list gets a bit longer if I do something I'm "allowed" to do but it causes issues. Like squats. Even really shallow ones. And apparently I've got to cut back on the walks for a little while too. Not long, perhaps just a few days. Shorter and slower. Okay, I can do that. But...grr. It's frustrating.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

I am sorry for the frustrations @TopNotch .

for a speedy (er... well: a ramping up of speediness, shall we say--things have already dragged on for a bit, I know) recovery.

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Calves of Steel challenge Day 23
Fit December Day 7 - butt kicks. Yay... No, really, I'm very glad there is that option. Tomorrow will be a shoo-in!
Push-up Streak Day 6
Daily step goal

You know all those tasks you have lying around the house, those ones that you don't have to do, or at least not right now, but one day, when you get around to them? Well, I did one of those tasks this morning, and the whole world was suddenly brighter (and no, it didn't involve opening the curtains!). So, fired up, and otherwise having a very gentle day, I did another. Bam! Same thing! This really makes it worth leaving those fiddly little tasks around for ages, just so you get that fantastic feeling when finally you do one! But I was not going to use up all my pleasures in one day - I will be sure to spread them around. I stopped after two.

And because today I'm scraping around looking for that bit of sunshine (and I don't mean the real stuff outside because it's getting hot here, and fires are already burning. We've had a horribly dry spring, and summer is looking like being below average for rainfall too and that's not good news!), this evening I pulled out the corrugated chip cutter I'd bought a bit back and sliced my potato into crinkle-cut chips. So instead of the normal little cubes that have been coming out of my air-fryer, tonight I had lovely wavey sticks. Nice to have a change.

 

[agc]

Fit December Day 7 - butt kicks. Yay... No, really, I'm very glad there is that option. Tomorrow will be a shoo-in!

I feel like there was a missed opportunity for a kicking-related "shoe"-in pun here somewhere...

Hope you heal up and the list of exercise prohibitions gets shorter soon!

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Calves of Steel challenge Day 24
Fit December Day 8
Push-up Streak Day 7
Daily step goal

Had to go to the shops today. I hate shopping in December. I mean, it's not so bad yet but it makes me nervous. Fortunately I got what I needed. Even bought two more little strawberry plants to replace the ones my chickens ate. Who knew they liked strawberry plants? I'll make sure the wire is suitably around the planters before I plant anything more out!

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Calves of Steel challenge Day 25
Fit December Day 9
Push-up Streak Day 8
Daily step goal
Bicep curls 3 x 10
Seated shoulder press 3 x 10
Lat pull-down 3 x 10
Chest press 3 x 8

Spoiler: Rant on censorship

So the first stage of censorship officially kicks off tomorrow. The Lad has already been deleted from Snapchat which is a pain as it was the only way we communicated with each other. It's amazing what is considered "social media" by our e-karen. Even YouTube is included. If an adult decides to be a parent rather than let the government do it, and permits their child to post on their parent's account, that parent could find their account blocked. YouTube has parental controls, but only for account holders. Children can still access YouTube but not hold an account. It doesn't stop them seeing anything really, but removes any ability of their parents to control it. I reckon there'll be an awful lot of geoblocking happening, particularly after the 27th. It's not the job of the government to parent, but we all know that protecting children isn't the reason behind all this - it's censorship and enforcing population compliance. Nobody voted for this. Nobody wants this. In fact, parents of under-16s are the ones most against it.

 

[JesseW]

Congrats on the workout; the Sad emoji was for the censorship. That sucks.

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Calves of Steel challenge Day 26
Fit December Day 10
Push-up Streak Day 9
Daily step goal

My Christmas present arrived in the post today. I had to make sure they fit.

I told myself it was time to break away from the black and grey so I did. Mum remarked that I wouldn't see the pretty soles when I'm wearing them, but that's okay - they'll be seen by those who are eating my dust!

Looked at getting the dog to the groomers. The tip-tip-tip of his toenails on the floor is driving me batty! But most of them charge by size of dog. He'd be considered medium-large anywhere other than at a groomers, where apparently he's X-large. Based on weight. I had to haul him up and then step on the scales today. The oof he gave as the air was squeezed from his lungs was quite funny. He's gained weight in the year+ I've had him. 4kg, but he was probably still growing. He's 2 years 8 months old now, so I'd say he's fully grown. I really don't want him to getting any heavier than his current 38kg!

Footsy was sleeping on the windowsill. It's only about 10cm above floor-level. I heard a noise and looked in time to see her rolling onto the floor and on her back with her white belly showing. She had been so asleep that she'd rolled off! Then she fell back onto her side and lay there as if to say, what the heck just happened? I thought it hilariously funny (you probably had to be there!). She finally got up and curled up to sleep in my lap. It's safer there.

Today's tea from my Advent calendar will go undrunk. It's chamomile and I hate that!

I only get on here in the evening, generally not so long before bedtime, so I missed the early start of the Tree Decorations. I'm pretty sure I did push-ups a few years ago, but I didn't think I could face so many arm circles, and I think I've also done punches before, so push-ups it is! I'll crank out another 20 before bed to bring it up to 100 for today and try to match that tomorrow etc. Though doing them throughout the day... who knows?

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Oooh, what brand is it ? Still pondering such shoes sometimes.

 

[Lady Celerity]

It's not the job of the government to parent, but we all know that protecting children isn't the reason behind all this - it's censorship and enforcing population compliance. Nobody voted for this. Nobody wants this. In fact, parents of under-16s are the ones most against it.
[/SPOILER]

No, it's not the government's job to parent but if you work at a school it sure seems that way. I am appalled at the things today's parents allow their children to view and listen to. However that is the parent's choice (or lack of) and the government should butt out.

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Calves of Steel challenge Day 27
Fit December Day 11
Push-up Streak Day 10
Daily step goal
Dumbbell flyes 3 x 10
Bent-over flyes 3 x 10
Single-arm rows 3 x 10

Ornament 240 push-ups (340 in total)

@PetiteSheWolf these are Saguaro (Free 1, I think). Last year I bought some fleecy-lined winter boots that kept my toes lovely and warm - though of course I don't have to trek through snow. They were very comfortable, put away now though. I also have a pair of Vivobarefoot shoes which are also very comfortable. I wore them hiking through the Grampians last year and I can't fault them, but the Saguaro are about 1/4 the price. These ones cost me AUD56, while the Vivo were over 200.

 

[aku-chan]

I don't know why but Toe-Sneakers always freak me out a bit!

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Calves of Steel challenge Day 28
Fit December Day 12
Push-up Streak Day 11
Daily step goal

And for the Ornament, the last 160 push-ups. So I've got my Dragon Crystal. Actually, sod the crystal, I just wanted the Dragon!

@aku-chan There are some sorts that actually separate the toes but these aren't that. These are just shoes with an extra-wide toe box so your toes get to spread out just as they do when you're walking barefoot - hence 'barefoot shoes'. And they have flat soles, again like when you're walking barefoot. Most shoes have some sort of drop from heel to toe but barefoot shoes don't. You know when you've been out for a while and come home and the first thing you want to do is take off your shoes? That's because your poor little feet have been squished into them and as soon as you take them off, you feel so relieved. Imagine that relief while wearing shoes! No, this isn't some sort of ad and I was a little apprehensive myself before I tried them, but I don't wear shoes indoors, and I'd trained barefoot (because that's what you do with taekwondo), so transitioning to shoes that simply kept my feet clean was not a big deal. Another consideration for me was these were actually cheaper than a 'normal' pair of (semi-decent) shoes.

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Thank you for the informations, @TopNotch . By your experience, do these two brands size normal / small / big ? I am between 35 and 36, and only vivo has size 35, so size availability is gonna be a factor for me.

 

[TopNotch]

@PetiteSheWolf Saguaro goes down to 34, but I'd recommend going a little bigger than your usual, so for you, a 36. This is because 'normal' shoes tend to squash the foot a bit whereas barefoot shoes allow them to spread naturally, and then they seem to have 'grown'. Despite my wandering around barefoot most of the time, I went up one size in the barefoot shoes. Additionally, it's generally quite easy to return for a different size.

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Hmmm, I feel some shoes coming home using the January clearances, @TopNotch , thanks a lot!

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Calves of Steel challenge Day 29
Fit December Day 13
Push-up Streak Day 12 - only supposed to do 25 today but on such a roll from the last few days getting my ornament I stopped at 60 instead.
Daily step goal

This is why I tend to do my floor exercises when the dog's outside.

I mean, who enjoys an elbow in the sternum? (And no, that's not a euphemism!)

 

[Fremen]

You can do crunches with unbalanced animal weight

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Awe! Creed's helping! He loves you!

 

[CODawn]

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Fit December Day 14
Push-up Streak Day 13
Daily step goal

It has been a mite dull wandering around the house in order to get my daily step goal, but the hip is a lot better right now so I'm doing (or rather, not doing!) what I have to do (or not do, as the case may be).

@Fremen Not sure my unbalanced animal would permit that. Actually, on second thouhts, he probably would. He's recently discovered how to throw himself backwards onto me so that he ends up lying across my lap, all feet in the air. I put my arms under him and scoop him up - like an enormous and somewhat rigid baby. He loves it, and I practise Zercher curls!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Congratulations on secretly completing the Calves of Steel Challenge!

 

[NancyTree]

Yay for your dragon and steel calves!

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Fit December Day 15
Push-up Streak Day 14
Daily step goal
Inverted rows 2 x 10
Banded pull-aparts 3 x 10

Not exactly in a particularly positive mood today. Felt sad/teary/aggressive/bloody furious. Did a lot of push-ups.

@Laura Rainbow Dragon and @NancyTree Thanks, but I didn't finish the challenge. I never do.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

I saw the news out of your country this morning.
I am so sorry.

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Hugs regarding your mood and the antisemitic attack.

 

[Fremen]

 

[NancyTree]

@Laura Rainbow Dragon and @NancyTree Thanks, but I didn't finish the challenge. I never do.

I think, even with 29 days, you will get calves of steel. Or at least 29/30th part of your calves. Yay for that

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Fit December Day 16
Push-up Streak Day 15
Daily step goal

 

[Mamatigerj]

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Fit December Day 17 - it was nice to do a day for a change. I fear I'm going to run out of Hall Passes - I need about 16, so if anyone has spares...
Push-up Streak Day 16 - think I did just over 200 today. That should cover it.
Daily step goal

Eldest graduated from high school today. Even got an award of some kind for literature. I watched it all on the Livestream. In my day (now I sound like some old fart) you didn't graduate high school, you just finished and left, and on your last day you went around doing mildly reprehensible things like smear vegemite on door knobs, and then you sat back and waited for your exam results to be sent out in the mail to discover whether or not your points were high enough to get you a chance of getting into the university and course of your choice. Those were nerve-wracking days - make or break. Much easier now. Absolutely no stress. Anyway. I do sound like an old fart!

 

[agc]

In my day (now I sound like some old fart) you didn't graduate high school, you just finished and left, and on your last day you went around doing mildly reprehensible things like smear vegemite on door knobs, and then you sat back and waited for your exam results to be sent out in the mail to discover whether or not your points were high enough to get you a chance of getting into the university and course of your choice.

It was the same in my day too - exams and then done. I couldn't think of anything worse than having to go back to school for a graduation ceremony after exams!

Speaking of mildly reprehensible things, at my school one year a few students for their muck-up day pooled their money together and bought a bomb of a car identical to the chemistry teacher's car, parked it in clear view on the oval and smashed all the windows and put dents it, then picked up the teacher's actual car (it was a small car!) and hid it behind trees.

 

[WolfDreamer]

Much easier now. Absolutely no stress.

You sure about that?

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Here the school year (for kindergarten through high school) ends at the end of June. The school year (for all grades, as well as college and university) starts in September. In my day, my high school expected us to come back in October for a stupid graduation ceremony--four months after we'd written our last high school exam and, for many of us, a month and a half after we'd left town to attend university someplace else!

 

[TopNotch]

First Thing Water
Wake Up! Mobility
Fit December Day 18
Push-up Streak Day 17 - more moderate today, 140.
Daily step goal
Lat pull-down 4 x 10 - Lore is that you should do 1 pull-up (or equivalent sort of exercise) for every 3 (or is it 4?) push-ups to balance out, so I did that today.

Have I ever mentioned that I have the most stupid dog in the world? Here's yet more proof. Foolishly, I bought an interactive dog treat and ball dispenser. What this means is if the dog drops a ball into the hole at the top, it triggers the release of treats, and the ball also rolls out the front, to be dropped back in. Footsy got it pretty quickly and hung around waiting for the treats, but she's too small to drop a tennis ball in through the hole. Creed, on the other hand, simply didn't get it. At all. No matter what. Then he took the ball and... well, this is what happened to that ball:

Yep, that used to be a tennis ball. He's as thick as a plank. Good thing he's a nice dog.

@WolfDreamer I stand by what I said. I suppose it changes from place to place. When I went through it, the process had changed from what my older siblings had experienced. For them, 100% of their final marks rested on a 2-3 hour external examination. When I did it, it was only 75%. Everyone in the state was graded against everyone else, regardless of what resources and facilities the schools had offered the students, and it was a flat score, no loadings or off-sets. And the marks required to get into uni were higher than they are now. But that's just here.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Awe! Creed was very generously helping Footsy to get treats! Such a considerate soul!

 

[PetiteSheWolf]

Ha ha, what ? Balls are not to be chewed (to death, preferably, never know with these fiends!) ?!
Signed : Naxos the Good Doggo, AKA "Border collant" (sticky Border, insread of Border colleye), AKA "chien crétin" ("stupid dog") according to his hoooman, my older bro