Stronger everyday

Fremen

Fremen

Well-known member
Mercenary from Italy
Posts: 4,360
"“Keep an eye on the staircases. They like to change.” Percy Weasley, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone."
Congrats
:worried:
 
JohnStrong

JohnStrong

Well-known member
Commando from Alberta
Posts: 674
"If not me, who? If not now, when?"
1. Looking back at 2024, what worked and what didn't?
Listening to my body worked well for me, and bearing in mind the journey over the destination. Viewing exercise as 'experimentation' also kept things light mentally, and invited me to try new and different approaches. Taking a workout to level 2 or 3 was rarely decided beforehand; self-negotiation in the moment, based on how I was feeling and other environmental factors seemed to result in an amicable practice. If I opted out of some hard exercise I didn't feel disappointed. And then harder exercise was sometimes spontaneously chosen in the spirit of 'hell, why not?' or '1 set at a time'.

At one point I had too many fitness challenges cooking and it was a good reminder to not bite off more than I can chew and keep commitments flexible.

2. What are some areas of my fitness that have improved in the last year?
Certainly the daily habit has been fortified and every day my thoughts will naturally turn to how I'd like to exercise. I'm back to feeling confident in several movements, but burpees and pull-ups I'm particularly proud of feeling capable of. High knees no longer scare me (except when the interval exceeds 30 seconds, gulp!).

I'm pleased my back overall feels more stable and stitched together. No doubts that much more progress can be made here.

3. Is there anything I'd like to celebrate?
  • Defeating all levels on Volume #4!
  • Recovering from a shoulder injury and making them stronger than ever.
  • Becoming capable of pull-ups again.
  • Defeating Splinter. Chewing up and spitting out level 3 was a proud moment.

4. Looking ahead to 2025, do I have any fitness goals?
Overall, I maintain that my practice is largely rehabilitation from years of sedentary work. Therefore daily exercise that works my entire body encompasses my primary goal.

With a slow-and-steady attitude, I'm goaling to be able to comfortably perform 10 pull-ups with excellent form, 40 push-ups with excellent form, 2 minute planks, bring focus to jumping lunges (they really kick my butt!), take on a program to help improve flexibility in my kicks, and find/create a 'horse stance' challenge that could help me make *any* progress on what is a very intimidating practice.


5. If I brought 10% more creativity into my exercise practice, I would:
  • Jump like a frog, lunge like a swordmaster, punch like a streetfighter
  • Develop more dungeons/maps to collab on as a community
  • Wear something (e.g. wristband, ring, etc) that reminds me of journey over destination
  • Imagine my body had a board of directors - what concerns or guidance might they offer?
  • Workout somewhere new, outside, when weather permits
  • Try a class to mix it up and humble myself

6. If I brought 10% more mindfulness into my exercise practice, I would:
  • Remember that a body exerted is a body honoured
  • Stay in touch with how my body feels, every part of it
  • Avoid injury like respecting a friend
  • Remembering every little bit of effort counts, without exception
  • One set at a time
  • Inhale through the nose (and try exhaling too)
  • If in doubt, take it easy (level 1)

7. What are three pieces of advice I would offer myself if I was starting from the beginning:
  • Habit is everything. Start by finding a time daily to leave the home and walk for 30-60 minutes. Walk somewhere you could workout, e.g. gym, playground, park, etc. Don't exercise yet. Scope out a location you could try. Do that every day for a week. You may begin to tire of the same thing and want to do something new - maybe some light exercises?
  • If it's easy, do it again. If it's hard, stop. Start with exercises and rep counts that would embarrass your grandmother. That's "journey" thinking that could enable you to become a grandparent that embarrasses their grandchildren with vitality, endurance, and grit.
  • Imagination is a free ticket to transcend the mundane. You're jumping and crushing spiders, punching orcs, kicking the taxman. Yes it is silly, but it works. And no one needs to know.

8. Is there a workout I'm scared of?
My project of defeating every level in '100 HIIT' is seriously perplexing when I look at this monster:
That's a gulp.

Thank you for reading :)
 
Last edited:
Laura Rainbow Dragon

Laura Rainbow Dragon

Moderator
Moderator
Bard from Canada
Posts: 2,808
"Striving to be the change."
JohnStrong

JohnStrong

Well-known member
Commando from Alberta
Posts: 674
"If not me, who? If not now, when?"
Laura Rainbow Dragon said:
Cool! Is that your goal, then? To progress how long you can hold the pose for? If yes, where are you at with it now?
I'd be up for doing a Horse Stance hold challenge using the Wall-Sit Challenge schedule, I think. (I think I could get to 4 minutes in a month.)
Click to expand...
Yes that's the loose goal, and good idea to start with wall sits. No clue actually what my current time could be :)
 
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