All-Purpose Health and Fitness Thread

[Shartnado]

I was just about say, maybe I'll stay on the couch and watch Dynamite all the way through, and skip the gym, but ended up watching Dynamite but not skipping gym.

A light bench and Seal Row pyramids, tapping out at 219 on bench and 205 on Seal Row, but tried to get 10+ reps on the bench per set and around 10 on Seal Row. Decent pump at the end there.

In the beginning I also did a couple of sets of shrugs with a pair of 75's, a few standing rows with 154, then a set of reverse grip barbell curls with 154. After the pyramids, I did a few partials with 176 and a little bit better reps with 154 again. A very reduced ab session in the end.

[Technico Support]

Good day at the gym, 6 compound upper body exercises, all in 9 set pyramids.  Moved up on flat bench and shoulder presses.  I don't know if I was working harder or some side effect of the heat wave we're having, but I was sweating so much the sides of my legs were wet.  WTF.

[Shartnado]

The extra cardio this morning was just a walk to the store and back, using a longer route, but I believe it is better than nothing.

The workout was a whole another thing, though. Trapbar volume time, in this heat. It's 25 Celsius even over here right now.

So yeah, 126 reps, within 45 minutes. The weight varied from 447 to 458. The first 13 reps were either big deficit, small deficit or from the floor level with 447, then until rep number 37 it was 447 from various degrees of blocks (less than half blocks, initially), then the rest of the 89 reps were with 458, all off the blocks, mostly half or full, especially the last 20 reps or so.

I was drenched in sweat afterwards. I did 2 light sets of shrugs (there were also 3 warm-up sets prior to the count to 126 starting) and no ab work, but I did hang upside down for a bit to decompress the spine.

Yeah, so if this doesn't make me go under 169,5 tomorrow morning,  then I fucking quit (this diet).

[Shartnado]

Didn't go under 170 despite all the effort, but I guess I'll hang in there for another week.

Did a 45 minute run without the weight vest on Sunday. That felt different.

This is kinda tricky week, since I have a photoshoot on Thursday and learning from last year, I need to start filling back up no less than 36 hours before, but before that, I need to squeeze everything out and afterwards, I still need to continue until next week, when the summer holidays properly start. That's going to be quite the maze to walk through.

I'm thinking at least slow cardio and sauna every evening on top of the workout, work and biking. Let's see if it does the trick?

[Shartnado]

The workout was a mixed bag, it went OK, but I definitely went lighter than I could have and was definitely not pushing it to the F'n limit, like on Friday. The weather took a turn for the more familiar Finnish summer, as in wet and not very warm, so there went the slow cardio on the evening. The sauna is warming up right now, though, and I'll do some stretching before I go. I guess the smart move would be to get a leg day in tomorrow so the upper body can rest for a day, then a massacre for it on Wednesday, so they'd still be all jacked up on Thursday, when there won't be an actual workout, just a biggest possible pump I can manage with a resistance band or two and push-up handles.

[Shartnado]

Sembalence of a leg day today, as planned. Squat machine and calf raises with the machine laced with double amount of resistance bands. It wasn't particularly heavy weight-wise, 230, 190, 170 plus the bands. I did some 10 reps per set, very deep and then moved straight into the calf raise position and did a set of those. It seemed to take a lot out of me each time. Some more fun with grippers and plenty of abs in the end.

Now the process of re-feeding begins. I ate two bowls of Nestlé Fitness mixed with Chocolate Granola and No Added Sugar Peanut Butter mixed with Nutella. Let's not get crazy quite yet, however. More feeding tomorrow, after the scheduled upper body massacre.

[Shartnado]

The upper body massacre went on as planned, but the DOMS were nowhere near what I was expecting. The roughest shit I did was the Meadows Row with 176 plus the percentage of the 33lb bar. There were sets with 132 and 154 as well. Everything else was pretty mundane, but there was a lot of it.

The re-feed was pretty successful and dehydration seemed to work to an extent. The photoshoot was fun, there's definitely material there. Whereas I wasn't quite as shredded this year, some of the stuff made me look jacked as all fuck and I like it! There is definitely at least a temporary profile pic in there, once I get them.

[Shartnado]

Was able to end my shift early to start the summer vacation, so I had one more Trapbar volume-session in me. Warmed up with 5x271 off a high block, 3x381 off the same and 1x476 off the small block, without Versas. Then, 1x520 off the floor level. Then the actual volume workout began. I did more than 50 (maybe 55ish) reps with 550 within 30 minutes, then 3 sets of shrugs with 476, 370 and 260. As a nice bonus, I did the first clean rep and hold (and a bunch of partials) with my left hand with the 200lb gripper. 11 clean reps with the right one. The standard ab work at the end.

This brings the diet of 2024 to a close. I did things a bit differently this year and it worked out fine. I know I have to really bulk during the off season in order to gain anything at this point and next year I must combine the things that worked well this year with what worked last year. Next couple of weeks will be just home workouts and maybe some light cardio here and there. Also, food and drinks.

[Shartnado]

I probably won't keep this up for very long, but this is where I'm at when it's all said and done this year. And no, that's not Buff Bagwell!

[Shartnado]

Did a little pump workout at home, along with a bunch of elevated push-ups with the handles. Two sets of hanging knee and leg raises and some forearm work with a 22lb kettle bell later on in the evening. We'll be off to a vacation in Poland on Tuesday, so there will be only running and resistance bands for about a week.

Have been eating and sleeping quite a bit over the weekend, getting my recovery on, but it feels like I need some stretching and rubber ball therapy as well, in order to feel fresh and ready for the holiday.

[The Natural]

On 5/3/2024 at 7:50 PM, AxB said:

27 years of working standing up, moving around, and I never really get hurt. Three weeks of doing a "Sitting at a computer desk" type of job and I've probably got Carpal tunnel syndrome. My right hand, it's fine, there's a spot on the fingertip of my little finger that's numb, or sometimes merely dull.

Now my left hand, the index finger and middle finger are fine. But the ring finger is numb at the fingertip and tingly beneath that. But my left little finger has no sensation at all. I could dip it in boiling water and not feel anything. That side of the palm too. 

Oh, and I'm left handed. My handwriting has slowed down and gone clumsier. My grip strength in the hand has declined noticeably, because I can't control muscles I can't feel. I hope my forearms don't atrophy.

I've got a Doctor's appointment though, it's in three weeks because our government (and opposition) are in the pockets of Private Healthcare and are trying to kill the NHS.

Hope you went on ok, pal.

[AxB]

Yeah, it seems to be healing by itself fortunately.

I did lose a bit of motion in it for a while. Like I couldn't do the Live Long and Prosper any more for a while, but I can again now.

[Shartnado]

Went for a run this morning. It was really hot already after 8 AM. After a protein, carb AND fat-rich breakfast, I also did some resistance band stuff and a little bit of push ups. Damn it is so much easier to keep the protein intake high on holidays, too, as all of the stores carry at least some form of chocolate flavored, milk based protein drinks. Not cheap, but very easy. Anyway, I like Poland. I always have, ever since I first visited the country close to 15 years ago (holy shit, tho!)

[Contentious C]

I've been having quite a lot of lumbar spine pain that's relatively new (it's already bad near the sacral area thanks to the arthritis; this is 5-6" higher).  I'm nearly certain at this point that the running I'm doing is just finding a different way to fuck me up.  Yesterday I was able to get over the nagging things that made me want to not run at all - sore knee, sore groin, sore tibia - and got it done with meaningful progress, but I don't know if I can keep doing it 1x a week for the foreseeable future. 

I really don't want to go back to biking - it's frankly too easy for me, and I'd rather be *able* to run in some capacity than feel like I'm losing that as I'm getting older and more broken-down.

[Shartnado]

Okay, a half an hour run and a resistance band workout divided into 3 parts throughout the morning. We were literally running late, so we kinda skipped breakfast and went to a brunch. Like a 19th century circus strongman, I had steak and eggs with bacon and black coffee. Then very much unlike one, I had a piece of chocolate cake and a latte afterwards.

Yeah, all these walks, runs and resistance band workouts are like a bandaid on a gushing chest wound, as far as burning calories versus consuming calories goes, but I'm enjoying the shit out of this!

[Technico Support]

Fellow DVDVR workout lunatics, I need your opinion.  What's the general consensus on wiping down equipment?  I'm from the old school where you carry a towel when you lift, you put it under your head while you're benching, etc., and you dry off any excess puddles and grossness when you're finished.  But post-Covid, there's a lot of sanitizing going on.  Using wet wipes or even spraying cleaner and wiping.  I dunno, that feels like overkill to me AND I hate walking up to a piece of equipment that's just soaking wet with wipe residue.  But the other day I did my normal "towel off any remaining sweat and call it good" technique and then a dude using the thing after me (T bar row) sanitized the whole deal before he went to use it.  Am I the asshole?

[Contentious C]

Maybe only a little?

My gym used to have signs up about not *directly* spraying the equipment for the reasons outlined and others.  And I think that's more or less best practice: carry a towel that's just for spraying sanitizer on it, spray *the towel and not the bench*, and then wipe it off after.  I mean, I don't want to baste in someone else's sweat, and frankly, not cleaning things off is how ringworm spreads in gyms, too.

[Shartnado]

There are so few people using the gym I go to, it's not a huge issue. If the equipment you use is drenched in sweat afterwards, then yeah, otherwise not so much. We do have antibacterial spray and other cleaning stuff available if other users feel like they want to wipe things down before using the equipment, if they seem unsanitary to them.

If there were more people more often, then obviously things would be different. If I were to use a public gym, I would at least use paper towels or anything they provide for that purpose. I don't carry a towel with me to the gym, nor am I planning to start.

[Technico Support]

I like to stalk around the gym with the towel over my head like Taz.  
 

Seriously, though, for sure I’ll give it a wipe with the towel when I’m finished, but cleaning and sanitizing everything seems a bit much since the decline of Covid.

[Contentious C]

LOL, the decline of Covid.  We're stuck with it, forever.  And currently on an upswing going by wastewater detection levels.

[Shartnado]

2 hours ago, Contentious C said:

LOL, the decline of Covid.  We're stuck with it, forever.  And currently on an upswing going by wastewater detection levels.

Probably meant something more like "the decline of giving a single fuck about Covid anymore"

[Technico Support]

You hypochondriac motherfuckers convinced me and I wiped everything today!

[Contentious C]

23 hours ago, Technico Support said:

You immunocompromised motherfuckers convinced me and I wiped everything today!

FIFY.

[Shartnado]

7,5km run this morning, including a couple of minutes of free squats during a stop. Resistance band workout after a shower and breakfast.

I've been doing resistance band workouts pretty much every day, except for this Monday, when we traveled back home. I also tried running thigh-deep in the water for a bit when we went swimming. That got really hard really fast. None of this has done anything to stop the weight from piling back on, though! I'd need a few heavy weight training sessions to make some use of this regained mass. Where to get them is another thing entirely!

[Shartnado]

I don't know if it was the running, the free squats or the water activities in a spa, but my quads have been sore af since Friday and I'm totally for it. It's nice that something was able to affect them this fiercely. Now back home from visiting In-Laws, I have continued the daily resistance band sessions, mainly two per day. I might be tempted to go to a free outside gym near the city center, but that one doesn't have any real weights, either. The equipment uses your own bodyweight, if I understood correctly (I've only walked past it before, never actually used it).