Diet and Fitness

You must rack up some daily steps in your job Jim, so the little changes to your diet will more easily create a calorie deficit.

Can you touch your toes?

ha haā€¦porcine aviation is more likely :wink:

It varies a lot, sometimes Iā€™m on my feet with loads walking around, but just at the moment I seem to be in front of a screen or behind the wheel too muchā€¦

errr, no I canā€™t :confused:

Quite a good goal to aim for then?

I reckon with only a little bit of effort you could be touching your toes before Christmas. Given how much time youā€™re having to spend seated then it wouldnā€™t be a bad thing to invest 5 minutes a day in.

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You can through repetition get better flexibility to reach your toes but there are other supporting stretches you can do which will help - especially if we can identify remotely where the biggest constraint is - eg hamstrings, hips, lower back.

In the first instance this is what Iā€™d recommend daily -

  1. Floor toe touch
  • Sit on floor with legs straight in front of you.
  • Reach up to the ceiling and hold for 5-10 seconds, feeling the stretch in shoulders and lower back
  • Breath out and lean forward slowly and gently push your fingertips towards toes, think head towards knees as you advance
  • Hold the stretch position for 20-30 seconds (build up to this)
  • Relax! Shallow slow breathing and relax into it
  • Slowly return to the upright position
  • Repeat 1-2 times
    ** Discomfort is okay, pain is not!**
  1. Third world squat
  • Great for stretching out your hip flexors, lower back and glutes, which all support mobility to enable toe/ floor touch
  • See links in thread above. Basically build up time in position until you find it more comfortable as standing.
  • If you canā€™t squat that far (please go slowly first time you try!) then come back and there are a number of techniques to help loosen you up and improve your squat depth

WARNING! Both these movements are great for manipulating your core and activating your digestive system - this may lead to gaseous discharge!

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:+1:

Cheers Wayne, Iā€™ll give them a whirl and let you know how I get on.

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Jaysus !!! Like he needs any help :flushed:

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Just repeating the link which is somewhere above on the benefits and process for TWS -

My news - I have committed myself to a 5K fun run on 29th Oct - Today I gauged it with a practice run that included
mostly rough ground and a wood - There was a gate and I slipped and fell over once but still managed - 29 mins 7 seconds.

Iā€™m planning to run every second or third day and now have a TV set up for Utube Tabata sessions plus 3WS and arm physio is occurring. I may get myself a running machine

~ Iā€™m not quite able to touch my toes yet - Itā€™s getting closer though

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Great stuff - go for it. The runs youve done look like you could easily manage a 10k so Iā€™m sure youā€™ll find the 5k pretty straightforward.

2-3 runs a week, Tabata and consistent calories and youā€™ll watch the weight fall off.

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If I was up to 3x 13 push ups, then did fuck all for a couple of weeks- where should I expect to pick back up?

I thought I was up to 3x 14 (I hadnā€™t checked this thread- quite handy as an exercise diary!). On monday I managed 14,14 and 10, and today exactly the same so no progressā€¦

Also chin ups- was struggling to do sets of 3 with 2 mins restā€¦as in, I couldnā€™t :stuck_out_tongue:

not sure where to pick back up basically

Rightā€¦i managed 4 sets of 3 chin ups with 2 mins rest between sets. Where do I go from here?

Press ups first. Back to basics, what was your original goal - 30 straight press ups?

Youā€™re currently doing a lot more volume than when you started so this is a great platform to start from. I have one idea that will produce results, but it will be difficult. Lets do 1 set of AMRAP (as many reps as possible), and letā€™s do that once everyday, 5 days a week for two weeks.

Iā€™m suggesting this precisely because you have a good base of volume and your sets are above 10 reps.

You will be increasingly sore and need 2 days rest after each 5. You can eat a bit more, so long as itā€™s high protein. In fact you need to increase your daily protein intake % and try to keep your total cals at or up to 150 cals more per day (over base maintenance at current weight).

Whatā€™s going to happen? Youā€™re going to nail the motor technique through increased frequency and send a message to your CNS to adapt quickly. It wonā€™t do this straight away and thatā€™s why youā€™ll initially see some inconsistencies in rep numbers.

Donā€™t worry just keep focusing on your form and now push really hard for those last reps, fight for every one and donā€™t give up easily. Same for tempo 3,1,1 and donā€™t lock your elbows at the top - squeeze your chest instead.

Chins. Weā€™re not going to try to solve this whilst youā€™re pushing hard on press ups, but weā€™re not going to stop practicing either. 3 days per week I want you to do 12 reps - I donā€™t care how you get them, 3 sets of 4, 6 sets of 2 etc etc. Focus on form, full range of motion, and tempo - it will pay dividends later. Form > reps so donā€™t punish yourself or end up fighting and cheating on the last rep. This is training a movement not competing.

Log all your numbers here and weā€™ll assess in two weeks. It should work but progress will not be linear so work hard but donā€™t stress if your numbers donā€™t go where you want them.

And sort your fucking diet out :smile:

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Alright, thanks- Iā€™ll give that all a shot.

Chins felt better again tonight- Monday might just have been a blip

Diet sorted and protein is high- 100g quark on porridge at breakfast and cottage cheese/ home made houmous with veg mid morning and afternoon snack. Always get decent hit of protein at dinner.

Went for run with building running group at lunchtime- pretty easy pace, 5k. I think while I adapt to the various things Iā€™m working on Iā€™ll do that easy run on Wed, and run into work on Friday morning at the slightly faster pace I was doing.

So the plan is:

Mon- push ups, chin ups, easy ride to and from work (<60% MHR, shortest flattest route), 30 min walk at lunch

Tues- push ups, easy ride into work, 2 hour ride after work (hard efforts on hills), 30 min walk at lunch

Wed- easy ride to and from work, 5k easy run at lunch, push ups, chin ups

Thurs- easy ride to work, 30 min walk at lunch, 1-2 hour ride after work, push ups

Fri- 5k run to work, walk home, push ups, chin ups

Sat- as little as possible with 2 young kids

Sun- long ride 4-5 hours

I think you might be trying to do either or both of 1. Too much, 2. Spending yourself over too many goals.

Equally, you can prove me wrong. But I donā€™t think thatā€™s sustainable, and maybe you donā€™t intend it to be. But consistency is everything.

Thatā€™s what Iā€™ve been wondering myself. It doesnā€™t feel too much, in that I donā€™t feel lethargic and have a good amount of energy. But, written down like that itā€™s clearly a lot. I have noticed that my cycling seems to have taken a knock- I thought perhaps due to introducing running but maybe just generally doing too much.

Iā€™ve built up very slowly over the year to that cycling volume, and have been pretty consistent with push ups through the year, and have been walking to and from work 1-2 times a week consistently.

But yeah, it does look a lot :stuck_out_tongue:

ā€¦and Iā€™m not a ragey grumpy cunt at home which is a major warning sign Iā€™m overdoing it :stuck_out_tongue:

I was planning to drop my midweek Tues ride from ~40 to 20 miles

My wife just confirmed that Iā€™m not being any more of a cunt than usual

Your binge breakdowns speak volumes. It isnā€™t lack of discipline or being bad, itā€™s your CNS kicking back at you and trying to keep itself going.