Training thread. Goals, updates, questions, etc.

…and/or any other sport, activity or practice ..

I’m excited about this.  Hopefully we can inspire each other and learn some new tricks along the way.

Here’s where I’m at:

I’m involved in a lot of different activities and have always considered myself a multi-sport athlete.  My primary focal points right now are multisport wilderness adventures (short or long distance hike/bike/scrambling/canyoneering affairs), backpacking, surfing, mountain biking, canyoneering, some rock climbing (I’ve been having fun following some trad climbing friends lately), and spearfishing/freediving when I get the chance.

So there are obviously a lot of different skill sets and types of fitness involved here.

My biggest short term goal is weight loss; extra pounds negatively affect all these sports and I can feel it.  Over the last few years (especially after a heart surgery for arrhythmia) I’ve gained weight due to recovery and then general laziness.  So right now I’m shooting for dropping 10-15 pounds.  I’m focusing more on light weights and higher reps; I want lean muscle gain and fat loss.  I tend to do best diet-wise when I simply stick to whole foods and cut my carbs back significantly (duh, pretty simple).

Workouts:

For now I just want to get into a regular routine (daily) as opposed to ~3-5 days week.  I like to mix everything up.  So using this mornings workout as an example, I want to do this sort of thing with much greater regularity:

I call these “Mountain Mixers” and really enjoy them if I’m not doing something bigger.  Perhaps I should be more disciplined in what workouts I do, but I hate sitting and lifting weights and refuse to go to a gym.  I like mixing cardio and plyometrics/bodyweight strength exercises, because most sports I love include both.  I also love being outside and getting to do this alongside a stream underneath the oaks.

***3 miles mountain bike.  (1 mile is road to get to the trail).  First mile is steady, then I push hard and jack my heart up pretty good in the mountains.  I get to a stop I like a few miles in and do the following:

***10 decline pushups (feet on picnic table seat)

***10 “military” presses.  (I lift the picnic table end and press overhead.  I’m guessing it’s ~75 lbs.)

***10 chair dips (on picnic table seat)

***30 second plank (on top of picnic table)

***5 standing box jumps (from ground onto picnic table, about 36″.  I try to land in a squat position, on my toes, and balance for a few seconds before stepping down)

***10 rock throws.  (I find a heavy rock, about 40-50 pounds, lift it to shoulder, and throw it as far as I can, alternating arms/shoulders with each throw)

Repeat everything x3

It all takes about 15-20 minutes.

Upper body now jelly, I ride home, 3 miles, taking it easier.  Door to door, it took just over an hour.

My goal is to mix it up and do this sort of thing more regularly, on days I’m not doing a bigger adventure (long canyon, hike, surf trip, etc.).

I’m a big fan of functional strength, bodyweight exercise, etc. Ross Enamait (rosstraining.com) is a big inspiration.  I’ve been following him for a while and improvise a lot of workouts based on his circuits.

So that’s a start.  Hopefully I control myself at Thanksgiving tonight….

You might find a few interesting exercise here to spice up your routine. This guy is the real thing.

I had to look up “plyometrics”…

Sounds like a well rounded routine you are shooting for Craig. So will you update on a weekly basis ? It is an interesting weekend to start this given the likelihood of overeating today :) but  there is no time like the present.

I am just going to transfer my running updates here and drop that thread so it’s not just about me.

I needed some cardio in my life even though I am constantly moving. I didn’t want to join anything, drive anywhere or buy anything and it had to be outside. I think I finished three weeks worth of jogging/running. I am using my  lunch time, but at 10 am, to run 25 minutes in the woods. I can either do a 1.6 mile of a 1.9 mile . Running wise my goal is to do it 4 days a week if I feel good and all. I would not mind losing maybe five pounds but prefer to stay the same weight and just trade muscle for fat. My upper body is strong, my legs could be much better.

Trying to figure out the rest of my goals in a way I can write about and will add that later.

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I didn’t want to join anything, drive anywhere or buy anything and it had to be outside.

I hear you!  It sounds like we’re both quite fortunate to be able to do this without trouble.  I literally live one mile from various entrances to the Angeles National Forest and don’t have to touch a car for anything.  And the one mile of road, whether jogged or biked, makes for a good warmup and cooldown.

Yes, I figure I’ll post a workout summary at the end of each week.  I like starting my weeks on Mondays and ending on Sundays.  I went into detail about the mountain circuit I do just so the context is understood when I post a summary.

It sounds like you’re enjoying the running and going about it smart, namely just trying to get a habit established safely.  I have a bad tendency to go all in on things to the point of burnout or blowup (i.e. if I can run 10 miles, then rapidly stepping it up to 20 is even better, right?)…which is not the best long term strategy, especially for injury prevention.  As I age (I’m 40) and notice slower recovery from really hard stuff I’m becoming more aware that I need to be smarter about this sort of thing.

“https://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Your-Own-Gym/dp/0345528581

You might find a few interesting exercise here to spice up your routine. This guy is the real thing.”

Definitely. I have the book, great stuff. I have the iOS app as well, which is great when I’m on the road.

So when one is sick ( throat/chest congestion, headache, all that good stuff) ..not only is one feeling down for obvious reasons but  add to that the psychological bummer of not feeling up to doing anything at all. Oh well, part of taking care of myself as a whole is to scale down everything to just feeling ok again. All else will have to wait…

@Doug come on man, I know you work out and have been getting fitter by the day. Tell us what you’re doing :)

Goal: Wake up each morning above ground for as many consecutive days as possible.

Daily Workout: run, walk, or hike at least 2 hours per day, includes strenuous hikes in local mountains several times per week. At least one backpacking trip per month, usually get in at least two. Avoid mechanical exercise equipment at all costs. Upper body workouts are home improvement projects where lifting is required. Avoid television to maximize useful hours each day.

^^^ you have this dialed in Nick :)

Somewhat of a light week for me.

M: 2 mile bike/3 mile trail run.

T:  nothing…

W: Mountain circuit (described above); 6 mile mtb/short bodyweight circuit

Th: nothing….

F: 90 minutes yoga.  I do Ashtanga, mostly primary sequences.  I’m trying to mix more of this in as I notice my mobility/flexibility decreasing.

S:  2 mile bike/3 mile trail run.

Su:  Did some canyoneering today, full adventure mode.  It was raining hard with the canyon at full (approaching dangerous) water levels in places, and very COLD swims and waterfalls.  It took a good hour to warm up after.  Total ~10 miles, took us about 5 hours.  This particular canyon is a pretty good full body workout; a very steep approach, lots of rappels, lots of jumping and swimming pools, lots of awkward scrambling, all with a ~15-20 pound pack (200′ wet rope and gear- I always volunteer to be the rope mule).

My goal for this coming week is simple: watch my food (penance for Thanksgiving), drop 1 to 2 lbs,  and work out 6 days.  3 bike/run, 2 strength/bodyweight exercises, 1 long day of something hard (likely canyoneering or a big hike/bike/run), and at least 2 yoga sessions in there somewhere.

Hope you’re feeling better Kat.

Pretty straightforward goal setting there Nick.

Thanks Craig. I am better but not quite well yet.

Goal for next week is …to only run if I feel ok. Probably best if I skip tomorrow and then run easy Tuesday. We’ll see. I walk between 5 and 8 miles anyway so that’ll help.

Yoga or at least stretching most nights at home.

A 10+ hard mile hike on Saturday.

Foodwise, I have made lots of rice and black beans for the week. Oats and Chia seeds for breakfast. If I eat like I did the last couple of weeks I might trim a bit but slow is just fine with me.

“ @doug come on man, I know you work out and have been getting fitter by the day. Tell us what you’re doing :)”

Unfortunately I’ve never been able to maintain a high fitness level. As you know, I just got back from a 3.5 day, 73-mile backpacking trip in PA. I did well, pleased with my performance hiking with a bunch of East coast friends who are much younger than me. Then got back and did nothing, gained weight, yadda yadda yadda. Same-old same-old for me.

Dragged my fat ass out for a jog today (finally). Slow and pathetic. So goes the never ending story…

^^^^ you are too hard on yourself. I have hiked with you plenty and you may not be in as good a shape as you’d like ( most can relate ) but no one ever had to wait for you and you are always ready for more. I hear you on the difficulty of staying with it…..so very human but so is trying again :)

ps. I run slow…but I call it steady instead of pathetic . When is your next slow and steady run?

A run may be slow, but never pathetic!

I enjoy a mix between bodyweight trainining (including weighted bodyweight movements) for my upper body and weights for my lower body. In a typical upper-body session I pair a push movement with a pull movement. I like this because it’s effective, simple, and I don’t rely on having to go to a gym, there isn’t one near me anyways. Although it can be challenging mentally to workout outside year around when it’s 35 F and raining for weeks on end.

I generally have one horizontal for each, and one vertical:

A1: vertical pulling: some from of pullups/chinups

A2: vertical pushing, handstand pushups, pike presses, etc

B1: horizontal pushing, weighted pushups, archer pushups etc

B2: horizontal pulling: bodyweight rows, front lever tuck rows etc

For my lower body lately I’ve been sticking to doing weighted rear foot elevated split squats and straight leg single leg deadlifts. I’ve found this to be safer for me than back squats and conventional deadlifts. I also will generally do some extra core work at the end of my lower body session, like hanging leg raises, weighted side bends as well as some neck exercises with a neck harness.

I don’t run much lately, I like to run sprints 2-3 times week. If I’m not hiking much for some reason I’ll do hill repeats with a weight vest, and hikes etc.

This week has been “maintaining” at best…

Monday I stayed home sick, mostly sleeping ( upper respiratory, cough, headache etc).

Tuesday I went to work feeling better but not 100%. Ran 1.6 miles slowly and it felt fine but then I coughed all night. Wednesday I was better again, worked and skipped running. Thursday I was better yet, ran 1.6 miles slowly and ….coughed again all night. Skipped running on Friday. Hiked on Saturday, not sure how many miles but with some nice steep hills. That was it all week besides walking a lot and stretching in the evenings. Oh well, getting over this respiratory thing is taking longer than I thought. Eating wise it’s been good. All things in moderation and mostly super fresh and healthy food.

How was your week Craig?

This week:

M- off

T- 3 mile mtb/ 3 mile run w/ short bodyweight circuit (like mentioned above)

W-6 mile mtb

Th- 3 mile mtb/3 mile run w/ bodyweight circuit

F- off

S- Backpacking/hunting.  Found a new XC route I wanted to explore, pretty hard going for about 3-4 miles of it- descending very steep slopes, lots of scrub, ~40# pack with cold weather gear (night temps were low 20s) water and rifle.  ~4 miles of XC took over 4.5 hours, though some of it was spent stalking game.  After the XC I did about 3-4 miles of trail to camp.  Roughly 8 miles total and about 6.5 hours hiking.  Most of the day was off trail and definitely not standard 3 mph easy walking territory (as you can see below).

Su- Return trip, reversed route, though the return was much harder climbing out.  Took almost 7.5 hours.  Got lost in the wrong canyon, added extra climbing and miles.

I carried extra water (1 gallon) in the event I dry camped- turns out I found water and didn’t need so much (2 gallons total) but I don’t mind the training weight.  I decided I’m going to try and take a shot at the Bob Open this year, so I’m going to be shifting into doing as much f@ck3d up hiking with a heavy pack as I can between now and late May.

Will post a trip report in a day or so….

I descended through these canyons and continued to the ridge marked with arrow, then headed West (right) well out of picture frame.  I’m beat.

Hope you’re over that respiratory mess soon Kat, I recently had one that lingered 3 weeks.  chanterelles, clean air, and home cooking have to be a good remedy though!

Double post

If not backpacking, using the (new) trail by  my (new) front door, I’ll hike either 5-6 miles per day with a small pack, or run a bit over a 5k.  Bike needs repair, so that’s off the table.

Saturday is my usual cheat day, but I’ll try resistance exercises before imbibing carbohydrates.  Then a big hike Sunday.

Got to get into stretching more admittedly.

@Craig looks like you have had a really good week! Thanks for the well wishes, I am way better today; hardly a cough or two.

@HkNewman yikes. You have quite the routine there. Is that what you do on a regular basis or is that a goal? Just for this coming week or ongoing? Would love to hear more.

@Kat:  My work is consolidated and no television time anymore, so that’s all I pretty much do for a 2-3 hr chunk of each day.  I’ve started walking fairly fast to build the mph up.  There’s a levee system with a network of various trails I have easy access to and use a pedometer/fitness tracker/timer (may get tired of it by Feb-Mar).  Did some 20-mile days w/1-pass this past summer after building up; would like to get that mileage higher

Added: no television time anymore

^^^^ “Added: no television time anymore”

I would think not….same here. For a long time now.

I know it’s only Friday night but other than some hiking and stretching my weekend looks to be all about work so I am ending my “weekly” training today.

I didn’t run on Monday for fear of bringing back a cough that seemed to regain track every night after I ran last week. On Tuesday I thought it would be hard after several days of not doing it, but I had a great, strong and invigorating run. Felt really good. On Wednesday I ran well again, pretty fast. I had my first touch of side pain at the end of the run but it went away the moment I stopped so I thought little of it. Yesterday I didn’t have enough clothes in my shop to be able to get soaking wet by running in mid/heavy rain so I skipped it. Today it was raining just a bit so I ran. All went well but half way through I got another bout of side pain, under my right rib. Nothing super painful but uncomfortable enough to notice and wish it away forever…Once I stopped running it was gone.

Looked up side pain, or “side stitch” and it seems like no one really knows what causes it. I read at least four possibilities. Suggestions include doing more ab work, easing into the run, breathing out when landing with the opposing foot and watching food and beverage intake before running.

Any help with this would be appreciated…I have no other pains: feet, joints, back…all is good there.

Besides running I did some stretching at home, a little ab work and now I can do 3 solid chin ups, by just trying now and then.

I have been eating well. I either lost a little weight or I just firmed up some, not sure, but for the first time in too many years I have a ( very slight) muscle definition on my abdomen going down into my hips. I have  no idea what the name of that muscle is, but it exists :)

My simple Puma running shoes are plenty good for me but I need to invest in a better sports bra.

@HKNewman, you are an inspiration.

No advice about the side stitches Kat.  It’s been a long time since I’ve had one but I never could figure out what caused them when I did.  All I know is that the more I ran, the less they occurred, to the point of stopping entirely.

M-off

T- 3 mile mtb/3 mile trail run/mountain bodyweight circuit

W- off

Th- 3 mile mtb/ 3 mile trail run

Fri- 6 mile hike.  Weighted my pack to 30#.  Hike was 1500′ gain in first 2.5 miles.  Goal was to average over 3 mph which I did; came in at about 1:45.

Sat- 3 mile mtb/ 7 mile trail run

Sun- 3 mile mtb/3 mile trail run/ mountain bodyweight circuit.

Things are feeling pretty good.  I ate well this week and I’m down about 3 lbs from when we started this thread.  I’ll be solo backpacking/hunting again this coming weekend, hoping to do a hard cross country route.  I plan on starting to work in more hikes with climbs and a weighted pack.

Never did any stretching though, which I feel I need.

Cheers!