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Lifestyle physical health/fitness thread

The restrictions and closures due to Covid-19 have hit many hard. Gyms in my area have been closed for close to 3 months now, and i haven't been as proactive about maintaining my fitness goals and level as i wanted. In fact i really let myself go...........like, all the way downhill. The first 2 months of gym closures, i stopped exercising completely and just ate without constraints. I'm talking about icecream, cheesecake, chocolate cake, soo much candy, extra helpings of sugar in my morning diet routine, and extra portions of dinner at night. I was having the time of my life diet wise.

Recently though, i have gotten back on the fitness horse, and i'm making a comeback. I'm starting slow with mainly just going for runs. Next week i plan to start adding bodyweight exercises to my routine in preparation for the gyms opening up again.

Screenshot_20200521-151511_Nike Run Club.jpg


I will be updating as much as i can on what i'm doing. For now its just runs. Maybe some of you will join me and go for a run amid all this madness.
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Like the rest of you guys in here, COVID has really put a damper onto my gym access. I'm fortune that I live in a very running friendly city and I've found that my running has mostly taken the place of where I used to be lifting. I've been running 3-4 times a week, usually averaging somewhere between 20-25 miles given or take how many days I spend recovering., asnd it's been one of the only things keeping me sane. Not to do a ton of flexxing, but I ran a 1:57:56 half on Monday and I'm pretty excited about that bc it means tomorrow's run isn't going to be that long lol.

But ye, you guys got any good bodyweight exercises that aren't just some variation of push-ups, crunches, or squats?
 
Might sound weird but if you have a wooden chair you can do a ton of exercises with it that can to some extent retain muscle mass in certain area.

You almost go into bicep curls position but then move the chair by the handles using only your forearms, that allows you to build ALOT of definition on that area. (I've been working the forearms 3 times a week for 5 weeks now and have noticed a ton of definition + size)

I have a heavy wooden chair so I remove the middle bit where you sit on, and then grab both ends and raise it using my shoulders only (think dumbell front raise but now you have to actually use more stabilizers with the chair compared to dumbells).

Lost alot of weight sadly once again but been doing alot more boxing and increased my endurance which always helps.
 
Man. I'm going to have to try that, Somalia.

One can also take advantage of apps in these trying times. I am currently exploring the Nike run club app for runs, and the Nike training app for at home workouts (equipment not required)

20200527_175956.jpg
 
Rodan. That post has put a smile on my face TWICE now. (When you originally made it and just now again). Congrats, man!

Also with the spike in Corona virus cases, it looks like my hopes of the gyms re-opening in my state are low. Sigh, guess its more runs for now

20200713_191449.jpg
 
Ninahaza said:
Rodan. That post has put a smile on my face TWICE now. (When you originally made it and just now again). Congrats, man!

Also with the spike in Corona virus cases, it looks like my hopes of the gyms re-opening in my state are low. Sigh, guess its more runs for now

View attachment 261895
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Keep gettin those miles in my man. Worst case with gyms, you can always do like a solid half hour body-weight exercises to maintain muscle definition.

Also, same RODAN. That is absolutely something to be proud of. Keep up the great work my man :]
 
-Voltage- said:
Like the rest of you guys in here, COVID has really put a damper onto my gym access. I'm fortune that I live in a very running friendly city and I've found that my running has mostly taken the place of where I used to be lifting. I've been running 3-4 times a week, usually averaging somewhere between 20-25 miles given or take how many days I spend recovering., asnd it's been one of the only things keeping me sane. Not to do a ton of flexxing, but I ran a 1:57:56 half on Monday and I'm pretty excited about that bc it means tomorrow's run isn't going to be that long lol.

But ye, you guys got any good bodyweight exercises that aren't just some variation of push-ups, crunches, or squats?
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Sorry I'm so late to the thread.

Background: I live in an apartment, so barbells etc were a no go. All I had for our first round of lockdown was 6 resistance bands, varying between 20-90kg of resistance. While I definitely gained lockdown fat, my lifts didn't go down too much when we had our (brief) return to the gym, maybe between 7.5-10kg which isn't bad for 3 months outside of the gym.

To prepare myself for the apocalypse, I created a mega-doc of sorts as a resource for at-home workouts for those who have minimal to no equipment. Who in here would be interested in having access to the doc?

Also, in my city, we locked down again last week, but this time I have a powerlifting coach doing my programming and a 24kg / 55 lb kettlebell, so hooray for slightly improved circumstances.
 
I would definitely be interested in that doc Stallion, before the pandemic I kept fit by cycling to uni and work and social gatherings pretty much every day, but now that I'm stuck at home I've definitely put on some weight. Keen to start up a workout routine or something, but I have no idea where to even begin with that.
 
66km Bike Ride (Deathless) Any% Speedrun!!! [Bike Lane Glitch Used]

Bike Route.PNG


Took a little bit longer than 4 hours since my legs wouldn't allow me to maintain my previous pace after 40km or so. Easily the most I've biked in one route, and my legs are jello, but it was a lot of fun!
 
Friendly PSA to be careful when doing weights and to know your limit folks. I seriously hurt my upper back and neck deadlifting this morning, and am finding it really painful to do basic tasks like looking down at my phone, turning my head left or right, or lying down in certain positions. Applying hot and cold compresses and doing some basic stretching is helping a bit, and I am lucky that I was not more badly injured, but this is a wake-up call that you need to listen to your body and know when to stop. It's not worth proving to yourself that you can push yourself to reach a certain weight or set milestone, and risking damaging your body over it.
 
Hi everyone! My brother has to pass specific fitness tests by June, so he and I have decided to truly motivate and dedicate ourselves to the gym and maintain a healthy lifestyle. I hate to say it but I really have packed some extra weight, so I'm really excited to start seeing progress. Today we found out our personal maxes on each exercise we plan on completing, and I have some stats to use as a reference point for our work outs. Through Monday to Saturday we plan on doing cardio every morning. Cardio is going to consist of a 4k run, 10mins rowing, 15k cycle, and 15 length swims (25 meter pool). We plan on doing cardio in the morning, coming home, eating healthy, and then going back later the same day to then lift weights which will be 4 times a week. Monday is Back and Biceps, Tuesday is Legs, Wednesday is Chest and Triceps, Thursday is off (still cardio in the morning), and Friday is Shoulders and Abs (Saturday also being cardio only and Sunday is a full rest day).
Bench = 70kg
Lat Pull Down = 140kg
Leg Press = 180kg
Chest Press = 65kg
Seated Row = 130kg
Squat = 110kg
This was my first time stepping into a gym for weight training, so I was pleasantly surprised with some of the numbers I was putting up. I didn't list every exercise, but these are the "main" ones if you will. The numbers could be anything now, its just important that I'm actively improving on them. My legs seem to be my strongest, while my grip strength did let me down when doing shrugs and calf raises. We plan on doing 80% of our maxes for 6 reps / 6 sets (its gonna be brutal...).

Just a small little post to talk about my plans regarding the gym, I'm very excited to see. We start weight training Monday, and hopefully cardio before November (bro has some stuff to sort out with his knee before we can start). :swole:
 
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ShootingStarmie said:
Hi everyone! My brother has to pass specific fitness tests by June, so he and I have decided to truly motivate and dedicate ourselves to the gym and maintain a healthy lifestyle. I hate to say it but I really have packed some extra weight, so I'm really excited to start seeing progress. Today we found out our personal maxes on each exercise we plan on completing, and I have some stats to use as a reference point for our work outs. Through Monday to Saturday we plan on doing cardio every morning. Cardio is going to consist of a 4k run, 10mins rowing, 15k cycle, and 15 length swims (25 meter pool). We plan on doing cardio in the morning, coming home, eating healthy, and then going back later the same day to then lift weights which will be 4 times a week. Monday is Back and Biceps, Tuesday is Legs, Wednesday is Chest and Triceps, Thursday is off (still cardio in the morning), and Friday is Shoulders and Abs (Saturday also being cardio only and Sunday is a full rest day).
Bench = 70kg
Lat Pull Down = 140kg
Leg Press = 180kg
Chest Press = 65kg
Seated Row = 130kg
Squat = 110kg
This was my first time stepping into a gym for weight training, so I was pleasantly surprised with some of the numbers I was putting up. I didn't list every exercise, but these are the "main" ones if you will. The numbers could be anything now, its just important that I'm actively improving on them. My legs seem to be my strongest, while my grip strength did let me down when doing shrugs and calf raises. We plan on doing 80% of our maxes for 6 reps / 6 sets (its gonna be brutal...).

Just a small little post to talk about my plans regarding the gym, I'm very excited to see. We start weight training Monday, and hopefully cardio before November (bro has some stuff to sort out with his knee before we can start). :swole:
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Just a heads up, but those lat pulldown / seated row numbers are probably in pounds, machines are fickle and sometimes don't explain whether they're in KG's or pounds (leading to a lot of confusion for me over the years).

That aside, I think your goal is awesome and I'm keen to see how you and your brother progress!!
 
Stallion said:
Just a heads up, but those lat pulldown / seated row numbers are probably in pounds, machines are fickle and sometimes don't explain whether they're in KG's or pounds (leading to a lot of confusion for me over the years).

That aside, I think your goal is awesome and I'm keen to see how you and your brother progress!!
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Yea, thinking about it now those numbers do sound unreasonably high...I'll have to double check next time I'm at the gym. Thanks for the support man
 
Been trying to get moving more at home with some weights I have lying around. My endurance is terrible (like I'm floundering trying to exercise for more than 45 minutes) and I can't lift very heavy but even if I don't feel like I'm improving I at least feel like I'm doing the right thing by breaking the monotony and not eating as shitty as I have been since April.
 
aaronarium said:
Been trying to get moving more at home with some weights I have lying around. My endurance is terrible (like I'm floundering trying to exercise for more than 45 minutes) and I can't lift very heavy but even if I don't feel like I'm improving I at least feel like I'm doing the right thing by breaking the monotony and not eating as shitty as I have been since April.
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I get where you're coming from but what I found out (and tested for myself) after reading alot on training is that you don't need to exercise for more than 45 mins-1 hour if you train at the right intensity. Doesn't mean you have to lift extremely heavy; correct form + mind-muscle connection + little breaks between sets all will contribute towards a better work out.
 
Stallion said:
Just a heads up, but those lat pulldown / seated row numbers are probably in pounds, machines are fickle and sometimes don't explain whether they're in KG's or pounds (leading to a lot of confusion for me over the years).

That aside, I think your goal is awesome and I'm keen to see how you and your brother progress!!
Click to expand...
Went hard with back and biceps today. I double checked my numbers, and they're actually correct, its all kg. Some slight neck pain, so I have to make sure I take it slightly easy. Tomorrow is leg day, so apart from squats my neck shouldn't be a problem. Diet is going decently well, I'm just having dinner (chicken rice peas and carrots). Feeling good
 
ShootingStarmie said:
Went hard with back and biceps today. I double checked my numbers, and they're actually correct, its all kg. Some slight neck pain, so I have to make sure I take it slightly easy. Tomorrow is leg day, so apart from squats my neck shouldn't be a problem. Diet is going decently well, I'm just having dinner (chicken rice peas and carrots). Feeling good
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That's dope!

Also something I missed in the earlier numbers was the absence of the deadlift, is that not a part of your routine? If so, how come out of curiosity?
 
Stallion said:
That's dope!

Also something I missed in the earlier numbers was the absence of the deadlift, is that not a part of your routine? If so, how come out of curiosity?
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Well I'm pretty new to lifting, and I've heard a lot of "bad stuff" if you will regarding the deadlift. With other big lifts like squat and bench I have a spotter and assisted machine. I was super looking forward to doing them, but they seem very injury prone and right now my number one priority is not getting injured. I tried doing a few on a very light weight but I could tell my form wasn't up to par, and I could see myself throwing my back out. I might revisit them later but for now I'm not doing them
 
On a completely different note, but gyms are still closed here like they have been for the past 7 months (with a 3 week break in the middle).

No organised sports either, which means I've gained a bit of lockdown weight (I hate running for the sake of it, I've only managed to go for a few runs in this time).

But on a positive note, with my billions of resistance bands and my 24kg/53lb kettlebell, I haven't missed a single workout this whole time, I've been getting stronger at both bodyweight and weighted exercises (I can now do 14 handstand pushups in a row, started out at 4-5 before lockdown) and I haven't visually lost any muscle.

My hip pain has improved a lot too.

God I'm keen to get back into the gym. 2021 is the year I do a powerlifting meet and get a 300lb bench press, and top 440lb for both squats and deadlifts!
 
ShootingStarmie said:
Well I'm pretty new to lifting, and I've heard a lot of "bad stuff" if you will regarding the deadlift. With other big lifts like squat and bench I have a spotter and assisted machine. I was super looking forward to doing them, but they seem very injury prone and right now my number one priority is not getting injured. I tried doing a few on a very light weight but I could tell my form wasn't up to par, and I could see myself throwing my back out. I might revisit them later but for now I'm not doing them
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By assisted machine, do you mean the smith machine? While there's a time and a place for it, I strongly suggest not using those for your squats and bench press for two reasons.

1. Your stabiliser muscles won't get stronger
2. Not your natural plane of motion, so more of a risk of injury than you'd think.

When my gyms are open, I always train without a spotter and while it's harder to go for one-rep maxes in this manner (at this point, I ask a random in the gym to spot me lol), you can safely bail out of bench and squats without getting pinned a lot easier than you think. Especially at the weights you're using. Plus you can sorta gauge it and re-rack when you think you're done.

Fair enough on the deadlifts - they don't deserve the bad rep they get, but I totally get the fear of injury. I think that part of your routine should be doing them with just the bar + the lightest bumper plates you can find (so the bar is elevated off the ground) and just practise the technique over and over and over, until you're confident that you won't hurt yourself doing it.
 
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