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Rahjenaos' Road to Ripped (or rather loosing fat of last year and getting fit again)

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    #1

    Rahjenaos' Road to Ripped (or rather loosing fat of last year and getting fit again)

    Hi everybody,

    after looking around this page for a few times over the last few weeks I thought that i might as well start a thread here. Of course I hope that you will call me out whenever I "forget" to update the log or "forget" to do some kind of workout.

    I am 32, from Germany and working in Software Development - so more sitting around than moving around :/

    When I learned about Freeletics I quickly became addicted and did a lot of Freeletics in 2015 and was quite happy with my fitness back then. Unfortunately a combination of injuries (mainly knees), being sick and having too much on my plate besides going to work made me nearly skip all sports in 2016 (aside from the occasional run). In addition, my eating habits have gotten worse and so my abs have now hidden under a comfortable layer of fat.

    THIS HAS TO STOP NOW!

    The goal must be to get rid of the fat and becoming fit again.

    I am not sure how much I can do on a daily basis and am unsure whether I should rather start with level 1 workouts and add something random when I have enough power left or start with level 2 or 3 and risk having to start over with a lower level. Any ideas?

    Also: not sure which Workout / Program would fit. Burpees are a problem for my knee - Squats should be ok though. I'd be glad to hear your suggestions. I know that the muscles in my chest are close to non-existent. The Daily Workout ( Gravity ) was a real problem even on level 1 with only 3 sets. Sure, having to do most of those Push-Ups on fists is not making it easier but at least my left wrist does not hurt that way. Chest is definitely something I need to work on...

    Until I have an idea about the daily plan I'll probably do the Daily Dare, Daily Workout and whatever I find / can do as well.

    I also had a look at Pandora which seems to be pretty cool but I keep forgetting "where I am" and "where I need to go" in. I also find it difficult to know how many High Knees I am supposed to do. I tried to set my position on the map somehow but I did not manage - did I miss something or is it simply not possible?

    Today:
    5 days without missed workout
    Water Challenge Day 13
    Daily Dare with EC: 60 sec Plank Punches
    Daily Workout: Gravity (Level 1)
    Random Workout -> Power 25 (with 6.5kg and 8kg weights - feels like I should take heavier ones in some of those exercises and less for the side arm raises)

    Unfortunately I was interrupted before the Power 25 Workout so I had time to regenerate a bit. Feels strange to not sitting in a puddle of sweat like I did after completing a Freeletics workout. Maybe I should look more in the HIIT direction? On the other hand: that (HIIT) seems to be something I am "better" at than lifting weights. Once again: any thoughts on that?

    Did you manage to read all of that? Thanks!
    Let's improve together!
    Last edited by Rahjenaos; January 3, 2017, 02:55 PM. Reason: added water challenge and days without missed workoud
    Tags: None
    • 9 likes
    #2
    Hey Bees,

    still at work but feeling the need to log my thoughts before I forget it.
    I stumbled across a post by inbetween where she mentioned two little "workouts" (#1, #2) that might help with the pushup struggles.
    Those daily dares are pretty cool anyways so I might just start going back and catch up whenever I still have time and energy left after whatever I did before. Sounds good, right?

    Hero's Journey also looks fun... maybe I should try that? Too many great options available

    Oh, I completely forgot to mention that I am also trying to do the water challenge - day 14 today.

    So tasks for later:
    - add water challenge to opening post
    - do the daily dare
    - check out those to workouts for the hands
    - pick a programm / week of xyz / challenge
    - start with whatever i picked
    [- think about possibility of getting up even earlier (alarm is set to 4:55 am for Mo - Fr) and doing some kind of workout that won't wake up the whole house]
    • 5 likes

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      #3
      Thanks for the like Hiraelle - fells good to know that someone read this
      Also thanks Kaufminator for the idea to add the info how many days I have been doing some kind of workout without taking a day off.

      Remembered today that warming up is a thing so i picked one ov the small available workouts for that.
      The Daily Dare was ok - watching Youtube helps (the last 30sec burn anyway).
      Still not sure whether I should rather do something more basic (like Foundation Program) or something more unusual/interesting like Hero's Journey. Will have to decide after the Daily Workout.

      (... doing Daily Workout...)

      hmk... I'll go for Hero's Journey
      Starting with 100 Side Leg Raises: split it up 40 - 30 - 20 - 10 (Freeletics behaviour, I guess ^^) with very short breaks in between to ease the tension because of my bad flexibility (does that sentence make sense?)
      Next up: 100 Squats - one of my "oh shit... hope the knee can cope with that!" exercises. split it up 25 - 25 - 25 - 25. I could feel that I probably should not do a lot more of them but I managed.
      Third exercise: Toe Tap Hops - did the 100 reps all in one go
      Last one: Climbers - again 100 reps in one go.
      Result: Sweating. A lot! But it feels good and I'm looking forward to the next workout.


      No new idea regarding the getting up even earlier

      Instead of thinking I rather want to catch up with the DDs - doing 50 Sitting Twists before heading into the shower...

      Today:
      6 days without missed workout
      Water Challenge Day 14
      Quick Warmup
      Daily Dare #4 with EC: 2 Min Squat Hold
      Daily Workout with EC: Scorpion (Level 2)
      Hero's Journey Day 1 (Level 2) = +200 pts
      Daily Dare #5 with EC: 50 Sitting Twists
      • 4 likes

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        #4
        I usually try to read everything in the check-ins section, haha I like to leave likes to let people know their logs are read and encourage them! (And it's always good to see that people are working out and what they are doing *is nosy*, it encourages me too).

        I think you were right to pick Hero's Journey, if you can manage it. You should always try to pick something that interests you! That way it's easier to do!
        • 1 like

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          #5
          Originally posted by Hiraelle View Post
          I usually try to read everything in the check-ins section, haha
          EVERYTHING???
          Wow!
          And leaving likes and comments indeed encourages a lot.
          Gotta do that as well a bit more in order to know who is fighting with me against the evil monsters of nottoday or thatisenoughalready

          • 1 like

          Comment

            #6
            Originally posted by Rahjenaos View Post
            EVERYTHING???
            Wow!
            I have time

            Comment

              #7
              Good luck with your struggles I can only assure you that with time and patience you WILL improve with push-ups, just as I have. For me it was a big discovery that doing as many reps as possible spread throughout the day (even if split into many many sets of small reps) helps A LOT. I have been doing this in December and the results are astonishing.

              Another thing that has helped with push-ups is strengthening your core, this way hands, wrists and arms receive less impact because the core stabilizes the body and the whole exercise becomes much easier... and pleasurable

              Enjoy your journey and welcome to the Hive!!!

              Comment

                #8
                Thanks for the kind words and warm welcome
                I try to do at least some Morning, Lunch and Evening Pushups (morning and lunch are currently only 10 - being all sweaty the whole day in office is not so great.

                Comment

                  #9
                  Hi Bees!
                  Another day, another bit of working out.



                  I started with the Quick Warmup again - downloaded a Tabata Timer to get rid of having to stop, reset, restart the timer on my smartphone. Much better now!
                  The Daily Dare felt easy today but once again I felt a pain in the left wrist crawling up from the depths below. Go away! Countermeasure: keep the two workouts for the hands in the daily routine and hope for the best.

                  The Express Abs Workout (Daily Workout) was disappointing. I managed to do Level 3 but had to interrupt the second set of flutter kicks because I couldn't breathe after a few reps. Just releasing the tension was enough to get rid of the problem and I maybe lost 2 or 3 seconds. But: head down -> no EC


                  Next up:
                  Hero's Journey Day 2 - of course I can't just ignore someone in help. I chose to get involved! (By the way: did I miss some kind of story here? I have no idea how / where I am getting involved.)
                  Phew... that was a tough fight!
                  KO in round 7 - the enemy of course, not me

                  I was kind of afraid of the Jab+Jab+Cross+Squat, mainly because of the Squats with my "bad knee" in front. While doing the first few repetitions I noticed that it was pretty difficult to leave the right heel on the floor (Achilles' tendon too short since birth, has been "fixed" when I was 6 month old but the foot/ankle is still deformed a bit which I usually do not notice) so I moved the back foot a bit further to the side to make it work. To be honest: I really liked that move. Maybe I should take a look at the punching workouts after my Hero's Journey.

                  Wow... the more I write here, the more I notice how much is wrong with my body. Right foot, left knee, back, left wrist. Well... sucks - but that better not be used as excuse, right?
                  What do we do? This!

                  What the hell? I had to split it up in 4 or 5 parts. EC? How do you get those???
                  Ok... I guess that means: repeat every few days until possible with EC.

                  (yeah... i like those smilies - sorry)


                  Today:
                  7 days without missed workout
                  Water Challenge Day 15
                  Quick Warmup
                  Daily Dare #6 with EC: 60 sec Reverse Plank Hold
                  Daily Workout (no EC): Express Abs (Level 3)
                  Hero's Journey Day 2 (Level 2): 200 + 200 = 400 pts
                  Daily Dare #7 (no EC): 2 minutes Overhead Clench/Unclench
                  • 4 likes

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Today I had the opportunity to workout earlier than usually - which is pretty nice

                    It seems I have found a standard procedure for the exercises: Quick Warmup, Daily Dare, Daily Workout, [Program], [Whatever I can do additionally].
                    The Daily Dare (50 Side Bridges) looked so innocent... but after maybe 15 repetitions it once again started to burn. Managed to finish the workout with EC nevertheless. ha!
                    Stand and Deliver was so close to the common Freeletics exercises that my body seemed to remember pretty well how to push through it: Level 3 with EC!

                    After a short break I tackled Day 3 of my Journey and was allowed to pick a weapon - ich chose the Hammer! Used 8kg for each exercise in the first set but had to increase to 9 for the second set. 9kg seemed to be a good weight for the bent over rows but I wanted to try 10kg for the other two exercises. Did the Bent Over Rows before the other two in the last set to avoid having to change the dumbbells twice.
                    What do you think? Should I use less weight than I can just to "use the same for all exercises" or is it okay to change the weight? How about changing the order of the exercises?

                    Today:
                    8 days without missed workout (nice... halfway through to the new badge)
                    Water Challenge Day 16
                    Quick Warmup
                    Daily Dare #8 with EC: 50 Side Bridges
                    Daily Workout with EC: Stand and Deliver (Level 3)
                    Hero's Journey Day 3: 400 + 50 = 450 pts (oh... Hammer does not give many points)
                    • 4 likes

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                      #11
                      Chest was my weakest point too and I did dumbbells flyes (on the floor, not on a bench, but it was OK) with my knees bent to avoid lower back pain. It helped a lot.
                      • 1 like

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                        #12
                        Hmm good question. Usually the team puts exercises in a specific order for a reason - which is to let muscle groups work and relax in an order that grants the best results. So either way I would probably keep the given order. But that might just be me overthinking things.
                        • 1 like

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                          #13
                          Very impressive - keep up the awesome work!
                          • 1 like

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                            #14
                            Thanks for the input!

                            Louve rose : good idea! If there is not enough progress from the daily pushups in addition to the workouts that I am doing anyways, then I should add this exercise to the list.
                            twinkletoes : you are probably right. I might have to change my mindset... away from the Freeletics mentality of "do it as fast as you possibly can (while still maintaining correct form of course). Those 10 seconds to switch weights won't hurt.
                            Kaufminator :thanks for the cheer!

                            All those little icons below you names are so nice and shiny... I want those too

                            It is pretty tempting to look at those programs, weeks and events and pick a small one out to catch up. The advent calendar looks like a nice little addition... or do you think that this would be somehow "wrong"?
                            • 3 likes

                            Comment

                              #15
                              Originally posted by Rahjenaos View Post
                              It is pretty tempting to look at those programs, weeks and events and pick a small one out to catch up. The advent calendar looks like a nice little addition... or do you think that this would be somehow "wrong"?
                              The problem is rather that seasonal badges like the Advent Calendar badge and the Fit Christmas snowflake are usually only (displayed) temporarily. I expect them to disappear tomorrow or the day after that.

                              Comment

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