On a regular basis, I also mull over my training
I think it is important both to keep in mind what the final goal is (as HellYeah always says) and to maintain a certain openness to experimentation in order not to stagnate.
In the end the only thing that is always true is that if you want to get good at one thing you have to do it as much as possible, that specific thing

Day 712

​​​​ Programme:
- Day 23 Fit December
​ Medito - Day 9 of Mindfulness.

Nearly fell off the wagon again - the train-for-what-you-need-to-train wagon, that is! I was thinking about pistol squats, and wondered how I could best train for them because I reckon it would be cool to be able to do a good one (mine wobbles and, quite frankly, doesn't get very low!), but then I wondered why I should train to do a pistol squat. Don't get me wrong, I reckon any bodyweight training is great, and I'd love to be able to do a good pistol squat, but do I need to? My concern is that doing exercises just because they are or look like fun, even if they ultimately improve my strength or other fitness, takes time away from the training I ought to be doing in order to improve what I want to be doing. There are only 24 hours in every day. Most of them are taken up with the tasks we all have to a similar degree - family, food, sleep, shopping, etc - so the actual time I have to train isn't really that much so I have to be as economical as possible and as focussed as possible.

I was asked recently if I exercised (sorry, you have to ask?! I guess this t-shirt is a bit baggy...). I do exercise - a bit. Doing FD is exercising; it's not training. It's keeping a certain level of fitness going, and I do it to get as much out of each session (though they're fairly brief) as possible. That's exercising. I do more training, though, which is working towards a particular goal, and choosing those particular activities and exercises that will move me towards that goal. So when, for example, I was working on the splits, it wasn't just so I could do the splits but rather so I could better my extensions, increase the height of my kicks. I've worked on increasing my push-ups reps. This will improve my upperbody strength, but really, that's about all (oh, I know, core and back and etc, but it's mostly about strength). It won't help me punch faster because to do that, I have to practice punching faster. The strength will help, of course, but there are other activities I can do that will give me upperbody strength too. I know I'm rambling again but really, I'm just talking to myself here, trying to get my thoughts in order. So what it all boils down to is: what gives me the biggest bang for my bucks - or rather, what uses my time most effectively? I think my focus for this next month (when there's no formal training) is tendon strength (tendons take about 3 times as long to gain strength as do muscles, but fortunately they keep it longer), adductors (to stabilise the knees and lift legs), abductors, hip flexors, as well as some running/cycling for cardio because I don't want to lose what I've recently gained. This doesn't mean I'll be neglecting the rest of me - there'll be other stuff thrown in from time to time, and of course my specific taekwondo training will also work the whole body.

Day 711

​​​​ Programme:
- Day 22 Fit December
​ Medito - Day 8 of Mindfulness.
100 March Steps (while waiting for the potatoes to finish boiling). After watching this about the benefits of high knees, etc, and how easy it is to incorporate things like march steps into daily activity (in front of the teev, while cooking dinner, and so forth), I thought it an excellent idea to do a few. 100 really gets those flexors tired!

Day 710

​​​​ Programme:
- Day 21 Fit December
​ Medito - Day 7 of Mindfulness.
Glute Bridge and Hamstring Curls. With sliders (because they're fun). This deceptively simple exercise really works those hamstrings! After about 20, I did the easier version of single-leg curls where one stays on the floor and the other moves out, just to see what they were like. A bit too easy for me, but I think after doing the double-leg ones for a bit, I might try doing the single-leg type where one leg is off the ground while the other moves out. That would be more of a challenge. But as I really felt this today, I think I might just train with double-legs for a while.

As I'm taking it easy for a bit, I thought I'd do stuff that didn't get me too revved up - like working on the tendons. This was prompted (a bit) by watching some YouTube videos such as this one - and, of course, by the lists I have scattered over my desk headed "tendons" and "hamstring slider exercises" and stuff like that! I find that sidelining myself for a while can be a Good Thing. Not just because I actually have to, but because when I do so, I get the opportunity to do more research into things, to read up on stuff, to find exercises or workouts that I haven't tried/heard of before. I actually find it very motivating. Sometimes a bit overwhelming, to be honest, too, but interesting. And I can start planning for the New Year.

Good luck with the testings!

King of snowball
Hoping the testing goes OK and provides answers.

Congrats on Snowfight you are this year's Snowball King

Day 709

​​​​ Programme:
- Day 20 Fit December
​ Medito - Day 6 of Mindfulness. 22 days but not a habit yet. I still have to remind myself, but I'm finding that more often now I'll have a few moments when there are no thoughts - at least I don't think there are any!

Currently undergoing some medical testing so I'll be taking things easy for the next few days until I find out what's what.

Thanks to all those who threw snowballs at me - I had a good time!

Involving new faces - that's where the funnest part is!

This year we weren't in good shape, at least me, but we got some new faces involved

Day 708

​​​​ Programme:
- Day 19 Fit December
​ Medito - Day 5 of Mindfulness.

Don't know what happened to today - it just vanished! Looked wintry - grey, a bit rainy, strong winds, and the highest temperature was at 9 o'clock in the morning! Been doing a bit more of overcoming isometrics rather than yielding isometrics - I'd like to see over the next month if there is any appreciable difference if I swap out yielding for overcoming, so I've been looking at the yielding isometric exercises I do and figuring out how I can convert them to overcoming. True, not every one can be converted but a few can. Anyway, it's worth a try.

Still, I dodged my Snowballs today. Strangely, although it was still fun, it was not quite as much fun as last year. I guess there weren't so many people doing it this time around. Last year there were well over 150 pages on the thread, but this year, not even 50. Last year I did over 1500 squats, but this year I had it easy with only a fifth of that number!

CaptainCanuck You do a lot of running, so you'd have to include a running substitute like high knees.
Anek No, the workout would be what exemplifies you, so the exercises you like, or that you want, as opposed to feel you have to, get better at, because it would be the Anek-Workout, and everyone knows that Anek hates plank rotations!

That would be cool though! For me there would be jumping jacks, squats, lunges, triceps extensions, reverse rows, and flutter kicks.
But these are the ones I really like, so not sure if it'd make sense to have them because aren't we supposed to do the things that are hard for us, so we get better at them? In which case there would be plank rotations and I would never exercise...

it is an interesting question, I think for me it would be pullups, pushups, alt bicep curls and leg raises, though I am not sure if there is not already a workout that has those as a combination.

Day 707

​​​​ Programme:
- Day 18 Fit December Just in case I wasn't getting enough snowballs to dodge, here was an additional 100 squats for today!
​ Medito - Day 4 of Mindfulness. Twenty consecutive days of meditation.
Passive leg lowering - using belt, 10es. For the hip flexors.
50 full-power mid-section punches. The lowerbody has been working hard today, so I made the upper do a spot of work too. The GM says that if you can do another 50 punches, you haven't been working hard enough. I couldn't do another 50. Maybe 10...?

Snowballs! Seems a little slower this year. Still fun, of course, and I've been experimenting with Hindu squats too. Sissy squats are beyond me yet, because apparently you're supposed to stand up again once you've gone down! Something to work on. Just maybe not this year...

Something PetiteSheWolf wrote made me start thinking. (Oh no!) I wondered what workout I would build for myself. What would the darebee.com/workouts/TopNotch-Workout.html be comprised of? Which 6 exercises do I think would best describe me, my aims, my likes, my challenges? It's an interesting exercise. Unfortunately, I lack the computer skills to make a cool workout sheet (sure someone like BlackButler would be able to do that sort of thing!), but I think I'd have to have High Knees (for running substitute and hip flexor strengthening), plank (because I like them!), seated leg raises (hip flexors again), sit-ups (because I also like them!), hmmm, what else....? So many to choose from. Think about it - which exercises would you choose for the darebee.com/workouts/[your name here]-Workout?
(Note: these are not a real thing so don't get too excited!)