Carry on exercising - the August 2022 edition

Happy Christmas one and all, and best wishes for exercise, goals or not, in 23.

Hello all. Congratulations on keeping up the great going! Its been an excellent year of activity.

I got quite sick with some flu like virus in November and have been out of commission since. All I've been managing is a short swim a couple of times a week to stop my shoulder siezing up again. I'm finally coming out of it so I'm going to give myself until the new year to stop self medicating with Christmas chocolate get my head back in the game and restart properly.

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and thanks for the encouragement in 2022.

Hi all!
New poster, have been exercising with sporadic bursts of enthusiasm for most of my adult life.

I've been doing les mills classes for about a year, and very much enjoy the group setting and the structure.

I sea swim in the warmer months, and do a bit of pretty unenthusiastic running too.

I train to maintain, and apart from running, only do things I enjoy.

My focus for 23 is mobility/stability/flexibility and aim to lose a stubborn stone or so as I go.

Ha ha Roonetta

Hope the gym workout went better than expected Cat and you've got some endorphins to carry you through the rest of the day.

Epic heat day 36 (shoulders) for me. No time for add-ons today.

Days exercised 225 (wondering how on earth I managed to do around 280 days a few years ago.... )

Gym day today. I'm dragging towards the holidays now. 3 more days. I don't feel a stellar workout will be happening, but who knows, maybe once I start it will get better. Kind of tired, I think I had weird dreams. Well, keep at it everyone. Are people making new years resolutions? I'm not sure if I am. Like, I have things I'm working on, both fitness wise and elsewhere, but they're all sort of ongoing and not entirely within my control (getting funding for a piece of research etc). Maybe my resolution can be to keep up the gym through the pitch dark and freezing January mornings!

Thank you Cat. Here's to a better year next year...

I wouldn't say I love or hate HIIT but I think it does me good. Just did epic heat day 35 (HIIT) and found it hard and lacking energy as been up half the night with the puppy. Also did the bowflex 3 minute plank (with about 100 breaks when normally do it with no breaks!)

The dramatic dog sounds gorgeous and the Greeks do love Lord Byron!!

Days exercised 224

@SophieLion He's a grownup dog. A very posh, very beautiful, hyper-intelligent tricolour corgi with a massive pedigree (I didn't buy him). Or possibly Lord Byron reincarnated, not sure.

@SophieLion Sorry to hear that. Hopefully this year will be a little easier. I'm not a huge fan of Christmas myself, its alright for a day but could do without the seasonal buildup/enforced fun etc. Also it annoys me how its always the women in my family that seem to be 'on duty' (self included) whilst the men luxuriate, eat and drink, but most of them are too set in their ways now. I went to the gym today and am slowly starting to add a bit of HIIT into longer cardio workouts, just for the challenge really. I think I'm changing from straight-up hating HIIT to becoming frenemies with it. It does get your stress out, admittedly.

You asked re workout plans for Christmas Cat: plan to carry epic heat when I can manage it. We are skiing over NYE and so I'll either ski or go to gym (depending on how tired I am - exhausted now from sleepless nights with puppy . He is improving with that but wakes ridiculously early...). So like you really, trying to stick to what I normally do.

I think I actually ran on Christmas Day last year. Never normally exercise on Christmas Day but this time last year was very difficult for me. Was in a very bad place mentally. My father was ill in hospital and sadly passed away in January. Glad to see the back of 2022.

Anyway: is the dramatic dog a puppy that weighs 20kg or a grown up dog?

Roonetta: do you think CG will make an appearance for 2023??

Hope the dramatic doggy will be feeling better soon Cat. He does sound lovely - a real character!!

So very sad about that young trainer. Obsessions and fixations are never good.

Rest day yesterday and today epic heat day 34 (full body pyramids) and a short abs workout.

Days exercised 223

@roonetta To be frank he is being a bit of a poo. He's doing alright, but he's on antibiotics twice a day until Thursday, and it seems I'm the only person who can succesfully give him medication without a meltdown so loud I actually considered sticking a note on the door "Please do not call police, no-one is being murdered, very dramatic dog being medicated inside". He lives in the next street from me so I'm going to have to pop over twice a day to do it. Needs must.

Well, a restful weekend never hurt anyone. Consider it an investment to workout better once you get back to it. I know there's an argument amongst people who lift weights to take a whole week off every 8-to-12 weeks. I've never felt the need to do that (probably because I'm not lifting anywhere near as much as those people) but at the end of the day you do need some repair time and I think its mentally important to be comfortable with that. I think I often do my best workouts on Mondays after a slower-paced weekend. I heard a terribly sad story on Reddit about a young fitness trainer from Scotland who died of a heart attack. Over the lockdown he got sort of obsessed with working out for hours every single day, barely sleeping, and was living on caffiene and some dodgy stimulants. People were telling him there was absolutely no point in lifting to failure every day, it doesn't accomplish anything, but it had become a sort of compulsion to him.

30 min hip hop ride done yesterday

I'm hoping to start some strength stuff over Christmas but best laid plans and all that!

Got my round up from peloton for the year, it says I exercised 114 days so my aim for 2023 is to beat that

Well, I did some light weights yesterday morning but apart from that it was a bit of an unplanned rest day, as I ended up having to take my mum's dog to the emergency vet. He's a HUGE baby and extremely phobic of veterinary settings (he has been officially diagnosed as 'very dramatic' by at least 2 seperate vets) but fair play he is actually is sick this time, he had a bad stomach and a temperature. Though why this necessitates screeching when the vet touches his tail is anyone's guess. So that was that. I'm still knackered from trying to medicate 20kg of hysterical canine for 3hrs but I will do either a long walk or some time on the bike later.

What's people's Christmas plans for exercise? I don't think mine will change much, my gym is still open except for Xmas day and boxing day, and I wouldn't normally go on the weekend anyway. I'm working up until the 23rd, then I'm off the first week in January, at which point I might skip a couple of sessions in favour of deep cleaning. Or I might not. One big thing is that several heavy blankets and throws need washing and it might be impossible to dry them in this weather.

Epic heat day 33 legs.

Days exercised 222

The buses and traffic got me so mad I did HIIT in the gym. 😆

KB&T L1 (40 min). I’m looking forward to it warming up a bit next week. It hasn’t really been above freezing since last weekend. My step count is low because the pavements are covered in icy compacted snow.

(7/20)

Rest day yesterday and today Epic heat day 32 (upper body giant sets) and a CG 5 min plank.

Hope the weather warms up for all of you and that the strikes stop soon.

Days exercised 221

@iloveeverykindofcat - this makes me realise that it’s important for DD to have seen me exercising with dumbbells throughout her teenage years (she’s 18). She knows I haven’t become bulky as a result.

After lots of rest days, I re-discovered some motivation. KBFF levels 1 & 2 (40 min). I’ve had social events rather than just being lazy. So difficult to exercise when you have to be dressed up and out of the door at a certain time!

(6/20)

I am sad to report that the Reddit female fitness forums are full of young women afraid to pick up a dumbell in case they accidentally turn into Popeye overnight. Depressing.😫

Well the train strikes mean I can't get to the gym until Thursday now so I'll be using the bike and the lighter weights I have at home. Not feeling very motivated this morning as its pitch dark and bitterly cold here in South Wales, I've caved and had the bedroom radiator on overnight. If only there was a way to convert the kinetic energy from indoor fitness equipment into electricity. Scientists, get on it.