That sounds really brutal.
Rope climb is about 95% technique, if you know it.
Yeah, I haven’t tried to climb a rope in 40 years…
I watched a bunch of youtube videos, and tried to use the “S-wrap” clamp, but couldn’t master it. I’ll need to practice for next time (if there is a next time).
100% agreed, and that technique eludes me. I keep trying to get the “j” lock with my feet.
**Beowulff ** did you overall enjoy the experience?
Yes, in a masochistic way.
I was mostly miserable running at the end, and some of the obstacles were pretty tough (the bucket brigade, and sandbag carry), but the whole experience is designed to reinforce teamwork and camaraderie, so it ends up feeling good at the end.
I’d probably do it again, this time with more than 1 month of training.
My times just got posted.
2:10:22 32:35 MIN/MI
Overall: 4039 of 6165
In my division (Men 55-59): 57 of 79
Against men only: 2663 of 3749
I’m pretty happy with those times, see as it’s my first time running in any type of competition.
I figure I could easily shave 15-30 minutes off of that time with some more training.
I really need to stop drinking my calories.
/shy wave
It has come to my attention that my blood pressure is very (dangerously) high. I am also (very) overweight. Is this thread kind of a support/cheer each other on type of thing? If so…I’m in!
The last week or so I’ve gone to the gym every day, halved my beer intake, and made good food choices. I’ve lost some weight, but have seen no change to my blood pressure…not sure how long that type of change takes. I also emailed my doctor today and let him know I’ve become aware of the high blood pressure (I was deferred at the blood center for donation two times, so I started going to CVS to use the blood pressure checker and it’s clearly an issue…I was sort of in denial/pretending this wasn’t the case…but now I’m trying to be less of a chicken)
So that’s my “warts and all” (insert your own Blisters joke) self introduction.
Hi Blisters, and welcome.
Yup, this is the thread for encouragement and trading information on dieting and fitness. There’s been a couple of them, for example, here’s the 2016 thread. There are many threads on specific topics if you use the search function, like this one about pull-ups and this one about healthy meal planning.
Weight loss will probably help your blood pressure. Losing about 25% of my body weight certainly dropped mine back into the “normal” category…until job stress drove it back up again. I’ve found that carefully writing down everything I eat really helps me know what causes gains and losses. For example, I can eat a half-pound of bacon and my body doesn’t mind, but two slices of chicago-style pizza and I’m paying for it for days. Apparently, I can eat protein and fat, but adding refined flour to the mix causes gains.
If you like, head on over to Sparkpeople.com. It’s completely free and has lots of resources to track your food and your fitness. Once I started tracking my nutrition it was quite the eye opener. I’ve been maintaining for nearly nine years now and I still enter my food daily over there.
I have two more boot camp classes then it’s back to my regular routine, at least until they offer the classes again.
Poysyn, have you tried an inhaler before your workouts? I puff on mine before boot camp and my double classes on Saturday and it does help a lot.
I have not, this is the first time since Basic Training that it’s been an issue. I am hoping it’s just because it was cold and dry out. I’ll know this week, I guess 
Found out today the next boot camp class will only be four weeks and will start the end of March. Of course, the ladies in the class this morning were most peeved. We want eight weeks, dammit! We don’t want to lose our progress!
I emailed the head of the gym and it was a lot of blah blah spring break blah blah summer blah blah not enough interest. I beg to differ. The women who get up before the crack of dawn twice a week for eight weeks are dedicated to our fitness, and neither summer vacations or spring break will prevent us from doing our burpees! The class size is limited and you have to pay extra for it, so I know of at least 6-7 of us who will pony up. That’s pretty good for a 5:30a class.
We’ll see…if enough of us raise a stink…
Since my buddy saw how lousy I was at running during the Spartan, he decided that what I really needed to do was run in the Ragnar del Sol next week. I told him that the only way I would agree to that was if I could commit to no faster than a fast-walk pace (4 mph). He agreed (sure…).
I ran on the treadmill today, 40 minutes at 5mph (3.3 miles). That’s about half the shortest leg in the Ragnar. I think I could have gone another couple of miles, but my legs and feet were getting tired. At least I wasn’t completely winded at the end.
To all you runners, I salute you. I’m doing a 5K with my Fitness Buddies (yes, that’s what we call ourselves, even have a Facebook page) in April and I doubt many of us will be running.
I finished up Boot Camp today and had Ivylad measure me and compare against what I was before I started. I lost an inch and a half around my waist! :eek::eek:
The instructor had us all hold hovers at the beginning to see who could do it the longest. We all lasted more than a minute and I held mine almost two minutes. It’s amazing to see how much progress I’ve made. I’m really going to miss that class.
My buddy just texted me and said that they had changed the lineup, so that instead of running 12 miles, I’m doing 15+. That didn’t seem too bad, until I looked at the legs, and the first one is 8.7 miles.
Ugh.
Hard workout yesterday, light workout today. I’m trying to get my “light” gym days to line up with my fasting days.
Do any of you exercise on an empty stomach? Do you think it helps or hinders your fitness?
I was doing “Intermittent Fasting” for awhile last year, where I worked out first thing in the morning, fasted (I had BCAAs as a pre-workout, but that’s it). It helped me lean out, and I don’t think it had any negative impact on strength gains, but I don’t think it actually helped with increasing muscle mass.
So, if you are primarily interested in getting leaner, than, yes - try it.
I think it depends on the exercise. I wouldn’t do HIIT/Body Pump without at least a banana in my stomach. Fig Newtons work too.
Does it bother you when you see people with bad form? There’s a woman in my Body Pump class who can’t do a clean and press properly. When bringing the weight back down she throws her arms out like a reverse curl. I know the instructor has noticed because she’s made a point that last couple of weeks to demonstrate the proper form. I think the woman has too much weight on her bar and I don’t know her so I can’t say anything. But she’s going to hurt herself.
C25k (Couch to 5k) is a great program to follow. It’s a walk/run program; Week 1 is mostly walking &, week by week, you increase the percentage of running & decrease the percentage of walking until you’re up to running a 5k at the end of it.
There are two variants on the website that are really identical. One is time based (run for x seconds) & the other is distance based (run for y yards/meters). If you have access to a track or a GPS device, you can do the latter. If you have a watch, you can do the former in your neighborhood or on a trail. The reason they’re the same is that for the relative pace of a noobie, x time = y distance.
Since you’re doing boot camps & not coming off the couch, you might be able to compress it a bit. However, (& this is true for seasoned runners, too) bringing up your mileage too quickly can lead to overuse injuries. If you’re in decent shape already, think about skipping one of the first two weeks & then one of weeks 3/4b (skip either Weeks 1 & 3 or 2 & 4 so you’re not doing to big of a jump from Week 1 to Week 4).
I’ve used a modified variant of it personally in coming back from (bad) injury A, which begot (minor) injury B. Speaking of which, I was told to run up to two miles last night (first time in about a month)…I did 2½ :o. Next, I think I will “participate” in a 5k this weekend (run with a number on but not ‘race’ it.)
It’ll be a low of 15° tonight & a high of 30° tomorrow, but I do have cold weather gear & will run down to the mid 20°’s - below that it hurts to breathe in because the air is so cold & you pretty much have to breathe thru your mouth to intake the amount of air/0[sub]2[/sub] necessary so one doesn’t even get the warming effect of the nasal passages.
So, I survived the Ragnar.
I did around 16 miles total over the three legs.
My times were in the 12 minute/mile range, except for today’s last leg, which was closer to 13 (it was blazing hot, and mostly uphill). I’m pretty sure that these 16 miles are more running than I have done up to this point- combined.