Well, since this area of the forum has been a little moribund of late, I thought I'd get it going with a New Year's thread. First, there are NO resolutions.(People never keep those anyway). Second, there are no promises, because promises are easily broken. No, only GOALS are allowed in here, and they have to be concrete ones. They can be small or large, short-term or long, but they have to be specific, clearly stated and attainable. Don't put down that you want to bench 400lbs. in six months if you're only doing 200 right now (unless you plan to go on the Juice-and I don't recommend that anyway). I would like to keep progress of everyone's goals once a month or so in this thread, so that everyone has a chance to see not only how far they've come, but also to motivate and/or gain motivation from others, depending on your situation. So, here goes: My Health and Fitness Goals for 2009 1.Get my cholesterol under 200g/ml. I have horrible family cholesterol and this will end up being a big problem for me later on if I don't start eating better more often. 2. Do a one-armed pullup. A great test of overall strength and balance, and something I've always wanted to be able to do. 3. Go to the Dr. for a full physical examination and blood work. I hate the Dr., not for the usual reasons, but b/c I am just cocky and self-absorbed enough to think that I can usually self-diagnose and treat better than the Dr. most of the time. As one can imagine, this is not usually the case... 4. Get my friend under 20% body fat (and maybe even down below 15%). *Ok, ok- I realize this one isn't exactly related to my health and fitness, but as my very first personal client, it would be great to make him a totally confident, healthy and fit human being. My good friend and workout partner is a bear of a guy (5'9-5'10", 230) who was always the chubby kid all throughout his whole life. Now he's got a good bit of muscle, but still carries a lot of fat in his midsection. This is the year we get rid of it- together. 5. Bench 315 ten times, squat 505 fifteen times. I always feel it's a good idea to set poundage totals as well, so you know how far you have to go to reach those goals. 6. Run a sub-4.8 forty. Something I have never been able to do in my life, but I know I am fully capable of doing(I hope). 7. Touch the rim on a regulation basketball rim. See above. (and below, if you're taller than 5'9") 8. Eat fish at least 2x a week the entire year. This will make me an overall healthier person, and really put my will and cooking dedication to the test. Well, that's it. Those are my health and fitness goals for 2009. Some are, I admit, a little silly, but I wanted to let everyone know that no goal, as long as it's a valid one, will be off-limits. I know that some I might not reach and some I might reach rather quickly. The point is, I have made them- written them down in the public record for all to see and hold me accountable to. This is my first step in my own health and fitness journey of 2009, which figures to be a long and hard one.... ...Then again, heroes don't do short and easy ones. OK phins.com, let's see what YOU got.
congrats on making goals, but walk the walk too good luck! don't really have any goals for myself this year...yet...i'll get back to you
Well, that's partly what this thread is about- showing up week after week to meet and exceed those goals. Still haven't made any appointments, and last Sat. was my first day back at the gym in the new year; did well too. Haven't been back since. Not good. No fish yet this week, either. I'll try to make up for it tonite. I still have two days left! Maybe not the most promising start, but a start nonetheless. That's a step in the right direction.
J, If you can get to the point that you can hang on a basketball rim, you'll find doing a one-armed pullup is relatively easy.
ok so I ended up setting a couple goals....they're really not huge, but I thought since you put so much effort into yours J, i'd come and share. 1. Get at least 6 hours sleep a night. I don't have any sort of discipline on my sleep habits and it affects me entirely too much. Part of getting those 6-8 hours a night is also waking up at the same time every morning and going to bed the same time every night. 2. Get back to taking multi-vitamins every day. I used to be sooo good about taking vitamins and in this past year I got sick a lot. So, I went out and got a multi, iron, calcium, and Vit E tabs and a little pill case. I'll be damned if i'm getting sick once a month anymore! 3. Move EVERY day. Not necessarily go to the gym every day....but go for a run...walk down the street....park farther away from my building than I usually do. Just move. 4. Bench 150 again. God, in high school I was a maniac...I LOVED lifting weights...I wasn't ever like those scary gross body building women...I just liked to be strong. And the most I ever benched was 150. I think I can do about 10 reps of 90 right now, but that's it. 5. Eat fish 2x a week. I am RIGHT there with ya. Read the effects of adding fish into your daily life and I had even thought about buying a supplement, but nothing is better than the real thing. So I am right there with ya on this goal! As I think of more i'll add them in, but these are the ones i've started with so far.
1. get more into really playing my guitar. i've been playing without effects so long that i think my general playing and fingering has improved. but it's starting to sound quite bland to me. i have a host of effects at my disposal and they're all in a bin. i would only need to purchase some 9V batteries and i'd be good to go. i also want to buy heavier gauged strings and play my main guitar more often. i want to record something.. maybe take a year to do it and do it right.. and let people listen to it if i deem it worthy enough. 2. be more active. i've already got this one down a little bit. i bought myself a pull up bar and some weights and have been working out with help from the active group i created here. 3. be more comfortable in my own skin and more emotionally stable. workin' on it.. 4. find a job that i enjoy doing. would probably be something involving computers or a forest ranger outdoorsy type job.. but i don't know what yet. 5. ?
j, when is the best time to start increasing weights? i wrote down what i'm doing right now... i'm pretty comfortable where I am....I can do about 3 sets of 15 of each before I feel like jello. leg press - 130lbs calf raise - 100lbs lat press - 75lbs bicep/tricep curls - 75lbs benching - 80lbs i swore i was back up to 90 but anyways, should i do this for a week/two weeks before trying to increase the weights?
from what i understand about lifting weights you're supposed to keep doing them as long as your body feels exhausted then and only then should you move on. but i don't know so much...
Depends exactly what your trying to do. But in most cases, when you don't feel like your working as much and the wo is getting easier, then it's time to up the weights or do something else to challenge yourself. Usually, your body lets you know what you should do.
I figured as much, but didn't know how long I should wait before upping the weights. Sounds like a plan, going up tonight!
Yea, I guess the best way to describe it is that when your making gains wo is when your challenging your body with new obstacles. Once your body gets to used to or good at what your doing, the gains get smaller. You gotta keep evolving to keep seeing good gains.
well i dont care much about building muscle...but getting lean muscle to burn fat...now thatttsss what im talkin about lol that and the fact that i'm looking to build strength, so the easier the weights become the stronger i'm getting i spose
botox, lipo and tanning or better diet, high intensity wo, and plenty of sleep. if your the traditional type. I know everyones diff., but if you really wana see drastic results, 3 times a week might not be enough right now.
Haven't been on in a while- good to see some people starting goals. A little update on mine- I've expanded the fish to include all seafood, since I find myself eating more shellfish (none of it fried). Not gone to the Doc yet, but I promise to have gone by the end of March. Everything else has been put on hold as I adjust to my new job hours6a-4p). Now, as for everyone else: Finsgirlie, I have it on good authority that nearly every woman wants lean muscle to burn fat and not to look big. The good news is, unless you start taking HGH or something, you will always build lean, sexy muscle, no matter how strong you get.:yay: That's just the way girls are made. I think it's awesome that you consider strength a priority. As to when you should increase your weight, I would agree with what slick has said, except that I would put a number on it. They're a lot easier to measure. So, say you can do 3 sets of 15 for a given exercise. You would move the weight up and try to hit 15 again. Once you can do 3/15 (or whatever) again, you move up the weight. Sound good? ang, you sound like a musician... Didn't you know that being emotionally stable is counter-productive to the musical creative process??? But seriously, being comfortable in one's own skin, especially after a lifetime of not being comfortable, takes a while. It took me from 17 (senior year) until about 22 to really feel confident in who I was no matter what. Some things I changed, others I came to terms with. Hang in there- you might not take as long as I did(dear Lord, I hope you don't), but it's not an overnight process. Good on ya for making the concious choice.
A reduced calorie (b/w 1000 and 2000) diet, filled with small, frequent meals coupled with a high-intensity exercise routine to be performed no more than 3x a week and a minimum of 6 hours of good sleep every night. You can go a long way with that in six weeks. Supplements other than a multivitamin are not necessary.
Well one of my goals was to get to about 190 pounds. I started at 220 (that's the most I've ever weighed in my life) and got to 200. After that I slacked a while and got up over 210 again but now I'm at 206. I've been eating better and doing a lot of boxing/cardio type stuff.
Glad to hear you guys are doing so well. I'm pretty proud I've only had one minor relapse since new years.
Still not eating fish and/or seafood enough, but I've taken on a new client (another friend) and both he and his wife are loving the results- in the 5 weeks I've had him, his upper body has noticibly gained mass while he has dropped 3, maybe 4 pant sizes and has had to buy all new belts. I'm very happy for him- but I still need to get my dinners under control. :P
Yes ma'am- G'ville, to be exact. I know, redfish and catfish galore....eating mexican tonite. I'm going to eat a fish dish, but I'm getting chicken tacos as well. This place up here has the best chicken tacos- I can't go without them. The good thing with my new job is that I have the same thing for breakfast and lunch pretty much every day: B- Sausage biscuits and coffee (w/vitamins) L- Sandwich (LC Panini, etc), yoghurt, fruit of some kind, 100 cal snack or 1/2 protein bar. And I drink water. So as long as I don't overdo it on dinner, I'm usually ok. Haven't gained any weight yet- actually lost about 2-3lbs (down to 172 now), but I haven't lost any strength yet. It's been interesting. *Edit: ended up eating sushi instead- so I guess it worked out anyway!
Just to update I'm down to 194 I really have no idea where ideal is. I thought 190 but now that I'm close to that I think 185 or possibly less. I definitely don't look overweight anymore, just average. I figure the next 10 pounds will be the hardest.
Update us people a new years goal gos ALL YEAR. So from time to time I like to bump this thread. I popped back up to 200 but I think I gained a bit of muscle as well. I'm back on my workouts and I lost 3 pounds this week (was 203 after a couple weeks of not exercising and eating a lot)
