It’s been a little over four weeks since the start of the Rampant Discourse Fitness Dare. With the competition about a third of the way over, how are things going with our participants? Let’s check in and see:
Paul
Immediately prior to this fitness challenge, I was home sick for a few days with the flu that I had gotten from my daughter. As I result, I went in to this fat from my holiday indulgences and out of shape due to spending a few days in a row bed-ridden. Also, my past efforts to get into shape have often ended after I injure myself and struggle to get back into the workout rhythm that I had prior to the injury. So for my first week of activity, my main goal was to slowly ramp up my activity level and avoid any injuries that would end my journey before it even began. I completed any 45 minute or less workouts, but for the handful of hour long P90x workouts, I typically cut them short after around 30 minutes (which is often when I felt like I had reached my physical limit). Still, I managed to get a workout in every day of the first week. Additionally, my diet got off to a good start courtesy of some meal prep during the weekend (and a big assist from my wife to cook a bunch of vegetables for me). All in all, I was feeling pretty good about myself by the end of the first week.
The problems started the second week. Early in the week, some frozen chicken hadn’t thawed as quickly as I was planning, which required scrambling for new dinner plans and ultimately caused me to miss my first day of workouts. Soon after, I cut short an arm workout when I felt pain in my left elbow and then just a few days later cut another workout short after my back tightened up. Yes, I’m aware of how old this makes me sound. Growing old sucks.
To top it all off, I took my measurements two weeks in and found all three had moved in the wrong direction since the beginning. I knew better than to expect any quick results, but I was still a little disappointed. Still, I pressed on.
I was able to get back on track in the third and fourth weeks, although they weren’t without their own challenges. I didn’t fully anticipate the difficulties in trying to work out every day while also doing 16/8 intermittent fasting. I don’t like to work out while fasting, which leaves a very narrow band of time right after I get home from work where I have to exercise. Any dinner prep issues or other evening plans immediately makes it very difficult to find a way to fit in a workout. I went from no rest days in my first week to consistently taking two a week not because I needed the rest, but because I simply had trouble finding the time to work out. Still, I finally started to see some positive movement with my measurements during this time, which provided some much needed encouragement.
Overall, I’m content with how this first third has gone. Outside of a few “disaster days” (which were relatively tame compared to how I was previously eating), I’m happy with how I’ve been able to stick to my diet. My fast food consumption and soda / sweet tea consumption are both way down and I’ve cut back alcohol consumption as well. I’ve replaced trips to McDonalds with homemade salads, Greek yogurt, and baked vegetables. I could be doing better on the consistency and intensity of my workouts, but I still haven’t gone with more than two rest days in any week yet and managed to avoid any major injuries. Hopefully I can keep up my diet and pick up the pace with my workouts for the next few weeks before our second check-in.
Oh, and while I do think checking metrics after just four weeks is likely not too meaningful and mostly noise, here is where I stand right now:
- Weight – 184 lbs (down 4 pounds)
- Body Fat – 18.8 (down 0.5)
- Muscle Mass – 37.2 (down 0.2)
- Max Bench Press – 200 lbs (even)
Travis
Four weeks down, nine more to go.
I managed to hit every single DDP Yoga workout. Each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I was up before the sun to work through a routine, even two routines a couple mornings. The Diamond Dozen was too easy and relaxed, so I made sure to do each move as he demonstrated it rather than wait for his prompt to do it with him. I could do this since I was already familiar with all the moves. I put the poster of the Diamond Dozen up on my exercise area’s wall for reference and reminder. The Energy routine is also easy, which isn’t surprising since I was essentially doing this routine from memory prior to this challenge. There were some moves I had stopped doing or just forgot about, though. The Fat Burner routine finally got me going a little bit. It’s only come up twice, but each time I actually felt like I was working muscles.
I didn’t fare as well with the Bruce Lee exercises. I scheduled myself to rotate through these routines on the rest days from DDP Yoga, which so far means every Tuesday and Thursday. My plan was to do abs and arms one week, back and legs the next week, and alternate weeks like that going forward. The abs and arms routines weren’t too bad. I had already started doing some dumbbell exercises prior to this challenge, and even dipped my toe into doing sit-ups.
Then I did something to my back on Saturday in week #1 because it started to stiffen up on Sunday. Saturday and Sunday are my rest days, so I wasn’t even doing any exercises. But by Wednesday it was difficult to get out of a chair, let alone up and down from the floor. I still got through DDP Yoga on Monday and Wednesday, and even managed some Bruce Lee leg exercises on Tuesday. I must have done something during those leg exercises, though, because my left calf was strained on Wednesday to go along with my bad back.
I tapped out and skipped all exercise on Thursday in week #2. I didn’t even get up for my thrice daily walks at work. I think that day of rest helped, though, because I was back at DDP Yoga that Friday and by the weekend I was nearing 100% again. The third and fourth weeks went just fine.
One issue I ran into with the Bruce Lee exercises is my lack of a barbell. I have multiple dumbbells, including a set that uses small plates. But some of the exercises, particularly the reverse curl and any deadlift, just don’t feel right without the forced parallelism of a barbell. It also puts more weight in the center rather than putting all the weight to the left and right, but I’m not sure if that throws off the intended effect of any of the exercises. I remember having a small barbell as a preteen and using it like a maniac, so it might be worthwhile to invest in one. Thankfully my wife got a weight bench for Christmas, which helps with things like the dumbbell French press and one-arm low pulley row.
And for full disclosure, here are the Bruce Lee exercises I am currently skipping:
- Dragon Flag (abs): Just looking at the picture of this move makes me scared to try it.
- Deadlift (back): I don’t feel I can this one justice without a barbell and additional weights.
- Hyperextension (back): I tried to do this on my weight bench but it just doesn’t work.
- Step-ups (legs): We gave away our exercise step and I don’t feel like going outside at 5:45 in the morning to find a step I can use.
I feel like I should be able to use more weight on the exercises I am doing. But after injuring my back and leg so early in this challenge, I felt caution was the better part of valor. I’d rather work at less than my maximum than not work at all, notwithstanding Tim Ferriss and the minimum effective dose.
I tried weighing myself once a week, but it feels like entirely noise at this point. I wasn’t expecting to lose any weight anyway. But I don’t plan to take any real measurements until the end of the 13 weeks.
Andrew
I got a bit of a headstart on this challenge by starting my routine early. But I can tell you that it doesn’t help much because that was also when I was off work for the holidays. As I returned to work, and perhaps more importantly, to the daily commute, my time to get my exercise routines in has been sorely hampered. I try to make up for it on the weekends, but even though I’m not missing many days, the fact is I feel like I’m cutting everything short in order to make sure the necessary family and job things get taken care of.
Day One – It’s time to run, boy, it’s time to run.
It’s been too long since I’ve really done any running, so we’ll start with a light jog, fully expecting it to turn into a walk. The important things here are to get moving, keep moving, get some miles in and put a little shock on the system.
1.4 miles down. Pace was an abysmal 14:20. This is depressing. I ran 6-minute miles and better, back in the day.
The problem isn’t the 20 minutes of exercise. It’s the 15 minutes of lying dead on the floor after getting back home and catching my breath. It’s the need for an extra shower.
Day Seven – Checkpoint
It wasn’t much yesterday, but it was enough. I hurt. My back, legs and particularly butt all have muscle strain. Nothing super serious, but enough that I just want to stretch and go lay down for a nap. Getting going for the second run is significantly harder because of this. This is why gym memberships fall in February. The first workout anyone can go to. The second is the one that takes willpower. When it doesn’t feel good. When there are no results to speak of. Before it’s become a habit.
Day Twenty – All My Sins
Saturdays are the best for me. My daughters go to a dance class and are occupied for a few hours and I’m out of the house. The dance studio is close to a park and a hiking trail. I can go running on this trail for miles on end and it is something enjoyable.
I put in 6 miles. That should make me feel good. But all I can do is look at my pace data and note how awful it is. The miles will make all future miles better. But right now I’m paying the price for my past self’s indiscretions. Too many sweets. Too few of these longer runs.
It’s cold out.
