Covid Exercise thread

Thought I'd start a thread.
Lots of regular sports are currently off.

I figured my fitness (cardio especially) could be better (especially after having ankle surgery 29th Feb). My cardio has always been not great (imo anyway), though my Fitbit still puts me in the excellent category for my gender and age. I shudder to think how it would be for anybody under excellent.

Normally pre Covid each week I would be playing volleyball, unicycling to and from the train station (every day to get to work), attending aerial tissue classes once a week, attending unicycling meetups where the people mostly play unicycling hockey (and I was getting better at that!)

Anyway, since I haven't been able to do my regular activities I've found some free Pilates/yoga/HIIT classes via my office building and via the City Of Sydney website.

I started running up and down the hill next to my home. Ps. I was never a runner...

The first time I did the run up and down the hill my quads were killing for 2 days after, after the HIIT class I did my back muscles are sore, after the pilates my side abs were sore.... all are good kind of sore though

I've got a pull up bar in the home and I use that. I also work on my unicycling skills too, which is pretty awesome.

Anyway, some things are opening up, small group bike rides are now allowed in NSW.
Not sure I'll go back to volleyball when its allowed again, because I have knee and ankle issues....

 

On the 1st of Feb I decided that I needed to get into shape and I'd recently bought a rowing machine. I started a morning routine which I maintain 5 days a week.

100 push ups
100 sit ups
100 squats
15 minutes on the rowing machine

I can't do 100 push ups straight off, I do these over 2 sets. It gets the blood flowing. Then 15 minutes of hard rowing has me drenched in sweat.

My strength and cardio have definitely improved. I was loosing about 0.5kg/wk but that's gone up a little in the last fortnight (I'm probably eating too much pasta, need to start focusing on my diet).

When I started it would take 20 minutes to get back to my resting heart rate. Now it's back down in less than 5 minutes.


The archery club reopened on Wednesday morning. Due to weather only myself and two other guys showed up. Archery requires shoulder/back strength and core stability. From a fitness perspective it's like I never left. My scores are down by about 10% due to lack of practice, but that will come back quickly. One of the other guys shot a few arrows and stopped because he almost immediately hurt his shoulder, the other guy pulled up tired after 30 minutes.

 

Good stuff. After my second hill run, I felt like dying!! What a shocker!! But then the next day, I was quick to recover
It's like the first session riding a unicycling for 40 minutes with the seat too low... my quads were killing for days!!! I didn't know that much pain was possible.

Bike North has opened up their bike rides now, limit 10 people, must be a club member. It's something

 

I racked up some steps going to the kitchen and back today.

 

I've started running longer distances, 5 to 10km, 7 weeks ago because of Covid.
Normally I just do sprints but figured it's a good opportunity to build a good aerobic base.
My endurance is so much better now and recovery time after efforts is so much quicker.
Never done any consistent aerobic activity in my life so really glad to have started.
Resting heart rate has gone from 60bpm down to 45bpm.
Feel so much better now.

 

If you're serious about getting into shape check out a guy called bully juice on youtube.he does amazing home workouts.im 6'3 and 110kg.i used to train 5 days a week until the gyms closed.ive been doing his workouts since then and I've found it really good to maintain my size .it may be abit advanced for yourself but you would still be able to it at your own pace.

 

It's supposed to be 100 pushups, 100 situps, 100 squats and a 10km run...

 

My resting heart rate has gone up from ~58 to about 66! So I have to get it going back the other way.

 

my finger exercises going great guns, and I think I am around 85 wpm

 

What's the purpose of your comment? Yes, there is a workout structure that includes a 10km run instead of a row. What do you know about the other poster and their goals? An individual's workout should meet their goals and situation.

 

Non stop rowing is hard work.

 

First 3 weeks of quarantine I lifted weights a bit, confined to home all day so couldn't do any aerobic stuff I like. Weeks 4-7 did zero exercise and went downhill a bit. Would go to supermarket once a day even when didn't have to but it is only 100 metres away. Started going to one 900m away so would get about 2 km walk a day. Any further than that and would have risked a big fine police everywhere checking a lot of people.

Then week 8 came and allowed people outside to walk once a day for 1 hour within 1 km radius of home, only in the times 6-10am and 8-11pm. No children allowed. This rule is still in place (end of week 10 now). It was like waiting for Christmas day, got up at 6 and left the house before sunrise. Ventured up to Diagonal and there were people everywhere, I walked around in large circles for hours until 10am curfew. Then did the same at night (without the phone), racking up 20-30km a day, except when I had my kids (they had a different time slot, 4-6pm, now 12-7pm).

But this was getting boring 1km radius, and all of Barcelona was out there, & the 1 hour 1 km limits don´t apply to runners and cyclists, they can go longer anywhere within the same municipality. So I became a jogger when required (whenever I saw police, a lot), and started to see a lot more of the city. A few times I didn't time it right and had to dive into a supermarket and make the walk a "shopping trip", or jumped on a city bike to get home faster before 10am. Really felt the legs the first week but now they are stronger.

This week though they have made masks compulsory everywhere including outside (previously just public transport and most supermarkets), which really sucks now it's getting hot. But again, I read runners are exempt....

Typical walk/jog/citibike

 

Sorry, it's an obscure pop culture reference which I didn't really expect anybody in this forum to understand! And hence probably shouldn't have bothered with But yes I agree with you, everybody should do what works for them

 

Everyday , I tell myself that from tomorrow, I am going to be start and strict with my diet and exercise. I have the same enthusiasm next day morning and O start planning after lunch, I will start with 20 mins mix run/walk on treadmill then Chest and shoulders etc...by the time its 3/4pm and started to get colder and bit dark. I go to garage and get more beer and some snacks. Then I tell myself again, from tomorrow

I was a active person, approx 70/80 km steps every week but now WFH and I am sooooo lazy. Looking for that motivation, its all inside and just need to channel the energy and change the mindset. I don't think I be able to do 20 pushups in a row

PC'ers give me strength

@Gockie - I think you mentioned in another thread, putting pic of a big person motivates you. May be thats the way as I wanna shed atleadt 10kg.

I am 5.9 and now around 82-83kg and my best shape is around 72-74kg. I am eating alot

 

The "pic of a big person as motivation" must have been someone else.

Me, I'm currently missing pole and tissue (silks) classes. I do a 4 minute exercise to music with some colleagues at 9am each morning, including pushups, situps, exercises with a door chinup bar.

I want to do more running but really need to schedule it in say around 3pm each afternoon. I also have a wonderful forest trail just near home, about 5km end to end.
And I should work on more unicycling skills.

Diet... nothing much to say at my end but I think sugar is the problem. Try to minimise it.

 

I got reserve near my place too and not much into sugery stuff but fried food gets me

 

Think of it this way. Fried food is gross for the kitchen. Does it help?

 

Sometimes you just need some accountability.
And it also helps to have a strong goal or purpose to exercise.

I prefer the term “training”, as it is more specific than general exercising for the sake of exercising.

Personally, I’ve just completed 20 consecutive weeks of high effort strength training which I would not have been able to have done without my online strength coach who provides a program for my goals, support and feedback.
My legs were weak and are now getting strong, deadlift would be over 200kg and squat over 150kg now.

Also, I’m training to compete in sprinting which keeps me motivated.
I’ll be 50 in a few more years and still breaking PB’s currently, so that’s where my drive and purpose comes from.

To exercise for the sake of exercising seems pointless. To do it for health is understandable, but to do it for superior functionality is so much more meaningful.

I believe people would be so much more motivated to train/exercise if they set themselves functionality goals.
Better movement will generally lead to better health as when you improve your physical performance you generally look for ways to better fuel the machine for even greater enhancement as it’s the natural path to take as to not sabotage your efforts.

Making a start is the hardest part.
Start with small steps and be consistent.
Even 1 push up is better than none.
Then do 2 the next day, then 3, etc.
Work capacity will grow in time and habits will be formed and transformations will be made.

Our bodies are extremely adaptable over time with physical activity. Highly intense activity once conditioned, is the best thing you can do for health and anti aging.

 

Thank you @Ace in the Hole , great tips

"Training" sounds brilliant...

 

Under the training regime, I have done good workout today...1st of many
.thabks to everyone and @Ace in the Hole