Fitness Catch-All

What are your fitness goals for 2013?

Looking back through this thread I see it went from OCT 12 to one more post DEC 12 to JAN 10th.

Translation (in my opinion) many of us let out fitness slide over the holidays and come the new year *BAM* back into it.

Now that we've had time to let out new years resolutions fall to the wayside, I wanted to bring up fitness goals for 2013. What are yours? Have you given up on any already? Are you writing them down? Are they SMART goals? What are you doing to work towards them? Are you "on track"? Why or why not?

Johnman and I were chatting about this subject via fitocracy and I wanted to continue the dialog on a larger scale.

Mine:

1. Earn my ACSM cert. I've been studying for this off and on almost a year. I had a goal to finish it before July when I was supposed to leave on my next cruise but that cruise has been pushed to 2014 (thanks D.C. budget debate!) and I'm wallering about this one. I need to pick a new date (one that is soon) and knock it out. I'm honestly just scared to take the exam, it's supposed to be a real ball buster and I don't want to fail.

2. Run a half marathon in under two hours by May. This is kind of cheating since I made some HUGE speed gains while running at 7.5k altitude in Afghanistan. My last half was 2:13. I just ran 13.1 for training a few weeks ago at 2:02, I run 5-6 days a week, 30 to 35 miles a week and have about six weeks until the Great Dismal Swamp Stomp where I'll meet this goal.

3. Complete 10 pull ups without stopping. I'm currently at 3-5 depending on the day and how I feel. I lift 3 days a week and usually add a back exercise and use the tips Mishara gave me, I'll keep tracking my progress but want to meet this goal by April 1. Should be doable.

4. Complete 100 pushups in one set. In today's test, after running five miles, I did 47. I'm going to do 100 pushup challenge on non-lift days. I lift at night and run/do pushups in the morning on separate days so I'll have lots of rest time between sets of pushups and a lift. I want to accomplish this by May 1.

5. MAYBE run the MCM in OCT. I have to see how the new deployment schedule falls out, I hope to be able to do this but don't think I'll be able to meet my overall goal of running it in less than four hours, that's a big order. My current marathon PR is 4:26. That means I need to shave 26 minutes off, that means I need to run at least one minute faster per mile. What I'm going to do is run the half then really take a hard look at this and see if I have the time (heading back to full time, high stress job very soon) and ability to do this. Any other runners here? What do you think about this goal, running it in under 4 hours?

6. Lose another 5-10 pounds. I've been trying to drop my last 5 pounds to reach my ultimate goal weight (read, where I have a six pack stomach) but beer and cheating on Sundays has slowed that down. I'm on a clean eating kick for the next two weeks. Going to do two weeks on, one week with beer and a cheat day, then repeat. I'm giving myself 10 weeks to drop the 10 pounds and see how I look/feel.

7. Stop drinking caffeine by March 15th (ok, kind of nutrition but fitness related). I do this once a year or so. I stop drinking all coffee and caffeine and love the way it feels to be off of it. I usually start again during times of stress or when it gets cold outside. I think this time I'm going to stop for good except for a very rare cup/shot when I'm taking the wife out etc.

So, there you have my goals. Comments? How about yours? I think many of you might cover them in the weight loss post but I wanted to discuss here if anyone else is willing.

Tim

1: Re-race some races I've done before and improve on my times (a half marathon, an oly tri and a half-iron)

2: Run my first marathon.

3: Stay consistent throughout the year

Those are nice goals and all, but they're currently being screwed with. Think I've done a stupid and ramped up my run mileage too quickly, and have some early signs on shin-splints. Which sucks balls, and potentially puts my marathon plans on hold (again).

I haven't set any goals actually. I should probably get on that. My workouts revolve being more prepared for playing ultimate frisbee. My loose goal was to always be the quickest person on the field, but that's extremely vague. I'll think about it tonight and see if I can set some measurable goals that I can work towards.

1. Lose my last ~5 pounds, which is currently representing itself in a slightly flabby gut. I lost 60lbs about 8 years ago, and have kept THAT weight off ever since, but the final 5 has been stubborn. I've tried clean eating, but I'm not disciplined enough.... plus my wife is not on board with anything like that yet, which makes it really hard.

2. Start lifting 2 days a week. I mean real lifting, not the moderate weights that I do with my skip circuit. (Skip is brutal, but focuses on cardio and resistance over raw power.) I particularly need to get going on leg work since it translates directly to my sport of choice: ultimate frisbee. My schedule once warm weather hits will probably be: 2 days ultimate frisbee, 2 days skip circuit, 2 days proper weights. Not sure how to split up the normal trifecta of muscle group workouts into only two groups.

3. I love infromthesea's push-up/pull-up challenges, so I'll steal them. I did the hundredpushup.com thing a while back, but the best I ever managed was 67 without stopping. I feel I can get by that this time. As for pull-ups.... I've never done one in my life, but I've thought about trying them a lot lately.

IANASD (not a sports doctor - not much better than a sport layman, FYI)

According to Dreyer's "Chi Running," shin splints occur because you're lifting your toes - contracting the front part of your lower leg when you really don't need to. This makes sense to me, though I have no idea whether or not that's actually the case. Presumably, it's better practice to relax the shins and lift your knees higher so you use bigger muscles.

I have no idea how all this bio mechanical crap is supposed to work, but it has been working for me. Right now, I'm only doing 4 km 5 days a week; but I haven't had shin splints yet.

I set myself a runkeeper goal of 350 miles running this year. If I can stay consistent it should be doable. I only ran 221 miles last year, but was really inconsistent. I ran my first 10K last December and am registered for my second on St Patty's Day.

My wife suddenly expressed interest in trying out a sprint distance triathlon this year. She found this one in September. While I surely wouldn't find myself being competetive in one, I do want to give it a shot. That's partially dependent on us picking up a couple road bikes this summer. I sure as heck have no interest in doing it on my 40 pound mountain bike.

Other than that it's mostly just weight loss stuff. I'm pretty tired of being a fat bastard.

Lift weights.

Back in December a buddy of mine turned me onto CF Football. Obviously CF related but it seems to be geared more towards strength than regular CF. I've never done CF so I don't know for sure. Anyway, the program has two parts: a strength workout and a workout of the day...all broken down between the compound movements: squat, press, bench, snatch, clean, pull up, chin up, push up, dip, deadlift and all the variants (isometric holds, front squat, close grip bench etc etc). Do the strength workout, take a 5 minute break and then jump into the WOD, which usually you'll do for time or rounds or something like that. Oh and you don't need a fancy gym or a crossfit box either. I pay $30/mo (as opposed to $300 for a box in this area) for a crappy little Bally's and with a little improvisation, I've done every workout posted since January 2nd or so. I don't post my times to their site but I post in a text chain with 4 other guys who are doing this. This is what made working out fun again, and the gains over the last 6 weeks have been great.

AndrewA wrote:

but I'm not disciplined enough.... plus my wife is not on board with anything like that yet, which makes it really hard.

It took a few years for my wife and I to get on the same page, it's hell when you are not. I just don't think you can have great success until this happens. If anything, you have to support each other. I can eat a lot more calories than my wife so I'll often "cheat" outside of the house or when she's not home. I won't bring home donuts or other diet busters unless it's a very special occasion. Does she sabotage or just not support you?

As far as discipline, have you tried an online tracker/calculator? I suggested myfitness pal in another post and I love it, it's one of my home tabs and really easy to add food using my android tablet.

I don't know about the science or the "metabolism acceleration" or "starvation mode" and all that mumbo-jumbo, but IMO the reason eating 6 meals a day works is that people who do it are very focused and conscious of what is going on in their bodies. You're thinking about putting a certain kind of good food in your body every couple of hours.

Plus if they're serious about their diet and eating every few hours, they're never too hungry (which leads to over-eating). I mean, if you're dieting hardcore, it's pretty miserable because you can't eat the good stuff, but you're not really hungry, it's just cravings, after a few months they stop. And if you couple that with counting calories and learning about nutrition, you always think twice about having trash food (I have to run how many miles to burn these 2 cookies?! Screw that, I'll just drink more water!)

edit: After you diet for a few months or years, I imagine you'd know all the tricks to make it work with 3 meals a day plus a snack or two, but 6 times per day is the simplest way to think about it. Personally I work with 3 meals and one snack, it works and I don't go crazy.

nossid wrote:

Those of you who want studies and science instead of anecdotes should seriously look around examine.com. The Creatine page for example is ridiculous, just scroll to the bottom and look at the reference list.

Wow these links are all awesome, I'll read all of that, but seems we agree on Creatine at least, it's the most basic and most awesome supplement if you're bodybuilding for vanity. I used to be scared of any supplements (specially after some bad experiences with steroids in my gym), but creatine is awesome. It blows me up in a couple of days, according to science it's kind of just extra water stored in between the muscle cells, but it looks good. Also super cheap, and apparently has other benefits besides just helping your muscles look bigger.

I guess the name sounds kinda scary, when you mention it to people who don't lift they think it's like steroids or something : p But Creatine is like the Vitamin C for bodybuilders, everyone should be using it.

Get under 200 pounds by the end of the year. Preferably by the end of the summer.

Move on to the Mad Cow intermediate weightlifting program from Stronglifts 5x5. Hopefully soon, like before the end of Spring, at least, if not sooner.

Break through my overhead press plateau of 115 lbs.

Can't think of any other things I'd like to accomplish at the moment.

After finally having gotten my routine up to speed again, I'm currently 10 pounds away from my max in both squats and deadlift (270 and 310, respectively). As long as I stay on track for the foreseeable future, I should break through both of those fairly easily. Bench Press, I've matched my max, which was 155. Ready to move on through that, I think. Pendlay rows, my max is 165, and I'm currently at 155, and I don't see any trouble moving further. Overhead press, I just worked up to 115 last week, and I didn't do a full 5x5, so I'm going to try again tomorrow. If I can't do it, I'm going to try deloading and punching through to 120 in a few more workouts. If I can, I'm going to move up to 120 in the next workout where I do the OHP. Once I feel like I'm stuck with Stronglifts 5x5, which will probably be in about a month, I'll kick on over to Mad Cow.

Mex wrote:
nossid wrote:

Those of you who want studies and science instead of anecdotes should seriously look around examine.com. The Creatine page for example is ridiculous, just scroll to the bottom and look at the reference list.

Wow these links are all awesome, I'll read all of that, but seems we agree on Creatine at least, it's the most basic and most awesome supplement if you're bodybuilding for vanity. I used to be scared of any supplements (specially after some bad experiences with steroids in my gym), but creatine is awesome. It blows me up in a couple of days, according to science it's kind of just extra water stored in between the muscle cells, but it looks good. Also super cheap, and apparently has other benefits besides just helping your muscles look bigger.

I guess the name sounds kinda scary, when you mention it to people who don't lift they think it's like steroids or something : p But Creatine is like the Vitamin C for bodybuilders, everyone should be using it.

Mex wrote:
nossid wrote:

Those of you who want studies and science instead of anecdotes should seriously look around examine.com. The Creatine page for example is ridiculous, just scroll to the bottom and look at the reference list.

Wow these links are all awesome, I'll read all of that, but seems we agree on Creatine at least, it's the most basic and most awesome supplement if you're bodybuilding for vanity. I used to be scared of any supplements (specially after some bad experiences with steroids in my gym), but creatine is awesome. It blows me up in a couple of days, according to science it's kind of just extra water stored in between the muscle cells, but it looks good. Also super cheap, and apparently has other benefits besides just helping your muscles look bigger.

I guess the name sounds kinda scary, when you mention it to people who don't lift they think it's like steroids or something : p But Creatine is like the Vitamin C for bodybuilders, everyone should be using it.

My issue with creatine is that, as I understand it, once you stop, you lose the gains. That means you have a life full of creatine ahead of you unless you have a very specific time/need and only take it then, say a competition or what have you.

That's why I stay away from that kind of product, I don't want to get on a never ending cycle of spending lots of money on that stuff.

Tim

mudbunny wrote:

Lose weight and get under 200 lbs. (I am currently around 215)

Run 800 km (about 500 miles) in 2013.

Do the Army Run half marathon with an average pace lower than 6:30/km.

Finish the Spartan Run without injuring myself.

Start a lunchtime running club at work.

Timeframes? Steps to complete? How to be accountable?

infromsea wrote:

My issue with creatine is that, as I understand it, once you stop, you lose the gains. That means you have a life full of creatine ahead of you unless you have a very specific time/need and only take it then, say a competition or what have you.

That's why I stay away from that kind of product, I don't want to get on a never ending cycle of spending lots of money on that stuff.

Tim

Been thinking about creatine, and I'm not sure this would be a disadvantage for me, as I want to build more lean mass to burn more fat. If I stopped using it after hitting my target weight, any creatine gains that didn't stick around wouldn't be a big deal to lose. Only thing that I wouldn't be sure about would be exactly how much I'd end up losing after cutting out the creatine.

infromsea wrote:
mudbunny wrote:

Lose weight and get under 200 lbs. (I am currently around 215)

Run 800 km (about 500 miles) in 2013.

Do the Army Run half marathon with an average pace lower than 6:30/km.

Finish the Spartan Run without injuring myself.

Start a lunchtime running club at work.

Timeframes? Steps to complete? How to be accountable?

I edited my post to add that.

infromsea wrote:
AndrewA wrote:

but I'm not disciplined enough.... plus my wife is not on board with anything like that yet, which makes it really hard.

It took a few years for my wife and I to get on the same page, it's hell when you are not. I just don't think you can have great success until this happens. If anything, you have to support each other. I can eat a lot more calories than my wife so I'll often "cheat" outside of the house or when she's not home. I won't bring home donuts or other diet busters unless it's a very special occasion. Does she sabotage or just not support you?

As far as discipline, have you tried an online tracker/calculator? I suggested myfitness pal in another post and I love it, it's one of my home tabs and really easy to add food using my android tablet.

She sabotages (not maliciously) in two main ways:

1. Bringing junk into the house. I'm an enormous sucker for salty snacks, and my method for dealing with that problem is to not buy them. That breaks down when my wife brings crap home. I've asked her not to; it doesn't work.

2. We take turns making our menu plan: one week me, the next week her. I usually fill the calendar with healthy options, however she doesn't have a grasp on what's a good choice for a clean/healthy meal and what's not, so her weeks are a challenge to get through. Also, she's Asian so there's a lot of white rice and things like that on her menu plans. I can control my breakfast, lunch, and snacks (assuming #1 isn't in effect!).... but dinner time gets me. (And I know.... portion control.... but I'd really rather eat cleaner.)

I use the Livestrong online tracker, and have for years. It's not fantastic, but I have a lot of common meals saved in there.

1. Run a 5K under 23 minutes on varied terrain. Last 5K off the treadmill was ~26 minutes.

2. Increase my vertical reach to ten feet consistently. Last I checked I could hit the lower base of a basketball rim, probably 9'8" - 9'10".

3. Cultivate the mass I accumulated during the winter. I gained about 10 pounds since the end of my Fall frisbee season. I would like to either lose the weight, or lose the fat around my midsection. I know you can't target a body-section for fat-loss but that's the area where it bothers me. My target weight would be 155lbs, last I checked I was at 163. I'll need a scale though, I would appreciate it if anyone can recommend an accurate budget option.

4. 15 pull-ups or chin-ups in one sitting. I could do ten chin-ups when I tested that limit tonight. I'll measure pull-ups tomorrow.

@AndrewA, have you considered stocking up on brown rice? I believe it's marginally healthier.

I'm trying, as of today, this 'protein before lifting, not after' thing. I was on the creatine pony for a while, but all it did was make me poofy and none of my lifts really changed.

fleabagmatt wrote:

My wife suddenly expressed interest in trying out a sprint distance triathlon this year. She found this one in September. While I surely wouldn't find myself being competetive in one, I do want to give it a shot. That's partially dependent on us picking up a couple road bikes this summer. I sure as heck have no interest in doing it on my 40 pound mountain bike.

If I have one piece of advice for novice and budding triathletes, it's don't let the lack of shiny fancy equipment put you off. That advice is particularly valid at the shorter distances. I ride my races on a second hand 8 year old bike I payed $500 for, and boy howdy does it feel good to pass a dude on a carbon-fiber monstrosity worth literally ten times what my trusty steed is.

You could totally do a sprint tri on a mountain bike, and you'd be all the badasser for doing so.

Yeah, Creatine won't make you particularly stronger, and the week after you stop taking it, your body will go back to normal. I believe any excess Creatine you take doesn't even get absorbed, from what I remember reading, your body just throws away the excess in your urine.

It just makes you look nicer if you're working out with weights, and according to those articles, it has some health benefits. Just for vanity purposes. Plus it's very cheap : )

Purchased some pull-on running spikes. This afternoon I'm going to give the frozen lake a trial run.

infromsea wrote:

My issue with creatine is that, as I understand it, once you stop, you lose the gains. That means you have a life full of creatine ahead of you unless you have a very specific time/need and only take it then, say a competition or what have you.

That's why I stay away from that kind of product, I don't want to get on a never ending cycle of spending lots of money on that stuff.

Tim

Don't focus too much on the temporary increase of water content in the muscle cells, as those aren't actual gains. With regards to lifting, it's the positive effects on power and strength that you're after. Being able to lift heavier than
you would without using Creatine will naturally lead to actual long term gains.

Miashara wrote:

I'm trying, as of today, this 'protein before lifting, not after' thing. I was on the creatine pony for a while, but all it did was make me poofy and none of my lifts really changed.

I thought that was why we lift weights, to look poofy?

infromsea wrote:

7. Stop drinking caffeine by March 15th (ok, kind of nutrition but fitness related). I do this once a year or so. I stop drinking all coffee and caffeine and love the way it feels to be off of it. I usually start again during times of stress or when it gets cold outside. I think this time I'm going to stop for good except for a very rare cup/shot when I'm taking the wife out etc.

Tim, what motivated you to try this in the first place? I stopped drinking soda* in college to cut out the caffeine and it was probably the best decision I've ever made in my life. I still have some caffeinated tea, but it has a lot less caffeine than coffee or soda.

*I'll have rootbeer like twice a year.

I haven't fallen off the horse, since I'm still working out at least three times a week at my strength training gym. Had my "Peter Parker in Spiderman 1" moment this weekend when I had my fiancee take picture of my back mid-pull-up, and holy hell, was that ever unexpected. So I'm happy with that.

My main focus sports-wise is running obstacle course races. My big goal last year was to finish the Spartan Beast, which was a 14-mile race, and I did that in the top 25% (a hair under 6 hours).

This year's goals:
1) A slightly tougher race schedule than last season, which will include 2 Tough Mudders, 4 Spartans, with 2 3-milers, an 8 and the 14-miler again. Also doing at least two other three mile races, though I'm still figuring out scheduling. Next year, my stretch goal might be do to the Ultra Beast, which is a marathon-distance race, but not this year.

2) Not necessarily fitness-related, but I have plans to start a website/blog dedicated to obstacle course racing for the regular joe, including info about the various race series, advice about training and gear, and AARs of all the ones I do.

3) Get back into running, with the final goal being the Disney Goofy Challenge in January. That means running a half marathon on Saturday, and a full marathon on Sunday. It's been about a year since I've been running regularly, so this'll be a challenge, but I've got a plan and I'm confident I'll be able to pull this off with proper training.

4) As a corollary to 1 and 3, get more time in on trail running, particularly on hill training. Hills are traditionally my slowest at races. I can get up them at a steady fast walk, but I'd really like to be able to run more on the hills and the courses overall. I'll probably spend most of the spring and early summer doing mostly trail running, and transition to distance training in mid- late-summer, while maintaining at least 2 days at the gym.

I hope.

infromsea wrote:
Miashara wrote:

I'm trying, as of today, this 'protein before lifting, not after' thing. I was on the creatine pony for a while, but all it did was make me poofy and none of my lifts really changed.

I thought that was why we lift weights, to look poofy?

Some guys don't look muscled. They look rounded. It has to do with the way your body stores f he additional retained water. Personally I'm not really involved in the aesthetics of it to begin with but greatly dislike the way creatine affects my face.

Interesting (long) article about the science of junk food in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/ma...

S0LIDARITY wrote:
infromsea wrote:

7. Stop drinking caffeine by March 15th (ok, kind of nutrition but fitness related). I do this once a year or so. I stop drinking all coffee and caffeine and love the way it feels to be off of it. I usually start again during times of stress or when it gets cold outside. I think this time I'm going to stop for good except for a very rare cup/shot when I'm taking the wife out etc.

Tim, what motivated you to try this in the first place? I stopped drinking soda* in college to cut out the caffeine and it was probably the best decision I've ever made in my life. I still have some caffeinated tea, but it has a lot less caffeine than coffee or soda.

*I'll have rootbeer like twice a year.

I actually did this by accident a few years ago. I had a crazy busy weekend and by the time the weekend was over I realized I hadn't had any caffeine the entire time. I went ahead and stayed "off" it for a few more days and realized that I felt really damn good. There was no up and down in my energy levels, I felt consistently good all day long. I also found I slept very well.

When I'm "on" caffeine my tolerance level ramps up very quickly. I'll do a no caffeine phase for a while, say three months or so but then I'll start back up for whatever reason and within a month I could have a monster then a big cup of coffee and still be tired. At one point in my life I was drinking a cup of coffee on the couch and falling asleep, that's when I knew it was time to slow down.

As far as sodas go, I used to drink three cans of coke zero a day and couldn't lose weight even though I was eating healthy.

I quit the soda all together and I dropped 10 pounds in a month, people thought I was sick. That makes it easy to stay off the sodas. I'll have maybe one a week but that's it.

I'll drink a little hot tea every now and then as well but I really haven't found one I like. Any suggestions?

Tim

There's a tea-drinkers thread on here, but it's beyond my expertise. A common complaint for people new to tea is that it tastes bitter. This comes from burning the tea leaves with water that is too hot. I recommend letting the kettle whistle then pour your water into your mug and let it sit for at least 60 seconds to cool off a bit. Then steep 3-minutes and take a sip, if it's too weak let it go another two minutes and try again.

Specific varieties all depend on what you're looking for. I'm fond of mint tea, it's light and refreshing. Black tea is a bit more of a pick-me up. Ruby Red Chai (Spiced Rooibos) is spiced and great in the winter.

My Bio-121 professor taught me that caffeine is only activated as a stimulant with adrenaline in your bloodstream. So if you're bored on the couch and already tired, caffeine isn't likely to get activated.