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Time To Get Fit - 2024

stangmx13

stangmx13

not Stan
Joined
Feb 17, 2005
Location
San Diego CA
Moto(s)
pedal one
Name
Robert
New year, new thread.

This thread is for posting whatever you want about your fitness journey and for supporting and encouraging others in theirs.

Chat about your recent activities. Post or enjoy some photos. Nerd out about data. Share or read a few articles. Go over some tips and tricks.

But above all, enjoy your wins.

Here's the prev thread: https://bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=533790
 
In Fall 2023, I kinda set a stretch-goal of 7000miles on the bike. Sept was my biggest month ever, then Oct, then Nov, then Dec. Well, I made it. I've never invested this much time in any one thing ever (aside from work). It feels good to look at these big numbers and go "ya i did that". And my feelings on and off the bike prove it was worth it.

I think I'm a little insane and am solidly addicted to riding. My days are just better when I go for a ride.

lWLIXDI.jpg
H2EkKz4.jpg


Things I've learned about myself:
- I do have time for a ride pretty much any day, even for just 60min.
- The hardest part is leaving the house. The fun starts right after that.
- Food is key. Ive probably been under-eating my whole life, but I can fix that.

Plans for 2024:
- Train smarter: Knowing when to go hard, when to chill, and actually doing it is tough
- Cross train more: weights and running. A 5K run with the SO last night was a good start.
- Go faster: cycling never get's easier, you just get faster :laughing
 
Monster!!!! FUCK YEAH! Top 1%???

:applause Nice work man. Healthy addictions ar the best.

Absolutely the hardest part of anything is leaving the house. My split this year was 33% Run, 29% swim, 20% Bike 10% "Hike" which for me is a weighted hill climb day and 5% walk. I was really shocked that my biggest activity was running. I have hated running most of my life. :laughing I'm still pretty bad at it but, I don't hate it anymore. To your point about leaving the house, it's the easiest thing to get out and do. Shoes, shorts, strap, earbuds and go. I can run and be done and be back to "life stuff" in an hour. Riding my bike is my favorite thing to of the three triathlon disciplines. It takes me the most time to do though. I'm going to try and remember your post and be better about getting on my bike for a quickie more often.

Thanks for starting a new thread. The last few weeks have been hard for me. Holidays, traveling and getting sick have set me back a bit. New year, new goals, new chances for PB's and good vibes. Keep at it gang.


"The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself." - Mary Schmich
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In 2023 I set out to walk more. Didn’t have any goals set at first, but when it looked I was going to make it to 1000 miles, that became the goal. And because I live in SF, there was automatically a lot of elevation gain too.

Miles walked: 1004
Flights of stairs climbed (1 flight ≈ 10 feet): 8975
 
vaara said:
In 2023 I set out to walk more. Didn’t have any goals set at first, but when it looked I was going to make it to 1000 miles, that became the goal. And because I live in SF, there was automatically a lot of elevation gain too.

Miles walked: 1004
Flights of stairs climbed (1 flight ≈ 10 feet): 8975
Click to expand...

I had 998! :thumbup Nice work!
 
Ooooh, this page will actually load now!
 
Got off track with my routine last year. Aiming to get some weight training in at least twice a week along with more walking and one to two days of cycling for cardio. Modest goals but given my schedule and lack of access to a gym, seems good enough. Got my first workout of the year in today.
 
I have managed for several years to go to the YMCA three times a week and do a workout on a dozen different weight machines. I keep a record of weights and number of sets and repetitions for each machine. I can show you every day that I've done it since February of 2019.

So my goal is to keep doing that and maybe start showing up there three more days a week for treadmill, exercise bike, and swimming. I'll get into the extra visits for a week or two, then find some reason why I can't get there on the other days. For example, I could have gone there this morning, but got busy with other things (at least my Honda now has a new battery in it).

So an improvement for me would be going there more days of the week.
 
Mike95060 said:
Monster!!!! FUCK YEAH! Top 1%???

:applause Nice work man. Healthy addictions ar the best.

Absolutely the hardest part of anything is leaving the house. My split this year was 33% Run, 29% swim, 20% Bike 10% "Hike" which for me is a weighted hill climb day and 5% walk. I was really shocked that my biggest activity was running. I have hated running most of my life. :laughing I'm still pretty bad at it but, I don't hate it anymore. To your point about leaving the house, it's the easiest thing to get out and do. Shoes, shorts, strap, earbuds and go. I can run and be done and be back to "life stuff" in an hour. Riding my bike is my favorite thing to of the three triathlon disciplines. It takes me the most time to do though. I'm going to try and remember your post and be better about getting on my bike for a quickie more often.

Thanks for starting a new thread. The last few weeks have been hard for me. Holidays, traveling and getting sick have set me back a bit. New year, new goals, new chances for PB's and good vibes. Keep at it gang.
Click to expand...

Ya that's top 1% on Strava. I'd guess they use hours for that metric.

My Watch is giving me running recs now and they are always 3x shorter duration than riding :cry. For time-efficiency, running is def the way to go. I'll never switch full time. But I'd like to be able to go for whatever run and not be sore the next 3 days :laughing

My shortest most time-effective ride to date is 20s sprints. It's a ~1hr ride that produces tons of Load.
- 15min warmup @ 70% FTP
- 20s Sprint @ 250% FTP, 5min @ 60% FTP, 6 or 7 times
- 15min cooldown
 
vaara said:
In 2023 I set out to walk more. Didn’t have any goals set at first, but when it looked I was going to make it to 1000 miles, that became the goal. And because I live in SF, there was automatically a lot of elevation gain too.

Miles walked: 1004
Flights of stairs climbed (1 flight ≈ 10 feet): 8975
Click to expand...

Damn thats a lot of miles and elevation on your feet :thumbup
 
Last year I went from 0 to 55 MPH with my health goals. I am at a nice cruise right now. I increased both my speed and my endurance while walking but the baseline was quite low. I only recently acquired a neat tech gadget to monitor my fitness but I would reckon I walked close to 800-1000 miles or so. I started in Feb and averaged 3 miles a day for 11 months.

I brought my A1C from 6.6 to 5.3. I shed 65 lbs. (I know we don't talk weight here but it was hard work and I am mentioning it. :x )

Goals for 2024:
  • Increase V02 max from current 30.5%.
  • Improve heart rate recovery, currently at 30.
  • Spend more time in heart rate zone 2.
  • Cycle 300 miles in 2024. I rode perhaps 2.5 total in 2023.
  • Walk 1200 miles, minimum. Get average speed consistently under 16:30 minutes per mile. It fluctuates now.
  • Hike 100 miles in 2024. This is NOT the same as walking.
  • Average 1 hour of body weight resistance exercise a week. (Planks, squats, etc)
  • AVOID INJURY and work to have this be sustainable.
  • Increase my HDL to over 50.
  • Be able to run a kilometer without stopping and not die.
 
I joined a health club spring of 2023 and went 2 or 3 times a week and hated it. Then at 72 years old I discovered pickleball and I now play 4 or 5 times a week. I immediately lost 10 pounds!
 
The popularity of pickleball is insane. I ride by a few courts during the week and they are frequently packed. The accessibility seems high and cost of entry seems low. The old-person stigma was funny in the beginning. But now it's obvious that the sport is just good for everyone.
 
vaara said:
But that’s *in addition* to all the other stuff, right? Wow!
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The 998 number for me is what I tell strava and garmin to track as workouts which, includes bike rides! It's not my daily step totals. I just pulled up my step totals for 2023. I average 7,553 steps per day and did 1,127 miles total. It's a little confusing because when I do a run for a workout, those steps get included in a daily step total. The reality is, without the deliberate effort I make to run, swim or ride, my day to day life would be too sedentary to stay fit. As a cnc machinist i'm at a desk at least 50% of the day. It sounds like your day to day is a bit different and you are getting a lot of steps in, with elevation, as a matter of daily life. THAT'S AWESOME!

I hope no one thinks regular brisk walks aren't enough to reach a fitness goal. If you walk enough and eat well you can absolutely burn fat, lose weight and get fit. Its especially good for people in their 40's and up as its tends to not beat your joints up so you can do it more often than you can run or jog. Some of the fitness people I follow use walking to "cut" weight and get lean. Long story short, I think you have an above average yearly step total and I hope you feel good about it! SF is a wonderful city to walk, I don't care what FOX news says. :laughing Sounds like your getting the most out of it. :thumbup
 
stangmx13 said:
The popularity of pickleball is insane. I ride by a few courts during the week and they are frequently packed. The accessibility seems high and cost of entry seems low. The old-person stigma was funny in the beginning. But now it's obvious that the sport is just good for everyone.
Click to expand...

Except for everyone who is forced to listen to it against their will.
 
14 months ago I got an Apple Watch and set the daily goal to moderately active. I walk around my neighborhood every night now and am down 5 pant sizes.

Here is to 5 more pant sizes over the next 14 months :p
 
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