The FastDay Forum

I started at the end of November - unable to do even a press up. But, inspired by a fitness guru on Mumsnet:

http://nobreadisanisland.blogspot.co.uk/p/why-exercise-maintaining-normal.html

I began an exercise routine.

My first move was too look at what exercises can be done in the home without any expensive material - then I got a 3kg kettlebell for Christmas and I've never looked back!

Currently I'm swinging a 6kg kettlebell every other day - need to up this somewhat;
On the other days I do weighted press ups with 4.5kg backpack - 4 sets of twenty;
Plus chin-ups (in abeyance ATM, since I broke a finger on my right hand), got up to five at a time before I stopped. I've found I can do those on the underside of my loft ladder, so I'm looking forward to resuming those in a week or so.
I'm also working towards doing handstands - currently I sort of 'plank' with my feet on the third stair 4 x 1 minute EOD.
And I'm doing HIIT several times a week - 30 second bursts followed by 30 secs recovery.

I've never felt so fit - I'm even getting compliments on my physique! This from a lifetime (not quite) 7-stone weakling!

Well done that is great. I now feel a right wimp. I must look up that sight.

[janeg]

Good going @Breadandwine and how lovely to see you again. Hope the broken finger gets healed quickly and you can resume the chin ups.
Here's to a toned and honed physique!

Very impressive, @Breadandwine! Just out of interest for me, do you actually enjoy exercise now - or just do it for the sake of your health? I only ask because I have never found any exercise which I actually enjoy enough to continue with longer than a few weeks and am always impressed by those that do enjoy it.

Welcome back @breadandwine Your absence has been noticed, @Candicemariehas been after you.
Well done on your exercise routine that's absolutely amazing

Caught the space station again last night + thought of you. Lol

Hi! Nice to see you posting again. Really good to read that you have taken up a fitness regime. Congratulations to you!

Great to see you BAW!
Sounds like you're doing well xx keep up the good work !

Thanks for the nice comments, folks! I can see I've been away too long!

Just out of interest for me, do you actually enjoy exercise now - or just do it for the sake of your health? I only ask because I have never found any exercise which I actually enjoy enough to continue with longer than a few weeks and am always impressed by those that do enjoy it.

Stowgate, no, I can't say I do enjoy exercising - I have to psyche myself up to do it. But once I've done it, the feeling I get more than makes up for any discomfort I may feel.

I have several techniques I use to get me through them. First of all I have to have something interesting on TV to distract me. And I count obsessively. If I'm doing 20 reps of something, I'll count forwards (obviously!) and also backwards - and I'll calculate the difference between them.

So when I get to five, I'll mentally count '15' and 'ten' - then 6, 14 and 8, then 7, 13, and 6. Notice the last figure comes down by two, which I find gratifying. I'll also calculate percentages and fractions - so 25% done means I've only got 75% to do - the difference is50%, and so on. I also do this with the overall number of sets - with the kettlebell exercises, mainly. ATM I'm doing 6 exercises with the kb - 4 sets of 20. So when I've done the first lot, that's 6 down and 18 to go. If I'm on the 3rd exercise of the 3rd set, that's 15 sets down and nine to go - or approx 3/5ths

I mainly need these when I'm trying something new. Anything to distract me from the discomfort (not to mention boredom). Once I've got the hang of something it's more a habit, really.

I noticed today, whilst doing my HIIT, my legs didn't feel like dropping off until I was halfway through the last run. Which probably means I should be upping the intensity of this activity - perhaps by adding a fourth stint.

[janeg]

Hahahah @Breadandwine
I'm a counter too, but as am numerically challenged, it is harder for me. Quite a distraction though trying percentages and sums. And I count in different languages. So far, I can get to 20 or more in French, Spanish, Cantonese, Scots Gaelic and to five in Arabic and Hindi. It just mixes it up a bit
Wonder if we should start a thread about distraction techniques during exercise ? How to make the pain pleasant?

Wow! That's impressive, @janeg.

A combination of exercise and language learning!