OMG!


I never, ever would have thought that Rocky would be motivating me to go to the gym!





Thank you guys.


I did not go the gym yersterday, so I should go today.


However, I heard that my grandma is doing very bad and is not eating and drinking at the moment. So, I was in tears all day, did nothing but hanging out on fb.


It's raining outside and I really don't feel like getting on my bike and cycle to the gym.


However, your posts actually inspired me.



I will not be able to skate a distance that I can be proud of, if I don't shape myself up.


I will get off the couch and will do it!

Alright, Thanksgiving is over! We all worked hard last week (right?!?) and didn't overeat (right?!?), and now it's time to pour it on the coals until the Christmas/New Years holiday!

I actually worked out ON Thanksgiving morning, and then again on Saturday. The new focus-on-the-benchpress strategy has been AWESOME. I put on 5 pounds in the last 10 days, all of it in the chest/arms/back. Loving it!

I worked out really hard Saturday and then my wife said, "I think I want to go to the gym Sunday". So I went with her and did another complete benchpress workout. First time I've ever worked out two days in a row, doing the same exercises. It was OK. I was stronger than I thought I'd be, but didn't get as good a pump Sunday as I did Saturday.

We've got almost 4 weeks until Christmas Day, so let's put in solid, consistent workouts until then! If you need inspiration, we've always got "Rocky"!

BTW, if you haven't heard - "Creed" is AWESOME.

RodeoSchro said:

Alright, Thanksgiving is over! We all worked hard last week (right?!?) and didn't overeat (right?!?), and now it's time to pour it on the coals until the Christmas/New Years holiday!

I actually worked out ON Thanksgiving morning, and then again on Saturday. The new focus-on-the-benchpress strategy has been AWESOME. I put on 5 pounds in the last 10 days, all of it in the chest/arms/back. Loving it!

I worked out really hard Saturday and then my wife said, "I think I want to go to the gym Sunday". So I went with her and did another complete benchpress workout. First time I've ever worked out two days in a row, doing the same exercises. It was OK. I was stronger than I thought I'd be, but didn't get as good a pump Sunday as I did Saturday.

We've got almost 4 weeks until Christmas Day, so let's put in solid, consistent workouts until then! If you need inspiration, we've always got "Rocky"!

BTW, if you haven't heard - "Creed" is AWESOME.

I put up 311 pounds on the bench yesterday. It felt so good to move past the 306 barrier! Upward and onward!

I've only got one more week at home before heading out for a month of skiing. So I'll try to get as many benches in as possible. I'm also setting a goal of walking up 100 flights of stairs. I'm still doing 18 flights a day most days, but haven't done more than 3 sets of that in any week. (Although our office is on the 16th floor, the whole building is 18 stories tall, so now I just walk to the top.) I need to hit 18 flights every day, and then add 10 flights on one of those days.

I worked out with the trainer yesterday.

I fell asleep around 9:00pm last night and didn't wake up 'til about 9:00am this morning. That's how exhausted I was.

dJJ said:

missfee said:

I'm getting back into the swing of things after not working out for a few months after straining a muscle in my lower back. I've been eating right, only doing take out or restaurant dining on the weekends and cooking all my food on Sunday for my lunch during the week. This has been a huge help. So far I've lost about 6 pounds. I went to the gym Saturday and Sunday and plan to go this evening after work. Tomorrow will be rest day. I'll return back Wednesday and Thursday.

Just trying to take one day at a time.

How is it going?

Did you pick up the ritm of training already?

I actually messed up, yet again. A few weeks back, after my back had healed, I accidently picked up a box that I didn't think would be heavy, but my back said otherwise, now I have back pain again. I think I'm going to need to get a back massage or something to loosen up those tight muscles. I have to put heat on my lower back every day to get some relief. I'm tired of going to the doctor, they don't seem to know what's going on and I know if I go back, all they are going to do is refer me to a specialist...which will be more money out of my pocket.

Despite all of that, I can still do some walking on the treadmill for now, so I plan to go to the gym today after work. Let's see how it goes.

RodeoSchro said:

You need motivation? Here it is! I swear, I set some new weight lifting record every time I watch this. It is my FAVORITE motivational scene!

If you want the full effect, you gotta watch this:



And then this:

This is so TRUE!!! The Rocky movies definitely provide some major motivation for working out. Watching the workout montages in Rocky IV is my favorite!

PurpleJedi said:

I worked out with the trainer yesterday.

I fell asleep around 9:00pm last night and didn't wake up 'til about 9:00am this morning. That's how exhausted I was.

Maybe the tranier had you do too much? Tell that trainer that if he's wearing you out, all he's going to do is lose a customer really fast. Because you're not going to subject yourself to that much pain and soreness three times a week, are you?

I'm dead serious about this - you should NEVER get sore from working out during the first few months of a resumption in training. If your trainer thinks he has to make you sore to earn his money, then you need a new trainer. (Also, you are at great risk of injury and that is not good.)

He should have you building up flexibility, learning proper movement and technique, and deciding which exercises within a muscle group are the best/most enjoyable for you. NONE of that should EVER make you sore.

In my experience (no, I'm not a licensed trainer but I've been doing this 40 years), it will take 4 - 8 weeks of 3x/week sessions to build up the muscle base, muscle tone, and flexibility to allow you to begin really pushing yourself without risk of muscle soreness or injury.

Tell your trainer what I said. If he disagrees, you have the wrong trainer.

At our ages, we cannot expect to see real results in just a few sessions. It's not like dieting, where you can yo-yo up and down, and see dramatic (but unhealthy) changes. You can't do that with training. If you try, all you will do is hurt yourself.

I believe that if you take the months of December and January and train consistently like I described above, then you could really start pushing yourself in February. If you push yourself from February - May, then I am positive you will like what you see come summer.

The good news is that while it's hard to work out consistently in the holidays, you're at the point where you're building a base. If you can't make it to the gym one day, there are plenty of stretches and isometric things you can do at home that will continue the base-building you're doing at the gym.

Good luck, and happy, pain-free muscles!

missfee said:

RodeoSchro said:

You need motivation? Here it is! I swear, I set some new weight lifting record every time I watch this. It is my FAVORITE motivational scene!

If you want the full effect, you gotta watch this:



And then this:

This is so TRUE!!! The Rocky movies definitely provide some major motivation for working out. Watching the workout montages in Rocky IV is my favorite!

RodeoSchro said:

PurpleJedi said:

I worked out with the trainer yesterday.

I fell asleep around 9:00pm last night and didn't wake up 'til about 9:00am this morning. That's how exhausted I was.

Maybe the tranier had you do too much? Tell that trainer that if he's wearing you out, all he's going to do is lose a customer really fast. Because you're not going to subject yourself to that much pain and soreness three times a week, are you?

I'm dead serious about this - you should NEVER get sore from working out during the first few months of a resumption in training. If your trainer thinks he has to make you sore to earn his money, then you need a new trainer. (Also, you are at great risk of injury and that is not good.)

He should have you building up flexibility, learning proper movement and technique, and deciding which exercises within a muscle group are the best/most enjoyable for you. NONE of that should EVER make you sore.

In my experience (no, I'm not a licensed trainer but I've been doing this 40 years), it will take 4 - 8 weeks of 3x/week sessions to build up the muscle base, muscle tone, and flexibility to allow you to begin really pushing yourself without risk of muscle soreness or injury.

Tell your trainer what I said. If he disagrees, you have the wrong trainer.

At our ages, we cannot expect to see real results in just a few sessions. It's not like dieting, where you can yo-yo up and down, and see dramatic (but unhealthy) changes. You can't do that with training. If you try, all you will do is hurt yourself.

I believe that if you take the months of December and January and train consistently like I described above, then you could really start pushing yourself in February. If you push yourself from February - May, then I am positive you will like what you see come summer.

The good news is that while it's hard to work out consistently in the holidays, you're at the point where you're building a base. If you can't make it to the gym one day, there are plenty of stretches and isometric things you can do at home that will continue the base-building you're doing at the gym.

Good luck, and happy, pain-free muscles!

OK - except that I'm really starting anew, and the stuff that I'm doing now is pretty basic. Like Planks or weighted step-ups. I believe that my exhaustion is mainly because I had 2 weeks "off" and had to get back in the swing of things.

PurpleJedi said:

RodeoSchro said:

Maybe the tranier had you do too much? Tell that trainer that if he's wearing you out, all he's going to do is lose a customer really fast. Because you're not going to subject yourself to that much pain and soreness three times a week, are you?

I'm dead serious about this - you should NEVER get sore from working out during the first few months of a resumption in training. If your trainer thinks he has to make you sore to earn his money, then you need a new trainer. (Also, you are at great risk of injury and that is not good.)

He should have you building up flexibility, learning proper movement and technique, and deciding which exercises within a muscle group are the best/most enjoyable for you. NONE of that should EVER make you sore.

In my experience (no, I'm not a licensed trainer but I've been doing this 40 years), it will take 4 - 8 weeks of 3x/week sessions to build up the muscle base, muscle tone, and flexibility to allow you to begin really pushing yourself without risk of muscle soreness or injury.

Tell your trainer what I said. If he disagrees, you have the wrong trainer.

At our ages, we cannot expect to see real results in just a few sessions. It's not like dieting, where you can yo-yo up and down, and see dramatic (but unhealthy) changes. You can't do that with training. If you try, all you will do is hurt yourself.

I believe that if you take the months of December and January and train consistently like I described above, then you could really start pushing yourself in February. If you push yourself from February - May, then I am positive you will like what you see come summer.

The good news is that while it's hard to work out consistently in the holidays, you're at the point where you're building a base. If you can't make it to the gym one day, there are plenty of stretches and isometric things you can do at home that will continue the base-building you're doing at the gym.

Good luck, and happy, pain-free muscles!

OK - except that I'm really starting anew, and the stuff that I'm doing now is pretty basic. Like Planks or weighted step-ups. I believe that my exhaustion is mainly because I had 2 weeks "off" and had to get back in the swing of things.

Right - you're starting anew. I believe it's vitally important that when starting anew, you do not do anything that causes soreness or exhaustion. My experience is that if you wear yourself out and/or make yourself so sore it hurts to move, you aren't going to go back to the gym.

On the other hand, if you take a little time to build a muscle base, get some flexibility, and perfect your techniques, you will not turn going to the gym into something to be feared. It will become something that you can't wait to do.

It won't take very long before you can start to push yourself and if you do it that way, you will see positive changes almost every time you look in the mirror. Go get 'em!

RodeoSchro said:

PurpleJedi said:

OK - except that I'm really starting anew, and the stuff that I'm doing now is pretty basic. Like Planks or weighted step-ups. I believe that my exhaustion is mainly because I had 2 weeks "off" and had to get back in the swing of things.

Right - you're starting anew. I believe it's vitally important that when starting anew, you do not do anything that causes soreness or exhaustion. My experience is that if you wear yourself out and/or make yourself so sore it hurts to move, you aren't going to go back to the gym.

On the other hand, if you take a little time to build a muscle base, get some flexibility, and perfect your techniques, you will not turn going to the gym into something to be feared. It will become something that you can't wait to do.

It won't take very long before you can start to push yourself and if you do it that way, you will see positive changes almost every time you look in the mirror. Go get 'em!

Last workout of the year in the gym for me. Tomorrow, it's off to the mountains of New Mexico for a month.

But I ended the year in the gym on a great note! Benchpressed 316 pounds - the most this year! I think I could have got 321 up, because 316 wasn't as hard as I thought it might be. For the first time since those sciatica episodes, I really see myself getting to a 350-pound benchpress.

However, no benchpressing for me for the next 35-40 days. I'm going to buy some heavy dumb bells for the house, so I can do bicep work but if I want to do any chest work, it'll have to be push-ups.

If I go with push-ups, I think I'll try for 3,000. I did 2,000 last winter but was sick for a few days. I think I can do 100 a day every morning when I wake up. It probably won't add any strength but hopefully it will maintain where I am.

Have a great holiday season and keep up the workouts, y'all! We can do it!

RodeoSchro said:

Last workout of the year in the gym for me. Tomorrow, it's off to the mountains of New Mexico for a month.

But I ended the year in the gym on a great note! Benchpressed 316 pounds - the most this year! I think I could have got 321 up, because 316 wasn't as hard as I thought it might be. For the first time since those sciatica episodes, I really see myself getting to a 350-pound benchpress.

However, no benchpressing for me for the next 35-40 days. I'm going to buy some heavy dumb bells for the house, so I can do bicep work but if I want to do any chest work, it'll have to be push-ups.

If I go with push-ups, I think I'll try for 3,000. I did 2,000 last winter but was sick for a few days. I think I can do 100 a day every morning when I wake up. It probably won't add any strength but hopefully it will maintain where I am.

Have a great holiday season and keep up the workouts, y'all! We can do it!

awesome man, have a good time hiking