Man to Man: A Support System for Men (part 2)

iplayoutside19

Well, tomorrow's the big day - I will ride my bicycle to work. I've made the trip once before, one way only, and it took me about 1 hour 45 mins. I'm hoping to make the ride to the shop in 1-1/2 hour tomorrow morning.

It's 26+ miles each way, so the round trip is about 53 miles and will take over 3 hours.

Man, this 53 mile ride is quite an inspiration to me. I've never done anything like it before, but you have me checking out Wikiloc for a relatively flat route without too much elevation. Keep us posted on your trip.

I made it, eventually,

I got a flat, with no pump & no spare tube. Pushed the bike prob 2 miles to a station. Aired up the tire and peddled like crazy to get to work before it leaked down again. Wound up making the trip in 2hours-15 mins, which ain't bad with 30+minutes of walking. Sometimes I am truly astounded at my own stupidity. Will use Co. truck to run out this PM and pick up a few things.

I feel great though, 10 feet tall & bulletproof. Can't wait to get this tire fixed and do 'er again going home.

FYI - if you're gonna do this, eat a Clif bar at the very first sign of bonking out. If you wait 'til you're really feeling it you're too late. Don't sweat the calories, just feed the machine.

I learned a long time ago to carry a pump, tube, and tire lever in my Camelback.

But 10 ft tall and bullet proof is always a good feeling.

Mindful_Trent

Hey all. So I wanted to see if any of you have any experience with elbow injuries... I broke my elbow a little over a month ago (the head of my radius bone, to be specific). It was a pretty mild break - no surgery required. I have full (more-or-less) range of motion back, but the bone is still healing and certain actions will cause some pain. I realize I need to be careful not to cause further injury, but I want to do some kind of upper body work at the gym. I'm getting antsy not having been able to do it in over a month. I know some of the weight machines will allow me to work my shoulders/back/chest with minimal use of my elbow, so I'm going to try those out. I was just wondering if any of you have dealt with this (or something similar) yourselves... any recommendations on specific exercises I could do that would allow me to test my arm and see how it goes?

So, no surgery and no PT? Hmmm.... Would you be content to focus on core and lower body strength? I'm not a medical professional, but I've been injured enough to hesitate before pushing a joint injury without a professional opinion. Good luck!

Thanks for the feedback... Yeah, no surgery and no physical therapy needed. I actually ended up trying a couple different upper body machines tonight at much lower weights than I would normally use, and had no pain in my elbow. I'll probably just continue like this (light weights, nothing strenuous), unless something feels "off" in which case I'll back off of it.

dinos

Its Friday here already, so here's my weigh-in. I've made some progress towards my Goal Weight of 245 lbs for July 4.
Height 6'3" - SW May 21, 255 lbs -CW May 28, 253.5 lbs

Congrats to bulletproof Casper for completing his 53 mile ride.
What the hell is a Rip Stick?

ccgisme

It's Friday check in and I have progress to report! Height 5'10" SW May 21, 255.4 - CW May 28, 253.8. I've also progressed on to week 5 day 2 of C25K and, barring unforeseen injury, am on track to finish by 7/4.

I relearned a few things this week:

Bread, while delicious, is not my friend when it comes to weight loss and should be eaten in very limited quantities.
Conversely, salads are my friend and should be eaten regularly in vast quantities (at least the veggies)
ODing on protein is not the worst thing in the world. ODing on fat and starchy carbs will slow my progress.

For the record, I have metabolic syndrome and am under doctor's orders to limit my carb intake. I just don't always obey orders :laugh:

Hope everyone is doing well!

CasperO

Bread, while delicious, is not my friend ...

Conversely, salads are my friend and should be eaten regularly in vast quantities (at least the veggies)

ODing on protein is not the worst thing in the world.

ODing on fat and starchy carbs will slow my progress.

True dat, all good points. These will get more important when you get close to goal. I swear I can have a helping of rice with dinner and my abs go away for 3 days. :laugh:

Friday check in.
Started the July 4 challenge at 203 pounds, goal 199 pounds w/32" waist.
Today's weigh-in, 202, so that's a pound. Didn't measure the waist. I'm planning to ride my bike to work twice a week, that should do it.

BullDozier

Friday morning check-in:

Starting weight (5/21): 174.5
5/28: 174
7/4 Goal: 165

Honestly, I'm surprised I lost anything. I had a bad week. I did get out to walk a few days over lunch, but other than that I had zero exercise. My spring/summer is just crazy with the kids activities. All three are playing soccer. I have days where I get home from work, grab a quick supper, and spend the rest of the night dropping each one off at a different park, then repeat the process to pick them all up. By the time I get home, I have zero interest in exercising. Food is also an issue. When I lost weight before, I've had the willpower to resist temptation. I don't have it now. I've given in twice this week. I need to get that willpower back.

CasperO

Can you play with the kids Dj? Assistant-Coach one of the soccer teams? I used to help with my son's football practices and it was great exercise. Hey, you're there anyways...

Mindful_Trent

Friday check-in... No progress (but no gain either!). Still at 210. Not super surprising, since I had a couple bad food days this last week, and I only exercised 3 days instead of the 5-6 that I'm aiming for. However, I had a great workout last night and now am really feeling the desire to hit the gym hard this weekend, so things should be improving.

BullDozier

Can you play with the kids Dj? Assistant-Coach one of the soccer teams? I used to help with my son's football practices and it was great exercise. Hey, you're there anyways...

I do coach my 1st graders flag team in the fall, and I coach my step daughters basketball team in the winter. In the summer, they are too busy for me to coach (my wife works 3-4 nights a week). On the weekend, when we don't have a tourney or something, we'll play in the yard, go to the park, or something like that, and I'll get a little exercise in.

I need to find a Sunday night softball league, or something like that again. I used to play 3 nights a week in the summer, touch football in the winter, and the occasional pick up basketball game year round. Then came the kids. Gotta get back in a league or something.

FORKDOWN

Well, tomorrow's the big day - I will ride my bicycle to work. I've made the trip once before, one way only, and it took me about 1 hour 45 mins. I'm hoping to make the ride to the shop in 1-1/2 hour tomorrow morning.

It's 26+ miles each way, so the round trip is about 53 miles and will take over 3 hours.

Man, this 53 mile ride is quite an inspiration to me. I've never done anything like it before, but you have me checking out Wikiloc for a relatively flat route without too much elevation. Keep us posted on your trip.

I made it, eventually,

I got a flat, with no pump & no spare tube. Pushed the bike prob 2 miles to a station. Aired up the tire and peddled like crazy to get to work before it leaked down again. Wound up making the trip in 2hours-15 mins, which ain't bad with 30+minutes of walking. Sometimes I am truly astounded at my own stupidity. Will use Co. truck to run out this PM and pick up a few things.

I feel great though, 10 feet tall & bulletproof. Can't wait to get this tire fixed and do 'er again going home.

FYI - if you're gonna do this, eat a Clif bar at the very first sign of bonking out. If you wait 'til you're really feeling it you're too late. Don't sweat the calories, just feed the machine.

Nice job Casper. I think I will go to my bike shop and look into better equip to protect the vitals.

FORKDOWN

Crap, I forgot to weighin. And I started this challenge *geeze*.

:embarassed: :embarassed:

tex43

TGIF!!!!!
Friday been berry berry good to me,lost 2 more lbs this week and after a great weekend last I thought for sure I was going to have a bad weigh in,must have been a good shock to the system and being faithful at the gym,the old lady had me mowing and weed eating a few times this week to,so all in all it's been a good week for me,hope yall have the same!

Cheers!:drinker:

gecallo

TGIF! Keep up the great work fellas!

ccgisme

Finished C25K Wk 5 Day 2 this morning. Felt good. Monday will be my first "long" interval. 20 straight minutes of running. Yikes! I'm looking forward to the challenge. :bigsmile:

CasperO

Maybe it's just my Clydesdale build talking, but running for 20 minutes continuously is more impressive to me than anything I ever did on a silly bicycle. Rock on dude, more power to ya' if you can do that - cause I can't, or at least I never could. Need to try it again, I'm lighter and fitter now.

iplayoutside19

Just finished my last work out for the workout week. Now, it's picnics, swimming, and other outside insaneness for the rest of the weekend.

The scale has started moving too. I would hope so after two weeks of intense workouts, and having some big deficits.

May 17: 279.4
May 24: 280
May 29: 277.4
June 6:
June 13:
June 20:
June 27:
July 4: 265

I did some HIIT this morning. It took me 3 minutes less to cover the same distance, and I burned the same amount of calories. I don't think my body can handle that pounding more than once a week. So I will keep that as my last workout of the week.

I have a new fitness goal. I saw another guy running sans shirt this morning. That's my new goal is to be able to go out in public without my shirt. But only after 2 out of 3 hotties agree that it's a good idea. I would ask my wife, but you know.

Casper, the only thing I can say about running is it's High Risk/High Reward. We probably have the same frame. Running is probobly the most effective excersise I have ever done in terms of weight loss and general feeling of bad-assness.
However, 3 times a week is about all I can handle, and there are weeks in between where my body says it's not a good idea. I like cycling too, but running is a whole different level. Look into C25K, that's what I did.

dinos

True, running burns a lot and is addictive. Also its a constant challenge to improve yourself against the clock.
My experience is that for bigger, muscular guys the continuous pounding can be harmful. It can hurt your knees, joints and back.
The elliptical, hiking, bicycling are more user-friendly alternatives, albeit more time consuming.
Then again I'm no certified trainer, I'm just speaking my mind. You do whatever suits you best

ccgisme

Casper - If you want to give running another go, I'd recommend the Couch to 5K (C25K) program. It's an interval program that uses both running and walking. It works really well for me. I've run "regularly" once before and it was way harder then because I pushed myself too hard and had unrealistic expectations. :noway:

You can find a post on it here that contains the break down: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/88702-c25k-everyone-welcome-just-starting-or-in-the-middle. The info is about half-way down page 1.

I had forgotten the term clydesdale, but it definitely applies to me.

I grew up as a fat kid with asthma. Running was always a problem for me as a kid. Being able to run now makes me feel great - like iplayoutside said, it gives me a general feeling of badassness :bigsmile: and accomplishment.

Mindful_Trent

I'm feeling great about things - I've finally gotten my butt in gear and have worked out 3 days in a row. Light upper body weights two of those days, and my elbow seems to be handling it okay, which is a relief. After the walk I'm about to go on, it'll be two days in a row where I worked out at the gym AND went on a walk in the neighborhood after dinner. I feel like something's finally clicked and I'm remembering how much I enjoy how I feel as a result of working out and eating better.

Umpire57

 I am now 5 pounds away from what "in the beginning" I thought was my goal weight. 

I started at somewhere in the range of 333 (333 is what I always put as starting weight cause it is the last time I remember weighing before starting but it could be a bit more) 

The lowest I have ever been in my adult life before that was 240 but I was always one to try and set high goals for myself. I have coached both my daughters in softball and always told them "It is better to set your goals too high and just miss them than set them too low and blow them away" so I set my "goal weight" at 230 cause I really wanted to hit that 100 pound mark and I added 3 to that so I could have that +/- number people always say and also so I could say it was 100 pounds lost even if I was fully clothed. 

Last Monday (My weekly weigh in day) I am at 235 and while I have many friends who say I need to stop (I wont even get into how that annoys me), when I have my shirt off; I see I still have a lot to lose so even though I am really near my goal weight and lower than I have been since junior high school over 25 years ago. With that said, I still am not happy where I am at so I need to set another goal but I don't know what that is. 

BMI says I am still obese so that is my first mini-goal. I want to get from the "obese" range to the over-weight" range and then see what happens from there. 

What suggestions do you guys have for setting new goals?