Help me make a fun physical challenge/skills list! Any sport/discipline considered...
Girl_du_jour
Posts: 46 Member
Hi all,
I've never been fit or sporty in my life, and as I'm losing a bit of weight now I thought I'd try and change that - and I'd like your help/suggestions!
Basically, I want to make a definitive list of skills/challenges to work on so I can say I feel physically fit and more in control of myself/my body than I have ever been in my life - and I'd love to hear what you think would be good to go on the list!
The background: as a child I tended to read/draw rather than go out. I have a heavy frame and so I've never been good at anything involving jumping/springing or having enough upper body strength to support my weight (eg: no monkey bars as a kid). I've also always been wary of things like surfing/skateboarding, because I didn't trust my body or have confidence in my ability to fall safely. I never played any sports beyond what I was forced to do in PE, so I never really learned any associated skills (dribbling a basketball or football) and my hand-eye coordination is OK but could be much better (eg: racquet sports). I can swim a pretty strong breaststroke but I never learned proper face-in-the-water front crawl either. I am now 35; I love dancing/dance workouts, walk a lot, am working on C25K and have reasonably good/improving strength (currently do some short HIIT with an 8kg kettlebell) and flexibility (working on basic yoga most days).
So far, I want my skillset/challenge list to include:
- able to swim a length of front crawl (face in water) without stopping to breathe! (swimming lessons booked...)
- able to touch hands flat to floor with legs straight and together
- able to do a cartwheel
- able to "walk" five rungs of monkey bars without falling
What else should I add as a marker of improving my strength/agility/coordination or flexibility? I'd love to hear your thoughts. What nifty things might be fun to add? What were your own physical fitness goals - not just running times/lifting weights, but the little extra things you wanted to be able to do? Any/all ideas gratefully accepted - I want this to be fun and as varied as possible! - and you can supply ideas for how to achieve the goal as well if you want, or just let me figure it out myself.
Thank you!
I've never been fit or sporty in my life, and as I'm losing a bit of weight now I thought I'd try and change that - and I'd like your help/suggestions!
Basically, I want to make a definitive list of skills/challenges to work on so I can say I feel physically fit and more in control of myself/my body than I have ever been in my life - and I'd love to hear what you think would be good to go on the list!
The background: as a child I tended to read/draw rather than go out. I have a heavy frame and so I've never been good at anything involving jumping/springing or having enough upper body strength to support my weight (eg: no monkey bars as a kid). I've also always been wary of things like surfing/skateboarding, because I didn't trust my body or have confidence in my ability to fall safely. I never played any sports beyond what I was forced to do in PE, so I never really learned any associated skills (dribbling a basketball or football) and my hand-eye coordination is OK but could be much better (eg: racquet sports). I can swim a pretty strong breaststroke but I never learned proper face-in-the-water front crawl either. I am now 35; I love dancing/dance workouts, walk a lot, am working on C25K and have reasonably good/improving strength (currently do some short HIIT with an 8kg kettlebell) and flexibility (working on basic yoga most days).
So far, I want my skillset/challenge list to include:
- able to swim a length of front crawl (face in water) without stopping to breathe! (swimming lessons booked...)
- able to touch hands flat to floor with legs straight and together
- able to do a cartwheel
- able to "walk" five rungs of monkey bars without falling
What else should I add as a marker of improving my strength/agility/coordination or flexibility? I'd love to hear your thoughts. What nifty things might be fun to add? What were your own physical fitness goals - not just running times/lifting weights, but the little extra things you wanted to be able to do? Any/all ideas gratefully accepted - I want this to be fun and as varied as possible! - and you can supply ideas for how to achieve the goal as well if you want, or just let me figure it out myself.
Thank you!
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Replies
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My goal is to do one perfect form chin up. Then 5, then 10. Easier said than done, for sure. I also want to be able to do 10 flights of stairs without stopping.1
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I'm working on push-ups and pull-ups. I'd also like to be able get myself out of the pool without swimming to the ladder. And back into a canoe while in the middle of the lake. Just realized these seem to all be upper-body strength goals. Interesting.1
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My current goal is to finish a kickboxing class with no modifications on any of the exercises.1
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Didn't even think of chin ups/pull ups - they'd go well with my monkey bars one so I'm stealing that. Thanks! Like the getting out of the pool with no ladder too - might give that one a go next time.
Looked at the sports list too - there's no way I can do all of them but I might see if there's maybe one from each category or something like that (though I'm already a little shaky at the thought of the air sports!)...0 -
I kiiiiiinda wanna try this but am slightly worried I'll kill myself - maybe I'll just focus on the first part!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWXD0JbwT-w 0 -
Mine are currently-
Bench body weight
Squat and deadlift 2x body weight.
I'm closing in on deadlift and bench and not far off from the squat, but extra fluff isn't helping me any. If I was about 30 lbs lighter I'd have them all easily.1 -
Balance. Something like riding a bike or skiing cross country.0
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TresaAswegan wrote: »Mine are currently-
Bench body weight
Squat and deadlift 2x body weight.
I'm closing in on deadlift and bench and not far off from the squat, but extra fluff isn't helping me any. If I was about 30 lbs lighter I'd have them all easily.
Like @TresaAswegan, I want to bench press my body weight. Only off by about 15 pounds. I want to deadlift 350 (then 400) lbs. My squats are sad, current goal 225 lbs. I had a goal to do a pull-up, which I made, and then 10 pull-ups in a row, which I made. Now I want to do a weighted pull-up.
Oh, and do scorpion pose in yoga. That *kitten* is hard.
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Pick a penny off the floor.
Catch myself mid-fall (really proud of that one).
Complete a C25K.
Balance on one leg while waving a milk jug around (physiotherapist humour)
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Yikes @ scorpion pose - that'll take a while to get to but I like it.
So @quiksylver296 is it fairly standard to bench your weight and squat/deadlift 2x it or is this a special challenge? I never paid that much attention to lifting but it might be a good thing to work on.
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@NorthCascades - I can ride a bike ok but I like the idea of a balance related challenge! Is there anything else you can think of that'll maybe cost less to set up than a cross country ski but is a bit more challenging than riding a bike?0
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Girl_du_jour wrote: »Yikes @ scorpion pose - that'll take a while to get to but I like it.
So @quiksylver296 is it fairly standard to bench your weight and squat/deadlift 2x it or is this a special challenge? I never paid that much attention to lifting but it might be a good thing to work on.
I have no information other than my personal experience. But, I personally think, a female being able to bench her own body weight is quite a challenge.1 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »Girl_du_jour wrote: »Yikes @ scorpion pose - that'll take a while to get to but I like it.
So @quiksylver296 is it fairly standard to bench your weight and squat/deadlift 2x it or is this a special challenge? I never paid that much attention to lifting but it might be a good thing to work on.
I have no information other than my personal experience. But, I personally think, a female being able to bench her own body weight is quite a challenge.
I can't say I've seen any women at my gym who squat/dl much more than their body weight, let alone bench it.
But bench tends to be a less popular movement for women compared to squats. *shrugs*
Just kind of a cool benchmark to hit. Certain lift numbers or plates are fun too.1 -
standing broad jump is a fun one to work on. I used to try to get 8' (IIRC, been a while)
depending on your athletic level etc you could pick a goal like 6 or 7 feet or whatever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uwv-lFonDk 0 -
Girl_du_jour wrote: »@NorthCascades - I can ride a bike ok but I like the idea of a balance related challenge! Is there anything else you can think of that'll maybe cost less to set up than a cross country ski but is a bit more challenging than riding a bike?
Sadly, XC ski season is over for a while. Renting is surprisingly cheap, and you might consider it next winter if you have the opportunity.
A lot of hiking trails cross creeks and rivers. Sometimes you hop from boulder to boulder to get across, other times there are downed trees acting as bridges. As a bonus, you get to see some really cool scenery.
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I started snowshoeing last year and it's fun to see how much my endurance (how long I could go before heading back to my car, same trail) improved from last winter to this past winter. You can rent those too, or buy a pair for a relatively low amount. I found a great deal at a wholesale club, shoes/carrying bag/poles for only $69; most snowshoes come in around $120+ online.0
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Girl_du_jour wrote: »@NorthCascades - I can ride a bike ok but I like the idea of a balance related challenge! Is there anything else you can think of that'll maybe cost less to set up than a cross country ski but is a bit more challenging than riding a bike?
This is pricey but fun, and excellent for core strength and balance: take English riding lessons and learn how to walk, trot, posting, trot, canter and hand gallop, both with and without stirrups. You can take it to the next level with two point position in preparation for jumping. Or if you are in more of a Western riding area, you can do barrels, reining and cutting for some excitement and challenge.
With biking, you can crank up the balance challenge by mountain biking through the woods on single track. Again, a super fun workout, and an awesome calorie burn.1 -
I learnt to do the kick up thing a while back. It's one of those deceptively humbling moves, but I reckon it's more about skill that strength (of course, the lighter you are the easier it will be). Anyway, be careful with your knees if you try to conquer it. I overdid it a little & had to wait for stiff knees to get better *small rage*
Gymnastics might seem extreme, but if you want to learn cartwheels & things, there are lots of floor movements that are fun to learn & teach great body control & who knows after that... Actually, gymnastics is just all around great for your body. Strength, flexibility, control, the ability to be explosive... maybe look for an adults class.
Also, I box. Dunno if that's of any interest to you, but I enjoy it.0
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