The Community That is Always There For You

For every major undertaking in life it is important to have a support system.  Some people can accomplish things all by themselves but the odds of success rise dramatically when you have friends there to help you along. If you need evidence of this try to think of some of the great accomplishments in human history.  There might have been one leader but there was always a team of people behind that leader supporting them in a tactile or moral way. Taking it down a level there is plenty of literature on why you should get a gym buddy.  This has been highlighted by the growing popularity of Obstacle Course Races (OCR) that require team assistance.  I recently just completed a Tough Mudder and I can comfortably say that I would not have been able to accomplish a number of obstacles without help from teammates and strangers alike.

But for many of us, there are a number of responsibilities that come before your next workout.  Work, school, parenthood, and more are things that demand your attention when you know that the gym will still be waiting for you when your done.  This is exactly what happened to me.  I just completed my masters degree, I am a new father, my employer has given me additional responsibilities, and I just completed major renovations on my home.  But just like the gym there were people who were just as excited to have me back in fitness.  They happen to be people that I have never met.  That's right I am talking about Fitocracy again.  I had to start slow but they don't judge.  The same people who are benching more than their body weight are giving me props for taking a 15 minute walk.  That has been one of the biggest things that has helped me jump back in with both feet.  I've been out of the game for longer than I would like to admit and they know it but they don't care.  They are just happy I'm back. FYI none of the people that are congratulating me work for Fitocracy and if I haven't mentioned it before I don't work for them either.  I am officially back to working out and making fitness a priority again.  I'm hoping that I will be back here soon as well.  If you want to here from me on a more regular basis feel free to follow me on Tumblr or (you guessed it) join me on Fitocracy.  See you there.  We'll be waiting no matter when you decide to join us

He's going to pump..... You up!

My favorite fitness social media site, Fitocracy.com has teamed up with biggest fitness icon of all time, Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Together they have created something called the 1% Challenge.  Together they have created 5 workout routines (so far) that take about 15 minutes each.  There are strength and cardio as well as equipment and body weight routines. Where does the 1% come in?  15 minutes is roughly only 1% of your 24 hr day.

I've talked about Fitocracy before but adding in these routines takes it up a notch.  Your not just blindly trying out exercises to see what works, though that's not always a bad way to begin.  All of these routines have video tutorials which is great for beginners who aren't sure of correct form.  In preparation for writing this post I watched a couple and I would even recommend them to people who know the exercises.  There are some good tips on how to keep your form all the way through the routine.

My favorite Routine is B or the Body Weight Circuit.  These means you can do all the exercises without buying any equipment going to the gym or even being at home.  If you live out of a suitcase you still don't have an excuse for not doing these.  Once again this is a great routine for beginners because it's much harder to injure yourself with no heavy objects around.  If this gets too easy you can always up your repetitions or jump over to the intermediate body weight routine D.

To ease myself back into working out and make sure I don't injure myself like I did last time this is how I'm starting off.  Personally I have added in some crunches and side planks but as with any exercise routine only do what feels comfortable to you.

//Actuator//

Still Awake (A cautionary tale)

So I sit here awake at almost 1 am. I need to be up at 6:30 for a doctors appointment and then to get to work.  Why are you still up, you ask?  Because I am silly and competitive. I didn't have much time for a workout today so after dinner and homework and such I decided to get some planks and pushups in.  I went to my favorite fitness social media site, Fitocracy.com, to enter my workout for the day and found I had been bumped down a couple spaces in the push-up challenge.  Well we can't have that now can we? I should have let it go.  So I figure out how many more I need to do and go on my way.  I enter in my new points and see that I'm still not back where I should be.  Undaunted I keep going.  Still not there. Now I know something is wrong.  I realize that this must mean the the person I can not pass is also logging pushups as he goes. The nerve of some peoples kids. I "followed" (similar to twitter) the gentlemen and kindly asked that he stop doing push up so that I could go to bed.  To my surprise he obliged although it was not nearly as late for him in some other timezone.

(Takes a sip of Sleepy Time tea)

So now I sit here having done two hundred some pushups and four minutes of planks.  My triceps are unhappy with me.  However the other thing I now remember is that when you push yourself you open up adrenal glands and get extra energy.  It is commonly recommended that you do not work less than 4 hours before you plan to go to sleep.  I have now taken a long hot shower and am sipping some tea trying to relax enough to go back to bed and try to find elusive sleep once more.

Goodnight humanity. Please remember sleep is just as important if not more important than any exercise you do.  It is when your body does it's best recovery and repair and it doesn't matter how many pushups you do if your not sleeping you won't get any better at it. (-sigh- sips tea again)

/Actuator/