Geek Fitness

[Lego Solo]

I've recently hit a low point in my fitness! From a couple of years ago when I was hitting the gym and playing squash on a weekly basis and being at my fittest in years, to now actually being at my heaviest

This was down to some health issues I've had since last year that are still on going, but I saw some pic from my birthday dinner last night and I can't stand the way I now look. I need to do something about it and soon. It's just having to go out there and start all over again, I know exactly what I need to do, I just need the discipline to get going. Very very frustrating!!

[NokkonWud]

I've recently hit a low point in my fitness! From a couple of years ago when I was hitting the gym and playing squash on a weekly basis and being at my fittest in years, to now actually being at my heaviest

This was down to some health issues I've had since last year that are still on going, but I saw some pic from my birthday dinner last night and I can't stand the way I now look. I need to do something about it and soon. It's just having to go out there and start all over again, I know exactly what I need to do, I just need the discipline to get going. Very very frustrating!!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do buddy. Health is important!

[dezm0nd]

BUMP!

Since January of this year, i've been running daily (with a few absences) on my treadmill for about 3 miles and it's going wicked. It barely takes up any time at all and the weight has dropped off.

Before and after.



I've had the idea of doing fitness for a while but I couldn't really find the right method and motivation but after getting a treadmill from a friend and recording a fitness diary really helped.

I have a few people in mind who inspired me to do this but honestly, seeing Plexshaw at Eurogamer last year really motivated me.

Anyone else in the fitness groove?

[NokkonWud]

BUMP!

Since January of this year, i've been running daily (with a few absences) on my treadmill for about 3 miles and it's going wicked. It barely takes up any time at all and the weight has dropped off.

Before and after.



I've had the idea of doing fitness for a while but I couldn't really find the right method and motivation but after getting a treadmill from a friend and recording a fitness diary really helped.

I have a few people in mind who inspired me to do this but honestly, seeing Plexshaw at Eurogamer last year really motivated me.

Anyone else in the fitness groove?

Phwoar!

[stvnorman]

I started running and cycling in January last year. I was inspired by pictures of me playing in my band and not liking what I saw - the Smash Hits centre spread had no chance of happening any more! I now run four or six miles, or cycle eighteen, in my lunch break every day, then do a nine mile of half marathon run, or fifty mile bike ride, at the weekend. I've lost about three and a half stone, and quit smoking by default because I just didn't want if after exercise. I miss it massively on the odd days I can't do it, which I can't quite believe having been a lazy git for the last twenty years and struggled to run a couple of hundred metres at the start. I'm now six foot one and under twelve stone, and I'm sure Smash Hits has me back in the pipeline again!

[AndyKurosaki]

Nice work there Dez, well done
Just started doing Sean T's Hip Hop Abs, need to lose some weight on my stomach. It's not too difficult so far, now to stick with it and see how it goes.

[Indiana747]

Havent been running for over a month now due to calf/hamstring strains. Went for an easy 5k the other day & injury still hasnt cleared up, pissed off with it at this stage, i guess 24 years of competitive footy has taken its toll. A month ago i had a 5k run down to 22mins flat, quite pleased with that for a now forty year old. Currently as im not running i took up the 30day ab challenge. Im on day 26 now & unless some sort of miracle abs start appearing in the next 4 days its gonna go down as a load of bollocks. Admittedly my stomach is tighter & not as round, but 30 days for abs is just bullshit. On the plus side, i can do 100 bench sit ups before my stomach caves in with pain from the burn, .

[dezm0nd]

I've never believed those catchphrase laden workouts. 30 second abs! 1 second legs! 10 day slim jim! Sorry to hear you've been out of the running loop for a while. I suppose that's what I've gotta look forward to

[Indiana747]

Ha ha, im blaming you Dez. I keep tryin to get close to your best times, which, lets face facts, i will never beat.
Seriously though, it is good to have people to set goals too. Maybe ten years ago i would have been more of a challenge for you young Gargette.
I have been roped into an over 35's league by my old club which i think i will still end up being the most senior player. Why wont they let me retire from footy in peace?
After two years out, its time to blow the cobwebs off the boots & see if i can survive a full on 90 minute game without further injury.

[stvnorman]

Anyone using Runkeeper? I'm Steve Norman / stvnorman / stvnorman@aol.com if you want to add someone that will make anyone feel good about their times!

[dezm0nd]

Runtastic for me!

[stvnorman]

Runtastic for me!

Is that reliable? Runkeeper is generally good, and covers cycling too, but today - and not for the first time - after 1.2 miles it decided I'd done 7. By 4 miles, I was at 12, and running sub 2 minute miles. If I didn't have so much history in it, I'd have switched long ago.

[PlexShaw]

I have a few people in mind who inspired me to do this but honestly, seeing Plexshaw at Eurogamer last year really motivated me.

Firstly, well done on what you've accomplished - the difference is plain to see in the photos and nothing short of astonishing. I knew from Facebook posts etc that you had started running but I'm stunned to learn that I had any hand in being a motivating factor towards you doing so. That's given me a massive motivational boost, which I've kind of needed lately.

Obviously, you may get people making Skeletor jokes and so forth but people will soon forget what you looked like before. I saw a photo of myself at Eurogamer last year and, honestly, you'd have thought I had some horrible wasting disease. Flash forward to today and I now get comments from people I've explained my story to such as, "I can't imagine you being obese" (which, technically, I was) - this just indicates that I now look "normal" to people.

As for my own fitness plans at the moment...

I'm currently training for 10K in August, having completed a number of 5K parkrun's (http://www.parkrun.org.uk/) earlier in the year. It's going pretty well so far and I'm using a 8 week training plan to build up to it (3 days a week). Alongside that, I'm also doing weight/strength workouts in Nike+ Kinect Training on 3 alternate days each week. I've also done a bit of yoga in Wii Fit U.

Additionally, I'm also participating in walking challenge at work, which has seen my daily step count go through the roof. I think I've done slightly crazy on this as I use 3 step count monitors (Nike+ Fuelband SE, Wii Fit U Fit Meter and a Fitbit One - for various different reasons) at the moment - obviously my daily total is calculated by dividing the total for all the devices by 3 (just in case anyone thinks I'm cheating).

For running tracking, I'm on Nike+. Username is "PlexShaw" if anyone wants to add me.

[dezm0nd]

I've heard a lot about Fitbits. I have no idea what they are but my windows phone seems to be working out well enough for me

[KissMammal]

I'd always been naturally skinny but started to put a bit of weight on when I started working long hours in an office job in my late twenties. Went from 'S' size clothes to 'M' and got a few pretty brutal comments about my weight gain from friends and acquaintances (funny that everyone seems to think it's perfectly OK to tease men about their physical appearance but wouldn't dream in a million years of saying similar things to women ).

When I was trying on clothes in a shop one time and had to buy a 'Large' pair of shorts I decided enough was enough - so many blokes seem to just completely let themselves go once they get into their thirties and forties and I didn't want to do that. So I started doing exercise and making a concerted effort to eat a bit less (I love food way to much to ever eat healthily!).

In the last six months especially I've completely changed my lifestyle - I've been a night owl all my life but now get up at 6am without fail every weekday morning and hit the gym before work for 40-60mins - cardio (cross-trainer, exercise bike, treadmill) and weights alternating each day to keep it interesting and help avoid injury. I also do Yoga once a week which I love, and having recently gotten a dog helps a lot to keep me active in the evenings with walks etc. Weekends are my 'day off', but I sometimes end up doing quite active stuff anyway as the area I live (Pacific NW) is very outdoorsy - lots of hiking, biking, skiing, swimming in local lakes and rivers etc.

I'll never be ripped - I have naturally very skinny arms and wrists and I think you'd have to spend your entire life in the gym, regulate what you eat and be the most boring person in the world to achieve the perfect body, but am now easily in the best shape I've ever been. I'm back to 'Small' size clothes and a 30/32" waist, and have traded in the manboobs for modest pecs. It's tough to keep going sometimes, but a single complement from a stranger or friend really does give you enough of a motivation boost to power you onwards for months. It does become somewhat addictive eventually - I'm resolute now to keep up at least some form of exercise indefinitely.

A huge side-effect bonus is that the lifestyle change has also almost 100% cured the mild insomnia that had plagued me for the previous 12 months - it would increasingly take me hours to get to sleep at night, but I rarely have trouble now, and love the feeling of going to bed genuinely tired. Early morning exercise is also the only hangover cure I've ever known to work - it sounds counterintuitive but trust me - it works.

[dezm0nd]

I've been increasing my running distances in preparation for a half marathon! I'll leave the sponsorship URL here and I'd love any donations from you lot, but don't feel pressured into it at all.

http://t.co/bn5MOII8F3

[arry_g]

Am fat. Do not want to be anymore. Have started walking for 60 - 120 minutes a day. Have started monitoring cal intake. As first stage weight loss idea, is successful. 6lbs 5oz lost in seven days. Good progress. Long way to go.

[DomsBeard]

I've also been on a weight loss kick, stopped drinking beer and eaten healthily for 10 days and I lost 8lbs. Just banned myself from beer till I lose another 16.

[SnakeyDave]

Since moving house about 6 or so months ago, and with it work hours etc changing, bad habits- takeaways- creeping in, I've begun to get a bit soft around the edges.

Due to personal circumstances I'd eased off running for the past year but now I'm getting back into it.

I ran a pre-Christmas half marathon so I can still move, just frustratingly slowly, but I'm going to ramp up my training. Been using my fitness pal but might move to a different app. That and body weight exercises. Used to do them 3X a week, stopped since moving. Now that I think about it I don't know why.

[PlexShaw]

I'd probably drop back to a shorter distance like 10K and work on improving that if you haven't done a half marathon distance in while. Did you do any training prior to the race or did you just go for it on the day?