9/24 I haven't eaten all day. I want to get back onto fasting regularly. I am not sure if I'll eat tonight or not, if not it will be a ~38 hour fast broken tomorrow for lunch, or a 24 hour fast if I do break it tonight. Swam 31 minutes for cardiac output, HR avg 131 BPM. A few minutes in the steam room afterwards.
9/28 Strength Training, didn't record what I did. (Some rows, leg curls, I forget what all else.) 10/2 I saw the podiatrist again today, having completed the 2 week course of oral anti-inflammatory medication he prescribed last time. My big toe issue improved noticeably, but still not fully better. The ankle improved a bit, but less so than the toe. I ended up getting 3 cortisone shots today (2 for the toe, one for the ankle). My next follow-up is in 3 weeks, til then no weight bearing exercise. (I am in Zurich next week for work, I will try to minimize how much walking around I do.) I am going to try to get in a lot more conditioning work (swimming & cycling) between now & then, so that when I do get back to Muay Thai I don't just fall over after a few minutes.
I have struggled with getting some exercise in... though this week was pretty good. I am in Zurich for work. I walked maybe half a mile on the 7th, and did 30 minutes on an exercise bike (HR avg 134 BPM), a little over a mile on the 8th, a little over 2 miles on the 9th + another 30 min on the exercise bike (HR avg 136 BPM), and around a mile of walking today. My ankle has been relatively ok... I'm flying back to Boston today. I will continue to get in some conditioning work (though limited to swimming & cycling until cleared by the doctor on my ankle).
10/12 Strength training: 3 sets of clams with black resistance band, 3 sets of single-leg hamstring curls on a machine, 2 sets of rows, a set of reverse flies, and a set of bridges on a swiss ball.
10/14 Assault exercise bike (pedals plus arm movement thingies like on an elliptical), 57 minutes, HR avg 134 BPM. 15 miles.
10/15 I've been fasting for about 17 hours, planning to break it at 18 or 20 hours. Swam 56 minutes, HR avg 131 BPM. 11 minutes in the steam room, short break (~1 min) while I drank some water, then another 4 minutes.
10/16: Rest 10/17 Short body-weight exercise set: 10 push-ups 20 second plank 20 bridges Repeated about an hour later: 10 push-ups 20 second plank 20 bridges Swam 1 hour, HR avg 133 BPM.
10/23 Saw the doctor again for my ankle. The cortisone shot helped a lot, but I still have residual issues. He is putting me on another 2 week round of oral anti-inflammatories and says to ease back into my routine after that, but until then keep away from weight bearing exercise. 10/24 Fasting all day, will likely continue through dinner tomorrow for ~48 hours total. 10 push-ups. Swam 43 minutes, HR avg 133 BPM. 10 minutes in the steam room afterwards.
11/12 I was sick last weekend through this weekend. I'm done with the anti-inflammatories, but the ankle still has some discomfort. I'm going to ease back into exercising... Today: 22 min walk @ 2mph, HR avg 116 BPM.
11/17 Freeform bagwork/cardiac output. Warmed up with a 2 sets of: 5 push-ups, 5 leg lifts, 5 crunches, 5 squats Tried to keep my HR between ~125-150 while hitting the heavy bag. I had to take breaks to let it come back down, during which I walked around the mat to keep moving. ~25 minutes (excluding warm-up), HR avg 137 BPM.
11/18 Fasting since last night at dinner. Walked 31 minutes @ 2mph, HR avg 111 BPM. Broke fast at around 24 hours.
11/21: 30 min walk @ 2mph, 109 avg BPM. 11/23: Strength training. Various hip stability exercises (band resistance, chops, single leg hip thrusters), hamstring curls, standing single arm cable rows. 11/25: Fasting all day, not sure when I'll stop. Probably tomorrow, maybe the day after. 46 min walk @ 2mph, 108 avg BPM. Bag work at home: Started with leg swings & arm circles to warm up hips, stretch hamstring a bit, and warm up shoulders. 4 sets (took 5 min) of body weight exercise: 5 squats, 5 push-ups, 5 leg lifts, 5 crunches Took a few minutes break while I put on wraps. Then I worked various combos, stopping when I felt I needed to breath for a bit, then going on to a different combo. From what I can recall: - Jab, cross, hook. Cross, hook, cross. (Uppercut bag) - Jab, cross, hook, kick. Cross, hook, cross, switch kick. - Jab, kick. Repeat in southpaw. - Jab, cross, uppercut. Cross, hook, uppercut. (Uppercut bag) - Spent some time working on pivoting more on my kicks. - Some more combos with uppercuts in them on the uppercut bag. (In ortho & southpaw.) - Combo with a MT style cross to the body (no level change) and a knee at the end. Repeated in southpaw. - jab, body cross, front body hook, front head hook. Repeated in southpaw. - some more kicking - finished up with two sets of 60 jumps (pretending to jump rope, basically). I didn't get any ankle discomfort during these... But my ankle was sore afterwards. Iced 3 times 10 min on, 10 min off. I should start icing it regularly, as the issue isn't damaged tissue at this point per the Dr, but rather just swelling that isn't going away as it should.
11/26 Still fasting since dinner on the 24th. I plan to break it tomorrow morning. Walked 46 min @ 2mph, 118 avg BPM. I started getting a bit of a headache in the early afternoon. I had some table salt (maybe 2-3 teaspoons) and the headache went away pretty soon after that.
11/27 I found out last night that I'd be having a fairly heavy brunch today (well, I could eat lighter at it, but I don't wanna). So I broke the fast last night at ~48 hours fasted. (I find if I am not pretty careful breaking 36+ hour fasts, I get pretty severe gastro-intestinal issues.) Broke it with: ~500 calories of sausage, peppers, onions, rice. ~400 calories of nuts, cheese, dried fruit. Walked 28 min, 122 avg BPM. I sweat like crazy this time, probably due to the higher than normal BPM.
12/6 I've been super lazy... I need to get back up to exercising regularly. Walked 31 min @ 2mph, 115 avg BPM.
As you can probably tell from the dearth of posts in this thread, I've not been getting much exercise in lately. I've read various quotes about motivation vs discipline. One I found just now: "Better to cultivate discipline than to rely on motivation. Force yourself to do things. Force yourself to get up out of bed and practice. Force yourself to work. Motivation is fleeting and it’s easy to rely on because it requires no concentrated effort to get. Motivation comes to you, and you don’t have to chase after it. Discipline is reliable, motivation is fleeting. The question isn’t how to keep yourself motivated. It’s how to train yourself to work without it." This is something I struggle with in general. My discipline is pretty bad across most areas of my life. Yesterday I was going to do a 30-40 minute workout with my heavy bag, but ended up shrugging it off and doing other stuff. Things I am going to start doing, starting today: - Start taking the stairs instead of elevator. I may not completely eliminate the elevator (8 flights of stairs is a bit much), but I will take the stairs often. I'll start off slow, but I want to start using the stairs regularly instead of elevator. I've got 3 flights in already today. I remember maybe 4-5 years ago a fitness goal of mine was to be able to climb 3 flights of stairs without becoming a panting, out of breath wreck. Despite my lack of exercise lately, the 3 flights I took this morning weren't that bad. I was breathing a little more heavily at the top, but not panting and not out of breath. - Stop blowing off exercise. I have easy access to heavy bags (my basement), and find that kind of workout enjoyable. So at the very least, I can do a quick 20-30 minute session, right at home, doing something I don't find boring. I also want to get back to training BJJ. I'm thinking I could do 3-5 training sessions each week (total, between Muay Thai & BJJ) depending on how my body feels, and supplement with conditioning exercise and minimal strength work. (I won't just jump into this from doing no exercise though--I'll build back up a bit slowly.) My rough plan for the moment is to ramp up exercise over the next few weeks. I may re-join the BJJ gym I used to train at... my Muay Thai place offers BJJ but the classes are usually pretty small (5-6 students) vs the 20+ students at classes of the other gym. Also they have two 3rd degree black belts running that gym (they were 2nd degree when I trained there a few years ago), and they offer fundamentals classes, which I think I'd be good to take a lot of until I hit blue belt. On the other hand, my Muay Thai place also offers wrestling classes, which appeal to me. Though they only offer 2 sessions I could make (1 hour BJJ, followed by 1 hour wrestling, two times a week). I think I could jump back into Muay Thai classes sooner, but I want to give the ankle a bit more time before I start spending 1+ hour on it. Working on the heavy bag at home I can control how much I am pushing the ankle. It would probably be good for me to start BJJ again ASAP, as that shouldn't bother the ankle much. Anyway, I just wanted to get my thoughts down. I feel like that toad meme: "I must start exercising again" I think to myself, as I sit slouched over in my chair playing video games instead of exercising.
