Summer Goals

[Nomad]

Well, spring and summer are around the corner, what are things you'd like to accomplish over the summer? It can be weightloss/gain/fitness related.


Mine:
- Run a sub-five minute mile (5:36 last summer's best)
- Bike to Toledo and back
- Deadlift 405 pounds (four plates aside)
- Squat 300 pounds
- Clean and jerk 225 pounds


The first three will probably happen, the last two are going to be harder.

[Thrax]

Drop below 10% body fat.

[FelixDeSouze]

lose some weight, going abseiling, possibly do a bungee jump (always wanted to!)

Not quite sure what else, i'm currently getting my finances back on track so that is good :)

[mmonnin]

Thats a nice trip down to Toledo. I remember driving it with Rob and Matt for fireworks haha.

[Thrax]

;D that was nuts.

[Mikail Critchki]

Need to get up some more muscles and stamina, soon army service is coming my way.

[rapture]

Make some money, buy a new bike and get drunk in my garden at 7am after a nightshift.

It's great waving people off to work with a beer in your hand, the looks you get can be priceless.

oh fitness, serves me right for not seeing where those front page links go to. guess I will work on a tan while drinking

[Clutch]

BULK!!!!!

[csimon]

BULK!!!!!
FIBER!!!!!

[RWB]

I'll be 250lbs by summer, of that I have no doubts as I've come a long ways. I weight the same as I did before I began working out regularly a couple months ago which had me down but my pants don't fit anymore, I've had to cut more holes in my belt, my favorite button up shirt has become too big for me(it was already big on me beforehand after loosing the original 50lbs). So I measured myself but I don't have the originals with me and I keep forgetting to ask the trainer at the gym that I, the family and several neighbors joined with an 8 week challenge that is almost up to see what I started as.

Seems like last week when Prime started that original challenge when I was still 350lbs and way out of shape. Every day I think of when I'll take the after pictures and glance back at my before pictures and just be awestruck ;)

[Thelemech]

....Lose 10 pounds of fat / put on 20 pounds of muscle....

[MarcusJordan]

Man forget working out. The beach and some beer. Thats my plan!!

Marcus

[MiracleManS]

For the clean and jerk my suggestion is to use what we called "The hook grip" (I seriously dislike straps as something as dynamic as clean and jerk leaves little error when it comes to aborting a bad lift). If you have sensitive hands/fingers this is a terrible idea, as it will hurt to start. Most of our track team (at least the serious ones) used it and from the start began lifting 10-15lbs more.

For visual reference: Hook Grip (http://stronglifts.com/wp-content/uploads/hook-grip.jpg)

[Leonardo]

Just generally be outdoors:

-- hiking
-- and of course, fishing: king salmon, red salmon, silver salmon, halibut, and maybe rainbows in the fall
-- work around the house - bit of painting, clearing dead wood out of the woods (fire hazard reduction), remove trees that are ready to fall in the next big wind storm...and so forth

This is all exercise that results in weight loss and better general fitness without the drudgery of exercise sets. (I ran for nearly 30 years and did calisthenics for over 20 years. Almost never enjoyed it.) Hiking is one exercise I thoroughly enjoy. I also don't mind working in the woods. It's very gratifying to remove old timber, then to watch the young saplings shoot up in the newly open space. Not your typical exercise, but it's pretty physically demanding. The fishing can be pretty good exercise as well. Standing on slippery rocks in 34F water ain't easy.

[MiracleManS]

Since I was a tool and posted absolutely no summer goals, I'm going to list what I consider to be some realistic goals for myself this summer (in order of accomplishing/importance):

-Get on a consistent and regular workout/running routine like I was in college
-Return to track form circa last December (includes)
-Squat: 465
-Bench: 235
-Power Clean: 265
-Dead lift: 525 [this is lowest on the ladder right now, as it won't be used much at all for my training]
-Vertical: 38"
-Weight: 158lbs

-Sub 11 second 100m dash
-Sub 22 second 200m dash
-Sub 6.5 second 55m dash
-Sub 50 second 400m dash


The 400m one is going to require some switch out from training I'd normally do during college and will likely not come into play until AFTER I accomplish the first 3. Since the 55m is an indoor only event, it's unlikely I'll be able to bring that one up until late fall/early winter, but its still a goal I have. The 100m and 200m marks are extremely important to me, given that they'll be getting my priority attention.

[Nomad]

How tall are you, roughly?

[MiracleManS]

5'10 3/4", if you listen to what the trainers told me.

[Nomad]

For the clean and jerk my suggestion is to use what we called "The hook grip" (I seriously dislike straps as something as dynamic as clean and jerk leaves little error when it comes to aborting a bad lift). If you have sensitive hands/fingers this is a terrible idea, as it will hurt to start. Most of our track team (at least the serious ones) used it and from the start began lifting 10-15lbs more.

For visual reference: Hook Grip (http://stronglifts.com/wp-content/uploads/hook-grip.jpg)

Yeah, I don't use straps/chalk/belts.

[mmonnin]

Those are some nice times. More speed than I ever had. Never ran the 100/200m in HS but could probably have done a 11.4/11.5 I'd guess on a good day. Best in the 400 was a 52.9s my Jr yr.

[MiracleManS]

Yeah, I'm still angry with myself for not doing a much better job in the 100m in college, but injuries year after year really put a cap on my time. 11.08 is acceptable, but isn't good enough for me...

[mmonnin]

Thats probably good enough for Regionals if not state in Ohio and there are some fast kids in Oh at the D-1 level, at least in HS.

[pragtastic]

Personally, I'm simply looking to get somewhat back into my high school level of fitness, but not necessarily quite the same level (ran track/soccer for 4 years).

Ultimately, work on building up a little stamina (my hardest trait personally), drop a little fat (took me 4 years of college to put it on!) and finally add a little muscle to my scrawny ass frame. Yup... that about does it.

[UPSLynx]

I keep a strict workout plan, but I'm not keen on semantics. I don't track my weight and body fat, and don't set such goals, but I'm making great progress and plan on continuing so.

This summer I generally want to continue to build up my upper body. I've NEVER had much for upper body strength, especially in my triceps. So my end goal is to keep working my upper body until I can do a few consecutive pullups (I've never been able to do a single one, and I'm close to being able to do so).

Overall, I want to keep up with my 3 days cardio, 3 days strength workout through the summer. With cardio, I'm hoping to make 4 mile + runs an easy and regular feat.

[primesuspect]

My summer goal is to be less slovenly and somewhat more lightweight by the LAN.

[CB]

My summer goal is to be less slovenly and somewhat more lightweight by the LAN.

Me too! I saw the pictures from ICSP, and I was like "Is that really what I look like?! I thought I was doing so well" but I guess I'm not doing as well as I thought.

I felt kind-of vain that my first thought was: "I need to make sure I look better in time for the LAN pictures"... :P

[MiracleManS]

So, I managed to actually start some sort of cardio/calisthenics/manual movement routine 3 days a week with my girlfriend. It's not the high intensity I'd like to get into, but its certainly a start.

The most surprising part for me is just how far my legs have deteriorated in strength, flexibility, and endurance. I can remember repping out 300lbs in squat 15 times and now I have a hard time doing more than 20-30 manual lunges.

Add to that the abysmal shape my abs seem to be in, I can only do 150-200 reps of the sit-up routine/pattern we did during track. God, we used to do 500 reps a DAY of that routine leading up to a bruising 2500 a week. When did I get so soft?

That said, I'm definitely going to look into a decent gym membership. Though I'm sure I'll end up living there if I'm not too careful. I can get addicted to the adrenaline rush of working out pretty fast.

[Nomad]

My back got screwed up from running in bad shoes right after spring break, it's taken me about three weeks of no-running/no deadlifts and lighter squats. Needless to say all have been backtracked a bit.

[MiracleManS]

I know what you mean about bad shoes. I managed to run in crappy wal-mart shoes and it totally ruined my form, my shins, and my hamstrings (yep, believe it). I managed to develop a forward lean to my form, which added extra tension to my power phase of my sprint (right after the start)...ended poorly.

At least you're sticking with it, most people give up after a little setback. Just make sure to take care of yourself.

[Nomad]

I know what you mean about bad shoes. I managed to run in crappy wal-mart shoes and it totally ruined my form, my shins, and my hamstrings (yep, believe it). I managed to develop a forward lean to my form, which added extra tension to my power phase of my sprint (right after the start)...ended poorly.

At least you're sticking with it, most people give up after a little setback. Just make sure to take care of yourself.

Yeah, I'm thinking of investing in a better quality pair of shoes such as Asics in the near future. Not worth throwing my hip and spine out of alignment every two weeks.

[MiracleManS]

Very, very true. Asics can be great and can be awful, in my experience. If you have any arch problems, I wouldn't suggest them without some sort of insert.

[LawnMM]

I like Brooks, used to get shin splints running, never had an issue since I've been wearing Brooks

[UPSWeezer]

My stamina has dropped since I had two surgeries on the bone tumor in my femur. I plan on getting that up to run a 5k in the summer with my step-dad. I need some upper body strength as well.

I also plan on making my high school soccer team. Couldn't last year because of my leg.

[Lincoln]

My stamina has dropped since I had two surgeries on the bone tumor in my femur.Oy. :zombie: Glad you're doing better and working to regain that stamina.

[Lincoln]

I know what you mean about bad shoes.
He isn't lying. They were horrific.

[UPSWeezer]

Yeah man shin splints SUCKS. I need some new running shoes

[airbornflght]

Basically lots of push ups, crunches and running.
I don't want to get 'big' and don't really care about being strong because I don't need to whip anybody's ass. I'm mainly doing it for the self image thing. Just wanna get rid of my stomach and get some tone to my arms.

My entire body is skinny and tight when I flex except for my stomach area and but. it kinda sucks being so close, but having that. With any luck I'll be back down to a 30 inch waist by the end of summer. Just in time to attract to beautiful girls

[Nightwolf]

35 pull ups!

[Nomad]

35 pull ups!

Damn dude, I tap out on pull-ups around 16 consecutive.

[Harudath]

I used to be really sporty 2-3 years ago, then I broke my ankle in a wood while doing some scout activities about 3/4 of a mile away from the scout hut ¬_¬ That wasnt fun. I had to hop about half a mile then get dragged/crawl the remaining 1/4 mile from exhaustion... They thought it wasn't serious then popped by the next day to find me on crutches for 6 weeks :P After my ankle got better I never got back into sports, mainly because my stamina was so low I couldn't even keep up with friends when we went cycling... Now I am what I am today :P I'm going to be paying more attention to the fitness forums from now on, I finally want to change :D

[sharkydart]

I need a good pair of running shoes and a good pair of (non-gaudy) basketball shoes. Anyone know of some shoes to get?

[UPSWeezer]

Same as sharkydart

[MiracleManS]

I know someone else will say that, but with running shoes it really comes down to your individual needs. People with bad arches are going to need to look specifically at arch support. Got shin problems? Gonna wanna be careful about what kind of sole you're using. Ankles? Something 3/4 might actually do you better than a pair of straight runners.

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/lp2/shoe-guide.html is a decent guide to get you started.

[Nomad]

An update on my progress:

I've dropped the running goal, decided it didn't really fit in with anything else I was doing. Otherwise:

Clean & Jerk: 175, was 160.
Squat: 275, was 245 (real clean as well, I think I'll hit 300 before June is over actually)
Bench: 200, was 175
Deadlift: 365

365 was my previous max I pulled before spring break, but I screwed up my back running on the wrong shoes and it's taken me awhile to get back to it. I've pulled 365 for three weeks in a row now so there's more there.