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2019 "Get In Shape" Workout Goals Thread

12K views 119 replies 19 participants last post by  Drew 
#1 ·
Time to get the ball rolling on the new season!

My goals:

1) Ride 5,000 miles, run 150 miles
2) Improve on my half marathon PR (2:28, should be easy)
3) Find a new "biggest climb" bigger than Greylock
4) Get my power/weight ratio over 4.0w/kg (currently about 3.55w/kg) by a combination of losing weight and building power.
5) prep for what will now have to be a 2020 Everesting attempt by either doing a half Everest this season, or doing a ride with an equivalent-or-greater elevation gain, of 14,514 feet.
6) Break 10 minutes on a Wachusett service road summit from the visitor's center to the top of the service road where it breaks off to the summit parking lot.
7) Climb more vertical feet than Chris, including his chairlift vertical feet, and get redemption for losing a bottle of scotch to him on betting on that this year.
8) Do a 200+ mile ride in a single day
9) Don't get hurt!

What about you guys?
 
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#2 ·
Semi relatedly, despite being sick as a dog I started my New Year with what was supposed to be an easy spin on a 55 degree day, but thanks to a ripping tailwind and favorable traffic lights, sprinted the length of Somerville Ave on the way back in and snagged 2 KOMs I'd been chasing for ages, which is an auspicious start to the new year! :woohoo:
 
#119 ·
I came fairly close to this. 334 hours. :yesway: I workout 6 days a week almost every week, and try to get out an hour a day so I'll take it.

I don't want to interrupt Drew's victory lap about beating me in vertical with his virtual rides, but I had a rough last three months of the year with deaths in a family so I couldn't get out as much. :(
 
#4 ·
7) Climb more vertical feet than Chris, including his chairlift vertical feet, and get redemption for losing a bottle of scotch to him on betting on that this year.
I'll give you double or nothing on that bottle of scotch this year, but instead of two bottles (when I inevitably win again) the single bottle is going to get a lot older. :lol:
 
#7 ·
I'm definitely buying you a bottle of Dalwhinnie for this season. I'll wager another bottle for next season if you want, and we can make THAT one a bit older. :lol:
 
#6 ·
I noticed in the 2018 thread that a lot of guys here do cycling/running and so that makes up the majority of the fitness on here, but since this is the 'workout goals' thread, I'll post about my shit too :lol:
I've been doing powerlifting/strength training since late October, partly as a vanity thing, partly to make up for starting out skinny and weak.
Last time I was measured (Early December), my weight was 82.7kg overall and my muscle mass was 69.7kg.
By June, I'm aiming to reach 75kg muscle mass.

By then, I guess these are the weights I want to be lifting:
-Squat + Deadlift: 100kg, maybe higher for DL (Currently 65kg)
-Bench press: 50kg as a starting point, may increase though. (Currently 35kg)
-Overhead press: 45kg (Currently 22.5kg)
-Barbell row: 45kg~ (Currently 27.5)

I usually step it up by 2.5kg each week, depending on how well I can handle the lift, but I realise it'll get harder the heavier I go, so I'm slightly lowballing to give myself a bit of space. If I can, I'll step it up, but if not, no biggie.
 
#20 ·
I do a bit of strength training in addition to running, tennis and cycling. Previously I also played football (the type you play with your feet) for about 20 years, so I guess you could say my training regime is quite diverse. :lol:

I guess my goals could be:

Running:
Finally beat a 45 minute 10k and 20 minute 5k - my current PR's are 45:18 and 20:08

Strength training:
Get my bench press to 3x5 with 85 kg or so - currently at 3x5 with 76 kg
Increasing the amount of chin ups I can do. Used to be able to do a lot more, but now I've been stuck at 3x10 for a long time.
Don't know about goals for squats and deadlifts - I'm currently at 3x5 with 102.5 kg for squats and 90-something for squats, but have been changing to longer sets lately.

Cycling:
Cycling to work all year and go on some longer rides from time to time.
Probably do something similar to the cycling trip in the archipelago that we did last summer.

Tennis:
Participate in some tennis tournament. I'll have to check what's available.
 
#8 ·
Cycling goals for 2019:

1) Ride a 19mph solo road metric (current best: 18.4mph)
2) Complete the Shenandoah Mountain 100 mountain bike race
3) Complete a 150 mile road ride (current best: 129.3 miles)
4) Complete a ride with over 20,000' of elevation gain (current best: 16,109')
5) Complete a 3000' climb without stopping (current best: 2501')
6) 400 hours of activity (current best: 369 hours)
7) 400,000' of elevation gain (current best: 380,056')
8) Ride the Mass Sky Loop at 18mph (current best: 16.7mph, but I was waiting on slower riders)
 
#9 ·
1. Bike for 1500 miles before the end of the year.
2. Do at least one >50 mile ride.
3. Ride the entire MTB trail near me - even the wood berm that scares me.
4. Lift on a regular basis. Gain muscle. I've noticed as I get older that it's easier to lose what I have than to gain it.
5. Start jogging. Nothing drastic, but just start.
6. Play tennis with my daughter more, so she gets better when she plays for her High School team.
 
#10 ·
2. Do at least one >50 mile ride.
Pace yourself, stay hydrated, and make sure to get enough nutrition (several of us can help you with in the saddle nutrition options if you'd like). If you ride five days a week, at least an hour a ride, then you can finish a metric (100km, or roughly 62mi).

3. Ride the entire MTB trail near me - even the wood berm that scares me.
Is it a skinny with turns in it, like this?



If so, the best advice I ever got is to NEVER touch your front brake, and use your rear brake as a rudder. If it's got the humps in it, like in the background of that picture, then pump it.
 
#14 ·
1. Lose all the weight I've gained over the past 2 weeks (and will gain today, tomorrow, and Friday) within the next month (or two if I've gained way more weight than I'm guessing)
2. Keep up what I've been doing: a minimum of 60km run (and/or jogged) each week. So I guess that's about 3,000km run for the whole year.
 
#16 ·
Continue my weightloss (I've shed 21lbs since May) and improve my fitness. My aim isn't so much for a target weight, but I want shot of the spare tyre and to be able to get back into my 32" trousers and medium t shirts. I'll be continuing the healthier eating that I've been doing, plus adding in some more exercise, but I'm guessing I'll probably need to lose another stone to a stone and a half, depending on how much muscle I put back on.
 
#17 ·
You know, one suggestion on goal setting for you guys, straight out of the business world with all its management theory mumbo-jumbo, but one that I actually think is pretty decent:

It helps to set measurable goals. "Get in better shape" isn't really measurable because there isn't a good way to quantify what that means. "Get from a 36 waist to a 32 waist" or "run a sub-8-minute-mile 5k" are measurable, though, since you can tell if you've accomplished them in black and white terms. The vaguer and harder to quantify a goal is, the less likely you are to actually achieve it.

Definitely worth thinking about. :yesway:
 
#24 ·
Kinda late to this one, but after just maintaining a good routine as much as possible last year (due to too many injuries in 2017). My aim is, for the first half of the year at least, to do a cut to get down to 10% Bodyfat in time for my wedding in April, probably about 15% at the moment so it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to do it... Though the diet has had a horrible effect on my times and ability to lift I guess this was always to be expected. :lol:

Other things I'm doing is cutting out alcohol completely and eating less meat (though this is more for environmental reasons than health). But really nothing too exciting for me this year again other than just chipping away and keeping a good routine whilst trying to not pick up any injuries along the way.
 
#27 ·
Update!
Since my last measurement (9th December), I've managed to gain 1.8kg in muscle mass, so now I'm at 71.5kg muscle mass and 85.5kg overall. 3.5kg off the target for June :flex:
Had to deload my squat, due to changing to low bar technique for safety, so now at 50kg. Deadlift is now 72.5.
Form's getting better:
 
#30 ·
Sooooo... I managed to slip in the mud and fracture my wrist on my run this morning. :lol: I've been told to avoid running for a while and definitely can't lift weights anymore until it's fixed.

Bike peeps, what kind of things should I be looking at if I wanted to get an exercise bike and still track shit on strava, I don't want to spend too much money (would prefer to buy something used) as I intend to get rid of it as soon as I can get back out running and do lifting again. Is there a way I can log my shit on strava with a cheapo exercise bike, am I gunna have to get some kind of watch with a HRM?
 
#32 ·
My HRM has an indoor cycling exercise, but I don't think it measures anything else than HR if you're using an exercise bike. With a real bike and a bike sensor it also measures cadence and distance, but then you of course need the trainer and so on like Dave said.
 
#31 ·
I don't know of any exercise bikes that are compatible with Zwift, which is probably the best route to go. I'd craigslist a cheap bike and Kirk Kinetic, grab an ANT+ stick, HRM strap, wheel sensor, and cadence sensor, and sign up for Zwift.
 
#33 ·
Cheers for the advice guys, fortunately I have a bike already though its not a road/race bike not sure if that's going to be an issue? But other than that I just need to look into the trainer and other gubbins, there don't seem to be many of the kurt kinetic models used for reasonable prices (near new prices for some reason) I might look at some cheap ones on amazon as an alternative, anything I should avoid?
 
#34 ·
If you want to go with Zwift, there's a long list of supported trainers here. They also list a few supported stationary bikes, but considering they're talking computer controllable bikes I doubt any would be cheap.

https://zwift.com/hardware?utm_sour...XVQ3YA5SufZ3HxSP0mo285A4glboRHcsaArEiEALw_wcB

As long as whatever bike you have has or can mount a slick tire (and, for simplicity, has a quick release rear) you can probably get it on a trainer.

That said, you should probably just go out and buy a fancy carbon fiber aero racing bike and be done with it anyway, drop this silly running thing, and bask in the glory of carbon and KOMs. :agreed:

(You could also use pretty much anything and then just track HR and log it as a "workout" to Strava, but you're not going to get good distance or Strava segments that way)
 
#35 ·
Yeah, the dedicated machines are way more than I want to spend. I'd be happy with a cheap trainer as a temporary thing until I can get back running, though I can see it being a gateway drug to getting a fancy road bike. :lol:

I was looking at these:

PedalPro Bicycle Turbo Trainer

Garmin Bike Speed and Cadence Sensor

TAOPE USB ANT+

Garmin Heart Rate Monitor

Like I said, going cheap and cheerful. :lol: But that should do me, right? Might have to look into a slick tyre though for the bike as mine have some grip on them.
 
#36 ·
Don’t buy a new trainer, since you see them for cheap on Craigslist all the time. I paid $140 for my Kirk Kenetic Road Machine.
 
#41 ·
Time to get the ball rolling on the new season!

My goals:

1) Ride 5,000 miles, run 150 miles
2) Improve on my half marathon PR (2:28, should be easy)
3) Find a new "biggest climb" bigger than Greylock
4) Get my power/weight ratio over 4.0w/kg (currently about 3.55w/kg) by a combination of losing weight and building power.
5) prep for what will now have to be a 2020 Everesting attempt by either doing a half Everest this season, or doing a ride with an equivalent-or-greater elevation gain, of 14,514 feet.
6) Break 10 minutes on a Wachusett service road summit from the visitor's center to the top of the service road where it breaks off to the summit parking lot.
7) Climb more vertical feet than Chris, including his chairlift vertical feet, and get redemption for losing a bottle of scotch to him on betting on that this year.
8) Do a 200+ mile ride in a single day
9) Don't get hurt!

What about you guys?
Early year update on this, I just got back from Tucson, AZ, where I banged out two bigger-than-Greylock climbs, Mt. Lemmon (longest segment I hit was a little over 6,500 feet of climbing), and then two days later Mt. Graham, shorter but steeper than Lemmon, with the longest segment being 5,600 feet. The latter is reputed to be one of the 20 hardest climbs in the US and harder than Mt. Lemmon - that may be true to the end of the 20-mile unbroken 5% section, but if you ride it all the way up to the observatory, that's definitely not that case, in my experience - Graham flattens out at the top, whgereas the steepest bits of Mt. Lemmon are on the road up to the observatory, and 12% is hell in the thin air at 8,000+ feet.

So, one box checked. I'm at 767 miles on the year, which is technically 200 behind pace for 5,000, but Strava uses a linear pace; I'm WELL ahead of where I've been on any single year before this one.
 
#42 ·
9) Don't get hurt!
Fucked this one up last night - Got hit by a driver turning left onto a side street across the lane of travel, technically I hit him when he pulled in front of me something like 20 feet in front od me, and a panic stop was only enough to bleed off a little bit of speed. Broke my right collarbone, which is going to lay me up at least 3-6 weeks. I'm bummed, I'm going to miss the Raid Rockingham and almost certainly the B2VT as well. :(
 
#46 ·
Yeah, I had enough time to grab the brakes and yell "oh, SHIT" before I hit the side of his car. I was going about 25mph at the time, but even at a slower speed, there's not much I would have been able to do there unless I was down at like 10-15mph, which on a bike like mine is barely coasting on a flat.
 
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