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2020 "Get In Shape" Workout Goals Thread

7K views 46 replies 12 participants last post by  Drew 
#1 ·
Go! :metal:

Simple one for me again: 350 hours of exercise. That's 6 days a week for an hour a day, plus a little extra to round it up and make it interesting. :yesway:
 
#5 ·
200 hrs in the gym.

Deadlift 400 lbs. (current PR is 355)
Squat 300 lbs. (current PR is 225)
Bench 200 lbs. (current PR is 125)
Poser alert.

Only weaklings who don't listen to Manowar draw a distinction between "areas that are the gym" and "areas that are not the gym".

True brothers of metal who recognize the power of steel know that the entire world is your gym.

I can't find the video of Manowar weight lifting backstage on a green room leather couch right now, but it's definitely out there.
 
#3 ·
I need to give this some more thought, but at a minimum I have three more KOMs on the roads up Winter Hill to pick off, and I want to improve my time on Greylock again - my bro's Strava PR wasn't a max effort attempt but I'm only about 1:10 off him now, so maybe breaking 53 minutes is a good target. I also want to take some time off my Lanesboro side PR, but I need to go back and try to estimate what a reasonable goal would be there since I haven't ridden it hard since I started on the North Adams side.
 
#6 ·
Realistically, I just want to keep my current gym schedule (3 times a week) and not have my diet get any worse than it currently is. Doing that, I should be able to clock over 600 miles run for the year. With my upcoming move, ideally, I can make it to the gym every other day, and get my shoulder press sets up (plateaued at 30lbs/arm for 30 reps), plus start alternating between upper body and core/other leg groups besides quads :lol:

Any weight/fat I lose, and any muscle I put on is better than where I was at the start of the year, and I'm not looking for perfect, just being better is the main goal.
 
#7 ·
First thing's first: Exercise sucks. Balls.

I decided last year that, on Black Friday, I would finally get an elliptical. I'm 50, and it's about fucking time I realized that I need some exercise.

I hate it. I really do. But, I've been getting on it almost everyday. Today was a personal best to 2.5 miles in 20 minutes with a varying degree of resistance.

Oh, my goal for 2020? Don't die on the elliptical. Outside of that, just keep pushing my limitations.
 
#9 ·
Definitely keep pushing on the eliptical, seeing as you own one, but for me the critical part was finding something I ENJOY that kept me fit. I tried to stay fit running for years and just couldn't do it, but as soon as I got into road biking, it became easy.
 
#8 ·
I've failed the goals I've posted every year I so far. :lol:

Still I could have the same goals as before:

Tennis:
Take part in some tournaments
Play regularly

Running:
Run at least once a week
5k under 20 minutes (PR 20:08)
10k under 45 minutes (PR 45:18)

Gym:
Get back into the routine of going to the gym at least twice a week. Have had a bit of a break from this since September, but luckily haven't completely lost it. Goals could be to bench 100 kg again, squat 3x5 with 120 or so and deadlift something a bit more than the squat. Back when I started doing proper leg-workouts, I could squat a lot more than deadlift, now I've reversed that at least which I think is good.

Cycling - cycle to work 95 % of the time, go on some cycling trip in the summer.
 
#10 ·
I guess I can put some goals together for this season.

*Break 52 minutes on the North Adams side of Greylock
*Break 52 minutes on the Lanesboro side of Greylock
*Either half-Everest, or break 15,000 feet in a single ride
*Take the remaining three KOMs I targeted in my neighborhood from last season, while holding on to the two I have
*Break 4.0w/kg
*do a 200-mile one day ride

No distance goals, I've left a 5000 mile and 100/week goal on Strava but I'm just going to ride and let the numbers come in where they may. I just want to get stronger and faster, both on short uphill sprints (my neighborhood KOMs) and long climbs.

These are subject to revision as the season goes on and I have a few goals that don't really fit in neatly here (a respectable finish at Rasputitsa, justifying my 18mph pace group in the B2VT, hammering the Raid Rockingham course and shaving as much time as I can off my PR on the Strava segment for that course, etc) or aren't really performance based (juggle some aggressive cycling goals wiith making sure my girlfriend feels like I'm spending enough time with her, getting her out for more rides and making them gradually longer and faster) but it's a start.
 
#39 ·
*Break 52 minutes on the North Adams side of Greylock
Drove out yesterday and took a crack at this, and I fell just short: 52:47. I felt pretty good about it, though - I knocked around 1:40 off last year's PR (and I'm now 8 minutes faster than when I first rode it in 2015) and during the climb, it felt hard not because it was a fucking struggle to keep moving forward, but because I was trying to hold a really hard pace. It felt like it was comfortably within my legs, which is a huge improvement over even last season. Also, not for nothing, 52:47 puts me about 25 seconds ahead of my brother's PR, and while I know he was capable of doing it faster than that and he doesn't have a max effort ascent from when he was in peak riding condition on Strava, I'll still take the W. :lol:
 
#12 ·
Go for it! I think you wouldn't necessarily need to run that much to be able to do it. I've ran about 200 km per year for the last few years, and have been able to run half-marathons (or right thereabouts) just fine without any extra preparation. You'll probably need a few 10k:s to get used to running, but probably not much more than that as you've clearly got the cardio from cycling.
 
#14 ·
I was doing pretty good a couple years ago, went from like 220lbs to 173lbs at my lowest. Was hiking regularly and lifting weights. Then my wife got sick, and work stress accumulated; so there was a lot of sedentary time, caretaker time, and drinking time. I've gained about 10lbs back and have started to decondition to a point that's starting to disgust me.

So, my wife and I together are focusing on getting our fitness back to what it was (which will help her illness). I need to hit a target weight of around 160lbs and I want to at least be routine with my weightlifting. I don't have a particular strength goal. I just want to be able to stick to the routine and see fairly steady increases in ability.
 
#18 ·
Bloody hell, that's an impressive setup there Chris. :eek:

I haven't really set any goals this year as I've been dealing with a bit of a bad back the past month or so, so I'm waiting to see the physio on Friday before I set myself anything too lofty. Hopefully once I get it sorted I can get back into my lifting and do a bit more running in the mornings. Ultimately I'd like to do a bit of Fell running this year, but that's difficult to train for living in the Fens, I'm also hoping to start cycling to work a bit more (because fuck the traffic round here) but I don't always work locally so it'd be difficult to do that consistently... I'd like to look at getting a nice road bike once they sort the cycle paths round me as well.

Basically: fix back, run more, maybe cycle? :lol:
 
#23 ·
A month later this is still true - need to get some new running shoes though, because the ones I have are getting way too old. I've done some longer runs than usual as well, ca 15k, which felt good-ish. Based on those I was thinking of trying a half-marathon at some point with a time goal of 1h 45 min. Still have the goal to run a sub 45 min 10k as well.

I'm still cycling to work from time to time - actually got the 2nd quickest time on a gravel segment on Strava on a commute, even though I didn't think I was going that fast. :lol: Also now put summer tyres on my SS (Kona Unit) - and did my commute on that this morning. It's just a really fun bike, the top speed isn't that high (maybe 23 km/h on even ground), but it just accelerates like crazy. In a way it feels faster than my CX because you can go full speed on it all the time. On my more gravel and trail-heavy commute the difference is actually surprisingly small, although the CX is obviously a lot faster on roads.
 
#21 ·
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/oh-no-i-spelled-it-wrong-nurse-runs-solo-marathon-in-shape-of-boston-strog-1.5541268 :lol:

This isolation period has been great for me in terms of exercise, its a shame I'm still horribly broken. :lol: I've been getting back into weights even though my back is still a little fucked, I've been mainly doing bar weight maxing out at about 40kg for shit like deadlift, just working on form and strengthening my core and back so it's not so goddamn painful. I'm slowly working my way back, but I doubt I'll be lifting over 100kg any time soon. :(

I've been running every weekday as well, but unfortunately as the days have been getting lighter there are people out and about, even on my usual trail... at half bloody five in the morning... There was a dog walker at the beginning of the week who didn't get out of the way enough so I had to run into a ploughed field and buggered my ankle. Still running, well hobbling, but it's so nice to be able to dedicate this amount of time to exercise. Helps detract from all the dread. :lol:
 
#22 ·
COVID knocked me back a bit and work is BRUTAL these days, but when it does ease up I should be able to get a good amount of riding in. The bike paths and public places are swarmed but the roads have way less traffic than usual, so it's a great time for KOM hunting, though of course you need to be extra careful since the last thing you want to do is end up at a hospital these days. :lol:
 
#25 ·
Saw that on Strava - you were still moving, man! Great effort.

KOM hunting is great training, though - I've become MUCH stronger since I first started going after them.
 
#26 ·
Covid has led to an interesting schedule for me. Been averaging 2 hrs of biking 6 days a week. Also been doing a ton of trailwork as my local trails got absolutely massacred by heavy spring rains and and a ton of corona traffic. Definitely creeping towards a decent overall level of fitness. If I keep up the biking and get a bit of a diet on I should be at a personal peak. On the other hand my local trails don't offer a lot of descending time, so it will be interesting to see how I hold up when venturing to my preferred hunting grounds. I think as long as I drop the weight I should be pretty ok. Definitely too fat and it's what's holding me back the most.
 
#27 ·
Coming up on mid-year, so time for a checkin.

Covid sort of torpedoed all of my event-based goals - the organizers are still trying to make VOMAR/Overland happen, but it doesn't look good and everything else is cancelled.

Of the 5 KOMS up Winter Hill in my neighborhood, I've got three of them outright, one tied with the prior KOM (who I think might have been on an e-bike or holding onto a car, the data looks shady (and has no cadence/HR), and the guy has a couple really fast efforts all in the same week but usually is much slower), and the fourth is held by someone Im pretty sure is a domestic pro who used to ride for MIT so I don't know how realistic it'll be to take, but I'm gonna do my best. One of them I lost, to a guy I follow on Strava, and had to take back - he took mine by a second, I took his by two, which on a quarter mile climb is enough of a margin that I think he's given up, and I hope he has because I don't know how much I could improve my time by and I REALLY don't want to have to try. :lol:

Collected a bunch of neighborhood KOMS during the shutdown too, taking advantage of less traffic than normal and working from home for lunchtime rides to do a bit of KOM hunting on unusually quiet streets. Eight of them, though at least two or three of those are ties so they don't show up on my list of KOMs.

I haven't done a FTP test in a while and I need to, but my weight is dropping - down about 10lbs from my highs at the start of the year - so that's at least progress on part of the equation to breaking 4w/kg this year.

I hit my goal on the easier Lanesboro side of Greylock earlier in the year even with bonking pretty hard in the last two miles - I've only done the North Adams side once and it was part of a much longer day of climbing so I was taking it pretty easy, but I still came within 2 1/2 minutes of my time the first time going up that climb back in late 2015, going as hard as I was able then. When I do make it back for a full gas effort I should be able to at a minimum improve my PR.

I never gave myself a formal distance goal for this season, but I also never reset my 5,000 mile goal from last year on Strava, and I'm currently about 150 miles behind pace there, which given the pandemic is pretty good, I think - I'm comfortably ahead of where I was last year when I ended up falling just short of 5,000.
 
#28 ·
Uugh, I’m probably out of action for the next few months. Most likely ruptured my achilles tendon today playing tennis. It felt really weird - I started running for a ball, then it felt like somebody hit me in the legs or threw something heavy at my heels and down I went. Now waiting to see the doctor for it.

Edit: yeah, got it confirmed. Achilles rupture, need to wear a cast for 2 weeks, then some other contraption for an unspecified amount of time. Then I can start walking and perhaps doing some water running. Anything explosive is a no-no for probably a year. Fuck.
 
#31 ·
Uugh, I'm probably out of action for the next few months. Most likely ruptured my achilles tendon today playing tennis. It felt really weird - I started running for a ball, then it felt like somebody hit me in the legs or threw something heavy at my heels and down I went. Now waiting to see the doctor for it.

Edit: yeah, got it confirmed. Achilles rupture, need to wear a cast for 2 weeks, then some other contraption for an unspecified amount of time. Then I can start walking and perhaps doing some water running. Anything explosive is a no-no for probably a year. Fuck.
Ah man, that fucking sucks. :(

I broke my wrist 6 weeks ago and still can't really use my right hand for much of anything, so I sort of feel your pain. I ended up with surgery (plate + 8 screws). I'm only just now able to ride my gravel but, but will not be doing any real MTB at least for a couple more months if I'm lucky.

2020 can fuck right off. I had a hairline fracture in my ankle in the spring, then a broken wrist in the summer. I can't wait to see what wonders fall has in store for me. :lol:

Heal up quick man.
 
#29 ·
Just started working out quite a bit myself. At 32, my metabolism has Finally chilled out a little. It was a good thing at first, but i've gained a bit more than I wanted! :lol: Looking to add to my current daily workout routine to tone and lose maybe 10 pounds.

I'm not doing anything too crazy right now, i'm skateboarding 2 or 3 days a week and my daily routine is:
200 reverse crunches (2 reps)
100 crunches (side to side)
100 crunches (regular)
50 pushups
30 second plank (3 reps)

Anything I should add to improve? I'm seeing progress, but more progress would be better of course. haha
 
#30 ·
Anything I should add to improve? I'm seeing progress, but more progress would be better of course. haha
Depends a bit on what you want to achieve. For burning calories, running is pretty good, or cycling or similar. Cardio is good.

For the muscle workouts, some leg workouts could be good. If you don't want to do weight training there are some one legged exercises (e.g. one legged deadlifts and squats) and jumps that will give a good workout. For the upper body, I'd at least add pull ups - they're heavy, but training the upper back is great for your posture. If they're too heavy at first you can use rubber bands to help a bit. I'd also add some lower back move (deadlifts will help with this as well).
 
#35 ·
I went for my first check-up today. According to the doctor it's started healing well and everything's going according to plan, which is nice.

I also got a new boot that looks like it could be from a sci-fi movie.



What sucks is how quickly muscle atrophy occurs when you aren't using a muscle. When the cast was removed I was shocked to see how much thinner my calf muscle was than before. :ugh:
 
#40 ·
Well I knocked my goals for the year (pretty easy ones tbh) except doing the races but that’s mostly on the account of covid. The past couple years I’ve been bad about dropping off hard in winter so my last goal for 2020 is to get down to 170. If I don’t miss too many days and relax on drinking till after holidays I should be able to lose all of or close to the last 8 lbs. I peaked at 205 during the initial quarantine. Really my goal is to head into the worst weather months in Jan/feb motivated and a weight goal is extremely measurable. If I can go into April weighing 30 lbs less that’s only going to make spring riding that much better.
 
#41 ·
Well I knocked my goals for the year (pretty easy ones tbh) except doing the races but that's mostly on the account of covid. The past couple years I've been bad about dropping off hard in winter so my last goal for 2020 is to get down to 170. If I don't miss too many days and relax on drinking till after holidays I should be able to lose all of or close to the last 8 lbs. I peaked at 205 during the initial quarantine. Really my goal is to head into the worst weather months in Jan/feb motivated and a weight goal is extremely measurable. If I can go into April weighing 30 lbs less that's only going to make spring riding that much better.
Good job. :yesway:

I basically didn't reach any of my goals. Actually I reached one: I participated in a tennis tournament (or racketlon actually), which then ended with an achilles rupture in the first match.

So from August onward my goals have been:

1. Be able to walk normally - check (pretty much). Got rid of the sci-fi boot in mid October, and have been doing some strength building exercises for my calf
2. Be able to cycle to work - happening soon
3. Be able to jog before the end of the year

I bought some dumbbells right after the injury so that I could at least do some exercise, and have been able to build some upper body strength - I'll probably look like I skipped leg day soon :lol: . I've also been swimming and doing some aquajogging (the latter is really the most boring training I've ever done). Now that I've had to work on my swimming, perhaps I should participate in a triathlon next year! :D
 
#43 ·
Many of us have been there; I know Drew and I both have. Recovery seasons suck, but way to keep gutting it out!
 
#44 ·
Thanks guys. There's been some tough moments, but progress has been steady without setbacks, so I've mostly been able to keep a positive attitude.

My other hobbies (guitar, gaming, cooking and so on) have definitely been lifesavers. I'd have gone crazy in the first few weeks if I didn't have something to keep me active.
 
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