Finding My Momentum Again...

S.H. Artistry

S.H. Artistry

Member
Ranger from California
Pronouns: they/she
Posts: 9
So. I kind of of disappeared from the DAREBEE Community for like, over a year now.

In between a family death (2021) and associated issues and living situation changes... I fell off the wagon, pretty badly. I had basically a five year streak going, too, man. :cantcope:

Most of my physical activity is sporadically walking to and from places. Mundane, but demanding, tasks like pulling a dolly full of groceries up/down stairs. That sort of thing.

Last couple weeks, I've been trying to get back into utilizing old tools in my box to take care of myself again. Like activity logs. Which is going to be instrumental in me getting the boulder rolling again. I've occasionally been doing DDs and noticing how de-conditioned I've gotten. But I know I can get it back, with diligence and a bit of luck.

One consideration/concern I'm going to have going forward is limiting high impact work, living in a second-floor apartment. Which makes me a little sad since I love stuff like jumping jacks, bouncing, and kicks so very much. I'm going to feel out that, going forward, depending on the goodwill of my downstairs neighbor. Admittedly, this situation is not exactly greasing the works, but I'll try to work through that.

I may start a new program, or revisit an old one, soon. Will note that when I do.

BUT, for starters, I think I'm going to participate in the Ornaments Event this year... the hard part is deciding on which one I'm going to pick. (Leaning toward doing those kicks. :happy: )
 
S.H. Artistry

S.H. Artistry

Member
Ranger from California
Pronouns: they/she
Posts: 9
Mamatigerj said:
:hi: Welcome back! :hug:
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It's heartening to see a lot of "familiar faces" in the Check-ins section, hello again!

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Anyhow. Today, I got 500/1000 kicks done for that Ornaments Event.

Summary of what I did:
  • 50 balance front kicks, 25/25. Meaning I didn't drop the foot down until I got in a full 25 reps, before swapping sides.
  • 50 side kicks, 25/25. I kinda pulled some obliques in my last therapy appt, so these are a great bit to work them out some.
  • 50 back kicks, 25/25. Tried to do the balancing variation - lost it in the last 5 or so on my weaker side (balancing on left foot has always been easier for me.)
  • 50 turning kick, 25/25. VERY satisfying movement. Need to be careful about not putting too much torque on planted leg's knee.
  • 50 double side kicks, low+mid (25/25; +100 total). Think my nervous system needs to recondition a bit too - fatigue made me lose a lil bit of coordination in the last couple of those.
  • 50 hook kicks, 25/25. Similar fun to turning kicks, not one I do as much either. So the sensation of how my body weight swings about in this one is quite fun.
  • 50 push kicks, 25/25. Mighta technically been a blend of front kicks and pushes - since I haven't practiced this one very much. It's less of a lower leg swing action and more of, well, a push forward.
  • 25x2 crunch kicks. for some ab work.
  • 50 donkey kicks. for some back work.
I had thought about pushing for more, but I'm just getting my bearings again, here. Will probably knock out the next 500 tomorrow! Probably going to be delightfully hella sore from all this, regardless.
 
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S.H. Artistry

S.H. Artistry

Member
Ranger from California
Pronouns: they/she
Posts: 9
@Fremen @Sarasta @aku-chan @Anek :heyhi:

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Did today's DD (after my kicks). It was a 1' plank hold, done in one pop. Just kept the focus on my breathing and sorta meditated with that to get through it. Def felt the trembling kick in in the last ~10". But more importantly...

Ornaments Event = COMPLETE!

Summary of the last 500 kicks:
  • 50 lunge kicks (10/10/5/5/10/10). Was noticing a bit of difficulty standing up from a kneel/lunging position w/o some assistance. So this is some very real functional fitness. Even tho lunges never were a top fave for me and this one bushed me (sore muscles not helping matters), Pffft.
  • 50 side-to-side side kicks (so, alternating). Was REAL satisfying to do that to the beat of some intense industrial music.
  • 50 balance back kicks (25/25). Having some music to entrain things helped me maintain my balance despite the soreness/fatigue.
  • 50 side-to-side turning kicks - needed to remind myself these weren't simple SIDE kicks. But I eventually got a rhythm going there.
  • 50x2 reverse side kicks. Never did these before, it was fun and kinda messy goes at it. Whenever I felt like I nailed it, it was AWESOME.
  • 50 side kicks, HIIT style (bounce-switching sides for each kick). GAWD, this made me nostalgic about the Combat HIIT Program and just how fucking fun it was to run. Did try to land as softly as I could, but not gonna try my luck with [the neighbor with] more of that level of impact for the day.
  • 25x2 crunch kicks.
  • 50 donkey kicks (25/25).
  • 50 front kicks (alternating).
Time to report it in! :yas:
 
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S.H. Artistry

S.H. Artistry

Member
Ranger from California
Pronouns: they/she
Posts: 9
Belated thank you to @Mamatigerj , @PetiteSheWolf , @Matan , @Fremen , and @Anek ! :cantwait:

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I have an auspicious little update!

On January 6, I started up the Square One Program. And I completed it on February 8. I managed Level 3 and doing each day in supersets (no rest) the entire way. I know I won't be able to pull that off as I work myself into tougher programs again. But this was a good jump start for my reconditioning process. Shoulder got less stiff as I went along, notably! I also nixed chair assist the majority of the time (the front leg raises/swings were the only exceptions). Balance work will always be a personal favorite! :happy:

I just started up my next thing, today...

Day 1 of the Baseline Program was done at Level 3. Clumped 2 sets at a time with 30 seconds rest in between those clusters. Lotsa arm work. It was fun doing that stuff, pulling back the shoulder ROM a bit more fully (not over-extending) here.
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There is some lingering fear/dread over when I get to heavier impact work again - mostly for noise reasons. Kind of sucks there, given just how much I love jacks and kicks. (I want to do Combat HIIT again, sooo bad.)
... But I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. :bored:
 
S.H. Artistry

S.H. Artistry

Member
Ranger from California
Pronouns: they/she
Posts: 9
Another round of belated thinks for @Mamatigerj , @Fremen , @Deadoks , and @Anek ! :thanks:

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Another chapter ends (March 14)...

Day 30 of the Baseline Program was done at Level 3, in one superset. Was listening to VGM jazz fusion music during this, altogether a fun way to cap off this program.

Another one in the bag! \o/

Already got my next stuff set up for Saturday, Vitality paired with Arms of Steel - Chair Edition (tho I’ll probably do it all standing up, just so I’m not sitting all day).
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I did this at Level 3 the entire way. Most days (23) in one superset. Other days I rested at most for 30" in between sets (2) or between clustered sets (5). Just for some data, there! :happy:

And another chapter started (March 16)...

Day 1 of the Vitality Program was done at Level 3. Thought abt clustering a couple sets at a time, but I needed to give myself that 1’ rest in between for sake of sustainability. Tried to do as much of the leg raises balanced as I could- entirely successful on my strong side (balancing on left foot) and only managed like 1-2 sets where i didn’t have to touch down on my weak side (balancing on right foot).

Rested for about 2’ minutes before…

Day 1 of the Arms of Steel: Chair Edition Program was done at Level 3, in one superset. Oh, this was a lot of fun to try to make the transitions as smooth as possible. Arm recovered enough juice after the DD to get this banged out very doably. =w=

Starting another chapter in this fitness journey is always fun~
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Feeling like this docket is going to tip more toward not supersetting the the main course (Vitality). We'll feel things out over here~

(I know I'm going to soon have to take full advantage of prescribed rest periods.)
 
S.H. Artistry

S.H. Artistry

Member
Ranger from California
Pronouns: they/she
Posts: 9
Thanks, @Anek , @MadamMeow , @PetiteSheWolf , and @Mamatigerj ! :thanks:

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Finished those two programs in April 18.

Day 30 of the Vitality Program was done at Level 3, in one superset. Closing this one out with a flexibility day. Very chill and fun preamble for what was next...

Knowing was was ahead, put on DWIT again.

Day 30 of the Arms of Steel: Chair Edition Program was flat leveled. All holds. 16 minutes of them in total with only 30" rest in between sets/exercises (split into 2' chunks). The second round of each exercise was when I REALLY felt muscle failure approaching.
  • Felt a fun tension in my pecs' origins (sternum-side) being stretched for the overhead reaching.
  • I was amused that I was doing the forward reaches when "Forbidden Fruit" came up (thanks to the little "asphyxiation to zombies" visual).
  • The reaching to sides / T-posing got to a point I had to pace/fidget a lil bit to distract from the burn. Had to dig in to squeeze that last minute or so out of myself.
  • Woof. The chest squeezes had even more pacing about to Deal. Nice relief for the delts/traps - bis/pecs were feeling it. There was a bit of nerve compression making some portions of hand a lil numb, pffft.
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I did every day at Level 3 for both programs, where applicable.

For Vitality - 20 days were in one superset, 7 days with 30" rests, and 3 days with 1' rests.

For Arms of Steel (outside of the days that specified 30" rests) - 9 days were in one superset, and 1 day with 30" rests. (It was funny whenever it stacked on Vitality's Arm Days, pffft.) :happy:

And I just started on my new docket today:

Day 1 of 30 Days of LIIT Program was done at Level 3. It was a fun revisit to interval training for me - trying to do those reps as quickly as possible. Definitely got the ticker going~

Day 1 of the ZEN Program, this program doesn't have levels - it's just yoga and meditation stuff. So this was pretty chill, need to lock in my flow a lil better - but that's just being a little bit out of practice. Looking forward to both aspects of this program (I know meditation is good.)
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S.H. Artistry

S.H. Artistry

Member
Ranger from California
Pronouns: they/she
Posts: 9
Thank you kindly, all~

@Mamatigerj , @MadamMeow , @Fremen , @Julian4077 , and @Anek ! :thanks:

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Time for another update, yeah.

Finished those programs a day later than intended, but I finished 'em yesterday.

Day 30 of LIIT was done at Level 1. Again, wasn't up for pushing it too much and flirting with heartburn here. Got me a bit bushed regardless~ (Still think the knee-to-elbows are highlights, today's no different.)

Day 30 of ZEN was 20' meditation. Tweaked seating position a lil bit, leg recovery time after falling asleep felt a bit quicker for it. I admit, I was a bit groggy/drowsy going into the sesh and felt like I may've nearly nodded off at least a couple times. Pffft. Tried to focus on breathing and physical stillness.

Another fitness chapter in the bag~
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Was all over the place in where my Leveling distro for LIIT, but here's that breakdown~
  • Level 1 - 8 days
  • Level 2 - 17 days
  • Level 3 - 5 days (Many were Arm Days. Very much killed my calves in Week 1, pffft.)
I really really loved going through ZEN, too (think more yoga and meditation's gonna be in my near-future again~).

Anyways - started my next chapter of things a bit ago, today.

Popped on YT Music's Cardio Hip Hop Playlist and went down.

Day 1 of the Reboot Program was done at Level 1. Took full advantage of the 2 minutes' rest in between sets.
  • The first set was my warm-up - made the high knees march steps and stepped into and out of plank - manageable. I think modding for low impact versions for this one's a good way to get into it~
  • Second set I still stepping in/out, but did high knees, was pretty good going. (I think using this as an anchor pt for my baseline of loading going forward would work p good.)
  • Last set I hopped in and out of planks for a "hidden" basic burpee - managed it kinda barely. Kicked my ass here. (Just a bit too hard for where I'm at, duly noted.)
Took me more than a couple minutes to catch my breath, legs to release tension and some nausea to simmer down enough for...

Day 1 of the Unbound Program was heavily modded for more passive stretches (ie. letting rear knee rest on floor for all the applicable lunge variants). Because my legs' energy stores just weren't there for further strain - was getting kinda noodle-y.

Might take a longer rest between these two parts of my WO regimen - esp for the more intense leg stuff. (And ideally fix my sleep habits - I know that didn't help performance too.)

I can tell this arrangement's gonna test me a good bit.
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Bringing me back somewhat to how I think I felt with my first program (ah yes, twas Cardio Blast. Good Times. :blackout: )
 
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