TropicalGreens
New member
Posts: 4
Hello Everyone
I started DAREBEE 4 months ago and it has had a great positive impact on my life. I just wanted to write this post to talk about myself, my journey, and my goals, and also to introduce myself to the DAREBEE community.
My physical details:
Pre-DAREBEE
I had a difficult relationship with fitness before I ran into DAREBEE. I did not like going to the gym, I did not really like any sport and I no longer enjoyed running as much as I used to (my shins hurt a lot when they run, I think it is shin splits). The way I saw it, fitness required some sort of big commitment or sacrifice to do, like having to spend lots of money or wake up early in the morning, and because of that, it was too easy to make excuses and put things off. Although I was still somewhat fit and active from ordinary daily activities, it was clear that I did not exert and challenge my body as much as I should be doing at my age, especially since I'm at the prime of my life. This was even worse over the summer since I did not really go anywhere or do anything, so I spent most of it lying down, and this started to even hurt my back. Furthermore, I was very self-conscious about my body because I was out of shape and had a high body-fat percentage (I would guess-timate around 25%). At this point, I was pretty close to giving up on fitness altogether and just accept that this would be how I would age. Nothing really stuck, and anything I tried felt like a chore that I did not really enjoy. One evening in early August, however, I decided to search up if there were any home workout regimens I could follow to at least keep me moving, and that was when I found a comment on a Reddit post singing the praises of DAREBEE. Out of curiosity, I decided to look into the following morning and give it a try.
Momentum Program
My first few days with DAREBEE were awkward to say the least. I started with the Momentum program because it is a great, simple, all-rounder program for beginners. Personally, I like following programs more than individual workouts because I tend to get decision paralysis when looking at all the workouts. It is easier for me just to stick with and follow through with a program, with the guarantee that I will be fitter and stronger by the end of the program. Day 1 of Momentum Program was a breeze and was not too demanding, so I did 7 sets to get the full benefit of the workout. Day 2, however, was not so merciful. XD My legs were not in any way prepared for the squats, but due to my stubbornness, I insisted on doing all 7 sets. This left my legs extremely jelly-like and weak for the rest of the day, and incredibly sore and painful for the rest of the week. I did continue following the Momentum program over the next few days, but the constant pain and soreness that my muscles were in caused me to drop the program and DAREBEE all together for a few weeks. This allowed my body to heal, but to also reflect a bit. I felt as though if that if I permanently dropped doing DAREBEE at home, which is much easier and more accessible than going to the gym or doing sports, then the final hope I had for fitness would be gone forever. This also taught me an extremely important lesson: if you find a workout overwhelming or lack motivation, it is more than okay to reduce the number of sets or change it to make it easier for you.
It was with this realisation that I finally crawled back to DAREBEE with the mindset of not over-exerting myself and being firm, yet gentle with myself. I stuck with doing only 3 or 5 sets to get used to doing DAREBEE again. After a while though, by body grew accustomed to the workouts, in fact, I started feeling unsatisfied from doing only 5 sets. So, I tentatively started listening to my body by doing the full 7 sets. At this point, the workouts started to feel addicting and I always looked forward to and feared for what the next day had in store. I loved the feeling of my muscles burning, my heart thumping, and blood rushing throughout my body, it made me feel alive in a way that I rarely experienced prior. I also loved warm post-workout bliss I get while relaxing after and intense workout. Despite all this, I do not follow the workouts perfectly, especially when it comes to rest times. I tend to prolong rest times and hesitate before having to do something difficult. Because of that, my workouts have a tendency to drag on for up to 2 hours.
I hit another road-block again on Day 22. This is when the Momentum program starts introducing 'combos' in that have you repeat some moves 3 times. Once again, I was stubborn and tried to follow the workout exactly despite the plank leg raises being too difficult for me, and I burnt myself out again. Once again, I lost interest in DAREBEE and did not do it for about a week. I had to re-learn my 'lesson' another time and instead only repeated 'combo' actions 2 times instead of 3. I continued Momentum at a frequency of about 3-5 times a week until I finished the program in late October. I felt decently proud of myself for finishing the program. Although I did not appear any different, my body definitely felt different from when I began the program. My body felt firmer because of my stronger muscles, and my previously weak and flimsy lower back muscles better supported my body when moving around and doing chores. I knew that visual changes do not come quickly, but instead slowly creep up over the course of several months and even years. Also, I did not really diet so I knew not to expect fat-loss. All I really did was sometimes skip breakfast and replace it with working out and drinking lots of water (to limit muscle soreness). Between diet and exercise, I definitely find exercise to be more enjoyable, but that did not stop me from researching and looking into the basics of dieting and caloric-deficits for when I felt ready for it. The Momentum program also taught me that I enjoyed strength training more than cardio. Before, I had the notion that cardio made you lean while strength training would turn you into the Hulk, so I viewed cardio more favourably than strength training. However, I learnt to enjoy strength training more and ended up finding it more satisfying than cardio. I even read that increasing muscle mass could increase one's resting metabolic rate, making going into a caloric deficit a lot easier. As a result, I really wanted to try something more strength focused for the next program I did, and that is when I found Total Body Strength.
Total Body Strength
Total Body Strength was a nice way to follow up on the progress I made in the Momentum program. The Momentum program was a good introduction to strength training, but was mainly focused on the lower body and core. I wanted to also stimulate and increase the strength in my upper body too, and I saw the Total Body Strength program was a good way to address that. If I had equipment, I would have gone straight to Total Body Strength+, but I do not have anything good to use (for now). Since I was now more experienced with working out, the process went more smoothly than with Momentum, and so, there is not much to talk about here. The key thing to mention about the Total Body Strength program is that it open my eyes to how bad at push-ups I was, I could not even do one full, deep push-up with proper form. I wanted to change this, so I supplemented my workouts with some inclined push-ups on the stairs at the end of each set. However, I had to learn that I had to be careful with what days I did push-ups on. Day 7 of Total Body Strength was impossible for me because my arms and shoulders were too exhausted to support me. Over time, I would gradually do 'progressive overload' and increase the number of push-ups I did to 12 each set. Two weeks ago, I recently I went down a step to do more horizontal push-ups, now currently doing a '2 combo' of 6 inclined push-ups. Currently as I am writing this, I have done Day 29. I felt proud having done it because I managed to do full push-ups.
Future & Goals
With the winter holidays approaching, I plan to do a lot of walking to go places and experience new things. It may also be a good opportunity to be more conscious of what I put into my mouth, although Christmas is not well known for disciplined eating. For what program I will do next, I am not really sure. I'll do the odd workout out here and there when I am available to do so until I find something that interests me. I would like to focus on my upper body more (chest especially), so I am considering getting myself some dumbbells and try one of the programs that use dumbbells. I do not really know what weight will work best with me right now, so there is still lots of research I have to do before I come to a purchase. I am particularly interested in trying another strength program that challenges and builds my upper-body strength while not also neglecting my core and lower-body strength. However, I am a bit open to trying other things too. Some time next year, I would also like to try eating more healthily and calorie-counting to lose fat. Recently, I ran into the YouTube channel EpicMintLeaves that posts incredibly simple yet healthy and delicious recipes, I would love to try following one of them. I do not really have any concrete goals for what weight I want to be or what body fat-percentage I want to have. I will just trust the process of building and increasing on what I am already doing, and making progress that way. If I were to come up with some long-term goals, they would be: lose weight down to 80kg, decrease body-fat percentage down to 15%, learn how to do 30 (proper form) push-ups, and learn how to do 5 (proper form) pull-ups. Of course, my most important goal is to have a strong and fit body that I am proud of.
Thoughts & Conclusion
Overall, DAREBEE has been life-changing for me. It has saved me from a life of inactivity and got me feeling healthier, happier, and more confident. It sometimes feels too good to be true. I have only been doing DAREBEE for a few months so far, so I still have the creeping fear of permanently dropping it in the back of my head. Despite that, I now know the importance of not being too demanding with myself, and decreasing the difficulty of things when I am low on motivation. It is better to plan 3 sets and do 3 sets than it is to plan 7 sets and do none at all. I am incredibly thankful to the DAREBEE team for making fitness friendly and accessible to people like me. A website that is this helpful and has this many resources while also being ad-free and is 100% feels unreal to me. I would say that DAREBEE is as important to me as Wikipedia: both are amazing website that are built on the work of so many talented and hard-working people. Since I made my DAREBEE community account today to post this, I will also check the forum from time-to-time. I may even give an update on my progress or ask one out of a million questions I have XD I look forward to talking with some of you more.
I started DAREBEE 4 months ago and it has had a great positive impact on my life. I just wanted to write this post to talk about myself, my journey, and my goals, and also to introduce myself to the DAREBEE community.
My physical details:
- Age: 23 years old
- Sex: Male
- Height: 190cm (6'2")
- Weight: ~92kg (203 lbs)
Pre-DAREBEE
I had a difficult relationship with fitness before I ran into DAREBEE. I did not like going to the gym, I did not really like any sport and I no longer enjoyed running as much as I used to (my shins hurt a lot when they run, I think it is shin splits). The way I saw it, fitness required some sort of big commitment or sacrifice to do, like having to spend lots of money or wake up early in the morning, and because of that, it was too easy to make excuses and put things off. Although I was still somewhat fit and active from ordinary daily activities, it was clear that I did not exert and challenge my body as much as I should be doing at my age, especially since I'm at the prime of my life. This was even worse over the summer since I did not really go anywhere or do anything, so I spent most of it lying down, and this started to even hurt my back. Furthermore, I was very self-conscious about my body because I was out of shape and had a high body-fat percentage (I would guess-timate around 25%). At this point, I was pretty close to giving up on fitness altogether and just accept that this would be how I would age. Nothing really stuck, and anything I tried felt like a chore that I did not really enjoy. One evening in early August, however, I decided to search up if there were any home workout regimens I could follow to at least keep me moving, and that was when I found a comment on a Reddit post singing the praises of DAREBEE. Out of curiosity, I decided to look into the following morning and give it a try.
Momentum Program
My first few days with DAREBEE were awkward to say the least. I started with the Momentum program because it is a great, simple, all-rounder program for beginners. Personally, I like following programs more than individual workouts because I tend to get decision paralysis when looking at all the workouts. It is easier for me just to stick with and follow through with a program, with the guarantee that I will be fitter and stronger by the end of the program. Day 1 of Momentum Program was a breeze and was not too demanding, so I did 7 sets to get the full benefit of the workout. Day 2, however, was not so merciful. XD My legs were not in any way prepared for the squats, but due to my stubbornness, I insisted on doing all 7 sets. This left my legs extremely jelly-like and weak for the rest of the day, and incredibly sore and painful for the rest of the week. I did continue following the Momentum program over the next few days, but the constant pain and soreness that my muscles were in caused me to drop the program and DAREBEE all together for a few weeks. This allowed my body to heal, but to also reflect a bit. I felt as though if that if I permanently dropped doing DAREBEE at home, which is much easier and more accessible than going to the gym or doing sports, then the final hope I had for fitness would be gone forever. This also taught me an extremely important lesson: if you find a workout overwhelming or lack motivation, it is more than okay to reduce the number of sets or change it to make it easier for you.
It was with this realisation that I finally crawled back to DAREBEE with the mindset of not over-exerting myself and being firm, yet gentle with myself. I stuck with doing only 3 or 5 sets to get used to doing DAREBEE again. After a while though, by body grew accustomed to the workouts, in fact, I started feeling unsatisfied from doing only 5 sets. So, I tentatively started listening to my body by doing the full 7 sets. At this point, the workouts started to feel addicting and I always looked forward to and feared for what the next day had in store. I loved the feeling of my muscles burning, my heart thumping, and blood rushing throughout my body, it made me feel alive in a way that I rarely experienced prior. I also loved warm post-workout bliss I get while relaxing after and intense workout. Despite all this, I do not follow the workouts perfectly, especially when it comes to rest times. I tend to prolong rest times and hesitate before having to do something difficult. Because of that, my workouts have a tendency to drag on for up to 2 hours.
I hit another road-block again on Day 22. This is when the Momentum program starts introducing 'combos' in that have you repeat some moves 3 times. Once again, I was stubborn and tried to follow the workout exactly despite the plank leg raises being too difficult for me, and I burnt myself out again. Once again, I lost interest in DAREBEE and did not do it for about a week. I had to re-learn my 'lesson' another time and instead only repeated 'combo' actions 2 times instead of 3. I continued Momentum at a frequency of about 3-5 times a week until I finished the program in late October. I felt decently proud of myself for finishing the program. Although I did not appear any different, my body definitely felt different from when I began the program. My body felt firmer because of my stronger muscles, and my previously weak and flimsy lower back muscles better supported my body when moving around and doing chores. I knew that visual changes do not come quickly, but instead slowly creep up over the course of several months and even years. Also, I did not really diet so I knew not to expect fat-loss. All I really did was sometimes skip breakfast and replace it with working out and drinking lots of water (to limit muscle soreness). Between diet and exercise, I definitely find exercise to be more enjoyable, but that did not stop me from researching and looking into the basics of dieting and caloric-deficits for when I felt ready for it. The Momentum program also taught me that I enjoyed strength training more than cardio. Before, I had the notion that cardio made you lean while strength training would turn you into the Hulk, so I viewed cardio more favourably than strength training. However, I learnt to enjoy strength training more and ended up finding it more satisfying than cardio. I even read that increasing muscle mass could increase one's resting metabolic rate, making going into a caloric deficit a lot easier. As a result, I really wanted to try something more strength focused for the next program I did, and that is when I found Total Body Strength.
Total Body Strength
Total Body Strength was a nice way to follow up on the progress I made in the Momentum program. The Momentum program was a good introduction to strength training, but was mainly focused on the lower body and core. I wanted to also stimulate and increase the strength in my upper body too, and I saw the Total Body Strength program was a good way to address that. If I had equipment, I would have gone straight to Total Body Strength+, but I do not have anything good to use (for now). Since I was now more experienced with working out, the process went more smoothly than with Momentum, and so, there is not much to talk about here. The key thing to mention about the Total Body Strength program is that it open my eyes to how bad at push-ups I was, I could not even do one full, deep push-up with proper form. I wanted to change this, so I supplemented my workouts with some inclined push-ups on the stairs at the end of each set. However, I had to learn that I had to be careful with what days I did push-ups on. Day 7 of Total Body Strength was impossible for me because my arms and shoulders were too exhausted to support me. Over time, I would gradually do 'progressive overload' and increase the number of push-ups I did to 12 each set. Two weeks ago, I recently I went down a step to do more horizontal push-ups, now currently doing a '2 combo' of 6 inclined push-ups. Currently as I am writing this, I have done Day 29. I felt proud having done it because I managed to do full push-ups.
Future & Goals
With the winter holidays approaching, I plan to do a lot of walking to go places and experience new things. It may also be a good opportunity to be more conscious of what I put into my mouth, although Christmas is not well known for disciplined eating. For what program I will do next, I am not really sure. I'll do the odd workout out here and there when I am available to do so until I find something that interests me. I would like to focus on my upper body more (chest especially), so I am considering getting myself some dumbbells and try one of the programs that use dumbbells. I do not really know what weight will work best with me right now, so there is still lots of research I have to do before I come to a purchase. I am particularly interested in trying another strength program that challenges and builds my upper-body strength while not also neglecting my core and lower-body strength. However, I am a bit open to trying other things too. Some time next year, I would also like to try eating more healthily and calorie-counting to lose fat. Recently, I ran into the YouTube channel EpicMintLeaves that posts incredibly simple yet healthy and delicious recipes, I would love to try following one of them. I do not really have any concrete goals for what weight I want to be or what body fat-percentage I want to have. I will just trust the process of building and increasing on what I am already doing, and making progress that way. If I were to come up with some long-term goals, they would be: lose weight down to 80kg, decrease body-fat percentage down to 15%, learn how to do 30 (proper form) push-ups, and learn how to do 5 (proper form) pull-ups. Of course, my most important goal is to have a strong and fit body that I am proud of.
Thoughts & Conclusion
Overall, DAREBEE has been life-changing for me. It has saved me from a life of inactivity and got me feeling healthier, happier, and more confident. It sometimes feels too good to be true. I have only been doing DAREBEE for a few months so far, so I still have the creeping fear of permanently dropping it in the back of my head. Despite that, I now know the importance of not being too demanding with myself, and decreasing the difficulty of things when I am low on motivation. It is better to plan 3 sets and do 3 sets than it is to plan 7 sets and do none at all. I am incredibly thankful to the DAREBEE team for making fitness friendly and accessible to people like me. A website that is this helpful and has this many resources while also being ad-free and is 100% feels unreal to me. I would say that DAREBEE is as important to me as Wikipedia: both are amazing website that are built on the work of so many talented and hard-working people. Since I made my DAREBEE community account today to post this, I will also check the forum from time-to-time. I may even give an update on my progress or ask one out of a million questions I have XD I look forward to talking with some of you more.
Posts: 75
all the updates people post.)