Fitness Chat (Personal Development)

Certain exercises at the minute make me truly realise how little range of motion I have in my lower back.

Wonder if this hobby is the right one at times. :upside_down_face:

I decided to do a 10k yesterday - god knows why - i probably should practice that distance before the London Winter 10k in Feb thoughā€¦ 54:33, Iā€™ll take that since i havenā€™t run that distance since Sept

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Iā€™m currently sat in the officeā€™s toilets pondering whether I overdid the leafy greens :nauseated_face:

Itā€™s the non-leafy greens that ought to worry you. Who out there is eating brocolli stalks, or is it just things that have turned green since they were bought.

Any couch to 5k tips you wish you had known before you started?

Iā€™m not a runner but have a big field about 1.5km away which Iā€™m hoping the there, various sized loop and back will be a starting point

I tried it once before in my old house but had to start or end with a massive hill which rather complicated things!

Several tips:

  1. JFDI - it doesnā€™t get easier if you leave it longer.
  2. Thereā€™s no such thing as running too slowly.
  3. No-one, and I mean no-one, gives 2 hoots about how you look. Theyā€™re not even paying attention to what youā€™re doing.
  4. Get a watch that tracks heart rate. Your resting heart rate is the first improvement that youā€™ll see, and fairly quickly too.
  5. It will feel rubbish when you first start, and for a few weeks after that too. Mentally embrace this and prepare for it; itā€™s worth it longer term.
  6. The right running socks and running shoes are vital for longer term sustainability. Get to an independent running shop, have a gait analysis, and listen to their advice for shoes.
  7. Trust the process and, when you start feeling confident a few weeks in, donā€™t be tempted to skip steps in the programme. Youā€™ll do badly and feel rubbish again.
  8. The Runnerā€™s World Couch to 5k programme is better than the NHS one, but thereā€™s no app for it.
  9. Leave the water at home, you donā€™t need it for this distance.

As youā€™ll have seen in above comments, Iā€™m now training for a marathon and going out doing hours of running at any given time. But when I first started, I was struggling to run for 1 minute non-stop. So donā€™t worry if your first run (or 10) feels hard, we all start from somewhere.

Whatā€™s your reasons for taking up running? Iā€™m an England Athletics qualified coach so may be able to offer more precise advice depending on why youā€™re starting.

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Pretty much just echo what @WhiskeyNovember has said.

Only thing Iā€™d add is ā€œComparison is the thief of joyā€ focus on your goals and your progress. Also consider going along to your local ParkRun, they are very much all-inclusive of all paces and abilities.

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Thank you so much 1 made me laugh out loud. Thats part of the reason to start. It will always be too hot or too cold so best embrace it

Some really useful tips. I need to get back into some kind of sport as can no longer do my previous sport for various reasons (It was pretty niche so wont give any more away)

I had wondered about a HR monitor watch to track distance etc too so will seriously consider this now

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Genuinely the best investment I made when I started running, and I think Iā€™d have given up pretty rapidly if I didnā€™t have the progress it was showing at the time.

You donā€™t need anything at the stupid end of the price scale when youā€™re just starting out. The Garmin Forerunner 55 is pretty solid for a first watch and not bad on price - see link below. (My current Garmin had a retail price of Ā£600 and their most expensive is currently Ā£2,600).

That definitely means it was Quidditchā€¦

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FINALLY made the 70s this morning. Just.

Now watch it shoot back up tomorrow :joy:

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I have no idea what that is in English, but well done.

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12st 8lbs in old money, from a peak weight of 17st 5lbs in June 2022.

When I started taking things seriously in October, I weighed 15st 7lbs. So very, very roughly averaged 1st per month. Itā€™s already slowing down, but Iā€™m nearly where I want to be anyhow.

And thank you.

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Huge congrats!
Weigh in tonight at Slimming World, I started in Sept at 15st 11 and hoping to get less than 13st 9 tonight all through diet changes.

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So how did it go?

13 7!
Another 2 and thatā€™s 2 and a half.

Do you know your goal? Mine was initially 13 but as Iā€™m getting closer Iā€™m thinking of moving it to 12

Well done!

The process is now my goal.

Iā€™ve realised that by working towards making the process perfect, it becomes sustainable. Whereas I know from experience that if I target a goal, Iā€™ll go backwards as soon as I hit that goal.

Iā€™m rather keen to avoid being an overweight, lazy [insert appropriate word] so the sustainability of the process has to be the target.

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Something incredible happened today that, when I started trying to lose weight, I didnā€™t expect to ever happen.

Iā€™ve bought a new wind/showerproof running jacket. Size: small! And it fits!

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I think we might have different goals.

Iā€™m now having to buy L and XL.

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100%

I have my eyes on some significant ultramarathons, so Iā€™m aiming to be as light and lean as reasonably practical so as to best my chances of placing at an event in the future.

Given where Iā€™ve started, I have lots of XL items in my wardrobe, but for a different reason than why you now need them.

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Jumped on the scales for the first time since xmas and my America trip, fairly sure it showed me what resembles a telephone number