COY Fitness: a Trinity page

[YogaBare]

This is a group journal for CiKi90, Ombat, and Yogabare. We all want to get fit(er), but sometimes find it tough to know what to work on, or stick to our goals (some of us more than others... )

The purpose of this journal is for us to:

- Outline our goals (fitness, body comp etc.)
- Develop workouts / exercise regimes
- Report progress, including pics (if we're brave enough)

We plan to motivate each other, give each other tips on how to exercise smarter and hopefully invite good input from other users.

Let's see how long this lasts...

[YogaBare]

I'll go first.

Yoga Bare

Goals:
1) Lose fat.
2) Build muscle - especially in the bum.
3) Improve health and vitality.
4) Learn what my body is really like. (I've had such a bad, erratic relationship with my body and fitness that I have no idea what my natural weight is, or how easily I build muscle... I think I build it fairly quickly, because I usually see fast results when I exercise, but I never sustain it).
5) Not give up!

Exercise regime:

Current:
20 - 60 mins of yoga a day
Bike everywhere
Walk fast for up to an hour every day

New:
Walk for an hour 3 times a week
Sprint or swim 2 times a week
Yoga 3-4 times a week
Advanced body weight exercises 4 times a week
Some kind of exercises for my butt, which doesn't seem to respond to anything...

Current stats:
Height:
5'8
Weight:
Current scales say 61 Kgs (need to check).
BF:
According to this: estimating 24-25%
Measurements:
Hips: 37.1
Below navel: 36
Waist: 29.9
Bust: 35
Thigh: 24.5

Goal Measurements and BF :
57kg used to be easy for me to maintain, but I understand now that weight isn't the important thing. I'm aiming for 18-19% bf, which is where I was last July. (Sigh).

Hips: 36
Below navel: ?
Waist: ?
Bust: ?

[ombat]

Woo! Yay! Motivation! What are you talking about? This will last forever

Ombat

Goals:
* Improve body composition and stabilize weight - My weight has fluctuated a bit over the past 2 years, from 100 to 115 lb and back again. It has currently settled on the upper end, but not in a good way. I want to find and maintain a healthy, lean body.
* Build strength and endurance - Lost most of my muscle after I stopped riding.
* Increase flexibility - I am flexible already but I want to push it further.

Current Exercise Regimen:
* Body weights (i.e. convict conditioning, which I need to get more serious / regimented about)
* Light weights (20lb)
* Jump rope and other cardio routines
* Hiking / Steep hills
Exercise to Add to Regimen:
* Power yoga
* Sprints (if I can get my asthma under control which seems doubtful without meds)

Current Stats:
* Height: 5'4"
* Weight: ~114 lb (I'm not exactly sure)
* Body Fat: No idea. Maybe you guys can estimate from my photos?
* Waist: 26"
* Below Navel: 32" (this is the measurement I want to see go down. You'll see what I mean in my pictures…)
* Hips: 37"

I took pictures this morning and they ain't pretty. I'm small, sure, but I'm all… gooey. Ick. Anyway, I'm not shy, I'll post 'em, But I'll post a link instead so that you're not accosted by them when you visit this page…

Front
Back
Side

Mmmm, sexy. Yeah, I know, I look better in spandex. Sorry. Even my posture says, "don't look at me" haha! Well, oh wells. You can see in the "back" shot where my body comp really needs improving... Anyway, any clue about my body fat %?

[CiKi90]

My turn!

CiKi

Goals:
1. Increase Fitness Stamina
2. Improve Body Composition
3. Have better muscular definition while maintaining feminine curves
4. Maintain weight

Exercise Regimen:

Current:
I shoot for 20-25 miles per week using high resistance on the elliptical machine (I have bad knees!) 2-4 of those miles are usually done by sprinting before a weightlifting session.
My weight lifting session includes a "Push" Day and a "Pull" Day, which I alternate, and usually complete 2-3 strength training sessions each week.
At home, I used to try for 2-3 Power Yoga sessions every week, lasting an hour each. Recently, I've been switching over to HIIT training or advanced bodyweight training instead.

I don't necessarily want to change my workout plan, but just make sure that I keep up with it over a period of time that will give me desired results. I'm up for changing things around to benefit my body if there is any part of my training that could be more efficient.

Current Stats:
Height: 5'3
Weight: 110lbs. (weighed myself in the beginning of April)
Body Fat: 18% (unsure of this, online calculator. The bodpod said 12%! I think it was lying.)
Measurements:
Bust: 34" Waist: 24" Hips: 34.5"

Goals:
Weight: 105-110lbs.
Body Fat: 15%-18%
Measurements:
Bust: 34"-36" (is there a way to increase this? lol)
Waist: 22"-24"
Hips: 36" (booty!!)

I've been toying with the idea of posting progress photos, but I'm a little scared to post 'em! Not sure if it'll be triggering for me, or if it'll actually help me with keeping on point with my goals.

I'm excited to keep everyone motivated, including myself! I know that with support, everyone will be able to reach their goals!

[YogaBare]

Starting to design my strengthening routine:

Zach very kindly gave me amazing info about advanced body weight exercises (hereby known as ABWE). Ci also gave me loads of info about glute exercises. I'm posting everything here so I can come back to it, add videos etc.

From Zach:

I think you are a perfect candidate for a simple calisthenics routine that would compliment your yoga. The only thing you need is the floor so its super easy. If you can get a nice pull up bar or use one at a park and buy an assistance band, that would be zang.

I like to split the workouts into four groups.

1) Chest/planch/plank

2) Legs/pistol/bridge

3) Pullup/lever/leg raise

4) Handstand

For each session there will be a warmup specific phase and practice then strength work and finally accessory work.

You can do a session whenever you fresh in the body area and cycle them however you like. Im not a fan of counting reps and doing anything for a certain time. Always judge by body feel.

If aomething is too easy and you are getting too many reps, change the leverage to make it harder and vice versa. As for reps or holds, do the maximum without going to failure, keep a bit in the tank at all times, this will go a long way for fatigue and stress management.

The loose structure is warmup-practice-strength-accessory, as far as exercises, thats up to you. The are thousands or different exercises you could do if you get bored of the basics, i like to keep it simple and work on fundamentals so thats what i will show you and you can expand from there if you like.

Heres a guideline for each session. If you can do the recommended reps then move on to a more advanced move.

Warmups
Joint circles, arm/leg swings and a few mobility/stability moves.

Practice
Is just working on the specific movement, it can be as short or as long as you like and does not need any specific set/reps, just try to progress and reinforce the movement.

1) Chest/planch/plank
Practice: Planche work. I believe crow is the basic start but just google planche progression. End goal is to hold a full planche (only hands touching ground, arms locked and body parallel to floor)
Strength: pushups. 3 sets, up to 20 reps then find a more difficult version
Accessory:, planks, 3-4 holds, up to 3 min then progress.

2) Legs/pistol/bridge
Practice: Pistol. End goal is 10 full pistols per leg. Pistol progression.
Strength: anything you like for quads, hamstrings, glutes or calves.
split squats
one leg stiff leg deadliest
glutes raises.
Accessory: bridge. Try to get your hands and feet as close as possible. Hold as long as possible 3 times. Progression.

Pullups/lever/leg raise
Practice: lever. End goal, with hands grabbing bar, arms locked, body rigid and parallel to floor, chest up. Google lever progression. This will he the hardest progression to start, you will probably just have to start with pullups/leg raises.
Strength: pullups! With this you just need to hammer pullups as much as possible. If you cant do one then use a band to assist and/or do jumping pullups and negatives. Just do a solid amount of training on this and strive for more reps in a set. You can use any grip.
Accessory: Hanging leg raises. 3 sets up to 10 reps then find a harder movement. Start with hanging knee raises, then knees to elbows and finally straight leg raises. You can sub out leg raises for L sit practice as well.

Handstand
Practice: This should be your main focus session. All things handstand. First just practice against wall and hold, the progress on a floor and learn to come out of a handstand. Work of holds as well as walks.
Strength: handstand pushups. Kick up to the wall and lower yourself as much as you can and press back up. Put something underneith your head to guage if needed. Work towards full handstand pushups.
Accessory: all things upside down. Do tripod or headstand holds, move your legs around, whatever just be upside down and not using wall support for a few minutes.

Try to do only one session at a time and focus entirely on that skill. All the exercises compliment each other so you can learn the skills as fast as possible. It will also keep you fresher so you can workout everyday or twice if you like. Try for at least one session of each every week.


From Ci:

If you want to try and tone up your butt and you've got a curved spine, you may want to try using a glute machine at a gym, like this one, or something similar:
https://www.google.com/search?q=glut...X8phnUkaHWM%3A My theory is that if you're bent over, your spine won't be in use as much as if you were standing, so it would have no effect on your performance.

You could also do bird dog, 3-legged dog or any variation with ankle weights attached for more resistance.

The general rule is lower weights + more reps for a toned butt, or higher weights + less reps for muscle mass. The glutes are a large muscle group, so heavier weights can be used without too much risk of injury. You can try starting at 30-50% of your body weight for smaller weights (toning with more reps) or 50-75% of your weight as a realllly rough guide. If you feel like you can do more, then up the weights! If you feel like you're killing yourself, lower the weights.

Here is my personal routine, for just glute/thigh/upper leg exercises:

Pull Day:
Leg Curls: 65lbs x 10; 75lbs x 8
Adduction: 145lbs x 10; 165lbs x 8

Push Day:
Glute Machine: 60lbs x 10 (per side); 70lbs x 8 (per side)
Leg Extension: 70lbs x 10; 85lbs x 8
Abduction: 130lbs x 10; 145lbs x 8
Seated Leg Press: 150lbs x 10; 170lbs x 8

-------------------------
-------------------------
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Also, several months ago, I planned to begin lifting weights, and started a thread called Ladies who Lift. I don't know if I will go down the weights route, but there's some great info there if either of you are interested.

I also have a PDF of "Starting Strength" that I can send

[ombat]

Damn, you guys actually seem to know what you're doing :/

I posted a few pics so you guys could give me a rough estimate of what you think my body fat % is. Online calculators are bogus.

[YogaBare]

I just changed mine up a little bit. Still need to add my stats...

My turn!

CiKi

Goals:
1. Increase Fitness Stamina
2. Improve Body Composition
3. Have better muscular definition while maintaining feminine curves
4. Maintain weight

Exercise Regimen:

Current:
I shoot for 20-25 miles per week using high resistance on the elliptical machine (I have bad knees!) 2-4 of those miles are usually done by sprinting before a weightlifting session.
My weight lifting session includes a "Push" Day and a "Pull" Day, which I alternate, and usually complete 2-3 strength training sessions each week.
At home, I used to try for 2-3 Power Yoga sessions every week, lasting an hour each. Recently, I've been switching over to HIIT training or advanced bodyweight training instead.

I don't necessarily want to change my workout plan, but just make sure that I keep up with it over a period of time that will give me desired results. I'm up for changing things around to benefit my body if there is any part of my training that could be more efficient.

Current Stats:
Height: 5'3
Weight: 110lbs. (weighed myself in the beginning of April)
Body Fat: 18% (unsure of this, online calculator. The bodpod said 12%! I think it was lying.)
Measurements:
Bust: 34" Waist: 24" Hips: 34.5"

Goals:
Weight: 105-110lbs.
Body Fat: 15%-18%
Measurements:
Bust: 34"-36" (is there a way to increase this? lol)
Waist: 22"-24"
Hips: 36" (booty!!)

That sounds great Ci! Your exercise regime looks pretty full. How do you propose to make your hips bigger?! I've been fighting for years to get mine to 35", but whenever they've been that size I've been told I look gaunt. At 35.5" I just look lean. Weird isn't it? They must be the very last place I lose from.

I've been toying with the idea of posting progress photos, but I'm a little scared to post 'em! Not sure if it'll be triggering for me, or if it'll actually help me with keeping on point with my goals.

I'm excited to keep everyone motivated, including myself! I know that with support, everyone will be able to reach their goals!

I actually feel the same: I don't think I'll post any photos until I actually have some progress to show! Otherwise it's just me showing everyone a body that I'm not happy with, ha!

Woo! Yay! Motivation! What are you talking about? This will last forever

Ombat

Goals:
* Improve body composition and stabilize weight - My weight has fluctuated a bit over the past 2 years, from 100 to 115 lb and back again. It has currently settled on the upper end, but not in a good way. I want to find and maintain a healthy, lean body.
* Build strength and endurance - Lost most of my muscle after I stopped riding.
* Increase flexibility - I am flexible already but I want to push it further.

Current Exercise Regimen:
* Body weights (i.e. convict conditioning, which I need to get more serious / regimented about)
* Light weights (20lb)
* Jump rope and other cardio routines
* Hiking / Steep hills
Exercise to Add to Regimen:
* Power yoga
* Sprints (if I can get my asthma under control which seems doubtful without meds)

Current Stats:
* Height: 5'4"
* Weight: ~114 lb (I'm not exactly sure)
* Body Fat: No idea. Maybe you guys can estimate from my photos?
* Waist: 26"
* Below Navel: 32" (this is the measurement I want to see go down. You'll see what I mean in my pictures…)
* Hips: 37"

I took pictures this morning and they ain't pretty. I'm small, sure, but I'm all… gooey. Ick. Anyway, I'm not shy, I'll post 'em, But I'll post a link instead so that you're not accosted by them when you visit this page…

Front
Back
Side

Mmmm, sexy. Yeah, I know, I look better in spandex. Sorry. Even my posture says, "don't look at me" haha! Well, oh wells. You can see in the "back" shot where my body comp really needs improving... Anyway, any clue about my body fat %?

Your regime looks good to me! And no, I don't really know what I'm doing... beyond yoga I'm pretty clueless. Oh yeah, and I can put one foot in front of the other, sometimes quickly!

I think you look good in the pics! Did you gain from the "Eating a ton" experiment?

I can't judge bf really: serenity gave me this link and I estimated mine from it: Body Fat Percentage Pictures of Men & Women - BuiltLean It might be worth getting it done properly though if we're going to do this!

[ombat]

Your regime looks good to me! And no, I don't really know what I'm doing... beyond yoga I'm pretty clueless. Oh yeah, and I can put one foot in front of the other, sometimes quickly!

I think you look good in the pics! Did you gain from the "Eating a ton" experiment?

I can't judge bf really: serenity gave me this link and I estimated mine from it: Body Fat Percentage Pictures of Men & Women - BuiltLean It might be worth getting it done properly though if we're going to do this!

I can put one foot in front of the other and sometimes walk in a straight line! But not always...

Thanks! I don't know exactly how much weight I gained, but I definitely gained inches around the hips, arms, and thighs, evidenced by feeling very uncomfortable in my jeans and from what I could see in pictures and in the mirror. I've now lost a lot of what I'd gained from that experiment.

Thanks for the link! I must be between 20-25%. It's hard to discern because my bf is awkwardly distributed. I have tiny arms, thin legs, no boobs. It's all in the middle.

[CiKi90]

That sounds great Cierra! Your exercise regime looks pretty full. How do you propose to make your hips bigger?! I've been fighting for years to get mine to 35", but whenever they've been that size I've been told I look gaunt. At 35.5" I just look lean. Weird isn't it? They must be the very last place I lose from.

I actually feel the same: I don't think I'll post any photos until I actually have some progress to show! Otherwise it's just me showing everyone a body that I'm not happy with, ha!

And yes - go team! lol.

I'm just working on gaining muscle in my butt in order to get a nice waist-to-hip ratio going on. I've already gained 2.5 inches at least in my hip area in the past 4 months, and I actually used to be 36" in the hips. I've got a relatively muscular build, since I did lots of sports as a kid (figure skating, mostly. but I took karate classes and did cheerleading for a year.) I'm not really unhappy with my body as of right now, depending on my mood ... but I'm not sure if I can deal with constructive criticism, compliments, or anything that may be thrown my way. I'm also unsure if my SO would really approve of me posting pics up, even if you can't see my face! lol.

Damn, you guys actually seem to know what you're doing :/

I posted a few pics so you guys could give me a rough estimate of what you think my body fat % is. Online calculators are bogus.

I kind of know what I'm doing, sort of.... a little? I just try to make sure that whatever fitness stuff I wanna do, I need to do it often enough to make a difference.

I'm not sure of your body fat % but it seems like you've got it sorted. I'm pretty confused as to what my bf% is, too, because I used a bodpod at the gym a month ago and it said 12%, but online calculators say 18-20%, but my mind says 22%, and that's a huge difference! Soooo I'm not really trying to worry about bf% and I'm just going to focus on strength, stamina, and measurements.

If you want to, though, maybe you can possibly go to a commercial gym somewhere, where they have bodpods. If you don't have a membership, you can just pretend to get a consultation and they'll do it for you for free :P hah.

[CiKi90]

I suppose I'll make the first actual post of the day.

Tuesday, May 14

Today, I did not do any exercise. Honestly, I even took 2 Advils and laid down for a nap! My body is aching, especially my thighs and butt. I wanted to do cardio today for 1 hour, and I sort of feel like a failure for not doing any form of exercise today. I told myself that I could just go to the gym for 30 minutes and do half my workout, but after waiting for the Advils to kick in without feeling any relief from my soreness, I decided to just take it easy.

Still, I feel lazy for not even taking a walk! Tomorrow will be better. Maybe I can do a weightlifting day, and make sure to take my BCAAs tonight to help with the soreness. Wish I had some epsom salt for a bath tonight...