.

[J-Reb]

I've been working on upper body the past few days and today, I did BTN-STO (behind the neck - shoulder to overhead).  You're setup in a squat position and then thrust above your head until your arms are fully extended.  I started with 135 lbs. and thought I'd breeze through my 3-rounds of 10 reps but I was sorely mistaken.  It was brutal.  You don't use those back muscles often so trying to jerk them above was miserable.

I took a few weeks off after my elbow tendonitis kicked in (I'm old; leave me alone) and I felt it.  I've gained 5-10 lbs. and I hate it. 

[Dorling]

Have managed to get back on the treadmill at a more reasonable hour and am pushing my fastest times for 5k again. Ran a 24:29 today and I have 3 more days before I go back on to watch keeping hours, so the aim is to run a sub 24 5k before then. Going to aim to equal my record of 24:08 tomorrow and see how it goes.

I felt strong today, really strong. It leaves me feeling pretty good about it all. Also lost another 2lbs so that's 12lbs down now.

After a week on 12-4 watches I decided to have a relaxation day on Sunday and do nothing except watch movies and chill out. My back actually felt worse after that than it does after running.

Take note sciatica sufferers - keep moving! Exercise really is the best remedy for the pain sciatica can cause.

[Bad News]

Tried to gym today. Wasn't happening. Body was like "THE FUCK ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME DO!"

Forced it do some weights. I'm going to give it a well deserved break. Back again on Saturday. Looked at scales today and down from 80kg on Sunday to 78.2kg today. Which means I've dropped 7st 1lb since September 2013. 99 pounds I believe.

[Duckman]

Let's do some injury moaning.  My upper back is wrecked at the moment.  Locked up solid right down the muscle that runs down my left shoulder blade.  I move my head forward and I can feel the whole muscle lock up and 'pull' - it's now got to the point where it's waking me up during the night, four times last night.

I went to my back cracking lady last week but it's not really helped this time.  Going to make another appointment and probably going to need to get some kind of muscle relaxers from the doc, cause it's really uncomfortable and painful at the moment.

On the plus side, still able to do DDP Yoga fat burner.  It actually helps loosen my back up, it's just an hour or so after that it all starts to seize up again and get painful.

This morning I could barely get out of bed.

[Dorling]

The same thing can happen to me if I sit down for too long or sleep in a certain position (granted, the number of 'bad' sleeping positions is higher on these MOD mattresses), and it is a complete pain. Ibuprofen and plenty of movement can shift it sometimes.

If your back cracking lady doesn't work, see if you can try acupuncture. I won't pretend to really understand it - something about freeing up and realigning muscle fibres - but when my back was at it's worst and I was trying to get ready to go to Navy Officer Training, acupuncture saved me. It really loosens you up, and guaranteed you'll get a great night of sleep when you do it.

I would do it again in a heartbeat if any serious back trouble comes back.

The other thing that might help is a massage, rather than the back cracking. A massage will probably hurt but again it's something that did the job for me in terms of loosening my back up and allowing me to function better.

[Ian "Wolfie" Trumps]

Wank it out boys...wank it out

[Dorling]

Thanks for the er...contribution Ian

Made more significant progress with my 5k this week. My new watchkeeping hours of 4-8 will probably make it easier to find a good time to run.

I'm down to 23:02 now. I wasn't actually trying to go fast when I achieved that time, I started off at 11.5kph (to put it into context, to do 5k in 24:00 you have to run at 12.5kph), but felt strong so kept upping the pace and was running well at 15kph towards the end. It makes me feel happy that I can run at 13+kph for 10-15 mins now as when I got on the treadmill 6 weeks ago today, I classed running at 12kph as my sprint finish.

Overall, my 5k has come down from 31:15 to 23:02 in 6 weeks. I feel really good right now.

[Drama Queen]

Nice Dorling! Excellent work... You've been going about it the right way. Run every day or as many days as possible, but only go for top speed once, maybe twice a week.

Ever since I started my running streak my speed and endurance have improved so much, despite not going flat out every day. Every mile you run regardless of speed, is conditioning.

Going to catch upon the rest of this thread later today.

[ToneCold]

Just weighed in for this month, gone from 238lbs to 225lbs since 10th April. Happy with that.

Considering that I had due a small lapse in routine to being scheduled on Late shifts for a week and preferring to work AFTER and not before my job, actually expected to lose less. Maybe the break of a week or so from gym (but while still active at work) also did some good.

[Tritch]

Monday I started eating real people food and started a new workout routine for the first time since like junior year of high school. Mainly got fed up with how i looked, felt and acted all the time so wanted to make a change, but am also hoping I can get back in ring shape and get back into the indies, I miss it.

Anyway... real people food sucks... I just want a pizza.

This is going to be 2 Tuff, like Tony. But I'ma make it work, hopefully.

[Dorling]

Good stuff Tritch. Even a small change in diet and a bit of exercise is a great way to kick it all off and it really makes you feel so much better.

I haven't run a 'fast' 5k for a while now - it's just too hot out here. Temperature in the gym is easy hitting 40 degrees celsius now with high humidity, so I've just been running steady 25 minute 5ks at least 3 days out of four. I should get back to a reasonable temperature soon so can hopefully start picking up the pace again.

I feel good though - saw a friend in Dubai who I last saw at the start of my trip, so 3 months ago, and she remarked that I looked good - I can live with that!

[Dorling]

Went for a weigh in today and I've lost 18lbs in the last 10 and a half weeks. Proper chuffed with that.

People won't recognise me when I get home...NEXT WEEK (a little excited by that prospect).

[Duckman]

Good man Dorling!  You'll be strutting off that ship like a new man!  Bet you can't wait to get home.

In less exciting news, I did my first DDP Yoga work out last night, after 2 weeks off due to holiday/back injury.  Surprisingly it wasn't total hell and my body responded well - no back spasms that left me lying on the floor like last week when I tried to tie my shoe laces up!  Nice to get back into a routine.

Oh and my blood sugar level has dropped from 15.5 to 8.5 in the last 5 months - pretty damn chuffed with that!  Medication and major liftstyle changes have really helped and I feel SO much better.  One more point and I get into the 7s, which the doctor considers a well managed level.  Then I've just to keep bringing it down and by this time next year, I'll be non-diabetic (hopefully).

[BamBamBunglow]

Good stuff Duckers!

Well, I fell off the wagon about 4 weeks ago - at a larp event I took a nasty blow which knocked me clean out, I fell awkwardly and fucked up my shoulder and pulled my hamstring (at the same time. Beat THAT one). Due to this I've been less active and slipped back into eating crap. This morning I slapped myself, have been a good boy all day and just did my first DDP workout in a month. Shoulder is still killing me (it's the muscle group directly to the right of my left shoulder blade) but I managed it and feel looser. Lets try this shit again

[Cory]

2 weeks into the new job, so just DESTROYED the routine I had going, but this week I've been able to get back on track, didnt lose any real progress either. All my maxes are the same, still killing the HIIT on the treadmill....I recommend that for those of you who dont have a whole lot of time to do cardio. I can usually get 2.5 miles done around 20 mins or less, and im in the 250-60 range.

#TeamShitPants