Exercise and Fitness

[FootyLovin]

It's come up enough, with recent marathon and running discussion falling in the praise thread, that I think it probably deserves its own space.

Running, lifting, rucking, weekend warrior footy. We can even make room here for those pickleball crazies.

Let's talk all things fitness.

 

[FootyLovin]

mgarbowski curious if you are still regularly rucking. Also, I saw you got the 25L Rucker. Do you recall why you went with the 25L vs the 20L?

Go Ruck seems to have a pretty good sale price going right now (or maybe that's their always sale price - I haven't tracked it). Thinking of supplementing my running with rucking to get more mileage without the pounding.

 

[mgarbowski]

mgarbowski curious if you are still regularly rucking. Also, I saw you got the 25L Rucker. Do you recall why you went with the 25L vs the 20L?

Go Ruck seems to have a pretty good sale price going right now (or maybe that's their always sale price - I haven't tracked it). Thinking of supplementing my running with rucking to get more mileage without the pounding.

I have the 20L, not 25L. I think the confusion is because the post where I specified the 20L I included a link to the product page set to 25L. But it's the same product page. You pick the size from a single page and I wasn't paying attention to that when I generated the link. I'm 6'2" which overlaps the height recommendations for both sizes, plus I'm somewhat broad, but the 20L fits me fine.

I'm still going strong, averaging about 8-10 miles a week and I just passed 360 miles for the year. Looks like I'll finish above 400 miles for 2025. I had a fair bit of life interruptus this year and next year looks to be the same. I'm going to target 500 miles for 2026 and see how that goes. Summer was pretty hard to maintain. I often found myself doing shorter sessions. I also needed a day off after a strong effort. I try to do it 3-5 days a week, but in summer I rarely did more than 3, and occasionally just 2. I could lift or do indoor cardio the day after a hard ruck but consecutive rucking days was tough. The last month I have been picking up both distance and frequency.

Most days I carry 30 lbs. I occasionally drop to 20 and more rarely go up to 40. I have 50 lbs of plates and might try that once soon just for the hey of it. Finally, I work hard to maintain a regular sub 16 minute mile pace. That's a reasonably quick walking pace. As a reference point, I understand a sub 15 minute pace is military standard for 8-12 mile rucks with 40-55 pounds. Being 63, I'm happy with my 15-16 minute pace, 30 lbs, and 2-4 mile standard session.

 

[joe]

Exercise has been a struggle since having a kid, although that feels like a less valid excuse with every passing year. I was weightlifting regularly before that, both Olympic lifting and power lifting, with a crossfit phase prior. (There are a bunch of issues with both CrossFit(TM) and the concept generally, but I think the specific gym I went to navigates them about as well as you can.)

Missing the social element of those is I think a big reason why I've had trouble making things stick in the intervening years. Big asks on both time and money, and when you combine the two, well, here I am.

 

[FootyLovin]

Exercise has been a struggle since having a kid, although that feels like a less valid excuse with every passing year. I was weightlifting regularly before that, both Olympic lifting and power lifting, with a crossfit phase prior. (There are a bunch of issues with both CrossFit(TM) and the concept generally, but I think the specific gym I went to navigates them about as well as you can.)

Missing the social element of those is I think a big reason why I've had trouble making things stick in the intervening years. Big asks on both time and money, and when you combine the two, well, here I am.

I miss the social aspect of a gym, but a little over 10 years ago I started putting my gym money into equipment. The first purchase was the biggest - adjustable DB set and bench. That alone kept me going for a while. Then every year I've gotten myself a new item or two. Now I've got power rack, 4 different types of BB, and a hack squat machine. It really would be nice to have other people around, but can't beat the convenience and speed of home equipment.

 

[FootyLovin]

I have the 20L, not 25L. I think the confusion is because the post where I specified the 20L I included a link to the product page set to 25L. But it's the same product page. You pick the size from a single page and I wasn't paying attention to that when I generated the link. I'm 6'2" which overlaps the height recommendations for both sizes, plus I'm somewhat broad, but the 20L fits me fine.

I'm still going strong, averaging about 8-10 miles a week and I just passed 360 miles for the year. Looks like I'll finish above 400 miles for 2025. I had a fair bit of life interruptus this year and next year looks to be the same. I'm going to target 500 miles for 2026 and see how that goes. Summer was pretty hard to maintain. I often found myself doing shorter sessions. I also needed a day off after a strong effort. I try to do it 3-5 days a week, but in summer I rarely did more than 3, and occasionally just 2. I could lift or do indoor cardio the day after a hard ruck but consecutive rucking days was tough. The last month I have been picking up both distance and frequency.

Most days I carry 30 lbs. I occasionally drop to 20 and more rarely go up to 40. I have 50 lbs of plates and might try that once soon just for the hey of it. Finally, I work hard to maintain a regular sub 16 minute mile pace. That's a reasonably quick walking pace. As a reference point, I understand a sub 15 minute pace is military standard for 8-12 mile rucks with 40-55 pounds. Being 63, I'm happy with my 15-16 minute pace, 30 lbs, and 2-4 mile standard session.

That sounds great. Love the 500 mile target for 2026. I think I'm going to place the order - a 20L for me and a plate carrier for wifey.

 

[RunningWise]

Thanks for this section. Love to talk about running or really anything cardio. I was on the crew team in college for one ill fated season and really messed up my rotator cuffs. So I don’t lift much and if I do anything it’s resistance bands.

Got back into running about 2.5 years ago and I’m up to 50ish miles a week.

 

[FootyLovin]

Thanks for this section. Love to talk about running or really anything cardio. I was on the crew team in college for one ill fated season and really messed up my rotator cuffs. So I don’t lift much and if I do anything it’s resistance bands.

Got back into running about 2.5 years ago and I’m up to 50ish miles a week.

Wow. 50 miles is still very aspirational for me. I just finished my longest run to date - 9 miles. Only stopped once, but I really needed to record the memory of this guy.

 

[mgarbowski]

Wow. 50 miles is still very aspirational for me. I just finished my longest run to date - 9 miles. Only stopped once, but I really needed to record the memory of this guy.

View attachment 14223

He looks like you caught him doing something he thought was private.

 

[mgarbowski]

After a few months not lifting for a very minor injury I started again this week. Really very minor btw. Probably could have not stopped but I was being hyper cautious.
Like footy, I lift at home with my own gear but I'm even more spartan due to space issues. I have adjustable dumbbells and that's it. No bar, no bench, no rack. Max weight is 52.5 per so 105 total. I do chest presses on the floor. For my purposes, building and retaining strength as I age, it's fine. I do wish I had a way to occasionally see how much I can press for just 1 rep. I honestly have no idea what my max would be. Without a bar, plates, bench and a spotter I can't even try. It doesn't keep me awake at night, but it would be fun to know.

 

[CCMore]

After a few months not lifting for a very minor injury I started again this week. Really very minor btw. Probably could have not stopped but I was being hyper cautious.
Like footy, I lift at home with my own gear but I'm even more spartan due to space issues. I have adjustable dumbbells and that's it. No bar, no bench, no rack. Max weight is 52.5 per so 105 total. I do chest presses on the floor. For my purposes, building and retaining strength as I age, it's fine. I do wish I had a way to occasionally see how much I can press for just 1 rep. I honestly have no idea what my max would be. Without a bar, plates, bench and a spotter I can't even try. It doesn't keep me awake at night, but it would be fun to know.

Maybe try a free trial at a local gym and then remove your CC info before you’re charged. Then in 6 months try a different gym for their free trial. Game that system lol

 

[FootyLovin]

After a few months not lifting for a very minor injury I started again this week. Really very minor btw. Probably could have not stopped but I was being hyper cautious.
Like footy, I lift at home with my own gear but I'm even more spartan due to space issues. I have adjustable dumbbells and that's it. No bar, no bench, no rack. Max weight is 52.5 per so 105 total. I do chest presses on the floor. For my purposes, building and retaining strength as I age, it's fine. I do wish I had a way to occasionally see how much I can press for just 1 rep. I honestly have no idea what my max would be. Without a bar, plates, bench and a spotter I can't even try. It doesn't keep me awake at night, but it would be fun to know.

I've never cared enough to go for a true 1 rep max. Or more to the point, I have never valued that knowledge more than I've felt nervous about the injury risk of a 1RM lift attempt. I do feel 100% comfortable with claiming 1RMs based on calculators.

I use this one.

I go to failure with a weight that takes me to 8 or 10 reps. Then claim the glory of whatever max the calculator tells me I could do.

With that logic my best ever lift was a 1RM PR of 364 on deadlift. In fact that was 260 for 12 reps on Feb 1 2022, 10 months short of my 50th birthday. Following injuries and backtracking I've been trying to regain that form ever since.

 

[mgarbowski]

I've never cared enough to go for a true 1 rep max. Or more to the point, I have never valued that knowledge more than I've felt nervous about the injury risk of a 1RM lift attempt. I do feel 100% comfortable with claiming 1RMs based on calculators.

I use this one.

I go to failure with a weight that takes me to 8 or 10 reps. Then claim the glory of whatever max the calculator tells me I could do.

With that logic my best ever lift was a 1RM PR of 364 on deadlift. In fact that was 260 for 12 reps on Feb 1 2022, 10 months short of my 50th birthday. Following injuries and backtracking I've been trying to regain that form ever since.

Oooh, I didn't know this was a thing. I'm going to try this. It makes sense there is a bell curve median line that you can build an algo off of.

I've never even done a single set to fail. I do fail, but it's usually on at least my second or third set of a particular lift in a session with other lifts mixed in. I need to set aside a day and test my limits to fail on chest, deadlift and maybe overhead press.

 

[FootyLovin]

Oooh, I didn't know this was a thing. I'm going to try this. It makes sense there is a bell curve median line that you can build an algo off of.

I've never even done a single set to fail. I do fail, but it's usually on at least my second or third set of a particular lift in a session with other lifts mixed in. I need to set aside a day and test my limits to fail on chest, deadlift and maybe overhead press.

I find it fun to track. Every month I record my best set in deadlift, squat, BB bench, DB bench, bent over row, pull up and EZ bar curl. Rarely are any of those true failure other than the curl. But I'm a pretty good judge at this point I think of whether or not I have another rep in the tank. So I get close to the line.

I've gone through phases where I lift 3 sets of 10 for an exercise and only progress the weight when I complete all 3 sets to 10. That sounds like it is probably what you are doing. By definition that system leaves reps in the tank on the first 2 sets.

Mostly these days I take every set to within 1-2 reps of failure. So more hypertrophy bang for the buck on each set but a steep drop-off in reps from each set to the next. And an overall more taxing workout.

 

[mgarbowski]

I've gone through phases where I lift 3 sets of 10 for an exercise and only progress the weight when I complete all 3 sets to 10. That sounds like it is probably what you are doing. By definition that system leaves reps in the tank on the first 2 sets.

No. I mix it up during the workout. Sample Chest and Back workout:
Chest Press
Chest Fly
Row
Reverse Fly
All 10x, minimal time between exercises, repeat 3 times with 30 seconds between blocks, then another group after about a 60-90 second rest:
Rotate Press
Decline Press
Pullover
Wide Row

From this I get a balanced workout but no sense of my limits. Even within the first block I'm fresher on the chest press than the reverse fly because I'm not resting between sets. I could add rest, but that's a different type of workout and this has generally worked for me.
I do another style where I do consecutive sets of one exercise but add weight and drop reps as I go along. EG:

15 reps at 20 (each arm)
12 reps at 25
8 reps at 30 or 35.
Sometimes you add a "drop" set at 8 again. If so, you lift what you feel in the moment. You can add more weight, stay level, or go down if need be. This format balances hi rep/low weight with low rep/heavy weight.
You can also play around going 15-12-8-8-12-15 on a single exercise.

I've also done 5-5-5-5-5 with just a few seconds between sets and not dropping the weights. This often surprises me at how spent I am in the last set.

But I'm not opposed to trying a simpler style to generate some data.

Finally, I used to go to exhaustion or very close more than I do now. I found that when I really pushed myself to failure while lifting it left me kind of spent for living the rest of the day. I don't need that level of effort for the results I'm chasing.

 

[FootyLovin]

No. I mix it up during the workout. Sample Chest and Back workout:
Chest Press
Chest Fly
Row
Reverse Fly
All 10x, minimal time between exercises, repeat 3 times with 30 seconds between blocks, then another group after about a 60-90 second rest:
Rotate Press
Decline Press
Pullover
Wide Row

From this I get a balanced workout but no sense of my limits. Even within the first block I'm fresher on the chest press than the reverse fly because I'm not resting between sets. I could add rest, but that's a different type of workout and this has generally worked for me.
I do another style where I do consecutive sets of one exercise but add weight and drop reps as I go along. EG:

15 reps at 20 (each arm)
12 reps at 25
8 reps at 30 or 35.
Sometimes you add a "drop" set at 8 again. If so, you lift what you feel in the moment. You can add more weight, stay level, or go down if need be. This format balances hi rep/low weight with low rep/heavy weight.
You can also play around going 15-12-8-8-12-15 on a single exercise.

I've also done 5-5-5-5-5 with just a few seconds between sets and not dropping the weights. This often surprises me at how spent I am in the last set.

But I'm not opposed to trying a simpler style to generate some data.

Finally, I used to go to exhaustion or very close more than I do now. I found that when I really pushed myself to failure while lifting it left me kind of spent for living the rest of the day. I don't need that level of effort for the results I'm chasing.

That makes a lot of sense. The method should be driven by the purpose. I never lifted until my 40s and then was almost entirely hypertrophy focused. So every set goes to within 2-3 reps of failure and every set gets plenty of rest to get the most out of the next set. I almost never do supersets of anything and over the years my number of exercises per workout has gone down while my weight and rest times have gone up. I might do an hour long workout with warmup that only gets 10-12 working sets. Looks like a lot of sitting around. But it's a hell of a tough workout.

 

[RunningWise]

This is very informative for someone who doesn’t lift. I didn’t realize they was so much behind it. But that does make sense as my build up with running is just as complicated.

After I run Valencia Marathon I’m planning on starting to add some weights to my workouts. I’m definitely going to reach out to this group for some advice.

 

[FootyLovin]

This is very informative for someone who doesn’t lift. I didn’t realize they was so much behind it. But that does make sense as my build up with running is just as complicated.

After I run Valencia Marathon I’m planning on starting to add some weights to my workouts. I’m definitely going to reach out to this group for some advice.

Ten years ago I knew pretty much nothing about lifting. I was convinced that I just didn't have the genetics for muscle growth because all the "lifting" I had done in my life hadn't produced results. I was completely wrong. I've spent a pretty ridiculous amount of my free time in the last decade studying muscle growth.

To be clear, no one who sees me now would think, wow, what a jacked human. But my body is pretty transformed from what it was.

Happy to share anything I can if/when you want. There are a lot of mistakes I made that I would love to have back if I could.

 

[joe]

This is very informative for someone who doesn’t lift. I didn’t realize they was so much behind it. But that does make sense as my build up with running is just as complicated.

After I run Valencia Marathon I’m planning on starting to add some weights to my workouts. I’m definitely going to reach out to this group for some advice.

Starting Strength is great for beginners. Simple and straightforward. If you're older you will need to change programs sooner, but it will still give you a great foundation.

 

[hossainanan]

It's come up enough, with recent marathon and running discussion falling in the praise thread, that I think it probably deserves its own space.

Running, lifting, rucking, weekend warrior footy. We can even make room here for those pickleball crazies.

Let's talk all things fitness.

Love this idea! Always good to have a space for the runners, lifters, hikers, and everyone in between. Looking forward to hearing what people are training for next.