Fitness for Glastonbury 2023

[Alvoram]

52 minutes ago, moogster said:

Putting on a very improbable trainer hat: What I am missing here @Alvoram is some upper body/core work outs. Go and lift some barrels!

Oh that's this evening... Have to rack the weekend's real ales... And again tomorrow on delivery day. 🙂 

Friday and Saturday are usually 14 - 15 hour work days for all of us, so a friend normally walks the dogs these days. But I'm gonna try and give them a big second walk in the evening after work. 🙂 Make up for all the times I've fobbed them off with short walks these last few months. 

Sunday we finish early, pub closes at 8pm, and we usually do either a night time couple or family walk with the dogs... Problem with that is they're too slow, as you hinted at yesterday, they won't raise the heart rate. So apart from a very busy work day, and relaxing walk after, I'm going to consider Sunday as a rest day. 🙂 

Sorry, I know I went off on a tangent there, but I'm just trying to plan out my days in my head, and putting it down on (virtual) paper seems sensible. 

Anyway... I feel like I've killed this thread a little with my pathetic attempts at fitness, which pale in comparison to marathon training and the other things some of you are doing... What has everyone else been doing these last couple of days? It's been a bit fresh outdoors hasn't it? 

[Skip997]

Finally got back to the gym about a month ago, after 5 months off.

[Alvoram]

9 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

Finally got back to the gym about a month ago, after 5 months off.

You feeling the benefits yet? 

It's surprising how quickly you start to feel better isn't it? Not just physically either...

Got a bit of a mess to sort out with my gym, missed a direct debit, didn't think it was an issue, as I was way over my contract length, and I hadn't been for months, so assumed it would just cancel... Anyway, missed another, they eventually cancelled and I now somehow owe them 3 months plus fees, which is with a debt collector, so I'm not sure if I'm banned. Anytime fitness that is. I assume (hope) I'll just have to pay the debt and then all will be good, which I don't mind doing, I should have assumed there was a notice period to cancel even after your contract is up, everything moves onto rolling contracts these days, so that's on me. I just hope I am not banned. 

I can't really attend any other gym locally due to my working patterns, that 24hr access was a god send. 😞 

[pilton digger]

24 minutes ago, Alvoram said:

Anyway... I feel like I've killed this thread a little with my pathetic attempts at fitness, which pale in comparison to marathon training and the other things some of you are doing...

I very much disagree - in my very humble opinion, this is what the thread should have more of and I will look forwards to your updates. It is easy for heroes to tell us what huge distances they do but it is far harder for someone to admit to limitations or challenges. Please continue, it will encourage others and maybe provide them with motivation. Come and find me at the e-fest meet on Weds at the Ridge and Furrow, irrespective of what happens between now and then with your fitness, and I will buy you a pint.

[Skip997]

5 minutes ago, Alvoram said:

You feeling the benefits yet? 

It's surprising how quickly you start to feel better isn't it? Not just physically either...
 

Yea think I am, leg muscles definitely improved. Mentally - maybe/hopefully!

[Alvoram]

6 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

Yea think I am, leg muscles definitely improved. Mentally - maybe/hopefully!

I'm out of upvotes!!! 

[WhatADin]

I keep seeing this thread popping up and covering my eyes, but I know I need to be on it. I was doing really well at the beginning of the year, smashing out 3 weight sessions a week and racking up about 6 hours on the Peloton (well exercise bike with Peloton on my phone) each week. Then summer came and it's all gone to pot. I need to get back on it so I don't absolutely collapse next June.

 

 

[p.pete]

2 hours ago, Alvoram said:

Anyway... I feel like I've killed this thread a little with my pathetic attempts at fitness, which pale in comparison to marathon training and the other things some of you are doing... What has everyone else been doing these last couple of days? It's been a bit fresh outdoors hasn't it? 

1 hour ago, pilton digger said:

I very much disagree - in my very humble opinion, this is what the thread should have more of and I will look forwards to your updates. It is easy for heroes to tell us what huge distances they do but it is far harder for someone to admit to limitations or challenges. Please continue, it will encourage others and maybe provide them with motivation. Come and find me at the e-fest meet on Weds at the Ridge and Furrow, irrespective of what happens between now and then with your fitness, and I will buy you a pint.

Absolutely not, same as what pilton digger says.  People who love running and cycling have Strava for sharing their brilliance - although if you find it motivational there's a place on Strava for people who hate, or suck at, running and cycling too 😄 

Glastonbury is a massive effort, if you get home from it without feeling wrecked then you're not doing it right, regardless of whether you're young, old, fit or not.  If it motivates you to put things here then go for it, if that inspires others then brilliant, and if you're doing it with Glastonbury in mind then I'm interested!

[moogster]

I have to say I find it hard to go out now that light hours are basically office hours. This is why I am going to stop working NOW and go for a "podcast walk". And maybe force myself to do some yoga/stretching later on as that's maybe something that won't show on the weighting scale but is as important as weight or muscle mass.

[Alvoram]

6 hours ago, p.pete said:

Absolutely not, same as what pilton digger says.  People who love running and cycling have Strava for sharing their brilliance - although if you find it motivational there's a place on Strava for people who hate, or suck at, running and cycling too 😄 

Glastonbury is a massive effort, if you get home from it without feeling wrecked then you're not doing it right, regardless of whether you're young, old, fit or not.  If it motivates you to put things here then go for it, if that inspires others then brilliant, and if you're doing it with Glastonbury in mind then I'm interested!

Thanks buddy, only had one upvote left and read from the bottom up. But I do appreciate your comment 🙂 

[p.pete]

12 hours ago, Alvoram said:

Thanks buddy, only had one upvote left and read from the bottom up. But I do appreciate your comment 🙂 

It's alright - I did read that you were out of upvotes and nearly didn't bother 😛 

[gigpusher]

 

23 hours ago, Alvoram said:

Oh that's this evening... Have to rack the weekend's real ales... And again tomorrow on delivery day. 🙂 

Friday and Saturday are usually 14 - 15 hour work days for all of us, so a friend normally walks the dogs these days. But I'm gonna try and give them a big second walk in the evening after work. 🙂 Make up for all the times I've fobbed them off with short walks these last few months. 

Sunday we finish early, pub closes at 8pm, and we usually do either a night time couple or family walk with the dogs... Problem with that is they're too slow, as you hinted at yesterday, they won't raise the heart rate. So apart from a very busy work day, and relaxing walk after, I'm going to consider Sunday as a rest day. 🙂 

Sorry, I know I went off on a tangent there, but I'm just trying to plan out my days in my head, and putting it down on (virtual) paper seems sensible. 

Anyway... I feel like I've killed this thread a little with my pathetic attempts at fitness, which pale in comparison to marathon training and the other things some of you are doing... What has everyone else been doing these last couple of days? It's been a bit fresh outdoors hasn't it? 

22 hours ago, pilton digger said:

I very much disagree - in my very humble opinion, this is what the thread should have more of and I will look forwards to your updates. It is easy for heroes to tell us what huge distances they do but it is far harder for someone to admit to limitations or challenges. Please continue, it will encourage others and maybe provide them with motivation. Come and find me at the e-fest meet on Weds at the Ridge and Furrow, irrespective of what happens between now and then with your fitness, and I will buy you a pint.

I created this thread and honestly I am much more in @Alvoramcamp than the super fit people in the thread. Don't get me wrong I love hearing their stories too but your story Alvoram is pretty much identical to mine. I was the fittest I had ever been still overweight by normal standards but probably the best I had been when the pandemic hit. All the good habits I developed I lost and had some pretty shit times brother diagnosed with terminal cancer and dying during the height of the pandemic, sister in law getting kidney cancer which was another really close call but thankfully she lost a kidney but is making a recovery and a very poorly dog who actually probably had the biggest impact on my health as she couldn't walk a lot and even to this day needs a lot less exercise than I used to get. I have had a few good weeks and then shit times at work or the weather and I slide back again. Trying damage limitation until the New Year and hoping I can kick start my way back to better habits in the new year. But honestly keep posting. If nothing else seeing the thread puts it back on my radar and reminds me I have to start doing better if I don't want Glastonbury to be a struggle come June. 

[Chazwozza]

Being an Old Git I am wary  of frightening people with my Lycra-clad bod, so I concentrate on festival-specific training.  Long walks including hills, carrying a day sack seems to work reasonably well for me and it keeps my heart rate in the fat-burning zone. I try to restrict other training - drinking and dancing like a loon - to inside the house…

[Alvoram]

4 hours ago, p.pete said:

It's alright - I did read that you were out of upvotes and nearly didn't bother 😛 

Haha, have one now... better late than never. 

 

1 hour ago, gigpusher said:

 

I created this thread and honestly I am much more in @Alvoramcamp than the super fit people in the thread. Don't get me wrong I love hearing their stories too but your story Alvoram is pretty much identical to mine. I was the fittest I had ever been still overweight by normal standards but probably the best I had been when the pandemic hit. All the good habits I developed I lost and had some pretty shit times brother diagnosed with terminal cancer and dying during the height of the pandemic, sister in law getting kidney cancer which was another really close call but thankfully she lost a kidney but is making a recovery and a very poorly dog who actually probably had the biggest impact on my health as she couldn't walk a lot and even to this day needs a lot less exercise than I used to get. I have had a few good weeks and then shit times at work or the weather and I slide back again. Trying damage limitation until the New Year and hoping I can kick start my way back to better habits in the new year. But honestly keep posting. If nothing else seeing the thread puts it back on my radar and reminds me I have to start doing better if I don't want Glastonbury to be a struggle come June. 

Bloody hell mate, that's an awful few years, so sorry to read about your Brother, Sister and Doggo... Think going through just half of that shit would be enough to fuck anybody up for a while!!! When life has you down on the ground it just keeps on kicking and kicking doesn't it? 😞 Glad you're fighting back though, of course I'll keep posting. My posting here was to motivate myself, I wasn't even expecting anybody to be interested. But if it helps somebody else too, that would be absolutely incredible, and even more motivation to carry on than I could possible have hoped for!

I'll update properly later, but it wasn't a bad day yesterday, still on track. 🙂 

[gigpusher]

6 minutes ago, Alvoram said:

Haha, have one now... better late than never. 

 

Bloody hell mate, that's an awful few years, so sorry to read about your Brother, Sister and Doggo... Think going through just half of that shit would be enough to fuck anybody up for a while!!! When life has you down on the ground it just keeps on kicking and kicking doesn't it? 😞 Glad you're fighting back though, of course I'll keep posting. My posting here was to motivate myself, I wasn't even expecting anybody to be interested. But if it helps somebody else too, that would be absolutely incredible, and even more motivation to carry on than I could possible have hoped for!

I'll update properly later, but it wasn't a bad day yesterday, still on track. 🙂 

Great! Hopefully in the new year I'll join in as well. I just would like to focus on getting my step count up and cut out some of the junk food. 

[Alvoram]

Day 4. 5 and 6:

Weight: 281lb 
Daily Change: +3lb
Total Loss: 3lb 

Weekends are going to be the main struggle through December. They'll ease up in January and beyond, but at the moment I'm extremely busy during the weekend. Thursday was ok, I managed a 4km walk, ate well and then worked the evening shift again. I never did get to walk Friday and Saturday, I was just way too busy, and knowing the dogs had been taken on a decent walk anyway doesn't exactly motivate me.

I also did not eat great. Thursday was good, had a home made spag bol, but made with turkey mince. That is what initially put back on the water weight (carbs in pasta.) But like I said in my last update, that means nothing anyway, overall the calories were very low and what I ate was not fatty. Friday was bad, I fell victim to my cravings for a burger. Although to try and be a little bit healthier, and avoid the red meat, I had a vegan beyond burger from the pub kitchen. God I love those beyond burgers, so much more flavour than a real burger. But sadly they come with deep fried skinny fries. 😞 Still, very little damage done, I stayed the same in weight. Yesterday I had a home made masala with rice. Again, a healthy portion of carbs have meant I've stayed the same, and not re lost any of that water weight. 

Overall I'm happy, I'm 3lb down so far, and that's more likely to be actual weight loss than just water weight 🤞 If I'd kept my carb intake down, no doubt I'd be showing an 8 or 9lb loss, but that wouldn't all be real anyway. Today should be easy. It's our busiest day, so I'll be very busy on my feet. We serve a carvery, so I'll have an evening meal of meat and vegetables, and just cut the potatoes, yorkies and stuffing out. Then we'll go for our usual evening walk. 

Sorry for the lack of updates, weekends will most likely not be daily updates until January.

[Alvoram]

On 12/9/2022 at 1:18 PM, gigpusher said:

Great! Hopefully in the new year I'll join in as well. I just would like to focus on getting my step count up and cut out some of the junk food. 

I'm up for some friendly step challenge days if you want, and if it will help. A bit of friendly competition was another helpful factor for me last time. 

Back then I was using a fitbit rather than an Apple Watch, and I was noticing I was often getting 30-40k steps. So I spent one day just trying to get the 50k badge, I walked around the country park for most of the day, just for a silly virtual badge. I got it though, before my friends. 🙈😂

[Neil]

other than coping with glasto, what do you hope to achieve with your exercise?

 

since my illness, i've spent a lot of time contemplating, "if i'd have been fitter would this have happened? did i bring this on myself?"

and then i saw that Olympic athlete Michael johnson has suffered a stroke too (same as me), so fit and healthy isn't much of a barrier to serious illness?

Edited December 11, 2022 by Neil

[Alvoram]

14 minutes ago, Neil said:

other than coping with glasto, what do you hope to achieve with your exercise?

 

since my illness, i've spent a lot of time contemplating, "if i'd have been fitter would this have happened? did i bring this on myself?"

and then i saw that Olympic athlete Michael johnson has suffered a stroke too (same as me), so fit and healthy isn't much of a barrier to serious illness?

I actually have multiple reasons...

Glasto, obviously. 

My other hobby is roller coasters and theme parks. I have never had to do what us enthusiasts call 'the walk of shame' yet. But I could sense that towards the end of last season, I was getting close. Needing the ride host's help to close the restraints. 😕 Obviously, I'd be absolutely gutted if I got too big to ride coasters. It was only a few months ago that I was in the states purely for visiting theme parks. So by March I want to be closing my own restraints again. (Thankfully, visiting parks also helps massively with weight loss if I'm eating right, silly amounts of daily steps can be achieved at my home park, Alton Towers.) 

And of course, general health, I'm nearly 40 now, I'm getting to an age where diabetes will be a factor if I don't start looking after myself. I've been lucky to avoid it this far, I want to take action before my luck runs out. 

One thing it's never been about for me, is appearance. I couldn't care less what people think about the way I look, take me or leave me. I always said I'd only care about my weight if either my fitness, general health or physical size, prevented me from doing things I want to do. So this is me... Caring.  

Edited December 11, 2022 by Alvoram

[Crazyfool01]

6 minutes ago, Neil said:

other than coping with glasto, what do you hope to achieve with your exercise?

 

since my illness, i've spent a lot of time contemplating, "if i'd have been fitter would this have happened? did i bring this on myself?"

and then i saw that Olympic athlete Michael johnson has suffered a stroke too (same as me), so fit and healthy isn't much of a barrier to serious illness?

It’s not a barrier and sometimes the fittest can be unfortunate with illness , life will just Chuck things at us …for me it’s type 1 diabetes . But being fit gives the best chances … for me it’s keeping my sugars stable and within range and sometimes it just feels never ending and pointless but that  lessens chances of organ failure and limb amputation further down the line . So these things are definitely worth doing 

[Crazyfool01]

1 minute ago, Alvoram said:

I actually have multiple reasons...

Glasto, obviously. 

My other hobby is roller coasters and theme parks. I have never had to do what us enthusiasts call 'the walk of shame' yet. But I could sense that towards the end of last season, I was getting close. Needing the ride host's help to close the restraints. 😕 Obviously, I'd be absolutely gutted if I got too big to ride coasters. It was only a few months ago that I was in the states purely for visiting theme parks. So by March I want to be closing my own restraints again. 

And of course, general health, I'm nearly 40 now, I'm getting to an age where diabetes will be a factor if I don't start looking after myself. I've been lucky to avoid it this far, I want to take action before my luck runs out. 

One thing it's never been about for me, is appearance. I couldn't care less what people think about the way I look, take me or leave me. I always said I'd only care about my health if either my fitness, or physical size, prevented me from doing things I want to do. So this is me... Caring.  

See above post ref diabetes … I’m type 1 so it couldn’t be avoided … you really don’t want it though … it’s worth that battle to avoid it 

[Neil]

1 minute ago, Crazyfool01 said:

. So these things are definitely worth doing 

definitely, i've found good reason to go to the gym and get a personal trainer, things i never thought i'd do, and i'm loosing a bit of my cakeboy-podge too 🙂 

[Alvoram]

1 minute ago, Crazyfool01 said:

See above post ref diabetes … I’m type 1 so it couldn’t be avoided … you really don’t want it though … it’s worth that battle to avoid it 

Yeh it's like anything... I know smokers who live to a grand old age... And none smokers who got lung cancer... Doesn't mean that smoking isn't a risk factor. 

[Crazyfool01]

2 minutes ago, Neil said:

definitely, i've found good reason to go to the gym and get a personal trainer, things i never thought i'd do, and i'm loosing a bit of my cakeboy-podge too 🙂 

Look at what you’ve achieved since the stroke … nothing short of remarkable … reading your posts now for starters is so different and that’s without all the physical improvements 

[Alvoram]

11 minutes ago, Crazyfool01 said:

Look at what you’ve achieved since the stroke … nothing short of remarkable … reading your posts now for starters is so different and that’s without all the physical improvements 

Well said. Sadly, I've seen first hand what a stroke can do to a person, and it's nothing short of terrifying! It's easy to forget now, reading your posts @Neil exactly what you've just been through, and that's got to be a good thing. A credit to how far you've come. (Although the bad side of that is that it's easy for people to forget your condition and instead jump to the conclusion that you're just being a tosser when you're having a bad day.)

Edited December 11, 2022 by Alvoram