We are all different
I could literally do those numbers all day but swimming …?!?
That type of stuff does lend its self to regular practice, regular as in most days like GB is doing.
I love
10 press ups
10 squat s ( down to 90* no weight)
10 sit ups ( any variation there are loads )
Repeat till you fail.
Your body adapts quickly and soon you can keep stuff like this going for quite a long time
If only swimming worked this way!
Framed relative to my total weakness, but I’m starting to see little, incremental gains.
My pressups I’m still doing most days. Now I try to just do 20 really good quality ones, with variations in hand placement, rotation etc day to day once or twice a day.
Pullups I enjoy more and seem to be getting stronger here. Still on the stupid wodden frame, but I’m able to consistently do a min of 5 really good quality pull ups lifting chin way over the bar. 10 ‘standard’ chin to bar is now pretty easy. Also throwing in ones where I lever my body 90 degrees to work the core and I’m doing 30-60 sec hangs. It’s my hands in the open grip that fail first.
Whilst chatting to the physio today I reflected that my lower back aches and pains have totally gone in the last few weeks, directly proportional to the pull ups and hangs. I believe that decompression of the spine is a good outcome from stuff like hanging (off a bar, not a noose).
Also, work has started advertising their gym again. It’s 12 quid a month to use the small gym. Not sure yet what’s in there. Even though I’m only up there once a week at most, I’m thinking for 6 or 4 or even 3 quid a session that it’s probs worth a punt. Even if I just do 30 mins before work. Would be especially beneficial as it’s a 90 minute minimum drive (after which I end up sitting for 8 hrs in meetings and at my dela then drove 100mins home). 20 quid induction to suck up, and I think I can get one for the other gym at the other site that’s free once you’ve been inducted.
Will have to work out a little routine to do if I do join.
Will come back to this thread for ideas if I do. I especially want to get strong and resilient for my very hilly 110 miler this Oct. Lots of steep and technical climbs. So want my legs and back to be really strong.
Sorry that wasn’t meant to be so long. But just happy to see some improvements off a really informal approach.
Same as me today. Did it before any coffee or breakfast and ran last night - excuses! 
Probably could have squeezed the 6th plank out if I was really committed. But I just wasn’t. Surprising how quickly it ramps up! Trying to use the pressups as recovery basically!
Will give that a go once a week I think, see if I can make it to 10. No way I’m coming back down!
Are you doing planks with straight arm, or on elbows?
Down on forearms for me. Core locked out.
I have been doing a fair bit of gym work as part of recovery from hip injury & this morning manged to get up to 9 press ups + the 9th plank, best yet, but then failed half way through the 10th set of pressups.
Like GB I’m dropping onto elbows for the plank. Actually this transition from straight arm to elbows was the hardest thing initially, for some mad reason it caused hip pain.
Forearms is more trunk focussed, arms enables more stabilisers to get involved so less “core” centric. moving from one to the other is also good as it forces different muscles to stabilise the movement (as it from press up finish position to forearms, back to press up start position.
Press ups are practice mostly.
Last week I did …. A min for 15 mins
Nice easy simple work out that can be done Anywere with no equipment ( a prison cell literally)
First press up when you start the watch
Do them properly but quite quickly rest with any pressure off your upper body then start again in the next min
I did
10 obvs 150 total
11
12
13 last week
I’ve done 17 three times ( not at that level at the moment )
I’ve failed 18 twice?
Strange how the numbers quickly add up.
Stick at it !
Is it even a proper plank if it is on the elbows?
For me once you can hold the plank for a reasonable amount of time, nothing epic, then should move onto moving variations like the ‘swimming’ one or shifting a dumb bell or kettlebell, etc.
Hence the press ups into low plank variation, surprisingly hard from a core perspective
Just a bit of a public thank you to @GRamsay added to the private ones I’ve shared with him. Tritalk shows how great it is again.
Todays “Band Gym” challenge (no I didn’t do 500 reps) 4 * 25 of each for beginners 2 * 50 or 1 *100 . I did less as 4 * (5 * 25) is way too much for a novice or in my state.
this is a decent all round workout with no real equipment needs apart from a band or 2 and a mat
(the tricep one I prefer standing, usually do curls and shoulder press standing as well)
No problem … except the seated shoulder press … I’m crap… I’m mean really crap
Probably why I’m so crap at hyrox wall balls, I’m working on it though
Did 177 ( 6 kg) in 12 mins ( 10 ft target) this morning at the end of PT. Grim… AF.
Looks a good workout, 500 reps ! Nice!!
bands make life so easy. Can do most exercises with just one band, so stick it in a case and take on holiday or pull it out in the park half way through a run. A 20min workout takes 20mins, no travel time or set up issues.
Will take a look at that later. Cheers
I noticed a significant improvement in my running after shifting a good 20 tonnes of rubble last week. My hamstrings, lower back and calves all felt significantly bouncier - and if by magic i was back on my old longer runs… so I wonder what it was I did exactly and how could I replicate it in the gym - big heavy boulders … bending down and lifting (sensibly I may add, I wasn’t being silly)
Think I might go for these on prime day
https://amzn.eu/d/0ieyyZRv
£199 is the cheapest they’ve ever been according to camelcamelcamel and the big benefit of these ones is that at the low weights they’re only the size of small dumbbells. You don’t have the long sticky out parts for just a 4kg weight.
Based on your experience of liking adjustable ones, I think I’ll probably press the button
Lots of deadlifts, squats and lunges and lots if variants if each.
Have placed an order. Amazon also now do a non-credit check split payment option, so it just bills your credit card 1/5 of the amount each month for 5 months. So £40pm for the next 5 months is pretty insignificant
Good spot - have also ordered a set
