How are your summer fitness goals coming along?

Pre-College Topics High School Cafe
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<p>For any CCer without a perfect body, one of your underlying goals for the summer is probably to get ripped. Or if that’s not gonna happen in the next month, at least to get fit. </p>

<p>For me, it’s been a goal since the beginning of the summer, but the heat of mid-July was an impediment. Now, I’m putting literally everything aside until I get more fit. No SAT studying, no books, no nothing. I’ve even deleted my online gaming accounts and cut my time on CC by a lot!</p>

<p>The impetus for me is varsity soccer pre-season practices. Twice a day from August 18th on, pretty much always shirtless. </p>

<p>How are your goals coming along? You can be honest, if you spend your life on CC, your goals are probably being forgotten.</p>

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<p>I didn’t really have any specific goals, just to stay fit and keep running throughout the summer, and try and increase my times a bit. So far, pretty good, though I could have been a little better about working out more.</p>

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Let’s get real, no CCer has a perfect body.</p>

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Heat builds character!</p>

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<p>I would probably, and actually planned to, spend the whole summer trying to get ripped, but I’m instead focusing on SAT studying</p>

<p>However, I have been running a lot this summer and burning spare fat</p>

4

<p>Awesome!</p>

<p>This summer, I joined my high school’s cross country team after never running more than mile in my life. The experience has been outstanding: I love running now, and I can successfully tackle seven miles without fainting or wheezing profanities! xD I’ve even sprinkled in ab workouts and weight lifting into my daily routine.</p>

<p>Food wise, I’m learning to become more relaxed around food. I used to be ultra-obsessed with eating “clean” and counting calories, but this summer I really focused on eating intuitively and mindfully. After all, what’s life without a little indulgence? xD </p>

<p>Great results so far!</p>

<p>And about the heat building character: ah, so true! My coach forced us to run in 90+ degree weather one week. It wasn’t easy, but boy was it rewarding! :D</p>

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<p>fitness??? what is???</p>

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<p>Training in heat builds character? Does torture build character? No, it’s pretty unhealthy. </p>

<p>But training in heat sure gets your sweat going and you feel like you had an insane workout when really you didn’t.</p>

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<p>Mine is going great! </p>

<p>I go to my school’s pre-season workouts 4 days a week for 2 hours each morning. We do weights and cardio. I’ve also been playing beach volleyball. Today I played at a tournament (8 hrs) :D</p>

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<p>@estrellas Isn’t it amazing? I love XC <3. School tryouts start on the 19th, and I barely ran this summer :confused: Should be fun…</p>

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<p>One would think that, being as college focused as we are, that the majority of us would be out of shape. but in reality, we pursue our athletic and fitness goals with the same dogged persistence as we do our academic goals.</p>

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<p>Haha I used to work out everyday for 1.5 hrs after school Monday-Sunday, regardless of school work, test preparation, soccer practice, or soccer games. I promised myself that I would work out for 3 hours a day during summer each day, but eventually I got distracted with Malcolm Gladwell books and SAT preparation lol.</p>

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<p>Ummm I had a great plan…but It failed miserably coz I got lazy!! I think I’ll start going back to the gym when school starts :)))</p>

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<p>Ugh, I really want to become generally fitter but I became lazy during the summer. My main goal is to overcome my fear of running, but I feel like I’ve made no progress. Any tips on how to do that? I always get a runner’s stitch or something, and I can never get rid of it and I always give up to it. This never happens with any other cardio exercises I do. :(</p>

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<p>Are there any swimmers? Summer league aww yeah!
I still hate morning practices, despite doing them for years.</p>

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Well, the good news is that you won’t die, you’ll pass out first. :slight_smile: But really, you just have to stop looking at it as a chore and start looking at it as something fun. </p>

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Be sure you’re drinking enough water, stretch, work on strengthening your abdominal muscles, and try not to eat too much before running (though it’s generally good to have some food in you so you’ll have energy). If you get a side stitch while running, slow down a little and when you exhale, tighten your core muscles; eventually it’ll go away (works for me anyways).</p>

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<p>Anyone else fat like me?
I’m trying to get to a normal weight. So far I’m halfway there!</p>

<p>The worst part about it is people that ridicule overweight people that are exercising.</p>

<p>I’ve lost count at the number of people who’ve I’ve heard complain about the disgusting fat person (me) sweating in the gym. </p>

<p>People don’t stop to think that.an overweight individual is there to get healthy and honestly, enthusiasm is a bi’ tch.</p>

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<p>@ BellLander Definitely!! I’m so glad I joined! :smiley: I’m shocked - with our school, cross country is a no-cut sport. Beginners like me can just run for the heck of it and still be considered part of the team! But then again, cross country isn’t that popular at our school, so it needs all the members it can get. xD But, aah, I wish you luck! Just go in with a positive attitude and own it! You’ll do great :)</p>

<p>@clairee I’m far from the most qualified to be handing out advice on running - I’ve only been running since June! Still, I can tell you that if you stick with running, it’s incredibly rewarding. To quote my cross-country coach:</p>

<p>“The only way to grow and become something greater is to do something you’ve never done, seek out the challenges rather than making excuses to avoid them, extend yourself beyond your comfort zone, take a risk, commit to finding something greater…the feeling afterwards is so much more rewarding, and the achy soreness after completing the challenge is totally worth it, because you earned it.”</p>

<p>Yeah, he’s sort of an undercover motivational speaker. :D</p>

<p>My advice: start out slow. There is NO pressure to go fast. I’m the slowest person on the team - literally - but what makes me a runner is not how far I go, or how fast I run. If you believe you’re a runner, then you already are! :smiley: It definitely helps to create a work-out schedule. I followed my XC coach’s plan for beginners, and believe me - I was more likely to stick to a run if I had it pre-planned. Don’t worry about miles or pace at the beginning - just aim for minutes. Run for ten minutes. Heck, even five! Go as slow as you need to. If you need to walk, there’s nothing wrong with it. </p>

<p>There’s also a thing I need to point out, and I wish someone would have told me sooner: running will ALWAYS, ALWAYS be uncomfortable. Your legs will ache. Your lungs will burn. Sweat will be dripping down your face and you’re feet will be leaden and you will start to wonder why you even wanted to run in the first place. This is normal. </p>

<p>I truly believe that running is 5% physical and 95% mental. Believe you can do it, and you can. When I’m running, I literally repeat to myself “You are the best freaking runner in the world. You can go farther than you have ever before. You can run fast. You, Estrellas, are a freaking beast.” It’s a bit ridiculous, but that positive thinking works magic! If you believe you can do it, even visualize a picture of you running, the pain will subside and running will become natural. Soon, minutes and miles, even the aches from your legs, are erased from your mind and then it’s just you, pressing your limits, taking one more step. It’s a mental state, not a physical one, and it’s oh so rewarding. Not every run will be like this, but some will be, and it’s what I run for. :smiley: GOOD LUCK!</p>

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<p>Lost 9 pounds this summer, holla at yo girl. :smiley: Except, you know, school started up again and no more workouts for me. sad face.</p>

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<p>@CE527M Thanks so much for the advice! My PhysEd teacher also told me something similar about my approach to running as one of the reasons that stops me from doing it. And thanks for the tips about the runner’s stitch, I’ve never heard of the ones you mentioned before so I’ll give it a try next time! Usually what happens is that I squeeze the part of me that is hurting really hard… I guess that wasn’t very useful. </p>

<p>@estrellas Thanks for the super motivating and informative reply! I’ll be sure to remember it when I run. :slight_smile: I’ve been a bit impatient, so I always pushed myself to my limits on my runs. I try to go as far, and as fast, as I can. I think I’ll try to approach it slowly and do smaller, shorter runs like you say. I am attempting a workout schedule from 4 Months to a 4-Hour Marathon (which, in my opinion, is an excellent guide). I do try to give myself some encouragement during runs, but I’ve always found the pains to be overwhelming. I definitely agree with you in running being mostly a mental exercise! This is why I admire all runners, not for their times but for their persistence and ability to handle pain. My teacher has told me that the reason I’m so horrible at running is a psychological one. In a way, that’s more difficult to overcome than the obstacle of being physically unfit, but seeing someone else try so hard and achieve such great results is very inspiring! :D</p>

<p>@ClockworkOnion I’m overweight too! Luckily, I don’t have the same problem as you because I use a small gym where old people frequent, and they don’t care about the odd chubby teenager who is sweating puddles. Ignore the haters, because you’re awesome for trying. :)</p>

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<p>I think my situation is the opposite…My summer is packed while my school year isnt too bad. I should have plenty of free time to work out once college apps are done</p>

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<p>@Any Swimmers out there, (such as Subterranean) I swim laps 4-5 days a week, but I never feel like I get a workout from it. Could you tell me what a typical Swim Team practice consists of? </p>

<p>I need a swimming routine that gets me tired. What do you swimmers do?</p>