Polyglot Fitness Challenge 2021

Ongoing language-learning challenges, and team challenge logs (but not individual logs)
Cavesa
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Re: Polyglot Fitness Challenge 2021

Postby Cavesa » Tue Jan 12, 2021 2:05 pm

pinkyslippers wrote:
Cavesa wrote: I also don't want to buy new and bigger clothes, I'd prefer to fit back into the ones I like and have already paid for. :-D


Thanks for joining the challenge! I feel your pain regarding clothes! I have been working from home since March 2020, at some point I am going to have to fit back into non-elasticated waists again and it is a scary thought! :D


Thank you! I ned to postpone my exercising goal for a few weeks though, as I am starting keto now (which worked for me years ago, it is a good restart and way to lose efficiently. The main problem will be getting back to "normal" diet and exercising after this).

Yes, the clothes are a real problem, especially in the world of eshops. :-D

Btw how do people motivate themselves to keep going with video exercises? There are now tons of online programs, even more thanks to the covid, they are in some ways absolutely great. Accessible even in a small town far away from the civilised world with its huge amount of options, accessible no matter your work hours, and so on. I've found various, that are a good match for me. But I am getting fed up with the online exercises.

Anyone found something that improves the tolerance of the lonely video lessons? :-D
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Mista
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Re: Polyglot Fitness Challenge 2021

Postby Mista » Tue Jan 12, 2021 5:25 pm

I'm going to kick start the year with a mini-challenge. I'm also suffering from lockdown here in Oslo, and I find that more determination is required to get enough exercise in January than what was the case in March/April. The sun sets at four o'clock, and the temperature is well below zero.

My goals are to get daily exercise and to lose weight, and at the same time make more progress with the listening part of my SC challenge, where I'm quite far behind. My tools are my polar watch and the associated weight program. The essentials of this program are that you set yourself a weight goal and a time period, then try to eat sensibly, achieve the daily activity goal inticated by the watch (which also measures all activity and indicates your progress), and register your weight at least a couple of times a week. The program will then compare your actual weight loss with the other data and adjust your daily activity goal accordingly. My main goal, then, is to make sure I meet that daily activity goal every day. AS fir the language part of the challenge, my goal is to increase my daily average listening time.

My main activity will be walking (though I also want to get in one high intensity session per week), which I will combine with listening to audiobooks.

For this initial session, I've set the weight loss goal to 2 kg, and the time to three weeks.
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Klara
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Re: Polyglot Fitness Challenge 2021

Postby Klara » Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:15 pm

Cavesa wrote:Btw how do people motivate themselves to keep going with video exercises? There are now tons of online programs, even more thanks to the covid, they are in some ways absolutely great. Accessible even in a small town far away from the civilised world with its huge amount of options, accessible no matter your work hours, and so on. I've found various, that are a good match for me. But I am getting fed up with the online exercises.

Anyone found something that improves the tolerance of the lonely video lessons? :-D

Ah, Cavesa, although I am not participating in the challenge, I just have to answer your question because at least for me I have found an answer. Since mid November last year I have been doing video exercises every day (around 20 minutes each). Way over a 100 workouts, really no cheating! :roll:

At first, I took part in a simple fitness challenge offerd by an Australian YT channel. For two weeks I got each day a playlist with three to four video exercises - all in all about 45 minutes of workouts to do during the day. I also got a workout plan where I could tick the boxes under each video that I did. On day 8 my motivation declined. But I wanted to finish this challenge - I hate loose ends and so I did all the remaining workouts in the following six days. The feeling of accomplishment was great and I realized what I need to keep me going:

1. Find a YT channel with professional video exercises for all fitness levels, especially for my own low level.
My choice: German channel https://www.youtube.com/c/GabiFastner/videos Her videos are really excellent! Calm, friendly, engaging, not boring at all - also good for German language learners because she explains a lot in clear voice. There is no loud music.

2. This channel should regularly upload new videos, at least once per week.
Gabi uploads two videos a day, one in the morning at 6:30 and one in the afternoon at 15.30 (before covid she uploaded 3 to 5 videos per week), she also offers lots of challenges.

3. The video exercises should be varied - gentle gym, cardio, strength, pilates … - what ever is out there.
This German channel contains everything I could ever have imagined, more than a thousand videos.

4. Find channels in other languages that fulfil the requirements 1 to 3.
My Spanish channel https://www.youtube.com/c/SienteteBien/videos or for the younger https://www.youtube.com/c/SienteteJoven/videos
My Canadian-French channel https://www.youtube.com/c/MOVE50PLUS/playlists not that much new videos but a good playlist "Posture et stabilité"
I am still on the lookout for "ideal" channels in French and Italian.
My English channel https://www.youtube.com/c/fabulous50s/videos is the one that brought me into the game of video exercises, Schellea is a motivating person and has lots of fans.

5. Make a spreadsheet and note all the video exercises you have done with hyperlinks. Here an example of my workouts for two days:
workouts2days.png


6. Keep the workouts balanced - mobility, strength, endurance
7. Modify the exercises whenever it is necessary, listen to your body.

So, every morning I am really curious, what the new workout video is about - first thing I see on my smart phone via push message. If I like it, I do it right away, even before breakfast. If not, I just do a previous one - after breakfast :-). Later I decide which will be the next one(s). In sum, I want to do one hour (+/-) of physical exercise every day. Sometimes I only do one video exercise and fill the remaining time on the treadmill or exercise bike.

But there are also days with extreme low motivation. At that point I start with a 10 minute easy workout and so far, this always motivated me to somehow complete my daily hour.

But two sucessful months are not much. In the long run, I want to establish some sort of routine that keeps me mobile and fit.

If I were you, Cavesa, I would combine various types of dance workouts. There is Latin dance, African dance, hip hop, Bollywood dance and others - you know that better than me. If there are regular uploads, people write lots of comments and there are sometimes communities either on YT or in facebook groupes. That might solve the loneliness issue.

Hope that helps you a bit to find your own way of dealing with video exercises - move ya, my dear. :lol:
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LunaMoonsilver
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Re: Polyglot Fitness Challenge 2021

Postby LunaMoonsilver » Fri Jan 15, 2021 12:27 am

I've been eyeing this thread the whole time it's been up but it's finally time for me to just give in and join :lol:

Fitness goals
  • Strength training 3x/week (150 sessions until the end of 2021)
  • Learn to do the splits (or get as close as possible - this may take longer than a year and uhhhh it is super important not to rush!)
  • Learn to do a handstand (shouldn't take as long, just need that c o r e strength)

Language goals
  • I have a whole bunch but the main one is to finish the Super Challenge in German and Spanish, so that's the one I'm going to post here

Hope everyone is having fun with their exercise! :D
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Deinonysus
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Re: Polyglot Fitness Challenge 2021

Postby Deinonysus » Mon Jan 18, 2021 6:26 pm

Sign me up! Thank you pinkyslippers for starting this thread, and thanks to everyone who is participating in this challenge, for inspiring me to start running again! It was hard to make the time for it since my daughter was born (and before that even), but this morning I went for my first run in years.

Language Challenge

Try to make progress every day in the three main French resources I'm working on:
  • CLE ______ progressif/ve du français series, various books
  • FSI Introduction to French Phonology and Basic French
  • G. Mauger Cours de langue et de Civilisation Françaises
(Subject to change due to short attention span)

Fitness challenge

  • Go running a couple times a week
  • Possibly also do some pushups on non-running days
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clara
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Re: Polyglot Fitness Challenge 2021

Postby clara » Sun Jan 31, 2021 12:26 am

It's not the end of the month yet, but I've passed my 1000/1000/1000 goal of 1000 pages read, 1000 minutes watched and 1000 pushups for January. I had a small bench press PR for the first time since the pandemic started, so I think the pushups are helping!

February goals:

  • 1000 pages of Spanish with at least one book natively written in Spanish. (So far I've only read translations.)
  • 1000 pushups, averaging 12+ reps per set. In January, I usually did 10 reps per set.
  • 3000 minutes of Spanish series / movies.

How's everybody else coming along with their Fitness Challenge?
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Spanish Goals
22/23 SC Films: 438 / 18000 438 / 18000 minutes
22/23 SC Books: 6454 / 10000 6454 / 10000 pages
2022 Reading: 8061 / 8000 8061 / 10000 8000 pages

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coldrainwater
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Re: Polyglot Fitness Challenge 2021

Postby coldrainwater » Sun Jan 31, 2021 4:29 pm

Long Post Warning

I am in (again!). Lucky for me, fitness doesn't require originality.

I was plenty active in January, but my mind took the better part of the month to accept the notion that a new year and a new physical challenge is in order.

I like the way clara formulated flexible goals so much that I plan to follow the general format, which seems ideal. Like last year, my exercise goals need to integrate directly with language learning. In 2021 specifically, I want the freedom to incorporate plenty of intensive language learning without the detriments that stem from inactivity and too much desk-study.

Burpees (new habit and my main February challenge)
I plan to counterbalance all that sedentary time with short, but effective activities that serve as immediate and regular breaks from intense work/learning. What has held me back from intensive work in the past really amounts to me not wanting to sacrifice physical fitness (even a little). To that end, for February I will aim to do 1000 burpees. I have had a consistency problem with burpees in both 2019 and 2020. I might be able to overshoot the 1000 mark as long as illness and injury don't intervene (always a caveat those two). Should needs dictate, I can alter the plan. As background, I am coming off nearly a month of hiking in Colorado, so I need something that will maintain a portion of that cardio capacity even with less-than-ideal flatland terrain (Houston, TX).

Stairs Training (existing habit-maintenance only)
As a general staple, I will maintain a long-standing habit of stair training (3-4 years now, hands-down the best cardio exercise I have ever done). I work in a 10-story building that I still have access to and feel comfortable doing stairs there at least on weekends when no-one is around but would prefer to do that only a few times per week rather than daily.

Vitality Challenge (existing habit-yearly participation)
As I have in previous years, I joined the annual corporate Vitality workout challenge this February, which I think will end up being mostly a step challenge that I suspect will amount to doing about 15k steps per day for a good portion of the month. The outdoor weather here in Houston for February tends to alternate between the usual muggy-hot and something much nicer, so I hope to do simple outdoor slow-jogging for most of that challenge. That doesn't do much of anything for cardio, but boosts mood substantially and gives direct time for language learning. Last year, I determined 20k steps per day really felt like far more than needed and even cut into my both my work and my other (more helpful) physical workouts, so I suspect 15k will be much closer to an ideal balance implemented as a short-term sprint-style initiative.

January 2021 Update
Hiking like I did in Dec 2020 and early Jan 2021 tends to boost cardio in dramatic fashion, but it always leaves me pretty weak with respect to limit strength. Thus as a January activity recap, I spent time reacquiring basic deadlift and pressing strength. The deadlifting strength comes in handy anytime I need to move really anything (including myself) and, at least subjectively, I feel much less injury-prone. Stairs training accomplishes the same feat with respect to leg strength and stability for me, leading to more of a whole-body effect. My pressing ability is terminally weak but is at least back in form. I made good deadlift progress in January that I am now happy to simply maintain.

Grammar (not started and not planned, but noted here anyway)
Language-wise, German grammar is at least on my radar, but I definitely don't have a habit built for it, so I won't try pushing that into a German language mix that already involves quite a few activities (each rotated however I want at the moment). I did see Cèid Donn's conjugation plan, so it at least sparks a few ideas on my end, but not enough for me to try implementing something.

Tracking
Also in January, I tracked most of what I did with great results (results that I can attribute to tracking specifically), so it won't be hard to also add the burpee tracking to my existing spreadsheet(s). I don't know if it really amounts to a 10% boost or more, but whatever the exact figure, it is high and noticeable.

Diet (new challenge but low-effort)
Diet-wise my hope is to never step toe inside a grocery store until COVID is under control. For me, that is a new challenge made possible by home-delivery and Amazon. To accomplish this, I plan to rely on Amazon Fresh. Since they acquired Wholefoods, I know what I order will be healthy and I am not tempted by what I can't smell. It also seems to be cheaper for me since they offer free delivery at low dollar thresholds.
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clara
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Re: Polyglot Fitness Challenge 2021

Postby clara » Sun Jan 31, 2021 8:57 pm

coldrainwater wrote:The deadlifting strength comes in handy anytime I need to move really anything (including myself) and, at least subjectively, I feel much less injury-prone.


You have a very different relationship with deadlifting than I do. I enjoy them, but I feel absolutely wrecked and have trouble tying my shoe laces afterwards, let alone picking anything up off the floor. :lol:

Welcome to the challenge!
3 x
Spanish Goals
22/23 SC Films: 438 / 18000 438 / 18000 minutes
22/23 SC Books: 6454 / 10000 6454 / 10000 pages
2022 Reading: 8061 / 8000 8061 / 10000 8000 pages

clara
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Re: Polyglot Fitness Challenge 2021

Postby clara » Sun Jan 31, 2021 9:00 pm

pinkyslippers wrote:Wow, clara, you are doing so well, fantastic job!

I didn’t quite meet my active minutes goal this month but wasn’t too far off. For February my goal is 660+ active minutes.

I’m doing better with the novels: 3 in Spanish and 2 in French this month.

Hope everyone else is doing well, I have been reading your logs, very inspirational!


Wow, 5 novels sounds impressive to me! I hope to increase my Spanish reading speed to a point where I can comfortably read a book a week.
1 x
Spanish Goals
22/23 SC Films: 438 / 18000 438 / 18000 minutes
22/23 SC Books: 6454 / 10000 6454 / 10000 pages
2022 Reading: 8061 / 8000 8061 / 10000 8000 pages

Mista
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Languages: Norwegian (N), English (QN). Studied Ancient Greek (MA), Linguistics (MA), Latin (BA), German (BA). Italian at A2/B1 level. Learning: French, Japanese, Russian (focus) and various others, like Polish, Spanish, Vietnamese, and anything that comes my way. Also know some Sanskrit (but not the script) and Coptic. Really want to learn Arabic and Amharic.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7497
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Re: Polyglot Fitness Challenge 2021

Postby Mista » Mon Feb 01, 2021 12:21 am

I just finished the 3-week period I signed up for.

Fitness: I didn't quite make that activity goal every day, but I did on some days, and was just a little bit short on the others. My weekly averages were 94% - 97% - 94%. I'm quite happy with that. Also - it was ENOUGH: My goal was to lose 2 kg, and I lost 2.1.

Language: My goal was to increase my average daily listening time for the Super Challenge through my daily walks. At the end of December, it was 42 minutes, and now, at the end of January, it is 59 minutes. That's the average for the whole period starting in May, so it means I've been listening for much more than an hour every day to get there (but I don't have the numbers for January separately).

I'm feeling good about this, so I'd like to try to do exactly the same thing for the next three weeks. But I also want to add a small additional challenge: I need to get started with strength again, and gyms are still closed. So to make a small start, I set myself the following challenge for the next three weeks: Every day, do at least ten repetitions of at least one strength exercise. Language learning aspect: count the repetitions in Arabic (I've learned to count to ten in Arabic, but I could definitely learn it better).
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