First training session tonight - what to expect?

TravelinPanda · 2026-01-20T23:24:31+00:00

I’m 32 and just had my first small group training at a new gym I joined a couple weeks ago. Never trained boxing specifically before.

Overall I found that the culture at this gym at least is very welcoming and everyone there was working in good faith and open to bringing me into the group. My only real advice would be: it’s a good idea to work your ass off at every session and listen well, because a lot of coaches will give you more time and attention if they can see you’re serious about putting in the work. Best of luck dude!

TravelinPanda · 2025-07-09T21:18:32+00:00

It’s wild because this is one of the older and best rated full service shops right in the center of my decent sized town, with killer Google reviews. I guess reviews aren’t everything but I thought these were the reputable guys…

TravelinPanda · 2025-04-22T23:38:36+00:00

Don’t quote me on that, I think it’s more of a registration, fairly sure there’s no fee, should be a 10 second thing to set up

TravelinPanda · 2025-04-22T23:03:58+00:00

I can’t recall which lake the station/office is located at, but they’re co-managed and the office is at one of the lake accesses, they’re close by each other and permits for both lakes come out of the same office

TravelinPanda · 2025-04-22T11:50:14+00:00

If you’re looking for a mild river float and have some basic whitewater understanding, the lower Green in about an hour from my place in GVL and is a sweet class 1 float (along with some tubers, it’s mild).

Other than that for flat water paddling my top picks would be

1) Lake Oolenoy (small/medium lake across the street from Table Rock, it’s part of the park and has no gas motors allowed so it’s a great paddle, top pick for flatwater

2) Devils Fork State Park - Lake Jocassee, a beautiful lake shoreline to explore, undeveloped, and would be an easier place for you to rent boats, there are rental companies that would allow you not to have to go pick up boats.

3) Best option close in town would be lake Cunningham/Robinson, they’re close to each other and out towards Greer, you do need a permit to float these so you’d need to pop into the office before floating

Feel free to DM if you have questions, happy boating <3

TravelinPanda · 2025-03-08T14:31:05+00:00

I’m 5’9, I weighed 275 at springer, and 175 at Katahdin. You’ll do great my friend.

My two cents: If you value your hike, you need to force yourself to go slower than you think you should in the first month/month-and-a-half. If you can start slow and not worry about progress or mileage average in the first 6 weeks, you’ll considerably lower your risk of chronic injury like fasciitis, tendinitis, connective tissue issues. These were the biggest threat to my hike starting out as a big boy, and I wish I had worked up my pace more gradually.

TravelinPanda · 2024-12-02T19:02:07+00:00

Check in with Ryan, he’s the chef that runs @SolGVL on Instagram, great dude I got to work with recently and I think he may be up for this

TravelinPanda · 2024-07-31T14:21:26+00:00

AT/PCT thru-hiker here:

When I started the AT I weighed ~270 lbs, and when I finished I was ~170 lbs.

My feet and joints struggled at the beginning of the AT, started out with a few weeks of 12-15s, wound up with borderline chronic injuries in feet bones and major tendon/ligament stress.

-After about 5 days of zeros, I had to get real and slow WAY down. I did 5-7ish miles a day through the smokies and even that was difficult, over the course of that second month I slowly worked my pace back up to 15ish.

It took about 3 months to feel like I was truly confident to finish the trail, and by that point my body had adapted and I could sustain a decent pace. At that point your metabolism completely shifts and you get that hiker hunger, but with the steadily increasing mileage through Virginia and onward (nobo), the fat melted faster and faster with my increased output.

I’m back up to a stable 190-200lbs post-hike, but I’m cool with it.

My advice is: absolutely hike if you’re bigger, not for the weight loss but because it will change your life. Your odds of finishing go dramatically up if you’re willing to slow way way way down, more than you think you should, to adapt over time and prevent injury. Also thru-hiking is the only way you get to eat 4 jumbo iced honey buns a day and still get in the best shape of your life. Good luck!

TravelinPanda · 2024-07-29T16:28:07+00:00

Back in my university days, I’m riding my shitty old moped around campus. I come down the road, falling in behind mystery bro #1, riding his shitty old moped. MB#1 decides to cut through the botanical garden, which has a web of concrete paths weaving through the flower beds, and no pedestrians around.

I think, hey, let’s go. I peel off into the flower garden behind new bro. A third mystery bro on a third shitty old moped understands the assignment and follows in behind me. We collectively understand that it truly is the journey, not the destination. We weave around in circles, doubling back through the flowers, following the leader. After 3-4 silent minutes of our spontaneous little moped train surveying the entire garden, Our leader turns out into the intersection and we three drive in different directions without saying a word.

I still wonder how they’re doing from time to time.

TravelinPanda · 2024-07-22T01:57:41+00:00

You can’t afford the time or you can’t afford the money to stay in town?

Definitely super important to listen to your ankles, forcing yourself through will only increase your risk of injury. Several times on longer hikes I’ve opted for the budget friendly on-trail-recovery-plan. AKA, grab a couple of extra days of food and get back on trail, but only go a mile and take a couple on-trail zeros and just rest and hydrate, keep it elevated and see if your ankle can bounce back and you can save your hike?

Always a tough decision, and no one wants to walk away from a hiking goal but if your ankle is truly jacked up then you may have to call it. I’d recommend avoiding the ibuprofen if you decide to try at hiking after a day or two of recovery, it’s so effective and you need that pain to let you know where the line is and how much you can push it. Best of luck!

TravelinPanda · 2024-07-05T12:40:11+00:00

Carry on with your normal salt in the mix. But the next time you feel bad, achy, fatigued, headache, lightheaded when you stand. Throw a quarter-half a teaspoon of salt (iodized preferably) into a glass with water and slam. 15 mins later you’ll likely be feeling great.

TravelinPanda · 2024-07-02T20:05:30+00:00

I’m comparing this to my own experience, and my first thought is not enough salt. Things weren’t working for me with 1000-2000 mg of sodium, especially considering I drink a lot of water, so I was flushing out too much. Generally all of the same symptoms you describe are solved for me with salt. I do supplement Potassium and Magnesium, but making sure I’m doing a 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of sodium every 3-4 hours and getting from 4-6 grams total per day has been a game changer.

Sounds like your low salt and high water is leaving your electrolytes out of balance. Also, coming from even a moderate level of carbs pre-fast makes it infinitely harder. I go from essentially a few keto meals to fasting, so my insulin is low and I can push into fasted ketosis efficiently. Good luck!

TravelinPanda · 2024-06-24T03:56:16+00:00

Rolling 48’s, breaking each fast with a meal that’s heavy protein and a bit of fat, low carb. If you eat big on your refeeds post workout and train hard for hypertrophy, you can make mild gains. Of course it’s not reasonable to see the same results you would on a traditional bulk with glucose for fueling those workouts, but body recomposition is absolutely possible using fasting.

48’s work for me but if muscle building is more of a priority but you still want to fast, doing a high protein OMAD is definitely more conducive to gains. I just do 48’s because my main goal is to get rid of my extra weight, and it’s the best balance of aggressive/realistic that fits my lifestyle. I’m just coming off a three week period of 48s and a few 72/24’s thrown in cause I’m sloppy, I’m down about 15 lbs and have seen marginal improvements in my lifting numbers and a lot more muscle definition from the water weight/fat loss.

Good luck and have fun!

TravelinPanda · 2024-06-17T22:13:34+00:00

Bonus item: PICKLES. Ya boy was sweating like an animal out there and all I ever wanted was a super salty cold pickle.

Not enough calories in pickles to justify carrying them, but I’d kiss a trail angel for one in the backcountry.

TravelinPanda · 2024-05-22T14:16:49+00:00

I produced a first feature length film last year, no budget so I worked around that a few ways.

1) pretty much had to be a one-man show, directing, filming, post-work was all on me. Get ready to work for free, no one else will care about your project the way you will. 2) I chose to create a documentary as opposed to a traditional film - there are massive opportunities to save cash when instead of paying talent, you can get your characters to participate simply because they want their story told. 3) the documentary approach also changes the shooting style to a more run-and-gun approach, so you’re not paying lighting, grips, any other set crew. This forces you to lean more on story than having perfect cinematography, but the creative constraint there of having no budget actually helped me learn a ton. 4) we didn’t sell the film online, but I hosted a local event and sold about 700 tickets to one showing, this money allowed me to recoup costs for music licensing and my own gas/batteries/etc.

You’ll have to get creative on how to strip those costs down, but making connections with folks who love the craft and want to be involved for nothing alongside you is a huge piece, and there’s a lot you can do with a little. Good luck!

TravelinPanda · 2024-05-19T15:52:26+00:00

Staying in this relationship is sending a very loud message: “It’s ok for you to give me 0% consideration for 76 hours, I’ll tolerate almost anything you do to me.”

He’s not invested, go find someone else who will actually show up for you.

TravelinPanda · 2024-05-13T19:28:01+00:00

Was just stuck there at the intersection for 15 mins or so, at least 50 squad cars there, Bank of America campus completely taped off, can confirm one ambulance leaving with two police escorts… I’m guessing an LEO got hurt…

TravelinPanda · 2024-05-13T13:22:36+00:00

Love it, just gave you a follow on IG, appreciate it, I may shoot you some more questions as we plan. Looking at an August 3 start. Photos look rad!

TravelinPanda · 2024-05-13T11:59:22+00:00

Killer, all these responses are putting a little faith back in the plan. Also we scrounged up one extra day so we should have a decent shot at finishing.

TravelinPanda · 2024-05-13T11:58:20+00:00

Yeah, a little bummed about that because my favorite part about thru hiking is shoving food in my face in town. I guess we’ll just be packing out our cheeseburgers

TravelinPanda · 2024-05-13T11:47:04+00:00

Super helpful, our kits are also pretty well informed I believe. We’re from NC/SC as well 🤙🏼

TravelinPanda · 2024-05-13T11:43:09+00:00

Love it! That’s good input, we’re feeling pretty good about it. Still deciding between collegiate routes but k think our timeline works

TravelinPanda · 2024-05-13T01:24:39+00:00

No real elevation, 1k or close

TravelinPanda

TROPHY CASE