Exercise and Fitness - CitiusER! AltiusER! FortiusER! ;)

[Balefont]

Lift big eat big Ajax is the answer to all your problems.

:lol: Oh, I eat. Protein galore. And I carb load around my workouts. I have never had such a healthy relationship with food. (Not that I ate poorly in the past, it's just all that calorie bullshit is no more!) Feed the beast!

Doing more lifting too. I have cleared a bunch of stuff from the basement and am setting up an area for free weights (it's a work in progress right now). The more I use free weights, the less I like our weight machine

Yup. Machines suck. They isloate muscles instead of letting muscles work as a system. I've never liked machines.

[HairBearHero]

@HairBearHero:

Could you give a bit more info on the competitions you enter.

The boats I've seen in your photos and distances you mentioned you race over are definitely not standard for Olympic rowing.

No, I'm talking about the FISA Coastal Rowing Championships: http://www.wrcc2014.com/

Bluntly, one of my crew has gone fucking insane. He's decided off the back of our single season of rowing that we're going to:

1. Spend in the region of £10,000 (EU12,500/USD$17,000) to buy a top-notch, brand-new boat

2. Win our major race in 2016 (we finished 18/54 this year, which is good for a novice crew but not exceptional)

3. Be competing at the World Championships within 3 seasons

In order to do this, we'll need:

1. £17,000 from a sponsor

2. An 8-sessions-per-week training plan that he's put together

We'll effectively turn into semi-pro athletes for 3 years. It's an insane commitment after 4 months of treating rowing as our secondary sport.

[peterbound]

:lol: Oh, I eat. Protein galore. And I carb load around my workouts. I have never had such a healthy relationship with food. (Not that I ate poorly in the past, it's just all that calorie bullshit is no more!) Feed the beast!

Yup. Machines suck. They isloate muscles instead of letting muscles work as a system. I've never liked machines.

No. The Ajax cycle is a heavy lifting cycle with wods thrown in. Seems like just what you need.

[baxus]

No, I'm talking about the FISA Coastal Rowing Championships: http://www.wrcc2014.com/

Bluntly, one of my crew has gone fucking insane. He's decided off the back of our single season of rowing that we're going to:

1. Spend in the region of £10,000 (EU12,500/USD$17,000) to buy a top-notch, brand-new boat

2. Win our major race in 2016 (we finished 18/54 this year, which is good for a novice crew but not exceptional)

3. Be competing at the World Championships within 3 seasons

In order to do this, we'll need:

1. £17,000 from a sponsor

2. An 8-sessions-per-week training plan that he's put together

We'll effectively turn into semi-pro athletes for 3 years. It's an insane commitment after 4 months of treating rowing as our secondary sport.

Ah, I've seen this kind of over-the-top enthusiasm before, though not to this extent.

Usually it happens after someone starts a new sport and achieves moderately good results.

Is the guy aware of what an "8 sessions-per-week" means?

We're not really talking about 1-hour sessions here - it's preparing the boat, taking it out on the water, rowing, getting it back in and all that goes with it.

I'm a recreational rower but my sessions last for about 2.5 hours or longer (stretching and shower included, but not transit)

Even if you managed to do all you need to do in 2.5 hours, it will still be 20 hours per week of training.

That's a part-time job.

Also, all the organization (replacement rowers, facilities, a boat, a coach etc.) is next to impossible without the support of the club or the national association.

I'm not talking out of my ass here, I'm training with the newly founded Belgrade University Rowing Club and I know what it's like to try to organize a trip to a regatta for your team, or to get equipment and stuff like that.

I'm afraid your friend has approached the whole matter rather naively.

[Balefont]

No. The Ajax cycle is a heavy lifting cycle with wods thrown in. Seems like just what you need.

Never heard of it. I'll look into it. Thanks. :)

[Datepalm]

No, I'm talking about the FISA Coastal Rowing Championships: http://www.wrcc2014.com/

Bluntly, one of my crew has gone fucking insane. He's decided off the back of our single season of rowing that we're going to:

1. Spend in the region of £10,000 (EU12,500/USD$17,000) to buy a top-notch, brand-new boat

2. Win our major race in 2016 (we finished 18/54 this year, which is good for a novice crew but not exceptional)

3. Be competing at the World Championships within 3 seasons

In order to do this, we'll need:

1. £17,000 from a sponsor

2. An 8-sessions-per-week training plan that he's put together

We'll effectively turn into semi-pro athletes for 3 years. It's an insane commitment after 4 months of treating rowing as our secondary sport.

Is it terrible that this had me in stitches? I have a soft spot for nutty over enthusiasm, I guess.

Thanks for the support, guys - I know I did the right thing, I'm just mad at myself that I made a scene and didn't just handle it calmly. (I meant to go work out today and just couldn't bring myself to see the inside of the place again, plus inevitable looks, etc. Maybe I'll go for a run tonight instead.) Unfortunately, this isn't some isolated event - this is how it is now, in parts of town. I've been told to go get raped by Hamas more times that I can count in the past few weeks and seen and heard way worse, way more active, violent racism and fascism. The intrusion into my 'private' life and into what I thought was still a safe zone threw me, I guess. Stuff I didn't know I was feeling just kind of boiled out.

I'm thinking - relevancy to thread! - of suspending my gym membership for a while and going to the boxing club instead, which is three two-hour sessions a week. With summer vacation (and now flights being cancelled) the pool is chock-full of kids all the time anyway - I haven't really been swimming properly in weeks and it feels like overkill to lift and box, and i'm getting a bit fidgety and bored with the lifting anyway. Maybe it's time to vary things up for a month or two, until going to the gym can include a decent swim again, a least.

[HairBearHero]

Ah, I've seen this kind of over-the-top enthusiasm before, though not to this extent.

Usually it happens after someone starts a new sport and achieves moderately good results.

Absolutely agree. I've loved this first season and we've done pretty well - we won the club Novice Cup - but currently we're no more than a good novice crew with a big POTENTIAL label.

Is the guy aware of what an "8 sessions-per-week" means?

We're not really talking about 1-hour sessions here - it's preparing the boat, taking it out on the water, rowing, getting it back in and all that goes with it.

I'm a recreational rower but my sessions last for about 2.5 hours or longer (stretching and shower included, but not transit)

Even if you managed to do all you need to do in 2.5 hours, it will still be 20 hours per week of training.

That's a part-time job.

In fairness, the 8 sessions aren't all on the water. He's included erg sessions, weights sessions and even a weekly yoga session in that - we'd only actually be doing 3 or 4 water sessions a week.

Either way, I agree that we're talking 10-15 hours minimum here. Given that I also captain a local rugby club (and all the organisation that comes with that), hold down a full-time job and have a supportive but slightly bemused girlfriend, I'm not sure exactly when I'm supposed to sleep.

Also, all the organization (replacement rowers, facilities, a boat, a coach etc.) is next to impossible without the support of the club or the national association.

I'm not talking out of my ass here, I'm training with the newly founded Belgrade University Rowing Club and I know what it's like to try to organize a trip to a regatta for your team, or to get equipment and stuff like that.

I'm afraid your friend has approached the whole matter rather naively.

This would actually be the most feasible part - we'd be competing in roughly the same races we already compete in (give or take a National trials/World Championships) so the general season logistics are completely doable. If we got to that stage, we'd also get a colossal amount of support from the rowing club - or at least, the last team to make it to the Worlds did.

Naive would be precisely the word I'd use as well. Naive or "cloud fucking cuckoo land".

Like, I don't disagree with the end result - I'd love to compete at that level for something, and barring a truly meteoric rise to the top I'm not going to make it into the Wales team for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, so coastal rowing seems as good a bet as any. I just think it's absolutely mad to pitch something like this to sponsors (and to commit to ourselves) off the back of 4 months rowing and not a huge amount of achievement.

If we focus on getting a good boat (looking at one for a much more affordable £4,500 at the moment) and becoming highly competitive within the Jersey club next year - which I think we're well capable of - then after next season we can talk about these grand plans. Not until we've backed up our "potential" with some actual performance though.

[HairBearHero]

Sorry for the double post!

Is it terrible that this had me in stitches? I have a soft spot for nutty over enthusiasm, I guess.

Not at all. I barely contained my laughter when he presented his fully bound presentation detailing our "Publicity pathways" and "Online media presence".

Also, you rock. Well done for standing up to that dickhead. Not sure I'd have been brave enough to do the same.

[Datepalm]

Not at all. I barely contained my laughter when he presented his fully bound presentation detailing our "Publicity pathways" and "Online media presence".

:rofl: Brilliant.

[Starkess]

Had a moment today when I actually liked the way my body looked! Ha that sounds kind of ridiculous when I type it out, but I've been feeling down about my weight gain for so long, it was a big moment for me! (Yes, I know, I should workout and eat healthy for better reasons than wanting to look good, but that is what motivates me.)

[Inigima]

I think that's what motivates a lot of us.

[Isalie]

Indeed. Right now I work out a lot because I really enjoy it for some odd reason, but once that has passed, as all things do, I'll keep it up because I like the results.

[Starkess]

I see a lot of fitness stuff online saying how fitness should be about health and goals and the appearance is just a happy byproduct if it happens. Which is sound advice, I guess, but it makes me feel guilty for caring more about the appearance part!

[Balefont]

Dudess, whatever motivates you is fine as long as you try to make it something positive. I found that basing it on how I looked actually caused me more harm than good. Because you know what, you're going to have good body looking days and bad ones. They can be for any range of reasons not the least bit that's it's merely your perception for the day.

You have a choice: You can base it on the physical asthetic results and run the risk of your "bad looks" days and beat yourself up. Or you can find something that makes you feel physically good and/or accomplished. I know it appears there may be a value judgement in their but frankly you need to do what is best for you. So what is best for you? Most of us have been here so we get it.

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

Dudess, whatever motivates you is fine as long as you try to make it something positive. I found that basing it on how I looked actually caused me more harm than good. Because you know what, you're going to have good body looking days and bad ones. They can be for any range of reasons not the least bit that's it's merely your perception for the day.

You have a choice: You can base it on the physical asthetic results and run the risk of your "bad looks" days and beat yourself up. Or you can find something that makes you feel physically good and/or accomplished. I know it appears there may be a value judgement in their but frankly you need to do what is best for you. So what is best for you? Most of us have been here so we get it

Very much this.

Since I have been on this 12 year battle, I have had many reasons for wanting to lose weight, and nearly all of them was how I looked (or how others said I looked) and they all failed in the end.

I have found that looking at the goal on a daily basis was a lot more discouraging for me, especially since things like moods, hormones and even how much sleep I have had can affect it. I set myself two goals that work together and over 2 years to achieve them. The more progress I made on the physical fitness goal, the more I was encouraged on the weight/nutrition goal.

(lately I have been a little too focused on the looks aspects (even though it has been liking the way I look) and I have not been as dedicated on the food/nutrition side)

[Greywolf2375]

A certain somebody took me kayaking this weekend. Tons of fun, although it probably wouldn't qualify as a "workout" since we were on a pretty sedate river. Well, except for the part where I had to haul my ass off the rocks.

It's amazing what can end up being a workout. I set up a bachelor party to go go-kart racing and at the end of it I felt like had just done 2 hours of tabata pushups, hollows and squats. Well, squats for the right leg...the brake almost never got pushed.

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

Finally got my son to do the beginning yoga! (just 10 minutes, and with a chair to help with balance, but it is a start) One day he will thank me ;)

We'll do a slightly different one tomorrow before our weights

[peterbound]

Finally got my son to do the beginning yoga! (just 10 minutes, and with a chair to help with balance, but it is a start) One day he will thank me ;)We'll do a slightly different one tomorrow before our weights

The vinyasa flow class I attend is the best part of my day.

Surrounded by beautiful women /and/ getting healthy? Can't go wrong with that.

[The BlackBear]

I've been considering Yoga, I recently added just a few stretches everyday and was surprised how much difference they made. But I worry I'll be seen as some kind of pervert...

[Starkess]

I've been considering Yoga, I recently added just a few stretches everyday and was surprised how much difference they made. But I worry I'll be seen as some kind of pervert...

Don't act like a pervert and you'll be fine. :) As long as you're there to do yoga and not to ogle, I doubt people will care.