Healthy Living and Exercise thread

[Lucky Pierre]

:thumbsup: on the new thread title Lany! :kiss:

[CiaranAnnrach]

Ahh, thank you for the clarification. I'll try that out and see how it goes. If for some reason it doesn't work, then I'll figure something out. Most likely break down and buy a bike, since I now have a garage.

And why are you embarrassed by your name? Because new people always bring up Les Mis?

[Eponine]

[quote name='CiaranAnnrach' post='1754699' date='Apr 14 2009, 14.20']And why are you embarrassed by your name? Because new people always bring up Les Mis?[/quote]

It's awfully emo.

Also, a former friend introduced me to the musical and it was our "special thing" for a long time. But when I got divorced, he was the first to denounce me and tell me I was going to hell. :stunned: But I don't connect my board name to that shit anymore, it's just a name.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

I just realized my outdoor soccer season starts in a month, so I've been stepping up my fitness regime so I don't die on my first game. I have been running pretty regularly, but I've decided to change up to include more sprints and backwards and side running. I've also incorporated wobble boards, lunges and squats for leg strength and balance. I've sprained my ankles enough times and I don't want to go through that again. This is the first time where I have not played indoor soccer (I've retired since I seem to get injured), so this excerise regime is new for me. Any further suggestions or ideas to get back into peak soccer fitness?
I have been doing alot of indoor rock climbing this winter. I love it and it is great for core and arm strength. I gained 7 pounds of muscle when I was climbing hard (2-3X/week) 5 years ago. That is impressive considering I'm a petite woman and barely 100 lbs. The downside is that your hands and nails suffer. No French manicures! I hope to hit outdoor rock climbing this summer which is something I haven't done in a couple years.

[Angalin]

[quote name='Eponine' post='1754591' date='Apr 14 2009, 11.49']Four different walks- walk 50 meters on your toes. Then walk 50 meters on your heels. Then 50 on the insole of your foot, so that you're as much on the inner edge as possible. And 50 on the outer edge of your foot.[/quote]
When you do those walks, are they stretching the calf muscles in different directions? Just curious as to how that works.

[quote name='Kat' post='1754689' date='Apr 14 2009, 13.11']Oh yeah, now I need advice. Anyone have any good exercises I can do on my own for strengthening/stretching my hips? This has always been the most problematic area for me, but don't know anything I can do on my own.[/quote]
As you get further along, the Pilates will make a difference for your hips as well as your core. Side-leg series and something where you wave your leg in the air from the hip are what I'm thinking of in particular.

The walking poles do seem goofy, but I'll take your word for it that they work. :)

[Lord of Oop North]

[quote name='Kat' post='1754689' date='Apr 14 2009, 14.11']My advisor thinks I'm a big dork and always makes jokes like "Ski poles? In the desert?"[/quote]
Let him laugh. They make a [b]massive[/b] difference. I bet he'd shut his mouth after trying out a pair on a heavy pack / long haul.

[CiaranAnnrach]

[quote name='Eponine' post='1754708' date='Apr 14 2009, 13.28']It's awfully emo.

Also, a former friend introduced me to the musical and it was our "special thing" for a long time. But when I got divorced, he was the first to denounce me and tell me I was going to hell. :stunned: But I don't connect my board name to that shit anymore, it's just a name.[/quote]

Ahh, I remember hearing you talk about that in the...I want to say "Which person would you marry? A) B) or C)" thread. (Or was that the jealousy thread? Too many threads!) I was and still am really sorry to hear about that, though.

And, the musical really did make Eponine to be more of an emo martyr than the book did. I think the book did to a degree, but she didn't play nearly as big a role in the book. At least not that I remember. Either way, she at least had a lot more depth than Cosette. And a very pretty singing voice in the musical.

But not to derail the thread with literary crap.

[ztemhead]

[quote name='Kat' post='1754689' date='Apr 14 2009, 11.11']Oh yeah, now I need advice. Anyone have any good exercises I can do on my own for strengthening/stretching my hips? This has always been the most problematic area for me, but don't know anything I can do on my own.[/quote]

my refrain becomes rather annoying, even to me, but I'd suggest doing squats, but with the twist keeping your feet a little farther apart than normal and pointing your toes outwards rather than straight ahead. go down nice and low so your thighs are at or below parallel and it will work the hips pretty good.

for hip stretchies/ warm up, I have a little exercise I do where I raise my knee to my chest, start with it on one side of my body (left knee coming up to right nipple) and bring it over to the other side, then back down to the ground. for martial arts enthusiasts, it looks like a crappy hook kick, but without the leg extension. I start slow, alternating side to side, but build speed as I get going. When I do stretch (not as often as I should) I do all the other stuff too, but this in particular is something a little less common that might be appropriate for what you're talking about Kat.

[Filippa Eilhart]

I went to the gym today, 5 hours after a very light lunch. bad idea.
note: remember to eat before gym.

[Eponine]

[quote name='Angalin' post='1754713' date='Apr 14 2009, 14.31']When you do those walks, are they stretching the calf muscles in different directions? Just curious as to how that works.

The walking poles do seem goofy, but I'll take your word for it that they work. :)[/quote]

Yeah, the fronts of your legs and your shins often don't get stretched properly, and they can become extremely tight while you run.

Also consider massaging your calves and shins with something like the stick: [url="http://www.thestick.com/"]http://www.thestick.com/[/url] You can substitute most massagers, as long as it's not something too rigid.

The hiking poles are awesome. You can go downhill a lot faster with less pressure on your knees and less worry about tripping. I'd love to have some carbon fiber ones.

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

[quote name='Lucky Pierre' post='1754694' date='Apr 14 2009, 14.15']:thumbsup: on the new thread title Lany! :kiss:[/quote]

I just needed Stego to slap me out of at least part of my depressive state :)

[ztemhead]

just a note that I'm down 18 lbs as of today, which puts me 50% towards my bmi goal.

and this while driving a cab for a living, and all the unhealthy badness that entails.

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

[quote name='ztemhead' post='1754846' date='Apr 14 2009, 15.43']just a note that I'm down 18 lbs as of today, which puts me 50% towards my bmi goal.

and this while driving a cab for a living, and all the unhealthy badness that entails.[/quote]

Excellent. As of this morning I have 7 pounds to go towards my first bmi goal.

[Stego]

Big grats on your fat loss goals, folks, but please... let's forget BMI exists. Please.

[Lucky Pierre]

I've been thinking I might like to take a ball room dance class. I've heard it kicks your ass and is a lot of fun...

[lessthanluke]

Talked to a strongman at my gym today. He's. Going to find out if there are any novice comps for me to do. Shall have to wait and see what happens on that front. Oh and bmi is rubbish

[ztemhead]

I have a question for the thread. and yeah I'm home today after ten days straight working with no desire to do anything but fuck off all day on the internets.

So burning calories on the cross trainer/ treadmill/ rowing machine is relatively easy to count as they tell you flat out how many. I add in a little fudge factor to the upside for treadmill because I've researched it and know they're too conservative by 10 - 20%. I subtract a little from one of the cross trainers because I know they're a little too aggressive. Put it this way, at a heart rate of 160 on the tread it registers 10 kcal/ minute, but at a heart rate of 130 on the x-trnr it registers 14 kcal/ minute.

But I digress. How many calories per hour do you think a solid free weight routine burns? I'm sure it can vary widely based on number of sets/ reps/ weight, not to mention size of individual. I tend to take long-ish breaks between sets, but I also do a fair whack more leg work than most guys in the gym, (sometimes six or seven sets of squats, in addition to other stuff) and my heart rate stays at least a bit above normal at all times. I had been thinking a decent free weight workout will average about 5 calories/ minute, so my typical hour and ten minute session = 350 or so; or less than half what I would burn off for an equivalent time on the cross trainer.

I'm trying to figure out this week's weight loss in spite of a couple awful dietary lapses, and the best I can come up with is that I'm underestimating the fat burning effect of my current regime.

(and spare me the "you shouldn't concentrate so much on numbers" tripe. it works for me, and it's a whole separate, and lengthy conversation why.)

[Stego]

a couple of things:

-Machines only guesstimate calories. The numbers are good if you want to use them as benchmarks, but that is NOT the amount of calories you burn.

-You burn a lot more calories from weight training than you would think. But it's different for everyone.

-You gain muscle from weight training, and muscle burns calories just sitting there.

-'Long-ish' breaks between sets is doing it wrong.

-Six or seven sets of squats is doing it wrong.

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

[quote name='Lucky Pierre' post='1754900' date='Apr 14 2009, 16.25']I've been thinking I might like to take a ball room dance class. I've heard it kicks your ass and is a lot of fun...[/quote]

Very cool. I decided I wanted a little more fun so I have gone back to my "Belly dance for fitness" That is an ass kicker too (plus you learn to move in sexy ways)

[Yagathai]

[quote name='Stego' post='1755033' date='Apr 14 2009, 17.51']-'Long-ish' breaks between sets is doing it wrong.

-Six or seven sets of squats is doing it wrong.[/quote]

Individually, I don't necessarily agree with either of those statements. But together, yeah. Squats can take longer rests between sets than most other parts of the weight routine, but if you're doing seven sets of squats, I can only assume you're doing low-weight high-rep, and trying to build stamina. Long rests don't make sense in that context. If you're going for that, you might as well be doing no-weight "hindu" squats in sets of 50 or 100, which is going to be better at endurance and calorie-burning. Otherwise, if you're strength training, one or two medium-rep medium-weight warmup sets and then two or three low-rep high-weight sets. No long rests.

If there's one thing a judo guy knows about, it's squats. ;)