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

[baxus]

Rugby seems very interesting to me, and it looks like proper fun to play.

Sadly, in my neck of the woods, rugby is severely underdeveloped and I came into contact with it late so I'd developed other interests by then and it never grabbed hold of me.

At 31, I'm definitely too old to try any form of competitive rugby and joining a game in the park or stuff like that is impossible since you never see people playing it.

[HairBearHero]

Do you play in the Welsh leagues HBH? When does your season start?

We won my first game of the season last weekend which was good. It was mainly down to the backs destroying their backs though so I spent most of my time running up and down the pitch after them, it was a bit too warm on Saturday for all that clean breaks and sprinting bollocks.

Unfortunately I'm going to miss the second game of the season because my cousin's getting married in Ireland. It's going to be a fun weekend and I do feel a little guilty about it but I am a bit irritated with the timing, after working my nuts off all summer I'm probably going to lose my place given the level of competition. I mean who gets married during the rugby season? :dunno:

I live in Jersey - my Welsh support is via family ties rather than location! We've got our first game in a week or two (I should really know...) - for some reason our season tends to be late starting/late finishing.

I quite enjoy it when our backs make clean breaks and stuff as it means they've actually managed to keep hold of the ball for a change!

@Baxus

Best sport in the world, but not the easiest to pick up/develop due to the level of contact and the relatively complicated rules. Sevens and touch are getting more popular around the world though, so hopefully that'll act as a gateway!

@Luke

I wouldn't ever try and train/compete in another sport seriously at the same time as rugby. It's too unpredictable. I've been lucky with regards to serious injuries, but it's almost inevitable that you'll come out of a game feeling like you've been hit by a train and with a minor knock.

[peterbound]

Nonsense. We had a 62 year old turn up for a 10 minute cameo on Sunday!

So, I've had the great opportunity to play all over the world (having lived in europe for a chunk of my life) and maybe in the UK, I could feel comfortable playing. But here in the US, people use rugby to just beat the shit out of each other, and i'm not trying to sound rar rar USA on this one, but people over here hit much, much harder than our cousin from overseas. The lack of 'finesse' in the game also adds to injuries.

[Unlady B]

Hi! I've been lurking this thread from time to time, trying to pick up advices and basically inspiration ^_^.

I suck at keeping routines :blushing: and I've been on and off for a while, trying to keep at least a once a week walk+jog in the "running track" near home.

So today, after almost 2 months (personal shit in the middle), I joined the track again, and as a miracle, I was able to pick the same pace as before :smug:. It felt really good, and I look forward to keep the frequency the stablest as possible.

And I just wanted to share the good news with you, giving me another excuse to not drop the routine.

Cheers!

[baxus]

@Baltan:

Great job on picking up sports again.

I'm looking forward to hearing of your results :thumbsup:

[OnionAhaiReborn]

Way to go Leap! I think you should definitely jump into the local 5k next week. And maybe try to look for some other races to put on your calendar, even before the spring 10k. In my experience the best way to keep yourself in line is to have something to train for and look ahead to. Also, now that you've done a 10k, I'm sorry, but eventually you'll have to do a half-marathon now. It's the only logical step :P

Today fall weather finally arrived, a long run in cool autumn air after a long hot muggy summer is one of the greatest feelings in life. 15 miles at the best pace I've managed in what feels like ages, a big confidence boost for my next marathon... which is now, nerve-wrackingly, less than a month away.

[Eddiey]

I've been dropping weight for two years now and today am about 30lb heavier than I want to be. Exercise wise I do a basic push/pull/leg routine. For cardio I bike more or less every other day for at least a half hour. I'm the world's worst runner or I'd do that, but for some reason I find it just misery. I'd really like to find people to bike with, but the biggest bike club in my city (the only one on the internet) starts off at 2 hour rides and that's my maximum. Really wish I could find some casual riders in San Diego, but no luck so far.

[wolverine]

A lot tougher to get workouts in with a 10 month old (or else I am just getting lazier). This morning I used the jogging stroller to actually sprint a little. I get a little nervous for him, but he seemed to love it. It was a little cold so I kept it short, like 15 minutes of alternating sprinting and jogging. My lungs burned with an icy fire. I need to get back in shape. Playing volleyball and baseball just do not get the heart rate up or the intensity I would like.

Stupid high ankle sprain from almost 5 months ago is still a pain and has hindered my working out as well. I have never had an ankle sprain before and even though I was told I would have been better off breaking it, I can't believe it is taking this long to heal.

[baxus]

Today I ran my first 10k in 59:06. The time I'm pleased with, but I'm mostly just happy to have finished without stopping.

It's been 3 months since I started running (and thus posting the details of every run in this thread), and I don't regret it at all. I'm actually a bit disappointed that I have no planned sessions, although me and the father are thinking of entering the local 5k again next week. I plan to try to stay at a 5k-ish level of fitness during this semester, I'm planning another 10k next spring with friends so I'd like to not start from scratch for that.

So anyway, thanks for all the well-wishes, advice and leniency with repetitive post syndrome. :D And good luck in your own endeavours! :cheers:

Congrats on running your first 10k!

You clocked a good result for a first-timer as well.

Keep up the good work!

I've been dropping weight for two years now and today am about 30lb heavier than I want to be. Exercise wise I do a basic push/pull/leg routine. For cardio I bike more or less every other day for at least a half hour. I'm the world's worst runner or I'd do that, but for some reason I find it just misery. I'd really like to find people to bike with, but the biggest bike club in my city (the only one on the internet) starts off at 2 hour rides and that's my maximum. Really wish I could find some casual riders in San Diego, but no luck so far.

If you haven't already, try running with a friend or join some street running club or something.

Running alone is the worst but the moment you gt company it's much better (or at least nowhere near as bad) as doing it alone.

[Starkess]

Nice job, Leap! :cheers: I'm doing a 10k in 2 weeks and I've been slacking lately so I am just hoping to be sub-60. And to not totally embarrass myself because it's back in my small hometown so probably I will know many of the participants.

I actually think running with company is way, way worse. It's solitariness is part of why I love it. But everyone is different! :)

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

Nice job Leap!

I ate some very good bad stuff this weekend...and some bad bad stuff...my son wanted to have Subway for lunch (we were 2 hours into a 3 hour drive) so I agreed. It was my first bread in 10 months. I had the whole wheat, but I could still taste the sugar in it (and I don't even what to discuss the "meat" :stillsick: ) I ate less than half of the 6" sub.

But the wedding cake was AMAZING! I had two pieces :) (white with raspberry filling). And then I had another piece for breakfast yesterday morning :lol:

But I am back on track this morning and ready to kick some butt.

[Jabronius Maximus]

Quick question: is there any downside to using a lifting belt for a deadlift? I'm entering heavy weight territory (at least relative to my own progress), so I figure I could use one to reduce the risk of injury. But my buddy said it's kind of like cheating, so I'm just asking for more opinions (also I lift much more weight than he does, so what does he know? :p )

[peterbound]

Wear it. I've never understood the 'cheating' mentality. You're still lifting the fucking weight. The thing isn't making it any lighter.

[lessthanluke]

Your buddy is an idiot.

[baxus]

Quick question: is there any downside to using a lifting belt for a deadlift? I'm entering heavy weight territory (at least relative to my own progress), so I figure I could use one to reduce the risk of injury. But my buddy said it's kind of like cheating, so I'm just asking for more opinions (also I lift much more weight than he does, so what does he know? :P )

If you lift heavier weights, take every possible precaution to reduce risk of injury.

Make sure your form is good, concentrate on the lift and wear whatever you want as long as it doesn't get you kicked out of the gym. ;)

[ljkeane]

So while my fitness isn't too bad I've decided I need to get a bit more consistent about going for a run on the days I don't have rugby, apart from Sundays since I don't particularly enjoy walking on Sundays. I could probably do with running a bit further as well. On the plus side the little run round the block I've been doing which I thought was about a mile turns out to be about 2.5 miles, still nothing special but at least it's better than I thought it was.

[Jabronius Maximus]

Wear it. I've never understood the 'cheating' mentality. You're still lifting the fucking weight. The thing isn't making it any lighter.

If you lift heavier weights, take every possible precaution to reduce risk of injury.

Make sure your form is good, concentrate on the lift and wear whatever you want as long as it doesn't get you kicked out of the gym. ;)

Your buddy is an idiot.

:thumbsup: thanks guys, this is more or less what I was thinking. And I quickly convinced him to start wearing one for deadlifts too, so yeah he was spouting some bullshit. Unless you arch your back or don't lock out, there really isn't a way to cheat on deadlifts. Everyone should know that.

[lessthanluke]

:thumbsup: thanks guys, this is more or less what I was thinking. And I quickly convinced him to start wearing one for deadlifts too, so yeah he was spouting some bullshit. Unless you arch your back or don't lock out, there really isn't a way to cheat on deadlifts. Everyone should know that.

Arch your back?

[Jabronius Maximus]

Arch your back?

I think I meant rounding the lower back (instead of arching) - I used to break form a bit like that if I couldn't keep my back straight through the last rep. Thankfully I know better now.

[Starkess]

I thought the argument against belts was that if you use it too much you don't train your core muscles enough and could end up hurting yourself? Anyway it seems to me like a useful tool, but I am nowhere near lifting heavy enough to know anything about it in practice.