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Exercise and Fitness: Keep On Keepin' On


Xray the Enforcer

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3 hours ago, Kalbear said:

 

Another aspect to this is as you alluded to - it's psychological. Whenever you start something new you tend to get more rapid gains in that exercise as your body adapts and learns how to do that exercise. That can make you feel better, as you're getting a whole bunch of improvements in that exercise quickly and leveling up fast. That doesn't mean you're making significantly faster improvements in your overall fitness or musculature or whatever your goal is, but it feels somewhat better.

This however is true.

Thats why I added the caveat of as long as he doesn't mind sticking to the same routine constantly. If you're bored then changing it is probably a good idea!

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Ugh I have been on a pretty bad diet lately and gaining weight rather rapidly. Now going through the struggle of trying to lose that, which is always way less fun than the gaining of it was. So far having middling success. I have been good about maintaining my workouts even with a rather hectic schedule, so that's good. Slowly but steadily increasing my running mileage and so far my heels haven't had anything worse than an annoying ache.

At least the current crappy weather means that I have a little bit longer til I might be revealing my fluffiness, so I just need to get my eating under control again and I should be fine. (I say, sitting next to an open bag of egg-shaped peanut butter M&Ms. Hey, they were 50% off after Easter, dammit!)

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11 hours ago, lessthanluke said:

No but other athletes would do the same things over and over to improve their performance.

Rugby players do the same drills repeatedly, sprinters do the same old exercises constantly just get better at them

etc etc

Sure, every sport has a set of "basic" exercises you can't do without, no one's denying that. What I am trying to say is that there are sports with larger sets and smaller sets of those exercises, and there are sports with a lot of additional elements in training.

Now, I have never played rugby so I might be wrong here, but if it's anything like other team sports that require a ball (well, sort of ;) ) to play it seems reasonable that there is much more variety in rugby training then in powerlifting training. I mean, rugby players definitely have workouts when they work on their strength, speed etc. but they also have workouts when they work on their movement, passing the ball, kicking it and practice all kinds of different situations they might find themselves in during the match. That variety is probably one of the reasons majority of people find rugby more fun to train than powerlifting (basing this on assumption that more people train rugby than powerlifting ;) ).

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I feel like we talking about two different things. I am not saying variety is bad BUT the original statement was "they always end the article with the caveat that it's important to mix it up because the body will adapt to excercise A and it will no longer give the desired effect.."

Which is flat out false, your body doesn't know the difference, "confusing your muscles" etc is not a thing.

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This isn't entirely exercise related, but does anyone have a stretching routine to help alleviate pain cause from working at a desk all day? I often find that my chest/back/neck can get pretty stiff by the end of the week. 

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5 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

This isn't entirely exercise related, but does anyone have a stretching routine to help alleviate pain cause from working at a desk all day? I often find that my chest/back/neck can get pretty stiff by the end of the week. 

It’s mostly about improving your posture as you sit and type.  Use a lumbar cushion as you sit at your desk.  Try a posture correction brace (under your clothes) around your chest and back to help you sit in the right posture with your shoulders back and your back arched.  Do neck stretches during the day.  Massage the back of your neck and your trapezoids during the day (grab your trap with your opposite hand and squeeze/knead).  Stretch your pectorals A LOT so they’re not dragging your shoulders forward all day into a hunch.  Do deadlifts in the gym to strengthen your lower back, and cable rows to make your shoulders pull back.  

And there are lots of exercises to help improve your posture muscles.  Take a look on YouTube.  Just search for “posture correction exercises”. 

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9 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

This isn't entirely exercise related, but does anyone have a stretching routine to help alleviate pain cause from working at a desk all day? I often find that my chest/back/neck can get pretty stiff by the end of the week. 

Isks suggestions are good. It is something I struggle with too.

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Tuesday evening I went to the gym immediately after my son went to bed.  Trying to thread that needle between keeping family time but not going so late that it ruins my sleep. 

It was a good workout. It was a bench press, etc, session and one of the guys I know was there so I asked him to be a spotter for a heavy set.  I got three full reps at 200lbs.  Two full plates either side feels like a milestone.  Last time I attempted this weight (last summer), I got only one full rep and one lightly assisted rep. The rest of my normal sets all went well to and I had good energy to do plenty of the secondary exercises. 

I didn’t get a great night of sleep afterward but better than when I exercise even later.  

Wednesday evening was table tennis.  We played for 90 minutes and had a lot of fun.  There were some very good players around us at the club.  The last ten minutes saw a drop in our quality as focus/concentration started to ebb, but overall it was pretty good.  We plan to make this a weekly game. 

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21 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

This isn't entirely exercise related, but does anyone have a stretching routine to help alleviate pain cause from working at a desk all day? I often find that my chest/back/neck can get pretty stiff by the end of the week. 

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/8/4/15929484/chronic-back-pain-treatment-mainstream-vs-alternative

 

there are three exercises in the article that immensely helped me

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17 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

It’s mostly about improving your posture as you sit and type.  Use a lumbar cushion as you sit at your desk.  Try a posture correction brace (under your clothes) around your chest and back to help you sit in the right posture with your shoulders back and your back arched.  Do neck stretches during the day.  Massage the back of your neck and your trapezoids during the day (grab your trap with your opposite hand and squeeze/knead).  Stretch your pectorals A LOT so they’re not dragging your shoulders forward all day into a hunch.  Do deadlifts in the gym to strengthen your lower back, and cable rows to make your shoulders pull back.  

And there are lots of exercises to help improve your posture muscles.  Take a look on YouTube.  Just search for “posture correction exercises”. 

 

13 hours ago, lessthanluke said:

Isks suggestions are good. It is something I struggle with too.

 

1 hour ago, lokisnow said:

Thanks guys!

3 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Tuesday evening I went to the gym immediately after my son went to bed.  Trying to thread that needle between keeping family time but not going so late that it ruins my sleep. 

How late do you usually start? I was always don't that lift late at night was a bad idea. 

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2 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

How late do you usually start? I was always don't that lift late at night was a bad idea. 

I was at the gym from 8:00-9:30.  The later I finish the later I can fall asleep.  I think I went to bed at 12:30 but had a broken night of sleep. 

My strength and energy are much better in the late morning or afternoon, but that’s not easy midweek.  I am not a morning person to hit the gym before work. 

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43 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said:

I was at the gym from 8:00-9:30.  The later I finish the later I can fall asleep.  I think I went to bed at 12:30 but had a broken night of sleep. 

My strength and energy are much better in the late morning or afternoon, but that’s not easy midweek.  I am not a morning person to hit the gym before work. 

I guess that's not too late. Do you eat after or just chug a protein shake? 

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5 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

I guess that's not too late. Do you eat after or just chug a protein shake? 

Dinner afterward.  If I eat dinner beforehand than I’d have to wait even later to digest before exercise. 

I used to exercise after dinner and be in the gym from 9:30-11:00 or even later.  

Once I’m finished in the gym, I need around three hours for my body and mind to relax enough to sleep. 

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8 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

I am not a morning person to hit the gym before work. 

I'm a morning person but I have been working out after work for years, only pre-work workout I had was swimming. A year or so ago I switched to working out before work and I feel much better now. Not to mention that now I have time after work to run some errands, see my friends and family etc. that I just couldn't do before work.

2 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

Once I’m finished in the gym, I need around three hours for my body and mind to relax enough to sleep. 

Some 10 years ago, I was playing ice hockey recreationally. It was pretty far from my house, and since we were playing at the only hockey rink in town, our time slots were late at night. On Fridays I would be home around 2.30-2.45AM, and wouldn't go to bed until I took care of my hockey equipment and would go to sleep around 4AM. It's one of those things you can do in your early 20s when your schedule is rather light and flexible, I guess.

Hockey was great fun, but THAT part of it definitely wasn't.

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Thanks for all the advice! I'm pretty well set for weights atm and don't mind things being repetitive, so it's all good. The one area where I have some problem with boredom is running, it's really hard for me to push myself when running too short laps, though now that spring is finally here, that won't be a problem for a couple of months ;)

If I can offer some unsolicited advise, I'm a teacher so I meet teenagers every day and I'd say they probably need an adult presence more once they are surly teenagers..

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43 minutes ago, aceluby said:

Back from vacation and gained back most of what I lost during whole30 :( Back to chicken I go to see if I can lose this as easily as I gained it.

Honestly, unless you have some type of health condition that requires it, I’d ignore your weight. Focus more on how you look and feel.  

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9 hours ago, baxus said:

Some 10 years ago, I was playing ice hockey recreationally. It was pretty far from my house, and since we were playing at the only hockey rink in town, our time slots were late at night. On Fridays I would be home around 2.30-2.45AM, and wouldn't go to bed until I took care of my hockey equipment and would go to sleep around 4AM. It's one of those things you can do in your early 20s when your schedule is rather light and flexible, I guess.

Hockey was great fun, but THAT part of it definitely wasn't.

That’s the worst I’ve heard.  All my years of soccer included at least one, and sometimes even two or three, midweek evening games whether indoor or outdoor, but the very worst of those would end by 12:30am and home before 1:30am.  Game time would vary from week to week.

And soccer equipment doesn’t need a lot of special care and attention after a game, especially since the latest games were indoor.  But it still took me three hours for the adrenaline to subside enough to sleep.

Thankfully most midweek games got me home by 11pm.  

 

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3 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Honestly, unless you have some type of health condition that requires it, I’d ignore your weight. Focus more on how you look and feel.  

I feel like I gained a bit of weight on vacation ;) I'm not worried about it, just one of those things to watch out for because I know that for me it's a slippery slope.  My Dad's side of the family is filled with obesity and all the problems associated with it.  Do. Not. Want. 

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