Exercise & Fitness III

[Greywolf2375]

Since it appears we have more to say...

[Liffguard]

I'll start off with some good news then. I had my Marines Pre-joining Fitness Test today and passed handily. I managed to post a 10:18 time for the 1.5 mile run. Not great, but I'm slowly getting towards my target of 09:30. I probably could have got a faster time but it was a pass-or-fail run, no scoring, so I stuck to a pace I knew I could handle. No point in being a hero and racing off ahead only to burn out and maybe fail.

[Lucky Pierre]

I too hate cardio... but I've got the first season of 30 Rock so I'm watching 2 eppys of that while on the Elliptical... It helps.

eta: :cheers: Liffguard

[Vethnar]

For Seastarr:

Thanks a lot for the hamstring stretching exercise you posted in the previous thread! Just what I needed, even though those ten minutes felt loooong. :P

I'll try to keep doing this exercise daily, and look forward to your future posts.

[Kat]

I love cardio. :uhoh:

I was going to go backpacking in Mendocino this weekend, but it looks like I've come down with a cold, and since I know who I got it from, it's going to be a nasty one. :thumbsdown: Don't really want to deal with three days of hiking in potentially cold and dreary weather if I can't carry a box of tissues with me, so I guess I'll have to postpone that trip and do something a little more low-key.

[Vethnar]

I too hate cardio...

This seems to be a frequent problem. Have you cardio-haters tried just skipping the cardio workouts, and being physically active in everyday life instead? There are a lot of things you can do. Use a bicycle as your primary form of transportation. Whenever you walk, try to walk fast. Never use lifts, run up the stairs instead. When you want a coffee at work, don't go to the closest coffee machine, but get some coffee from the machine two floors above.

It works for me. It obviously isn't enough to win the Tour de France or beat the world record on 1,500 meters, but more than enough to be in far better shape than those who spend 30 minutes jogging on the treadmill a few times per week. Moreover, I find that it helps make my brain and body work better throughout the day. If I just sit on my chair in the office the whole day, I start feeling tired, and can't concentrate very well.

[Liffguard]

To everyone who hates cardio, my advice would be to massively shorten the workouts and up the intensity. Here are a few ideas:

Tabata method

HIIT

And such and such. Hill sprints, interval running, crossfit etc. IMO the solution to boredom is to mix things up, make it shorter and make it harder.

[Lucky Pierre]

This seems to be a frequent problem. Have you cardio-haters tried just skipping the cardio workouts, and being physically active in everyday life instead? There are a lot of things you can do. Use a bicycle as your primary form of transportation. Whenever you walk, try to walk fast. Never use lifts, run up the stairs instead. When you want a coffee at work, don't go to the closest coffee machine, but get some coffee from the machine two floors above.

It works for me. It obviously isn't enough to win the Tour de France or beat the world record on 1,500 meters, but more than enough to be in far better shape than those who spend 30 minutes jogging on the treadmill a few times per week. Moreover, I find that it helps make my brain and body work better throughout the day. If I just sit on my chair in the office the whole day, I start feeling tired, and can't concentrate very well.

I have a bike and will ride it to the park and back which is about 5 miles r/t... I use my pool daily (except for this week because of the rain). I always take stairs and park out so I have to walk in... but I still feel the need to use the machine. When I use the machine I *know* that i've gotten my cardio in for the day. Everything else is just gravy at that point.

[ztemhead]

IT LIVES!!!

Meet Fezzik, my resurrected bicycle. She's a vintage 1994 18 speed road racing bike by Giant, hence the nickname Fezzik. Curb weight of about 20 lbs, last ridden sometime around 2003, when I was a skinnier ztem.

bike shop guy was ace at getting her back in top form again, and making a few tweaks I wouldn't have thought of like seat angle/ height, and rake of the handlebars. Cheers, bike shop guy! Also pictured lower right is Mallory the cat, wondering exactly what this big piece of metal is, and how he can begin destroying it. I don't think the tires look like anything he would claw, so hopefully it will be safe.

Just riding her across the parking lot I could feel her wanting to go real fast, but sadly that will have to wait for my next day off.

I went for another delightful run today, which felt especially good because it was cool and damp rather than blisteringly hot and blazingly sunny like it has been. It's amazing how exercise in shitty conditions makes you really appreciate not so shitty ones. 4.3 mile run non-stop with a pretty decent stride on the back stretch followed by 1/2 mile cool down walk. Good times. :)

[seastarr]

Liffguard, what is going on in your avatar picture?

here's my three top guesses:

1)jujitsu with a giant banana slug

2) LSD art project

3)alien-human erotica

Ok, as far as exercise goes. I did some pilates today and pulled lots of legs. Greywolf, pulling legs does wonders for your grip strength. Necks and arms and general massage, too. Give your sweetie a daily shoulder massage. It's win-win. You get stronger hands and forearms, your sweetie gets tension release. You can't go wrong.

I'm going to name my bike. My gal is not so sleek as Fezzik (she's a mountain bike). I'm thinking I might have to call her Ygritte, 'cause she's a bit of a wilding.

[Greywolf2375]

Ok, as far as exercise goes. I did some pilates today and pulled lots of legs. Greywolf, pulling legs does wonders for your grip strength. Necks and arms and general massage, too. Give your sweetie a daily shoulder massage. It's win-win. You get stronger hands and forearms, your sweetie gets tension release. You can't go wrong.

Yes, yes it does...some of the MT's I have known I am pretty sure could crush rocks with their grip.

Oh, I do follow your reccie as well, and with the way her back is muscled (former farrier) it takes some work to get through to the deeper muscle. So yeah, that does do the job as well. We might take up throwing again, she played lax as well and that will give them a pretty good work out. So many options...

[Lucky Pierre]

So, I've been at the same weight for over a month now... I'm wearing a pair of jeans.. 30 inch waist. They are too big... and using the last hole on my belt and it still slides around...

I wore these jeans about a month ago and they fit then... so... there must be some redistributing of the weight going on....

:)

And I'm still starving... I'm eating anything and everything when I go out tonight....

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

So, I've been at the same weight for over a month now... I'm wearing a pair of jeans.. 30 inch waist. They are too big... and using the last hole on my belt and it still slides around...

I wore these jeans about a month ago and they fit then... so... there must be some redistributing of the weight going on....

:)

And I'm still starving... I'm eating anything and everything when I go out tonight....

This is when the scale becomes the enemy. think of a pound of fat like a log 10inches long and 4-6 inch diamater; a pound of muscle is like a smallish steak.

You get muscle and lose fat, you get smaller, even though the pounds stay the same (the gym I went to pre-Alex had visual aids...the fat one was gross)

[Liffguard]

Liffguard, what is going on in your avatar picture?

It's Fedor Emilianenko putting an armbar on God. The fight happened on January 1st 6001BC. God supplexed Fedor so hard that the resulting shockwave created the universe. Fedor just yawned and made God tap like a bitch. The answer to the problem of suffering is that Fedor likes to beat people up and there's nothing God can do about it.

In all seriousness:

This is God

This is Fedor Emilianenko, the baddest entity to ever exist.

And this is an armbar.

[Mudguard]

I've never been much of a gym person. I vastly prefer getting my exercise outdoors. I've been doing a lot of cardio type activities that have also been strengthening my legs, but I've really been neglecting my upper body strength. Using trekking poles while hiking does transfer a significant amount of work from the legs to the upper body, but it still isn't that much. As a compromise, I bought a cool pull up bar that hangs onto my door frame without using any screws. Will now be adding in pull ups, chin ups and push ups to the mix.

I think I've become addicted to climbing mountains. Planning on climbing Mt. Baldy again tomorrow, but from a more difficult route than the last time. If I can start early enough and get to the summit before noon, I'm planning on taking the north ridge to bag a couple more peaks and so that I can spend more time hiking at the higher elevations.

13 miles/6000 feet elevation gain for the Mt. Baldy hike alone.

18 miles/9000 feet elevation gain for Mt. Baldy + 2 extra peaks.

Can't wait until winter to do some of these same hikes. Will bring my snowboard for some backcountry snowboarding. Also, I'm finding myself thinking about other mountain ranges now. Will likely start hiking in the San Bernadino Mts in June; the highest mountain in Socal is located there. Thinking about climbing Mt. Rainier next year or so.

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

ok, maybe I exagerated a little bit, but this is still gross and muscle is still a lot smaller

[seastarr]

It's Fedor Emilianenko putting an armbar on God. The fight happened on January 1st 6001BC. God supplexed Fedor so hard that the resulting shockwave created the universe. Fedor just yawned and made God tap like a bitch. The answer to the problem of suffering is that Fedor likes to beat people up and there's nothing God can do about it.

In all seriousness:

This is God

This is Fedor Emilianenko, the baddest entity to ever exist.

And this is an armbar.

Holy shit! So all three of my guesses could be interpreted as correct!

[Kat]

I'm going to name my bike. My gal is not so sleek as Fezzik (she's a mountain bike). I'm thinking I might have to call her Ygritte, 'cause she's a bit of a wilding.

All this bike-naming going on. I never named my bike. (My car is Nell; not really sure why but it was the first thing that popped into my head.) I want to call her Margaery because she's green (and sometimes wears a yellow bag) and a bit more refined than a mountain bike.

[Eponine]

I'd hate cardio too if I did it on the treadmill or elliptical. I can barely get through 3 miles on the treadmill without dying of boredom- although one time I did a longer run when I was in great shape, and even though it wasn't thrilling, it was a lot easier to get through since I'm vain and enjoyed seeing myself knock off the miles quickly like that. Lately I've spent my winters out of shape and it's been more of a slog.

Even the indoor track, at 8 laps a mile, is a lot less boring to me than the treadmill.

But how can you be bored when you're outside, running/biking new trails and seeing new things and new people every day?

[QuietColours]

But how can you be bored when you're outside, running/biking new trails and seeing new things and new people every day?

Easily. The pure repetition of the movement is incredibly boring to me. I need cardio where I really have to think about what I'm doing--dance was always great for me, because of the amount of thought it took to get every move exactly right on the music and in the right space. Whenever I run (I only run outside, due to lack of gym and equipment), all I can think is "is it over yet?" I'd probably have better luck on a machine that was set up in front of a tv or that I could read while using--anything to give my mind something to chew on.