Exercise and Fitness V

[Swordfish]

Dips issue:

My gym has two spots to do dips. One is the machine with the assistance. I currently love that machine for chin ups and pull-ups but I don't really need it for dips. The problem is the stair kinda gets in your way if you curl your legs up behind you so I don't know that it's really possible to use that machine without standing on the resistance bar. I'm thinking the one option would be to actually "stand" on the bar but with the weight at 0. I'll try that next time.

If it doesn't fold out of the way, you can set the resistance quite low and weight the bar all the way to the floor with a 25 lb plate.

[Mudguard]

Going to be taking off tomorrow morning for my Sierra Nevada hiking trip. The warm weather in CA has been wonderful for melting off some of the snow, so I think I'll be able to hike at least a few mountains if my feet can hold up. Saturday - Mt. Langley. Sunday - Mt. Whitney and maybe Mt. Muir if free of snow and ice. Monday - White Mountain & Ancient Bristlecone Forest. All are over 14,000', and total distance for those 3 days is about 60 miles.

[Lord of Oop North]

Have fun and be safe, Mudguard! I'm oh so jealous!

If I am ever in California, I think I know who to ask about hiking opportunities ;)

[Mudguard]

Have fun and be safe, Mudguard! I'm oh so jealous!

If I am ever in California, I think I know who to ask about hiking opportunities ;)

Thanks! Definitely let me know if you are in town and looking to do a hike. So many great mountains down here!

[Kat]

Good luck, Mudguard. My trip got moved to the following weekend. Let me know what the trails are like. :)

[Mudguard]

Good luck, Mudguard. My trip got moved to the following weekend. Let me know what the trails are like. :)

Thanks! I'll take a bunch of pics, especially of any portions of the trail covered with snow or ice.

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

Going to be taking off tomorrow morning for my Sierra Nevada hiking trip. The warm weather in CA has been wonderful for melting off some of the snow, so I think I'll be able to hike at least a few mountains if my feet can hold up. Saturday - Mt. Langley. Sunday - Mt. Whitney and maybe Mt. Muir if free of snow and ice. Monday - White Mountain & Ancient Bristlecone Forest. All are over 14,000', and total distance for those 3 days is about 60 miles.

That sounds very awesome. I am going to try for 3 miles this weekend. It's not much, but a hell of a lot more than I have done in a long time.

[Xray the Enforcer]

OMFG. Finally. I was given the official all-clear -- I do not have an aneurysm -- and so I am going to celebrate by getting up early tomorrow and going to the fucking gym. I haven't been since last week because my doctors forbade me from doing so until we ruled out that a blood vessel in my fucking head was about to explode.

The good news is that I had to do a weigh-in at the doctor, and I'm down a couple of pounds. Now, remember that I have not been doing much in the way of trying to lose weight and I've been mostly building muscle. So the fact that I've still lost weight while gaining the more dense muscle tissues means that I've burned about half the fat I was looking to burn. I'm pretty stoked by this. Now I am going to be a bit more diligent and try to get those last three pounds of fat converted to muscle. :)

[Stego]

My wrist was feeling much, much better today. I was easily able to do pressing motions with zero pain. The swinging of the barbells up hurt, however. So I had my cousins placing the dumbbells in my hands after I had gotten into position for each set. I was able to use 125lb dumbbells with no discomfort at all. So I think I'm out of the woods. I will continue to take it easy, however. But the thought of a week of these days.... gah.

(I did have to drop the left one, rather than swing it down though. I'm sure people thought I was being a douche. Ah, well.)

[Stego]

Martha, I'm thrilled. You had me worried!

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

OMFG. Finally. I was given the official all-clear -- I do not have an aneurysm -- and so I am going to celebrate by getting up early tomorrow and going to the fucking gym. I haven't been since last week because my doctors forbade me from doing so until we ruled out that a blood vessel in my fucking head was about to explode.

The good news is that I had to do a weigh-in at the doctor, and I'm down a couple of pounds. Now, remember that I have not been doing much in the way of trying to lose weight and I've been mostly building muscle. So the fact that I've still lost weight while gaining the more dense muscle tissues means that I've burned about half the fat I was looking to burn. I'm pretty stoked by this. Now I am going to be a bit more diligent and try to get those last three pounds of fat converted to muscle. :)

:grouphug: Glad you got some good news.

[Lord of Oop North]

Yay, Good to hear!

[Kat]

Aneurysms bad. :thumbsdown: Healthy good. :thumbsup:

[ztemhead]

useful tip of the week came from Nakkie, most commonly seen in chat. today I did what he told me, and looked not up, not down, but at a spot on the floor six feet in front of me while doing deadlifts. it felt much better, almost to the point where I want to try doing real weight again.

otherwise, legs day was good. Later on I had some down time while driving the cab, and I did a nice 12 minute leg stretching routine in a deserted parking lot down in the barrio.

congrats on no aanuerysm anurism ah fuck it, brain bleed, Xray. I feel ya on the weight loss/ strength gain routine. It's something I"m dealing with- how to gain strength while also losing weight. 14 more pounds to go downwards, then I'll start working on building muscle mass for real.

[Xray the Enforcer]

Thanks, everyone. I'm not exactly healthy -- I still have surgery to look forward to -- but at least I can work off my 'roid rage** on the treadmill and in the weight room.

**I am on a massive course of therapeutic steroids right now and, yes, I think by early next week they will drive me completely mental. :tantrum:

*chest bumps* to you, Stego. You'll be back up there soon. :)

Ztem -- I love the impromptu stretch.

[The White Wolf]

Hit 70 miles this past week: 5 x 1 mile today at 6:20-6:30 pace with 2 min rest in between and yesterday I negative split a 14 mile run even though the second half was much more uphill than the first. My 15 K did not go as planned; I made a turn with the 4 milers (which was the much bigger race) and ran nearly a mile more before I realized it and had to back track. In spite of that, I was only 11 minutes off my goal and I came back a week later and did a 53:00 8 miler so I'm pretty much right where I wanted to be.

[Mudguard]

Hit 70 miles this past week: 5 x 1 mile today at 6:20-6:30 pace with 2 min rest in between and yesterday I negative split a 14 mile run even though the second half was much more uphill than the first. My 15 K did not go as planned; I made a turn with the 4 milers (which was the much bigger race) and ran nearly a mile more before I realized it and had to back track. In spite of that, I was only 11 minutes off my goal and I came back a week later and did a 53:00 8 miler so I'm pretty much right where I wanted to be.

Wow, nice job. You're fast!

[Fleeing Finn]

Getting old sucks. My knees hate me. I swear I haven't done anything to them. No running for other reasons, I am decreasing the amount of weight they carry and yet still they are protesting and aching with nearly every movement today. I hate stiff joints. :(

I have done one lower body workout this week, and the following day (yesterday) felt fine. Spent some time on the treadmill. I did see how fast I could walk without running, but it wasn't too extreme (or for too long).

This was happening before I started working out and I was sure it was weight/age related (still am).

Working out is one of the few times I wish I was in my 20's again. *sigh*

Three advices: stop using the treadmill, eat some fish oil and do some work for your legs with a full range of motion of the joint.

To strengthen the joint and the muscles around it you need to do some exercises for the legs with full joint ROM. Bodyweight squats can be a good start if you can get down to a full squat (most westerners can't, so you'll prolly have to do something else). Fish oil should be self explanatory due to it's well established benefits to your joints and general health. I recommend taking it straight from a bottle with a table spoon but if the taste makes you gag and you can't get used to it you can take capsules (6-10 per day). You can't overdose on fish oil, just don't buy the stuff where they have added vitamins in. The treadmill is one of the worst fitness inventions in history because it negates the need to "pull" the ground under you with your feet (the mill does it for you) thus eliminating the need of hamstrings and glutes. There's no work for the antagonist muscles and you're only using your quads which also results to the whole hip extensor mechanism going haywire. Knee pain is almost guaranteed. Treadmills suck. There, I said it.

[Kat]

The treadmill is one of the worst fitness inventions in history because it negates the need to "pull" the ground under you with your feet (the mill does it for you) thus eliminating the need of hamstrings and glutes. There's no work for the antagonist muscles and you're only using your quads which also results to the whole hip extensor mechanism going haywire. Knee pain is almost guaranteed. Treadmills suck. There, I said it.

Do you have any articles on this? Either I am not understanding what you mean by "pull", or...I dunno? Why should it make any difference to your body, physically, whether the surface you are walking on is moving? You're still propelling yourself forward relative to the "sidewalk". And I can see and feel my hamstrings and glutes in use on the treadmill, because I'm vain and I totally check myself out in the mirror. :unsure:

[Liffguard]

Why should it make any difference to your body, physically, whether the surface you are walking on is moving? You're still propelling yourself forward relative to the "sidewalk".

No, you're not. When running on a road, your muscles are actively working to propel your body forward. You are working to actually make your mass move. On a treadmill all of the motion comes from the machine and your legs just move to keep up with it. Your body is exerting no driving force. Imagine if you were suspended in the air by your upper body and just moved your legs in a running motion in the air. That's effectively what a treadmill does. I agree with Fleeing Finn on this issue.