Exercise & Fitness

[Third Knight on the Left]

Okay so hi, I'm poking my head into this thread. Finally joined a Gym for the first time in my life. I'm 30 years old.

Little bit of background, I've been pretty much fat since grade school. I don't remember exactly when, but I know I was fat when I went to a new school in 5th grade. Basically thing kept rising at a pretty steady rate until Sept 7 of 2008. I know the date because it was the first day of the football season and I was watching the Rams get crushed (as would happen a lot in the ensuing years). It was a kind of tradition to drink crown and coke and watch the game with my buddy's, and I was inebriated, and I know I had been eating a rich dip with sour cream as a main ingredient. Anyway something happened, it wasn't a heart attack I'm pretty sure but it was this really fast hard beat and it scared the shit out of me. I was pretty anxious for days afterward, and my panic caused my mother to call an ambulance and they took my blood pressure and found nothing, so I have no idea what it was.

Anyway the upshot of this was, I was definitely scared straight for awhile. I haven't had a Soda since and I pretty much ate nothing but cheerios for like 6 months. It wasn't until January of the next year that I got a scale that could weigh me and I was 435 when we got it, so I don't know what to estimate I was at. Well by March of 2009 I hit 400, and... I've been between that at 390 pretty much since. The reasons for this stagnation are the usual, I've cheated here and there, and exercise hadn't really been a part of the deal just diet. I've tried to rectify the exercise deal, but that's mainly consisted of Wii and I'm guessing that's not really proper even if I do sweat. :P I haven't been consistent with even doing that, and I've never made the 380's.

Well things came to a bit of a head yesterday, a lot of bad thoughts came together at once and I had a mini breakdown I guess. Was thinking dark thoughts, then went to weigh myself told my mother that I was at 400 again, she said 'geeze' or something like that and I bit her head off. After that I had a long discussion with a friend of mine, about my weight and other sins I had on my chest, and basically it was like I've got to join a gym and maybe get a pro to help.

So went in today with my buddy, joined the gym he showed me around and I did the treadmill for 20 minutes. I feel good no pain at all except in my palms from gripping the railings. I'm going to get called in for a consult and then we'll see what happens, assuming I can afford any of that, if I can't I'll just make do.

Sorry for making a huge ass post, just felt like telling some people. :)

[cjfshaw]

well grats on making the change dude :thumbsup: . Stopping drinking soda is huge, I can't pull that off. If diet and exercise are your concern there are quite a few people here (and in the healthy eating thread) that can give you some tips on where to go from here. From what I've seen, the typical weight loss strategy tends to look like (not necessarily in this order) -drink more water and less juice/soda/alcohol, eat more veggies, eat less 'processed' foods, start calorie counting, do high rep or anaerobic workouts, try to do fullbody workouts and make sure to hit the big muscle groups (legs, back), rest appropriately don't injure yourself!- but I'm no expert so take that with a grain of salt. I'm sure I've missed a lot, but I think that's a solid outline.

[Eponine]

Good luck, Third Knight, keep us updated! Don't get overwhelmed by trying to do the exactly perfect routine and diet (although having someone show you around the gym and keep you accountable is good) - just keep active and conscious of what you're eating. Well, pick something and stick to it.

***

I'm going to do something stupid. My boyfriend asked me if I wanted to go to Leadville next weekend to see a friend of his who's coming from Va for the marathon. I looked on the site and saw there was a half. I signed up for it. Now I am filled with regrets and trepidation.

I'm not sure if my regrets are more because I hate being slow, or because the reason I'm going to be slow is because it's going to be long and painful. There's a good chance that I'll have to walk at some point. Although I've lived around 9000 for half a year now, I've never actually tried running at 13,000 and I don't know what it'll be like. I've heard that at the top of Pike's Peak over 14,000 most people can't keep running and just have to shuffle along. That's what I'm anticipating.

[Alexia]

Ankle injury question: about 3 weeks ago I injured my ankle in a dance class. I jumped when I was supposed to swivel (well, it looked like the teacher was jumping!) and extend my left leg back...end result, my entire body weight crashed down on my right ankle (foot was on tip toe, too) and ooh, it hurts!

Last week, when it still hurt badly and I couldn't do anything in that particular dance position at all I was instructed to wear an ankle brace until it heals (and do a bunch of painful thigh exercises so that my thighs strengthen enough to take the pressure off my ankles). But I'm wondering how long it will take for the ankle to heal and if there's anything else I can do besides the brace to speed that process up.

*I don't know what I did to my ankle but it isn't a sprain. I've sprained my ankle in the past and the result was that, 1) I couldn't walk for a couple days; and, 2) it healed within a couple days. This is kind of strange because it still hurts but there was no swelling and I never had any trouble walking.

[Vethnar]

So went in today with my buddy, joined the gym he showed me around and I did the treadmill for 20 minutes. I feel good no pain at all except in my palms from gripping the railings. I'm going to get called in for a consult and then we'll see what happens, assuming I can afford any of that, if I can't I'll just make do.

Sorry for making a huge ass post, just felt like telling some people. :)

Don't be sorry, and welcome on board! I look forward to following your progress.

:cheers:

[Mudguard]

I'm going to do something stupid. My boyfriend asked me if I wanted to go to Leadville next weekend to see a friend of his who's coming from Va for the marathon. I looked on the site and saw there was a half. I signed up for it. Now I am filled with regrets and trepidation.

I'm not sure if my regrets are more because I hate being slow, or because the reason I'm going to be slow is because it's going to be long and painful. There's a good chance that I'll have to walk at some point. Although I've lived around 9000 for half a year now, I've never actually tried running at 13,000 and I don't know what it'll be like. I've heard that at the top of Pike's Peak over 14,000 most people can't keep running and just have to shuffle along. That's what I'm anticipating.

What are the stats for the race? I'm curious about the elevation gain. If the route is going up a mountain, there is no shame in slowing down to a fast walk. I've watched some videos of mountain races on youtube and a guy who was walking at a fast pace was actually passing people who were still attempting to jog when they were clearly out of gas. I think walking is more energy efficient than jogging, so if your pace falls to around 3-4 mph, you may as well just walk and try to recharge your batteries for a bit.

[alguien]

Five miles tomorrow morning. I'm kinda pumped that once again I think running five miles is kinda easy.

I'll be happy running around 9:30, but we'll see how I feel. Legs feel pretty rested. Might push it a bit if I'm feeling chipper.

[Eponine]

double post

[Eponine]

What are the stats for the race? I'm curious about the elevation gain. If the route is going up a mountain, there is no shame in slowing down to a fast walk. I've watched some videos of mountain races on youtube and a guy who was walking at a fast pace was actually passing people who were still attempting to jog when they were clearly out of gas. I think walking is more energy efficient than jogging, so if your pace falls to around 3-4 mph, you may as well just walk and try to recharge your batteries for a bit.

I found some results online, and they're even slower than I expected, but it turns out that the "half" is more like 15 miles. The course goes from 10,189 to 13,185, and the trail is very rocky in places. Last year's female winner ran 2:42. There were only 5 women under 3 hours. My PR is 1:34 when I was in much better shape. So I don't really know how long I might be out there - I hope under 3:30. Apparently a lot of the elevation is in the last two miles up, then coming back is mostly downhill.

I'm a slow walker and an efficient jogger, so I know that I'll have to walk some, but plan more on jogging a little then and slowing way down to catch my breath almost completely before starting up again.

I'm wondering if I should wear my CamelBak. I'd like to have the extra water or Accelerade, but I don't like how hot it makes my back. I don't want to try to run down the steep parts holding anything.

I'm going to run a 10 miler tomorrow, a track workout on Tuesday, then just a few miles each Wednesday through Friday.

[Lightning Lord]

Wow, good luck! Spontaneous half marathon races are tough enough when they're not going up a mountain. And times being what they typically are for the course, no reason to feel bad about walking at times. It's better to walk when needed and still cross the line than to push too hard and fail to finish.

[Mudguard]

I found some results online, and they're even slower than I expected, but it turns out that the "half" is more like 15 miles. The course goes from 10,189 to 13,185, and the trail is very rocky in places. Last year's female winner ran 2:42. There were only 5 women under 3 hours. My PR is 1:34 when I was in much better shape. So I don't really know how long I might be out there - I hope under 3:30. Apparently a lot of the elevation is in the last two miles up, then coming back is mostly downhill.

I'm a slow walker and an efficient jogger, so I know that I'll have to walk some, but plan more on jogging a little then and slowing way down to catch my breath almost completely before starting up again.

I'm wondering if I should wear my CamelBak. I'd like to have the extra water or Accelerade, but I don't like how hot it makes my back. I don't want to try to run down the steep parts holding anything.

I'm going to run a 10 miler tomorrow, a track workout on Tuesday, then just a few miles each Wednesday through Friday.

Wow, pretty brutal. Quite a bit of elevation gain, plus the altitude effect at 13,000 is not fun. Maybe you'll be well acclimated though. I know that I can feel the effects when I get above 10,000'. Those final two miles uphill are going to be killer, but you can probably do it at a walk (2-3 mph) and still make your goal time provided you have enough energy to run downhill at a decent pace, which should be much easier, at least if you haven't burnt out on the climb. Gook luck and let us know how it goes.

[Eponine]

Ooooh, I did a 10 miler on a mountain trail this morning - it hurt, but I could have gone another 5.

I may skip the track workout and just run easy until next weekend, we'll see.

Still undecided about the Camelbak. Constant access to hydration may be the most important thing - it's easy to get dehydrated at altitude and standing at a aid stop to drink all at once is less optimal than being able to drink as I go. However, I usually run with as little stuff as possible and the extra weight makes everything feel like more of a slog.

[ztemhead]

I'm wondering if I should wear my CamelBak. I'd like to have the extra water or Accelerade, but I don't like how hot it makes my back. I don't want to try to run down the steep parts holding anything.

have you considered filling it with crushed ice? That oughta cool down your back for the first hour at least. I filled mine with margarita mix before walking into this food fair last week. Good times. ;)

I've been on a different routine lately of varying rep ranges, which has been kicking my ass hard. The workouts vary between 25 and 3 rep sets, with anywhere from 30 to 90 seconds rest in between. I'm having trouble dialing in to a good resistance level (amount of weight) for the higher rep sets. I was thinking 50% of 1RM would be about right, but holy crap am I tired around #15/ 25, and also, 30 seconds isn't nearly enough time to get my heart rate back down before doing another 25. It just goes to show that there's different kinds of strength, I guess. Being able to bench 315 one time doesn't necessarily mean you can put up 225 twenty times.

Anyway this iteration has been good, forcing me to refocus on form and breathing, which I had kind of forgotten about while on the pure strength regimen.

[Third Knight on the Left]

Had my orientation today. The guy was like, "we could just do evaluation, but that's boring I like to be hardcore". So I ended up doing like an hour of weight training, so we'll see if I'm crying tomorrow. He also wrote up a cardio routine which is quite a jump from what I've been doing, so I'll see how that goes tomorrow. I've gone there for every day for 4 days now and I'm still excited, so so far so good.

[alguien]

God that five miler yesterday was terrible. Ran a 9:40 pace, but I expected to be faster, as I did 7 miles at essentially the same pace.

Here's a tip, don't go running in 85 degree weather if you're not ready for it.

Here's another tip, don't plan your route through there the Pride Parade will be crossing. It might get hilarious.

[Lightning Lord]

God that five miler yesterday was terrible. Ran a 9:40 pace, but I expected to be faster, as I did 7 miles at essentially the same pace.

Here's a tip, don't go running in 85 degree weather if you're not ready for it.

Here's another tip, don't plan your route through there the Pride Parade will be crossing. It might get hilarious.

Considering a lot of my running gear, most people would think I was part of the parade. Which would be pretty cool, actually.

Half marathon in six days. Still not sure where it's starting, going to need to work on learning that bit. Maybe a concrete start time as well.

[seastarr]

Thinking about all that back pain in the herniated disk thread makes me so appreciate ease of movement and having good health.

Here are a couple of trapeze pics from a month ago.

And the results of my last workout...blood blisters, ouchie.

I may as well admit it--I am a trapeze junkie. I'd do it everyday if I could.

[Week]

Soccer last night, soccer tonight, 5k tomorrow, and soccer on Wednesday.

Staying active: check.

Getting lifting done at the gym: no check. :(

[ztemhead]

Had my orientation today. The guy was like, "we could just do evaluation, but that's boring I like to be hardcore". So I ended up doing like an hour of weight training, so we'll see if I'm crying tomorrow. He also wrote up a cardio routine which is quite a jump from what I've been doing, so I'll see how that goes tomorrow. I've gone there for every day for 4 days now and I'm still excited, so so far so good.

congrats! weights are addicting. you're gonna love it.

[Liffguard]

Here are a couple of trapeze pics from a month ago.

:stunned: Holy crap. Those are some impressive lats.