Health and Fitness Track, 2011

[Ensign Steve]

Happy New Year! :cheer:

Where my fitness junkies at? I don't know about y'all, but I have holiday and vacation pudge to get rid of and I'm fixing to get a fresh start in the New Year.

I flew home from Phoenix yesterday and I have been alcohol-free and sugar-free since the day before. Last evening I did a Jillian Michaels Shred video and today I did my four-mile run.

Tomorrow I start back at work (boo! hiss!) and I have Weight Watchers and Crossfit afterward. I still have 20 more lbs to lose to meet my 70 lb overall goal.

Who's in? Sound off!

[wildernesse]

I walked about 3.5 miles today as part of my use the car less transit plan.

[maddog]

I've been sick for about a week. I did drag myself to the trainer today and he went easy on me with a few drills. Enough to make me sore tomorrow, though, I'm sure.

I've put myself on a 30-day challenge (a series of them, but one at a time) to tackle about 10 pounds. I'm trying to avoid hpb medications ... like vm and TLR, opting to fight hbp with lifestyle rather than pharmaceutical treatments.

My baseline for the start of this challenge is about 40 lb down from my top weight (maybe 2-3 years ago), so I feel ready for the next step. :whup:


ETA: excellent transportation option wildy! I'll be looking into some of that myself over the next 2 years as they do some construction in our parking lot at work.
#2538

[Demimonde]

Okay so I need to throw in with you guys. I have ballooned up this holiday, but beyond that it has been the annual post-pictures-from-the-whole-damn-year-on-facebook and I have watched my pictures become a flip book of chin pouchiness. Not cool.

I am wrestling with my schedule to try to get three hour long sessions in the pool a week, plus two nights of yoga. I think I might hit up the intramural sports dealio on campus to find a team to play with once a week. May also balm my sernioritis.

[Ensign Steve]

I think I might hit up the intramural sports dealio on campus to find a team to play with once a week.

What do you play?

[Demimonde]

Dunno, I was thinking beginers soccer or something. Something with alot of cardio. I don't suck at basket ball, but pick up games are
mostly guys who get pissed off. Not much fun.

They have everything from dodgeball to oozeball. Actually that is a bit of a craze at the moment. The Russian Lit folks need to replace some graduates IIRC. It is like a combination of volley ball and mudwrestling. I will most likely end up there as I already know some folks and have a passable serve. Also the Ruskies like the drinkies so it can be social too.

[Kyuss Apollo]

Soon as I get over this suffering chest cold I'm in, ES.

Went to the doctor's yesterday just to make sure it's not bronchitis--she thinks its this viral infection that's going around that takes 2-3 weeks to run its course...:sadcheer:

Once i'm better my plan is to get to the gym every day, either before or after work--wanta/gotta lose, oh, about 40-50 pounds.

And stop eating so much bread. Lotsobread is bad, m'kay?

[viscousmemories]

I'm in but I don't have a plan yet.

[Listener]

Just to report that the sciatica I've been pestered by for a couple of months seems to have resolved.

The biggest contributor to the resolution was a memory foam matress topper which enabled me to sleep on my side if I wanted to. Flat on my back on a spring matress with pain and rampant insomnia was no fun at all.

I was eventually left with "knots" in my left quadriceps muscle which have responded nicely to stretching exercises. :cheer:

Back to serious dog-walking.

[Ensign Steve]

I have been off sugar for three days and I'm already having sugar dreams. This morning I dreamed about eating snicker bars and donuts. I love waking up from those and realizing that there's no consequences.

I'm sore as hell from doing 55 (or more, I kept losing count) deadlifts at crossfit last night. I'm taking the day off!

[maddog]

I flunked yesterday.

Today, I went to the trainer again, and he royally kicked me with a series of simple-looking exercises.

Tomorrow, I am bound and determined to get in my off-day exercise. We have a special shindig on at work so there will be extremely limited parking. I'm going to avoid the hassle by walking to and from work (approx 2.8 mi each way), plus I'm going to yoga class midday.

Saturday, we will be at the wilderness park at 6 a.m. I'm dreading it because I was doing so well before Xmas and now I can't breathe (still getting over my cold). :sadcheer:

ETA: I am committed to a local 5K run in February and I :gasp: told my trainer. So now he is going to have me do mileage :faint: to get ready. Here we go! :rundog:

#2539

[viscousmemories]

I still don't have a firm plan yet but I've been passing on desserts and sweet snacks and did 30 minutes on the elliptical machine today.

[Ensign Steve]

Today, I went to the trainer again, and he royally kicked me with a series of simple-looking exercises.

Those are the worst! :lol:

[wildernesse]

I walked just over a mile today as a result of taking the train and not the car.

Total self-transport miles for 2010: 4.5

[Qingdai]

I am also on the use car less, eat less carbs plan. So on Wednesdays I can walk my son to school and back and forth to my office.
It's only about three miles, but I came home and had the low blood sugar shakes. Not good. It might have also been the below freezing weather though.

[wildernesse]

I walked around the block on my way to get the mail. It is almost a mile.

Total self-transport miles for 2011: 5.5

I can't believe none of you pointed out that I am still living in the past in my last post.

[Qingdai]

:live: She's alive!!

[maddog]

I mapped my walking route to work yesterday: 3.06 miles. I finked on the return trip, however, and accepted a ride home. I did go to the yoga class.
This morning we ran the wilderness park trail, with a time of 45:29 -- not half bad after the Xmas hype/post-Xmas letdown and illness. I was shaky and sick afterward though for a few minutes. I have an assignment from my trainer of 200 abdominal crunches every night, plus 5 miles of roadwork on Monday. :heat: So that's my commitment for the next couple of days.

#2541

[ms_ann_thrope]

I signed up to do a 10-week "fitness challenge" with one of my girlfriends. It started this morning; about 25 minutes into it, I was pretty sure I was going to die. Boy, am I ever out of shape!

[Qingdai]

Nothing like birthing live young to take a toll on fitness.

I got local mothers, well two of them, committed to going for a walk Sunday mornings, we did maybe two miles. I told them it'd be a power walk in that we're going to plot to take over the neighborhood.

[Ensign Steve]

I did my four-miles today, and I used a "speedbump" podcast (http://www.djsteveboy.com/intervals.html) on my iPod in an effort to increase my speed. Of course the fastest interval coincided with my steepest uphill drive, but that can't be helped because I live at a local maximum. I always have to end uphill. I'm trying to train for speed rather than distance at this point, and my next race is next Sunday. I think I did today's run in about 38 minutes.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Nq2-dxD7O78/TSoWzeR3KiI/AAAAAAAAAL8/iEj_gNj91N4/s400/elevation.png

I have posted this vanity shot in so many places that even I'm tired of looking at it, so I'll spoilerize it for you.

This is me working out at my new gym:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Nq2-dxD7O78/TSje8jLvFfI/AAAAAAAAAL0/JjkgEw7kXsY/s400/thruster.jpg

[wildernesse]

I chose to go to the zoo instead of the movies today. So instead of sitting around eating candy for a little over an hour, we strolled around the zoo for little over an hour. Although I did make us hot chocolate when we came home.

Yay for active recreation.

[maddog]

You guys are all doing inspirationally great. :cheer:

#2543

[Ensign Steve]

We got snowed in and Crossfit was closed too, so I took a long snow hike today. (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=898672#post898672)

[wildernesse]

15 minutes of Wii Fit. Better than nothing.

[Qingdai]

Walked a mile back from my office. Whoo, it's freakin' cold.

[Ensign Steve]

I'm down 7.4 pounds in two weeks. That's almost all of the holiday and vacation weight. :lol:

[Ensign Steve]

I was down another 1.4 pounds at WW last night. I'm within 10 pounds of my goal, so I'm getting antsy. I'm hoping I can get there in February or March and make Lifetime before the semester is out.

Also, don't do Crossfit unless you are a glutton for punishment.

[wildernesse]

I walked almost 2 miles today. Then I came home and slept for 2 hours. Woohoo.

I also walked .25 miles yesterday to the train.

[Qingdai]

Yesterday I walked one mile (Took son to school), today I walked 3 miles (took son to school and then walked to office and back).
I guess I walked about 8 blocks to lunch and back too.

My blood sugar isn't too high after my meal, either.

[wildernesse]

30 minutes of elliptical hill program, at a walking pace.

[wildernesse]

Strolling while birdwatching, about 1.8 miles.

[_How]

I've just restarted my fitness program from before Christmas, although it's pretty hard getting back into things (I might have to take it a bit slower for the next few weeks). Generally consists of, weekly, the following:
3x1 hour sessions of Spinning,
2x2 hour sessions of Fencing,
5x>30 minute sessions of Running (6mph, 8mph + 3% incline 1:1 intervals)
5x>30 minute sessions on the MT machine (Running for a minute and then climbing for 30 seconds)
5x2000m Rowing
5x60 set Reps of weight-assisted Stomach Crunches and weight assisted Chest Flexes (not too sure on the last name!)

Wish me luck!

[wildernesse]

30 minutes of elliptical hill program, walking pace.

[Ensign Steve]

I ran five miles on Saturday even though I really, really didn't wanna.

Oh, also, did I mention I came in 2nd in my division in the last 5K I ran? Because, that.

[Qingdai]

Congratulations!

[Ensign Steve]

I hit my lowest weight in 7 years at Weight Watchers last night. The holiday pudge is gone! I'm now the weight I was when I finished basic training, and about as fit, too. I do push-ups on my toes and squat 65 pounds. Still working on doing a pull-up, but I also still have about 15 pounds to lose (is that all?!) and getting lighter should help with that.

I'm ready for shorts and tank top weather.

[Dingfod]

I'm on a forced-exercise regime. I do about 30 minutes of snow shoveling, come in an rest for about an hour, then back out for 30 minutes. Lather, rinse, repeat. I should have the driveway completely shoveled out in three or four more days at this rate.

[maddog]

my wilderness park runs have been up and down (pun intended!)

about three weeks ago, I did 45-something.
two weeks ago, I was by myself and did about 49 minutes.
one week ago I did 44:25, the fastest time in a looooooong time.
then I was sick all week.
today, I came in at 43:27, almost 1 minute faster than last week! :eek:

I am stunned.
Not to mention out of breath.

On other fronts, I pretty much totally flunked my first 30-day challenge, but today is the first day of the next (28-day) challenge. I am going to the grocery today to stock up on healthier food options.

#2546

[Ensign Steve]

That's awesome! :highfive:

[ShottleBop]

I called someone at my place of work and indicated that I might be interested in walking the half marathon to raise money for leukemia research

[Demimonde]

Day One of early birdie boot camp. We got up at five and headed to the gym. We were running kinda slow, but with practice I think we can be out the door sooner. Today I ran a mile and cycled 2.5 on a hill program. My pegs feel all tingly. More importantly, my mood is really good. My typical Monday blahs are lifted. Usually I wouldn't even be out of bed yet. I think I can get used to being a morning person.

Tomorrow I will swim for an hour. Can't wait to hit the pool.

[maddog]

Good on you both, Shottlebop, and Demimonde! :party:

I want to hear more about "early birdie boot camp"? :drillsgt:

For myself, I am closing out a week that was really hard and I was really depressed, but it turned out much better than I thought. I was depressed all week because the 5K run I signed up for took place on Saturday,and I did not feel good about it either during or after. I was wanting to improve my time from about 45-48 minutes, shooting for approx 42 minutes. It was a LOT harder than I had anticipated and I walked parts of it, so I was pretty sure I had flunked out and posted my usual 45-48 minute time. I told my trainer I had not felt or done particularly well, and he proceeded to work me over in our sessions this week. So I was feeling bummed (and sore).

Then, I finally found out the results of the race:

I was:

733/1084 overall

371/646 among the women runners

12/30 in my age group

My gun time was 42:19.3

My chip time was 41:01.3

Awesome! :winner: :medal: :goldcup: if I do say so myself!

:shock: :stunned: :rubeyes: :faint:

All of a sudden, my week was a LOT better than I had been feeling! Moral of the story ... when it comes to self-assessment of how I am doing, I know nuthin'

#2549

[davidm]

Then, I finally found out the results of the race:

I was:

733/1084 overall

371/646 among the women runners

12/30 in my age group

My gun time was 42:19.3

My chip time was 41:01.3

Awesome! :winner: :medal: :goldcup: if I do say so myself!

:shock: :stunned: :rubeyes: :faint:



:cheer::cheers2::champagne:

[Ensign Steve]

I am running in a 5K trail run on Saturday (weather permitting). That's like a regular 5K but instead of running on a road you run on a hiking trail so it's a lot more hilly and precarious and takes more time. I did one last year in about 35 minutes and I'm hoping to beat that this year.

[maddog]

I am running in a 5K trail run on Saturday (weather permitting). That's like a regular 5K but instead of running on a road you run on a hiking trail so it's a lot more hilly and precarious and takes more time. I did one last year in about 35 minutes and I'm hoping to beat that this year.

Whoa, you are FAST! :speedy: My regular wilderness park trail run is only 2.67 miles and my fastest time has been 43:00+. Good luck on your run!

#2550

[wildernesse]

I walked about 2.5 miles today, because I was betrayed by my plan to walk to the Barnes & Noble and take the bus most of the way back. I ended up wanting a smoothie from the smoothie place a block and a half back in the direction of home, but by the time I got there I didn't want a smoothie and was too close to home to feel like paying $1.25 to save myself a half a mile's walk. (I'd have to walk .25 from the bus stop home.)

[Qingdai]

Saturday I walked four miles, two of those were because I got to my office, then realized I'd forgotten to bring some things from home. At least it was dry then, now it's howling wind and sideways rain.
Totally not looking forward to walking in that.

The wilderness run sounds fun, it's nice to run on something besides cement.

Also I got my blood work back from the lab. My fasting blood sugar is down slightly over 10 points, and my ASI is down a point. Now if I could just fit in these pants better.

[Doctor X]

:cheer:

Unfortunately, with all my biking I am a bit :butthurt:

Might have to get those padded spandexy thingies. . . .

--J.D.

[wildernesse]

A 30 minute stroll around the block on the way to get the mail. The weather is beautiful here today.

[wildernesse]

30 minute walk to the neighborhood playground (it makes a good turn-around point).

My mom called as I was on my way back. When I said I was crossing the street from taking a walk she said, "IS IT DARK?" No, it is not, it is a half hour before the sun sets. So I sent her a chat tonight to remind her to lock the doors at home and not to leave any candles burning unattended.

[Qingdai]

Tell her to wear a sweater too, as you are cold.

I walked a mile to my son's school and back.

Tomorrow he is suspended (again) so I was thinking of taking him for a long walk, until I read the weather report which was "rain followed by thunder, lightening and possible hail."
:awesome:

[Demimonde]

I was pleased to have had a wonderful return to yoga, after my instructor returned with a mended broken foot. It had been about six weeks. I forgot that I had taken a muscle relaxer for my TMJ a few hour before. I was giving myself super high fives for how great I was doing.

Until today. Today every muscle in my body is screaming.

[Ensign Steve]

Oh, hey, did I tell y'all I won my trail race last weekend? I finished in 30:24. That's within a minute of my best road time so now I'm anxious to do another road race and see how low I can get that number. I'm doing interval training to increase my pace from 150 bpm to 180 bpm and I can tell that my weight-training is hugely improving my strength and power in my legs and core when I run. I am pretty competitive now and not just running for fun and it's awesome.

[Kyuss Apollo]

Just got back from a bout on the treadmill at the gym, and ate a breakfast of low-fat granola...

[maddog]

Awesome, Kyuss, and

:highfive: to ES for the win!

And :fight::crutch: for Demi ... I feel your pain!

#2552

[wildernesse]

20 minute stroll around the block today.

Also, had a health screening test done today and preliminary results looked good, so Dr. expects the labs to not contradict.

[wildernesse]

Walking of about a mile to and fro the train stations, plus the strolling about in the museum. (Yes, I think it counts as exercise, since it was more exertion than the usual sit-in-front-of-the-computer.)

[Ensign Steve]

bey and I have a bunch of crazy stupid plans with all our crunchy granola fitness junky family and friends in California when we go there next week for spring break. One of the days we're going to go hiking with Mom in Malibu. On the day we go to Santa Barbara, we're going to do a workout at a Crossfit on the beach. And then one day we're going up to my old gym in my hometown to take a Pilates or spin class taught by one of my high school and facebook friends.

[wildernesse]

My blood pressure at my doctor's appt today was 117/71. The last two times, it had been higher than normal which stressed me out. High blood pressure is very common in my stress-ball family, often diagnosed in members younger than I am, and I was worried about it because I'm about to hit the obese mark according to the Wii. :glare:

[wildernesse]

Walked to meet RA on his walk home, so about 1.5 miles. We took a break at the park, so it was more strolling than exercise. Helped me wake up enough to cook dinner, which is good.

[Qingdai]

White coat high blood pressure is fairly common, but you do have to have three high blood pressures for a diagnosis, on three separate occasions.

I did nothing today. I walked my son to school Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I didn't walk to my office, as I had no patients.

[wildernesse]

White coat high blood pressure is fairly common, but you do have to have three high blood pressures for a diagnosis, on three separate occasions.

I did nothing today. I walked my son to school Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I didn't walk to my office, as I had no patients.

Well, I realized that I have been very worried about my doctor yelling at me for not being healthy enough to have a baby because I am overweight and I didn't do any special pre-baby check-ups or whatever. And I don't eat enough vegetables, and I don't have a regular exercise routine, and I am a terrible, terrible person for even trying to have a baby when I am not perfect. Etc. At this point, I can see that some of this is me being anxious, but because I have read so much to support this anxiety (overweight people are terrible people! their babies are more likely to have horns and grow up to be terrible people!), I didn't realize how much.

My doctor has been very confidence-inspiring, though. Her attitude has been along the lines of: if/when there's something to worry about, then we'll deal with it. And my health insurance called to enroll me in some prenatal plan to keep their costs down (not how they put it), and the nurse told me it sounded like I was a healthy 31 year-old, so they're going to send me some baby book in the mail and forget about me.

I guess I should have realized that I am a generally healthy person, but it is so easy to think about all the things I could be doing better that I didn't realize it. Yay, perfectionism.

The Wii said I was obese yesterday, although I'm probably not actually there yet (next week!). I've gained 6 pounds since November, which was the last time I weighed myself pre-Bee. My Wii goal is to gain 10 pounds in the 2nd trimester. I'm just using the Wii as a rough guide, to try to avoid gaining more than the max recommended 35 pounds.

Apparently, if y'all don't want to read my pregnancy-related anxiety-fest(s) for the next few months, you're going to have to put me on ignore. Sorry.

[Qingdai]

So no ignoring Wildy. :nod:

Weight restrictions and expectations are very individualized, to the point of being useless to generalize.
I wouldn't worry about that sort of thing while you are pregnant.

There are a lot of anxiety producing people, books and news stories, in reality outside of some big ones (don't shoot up drugs, take a prenatal with folic acid sometimes, bungee jumping is not your friend), there are very few restrictions on pregnant women.
Remember it's a normal physical process, not a disease.
Also if you are prone to anxiety, you might want to not read "What to Expect when you are Expecting" which is full of anxiety producing information.

[wildernesse]

Weight restrictions and expectations are very individualized, to the point of being useless to generalize.
I wouldn't worry about that sort of thing while you are pregnant.

It's really more reassurance/observation than anything, because what am I going to do about it if I'm outside the range? Nothing. I don't diet and I am not going to start compulsively exercising (heaven forbid), so I will just deal.

Also if you are prone to anxiety, you might want to not read "What to Expect when you are Expecting" which is full of anxiety producing information.

I have heard that, and I'm using Your Pregnancy Week by Week by Curtis & Schuler as a really general reference. Although, I am skimming stuff that I can do nothing about, and probably won't affect me/Bee. Anyway, I am actually much less anxious about the Bee doing its thing and getting borned than I thought I would be--I read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth last year, which was really helpful even if I do not think I would ever purposefully have a baby without a doctor or outside a hospital.

We went birdwatching today and walked around in a park for more than 30 minutes. And then general sightseeing. That counts as exercise for now.

[Qingdai]

Ina May is very interesting.

I walked about two miles back and forth from delicious restaurants today. Undoing all the exercising I did.

[Ensign Steve]

We're back in Georgia and I'm back doing my thing. I'm registered for a 5K this Sunday and I'm hoping to beat my personal best time so far of 29:22. We actually did really well on our trip, too! We made it to not one but two different Crossfit gyms, I ran at the running park twice and once around the outside of Disneyland, hiking in Malibu as planned, and I made it to my totally sadistic friend's Pilates class. I ate and drank like shit, but apparently I did enough exercise to make up for it.

I went to Weight Watchers in California and I made my goal weight! For the first time in 15 months, I'm not trying to lose weight, having lost 58 pounds since January oh-ten. I'm on maintenance for the next six weeks, at which time I will qualify for lifetime membership at WW and I can finally stop paying! Woo! Eventually I want to lose 10-12 more pounds, but I'm putting that on hold until I get a handle on maintenance and lifetime.

[wildernesse]

An hour's worth of strolling around at the zoo/museum plaza.

[Qingdai]

That's great ES. I think that maintaining your weight is the hardest part. If you keep it up (or down, hah) for a year or more, you're golden.
The wanting to compete thing will probably be more helpful than anything.

Go team ES!

[maddog]

After my 5K race at the beginning of the month, I caught the flu crud that has been gong around. The cough has lingered on and I am afraid that my asthma may be permanently affected for the worse. Last week I conked altogether on my wilderness park run, and the week before that my time was nothing special, a respectable but unremarkable 45 min or so.

Today I went by myself bc my trainer will be unavailable tomorrow. I used my new stopwatch to set up 4 periods of 11 min, thinking that 44 overall would not be a bad goal. I came in with 27 seconds left on the clock or a time of 43:33, which is almost as good as my most recent PB of 43:27 I did a couple months ago. I have never done that well by myself before!

#2574

[maddog]

That's great ES. I think that maintaining your weight is the hardest part. If you keep it up (or down, hah) for a year or more, you're golden.
The wanting to compete thing will probably be more helpful than anything.

Go team ES!

Another maintenance graduate of :ff: fitness is shottlebop, so you have someone to compare notes with. :unnod:

#2576

[wildernesse]

Walked to meet RA on his way home, a little more than a mile.

[Ensign Steve]

I'm registered for a 5K this Sunday and I'm hoping to beat my personal best time so far of 29:22.

Done and done! Finished in 27:05 and came in first in my division. :irwinnar:

I ran my first 5K just under a year ago and it took me 35:06. In three weeks I'm going to compete in the same race again to celebrate.

[wildernesse]

YOU ARE FAST! Holy smokes, I would love to be that fast. Congrats on winning your division, that is awesome. So inspiring.

[wildernesse]

Yesterday, spent 9am - 1pm strolling about, so a whole morning of walking.

Which, of course, led to a whole afternoon of napping.

[Ensign Steve]

Me too! Except for the walking part. :giggles:

[Qingdai]

Wednesday I walked back and forth to my office and to my son's school which was about three miles, plus the extra mile I jogged when I was told he had stuck a crayon up his nose.
I ran to his school then ended up carrying him back home, taking the crayon out and then taking him back to school.
Today I just walked to my office and back (2 miles).
I'm going to miss having an office close to home.
:sniff:

[ShottleBop]

Riding my bike and posting with my HTC incredible right now. No stairs today, but did both yesterday. Weight holding stay at 180 (for a looooong time now). I go in for blood tests on Monday.

[wildernesse]

I have been pretty sedentary this past week. 20 minutes of brisk walking today, though. I can tell that my posture has changed more this week.

[Qingdai]

Yeah, your ligaments in your pelvis soften. A good thing really, but it can be easy to injure oneself with the posture and changes.

I biked two miles then walked two miles today.

[The Lone Ranger]

I went out and bought some underwear yesterday in my perhaps-futile quest to find a size and style that's comfortable and doesn't bind.

I like the "boxer brief" style, though I'll sometimes wear boxers. I don't wear briefs. Anyway, I've always done lots of hiking and walking, so I've always had decent leg musculature. Since I've been doing more running and more resistance training, this has become a sort of problem, almost. I've reached the point where I can do the maximum weight on all of the leg-exercise machines.

So this is a problem? No. But I wear "small" shorts, at least in the waist. If I put on a pair of "small" undershorts, they fit fine in the waist, but are so tight on the thighs they practically cut off blood flow. So the first thing I do when getting a new pair is rip the elastic bands on the legs, so they don't bind so much.


So far, I'm still trying to find a make and style that's cut a bit more loosely in the thigh region. Actually, there's an athletic apparel store not too far away from here, now that I think of it. Maybe I'll pay them a visit and see what they have.

Actually, I sort of have the same problem finding pants that fit well. Pants that fit me well in the waist are usually tight on my thighs and upper legs. A girl I used to date once commented that I must like tight pants. Actually, I don't, but if I wear pants that fit well in the waist, they're almost inevitably tight on the legs. (So I usually wear pants that are a bit bigger in the waist than they have to be, and a belt.)

As problems go, it's not such a bad one ...


Oh, and speaking of such things, I'm going back for my yearly check-up soon, but I'm not concerned. I check my blood pressure every now and again myself, and it's staying nice and low.

[Qingdai]

I have the same problem TLR, I think it's also how things are being cut now a days. Another thing that could use less improvement.
Another suggestion is to buy a belt. I know it won't help with underwear, but boxers are fairly roomy in the leg at least.

[wildernesse]

The only exercise I've had in the past few days is strolling about in museums and other random sights, except for the day we went to the zoo which was strolling while pushing a wheelchair.

[Ensign Steve]

Oh, hey, I made Lifetime membership at Weight Watchers last night. That means I'm at my goal and I can go to WW as often as I like without paying as long as I stay at goal.

[maddog]

I forgot to say: I walked to work two days last week. Same again today. It's about 2.7-3.1 miles, depending on the route and I haven't mapped it yet to be sure. Today's "to work" took me 1 hour 00 min 27 sec. Slower than I wanted but I didn't have jaunty music and I was carrying more weight in my backpack.

#2627

[wildernesse]

Walk around the block.

[Clutch Munny]

I sort of have the same problem finding pants that fit well. Pants that fit me well in the waist are usually tight on my thighs and upper legs.

This.

Always have had. It got better, sadly, when I was carrying more weight than I wanted to -- my waist grew disproportionately to my legs. But as a younger man, and now again for the last few years, I've had a hard time finding pants that fit both my waist and my thighs. It's kinda annoying.

Part of this is because I cycle and skate a lot, which activities both develop quads, hams and glutes. But it's also just factory presets on my body type. I have a lot of mass in the ass, even when I'm slim. (Or the closest I get to slim.)

[Clutch Munny]

I don't do much running, on account of I never weigh less than 200 lbs, and running puts a fair amount of f on hips, knees and ankles when that much m is a-ing into the ground.

But every once in a while -- maybe a couple of times a year -- I join Mrs Clutch, and now occasionally the Clutchlings too, on a charity run of some sort. So today I ran a local 10K, with no real expectations except to survive it, and came out all bursting with pride to realize I'd done it sub-50 minutes. (49:15 chip time). Just a good day? Wind assisted, maybe? Timer error? Crikey, who knows.

So now, because this is just how I roll, I'm thinking I should set my sights on a sub-45 minute 10K and start training. Because that time would have put me third in my age-group for this run, so I would have won, I dunno, a gym bag or something.

Hopefully Project Double Century (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=938517#post938517) will distract me from this probably unrealistic and almost certainly injury-causing scheme -- at least for this summer.

[maddog]

42:44 at my charity 5K run this weekend. since I had already spent about 2 hours on my feet ... no place to sit down and rest ... and it didn't start until 9 a.m., my plantar fasciitis was already acting up before we even started. so I felt extremely slow throughout, and was very happy with that time. I finished 924 of 1140, and 28 of 40 in my age/gender group.

#2630

[Charmion]

I've been searching for a lot of different walking routes. In the past month and a half, I've been walking at least a half dozen different routes. Of course, I know that you can walk at a much faster pace on a flat street or road. It's much more difficult to walk fast on a steep hill especially when you're not an Olympian. I've found the best route is a combination of short hills with a shorter distance between streets but still with the benefit of a gradual incline as I walk between each street. I walk up one street and down the next and take advantage of any hills on my walks. Just walking up one, long hill gets boring. I'm not 21 anymore so steep hills are work and I'm certainly not going to fly up over them like a teenager. I think it's best to combine some flat roads with some hills. If I just walk up one endless hill, I think I'd get bored very quickly. I've been trying to walk every single day even when it's raining as long it's not a heavy rain. I use an umbrella.

[curses]

Oh hai you guyz I joined the gym. Today I did 30 mins on the recumbent bike with an avg 10 min mile, and then I did 15 mins at 2.8mph on the treadmill to stretch some underused muscles. I feel pretty damn good. And hungry.

[Ensign Steve]

:pizzaslice:

[Charmion]

:pizzaslice:

You mean you caught me eating that Deja Vu pizza last night? I'll have to walk up a lot of hills to work that off.

[Charmion]

As I mentioned earlier, I've been walking up hills. When I was looking up information about walking up hills to burn more calories, I came across a discussion about hill sprints. I don't think I'll ever be up to doing hill sprints but it is getting a little easier to walk up hills without being out of breath for ten minutes afterwards. I don't know how it's even possible to run up a hill. I also noticed that when they run down hill, they run in a zig-zag or serpentine pattern to put less stress on the knees and other joints (at least in some videos I watched).

Hill Sprints - Google Search (http://www.google.com/search?q=Hill+Sprints&tbo=p&tbm=vid&source=vgc&hl=en&aq=f)

Great NFL Hall-of-Fame running backs like Walter Payton and Marcus Allen proved that hill sprints are a superior way to strengthen the thighs and build explosive speed. And they were not the first to discover this truth.

In the early 1900's, professional wrestler and strongman, George Hackenschmidt, aka "The Russian Lion" - recommended them - and he was built like the proverbial brick "out-house."

When I was a senior in high school I ran hill sprints two or three nights a week and they made the difference for me. I went from being an unranked, unrated nobody to a state finalist. I even beat the defending state champion in the quarterfinals, who ... incidentally, was a first-team all-state running back as well as a state champion in the 100-yard dash.

But when I wrestled in college, I rarely ran uphill wind sprints. I did LSD (long slow distance) instead. I ran miles and miles and miles. Although that type of running did help my conditioning, it didn’t give me optimum results. In fact, a five or six-mile run often left me feeling “strung out” and weak. It didn't give my body what it really needed: greater strength, increased stamina, as well as more speed and explosiveness.

In 1995, when I wrote my first book, The Martial Art of Wrestling, I pondered all these experiences and made note. Then, in 1997, whilst training for the Shuai-chiao Kung fu World title, I used the “school of hard knocks” knowledge I wrote about two years earlier and applied it toward the biggest goal of my life: Winning the gold medal in Beijing, China.

Two days per week I drove over to a long, winding hill in Santa Cruz, California. To warm-up I jogged up a hill that was nearly a half-mile long. Then I walked partway down the hill and began doing my sprint training.

The section of hill I ran was only about 70 to 100 meters long. But that’s all you need, even when you’re in awesome shape. The warm-up run over the entire length of the hill got my engine churning; now it was time to crank the heat.

Incidentally, I must point out that my first session on the hill that fine November, I was not ready for sprinting. It was ALL I could manage to jog up that hill – and at the top I began speaking in other tongues, if you know what I mean. So again, proceed with caution.

What I discovered when I ran those hills in 1997 went way beyond what I learned as a senior in high school. Yes, it confirmed what I wrote in 1995, but there was even more.

What did I discover? I found that I didn’t just get faster and more explosive. There was something more that I hadn’t counted on. And that something was as follows:

1. Hill Sprints Increase Muscle Mass

2. Hill Sprints Quickly Reduce Excess Bodyfat.

3. Hill Sprints Cause Your Body to Naturally Release More Growth Hormone - which means they help you stay young.

Not only that, but Hill Sprints increase your cardiovascular power even faster than running mega miles or doing long cardio. Just a couple 10-15 sessions of hill sprints per week will literally transform you into a machine. That’s why I cover them in my best-selling book and videos on Combat Conditioning.

Incidentally, I must point out that some people are not ready to go out and run hill sprints right away. The best course of action for most people to follow (after getting clearance from their doctor) is to start by walking uphill. This is followed by brisk walking. Once both of these activities get easier, you can see about jogging uphill. Next in line is running, then hard running - then ... ultimately, hill sprints.

Never assume that hill sprints are no big deal and that you can jump from a 20-year perch on the sofa to King of Mt. St. Helens. Work hills into your routine gradually. Or as Ben Franklin would say, “Make haste slowly.”

When you “work the hill,” be sure to combine the physical aspect of training with mental programming. If you’re an athlete who wants to win a title, imagine that you are racing to the top step of the victory stand. When you get to the top of the hill you should feel like Rocky Balboa did in the movie Rocky.

Use your imagination while you train. It will help you get more out of your training and it will increase the amount of confidence you have in yourself. The more you focus on an objective, the greater the likelihood it will come true.

When I ran the hills back in 1997, I focused on winning the world title – and it became a reality. Just as easily I could have focused on a health and fitness goal, a relationship goal, a wealth goal or the successful completion of a business venture. And if you want to know the truth, that’s what I do today. I cannot really explain “how” it works.

All I know is that it does, and that’s good enough for me.

Uphill Sprints (http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=174566)

[Ensign Steve]

Hill work is excellent for conditioning. When I was in the AF and training for the timed run, they would make us run up and down hills so that when we did the test on flat land we would perform that much better. Phenomenally effective. And great for your ass, too. :wink:

[Charmion]

Hill work is excellent for conditioning. When I was in the AF and training for the timed run, they would make us run up and down hills so that when we did the test on flat land we would perform that much better. Phenomenally effective. And great for your ass, too. :wink:

I was just reminded of the famous Rocky scene:

YouTube - ‪Rocky Runs Up The Stairs -- ORIGINAL‬‏

http://movieclips.com/hXso-rocky-2-movie-rockys-run/

[curses]

55 mins of cardio with heart rate staying ~120bpm. Tomorrow I have an appointment with a "wellness coach" to help me set up a viable exercise program. Next month I want to start with the yoga classes. :relaxation:

[wildernesse]

About 25 minutes in the pool, but less than half of that was swimming with the kickboard. Still, it was more exercise than I get sitting at the laptop.

We've been traveling for the past week or so, and walked/swam a couple hours most days (not all at once, and a lot of it was like our pool exercise today--plenty of rest). That has been fun. I'm going to try to make it a priority to get us out to the pool most evenings this summer, even if it is just playing around like today. Not only do we get some exercise in, we talk to each other more than when we are in the apartment together.

[curses]

Hee. Abs. Just got a reminder that I have some. :ouch:

[Clutch Munny]

I'm a big fan of hill sprints, for general fitness and for hockey conditioning. They are a huge cardio bang for your buck, and I also like that a steep uphill forces you to take lots of little steps, so it's a good "quick feet" drill too.

[maddog]

Good job to curses, wildy, Charmion and clutch. :clap:

I have been traveling, too. This time, I did most of what my trainer planned for me on most of the days. I went to see him for the first time today, since I got back, and I am not as rusty as I usually am after a vacation (ha! "vacation" :fuming: :glare: )

#2636

[wildernesse]

Vacuuming the apartment at 24+ weeks pregnant is going to start counting as exercise. 10 minutes! Woohoo!

[wildernesse]

Walk around the block. I'm going to have to start taking a break halfway through, because my back and knees are protesting.

[ShottleBop]

I am still walking up and down from/to the ground floor and the 24th floor 4 or 5 times a week, and riding my stationary bike 4 or 5 times a week. Some days I get in a walk of a mile or so at lunch, too. Weight holding steady at 180-ish.

[Vivisectus]

Today I stood on the scales and noticed that I weigh 220 pounds and that I have stopped moving around very much. I look like I swallowed a basketball, and I give the impression that if you gave me a push, I would just roll back into upright position again because my center of gravity is so low. Time to watch what I am eating and to get back on the exercise machines.

[wildernesse]

OMG, death to walking! 20 minute walk, not even around the block. Whatever the eff keeps my legs attached to my torso is not really happy about life right now. Holy monkey. I think I must just walk way, way faster than I did while we were sight-seeing/hiking on our vacation--just a couple of weeks ago--because I don't remember being in this much pain when we did that stuff and we walked much further/longer.

If I can find some exercise like clothes that fit well enough, I think I will go to the prenatal yoga class tomorrow morning. Maybe that will help.

And 10 minutes of vac/damp mopping, which also kills my stupid ligaments or whatever the heck hurts so much.

On a positive note, this (and sleeplessness also related to this kind of pain) has been the worst part of being preggo so far.

[Vivisectus]

Wildernesse, do you have access to an elliptical machine? A friend was telling me walking was painful for her too, but low-impact stuff like elliptical training was much easier.

[Charmion]

I'm still walking up very steep hills every day as part of my daily walk. They're not real long in length. When I get to the point where I can walk up the hill without being out of breath for what seems like forever, I'll tackle a longer hill or street. I still haven't lost weight according to the scale but my weight seems to have shifted and my muscles seem to be a lot tighter.

[wildernesse]

Wildernesse, do you have access to an elliptical machine? A friend was telling me walking was painful for her too, but low-impact stuff like elliptical training was much easier.

Yes, I do! That is a good idea, I will try it out.

[Charmion]

I am still walking up and down from/to the ground floor and the 24th floor 4 or 5 times a week, and riding my stationary bike 4 or 5 times a week. Some days I get in a walk of a mile or so at lunch, too. Weight holding steady at 180-ish.

Wow!! I've walked up ten flights of stairs with some difficulty. You don't even need to pause between flights? You must be ready for the Olympics.

[wildernesse]

The good news is that the elliptical didn't seem to be as rough on my back and leg joints. The bad news is that the available one was broken and wouldn't stay on for more than 30 seconds after you finished pressing the program buttons. (Maybe I was going too slow, but even when I would speed up enough that it should have been enough to turn on at level one, nothing happened.)

So, a 13 minute half mile on the treadmill before the back pain became too much.

[wildernesse]

20+ minutes of playing in the pool with the kickboard and otherwise swimming/splashing around.

[maddog]

I find the elliptical hard to tolerate because my feet go numb and burn...not enough movement.

#2640

[Vivisectus]

I'm doing 30 mins every day on the ole elliptical, trying to get a good sweat going. Limiting my intake to 1800 cals a day at the same time - I am now 5 days in and the first 4 pounds are gone.

Downside is - it will slow down a lot in the next week or so :)

Maybe excercise bikes are better for you? It may reduce the strain on your back - especially the ones you sit back in?

[Charmion]

It's discouraging when the scales don't show that you're losing weight. I feel as though I've lost some weight judging by the way my clothes fit. I'll just convince myself that I'm gaining more muscle mass. I knew that muscle weighs more than fat but I didn't know how much more.

Didn't read the whole thread, but is everyone aware that muscle is 4 TIMES DENSER THAN FAT. That means that 1 litre of muscle will weigh the same as 4 litres of fat.

Dieting and exercising and not losing weight - HELP! - Exercise & Fitness - MedHelp (http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Exercise--Fitness/Dieting-and-exercising-and-not-losing-weight---HELP/show/8026)

I also read about two recommended books, "Fit for Life" and "Maximized Living."

I agree with "EatReal". I really believe that we need to eat fat-but only good fat. For example, avacado, butter, coconut oil, raw cashews...our bodies need fat. I started going to this chiropractor and he is all about helping everyone become healthier in the way of what we eat. There is a book i bought called "Maximized Living". There are two eating plans. One is the core plan, the other is the advanced plan. I was on the advanced plan. The point of the advanced plan, is to eliminate all sugars and anything that turns to sugar in your body, so that the body is restored to good health. It is sometimes used short term management of weight, detoxification, disease..."the advanced plan is designed to reduce inflammation, restore cell membrane function in order to aid detoxification, regulate hormones, and promote the use of fat as the body's primary source of energy". I'm sure that anyone can find this book on the net, but this chiropractor is in my area and I heard about him through my boss. It is true that it helps you lose weight-but it is very challenging to follow it for long. I was doing the healing plan because I have early menopause and was taking the pill for so long so that I would have the proper amount of estrogen in my body so that i would not get osteoporosis. But taking the pill for so long is not healthy. I don't know how my hormomes are doing right now, but i have not been following the advanced plan at all, but I need to. This is a possibility for anyone to try, but I am no expert. I am just talking from my own personnal experience. Like I said, this plan is very challenging, but it can be done. It takes a lot of self control and resisting temptations. Basically, do not eat any sugar, eat no fruit except 1 cup of berries a day(berries do not raise the glycemic levels and are not high in sugar), eat no carbohydrates except those that are vegetable carbohydrates, and it is even recommended to cut out carrots and corn because of their sugar content, also you can eat proteins(recommended to eat organic meat-grass fed beef, free range antibiotic hormone free eggs), as well it is recommended that you eat fat-increase your fat-GOOD FAT-olive oil, coconut oil, butter, olives, avacados,coconut milk, full fat plain yogurt, almond butter... this is the basic idea of this advanced plan. I have lots of hand outs of information for this way of eating, but anyone can certainly or should be able to order this book on line. It's a very good book. In fact talking to all of you about this, has reminded me that I need to go back on the healing plan for a bit, as it is very hard to carry on with it for a long extended period of time. I love fruit, and I like to have a little bit of sugar. But for my hormonal issue, I need to follow this advanced plan. Anyhow, I know this is a long blurb, but you may find it interesting and may want to check this out. Previously before I found out about this whole idea, I was following the "Fit for Life" way. I read the "Fit for Life" book and followed it to exactly what it recommended and i lost weight, I had no belly fat, i was amazed at how skinny I was. It is recommended to eat only fruit in the morning period until noon. Then it is recommended to not combine protein and carbs because they both take 2 different kinds of enzymes to digest them and when they are combined together, they cancel each other out. It's all about making it easier on the digestive system, so that there is no bloating, toxins, and other such stuff from incorrectly combining foods. For example, don't eat fruit after you eat meat. The meat takes longer to digest than the fruit. If you eat fruit after you eat meat, the fruit will sit in your stomach and ferment and rot because the meat is still being digested. Anyways, these things all help in losing weight. Seriously.

Eating right, Working out but NOT losing weight - Exercise & Fitness - MedHelp (http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Exercise--Fitness/Eating-right--Working-out-but-NOT-losing-weight/show/8166)

[curses]

I got lazy with my workouts this week due to schoolwork (end of the quarter stuffs) so I really went for it today. 30 min on recumbant bike w heartrate ~150bpm, treadmill for 25 w heartrate ~130bpm, and arms/abs. Time to drink lots of water.

[Vivisectus]

I got lazy with my workouts this week due to schoolwork (end of the quarter stuffs) so I really went for it today. 30 min on recumbant bike w heartrate ~150bpm, treadmill for 25 w heartrate ~130bpm, and arms/abs. Time to drink lots of water.

sounds like a good workout :)

[Ensign Steve]

I was playing around with the filters on the iPhone and I made this pic of my gym:

http://images.instagram.com/media/2011/06/06/d7fd515f36214c91874f6b5aed813565_7.jpg

[Vivisectus]

...are those tractor tires in the back?

[Ensign Steve]

Possibly. They're really big tires anyway. We flip them around and beat on them with sledgehammers and shit.

[Vivisectus]

Ah it is you OWN gym! I thought that was like a public gym. I was beginning to wonder what kind of bad 1980's charicature of a hillbilly-ville you lived in, and if "I can benchpress 2 hogs and a piglet" was an acceptable thing to say there.

I wish I had the room for that here - must be nice to be able to do resistance training at home.

[Ensign Steve]

No, wait! What? No, I don't own that. That's the gym I go to. Pshaw. I wish.

if "I can benchpress 2 hogs and a piglet" was an acceptable thing to say there.

:unnod: Absolutely it is.

[Ensign Steve]

I did an hour of yoga yesterday for the first time this year. I'm not feeling it in the abs just yet but I know it's coming. :scared:

[curses]

Yoga pain is like a ninja. You'll get out of your chair for water and then BAM!

[Vivisectus]

You guys have a watercooler ninja too? I thought our company was all weird for employing one of those...

:ninjalove:

[Vivisectus]

Fuckety fuck-fuck! I weigh a mere 97.5 - I am down 3.5 kilos! That is close to 7 pounds in a few weeks!

Oh wait and I am about to leave on my annual gourmet pigfest. Still! For a brief moment, I was a lot lighter!

[curses]

I love Sundays in the gym. Nice and relaxed.

[maddog]

47:something at the wilderness park last week. 48:09 during the middle of the week on a hot afternoon. Then 46:39 this week with my trainer. Not too bad; I'll take it.

#2646

[The Lone Ranger]

I got the bloodwork results from my recent check-up:

Blood pressure: 112/60
Resting pulse: 52
Blood cholesterol: 166 (less than 200 is considered good)
Triglycerides: 63 (less than 150 is considered good)
HDL: 51 (50 - 59 is considered good)
LDL: 102 (near optimal)
Cholesterol/HDL ratio: 3.3 (puts me in the "below average" risk group)


Not too shabby.

[beyelzu]

Unless I missed it there is no 2011 thread.

On January 29th of this year, I quit smoking and the next week I joined crossfit. I haven't smoked since then. I do use the electronic cigarettes when I am in serious withdrawal. I have been maintaining a low carb diet as well. I go to crossfit 3 days a week and run with es 2-3 times a week.

We ran the Warrior Dash together last month, last week we ran a trail run in ft yargo park, very pretty.

So I have embraced an active lifestyle and I feel phenomenal.

So lets talk about fitness and/or weightloss

[beyelzu]

yesterday at crossfit we deadlifted.

Deadlift is one of those things I am good at because I am a big guy. 3 reps on the minute for 10 minutes.

I did 295 for all 30 reps. I almost failed out, my back hurts some today and my hands are ripped the fuck up.

:yay:

[curses]

Hey bey, how was it to start running again? Do you have issues with knees, hips, or ankles?

[beyelzu]

Hey bey, how was it to start running again? Do you have issues with knees, hips, or ankles?

the only time I ever really ran before was for football practice many years ago. Es has a cool program called couch to 5K which is interval work which builds to running a full 5k. I run about half the time. I had no issues with my knees or hips. I did get shin splints really bad at first. I do weigh over 300 pounds after all. But while I do ache on and off from all the exercise it isn't nearly as bad as it was at first and I no longer get shin splints although my shins do twinge some while running.

:tealdeer: Not that bad, I got a good pair of shoes that were light weight and have been muddling through.

[livius drusus]

Health and Fitness Track, 2011 (http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24135) It's the top thread in this forum.

[beyelzu]

I am so full of fail, anychance you could move these posts there? I actually searched but I used weightloss.

[livius drusus]

No problem at all. 'Tis done. I blame stickies for being simultaneously in the way and so easy to overlook. Stupid stickies.

[Qingdai]

Dang, I thought for a moment, that we were going to single out Bey and make him respond to a bunch of questions. General conversation it is.

:yessir:

I've started taking Aikido with my son on Saturdays.

[Vivisectus]

Did an hours worth of horseriding yesterday, and now my thighs feel like they are going to fall off. Also, I think my arse is broken. I need more practice - I keep losing my stirrups when going over jumps.

[curses]

Was feeling run down before exercising, went to the gym anyways and now I feel even more run down. I did a lighter workout, too. Bonus: my knees and hips are killing me.

[beyelzu]

My hands were fucked up on wednseday and after ring rows and clean and jerks they are even more fucked up.

Tomorrow, kayaking down a river!

[Qingdai]

I like kayaking.

Tomorrow I'll see if I can do anything at aikido. I've been walking more, that's about it.

[curses]

Kayaking is so much fun.

[The Lone Ranger]

dupe

[The Lone Ranger]

My hands were fucked up on wednseday and after ring rows and clean and jerks they are even more fucked up.

Tomorrow, kayaking down a river!

I wear padded weight-lifting gloves when lifting. They definitely reduce the wear and tear on the hands.


Cheers,

Michael

[maddog]

Did an hours worth of horseriding yesterday, and now my thighs feel like they are going to fall off. Also, I think my arse is broken. I need more practice - I keep losing my stirrups when going over jumps.

Nothing more fun or thrilling than riding, though. I'm totally jealous of your 'exercise'! :D

#2653

[Ensign Steve]

bey and I went kayaking for about six hours yesterday. We are sunburned!

:sunburn:

[Vivisectus]

Did an hours worth of horseriding yesterday, and now my thighs feel like they are going to fall off. Also, I think my arse is broken. I need more practice - I keep losing my stirrups when going over jumps.

Nothing more fun or thrilling than riding, though. I'm totally jealous of your 'exercise'! :D

#2653

Yeah it is pretty awesome, and I am definitely going to make a point out of taking the time to go and do it once a week.

[maddog]

My trainer killed my knees in the studio last week, so my mid-week run was more of a shuffle-hobble combination. Better by Saturday, though, so at the wilderness park we were doing 1-min walk, 1-min run, and I must have really been pushing in the run parts because we finished in 43:37, the best time in a while. :dogrun:

#2658

[curses]

Step 1. Make Fudgey Pie and eat most of it
Step 2. Feel a bit guilty, work out harder
Step 3. ProfitAche all over

[curses]

Got me some runnin shoes! The lady at the store mentioned runner's groups, and I never thought of this before, anyone here belong to a runner's group?

[Ensign Steve]

I do not, but I have a blog friend who does and she loves it. I see a local group running around on campus all the time and I want to inquire, but one of my favorite things about running is that I can walk out my front door and do it any time I want and going with a group kind of complicates that.

Long story short, if you do it, I want to know all about it!

[curses]

I have to gush a bit, buying proper running shoes was the best thing in the world. I've run twice this week with none of the usual pain in my shins, knees and ankles. Now if only my heart could catch up with my legs I'd be ready for marathons!

[maddog]

I was at the wilderness park by myself this time, and I was supposed to be under a regime of run 3 min, walk 2 min. It took almost all of 9 cycles, or 44:58, to do it that way. The first 3 min run was the first monster hill, so I was pretty much pooped since the beginning. I usually don't do as well when I'm by myself, but under 45 min was pretty good for being alone.

#2662

[Ensign Steve]

Fabulous! :applaud:

[Charmion]

I just saw the advertisement for the Nordic Track Incline Trainer.

Incline Trainers at NordicTrack.com- Incline Trainer Treadmills (http://www.inclinetrainer.com/inclines.html?gclid=CN6ptbfv26kCFcJo4AodfRd-Xw)

[Charmion]

I've been walking up very steep hills to improve my level of fitness. I don't know if anyone lives in San Francisco but I found an article listing the steepest streets. This was reported by the San Francisco Bureau of Engineering. Does every major city keep records of the steepest streets? What about small rural towns?

The Steepest Streets in the City, Purportedly
1. (tie) Filbert between Leavenworth and Hyde (31.5% grade)
1. (tie) 22nd between Church and Vicksburg (31.5% grade)
3. Jones between Union and Filbert (29% grade)
4. Duboce between Buena Vista and Alpine (27.9% grade)
5. Jones between Green and Union (26% grade)
6. Webster between Vallejo and Broadway (26% grade)
7. Duboce between Alpine and Divisadero (25% grade)
8. Jones between Pine and California (24.8 grade)
9. Fillmore between Vallejo and Broadway (24% grade)
Source: San Francisco Bureau Of Engineering.

The Steeps Of San Francisco – In Search Of The City's Steepest Street (http://www.datapointed.net/2009/11/the-steeps-of-san-francisco/)

Also interesting:

Oregon City is home of America's steepest street (http://www.offbeatoregon.com/H1010b_oregon-city-home-of-nations-steepest-street.html)

Skateboarders and cyclists use steep hills in competitions.

http://www.silverfishlongboarding.com/forum/skateboard-sliding/44320-steepest-stree-tin-world.html

[Charmion]

Then there's Canton Avenue in Pittsburgh with a 37% gradient. I walked up two steep hills last night (longer than the shorter streets that I've been walking the rest of time).

The signs at the top say “Do Not Enter”, and in slippery conditions you’d do well to heed them. Canton Avenue, a short cobbled street in Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighbourhood attains a whopping 37%, or 20.3°, gradient, making it the steepest public road in the United States – and, quite possibly, the world. This YouTube video shows what happens when you try and cycle up it, and this article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has more photos, giving an idea what it’s like to live there in winter. You can bet the residents of this house at the bottom of the hill are quite glad of that crash barrier out the front.

The world’s steepest streets - Google Sightseeing (http://googlesightseeing.com/2009/06/the-worlds-steepest-streets/)
Here: In Beechview (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05030/448976.stm)

YouTube - ‪Pittsburgh Dirty Dozen Canton Ave 2007‬‏

[maddog]

A new PR at the wilderness park this morning: 41:54. I broke under 42 minutes! I about :faint: ... literally (at the end). It was extremely hard. :eek: :howl::heat:

Now he will start to expect it! :fuming: :D

#2670

[Charmion]

A new PR at the wilderness park this morning: 41:54. I broke under 42 minutes! I about :faint: ... literally (at the end). It was extremely hard. :eek: :howl::heat:

Now he will start to expect it! :fuming: :D

#2670

What wilderness park is that? You went for a hike?

[Charmion]

A new PR at the wilderness park this morning: 41:54. I broke under 42 minutes! I about :faint: ... literally (at the end). It was extremely hard. :eek: :howl::heat:

Now he will start to expect it! :fuming: :D

#2670

Which wilderness park is that? You went for a hike? The more you sweat, the better.

[maddog]

Got me some runnin shoes! The lady at the store mentioned runner's groups, and I never thought of this before, anyone here belong to a runner's group?

I did belong for a short time to a local runners' group. They train ordinary folks to run or walk a marathon. They have a certain marathon in mind, so they start X number of months back from the expected marathon date. They begin easy, and then add mileage in the weeks and months leading up to the marathon. They have a group run once a week, and you are supposed to do your road work during the week. They have a newsletter and website that helps the members keep up and keep focused. It's a fairly large group, so they divide into several sections during the weekly run. Everybody warms up together under direction of a leader, and then meets at a particular sign with another team leader for each ability level. The elite runners (I think it's 8 minute miles) run together, then there are groups for 10 min milers, 12 minute milers, 14 minute milers, 15 minute milers, 16 minute milers, 17 minute milers, 18+ minute milers, and walkers. they have a set and marked route which is like 4-6 miles the first weeks, and then increases distance as the weeks/months go on. By the month before the race, I think they are doing 20 miles or so in the group training runs/walks.

I could not dedicate the time to either the group runs (as it goes along, you do longer distances, and the slower groups start later so as not to hold back the fast people, so the time before you get done gets longer and longer, and the weather gets hotter) or the weekly training runs, so I dropped out after only about 2-3 months.

#2672

[Clutch Munny]

Played a hard but fun game yesterday on a 75 km bike ride. The first half of the route had a lot of steep rolling hills, so it was hard to keep the average speed up near 30 KPH, but I had it at 30.1 on my computer when I turned to come home. Took a different route back (same hills, but more gradual), and every time I bumped the average speed up by another tenth of a KPH, I would dig deeper and aim for the next tenth higher. Of course, the longer you've ridden, the harder it is to drive up the average. So by the 60th kilometre, I was turning myself inside out for minutes on end trying to make the average speed twitch. Finished in a hammerfest trying to get to 31 KPH, but could only manage 30.9.

It was a useful trick or game for keeping the intensity up on the ride: always work towards driving up your average speed.

[The Lone Ranger]

I overdid it at the gym about a week ago.

I was doing some biceps curls with perhaps a bit too much weight. I felt a painful sensation in my right forearm and shortly thereafter realized that I'd probably torn some muscle fibers fairly badly. (In the flexor carpi ulnaris muscle I'd say, judging from the locality of the pain.)

By the time I was heading home, the pain was intense. No, that's not right: the pain was INTENSE. Not a sharp, stabbing pain, but a burning sensation. It felt like my entire right forearm was on fire. I was literally almost in tears, it was so painful.

So I did r.i.c.e. (Rest Ice Compression and Elevation) and carefully avoided putting any undue stress on the muscles of the right forearm. Last night, for the first time, I tried the biceps curl again, as I was able to do all the other arm exercises with no hint of pain. Just to be safe, I set the weight fairly low, only 100 lbs (nowadays, that's easy as pie to lift, though I'm not sure I could have lifted that much at all a year ago). Doing the reps was easy, though there was a slight twinge. So I think I'll go easy on the arm for at least another week, just to be safe.

Important safety lesson: weights are heavy, and you can hurt yourself -- even when you're using machines and even when you know what you're doing.

[Charmion]

I'm seeking out different walking routes everyday--streets with hills in particular. I walked up two very steep streets last night and I'm walking up five streets that are parallel to each other this evening. They're all on a hill.

In response to someone's question, "How Can I Lose 35 lbs. in 35 days?" I don't recommend the first part of the answer which referred to bulimia (supposedly in jest). The part at the end seemed to make sense--she lost 20 pounds in one month by walking up a VERY steep hill 3 times a day drinking nothing but water--smaller meals.

lift hand to mouth, insert finger, hug toilet, repeat. easy just dont eat ur body will eat it self. ull lose 2-3lbs a day.and DO NOT DRINK anything but water.its hard but worth it. That is not at all possible - even crash dieting can''t produce more than a pound a day and that''s rare. Weight Watchers! Yes it costs money, but apparently its really worth it. Let me know when you find out! :) Seriously, I don''t believe there is an exercise that will make you lose 35 pounds in a month. I lost 20 pounds in one month by walking up a VERY steep hill 3 times a day and drinking nothing but water. Also, I watched what I ate. Made all my meals smaller...

[curses]

Thanks maddog. I'm going to start looking around or go back to the running store where I got my shoes.

I was out all last week with a sore back (did something to it while vacuuming-housework kills!) and went back in for the first time Tuesday for a bit of light cardio. I could tell I'd missed time at the gym!

[Kyuss Apollo]

So Mrs. KA talked me into joining her on a juice fast. I agreed to do it mostly because I felt I needed to do something fairly rigorous to jump start a new diet and exercise regimen. I'm eight days into it now, and I've lost 13 pounds and I have ended my addiction to coffee as well. I'm going to continue for the ten-day juice fast

Yesterday's breakfast (for two): 6 carrots, 2 cups of spinach, 3 green apples, 2 yellow apples, several handfuls of blueberries, and a lime.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6072/6022323662_a66621081c_m.jpg

Lunch: (for one): two cucumbers, 1/8 large honeydew melon, 4 pears, 1 green pepper (had some pear and melon leftover that wouldn't fit -- cukes make a ton of juice!)

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6088/6024850596_900439a061_m.jpg

The result:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6193/6024850872_b7ff75fbdb_m.jpg

One thing that is really interesting about this is the change in my appetite. It has greatly diminished over the course of the fast. At the beginning I felt the need to make and drink a juice 4 times a day. Now if I have one in the morning and one in the mid-afternoon, I am pretty much content. If Mrs. KA makes a juice in the evening, I'll have some, but I'm not that hungry that I feel the need to make one myself.

It also reminded me a bit at first of past times quitting smoking (a little over seven years ago that I've quit this time) -- I'd feel like my hands were restless with nothing in them, or find myself checking my shirt pocket for a pack before getting in the car. Now its the walking about in the kitchen opening cabinets or the fridge trolling around for whatever I might snack on next. First couple of days I caught myself doing that quite a bit...now not so much. I still miss the act of eating though.

[maddog]

after a few weeks of really sucky times, it was 46:27 at the wilderness park today. Not "too" bad, but not great either. Last week's sucky time was made even suckier by the awesome, though scary, stop-dead-in-your-tracks-until-it-goes-by 4-foot rattlesnake that was moseying across the pathway.

#2749

[Clutch Munny]

Did a 100 km ride over every frickin hill in the region, and finished with an average speed of 30.0 kph. (Hammering hard down the last long hill couldn't bump it up to 30.1).

It was a throwback day to mid-summer here: hot, humid, gross. (It's just started to thunderstorm, in fact.) So I was happy just to stick it out and not dehydrate; keeping my average at 30 was a great bonus.

Now if I can get my nutrition back on track and drop 5 or 10 pounds, I'll be satisfied.

[maddog]

After another layoff of about 3-4 weeks, it was back to the wilderness park again today. I was sick for 2 weeks, and my trainer missed last week, so I didn't go but went back to sleep that day. However, today's run was interesting. I was feeling okay ... not-so-good ... okay ... not so good ... okay ... really really tired ... not too bad all the way through it. In part of the last quadrant, he said I could finish in under 45 min, which I found it hard to believe, cuz I had been almost walking a couple of times on the not-feeling-so-good parts. So we pressed to the end, and I drove with my foot on the gas, and finished at 44:15 (his watch) or 44:20 (my watch). AWESOME!!! :yup: Which just goes to show that I had a lot more strength and a lot more gas in the tank than I thought. My baseline fitness must be better than it used to be.

#2759

[DaveT]

I helped my grandfather move house from Hull to Leeds today. Took all day, and there were lots of heavy bastard things to load in and out of the van, and I woke up with a sprained wrist (those fat-bottomed girls, they make the rockin' world go round!), but I like to think I got some exercise out of it. Maybe.

Oh, and if anybody tells you it takes two people to carry a fridge from a garage down a driveway and into a van, they're a lying, wussy bastard.

[Ensign Steve]

After another layoff of about 3-4 weeks, it was back to the wilderness park again today. I was sick for 2 weeks, and my trainer missed last week, so I didn't go but went back to sleep that day. However, today's run was interesting. I was feeling okay ... not-so-good ... okay ... not so good ... okay ... really really tired ... not too bad all the way through it. In part of the last quadrant, he said I could finish in under 45 min, which I found it hard to believe, cuz I had been almost walking a couple of times on the not-feeling-so-good parts. So we pressed to the end, and I drove with my foot on the gas, and finished at 44:15 (his watch) or 44:20 (my watch). AWESOME!!! :yup: Which just goes to show that I had a lot more strength and a lot more gas in the tank than I thought. My baseline fitness must be better than it used to be.

#2759

I ran 5k for time yesterday, just around the block, we have the miles marked off. I did great the first mile and then I got an abdominal cramp that never let up. It never got any worse so I kept going, but it was just a bummer of a run and I couldn't get it over fast enough. I ended up getting a really good time, much better than I expected, and so I don't know if I could have gone even faster and got slowed down by my cramp, or if I had the cramp because I was going as fast as I could. We're running a charity 5K in town in 2 weeks, so I guess I'll find out then.

[Qingdai]

Yesterday I opted to walk the four miles to my hair appointment, then walked a mile or more back and forth from my son's school. Thinking that if I can't do anything else for exercise, I might as well hike the city.
My feet hurt afterward.

Today I opted to bike a couple of miles.

Sometimes the abdominal cramps I get when I run are from breathing problems, as in not deeply enough or something.

[Clutch Munny]

Today I opted to bike a couple of miles.

:2thumbsup:

[Clutch Munny]

Got a Yoga for Cyclists DVD out of the library and gave it a shot last night.

I can report the following result: yoga is hard.

[Ensign Steve]

I got my first trophy of the year (finally!) this evening when I ran 5K in 26:03. My goal was to get in under 27 and I guess I got it. I beat my previous best by more than a minute and got 1st in my age group.

[Clutch Munny]

Yoga for Cyclists was good. Relaxing, even.

DVD #2 from the library is "Iron Yoga". It's very light hand weight stuff combined with power yoga positions.

Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.

"Warm Up" was good. "Tree Session" was hard, but feasible. "Lunges and Greeting the Sun", though? Wha...?

I mean, I do some of those lunge poses all the time, to stretch out my hip flexors from all the cycling and ice hockey. But I hold them for, like, 20 seconds. What's this business of getting in Triangle Pose...

http://www.yogajournal.com/images/old/article/JF05_58.jpg

...and staying there for minutes on end while you work with hand weights? That's not right. It's just not right at all. And the undercarriage muscles that normally do an admirable job of ensuring that my feet stay pretty much underneath me when I walk and stuff, instead of flopping out in all directions in some random Wide Stance Republican motion, well, those muscles don't like being Triangled or Lunged for many minutes on end. They do not like it. They are short and knotted, gnarled and scarred, and they are totally okay with themselves. They feel no need to change at this point. While they cannot speak in words, they have ways of saying, "Are you fucking serious?" that leave me in no doubt as to their views.

So, maybe back to the cycling yoga thing for a while.

[Ensign Steve]

:lol: I fucking love yoga.

[vremya]

Almost 8 lbs. gone! :happydance:

(I'm not saying how many more to go - at least not yet)

I want to give a shoutout to Ensign Steve, since her post about Weight Watchers got me to go back and get back on plan. So far it's working great!

[Gonzo]

I have started going for runs to get into shape. Too bad the cold weather is coming... will have to exercise indoors instead.

[wildernesse]

I've passed the six week point from birth, so I am at the point where I can start working on the new normal. I have already lost all the baby weight, but since I started out overweight, I still have plenty to do. My goal is to walk at least one mile a day for the rest of the month and go back to my pregnancy lower-carbs diet. My short term goal is to lose ten pounds, and my long term goal is to lose about thirty.

[Ensign Steve]

:cheer: Now is the time to do it!

We're trying really hard in my home and at work to stay ahead of the holiday curve. This will be only the 2nd or 3rd New Years in my life that I wasn't overweight.

[Qingdai]

Nursing should help with that. I found my metabolism was pretty reved up at that time, so when I stopped nursing my metabolism became much slower. Then I had to work harder to keep weight off.

[wildernesse]

Froguar gained a pound this week, so that's where all the ice cream is going.

[maddog]

Trying to not get sucked into the holiday thing here, either.
Back at the wilderness park this week after a layoff ... 44:53, which, while not fast by any means, is not nearly as sucky as I felt. with the time change it is brighter in the a.m. and since the winter showed up suddenly it's not too hot to run.

:cheer: go! :ff: ers, go! :cheer:

#2822

[vremya]

11 pounds gone!!! :happydance:

I really wanted to yell "Fuck Yeah!" when I weighed in, but I don't think the Weight Watchers crowd would be down with that.

[wildernesse]

I am going to use the Wii to weigh in on Wednesdays, so today was my baseline weigh-in. I weigh four pounds less than I did at the dr, but most of that is probably due to changes of clothes and time of day. I have not been very good about walking more.

[Ensign Steve]

beyelzu and I completed a half-marathon this morning. We began training for it last July. We had been running 5Ks before that, but that's when we started training longer distances in preparation for this half. Finished in 3 hours, 15 minutes, and we are pretty damn sore and exhausted. I am not in a rush to do that again, but we're thinking maybe again next year to see if we can beat that time. No rush, though! :giggles:

[maddog]

Good on you. I can't run those distances; it breaks me down too badly and I'm then unable to work out properly for another couple of months.

#2830

[The Lone Ranger]

The daily running/cycling routine seems to be good for me. My blood pressure is staying nice and low, and my resting pulse averages in the low 50s. Yesterday morning, right after getting out of bed but before jumping on the exercise bike for the morning ride, I took my pulse. It was 44.

Not too shabby.

[Doctor X]

Amazing what regular exercise can do, yes?

--J.D.

[The Lone Ranger]

Yup. Just a few years ago, when I was doing karate and kendo every day, I thought nothing of a 4-mile run in the mountains of Idaho. I haven't quite gotten back into the shape I was in then, but I'm working on it. This morning, when I got out of the shower, I saw myself in the mirror and noticed that my rectus abdominus muscles were clearly visible. "Hey, nice," I thought, "it's nice to have a visible 6-pack again."

Much more importantly, I can hike up and down mountains without getting winded or having to stop for rest. And I feel much more energetic. I also sleep better.

[Doctor X]

Now . . . if we can raise the uncomfortable subject of your ear wax. . . .

--J.D.

[vremya]

I actually lost weight after Thanksgiving! :w00t:

[Ensign Steve]

Good one! I hope I can say the same after my meeting Tuesday.

[erimir]

Oh yeah.

I didn't mention that I have been working out. A little bit. One of those 15 minute workout type things.

The most notable improvement is that I have never been able to do a pull up before, due to scrawny, and now I can do more than one.

I probably need to eat more protein though.

[vremya]

Good one! I hope I can say the same after my meeting Tuesday.

:luckypenguin: Didn't you just run a marathon?

[Ensign Steve]

I ran a half marathon about a week ago and had a 0.8 loss to show for it. Perhaps the visit to Olive Garden immediately afterward was counter-productive? :chin:

[beyelzu]

I weigh in on Mondays, down 2 pounds to 314.2

Almost my lowest weight in several years. I was a little smaller when I got married though I was in far worse shape at that time.

Also, I switched from low carb to weight watchers a few weeks ago and have lost more than a pound every week.

so yay.

:tmgrin:

[vremya]

15 lbs gone! :happydance:

[beyelzu]

About two months ago, I set a personal best for a 5k at exactly 38 minutes. I was indoors on a track and I was hauling ass.

This morning in the neighborhood I set a new record at 36:39. Outside with hills and stuff. :tmgrin:

[wildernesse]

i've lost 2.6 pounds since my last post. I'm now 8 pounds past my pre-baby weight, and only about 3 pounds away from my initial 10 pound goal in this thread. I am not being very good about diet and exercise.

[vremya]

Oh yeah! I'm FINALLY below 200 lbs. And I managed to lose weight after the Christmas parade of starch. :happydance:

I've a bunch more to lose, but getting below 200 makes it seem like it's more doable.

[Ensign Steve]

Welcome to Onederland! :derp: