Pump You Up: The Fitness Thread

[JustSkipIt]

Russ, no I didn't get out much exept to work and watch the baby and that pretty much exhaused me. Today a short session: 20 minutes Nordic Tracking at 1.84.

[GayNow]

I'll be starting Tae Bo next week...assuming my back is better by then.

[Trom DeGrey]

I think we need a special emoticon just for this thread. A gorilla beating its chest or something.

Yes, I'm feeling rather burly at the moment. I just completed my very first Century Workout. Low weight, 100 reps.

OW!!!!

I made it through 100 squats without having to stop though. I'm really psyched about that. My butt, however, is not so thrilled with me.

[Gatito Grande]

I made it through 100 squats without having to stop though

:::jaw, dropping:::

100 squats, Trom???

Oh, that's right: you said "low weight"

GG Tuesday, I did 3 sets of 8-10 each! (80 lbs. at the most. That's a long way from where I was 6 years ago, though : I was doing 150 lbs. at one point) Out

[JustSkipIt]

Yay, Car's joining the ranks of the Exercisers. Trom: 100 reps? Wow and also wow. I just did another reduced Nordic Track 25 minutes at 2.40. It's still like my body is just exhausted. I'm glad I work out in the morning or I wouldn't do it at night. I'd just look at the machine and breathe deeply or skip the looking part.

The good is that even with the time off for being sick, I can definitely see a change in my body. My work slacks were all tight on me when I started and they are now loose. I could wear the next size pants down easily but I just really like loose clothes. My jeans are downright baggy and I'm starting to think I'll have to move down a size in them soon. I have more to go but it's encouraging.

[JustSkipIt]

Hmmm. Me again? Someone worked out over the weekend but we all just have such incredibly busy and fanstatic social lives, that no one logged their workouts. Yeah, that's it.

Ok, I'm getting back to a reasonable level of working out. I did 40 minutes today on the Nordic Track (3.94). It was tiring but felt really good and I wasn't leaning over the handlebars or anything.

[k-prime]

After taking a week off to deal with moving, I started back at the gym this weekend. I had three days off, so I decided to push myself harder than I have been, which led to an hour and a half of cardio on Saturday, and over half an hour of weight training. I was slightly sore the next day, but nothing compared to what I used to feel. It's encouraging to actually feel improvement like that!

[Gatito Grande]

In my case I'm fighting off a cold---I did a brief walk today, and felt lucky I could do that much!

GG Damn infectious diseases! Out

[Trom DeGrey]

Walked pre-Super Bowl on Sunday and was happy that my black pants felt loose again when I got dressed later on to go to a friend's for the game. Had someone comment on my weight loss today. That made me feel pretty good. I went shopping for new tennis shoes over the weekend and while I didn't find any I liked, I did discover I've gone down half a size. Very cool. In not so cool news, I'm going to have to find another way to do cardio for a while. I've definitely developed shin splints in my right leg. I had to cut things short tonight because of it. We have a Gazelle that I think I'm going to have to dig out. I also picked up some resistance bands this weekend. I'll feel safer doing another Century Workout with those for some of the exercises. I'm going to try that workout again this week and add a little more weight where I do use the free weights.

[JustSkipIt]

Awesome work everyone. Trom, I know Sally uses a gazelle but I'm not entirely sure her opinion on it.

Yesterday I didn't want to get up when the alarm went off so I skipped the Nordic Tracking. Thought it would be an easy day? But friends asked me to walk to lunch and then I had to go get a new ID card and then another friend asked me to go get a coke. You know that 10,000 step thing? I bet I did 12,000. Unfortunately, I'd worn black boots (which look great, btw) so now I've got a blister on each foot. Oh well...

Today got right up and did 40 minutes on the Nordic Track at 3.91. Yay.

[HalfCamel]

For the past week or so I've been exercising on and off because I haven't been feeling that well. But I'm feeling better so hopefully I'll be back on track.

I've changed my workout a little bit. Instead of doing Tae-Bo everyday, I've been alternating it with my elliptical machine. So now I do one day Tae-Bo and one day the elliptical machine, along with lifting weights. I also started doing freeweights with the machine.

Since I've started working out (which has been about four weeks) I've lost about five pounds and several inches, which I know it's not much but it's something.

So, I'd like to thank Debra for starting this thread and all the other Kittens for keeping me motivated.

Keep it up, Kittens!

[Tarababy77]

Since I've started working out (which has been about four weeks) I've lost about five pounds and several inches, which I know it's not much but it's something.

WHAT??? That's not just something, that's awesome!!! Shoot, be happy, be proud. I have troops that don't care much about themselves and they show it. You kittens are definitely an inspiration to better ones self, mental and physical.

Keep up the GREAT work!

[JustSkipIt]

Five pounds and several inches in 4 weeks? That sounds totally fantastic! Congratulations and keep it up.

Today I did 40 minutes again on the Nordic Track (3.72 only). I felt really tired out but finished it anyway.

[HalfCamel]

Today I did half an hour on my elliptical machine and I worked on my quads and hamstrings.

[JustSkipIt]

Ok, week's over and I did a pretty good job working out. Today another 40 minutes on the Nordic Track (3.89). Yay.

[Foomatic]

I've been working out pretty consistently this week, with the exception of this morning. I'm varying my routing . . . Monday I walked the dog for 30 min, Tuesday I did shadow boxing for about 20 minutes then walked the dog, Wednesday I ran for 20 minutes, and yesterday I did my boxing work out (jump rope for 10 minutes, stretch, shadow box, 15 minutes on the Slam Man). I feel good, and getting up at 6:30 AM doesn't seem so bad anymore, with the exception of this morning (had a bad night). Tomorrow is my boxing class, so I'm looking forward to that.

[Gatito Grande]

Yay! Lifting again, at last.

I've been experimenting w/ my weight-bench, again (despite the fact that I've owned it for over 5 years, I'm still figuring some things out!). I discovered that I can adjust the bottom part of the seat, such that I can do incline bench-presses, much easier (so that I don't slide down). I like to vary my bench-presses between flat, incline and decline, to target different parts of the pec.

I've also tried doing leg-curls w/ one leg only (alternating): that way, I know that I'm actually working each hamstring muscle, w/o one leg (the stronger one---I think my right leg) doing the lion's share of the work.

I feel like my crunches are improving: in quantity and quality. I'm slowly but surely getting that six-pack . . . which is still covered over w/ fat regrettably. (Anybody wanna loan me some money for some liposuction? )

GG Keep at it, Fitness Kittens! Out

[Trom DeGrey]

I did my second Century Workout this week. I lifted Tuesday and Thursday. I won't do this again for about two months, but I learned a couple of things from it. I've read in several different places that you should wear boots when doing squats. Well, all I had were my hiking boots, but I decided to try it since I was looking at 100 squats with a little more weight this time around. Let me recommend this to all of you out there lifting! My ankles were much more stable and my knees felt better under me. I felt like I could go deeper into the squat and really work my glutes and hammies to come back out of the squat. Nothing like bottoming out 90-100 to feel a hideous burn. I can also now say I'd recommend trying a Century Workout at least once. Choose one exercise for each muscle group, use 10-20% of the weight you normally do and try to make it through 100 reps. You should actually fail around 70, have to take a short break and then push out the last 30. The workout is a total system shock and it really blasted me through a plateau I was seeing in my arms. I definitely picked up mass just from doing it once and it was even more noticeable to me after doing it again this week. It's not recommended more than one week for every six weeks though. I’ve also found I really like resistance bands. Not only do the muscles pulling through the exercise get worked, but the antagonists get worked on the return movement and smaller muscles are worked to maintain a smooth movement. I got a really nice set from Target with three bands, two handles and an ankle strap for $15. Too cool!

[k-prime]

After totally slacking for the past few days, my workout buddy got me back on track today and we were off to the gym after work. I did 20 minutes on the bike, but obviously wasn't in full-form when it came to my lifting. My reps were down slightl, and I was definitely starting to struggle towards the end. Oh, well, more motivation to stop being lazy.
After lifting, it was another half hour on the arc trainer. I'm really noticing an improvement in my cardio in the past few weeks, and wasn't even really breathing heavy when I was done, even though I kept my heart rate between 135-150. I'm going to up the intensity next time I go and see how I feel after that.

[Tarababy77]

How many people (besides myself) work out in the morning? I'm just curious, because I have found myself to be more productive in the mornings, than after work. Unfortunately, I have to work out before and after because of time restraints, but I was just curious if others have found that working out first thing in the morning feels a little better. =)

[JustSkipIt]

How many people (besides myself) work out in the morning?

Me for sure. I get up at 5:00 to work out for a few reasons. The first is that my wife gets up at 6:00 to work so I need to be available if the baby wakes up. I don't like to work-out in the evening because I'm already tired from the day. Working out in the morning, I feel like I'm kick starting my day. It's like, ok it's 7:00 and I already worked out and meditated (hopefully), I'm on my way. I used to feel really hungry but I've pretty much trained myself to not notice it.

[Alcy]

I used to be a morning work-out gal when I was at High School but when you grow-up and schedules change you have to fit your exercise around your lifestyle.
I'm now a night work-out gal, I run home from work at the end of the day, or run on the treadmill and then weights after that. I could run to work, but then there's the drama of having a shower at work etc. And I can't get up early enough to run before work because Sarah wakes me up at 3am when she gets home from work and I just don't get enough sleep!

But I'm a firm believer in fitting exercise in whenever and wherever you can!

I have my first running comp for the year coming up this weekend, the Round the Bays classic, hopefully I beat last years time!

[russ]

I'm in the morning workout camp too. I used to try to get to the gym in the evenings, but evenings are too busy, & after a day at work I don't have the energy. Doing a workout before breakfast gives a boost that lasts the whole day.

Like Alcy says, though, the best time to exercise is whenever you can fit it into your schedule.

Hope the run goes well, Alcy; what's the distance?

Russ

[k-prime]

It totally depends what my schedule is. If I have to work in the morning, I value sleep too much to get up early, so I go after work. If I work the afternoon shift or have the day off, I like to go in the morning. It definitely sets me up for the day.
I'm in a bit of a funk today, but still went to the gym. I didn't go as hard as I normally would have liked, and only did 35 minutes of cardio and 25 minutes of weight training (focus on legs). But, better than nothing!

[Gatito Grande]

Late afternoon---totally (honey, I don't do anything well but sleep in the morning!). I have to be careful to not exercise too late though (especially cardio, like XC skiing): I find it makes sleep difficult.

GG I was once told that cardio is best to do in the mornings, strength training later? I could be wrong about that... Out

[Trom DeGrey]

They say cardio in the mornings on an empty stomach is best for burning fat. If you're going to do your lifting afterward it really should be later in the day or evening though so that you have a chance to reload your cells with glucose during the day. Otherwise, the lifting won't lead to much because your muscles have nothing to build off of. So, if you do the two right together, lift first, cardio after.

I'm too much of a lazy ass to get up in the morning. If I do get up early I tend to write instead. I was worried about only working out in the evenings because I thought I'd be too tired and I have missed a few nights because I had a four or five client day, but I've surprised myself by sticking to things pretty diligently even though I sometimes don't get started till nearly 10 because of late clients. I think I'm sleeping better too.

[Alcy]

Hi Russ, thanks for that.

This one is just 7km, a nice little sprint to start the year off. I did it in 35 mins last year so I'd like to get that time down a little, won't be too much though because I havent been training all that hard lately!

[JustSkipIt]

Foomatic – That is a very varied workout. How wonderful. I stay pretty interested in the Nordic track but if I do it like 6 days in a row, I’m like totally bored. But that sounds really great. Is Slam Man one of those guys on the floor stand? Does it light up and stuff to tell you where to hit it?

Gatito Grande – Ha ha. Yeah, making a little v with the weight bench seat is awesome. That’s one of the things I used to love about working out in a gym: being able to adjust all the machines so easily. But absolutely varying the angle of the bench presses is great for your targets. Oh man, one leg curls. Wow. I always figure (Trom can probably say if I’m wrong) that if you really get that six-pack under the fat, when you lose the fat, you’re down to the tight abs. So yay you!

Trom DeGrey – That Century Workout sounds so brutal and so wonderful at the same time. I’m not doing any serious lifting these days (I’ll start the 8 minutes again next week but that’s hardly serious lifting). But wow. Sounds great.

k-prime – It’s great that you’re seeing a “bad” workout as more motivation to do better/more. Some people could see it as something to give up. You know? I’m not sure what an arc trainer is but heck 30 minutes of cardio sounds great.

Alcy – Definitely. You have to work in the exercise wherever it fits. I’ve often thought that if I couldn’t work out in the mornings, I’d do 2-15 minute walks at work and then some other 15-30 minutes somewhere or something. Hope the run goes great!

russ – Exactly! Too tired at the end of the day.

k-prime – Hey, you still went to the gym and a 35 minute cardio with 25 minutes weight training is nothing to sneeze at. Well done.

Gatito Grande – I’ve never heard that about what time to workout but I think Trom answers farther down the page.

Trom DeGrey – Ha ha. My stomach is as empty as can be when I workout so I guess I’m fulfilling that too. I used to wake up and eat an apple but it was too cold for me and I didn’t want anything more. Now I just get up and go. Wow, you work out starting at 10:00 some nights? I’m generally asleep by 10 every night.

I think that you’re supposed to Yoga on an empty stomach too and you’re supposed to meditate on an empty stomach but that has to do with not wanting to split your energy in different directions. All the same, in all these cases, I think if it’s a choice between nothing or non-optimum (you know someone says, “oh I don’t want to work out today because I just ate…”), non-optimum is better than none.

Alcy – Ha ha. A sprint for a runner. I’d walk but it wouldn’t be a sprint for sure. Have a great run.



Did my NT today. 40 minutes and 3.94 which is pretty good. I'll start the 8 minutes in the morning again next week.

[Artemis]

So, I've started sessions with a personal trainer, and ouch. I'm sure I'll end up fit and lean and so forth, but in the meantime, my upper arms wish they were elsewhere (actually most of the first session yesterday was leg work, but not having a car I walk a lot anyway, so I'd stopped feeling like my legs were going to drop off by the time I'd walked home). As I said in an email earlier, I honestly thought if I ever paid a woman by the hour to make me feel this sore, she'd be wearing leather.

Shrug. At least the scenery's nice - the trainer's patch, when not working in a gym, is Mrs Macquarie's Chair, a bit of the Domain that sticks out into Sydney Harbour, so there's a good view, and a nice breeze. And after going up and down Fleet Steps - about five stories' worth - a dozen times or so, a breeze is really a good thing. Unless it picks up a bit and blows me over. That's quite possible.

[JustSkipIt]

Yay, Chris! Yay, Chris! I'm super impressed that you're working out and especially that you're getting a trainer. Good for you and believe it or not, the best way to get the soreness to go away is to do more of the same. Kind of really hair of the dog.

Anyway, yesterday I walked pretty far later in the day. Today did my NT, not very far, just 3.70 but 40 minutes again.