Official Workout/Fitness Thread (Re-born)

[walltotherescue]

How many grams of sugar does it take to experience a sugar rush? And can you get this sugar rush from any food or drink that has sugar in it? Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I kind of rely on sugar rushes to provide me with extra energy in my workouts (and they actually do work).

[Zonkerbl]

commiserate with me, zonk. as a short hoopster, don't you hate it that once in that rarest of blue moons, you get a block? an honest-to-goodness block... and either a) someone calls foul. or b) backhandedly says "nice steal" ?

Well, I used to play at the JCC and there were guys actually shorter than me playing and I would get a block every once in a while. Once I pinned the ball against the backboard and grabbed it, MJ style. That was awesome.

[Nivek]

I never pinned a shot to the backboard, but I got one of mine pinned once. Wasn't quite as awesome on the receiving end.

[Zonkerbl]

How does my body pain me? Let me count the ways -- tweaked hammy still tight, tweaked rotator cuff now inflamed from guys fouling me going up with rebounds, sore mouth from being elbowed twice (once by a teammate), got whacked on the nose too.

I think I gave as good as I got though. Smashmouth streetball, gotta love it when your weight training comes in handy playing bball.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I never pinned a shot to the backboard, but I got one of mine pinned once. Wasn't quite as awesome on the receiving end.

At 5'8" I once pinned the shot of a 6'1" player to the backboard. (Closed on him from behind on a fast break and he laid it up soft, probably didn't realize how close I was when he released the ball.) Also, I once goal tended by taking a ball off the rim.

My all-time favorite block was when a 6'4" guy had the ball, and he and I were the only two players going downcourt one against one. He tried some real hot dog move and thought he was going to juke me and finger roll the ball in. Nope. I slapped the ball out of his hands off the backboard and a gym full of people laughed at him.

I never was a great baller, but that was sweet.

I wish I could have handled the ball and shot as a young guy the way I do now as an old guy. Either that, or I WISH I could run and get up at 50 like I could back 30 years (and 60-70 lbs) ago.

[Nivek]

For a second I thought I might have been the one you pinned. The guy who did it to me was 5-8ish, and I was about 6-1 at the time. Mine came in a halfcourt set. I had a sorta pet move I'd do. I'd drive baseline, but when I picked up my dribble, I'd take LONG strides instead of going up on the front side of the rim. That would take me to the other side of the basket, and I'd lay it up with some english on the ball and spin it in off the backboard. Worked great most of the time, but this one time the 5-8 skywalker came swooping in and pinned it.

[dobrojim]

My daughter is getting to be an awfully good shooter.
I call her Otto, for automatic. Too bad she's such a scrawny
little kid.

Game Wed at Hoop Magic in Chantilly

As for myself, I got some weight to lose btw now and mid-july.
Got a 50k coming up in 2 weeks. Should be fun.

[nate33]

Just had my follow-up checkup on my knee. The doc said he was concerned. It lacks the stability he hoped it would have after two weeks of healing. Basically, he now suspects a torn ACL (possibly in addition to a torn meniscus or a bone bruise). I'm having an MRI tomorrow morning.

[Nivek]

Got my 14-year old son lifting weights and working out. Skinny frame to start, and he's already showing great results after about a month. I've been working out with him, and I'm showing some results too. Down 16 pounds and an inch and a half on my waist. My wife likes the muscle.

One thing that's interesting to me is how much faster I'm adding weight on the leg exercises. I'm adding weight with everything, but by leaps and bounds on the legs.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

For a second I thought I might have been the one you pinned. The guy who did it to me was 5-8ish, and I was about 6-1 at the time. Mine came in a halfcourt set. I had a sorta pet move I'd do. I'd drive baseline, but when I picked up my dribble, I'd take LONG strides instead of going up on the front side of the rim. That would take me to the other side of the basket, and I'd lay it up with some english on the ball and spin it in off the backboard. Worked great most of the time, but this one time the 5-8 skywalker came swooping in and pinned it.

Kev, you and I know one another in the real world, so I know you're not, Tom K., who made the varsity back when I was at Friendly. I remember it vividly because back at Rose Valley gym whenever we played pickup I played with a chip against all the guys who made the varsity basketball team. He was one. Actually, I didn't dislike him (read issues of mine) it was just a basketball play.

Yep, his pet move was the same as yours, Kev. I know you're you, but you play that like he did. Long strides to the basket from the baseline and great spin off the backboard. He was a terrific shooter but he didn't have great speed or much vertical. I knew what he would do but he didn't know then I could jump. Actually, I still cannot figure out why I couldn't normally do that--I should have been dunking with ease all the time, apparently. Even in boys club when I was 15 and on a breakaway I would hear folks yelling for me to dunk. I would lay it in even with the rim.

Last childhood memory, related to the above, is of the HS starting PG who was also the starting QB on the football team. In practice, as a reserve DB, the late Jim Crawford (Friendly HS) yelled at me for hitting teammates too hard in practice. The kid who was QB was a guy who I disliked because he seemed smug like he had it going on. (In truth, I was the kid from the broken home with one alcoholic parent with all kinds of security issues--Wayne G was a great kid then and he's on top of the world today). Anyway, when I'd see him at Rose Valley's gym I would think I'm going to destroy that kid. He's no good. Whenever I played him I'd steal the ball from him, I'd block his shot, I basically clowned on him. Maybe the kid just realized it wasn't all that serious and he knew better than to go all out .... I'll never know.

So, there's my therapy for today. Sorry if my catharsis scared or bored. I just know now I'm blessed to have my head in a better place. (Now I understand why I was on great in football when I was angry.) Today, I offer the wisdom of another to put this in perspective:

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.

— Maria Robinson (Understanding Behaviour and Development in Early Childhood: A Guide to Theory and Practice)

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Got my 14-year old son lifting weights and working out. Skinny frame to start, and he's already showing great results after about a month. I've been working out with him, and I'm showing some results too. Down 16 pounds and an inch and a half on my waist. My wife likes the muscle.

One thing that's interesting to me is how much faster I'm adding weight on the leg exercises. I'm adding weight with everything, but by leaps and bounds on the legs.

I wonder if 11 years old is too young for a boy to begin lifting weights or to drink protein shakes?

My son is pretty huge. Lots of baby fat on a big, fairly athletic frame. I think he's going to be much bigger and stronger than I am when he grows up. Has broad everything. Big shoulders. Big thighs. Huge butt. Imagine Charles Barkley smushed down into a Cartman-esque height. My son is not that big in the belly, but I'm concerned about him becoming obese for his lifetime if this trend continues.

He loves sports, especially football. He plays lots outside with his friends. He's also a huge MMA enthusiast. Instead of me introducing him to weights, or trying to radically alter his diet with nutritional stuff he's not even up on yet, my other thought is leave him be and see how he grows the next couple years (13-14 sounds right, Kev).. Maybe just enroll him in a martial arts discipline. (I signed him up for kid's P90X in an after school progam--and I'm about to go that route for adults. My workouts are good but I'm not pushing myself the way that program will). So, I'm getting in shape and doing what I can from a distance for him as for now.

[pancakes3]

CCJ, my best friend back in the day was a huge, thick, country-strong boy with a bit of baby flab on him - his little brother too. They loved sports, especially football, but were saddled with lineman positions because of their extra heft. Their dad was not ecstatic about his sons being relegated to playing center and guard because he had collegiate sport aspirations for them and didn't want them to gain weight just for the sake of nabbing a scholarship. So? to nip the problem at the bud, he sent the kids packing off to swim team and soccer. Cut the flab right off within a season, and both kids got scholarship offers - MLB and DE respectively. Be sure you've got a decent soccer coach though - one who'll run the kids. If you've got a hippy dippy "everybody wins" coach, no one wins.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Thanks, pancakes!

My son HATED his last coach because "the coach never lets me play quarterback!" in his words. (My son by far had the strongest and most accurate arm on the team). He kicked off, but was forced to play line every down. He also has great hands.

Swimming and soccer ... I appreciate it.

[Nivek]

Yeah, swim team is a GREAT way to take weight off kids. My older brother used to chub up big time during the school year. By the end of summer swim team, he'd always have dropped 30-40 pounds. Then he'd pack it back on during the school year.

As for starting your 11-year old lifting -- if he's interested, you can probably get him started with a focus on proper form. He'll get stronger, but he won't start showing serious results until the testosterone starts flowing.

Diet is also important for dropping weight and gaining strength/muscle mass. I've never gotten into supplements or protein shakes. I've found two ways of eating that have consistently helped me lose weight.

The first was to eliminate 3 things from the diet: high fructose corn syrup, enriched flour, and hydrogenated oils. When I did that, I lost 51 pounds, gained back about 10 and then maintained for 18 months. Then I broke discipline and ballooned back to nearly the original weight. What's been working lately has been going low carb and cutting the sugar to next to zero. I eat lots of protein and some fat, but in general eat as much as I want and lose weight. I'll break every now and then (I had a cookie on Sunday), but it's pretty easy to maintain because I don't have to be hungry. If I want to eat, I do -- I just eat something low in carbs and sugar.

Big thing I missed going low carb was bread, but I found some tortillas recently that have about 10 net carbs, and those have been good. For my wife's birthday, I actually made a low carb, extremely low sugar cake using almond flour. The frosting was made from cream cheese and no sugar fruit preserves. I'll even fry fish like a Southern gramma, but using almond flour instead of bread crumbs.

[nate33]

The first was to eliminate 3 things from the diet: high fructose corn syrup, enriched flour, and hydrogenated oils. When I did that, I lost 51 pounds, gained back about 10 and then maintained for 18 months. Then I broke discipline and ballooned back to nearly the original weight. What's been working lately has been going low carb and cutting the sugar to next to zero. I eat lots of protein and some fat, but in general eat as much as I want and lose weight. I'll break every now and then (I had a cookie on Sunday), but it's pretty easy to maintain because I don't have to be hungry. If I want to eat, I do -- I just eat something low in carbs and sugar.

Read this. Learn it. Love it. Live it.

Just avoid the simple carbs and sugars, and the weight will come off. It's an easily sustainable lifestyle. If you want to really lose the weight, cut out most carbs altogether. Just eat all you want as long as it's meat, eggs, cheese, nuts and vegetables. (That's harder to do though.)

[fishercob]

I found this fascinating and imagine some of you might find it interesting too. her tone is a little annoying -- too melodramatic for my taste. Try to look past that, because the message is pretty powerful in and of itself.

It dovetails with the discussion above on food. I definitely agree that refined sugars/carbs are killers, but it goes beyond that. There's bad crap in our food supply, it's making our population the sickest in the world, and the same companies that are doing it here and not doing it in Europe (because of better laws/consumer demand for healthier food). Enjoy!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rixyrCNVVGA&feature=share[/youtube]

[Nivek]

Going really low carb is more difficult, but it's not hard at all, really. There's never a reason to stay hungry. I can go to McDonald's and get some meat -- just tell them to hold the bun and the ketchup. When I order something like that at Burger King, it actually shows up as "low carb" on the screen. Gotta be a little careful with veggies -- stuff like corn, peas and carrots have sugars you don't need. Tomatoes, onions and green leafy things are okay.

Here's a Subway salad I get sometimes -- chicken breast, bacon, lettuce, tomato, green peppers, onion, cucumber and pickles. Subway doesn't publish sugar content of their dressings (and got pretty snippy with me when I emailed them to suggest they do), so I get mayo.

Big thing a lot of folks should cut out is non-diet soda. Probably wouldn't hurt to cut the diet stuff too, but the real issue is the sugary soft drinks. The soft drink industry is a marvel of biochemical manipulation. Coke, for example, has a pretty high amount of sodium. Why? Cuz it makes you thirsty. But, no one would drink saltwater, so they load it with sugar (high fructose corn syrup) to mask the salt. So, the salt makes you thirsty, the caffeine and sugar are basically addictions.

[dobrojim]

I'm glad I don't have any boys who would want to play football.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline ... s-coaches/

it's about as safe as boxing.

[dobrojim]

since all the calories in a can of soda are from sugar

and

the amount of calories in a 12 oz can is ~ 140

and

sugar is 9 cal/tspn

then a can of soda has about (the equiv of) 14-15 teaspoons of sugar per can.

that can't be good for you

[Nivek]

I found this fascinating and imagine some of you might find it interesting too. her tone is a little annoying -- too melodramatic for my taste. Try to look past that, because the message is pretty powerful in and of itself.

It dovetails with the discussion above on food. I definitely agree that refined sugars/carbs are killers, but it goes beyond that. There's bad crap in our food supply, it's making our population the sickest in the world, and the same companies that are doing it here and not doing it in Europe (because of better laws/consumer demand for healthier food). Enjoy!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rixyrCNVVGA&feature=share[/youtube]

That tidbit is a stunner.

It sucks that organic food costs so frigging much. If you're poor, it's almost impossible to eat stuff that's actually good for you.