Official Workout/Fitness Thread (Re-born)

[nate33]

Even if he comes back strong, you really don't think the rest of the NBA has this guy figured out by now? My guess is how Blatche comes back will really make no difference.

Memories are short. Heck, if Blatche plays well enough, I predict several on this board will want to keep him.

The bottom line is that his current trade value isn't his permanent trade value. His future trade value will rise or fall based on future play. If he plays well, it will rise. That would be a good thing if the intent is to move him.

One other thought: if he finishes the season strong and we still end up amnestying him, then it's more likely that some other team claims him off of waivers and pays him a decent salary... say $3M a year or so. At least that would save Ted $10M over the next 3 years.

[dandridge 10]

I would think GM's making an investment in a player would have better memories than the people on this board. But, only time will tell.

[dobrojim]

Ran RnR National Marathon on Saturday.

I suffered through the latter stages but have
to be gratified by finishing with a Boston Qualifying
time of 3:39.

It was hot out there at the end.

[Zonkerbl]

Working out smart vs. working out hard...

Have been stuck at 178-180 for a month now. Mostly because I can't control my diet on the weekends.

Which is fine -- losing 22 lbs is a big accomplishment. But I would still like to get down to 165. May not be possible at my age.

One thing I've noticed -- I kill myself on the elliptical machine, and when I do the math it's really not worth it. A super intense workout that leaves me in discomfort for the rest of the day burns maybe 50 more calories in 45 minutes than a more relaxed workout. Over five workouts a week that's, what, 250 calories? Just not worth the risk of injury. I can probably get almost the same results in the same amount of time going to workout classes, warming up slowly, cooling down and stretching at the end. Now that I'm finally in shape enough to keep up I'll start doing the classes -- they have two "body blast" resistance classes and a kickboxing class. I'll end up more limber with more muscle mass.

Now if I could just stop ordering pizza and eating chocolate chip cookies I'd be good to go. Actually, now that I think about it, cutting down on the super intense workouts might help with my diet -- it's when I'm totally exhausted that I don't have the energy to cook a healthy dinner. Hm!

[Zonkerbl]

Really? That last post was April 18? Huh. So it's only a month later, I've consistently weighed in at 174-175 this week. Yay I guess.

I've been obsessing over when to weigh myself. In the afternoon I usually weigh one or two pounds more. After a workout I weigh 2-3 lbs less because of lost water. That shouldn't count right? Is it cheating to always weigh yourself in the morning?

[nate33]

Really? That last post was April 18? Huh. So it's only a month later, I've consistently weighed in at 174-175 this week. Yay I guess.

I've been obsessing over when to weigh myself. In the afternoon I usually weigh one or two pounds more. After a workout I weigh 2-3 lbs less because of lost water. That shouldn't count right? Is it cheating to always weigh yourself in the morning?

It's not cheating. I suggest always weighing yourself in the morning because it is least likely to fluctuate. During the rest of the day, your weight will vary considerably depending on your hydration level.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

You don't need carbs for energy. The body can burn fat for energy if starved of carbs.

Very old post but I dug this up because it reminded me of a conversation I had at the gym with a friend. He's 10 years older than I am and he's very conscientious about what he eats. The guy looks great for over 60. He was telling me some of his lab work wasn't so good (as opposed to mine, and I outweigh him by at least 70 pounds). He said "things are not what they always look like on the outside."

I recounted that during the early years of sending soldiers to Iraq, surprisingly, it was often the skinny guys who struggled the most with the intense heat. The "fatter" guys had more reserve energy to burn and they weren't falling out as much. (Not saying out of shape, morbidly obese fat, just heavy.)

I use this as a motivator in my workouts, especially if I've backslid and gained a few. Being heavier just means you've got more to burn and the longer you do so the better your results. It's just about commitment.

[Zonkerbl]

It's about drugs man. Take some meth.

[Zonkerbl]

Really? That last post was April 18? Huh. So it's only a month later, I've consistently weighed in at 174-175 this week. Yay I guess.

I've been obsessing over when to weigh myself. In the afternoon I usually weigh one or two pounds more. After a workout I weigh 2-3 lbs less because of lost water. That shouldn't count right? Is it cheating to always weigh yourself in the morning?

It's not cheating. I suggest always weighing yourself in the morning because it is least likely to fluctuate. During the rest of the day, your weight will vary considerably depending on your hydration level.

Yeah! Exactly! That's been my experience.

[dobrojim]

FWIW, I am now a certified RRCA coach.

re burning fat, at least burning fat as fuel while running, fat burns in
a carbohydrate flame. Very low to no carbs is not the way to go.

of the various 'fad/pop' diets, the one that makes the most sense
to me as a runner and as a biologist is the S Beach diet, somewhat
limited carbs but greater focus on the quality of carbs as opposed
to the quantity alone.

But don't listen to me, I can't lose weight for $hyt. Since early
Feb I have run, 2 50+K races, 2 marathons, paced a 100 mile runner
for the last 40 miles of his race (very low level fat burning intensity)
and biked over 700 miles. For all that, my weight is the same or
higher than it was 3 months ago.

Running another 2 50Ks in the next couple weeks. Training for VT100 again.

[nate33]

There is no question that, with regards to fuels for endurance sports, fat is less effective than carbohydrates. Burning fat requires more oxygen than burning carbohydrates. As a result, you simply can't maintain the same heart rate for an extended period of type burning fat as you can while burning carbohydrates. If you are running a marathon in a few hours, eat carbs.

However, if your goal is to lose weight, I suggest substituting much of your carb calories with protein and fat.

[dobrojim]

what you said is not true.

to run a marathon well, you need to be able to burn fat efficiently
(otherwise you will run out of carbs sooner)

but in order to burn fat efficiently, you have to continue to burn carbs

so yes, you should carb load, but your metab has to be able to burn fat along with carbs.
That said, being as heavy as I am is not necessary in order to have enough
fat to burn. A very skinny person has more than enough fat to fuel a marathon.

carbs you can burn anaerobically -> lactate
Fat doesn't burn anaerobically -> lactate

[Zonkerbl]

You can't lose weight just by working out. You have to restrict your diet. And your body will pull little tricks, like making you feel lethargic so you end up burning less calories. In the book I read it was very common for the weight loss at the end of a study to be less than what it should have been based on the subjects' calorie deficits.

[nate33]

what you said is not true.

to run a marathon well, you need to be able to burn fat efficiently
(otherwise you will run out of carbs sooner)

but in order to burn fat efficiently, you have to continue to burn carbs

so yes, you should carb load, but your metab has to be able to burn fat along with carbs.
That said, being as heavy as I am is not necessary in order to have enough
fat to burn. A very skinny person has more than enough fat to fuel a marathon.

carbs you can burn anaerobically -> lactate
Fat doesn't burn anaerobically -> lactate

I don't see how what I said conflicts with what you said. The body burns carbs for energy more efficiently than it burns fat for energy. However, you can't store enough carbs in your body for an entire marathon so your body must necessarily burn fat as well. It's still helpful to have your body's carb fuel tank "topped off" with as much carbs as it can store prior to a race, so that's why I suggested eating carbs before a race.

You wouldn't want to run a marathon in the midst of an Atkins diet. It can be done, sure. But not as effectively as if you also had carbs in your system.

[dobrojim]

Burning fat requires more oxygen than burning carbohydrates. As a result, you simply can't maintain the same heart rate for an extended period of type burning fat as you can while burning carbohydrates.

please elaborate on this part - this is where I was mostly taking exception

I'm not sure what this has to do with HR except as HR relates to being
in an aerobic zone where you can burn fat effectively and being in
an anaerobic mode where you will deplete your carbs too quickly.

[dobrojim]

PS- the end result of eating a lot of protein and running a carb deficit
is that your body will simply de-aminate the protein and shuttle
the residual parts of the amino acids into the carbo metabolism pathway.

Protein is biochemically similar to carbs except for the presence of
amino groups attached to the rest of the molecules.

[dobrojim]

ran a 50K in WV on Saturday. It was fun. But I'm still too heavy.

[Nivek]

Weighed myself this morning after several weeks of eating whatever and not exercising. I expected to be heavy, and I was. Back to eating right as of this morning.

[Zonkerbl]

On my side, I'm starting to not look forward to going to the gym. Used to be I was looking forward to listening to my music, one of the few times during the day I can do it. Running out of music and pushing myself too hard, I think.

[dobrojim]

I cannot abide running inside for any reasonable period of time.