Official Workout/Fitness Thread (Re-born)

[dobrojim]

I'd be interested in a 50+ league myself but if I did that, I'd have
to go out and buy some shoes. All my shoes are running shoes.
Hoop shoes would feel really weird to me.

[pancakes3]

this cold air is making me wheeze somethin' awful when i run.

[mhd]

QUick question guys.

Because of the constant running I was doing, my right ankle was killing me at the point where I couldn't run without pain. I still wanted to exercise, so I just hopped onto an ellipitcal at the gym (one of those Precor's). I was sweating like a pig after doing 33 minutes of it and felt great. Now, 2 weeks later, my ankle is basically back to normal, but I love doing the elliptical.

Is a workout of a quick 1 mile jog/run for a warmup followed by a 33 minute ellipitcal session enough?

[pancakes3]

i'd suppose it depends on the resistance you're setting the elliptical at; i wouldn't trust those calorie counters past 15% accuracy. however, if you're feeling the burn, and you're sweating i'm sure it's working out just fine. personally i don't like the elliptical just because of preconceived notions that it's a "girl" machine or an "old man" machine. plus, correct me if i'm wrong, it's a much more localized, leg/butt intensive workout than running. back when i had a gym membership, i would skip the treadmills and ellipticals all together and spent my 20-30 mins on the erg (rowing machine), mountain climber, or swimming.

[Scabs304]

How about a REALGM wizboard get together and play basketball? I know how horrible of shape I'm in after the broken ankle last year and all the injuries I keep doing to myself. Would love to shoot around and play a few pick-up games. I'm holding an open gym with a fee at a local Bethesda elementary school soon or I could look into renting a high school gym for a night. Anyways think it would be a great idea.

[Zonkerbl]

QUick question guys.

Because of the constant running I was doing, my right ankle was killing me at the point where I couldn't run without pain. I still wanted to exercise, so I just hopped onto an ellipitcal at the gym (one of those Precor's). I was sweating like a pig after doing 33 minutes of it and felt great. Now, 2 weeks later, my ankle is basically back to normal, but I love doing the elliptical.

Is a workout of a quick 1 mile jog/run for a warmup followed by a 33 minute ellipitcal session enough?

I work out on the elliptical a lot, for the same reason -- no impact on my gimpy knee. You can believe the heart rate meter, and you can believe the time, and that's all that matters. As long as you are hitting the heart rate you want for the time you want, your good. The secret to getting the heart rate you want is getting the resistance right. The old ones you have to set somewhere between 10 and 13 for it to do you any good.

[dobrojim]

played my first couple games of pickup in basically forever
last night. I certainly didn't set the court on fire but was
competent enough that my team won both games I played
in with me scoring the winning bucket in the second game
(because the other team inexplicably left me unguarded
right under the basket). The highlight for me though was
after getting beat off the dribble (my old shoes suck) I
recovered and blocked my man's shot which I think surprised
him a little. Oh, and I'd guess I was at least 20 years older
than most of the other guys on the court with maybe one
exception.

[Induveca]

So after hitting my 400 pounds for reps goal a few months back I've gone back to simple stuff.

Actually got a bit inspired by an article about integrating pushups and sit-ups throughout the day as you do common tasks. Luckily my buildings both have good useful gyms and both are on the way out towers outside or the garage. Put my own spin on it....

For those of you lucky enough to łive in a similar environment try this out. Each time I leave or enter the building I've been doing the following all in rapid succession.

10 reps at 150 pounds shoulder presses
10 reps 250 pound lat pulldowns
10 reps 230 pound bench press
10 reps 55 pound arm curl right
10 reps 55 pound arm curl left
10 reps 190 pound right leg press
10 reps 190 pound left leg press
30 crunches with 150 lb weight resistance

Going quick with good form this takes 10 minutes since it's hitting different muscle groups and no real need for rest. I have done this 4 times today since 9 AM. Probably 25 times this week. Good alternative for a week as opposed to 3-4 hour workouts 3 times a week.

Try out something similar. Interesting feel.....

[Induveca]

Also I'm looking to drop 5 pounds of fat quickly and keeping muscle. I can drop it easily with juice fast and just light lifting and quick card, but curious to hear other techniques. Yes I know slow and steady is the most łogical, but with weightlifting it builds up my appetite so much if I take a week off I can pack on 5-8 pounds pretty quickly.

Going to go the 2 day juice route/liver pills and heavy training unless I see something better. Too cold even in Miami to swim.....

[sashae]

I've always been of the mindset that that sort of quick fast is counterproductive in the long run, as it's the larger changes in eating habits (in terms of amounts and composition) that make the long term difference in reducing bodyfat. I decided to race cyclocross competitively (think steeplechase on bikes) this fall, and lost about 35lbs and 12% bodyfat by exercising religiously (2x weekly riding, 1x yoga, 2x gym) and drastically adjusting my eating habits in terms of reducing fat intake, reducing late-hours consumption of food, and basically near eliminating red meat (pork, lamb okay, but beef not so much.) I mainly eat fish and poultry now, along with vegetables and fruits, and have switched to steel cut oatmeal for breakfast rather than bagels or bacon and eggs... it does work, it just takes time.

Induveca, your goals are different than mine (I need to be lean with a powerful core) so your eating habits necessarily need to be different, but conceptually the ideas can still follow.

[no D in Hibachi]

Way to go sashae! You're an inspiration to us all.

[dobrojim]

XC 10K on New Years Day in Leesburg. Be there. Great race.

come on out and see if you can beat this old man

http://www.runwashington.com/news/382/

[W. Unseld]

I'm curious about the various ways to count calories burned. I would swear at my gym the bikes only register about 4-5 calories per minute if that going full steam. Yet, when I enter my exercises on my i-phone it gives me credit for much more. I'm guessing the truth lies somewhere in between as I'm losing weight and if the bikes at the gym were correct I don't think I would be. What's an accurate measure for calorie burning?

Also, not to sound like a commercial but the app "lose it" is free on the iphone. It's a calorie counter that sends you reminders if you forget to enter in meals. At first it was a pain but a week in it's easier b/c I've already entered my mainstay meals into the system. It also gives you exercise set offs and I try to underestimate those to keep myself honest. Calorie counting allows me to eat pretty much any type of food I want and I have a generous allowance of calories ie 2300 I can have a day and still lose 1.5 lbs per week.

[dobrojim]

in you want to get really precise, it's hard to know exactly and the
better the shape you're in, the less cals you'll burn for a given
amount of work/exercise. I think the best you can do is
get a rough estimate and go with that.

in the past I've used a website called caloriesperhour

http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php

[dobrojim]

Hilarious parody/spoof of an argument btw an ultra runner
and an ironman triathlete

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/8279147/

it's a little vulgar/crude in spots but probably
safe for most workplaces.

After being bugged by my kids for months I signed
up for the Y. We'll see how much doing occasional weights
will do for my running.

[pancakes3]

if nothing else, you can get back into playing pickup hoops.

[dobrojim]

hope to do that too - but I need to get some new hoop shoes
or I'll continue to feel like a ice skater on the floor.

[nate33]

Hilarious parody/spoof of an argument btw an ultra runner
and an ironman triathlete

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/8279147/

it's a little vulgar/crude in spots but probably
safe for most workplaces.

After being bugged by my kids for months I signed
up for the Y. We'll see how much doing occasional weights
will do for my running.

This is my favorite xtranormal ironman spoof:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B03dFMG8 ... re=related

[DMVleGeND]

I'm 14, and I'm 5'7" and think I weigh in the 115-125 range. Next season is going to be my first season playing football, and I'm trying to get in football shape. Before this season, I worked out sometimes but got lazy most of the time and slacked off, but now, I'm serious about it. I'm going to start doing upper-body workouts, lower-body workouts, ab workouts, and cardio daily. I'm VERY skinny right now but I just started lifting and I think I'm starting to see results. I have an EXTREMELY poor diet though. I eat junk food and don't eat a lot of vegetables, but I don't gain weight because I have an EXTREMELY high metabolism. I have a couple of questions though.

Should I start running on the treadmill everyday? I'm not overweight but I'm trying to build stamina, so will running on the treadmill every day do it, or should I give my legs some rest for a couple of days?

Should I run on the treadmill or jog outside? I was going to start using the treadmill but my friend said that running on the treadmill damages your calves and I think he knows what he's talking about because his mother is a physical therapist. Is this true?

Will I get tight abs if I keep eating unhealthy? Like I said earlier, I'm VERY skinny because of my high metabolism and don't gain weight even though I don't eat healthy. Would it still be possible for me to get a 6-pack if I do ab workouts and eat unhealthy at the same time?

[nate33]

First of all, go to WalMart and buy a big jug of whey protein powder. Drink a protein shake after every workout. You might want to get a weight gainer formula rather than just a protein formula given your metabolism. In general, eat lots of meat and drink lots of milk.

Secondly, it's difficult to build much mass if you're doing extensive cardio workouts every day. You don't have to run every day to get into football shape. I'd run three or four times a week, but lean towards sprint work. Instead of running four or five miles at a constant pace, run a one-mile warm up, followed by 8 sprint/walk sets (30-second sprint followed by a 30-second walk). Then a half mile warm down. That'll keep your heart and lungs in great shape without devoting too much of your body's resources into building slow-twitch endurance muscles that you really don't need for football. As you get better, you can work up to 12 sprint/walk sets, or maybe 16.

Third, when building muscle, it's important to allow for recovery. Lifting doesn't build muscle. It's the healing afterwards that does it. Don't lift with the same muscle group on successive days. Indeed, every other day isn't enough recovery either. Lift the same muscle group every third day. So for example, do upper body on Monday and Thursday, lower body on Tuesday and Friday, and core on Wednesday and Saturday. (You can mix running with lifting, but you might not want to lift legs on a day that you've already run.)