Idle Workouts

[eot]

Hah, I haven't had that problem. What are you eating? Just beans?

[Apelsin]

I just had the best BJJ workout I've had since I started last year (Inspired by Danielle's stories on the podcasts).

In the sparring I felt that I could hold my own for once and actually managed to both pull off attacks and defenses. Even though I didn't win the fact that they were so even and flowing just left me with the greatest buzz.

 

Thanks Junior Mints!

[eot]

I ran my first 10k this week. When I signed up for it my goal was just to finish, and going into it I thought to myself that I'd be happy with sub 1 hour, but I ended up coming in just under 54 minutes! Pretty pleased. I didn't run that fast when practicing for it, and the most I ran was 8k (once).

[Griddlelol]

Congrats to both of you. I'd love to try boxing, or any sort of combat, but my wrists are like tendonitis city. I have played around with boxing gloves/pads and always end up with aching wrists after a few seconds of throwing punches. 

[Problem Machine]

I've started alternating days between doing as many pushups as I can manage and walking a couple of miles. It feels like a pretty good compromise for someone who's allergic to scheduling and wants to avoid running (I weigh enough that I'm pretty sure I'd destroy my knees/feet if I ran regularly).

[Nappi]

A year ago, I wasn't too happy with my fitness and decided to make some changes. First of all, I switched from spaghetti to other carbohydrates, because I couldn't help making a huge bowl of pasta after I came from work feeling hungry, despite always feeling too full and bad afterwards. I walked and exercised occasionally, but it was too easy for me find excuses for leaving things for "tomorrow". I solved this problem by looking for interesting podcasts whose episodes where about an hour long, and deciding to only listen to them while walking, which was pretty easy actually because walking is one of the few activities during which I can focus on verbal content for an hour at a time. I got semi-addicted to Radiolab, This American Life, and My Brother, My Brother and Me, Adventure Zone, and Cool Games Inc. and as a result started taking 6 km walks 5-6 times a week.

 

This spring I ramped things up by regularly biking to work (2 x 6.5 km) when the weather is good, taking longer walks (10+ km) once or twice a week, and doing short calisthenics exercises most evenings. I have also tried to preparing healthier after-work dinners, e.g. vegetable wok, and reducing my craft beer consumption to one or two bottles each weekend. I also bought Fitbit Charge HR, which actually works as a motivational tool, because (1) I like collecting data, (2) it highlights how often I have ignored doing exercise for more than a couple of days (so far this hasn't happened though), and (3) because I'm a thoroughly predictable animal and enjoy getting recognition even if it is in the form of a webpage congratulating me for reaching my weekly goal. I also bought scales for the first time in my life.

 

At the moment I'm quite happy with my fitness, and feel good in general and especially when exercising. I'm yet to take up running or going to gym. For some reason, there is a huge barrier to entry for those activities for me. I also probably won't bike to and from work when the weather gets bad. I could of course buy good outdoor clothes and take spare clothes to work, but I don't want to "poison" that hobby by making it not fun for me.

 

I won't let my "healthier lifestyle" dictate my life, though. I haven't ignored going to bars or restaurants with my friends, and don't feel bad about every now and then dedicating a day to eating pizza, drinking beer, playing video games, and watching movies.

[prettyunsmart]

Congrats to both of you. I'd love to try boxing, or any sort of combat, but my wrists are like tendonitis city. I have played around with boxing gloves/pads and always end up with aching wrists after a few seconds of throwing punches. 

 

I know this post is a couple of weeks old at this point, but do you use hand wraps? I when I first started boxing, I only bought gloves, but no wraps, and I had the same problem. If you're wrapping your hands properly, your wrist and knuckles should be pretty well locked in place and should hold up pretty well over the course of a longer workout. 

[Griddlelol]

To both Problem Machine and Nappi:

 

You guys are awesome. Starting to get fit is the hardest part, but once you get over that hurdle, it becomes incredibly enjoyable, and you're doing something to benefit yourself both physically and mentally.

 

Also, if you find running hurts your joints, swimming is a great alternative. I struggled because I was really sensitive about how I looked, and despite being in pretty good shape right now, I still hate swimming because I get crazy self conscious. Weight training is probably the best thing to do if you want to lose weight, it's not just for jacked bros any more, even the powerlifting scene is full of women and you'll find most people who are interested in being fit/lifting heavy weights are really nerds at heart. 

 

prettyunsmart: no I've not used wraps, I ended up just stopping the boxing all together and playing squash instead. More people were willing to play with me and it didn't hurt my wrists. It feels similar in terms of exertion. Really fast paced bursts of activity. 

 

I have my first CrossFit class tomorrow. After a couple of months of not finding a gym I liked (this city is full of commercial gyms with stationary bikes and treadmills - somethings I consider to be boring and pointless), I have decided to give it a try. I really like the philosophy behind it, and I'm throwing all my enthusiasm into it. I hope it's good!

[Twig]

i started to get fit then i got majo depresso and stopped getting fit ):

[Problem Machine]

I'm pretty self-conscious about swimming and working out in general, which is why I've primarily opted for a workout I can do alone in my room. I'd hit the weights at a gym, but they generally want money for the privilege and I don't have the money to give.

[Twig]

I feel you there PM. I know realistically ain't nobody give-a, but it doesn't help me stop from thinking everything I do is an embarrassment.

 

I bought an elliptical, though. It's in my apartment now!

 

It started making REALLY GODDAMN LOUD NOISES, so I stopped using it. I recently acquired some WD-40, but having never used the stuff before because I am a child in an adult body I have no clue what I'm doing and so I haven't applied it yet. I'm sure it's easy. I've also been "busy" lately. On top of the majo-depresso.

[Problem Machine]

just fuckin squirt that shit everywhere it's basically a miracle in a can.

sorry about your majo-depresso tomato

[Griddlelol]

Depression sucks, all I know is that whenever I have been depressed exercise is the last thing I want to do. So I get you there. When I'm sad (obviously different to depressed) exercise usually makes me feel better, but at least I have some motivation left.

 

Yeah, no one gives a shit what you look like. It's super hard to actually make yourself believe that. You can always buy weights for your room. I got a kettlebell since it's small and easy to store, but you can do a wide variety of movements with it. Wasn't crazy price from amazon, but the postman hated me. 

[Griddlelol]

I had my first CrossFit class. It was pretty much what I expected, it was hard, it was intense and it was crazy amounts of fun.

 

As it was a beginners class, there were different fitness/skill levels there. I was the only one able to do the exercises unassisted, but everyone was working their absolute hardest. The best part was how friendly the atmosphere was, at the end some veterans even joined in. Everyone wanted everyone to do well. While there's the spirit of competition, seeing someone fail isn't the aim. 

 

I don't really get why the internet hates it. It was enjoyable and intense. It wouldn't be my first choice (I love my powerlifting) but the fact there's a lack of any decent gyms in my area pushed me towards it, and it seems like it's right up my alley. 

[Professor Video Games]

I don't really get why the internet hates it. It was enjoyable and intense.

 

Pretty sure it's not Crossfit itself (well, maybe those pull-ups) but the cult-like mindset it seems to bring out in some people and they become very uh, outspoken about Crossfit being the one path to fitness or whatever.

[Griddlelol]

That seems like a criticism of the participants rather than the regimen itself. A lot of people go there for their first serious attempt at fitness. They see it works compared to the years they spent running and doing low impact bullshit. They then become evangelists. 

 

The pull-ups...yeah. I guess it depends on how you view it. If you're doing a 20 minute circuit, you can do some sets of perfect pull-ups, but you can't do that forever, requiring the added "kip."

I don't think doing it that way is encouraged constantly (well, it certainly wasn't where I was, but different places can encourage or discourage different things).

[jennegatron]

Also Crossfit can be extremely dangerous and people hurt themselves very badly by taking classes from people who don't know what they're doing.

Because crossfit exploded in popularity the last few years gyms have popped up, run by people who don't really know what they're doing, and it's fairly expensive membership/physical regime to maintain.

Add that to the evangelistic preaching of it's participants and you aren't going to make many friends.

[Twig]

also it has a dumb name

[Erkki]

I got myself a longboard and started using it for part of the daily commute. I'm too afraid to ride it among pedestrians or cars, especially with the narrow and poor quality sidewalks we tend to have in Tallinn, so I have to carry it a short way, from/to bus/train, but on the way home I'm taking the train to where the town's best light traffic road starts, and it goes right past the block where my house is (on the 4th kilometer). It's mostly downhill, so I can get some exciting/scary speeds! I'm so happy I randomly had this idea to start doing this last week -- should have thought of this before. But actually I guess the necessary factors didn't converge that long ago -- I've lived here for 4 years, the road was built 3 years ago, I believe, and the new trains were put in motion 2-3 years ago. Still, should have taken me less time to connect the dots!

 

The only problem is that my soles are sometimes hurting alot after half a kilometer or so of riding. I guess it's because I'm overweight or the plantar fasciitis I have/had, I'm hoping with proper stretching and some practice it will go away. Also thankfully the road has benches for resting about every half a kilometer so I can take it easy. I was happy to manage 2km without stopping today, although the pain after that was a bit more than usual.

[Badfinger]

Pretty sure it's not Crossfit itself (well, maybe those pull-ups) but the cult-like mindset it seems to bring out in some people and they become very uh, outspoken about Crossfit being the one path to fitness or whatever.

 

Yes. It's the cultish mindset, the obscene cost, the absolutely rigid inflexible structure of the workout, and the 100% roll of the die on whether you're getting someone with actual training, licensing, and expertise, or if it's someone who's done 3 years of crossfit and wanted to open a gym because crossfit is trendy. Because everyone is "encouraging", people routinely get "encouraged" past their physical limit and fuck themselves up pretty badly. I have heard enough stories to know it's a habit and not isolated that people are pushed for reps or weight rather than holding their form properly.You're the last person on here I'd need to tell what a bad idea that is.

 

My personal strike against it is it's a class format and all the class times are for horrible people.

[Griddlelol]

The criticisms are fair, but all on a case-by-case basis. For example, today, we had to do 10 deadlifts in 60 seconds. All the class was racing ahead, but I was holding back to the point I was only doing 8, but they were 8 solid, perfect lifts. I was also recommended to lift at 60% of my max. I didn't (I did 40%) because I've not done it in a while and knew that I could easily cause myself problems.

 

As someone who's deadlifted a lot, injured myself a lot, learned from my mistakes a lot, I know what is good for me. Those with less experience won't. I feel like for me and those with a lot of heavy lifting experience, it's a pretty great system, but for those who are new to lifting and don't know their body...maybe not. Yet that's who it's aimed at.

 

Also the price? It's more than a gym membership, sure, but I don't find it prohibitive. I have so much disposable cash right now because living in Germany is cheap compared to what I'm used to. Price is entirely subjective.

 

Yeah, classes aren't my first choice either. The times my place runs it are fine (6am-7am or 5:30pm-6:30pm/7pm-8pm). Pretty much perfect for my schedule. I'm not going to defend it to the end, because many of the criticisms are entirely valid, I just tried it and I think it's a lot of fun.

[I_smell]

I've been going to the gym twice a week for a few months, and I'm fairly happy with the impact that it has on me health-wise. It's some nice cardio and weights, it's slowly helping me get into the shape of a real functioning adult.

 

But man I just eat too many snacks! I have a real weakness for baked goods, I can't go a day without stepping into the snack bar for a focaccia, croissant, sandwich or some toasted, fried snack.

I guess it's because a year ago I researched how to eat when you're hypoglycemic; that's erratic blood-sugar levels dawg. It's healthier to eat slow carbohydrates in smaller meals, more frequently, so now I've set myself on the path to a husky dough-boy metamorphosis. WHOOPS!

 

I'm gonna be trying to fix it now, cos my exercise routine is going nicely and I do want it to show!

[Dragonfliet]

Kudos on the new exercise routine! Once you're a few months in, it gets so much easier to just keep going.

 

I'm also trying to cut back on food. Over the last two years I've been gaining weight on purpose (and going to the gym regularly), going from a fit 155 to 180. Unfortunately, a good 10 pounds of that gain (I'm being generous I'm sure) is me excusing bad eating choices because I was "bulking." Ugh. Worst is when you know what you're doing as you shove the food into your face, but still manage to justify it to yourself. 

[Nappi]

I'm yet to take up running or going to gym. For some reason, there is a huge barrier to entry for those activities for me.

 

Decided to try running after all. I was surprised by both how horrible the first time was and how fast the situation improved.

 

The first time I went running I was able to actually run approximately half of the 10.5 km route (in pieces), and my legs were pretty much useless for the next two days. For some reason, it still felt good though, and so I decided to continue. At this point, I'm able to run roughly 90% route, with only occasional breaks to catch my breath and rest my legs. I feel quite motivated to keep running, and even bought proper running shoes today. Unfortunately, my ankles started hurting quite a bit after today's run, so I think I will need to take it easy for a couple of days (which is going to be pretty easy actually because I will be going to a friend's summer cottage for the weekend).

 

Still, yay, running.

[Griddlelol]

Congrats on starting something! I honestly wish I enjoyed running, I just can't force myself to do it. It's one of my weaknesses, so I really should train it, but it just doesn't feel...right.