The Exercise Motivation Thread - 2016

[jtbo]

Those red flowers look so dangerous! In nature quite often more beautiful something is, more dangerous it is :lol3:

That fork catch has quite low probability of happening I guess, one tree takes out another and both of those ends up into bottom of "fork", you could try to make that happen quite many times without success!

I like the fact that I don't live in Japan, your Pines would be very hard work to split with all those knots and twists, I would never get enough firewood made for winter!


Tried to make firewood today, but too hot, we got that heat I guess, +25C (77F) at shadow and so much all kind of stinging creatures in the air that it is hard to fit in, cats got one poisonous Adder snake too, but even them seem to have enough of warmth and decide to fell on their sides at shadow and just roll while moving their front paws slowly in air doing kneading motions.

I guess that I should follow their example, later when it cools down I try to do a bike ride.

 

[jtbo]

2 hours of bike riding, taking whole week off from weight loss and exercising had done something, I did not ride fast or so I thought, heart rate was not very high at all, but I got great speed, under two hours route that took more than two hours while pushing as hard as I could whole time last time I took that route.

That was quite nice improvement, let's see if rest of the week is showing similar improvements, I'm quite happy even I think I have got extra fat too, however it is bit unavoidable.

 

[LTS3]

Love that second picture @Norachan

2.5 miles on the treadmill today. I meant to go this morning but it was raining so I waited until the rain stopped which was around noon. Took a walk after dinner while the sun was still out.

 

[tammat]

Great pictures Norachan Thankyou so much.

 

[Winchester]

Norachan, your pictures are always beautiful. I love looking at them. What exactly are those red flowers.....do you know? 

I did 3 miles on the treadmill this morning and will do my 3-mile walk today during lunch. 

That gives me 152.25 miles for the month of May. I wonder how many steps that is?!

 

[Winchester]

And I have a question....I'm thinking (again) of starting up some kind of exercise with either the dumbbells or the Bowflex in the basement. And to compensate, I'm thinking of cutting back my walking to 3-4 miles a day (that's going to kill me, but I sometimes think 6 miles a day is too hard on my legs at my age. I have aches and pains sometimes that I think might because of my walking. I know that the ortho doctor had told me before that he thought 3 miles a day was too much, but I shrugged that one off quickly. However, six miles....well, that might be a little much; some days I think it is.).

• I have a Bowflex Extreme in the basement with 330 pounds of rods (more than I will ever need, quite honestly). I used it before for my arms, stomach, and calves. (Rick thinks that's what I was using when I originally tore the meniscus in my knee....too much weight for a leg exercise and the meniscus tore). Got the Bowflex from our son who bought it, used it (maybe) ten times and decided that he was going to join a gym instead. 
• I have an AB roller in the basement (it's basically a piece of equipment that you sit on and lean back, put your arms into a sling above your head and use your ab muscles to "roll" yourself up into a sitting position). There are different ways to do it so that you're using different muscles. Got it free from a GF who decided she was going to use it and never did. It was brand new.
• I have a Cardio Glide in the basement (it's a machine that you get on and you can use it with either your legs or your arms to move back and forth for cardio purposes. In my defense with the Cardio Glide, every time I used that thing, within a week, I had rubbed a patch of skin off right at my tailbone to the point where the patch was raw....skin completely rubbed off. We don't know why. I've tried putting extra material at that area both in my shorts and on the Cardio Glide seat. To no avail. The thing is, I always liked using the machine, but don't like losing my skin. The Cardio Glide was my mom's at one time; it's pretty old now. I could probably get rid of the thing at this point.
• We have a weight bench in the basement with 350 pounds of weights and all the bells and whistles. Years ago, Rick and a cousin lifted weights Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the basement. I think they lifted for well over 20 years and nothing, I mean nothing would ever interfere with their weight-lifting time. Holidays didn't even interfere. 
• I have an exercise ball that I can't use. Seriously, it tears my back up every time and I can't move for a good week or so. It's just nasty.
• There are about 35 pounds of weights (dumbbells) upstairs in the bedroom, along with an exercise mat that I used to use regularly. When I boogered up my knee that time and needed surgery, I guess I just gave up all exercise completely at that point.
• And don't forget that bloody elliptical in the bedroom that I love/hate with all of passions of Hades. 
  

My point (and I do have one) is that I need to do something here. But I have to be very careful....with four blown disks in my lower back, I have learned that what most people can do, I cannot. So I have to be careful. But we have all this stuff! 

Would I be better off in the long run to start up an exercise program on the BowFlex again? I was using the Bowflex for about an hour three nights a week. Arms, calves, thighs, crunches, etc. The good thing about the BowFlex is that I don't need Rick as a spotter. I can be in the basement by myself, just doing my exercises.

If I used the dumbbells in the bedroom, I can still do some of the exercises for arms and for my trunk area. And I have the floor mat for crunches and leg exercises. (And, of course, I have Mollipop and Muffin watching every move. It's hilarious to be doing crunches on the floor, looking up and seeing Molli with her head out over the bed, watching me and saying, "Mom, what in the name of god are you doing?" 

  And when I'm doing leg exercises, I try to put my leg down on the mat and touch Muffin, who's decided to sprawl out there.)

I am basically lazy, but I think that if I started and gave myself enough time to really try, maybe I could feel the same way about exercise that I do about walking. Some of it is also time-related. It's hard sometimes to tell myself to get my butt to the basement for exercise, esp at night. But there is no way I'm going to the basement in the morning and working the Bowflex before work. And I can't use the bedroom in the morning because Rick is also trying to get ready for work. That's simply a disaster in the making. 

Those of you who do exercises regularly, how did you manage to make it into an actual routine?

Keep walking? Do some weight exercises for myself? Thoughts? And am I even making any sense here? 

 

[foxxycat]

I think you could mix it up with something new every day. you have enough equipment that you could do weights and walk one day. then the next day just walk

then the next exercise day you can use the hand weights for your arms-you could sit on a chair and not have pains in your legs. There are tons of exercises you can do for arms and abs while standing. You can look around on google search in images for free weights exercises and name a body part you want to use-that's how I found all those exercises I do.

With your back issue I would not deadlift or squat. you can do sit down leg extentions with ankle weights but very light weights-you had knee issues so the trick is to build up the muscles around your knees. Calf raises you can do. Sit in a chair and put 10 lbs on your lap and raise up on your balls of feet then down. This helps strengthen the knees. you can start with 5lb even, or you can stand up and hold the weights in each hand and go up on your balls of your feet or hang your feet over the stair edge to get a larger range of motion-this is a great one for core muscles because you have to balance yourself on the edge of the step and hold weights.

 but where you are not looking to build mass like I am=I would stick with 2 sets of 10. you are just starting out. Stick with lighter weights. Keep your posture and positioning correct before you increase weights.

You can take the month of june and putter in the basement 2 or 3 times a week for half an hour to see how sore you may get. remember you wont feel muscle soreness until 2 days at least that's what I have happen. So see how the week goes=

do that cardio glide tonight.

wed try the bow flex

fri mess around with hand weights in your bedroom and walk your 4 miles a day. The goal is 10,000 steps a day which is less than 2 miles? If you want to try something harder-see how you feel in two weeks.

The mistake I make is I go gungho and lift too heavy then get ticked off because it hurts. So my plan I do is called stronglifts 5x5 which is so I can get stronger faster-I wouldn't recommend this for your back issues. This program only uses compounded exercises so I don't have to do all those isometric exercises=he only has me do 5 exercise= squats, barbell rows, chin up, deadlift and overhead chest press and regular chest press. he says we use all the arm muscles in there so I don't need to do all those little exercises that takes me over an hour alone never mind the hour of cardio I do daily.

You seem to really enjoy walking-does the treadmill incline? you can add 2lb hand weights in your hands-that will work your shoulders etc-you would be surprised how hard it is to do arm exercises as well as walking-you could kill two birds with one stone.

I thought of you Friday at the gym-I haven't been on a treadmill in years. I set it at 4.0 mph=TOO Fast!! I almost fell off the belt! I ended up at 3.2 then started inclining up for 3-4 min at a time. I ended up setting it at 2.6-2.8.  I don't know how you do 3 miles each time. after 30 min I did 1.1 miles?! I guess you must be taller than me because I could not do the walking over 3.4 at the most. I was jogging at 4.0. I think I will stick to the stair climber and weights-so hats off to you for doing what you do!

 

[foxxycat]

by the way Norchan-those pics are LOVELY!

I forgot to add my Friday workout-I ripped it up-I've been getting angry because I cant loose weight so Friday I did

45+ minutes on that thing where you feet fly in the pedals in the air but its like a stair climber-you set the incline and it feels like climbing hills-I did variable with 3-4 min at high and 2 min at low-I guess intermittent training?

Then I did the treadmill for 30 minutes. So total Friday was almost 2 hours of cardio. I didn't push myself insane just slow and steady and sweat evenly. I honestly cant remember the total minutes on that stair climber thing. I know I got there at 4 and didn't leave until after 5:30. So its kind of hazy what exactly I did.

Tonight is squat then bench press then bar bell row and try again on that chin up assist machine-and pushups. I can now do classic style ones but only 11. or if I do them in groups of 5 then I can do 15 but I have to take a long break in-between.

I am excited to see how well the 50lbs go tonight. If its hard I will cut back and use 20lb dumb bells in each hand but that makes it so much harder-its easier if the weight is all on one part and only have to push it away from me. of course they are in 5 lb increments over 20 lbs. It would be easier if it was 22.5lb type inbetween the full numbers but hey that's what they have.

 

[tammat]

Good work foxxycat

Winchester I wish I could give out exercise advice but I don't feel confident that I know enough. Could you do some upper body days on the Bowflex and substitute them for walking days? My split at the moment is:
Monday- back and shoulders, Tuesday biceps and triceps, Friday chest and abs. That leaves 4 days to walk or rest - we all know you don't do resting very well :lol3: so let's say 4 days to walk. Legs get a workout walking. That would be my two bobs worth

I'm feeling mighty proud of myself I haven't done any cardio for 7 weeks. None. Zilch. Today I ran 10 km (1hr). It was brilliant. The sun was shining and I loved it. I handled it fine except my feet hurt towards the end. Rohan may disagree and he can tell me otherwise tomorrow but I think that means I'm doing a good job with my weight training. Let's just say that today ok no cardio for 7 weeks and I could just take off and run for an hour. Woo!! I feel like Wonder Woman!!!

Keep going everybody. We are awesome

 

[Norachan]

Thanks everyone. 

@Winchester  I don't know what they're called but I'll find out. They grow all over the place here so I think they're a Japanese native.

1 hour of yoga and a 30 minutes run yesterday.

Just had time for 30 minutes on my bike today.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

We are still walking the two miles everyday. I am striving to get 10,000 steps each day. I fell short yesterday by about 600. But at my age, I do what I can, because any is better than nothing. I rode 3 miles on the bicycle too yesterday. When I got on the scale this morning my weight is at 122. I was at 137. I really have to figure a way now to keep doing the exercise and not lose more weight. That is trick because hubby is down from 140 to 112. He wants to lose the 12 lbs. I will have to eat some snacks when he takes his afternoon ride up the road somewhere I guess. The problem is I will have to hide the food. I really :lol3:am already eating enough that I don't get especially hungry. Anybody got any suggestions here.

Also, I would like to know how to tone upper arms. I have tried holding two large cans of food, one in each hand and doing arm stretches with it. I just started and hope that will help. I don't have any weights to lift.

 

[Winchester]

Ok, I guess I'm done walking for a while. Again. I didn't want to say anything until I'd seen the doctor. Just had my doctor appt and have been diagnosed with sciatica. Again. I start on Prednisone for five days for the inflammation and I also have to start some physical therapy.  I called the PT office and they'll get back to me. The doctor is going to let it up to the therapist to determine how soon I can start walking again.

I've been having some pain in that thigh, but didn't think too much of it; I always have pain somewhere or other, it seems, and I've learned to pretty much deal with pain, period. Normally he would have just talked to me about Advil, but, well, I can't do the Advil thing.

I am allowed to start working out on the Bowflex, as long as I don't do much with my legs for right now.

Getting old sucks. This wasn't really caused by my walking....it started out while we spent the day in the car back around the beginning of May. The Tucson is not the most comfortable car around and sitting in that car for 3 hours during a horrid traffic jam after driving around all day long really set off those nerves in my lower back. That was the beginning. My walking did exacerbate the problem, but was not the direct cause.

ETA: My first PT appointment is Monday, June 13, at 9:15. 

 I know I won't be walking at least until then anyway. 

 

[tammat]

Winchester hugs to you. That's a shame. Those legs of yours must be rockin though And they will stay that way. Time for some upper body boflexing. Go easy at first and do the exercises you like. Pump up the tunes and enjoy. A change is as good as a holiday [emoji]128512[/emoji]

 

[Winchester]

Thanks, Tammat. I spent about an hour in the basement tonight, getting re-acquainted with the Bowflex exercises. I'm sure I'll be hurting a bit, but in this case, hurting is good. It means I've done something. 

 

[Norachan]

@Winchester  It turns out that flower is called tsutsuji and it's a kind of rhododendron. I guess the Asian mountain variety or slightly different to the ones we are used to seeing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhododendron

I did an hour of yoga today and about half an hour of gardening.

 

[Winchester]

 
@Winchester  It turns out that flower is called tsutsuji and it's a kind of rhododendron. I guess the Asian mountain variety or slightly different to the ones we are used to seeing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhododendron

I did an hour of yoga today and about half an hour of gardening.

I would have never thought that it's a kind of rhodo.....I love rhododendrons. Thank you. I do think it's just beautiful.

 

[Norachan]

Congratulations on losing all that weight @blueyedgirl5946  So, you want to keep your weight where it is but still keep exercising? I think high protein snacks might be the best thing for you. My husband climbs a lot. He looks like one of those anatomy drawings, just muscle with skin over the top. He says that you have a 20 minute window after exercising where your body builds muscle. You need to eat something high protein then, so that your weight stays the same but you put on muscle rather than fat. You can get protein bars in most sports shops, but even something like a hard boiled egg would do.

Have you ever done any yoga? Sun Salutations are really good for toning up your upper arms. It's also a good warm-up before doing any other kind of exercise. These are the basic ones to start off with.


90 minutes yoga and a 30 minute run today.

 

[Winchester]

Last night, I spent some time in the bedroom working on my trunk and my abs. Just a few calf raises with no weights....normally I never did a lot of calf raises or anything because of the walking. Since I'm not walking right now, I figured I'd do a few. Did some crunches on the exercise mat. So far, my abs don't really hurt, although there's some tenderness at that area, which is good. It means I'm doing something.

Tonight, I will continue with some trunk exercises and some ab work. And do some arm and leg work, although I need to be a little careful with that left leg. I did look up some stretches for that area that is swollen and did some of those last night. But I want to give the swelling a chance to go down before I really do much there. And I'm curious to see what the therapist will recommend in the way of stretching exercises.

After two days on Prednisone, I will say that there is hardly any pain anymore. A couple twinges here and there. A bit of pain in that area when I try to turn over in bed, but not when I'm walking or moving around. That's a good thing.

 

[tammat]

I have two news items to report.
The replacement part for my functional trainer arrived yesterday. woo!!
Plus- yesterday I enrolled in a beginner gymnastics coach course. I'm so excited.

image.jpeg

• tammat
• Jun 3, 2016

 

[LTS3]

I've been plodding on the treadmill after work to get steps in. Last year I got in well over 10,000 steps by lunch time. This year I'm in a new job and while I'm on my feet all day, there's not a lot of walking

Still, I've been getting a little over 20,000 steps in daily. My walk team is doing a great job

We just won the first mini challenge. It was to get at least 100,000 steps together in one day. We easily got that and then some despite one missing step entry.

I'm going to attempt to get up early tomorrow and head to the fitness center. If I make it I'll attempt the elleptical. That one scares me for some reason. I guess it takes some hand / leg coordination to work and I'm not very coordindated