The Exercise Motivation Thread - 2014

[jtbo]

When I bought new rear light to my bike, batteries came with it, some Chinese ones, light was very dim and got very hot, one of the batteries was so hot that plastic on it's surface was melting and I took pliers, took battery out and threw it into snow where it kept hissing for a moment.

I don't know how battery can behave like that, but it was not particularly relaxing event.

Complete opposite was biking when I started, here are some pics from bit over year ago where you can see bit which it is like here during winter, most unsharp one was taken at -25C freehand with 1.6 seconds exposure, so it did not came quite as well as rest, but who knows, maybe someone can find motivation for exercise when seeing such scenery, at least one might feel bit chilly.

Sometimes we get that much snow at once, but it is still perfectly possible to bike trough it as when it is enough cold snow is like dust and weights nothing:

renault_snow.jpg

• jtbo
• May 21, 2014

This was one morning, I thought it would be fun to go bicycling even it was -25C

-25c_bicycling.jpg

• jtbo
• May 21, 2014

Same trip, but bit earlier, I tried to take pic which shows how much or little I really see. Since that I have upgraded my light to such that even darkest autumn it is easy to ride with it

valoparkki.jpg

• jtbo
• May 21, 2014

This is half way up one quite steep hill, even it looks flat there is quite bit of climbing and after that easy section it starts to climb almost straight up or that is how it feels when road goes into forest again, not sure how well this pic works as it is really big one if you click it

winter_cycling_panorama.jpg

• jtbo
• May 21, 2014

This one is taken after climbing quite a bit, there is even more climbing where that farm is

farm_winter_cycling.jpg

• jtbo
• May 21, 2014

and after passing farm and making it to top of the hill this view is one's reward, until next hill starts.

laaksoa_ja_kukkulaa.jpg

• jtbo
• May 21, 2014

This kind of hills we have, not mountains but enough to make me tired very fast, especially if I ride this fast or maybe it is slow for athletes, but fast for me

 

[tammat]

I've got my new programme. This one lasts for six weeks and then I get another weeks rest. Yesterday we worked out what weights I will need to use and how I will do it ect.. Today I'm feeling a bit more like I'm ready to go again.

 

[peaches08]

Got my lights fixed, and got a new rear rack so I can now look at baskets.  Riding in the dark is a whole 'nother experience.  Especially since I'm trying a new app on my phone Endomondo to track mileage...I thought a mailbox was talking to me one time.  For whatever reason though, GPS is useless here.  On the mainland it's great, but don't look for places on GPS here.  When people stop me and ask me where so-and-so is, first thing I tell them to do is to shut off the GPS because it will lie to you.

I have to laugh, people were honking their horns at me and yelling, "Get it, girl!"  Always from behind, too.  Maybe my workouts are paying off! 

  Tonight was a medium ride I guess, 6.65 mi 40:51 min according to Endomondo.

Awesome Tammat!  I've thought about doing weights again for upper body strength.

Pretty pics, JTbo!  I wouldn't know what to do with all that snow.  I'm the dumb redneck that snow-folk would have to come help, lol!

 

[jtbo]

Got my lights fixed, and got a new rear rack so I can now look at baskets.  Riding in the dark is a whole 'nother experience.  Especially since I'm trying a new app on my phone Endomondo to track mileage...I thought a mailbox was talking to me one time.  For whatever reason though, GPS is useless here.  On the mainland it's great, but don't look for places on GPS here.  When people stop me and ask me where so-and-so is, first thing I tell them to do is to shut off the GPS because it will lie to you.

I have to laugh, people were honking their horns at me and yelling, "Get it, girl!"  Always from behind, too.  Maybe my workouts are paying off!  :lol3:   Tonight was a medium ride I guess, 6.65 mi 40:51 min according to Endomondo.

Awesome Tammat!  I've thought about doing weights again for upper body strength.

Pretty pics, JTbo!  I wouldn't know what to do with all that snow.  I'm the dumb redneck that snow-folk would have to come help, lol!

I did try Endomondo, but didn't like it, Sports Tracker seemed to be better for me and it is not crashing constantly anymore like it used to be at one point. But then again I'm one computer nerds and I like numbers and data more than other kind of feedback, it surely can be so that for other people numbers don't tell anything as we people are so different like cats too, there is quite bit of variance.

If maps are off, then GPS will not help much, but with good maps gps is then not so important as one can easily locate oneself from the map.


When bicycling it is said to be better to spin fast than slow, this is because muscles use local energy when you spin slow and more of fat etc. when spinning fast. When using more power local energy starts to be burned, this recharges slowly, it can take for next day and requires carbon hydrates to charge fast and full.

This was what I did read from one old tour de france cycling guys blog years ago. I then started to pedal differently, not much pushing the pedal but kind of sweeping at bottom of pedaling circle and trying to maintain 60rpm or more, that is one knee comes up each second. I guess that had lot to do with how fast I improved as I could ride longer and more often without really feeling exhausted. Then muscles grow and body improved in many other areas too.

One of the key things was forgetting the speed I was riding at, but focusing more into pedaling speed and using gears so that I did not needed to really push pedals at all.

I'm not sure if that will work for others, but for me it worked really well, I could easily do 4 hour cycling trips at the end of last summer, for this summer I have not yet done much bicycling because of yard work and other stuff I have had, which have improved my upper body strength.

It was quite hard at beginning to not push pedals, I had to really focus to this sweeping motion, it is like cat digging in sand box, same kind of motion. I think it is called spinning in more advanced circles, but they are trying to spin perfect circle to optimize their power output in races.

Another improvement I made for my bicycle are those straps to pedal so that I can lift up a pedal, so then I did that sweep/digging motion and after that I did pull up and again sweeping motion at top of circle, I did never push as that seemed to happen automatically, for other motions I had to concentrate, but that improved a lot my ability to climb hills and also to improve how fast I could pedal.

Anyway I thought it might be interesting for some how I got into longer bicycle rides.


We have another heat wave here, +27C which is around 80F, that is hot for our pale skins after the long winter, it is not many days ago than we had 1st heat wave and it was over 84F right up from 40's and it did feel really hot, but now it is more damp weather and this temperature feels even far worse, there is even warnings of heat now and it is not recommended to do any heavy work. We are much more suited for below 60F temperatures here, anything above and there starts to be casualties in heavy labor especially.

 

[peaches08]

Ran 2.4 mi in 20 min with several walk breaks, then biked 8 mi in 48:11 min.  Those distances I measured with my car.  I figured I'd go all out this morning as best as I could, even though it was 80 F, since this afternoon is going to be 92 F.  I know, I know...August won't be far along.  But there's no sense in killing myself yet! 

I agree JTbo, how one pedals can make a difference.  I guess I average 60-80 RPMs, it kind of depends since I do a lot of stop and go, slow down around dog walkers, and getting used to biking again.  I come home smelly and sweaty, so I can say I'm getting something out of it!

What kind of program Tammat?  New exercises?    It sounds like you are taking a week off in between programs?

Anything new Winchester?  And others?

 

[jtbo]

Ran 2.4 mi in 20 min with several walk breaks, then biked 8 mi in 48:11 min.  Those distances I measured with my car.  I figured I'd go all out this morning as best as I could, even though it was 80 F, since this afternoon is going to be 92 F.  I know, I know...August won't be far along.  But there's no sense in killing myself yet!  :lol3:

I agree JTbo, how one pedals can make a difference.  I guess I average 60-80 RPMs, it kind of depends since I do a lot of stop and go, slow down around dog walkers, and getting used to biking again.  I come home smelly and sweaty, so I can say I'm getting something out of it!

What kind of program Tammat?  New exercises?    It sounds like you are taking a week off in between programs?

Anything new Winchester?  And others?

Smelly and sweaty sounds about right, that means it is working

92F, that sounds horrible, I'm sure my eyes would start to release steam at that temperature and my legs would melt!


I met several people and even group of people today, I did sweat less at shopping trip than at that meeting and even my pulse was easier, also very tired, can't lift a finger anymore today. It is horrible at times.

 

[tammat]

Ran 2.4 mi in 20 min with several walk breaks, then biked 8 mi in 48:11 min.  Those distances I measured with my car.  I figured I'd go all out this morning as best as I could, even though it was 80 F, since this afternoon is going to be 92 F.  I know, I know...August won't be far along.  But there's no sense in killing myself yet!  :lol3:

I agree JTbo, how one pedals can make a difference.  I guess I average 60-80 RPMs, it kind of depends since I do a lot of stop and go, slow down around dog walkers, and getting used to biking again.  I come home smelly and sweaty, so I can say I'm getting something out of it!

What kind of program Tammat?  New exercises?    It sounds like you are taking a week off in between programs?

Anything new Winchester?  And others?

I've got some new exercises with my new programme. I get another week off at the end of this six weeks. So far I've been working out my legs for Tuesday. I'll do a set of 6 Bulgarian squats 10 sec rest, 12 lunges, 10 sec rest then 24 squats 75 seconds rest and repeat for three sets altogether. It's all slowly building to eye popping intensity!!

 

[jtbo]

Phew, it is too hot for me out there, +31C which is around 88F, still I wanted to do exercise so I picked up bicycle and started riding.

12.8km which is around 8 miles

Average speed of 10.9km/h which is around 6.8MPH

Maximum speed of 49km/h which is around 30.4MPH

Average heart rate of 108 and maximum of 145

It took 1 hour and 12 minutes, good part was quite soft and bit damp so I could ride only slow walking pace there.

This is one of the flatter routes I have found from here, but here is elevation graph in meters. 200 meters is about 656 feet altitude. 175 = 574 and 225 = 738 so there is 164 feet difference.

12_8km_bicycle_route.png

• jtbo
• May 24, 2014

It was so hot that I could only try to go slower so that I would not get overheat, also could not see much of scenery as I had to focus to not pass out, so very hot. It is hard to imagine that anything could actually survive long in such temperature, but maybe it is just that I'm not very used to this kind of temperatures this soon after winter

Forecast is tomorrow being hot too, then even freezing temperatures, I wonder how cold that might feel after this heat =:-o

 

[peaches08]

Had a decent ride this afternoon, about 35 min.  I went up the Sea Island Causeway a bit, and boy was the wind rough!  Well, rough for me and it was about 85 F.  But a pretty scenic ride and I didn't have to cross any streets and watch out for tourists that can't drive.

JTbo, severe temp differences shake me up too.  This lung thing now infection isn't helping.

Nice Tammat!  I've been thinking about alternating workouts with DVDs again.  I have to have structure and I can't rely on memory, lol!

 

[tammat]

I had another play around with my new routine today. I did one set of legs so I know what I'm doing on Tuesday. Then I did one set of shoulders and abs ready for Friday. Tomorrow is Monday. The first day. I am excited.

 

[peaches08]

Awesome Tammat!  I forced myself to take a rest day today, and I keep telling myself that I have not abandoned my workout duties.  I've got a productive cough going now, so I may do a video inside tomorrow.  They're HIIT type workouts, but I can pause the tape without too much guilt.  Besides, I can't run and cough right now.  And tomorrow is a holiday.  An upper body exercise tape would be good for me to do anyway!

Keep it up everybody!

 

[tammat]

Awesome Tammat!  I forced myself to take a rest day today, and I keep telling myself that I have not abandoned my workout duties.  I've got a productive cough going now, so I may do a video inside tomorrow.  They're HIIT type workouts, but I can pause the tape without too much guilt.  Besides, I can't run and cough right now.  And tomorrow is a holiday.  An upper body exercise tape would be good for me to do anyway!

Keep it up everybody!
[/

I love Hiit training videos. Enjoy. You deserved a rest day. I'm just sitting eating my carbs before my work out.

 

[Winchester]

Interestingly enough, I have made my Fitbit steps Saturday, Sunday, and today, just by being outside working. What's even more interesting is that, with all the walking I've done the past three days, my foot has yet to even twinge. I'm wearing an old pair of Nikes (my very old walking shoes from early 2013). They fit beautifully and all that walking up and down the back yard hill and push-mowing the yard....all that and no pain. None. Zilch. Go figure. The lump is still there on my foot, BUT it's not as big as it was. I don't get it, but I'm not complaining. I'm going to try walking tomorrow night on the treadmill and see what happens. Ortho-weenie appt is Monday, June 9, so until then I figure I can do what I want and stress fractures be darned. And, if it works out OK, I'm gonna go buy a pair of Nikes (I will see what the ortho-guy says, just to be on the safe side).

 

[peaches08]

I ended up doing nothing but studying today.  My face feels very "full" which means a sinus infection is coming on.  And my breathing is worse just sitting here.  I'm calling the doc tomorrow.

I believe it Winchester, I've had shoes jack my feet up. 

 

[Winchester]

Peaches, I hope you feel better.

2.25 miles (34 minutes) on the elliptical this morning.

1.25 miles (24 minutes) on the treadmill tonight (And my foot started to hurt not even 1/4 mile into the walk. But it felt so good to be walking that I kept on coming anyway. At this point, I don't know what else to do. Dr appt is June 9)

 

[tammat]

Good work Winchester. That's fabulous that your foot didn't hurt in the yard. Good luck on the treadmill.
Sorry to hear you are feeling worse Peaches. Sinus infections are not funny. I hope you recovery quickly

I did my legs today. Bulgarian lunges, lunges and squats. I did it!! Woo Hoo! It was not nice but I got to the end - just!!

 

[jtbo]

2013 can't be old shoes, mine are umm, I can't even remember, maybe 15 years old, not sure though as I got them free and it is really long time ago.

Anyway it is so that different people have different foot and different manufacturer has differently made shoes that fit only to some people, not every shoe and foot is compatible with each other, when you find some that work, stick to it

For me that would be Karhu shoes, but I can't afford those, however only ones which don't make issues for my feet are those, silly expensive which I have found though.

I have some of winter hiking boots Karhu made, but they don't make such anymore, I guess I need to just get those repaired, but those have been close to perfection.


I have been doing over hour long bicycling with 100-110 hearth rate. Now I did read that I should be actually do 120 hearth rate as an average, not sure about all these formulas as they say my max hearth rate should be around 180 and highest that I have been able to reach has been around 165 this year.

However I did test now to do 120 as average, I did end up to 121 average bpm, there was bit soft roads so that bicycle sank a bit and had to really work to keep it moving so at 22-36 tooth gearing (26" mtb) I got 4.5km/h (2.8mph) with 130bpm, I'm not sure how long that section did last, but it was more than 10 minutes.

Total distance was again 20.4km, 12.6km/h average speed, 1 hour 36 minutes, 1400kcal. Maximum heart rate was 157bpm and maximum speed was 47.7km/h despite largest chain ring at front did not work.

I wonder why on earth they put so tall gears on most of bicycles?
I have lowest gearing one can sensibly get and still I can make silly top speeds without even using largest chainring at front!

Sure, when I put 22-36 gears on, I can't move very fast, maybe 10km/h and that is pushing it, mostly it is 5-7km/h, but there is 9 gears on back so I can go plenty as fast as I humanly can with this setup, but also there is no hill that is impossible to climb if there just is enough grip.

Ok, sure enough, today's top speed 47.7km/h did require me to spin pedals at 146rpm which I can't do very long time, it is quite really fast, but 30km/h is just bit over 90rpm, which is recommended for road biking and is no problem for me, usually I pedal between 75-90rpm and looking HRM I try to change gears so that pulse is near my target which was today 120, then speed happens to be whatever it happens to be.

For me gears are not to go faster but to allow to choose optimal load for exercise despite hills and such, but today there was such conditions that even at lowest gear I could not stay enough low, happens sometimes.

This big link should contain gearing I have in my bicycle and pedaling range I tend to use.
http://home.earthlink.net/~mike.she...RT=1&lRPM=60&hRMP=150&G=show&S=no&TITLE=&HL=1

Despite workout today was quite heavy compared to what I have been doing before, it still felt great and it felt in legs too, can't remember when last time exercising has felt in legs, really long time ago, I think that it is correct move to start doing exercising at 120bpm instead of 110bpm, it is far greater leap in how heavy exercise feels than what it looks from 'only' 10bpm increase, but maybe I do have enough of that base to start doing twice or once a week these harder ones and then easier ones in between with rest week every few weeks of training.

I did also read that first 60minutes burns mostly carbon hydrates, after that fat burning starts, but I think that even every burned carbon hydrate reduces amount of fat building from the carbon hydrate, that is my own imagination of course, but maybe right or wrong

Potassium is something I need and I have been drinking orange juice to get that, it is wonderful change it has made, abs and core feels a lot stronger, also I can feel the power in muscles when cycling.

But also I felt a lot of pins and needles, in my toes and fingers, especially whole right arm had them, legs feel still tired when at rest, but they work just fine when I get moving. At one point I had to take a short brake as I could not feel gear changer under my thumb and shifting gears became difficult because of that, but that has something to do with quite aggressive riding position and hand muscles not quite used to carrying quite bit of my weight for longer period of time.

Minor issues compared to how great feeling there is afterwards and how I don't feel tied by gravity but I feel powerful.

One tip though, do not drink orange juice right before getting to bed, it gives such huge energy rush that I can't sleep until 5 hours after I drank orange juice, weird stuff that juice

 

[peaches08]

@JTbo Maybe research calcium and magnesium, to see if that might be something to look into?  Obviously talk with your healthcare provider first.

I went to the doc first thing this morning.  I have bronchitis, sinus and ear infection.  I already knew it, no surprise there.  Got some Cipro which I hate, but it works.  I didn't work out, but I rode my bike to lunch and then to the pier with a friend who needed to talk.  I got tired easy since I can't breathe well, but thankfully it wasn't as fast as I normally ride.  It was good to get out of the house.

Keep up the good work everybody!  Even small strides are strides made!

 

[Winchester]

I'm sorry, peaches. I hope you start feeling better soon with the Cipro. You were to do something, your bike ride, so that's good. 

Good work, people!

2.25 miles (33 minutes) on the elliptical this morning (and I am sitting here at my desk with the sweat pouring down my face. It's shower time!)

 

[stewball]

2 miles on the elliptical today (done in separate one-mile increments)

What's an elliptical?