The Exercise Motivation Thread - 2016

[Norachan]

@Norachan We do have bicycles. We used to ride them a lot when we first built the house and moved here. That has been over 13 years ago. We live in a very rural area and not on the main road. However the folks go past our house like a race track. It is so bad, even to try to walk. When we hear a car, we get off the road and stop regardless of whether we are meeting the car or it is coming behind us.
My husband takes our tractor and mows down the sides of the road so we don't have to get off in tall grass, (ticks, etc.) The state doesn't do much road side mowing any more, maybe twice during the summers.
It is bad going out the main road because when the grass gets high, you can't see the deer, etc.

I have seen some thing that holds a bike in place, front and back wheels so it can be used as a stationary exercise bike. The pedal part would be good and I would know the seat is comfortable. But I like the handles that move for the cardio part too. The bad thing is Wal Mart doesn't have any put together. They say you have to buy it, bring it home, put it together and then bring it back if you don't like.

That's too bad. I've lived in a few places where I would never dare go out on a bicycle because of the way people drove. Luckily pretty much everyone uses a bicycle to get around here, so drivers look out for them.

I rode my bike for 30 minutes yesterday, then went for a 30 minute run. It's kind of exciting running in the early evening. The woods are full of deer and they take off when they hear you coming. I always have a moment of panic wondering if it's bear of boar, but I've only met deer so far.

 

[jtbo]

360 minutes of weight lifting, or wood lifting and some throwing. I did not get even tired from that, 10 to 30 pounds wood mostly, so I guess I have improved a bit.

 

[foxxycat]

Did almost 45 minutes of workout for both arms and legs. followed along another video. I am no longer sore from lifting that 50lbs. I needed to get nice and warmed up and stretch. That nerve pain is gone. I will do less reps next time but at least I know where I am. My arms are getting more defined. The legs not so much but maybe I should do more running. I did 50 leg lefts hanging from the benchvice and the toolbox-I did 10 with legs straight then the rest with knees tucked in. These are supposed to work the upper abs and easier on my back than traditional crunches. I will find out in two days if I feel anything. I am getting stronger and find that my core is getting stronger. Still cant do too many pushups but at least now I am breathing better. Trying to learn to breathe in through my nose rather than open mouth. I feel stronger..hopefully this month of April I will actually loose some weight but since I have added more muscle I can't complain.

 

[Norachan]

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours clearing everything of the deck, then scrubbed it clean and started painting it. Went for a 20 minute run after that.

Today I did 45 minutes of yoga before work, finished painting the deck then another 20 minutes run in the evening.

It will soon be warm enough for yoga on the deck!

 

[jtbo]

Today I did 480 minutes of exercising, I did not have a jacket, only t-shirt and I was sweating whole day, temperature was 12 Celsius at highest point, so I guess that some calories were burned in process.

At one point I did lift 40kg (88 pounds) log so that I was crouched, then quickly got standing and threw log down to ground as hard as I could, then repeat, that got tiring quite quickly.

Then I did stand on top of round log and hit wedge that was on one end of log, with sledgehammer repeatedly, that was interesting as log liked to roll under me, quite hard workout too.

Some branch throwing, branches were wrist thickness and twice or three times as long as I am, I grabbed from narrow end, twisted upper body and threw them as far as I could, record was almost 10 meters (over 32 feet), it saved me many steps as I had to move those from forest to yard for processing.

There was also some splitting of rounds and moving those around.

 

[foxxycat]

today I used my stopwatch on my cell phone and did a bit of that 20 second fast moving then 10 second rest-it really makes it possible to do 20 min of aerobics this way=by the time I reach 15 seconds I want to stop but I say to myself=only another 5 to go...I did 15 minutes total then the rest of the time was arm/shoulders/back exercises. Found these images via google and did some of each exercise but I don't have a weight machine so I improvised.

2708892cde0c0a02daf081bd4f1a20f7.jpg

• foxxycat
• Apr 16, 2016

arm-exercises-for-women-with-weights.jpg

• foxxycat
• Apr 16, 2016

armworkoutcombo-1.jpg

• foxxycat
• Apr 16, 2016

So that whole time was 25 min on weights and rest was running/rest etc jumping jacks. I took my protein shake but I didn't do it early enough-asked my buddy who lifts weights when I will get stronger-he said it takes a month. So Its been about a week or so I have added heavier weights. So for now I am stuck at 27 lbs for shoulder press but I can't complain. I can do 12 of these nonstop.

I hope to do some more raking and yardwork tonight to get my yard in order.

I like that idea of standing on a log and swinging a sledge hammer=I have seen people in the gym stand on a stability ball and do movements=its a really good way to work your core and it helps strengthen your back/stomach muscles to help with not getting injuries.

So far my knee pain is just about gonzo. As long as I do calf raises then it helps with the pain. Havent figured that one out yet.

 

[Norachan]

An hour of yoga this morning then 30 minutes run late afternoon.

Keep going everyone.

 

[foxxycat]

Today I pushed it. 45 min of cardio. And a few lunges and squats. My face is good and red. I wore shorts and a tank top and proud to soak my shirt. I try to remind myself only one day at a time. I am still not loosing weight but I have not tried to do more than 30 min. going to try to push it to 45 min each day. no days off. just do arms one day and legs another then cardio and repeat. I at least am getting more lung room to breathe.

I followed along with this video but its HARD


I only did the first 20 min and ran out of breathe.

Prior to this I did 10 min of my own cardio/run etc 20 seconds move then 10 second rest for 10 minutes to get myself warmed up.

Then stretched.

Keep going folks!

 

[jtbo]

180 minutes of bicycling in mud and rain, with bit of ice and snow for a good measure.

So here I was sitting indoors, chomping sheets of chocolate and nothing to do as it was raining.

Then I got spur of strong will and inspiration, I could go bicycling on smaller roads, those are so soft that I will stay warm even I will be soaked wet.

So out I go and bike I ride, goggles were all foggy after 10 minutes and completely useless, so put those to forehead so I could see where I was going.

First smaller road was quite ok, bit soft, but ok, then bit later it was quite bit more soft, on top there was wet leaves, then 2-3 inches of soft mud, too little traction and pedaling took good bit of effort, uphills were a challenge because low grip. Clay is slippery when wet.

After one corner I came to downhill at bottom, there was tiny pond on right side, which had flooded, there was layer of fog hovering over pond and trees seemed to grow in the pond. Fog was such dense that it was bit hard to see other side of pond, even it was not more than 100 feet away, some birds flew off from other side of the bond when I came closer.

Next climbing long steep hill, on top of that scenery was all white, ice and snow like coming to completely different region and after descending next hill it was muddy again.

Few turns later I came across a missing road, running water had removed the road, there was roots of trees hanging in air and good bit below of those there was just big rocks, I did grin madly, this is why I ride mountain bike, it is made for this stuff

After next corner road was back, but it was very fine sand, like sand of the beach, but wait a minute, there were ripples, kind of waves in sand and indeed as corner opened to next short bit of straight, there was a beach, with water and everything, except there should of not been a beach, there should of been a road.

So bit of flooding, as I was looking beyond fog hovering over surface of water, I noticed something was moving in water and it was coming towards me, it was only 80 feet or so to other side of water and it was something like 6 inches deep, so I though I ride over to other side.

When I started crossing the water, mysterious creature kept still coming towards me, slimy sea monster it is, really it is!
When I came closer, creature did stop and trough crystal clear water I could see it was good size frog that was this slimy sea monster, it was sitting at bottom of water staring at me as I was riding past it and it's tiny front feet was waving, it really was waving, but I doubt frog really was waving, more like shivering, that was ice water and temperature was below 8 Celsius (~46 F).

After making out from dangers of sea monsters and icy mountain peaks, I though to burn bit more calories, I was stopped at intersection and thinking there while it was pouring down cold water, that it is time for first ride trough bear county for this season.

I'm sure bear don't like sugar and I had been eating way too much of it, so those probably will ignore me, that is what I though and pedaled towards small road that leads to even smaller road which after begins well known bear area, nobody goes there.

So as I was pedaling at smaller road, that is not really a road but a cattle pathway, I noticed someone has been riding a bicycle there, I could see tracks in mud, then there was bit more clear print of tire tracks and I noticed those were my bicycle tracks from last autumn, did I say nobody goes there? Yeah, nobody except me.

It was tough riding there, surface was so soft and muddy that I really had to put good bit of my strength to work, so there I was vast forests to every direction, no any kind of sound from man made things and nobody had been there for 5 months, layers of fog were hovering above swamp forests while small amount of rain was coming down.

It takes 1.5 hours to go trough that area, where nobody visits, after about 30 minutes I did spot first bear tracks, about month old tracks I guess, then bit later there was more, I did count over 10 different bear tracks and more than 40 moose tracks on that area, there was lot of smaller creature tracks too, nothing from humans though, except my own bike tracks from last autumn.

No bears spotted though, or moose, that is usual, I huff and puff so loudly that everything stays hidden.

Could not brought camera as it was raining all the time, every piece of clothing as well as my hair was dripping wet when I came back home, I did not have cold at any point, more it was too hot.

Good bye over 2000 calories + it was awesome experience, If I just could afford something like go pro, spring rides are all adventures, but without good amount of exercising I could not do these rides, they are hard, I mean really really hard, lungs burning, legs screaming or was it other way around? Pain, suffering, enjoyment none the less

 

[foxxycat]

That sounds AWESOME!! ^^^^^^

I haven't gotten my fat butt off the couch to ride a bike in years. I should do it soon before the summers become unbareable. I used to ride down railroad beds-its hard if its loose-takes quite a bit of skill to keep the wheels up. I miss those rides through the woods to see those things you cant see from a car.

I am pleasantly sore right now. I predict another good night of sleep again. last night crashed at 9pm and didn't wake until 4:45am. that's a record. usually my bladder wakes me up at midnight..

 

[jtbo]

That sounds AWESOME!! ^^^^^^

I haven't gotten my fat butt off the couch to ride a bike in years. I should do it soon before the summers become unbareable. I used to ride down railroad beds-its hard if its loose-takes quite a bit of skill to keep the wheels up. I miss those rides through the woods to see those things you cant see from a car.

I am pleasantly sore right now. I predict another good night of sleep again. last night crashed at 9pm and didn't wake until 4:45am. that's a record. usually my bladder wakes me up at midnight..

Some of those smaller roads were covered with stone that is about half the size of stone used on railway tracks, really annoying to ride, because most of those roads are straight and boring, with stone they have become demanding, it is like riding a stationary bike, but lowering tire pressures helps there a lot.

Living on rural are has lot of drawbacks, but when wilderness starts from your back door, it kind of balances things out

Only thing is, I could use a bike cleaning robot, mud gets everywhere!

edit: Oh, forgot to mention, at one bridge crossing there was single swan almost under the bridge, it was staring the water and ignored me completely, even I did go past quite close as it was tiny bridge. It was bit odd as usually those seek more open areas and not so much a forest streams to swim in.

 

[Norachan]

@JTbo  You really have  some adventures, don't you?

It was warm and sunny this morning so I did 90 minutes of yoga out on the deck. I had an eerie sensation of being watched and sure enough, noticed a couple of faces peering out of the woods at me.

Deer3.jpg

• Norachan
• Apr 17, 2016

I see the same family of deer almost every day. There are about 9 of them altogether. It's really hard to get a picture of them though.

 

[tammat]

Those are some adventures alright JTbo

My iPad is not showing me the deer pic. Drats. It sounds like you painted that deck at just the perfect time Norachan

I started back today. Yay!! I did my back and shoulders 6 sets of 6 reps. Chin ups, bent over rows and then Lat pull downs TORQ. ( high reps) I did shoulder press, lateral raises and seated press TORQ.
I'm sticking to this programme for 6 weeks and then I'll have another rest week. No cardio. I have negotiated one 20 min jog tues afternoon and I'm going to try negotiate another jog on Sunday's? I said that if I can't jog then I'll walk and he said yes that would be good for me.

Keep going everybody.

 

[jtbo]

@JTbo
 You really have some adventures, don't you?

It was warm and sunny this morning so I did 90 minutes of yoga out on the deck. I had an eerie sensation of being watched and sure enough, noticed a couple of faces peering out of the woods at me.

Deer3.jpg

• Norachan
• Apr 17, 2016

I see the same family of deer almost every day. There are about 9 of them altogether. It's really hard to get a picture of them though.

Life is an adventure, it just depends how you look at it


Today I got 2 hours of lifting wood and 40 minutes of running in rain and mud.

 

[foxxycat]

This was a great workout for my lunchbreak. I actually did the whole thing except the burpees-I am still at 6. But that's up from 5. My face was flushed red. And I drank plenty of water.Soon I have to find some kind of electrolyte replacement drink that isn't sugary.

I took my 24 grams of protein half an hour prior. I didn't take my vitamin/mix herbal conconction I have been taking for weeks the past week during the workout and I notice a difference as I don't have enough endurance. Today I tried a tad bit of caffeine to see if it helps=didn't seem to. Havent had caffeine in weeks-months.

So then I did several of those arm exercises I posted a few days ago--did 10 minutes of that 20 second on 10 second off of running/jumping jacks/kicks etc. Did 25 leg lifts while holding my weight with my arms straight on the edge of two tables-work benches are anchored to the floor=I hang from inbetween and do 5 leg lifts legs out straight-then 20 knee tucks nice and slow and breathing correctly.

So far I am pleased with my progress.

I asked my buddy how long it will be until I can up the weights to the next strength=one month. So I can deal with that. Its been 2 weeks at the same weights=so I will do another week-this week then next week try to up it.

Good job everyone!!

 

[jtbo]

This was a great workout for my lunchbreak. I actually did the whole thing except the burpees-I am still at 6. But that's up from 5. My face was flushed red. And I drank plenty of water.Soon I have to find some kind of electrolyte replacement drink that isn't sugary.

I took my 24 grams of protein half an hour prior. I didn't take my vitamin/mix herbal conconction I have been taking for weeks the past week during the workout and I notice a difference as I don't have enough endurance. Today I tried a tad bit of caffeine to see if it helps=didn't seem to. Havent had caffeine in weeks-months.

So then I did several of those arm exercises I posted a few days ago--did 10 minutes of that 20 second on 10 second off of running/jumping jacks/kicks etc. Did 25 leg lifts while holding my weight with my arms straight on the edge of two tables-work benches are anchored to the floor=I hang from inbetween and do 5 leg lifts legs out straight-then 20 knee tucks nice and slow and breathing correctly.

So far I am pleased with my progress.

I asked my buddy how long it will be until I can up the weights to the next strength=one month. So I can deal with that. Its been 2 weeks at the same weights=so I will do another week-this week then next week try to up it.

Good job everyone!!

I don't buy electrolyte drinks, I mix them myself, my recovery drink is made from raw cocoa powder, Xylitol, salt and water. What I have read is that there are no worth to buy sport drinks, none has proper balance and even more so, what you eat should be considered too, so none can't be in perfect balance, except what you mix by yourself.

 

[foxxycat]

I don't buy electrolyte drinks, I mix them myself, my recovery drink is made from raw cocoa powder, Xylitol, salt and water. What I have read is that there are no worth to buy sport drinks, none has proper balance and even more so, what you eat should be considered too, so none can't be in perfect balance, except what you mix by yourself.

That's good to know...most are loaded with empty calories and Its been a real struggle to keep my sugar intake below the daily allowance-not because I eat candy but because fruits have more sugar than I expected. I cut back except for bananas. Bananas are vital for my aching muscles. Potatoes too. I just try to find foods without that damn sugar substitute=they now label it "natural flavor" so becareful if you are trying to not eat aspertreme or however its spells=its bad news. BIG FDA should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this additive to be put in our food-that's the biggest thing I did last year-quit drinking diet soda.

 

[jtbo]

That's good to know...most are loaded with empty calories and Its been a real struggle to keep my sugar intake below the daily allowance-not because I eat candy but because fruits have more sugar than I expected. I cut back except for bananas. Bananas are vital for my aching muscles. Potatoes too. I just try to find foods without that damn sugar substitute=they now label it "natural flavor" so becareful if you are trying to not eat aspertreme or however its spells=its bad news. BIG FDA should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this additive to be put in our food-that's the biggest thing I did last year-quit drinking diet soda.

I buy only fresh raw ingredients, tuna and cheese are exception and both seem to have ton of salt, which is really not needed in those, but for some reason it is added.

Orange juice is mostly sugar (naturally oranges have a ton of sugar), but it is my big source of potassium, so I drink it almost daily, but in moderation. I think gallon of it has more than 1800 calories and close to pound of sugar.

Seasoning is also one big surprise, like ketchup and those powdery mixes one puts in meat, ton of sugar and salt in those, better avoid those and buy each seasoning separate, then experiment and do own mixes, that way one can avoid all weird additives they put in those mixes.

 

[tammat]

I did biceps and triceps today with Rohan. Tomorrow is a rest day for me. I thought that was ridiculous after 2 days but I'm actually welcoming it. I'm pretty tired and sore. I'll go for a 20 min jog this afternoon an then I'll call it a day.

Good work everyone

 

[Norachan]

Half an hour bike ride and then two hours of gardening today.