The Exercise Motivation Thread - 2016

[Norachan]

Had to work all day on Saturday, so I just managed a half hour walk with my "Fat Cat" as part of his weight loss regime.

An hour of yoga and a 30 minute run on Sunday.

2 hours of walking today.

Good job everyone!

 

[Winchester]

2.5 miles on the treadmill this morning. I was going to go for 3 miles, but I didn't want to mess that muscle up. It was hard to stop this morning; I wanted to keep going so badly!

 

[cleopatras mom]

 
With all respect, we don't need this. It's not funny and if you're not going to give people encouragement, then stay away. We work too hard.

I did my stretching exercises tonight. 

I also got 13,000 steps in today. It's not all that much, compared to what I was getting, but I'll take it. 

Oh!

I am very sorry!

I had NO intentions of getting people annoyed!

I was actually going to join this thread, but I had just made that comment because I was making a point that it was so hard that I hardly could exercise!

So I didn't classify it as such!

You all are doing so much more better than I EVER could, and I am sorry.

I made a mistake, even if it was unintentional.

I will just cheer without posting from now on.

I totally understand what you mean, though!

This thread has inspired me to to start my own exercising regimine, even with horrible things happening in my life; since I still need to take care of myself.

Again., SO SORRY, and everyone is doing fantastic! 

 

[Winchester]

Then I misunderstood and I apologize. Honestly. It's just that we are all working so hard with whatever we're doing and we come here to cheer each other on and help when we're having problems. 

You are more than welcome to post in the thread. You are more than welcome to tell us what you're doing for your exercise program. I'd certainly love to hear about it. You see, when people post about what they're doing and how they're reaching their goals, it's good incentive for the rest of us.

Please accept my apology....I completely misunderstood your post. 

 

[cleopatras mom]

You really have nothing to apologize about!

I know how you understood, and I completely get it! It really isn't respectful or helpful if people come on and make fun of these things.

And sometimes when it wasn't meant that way!

Of course I accept it(though you don't need to be sorry at all!), and I hope you accept mine for causing this confusion, and possibly upsetting others!

And I think it is a nice reminder to everyone that we all need to be careful of what we say, even if we mean no harm.

You all are still doing so much better than me, and it really is hard. I am really young, 19-24, and even I struggle with it, and the tendency for for weight gain as my metabolism is really poor. We live over half an hour away from any gym, and combined with work and college, it is really hard to start exercising. And then, to me, it is VERY hard to continue it. Partly because I am out of shape and partly because I have a misaligned spine, and sometimes it hurts sooo bad in my upper back. And then we have no place to walk around here, either, really.

So I was looking around, and realized that I have to find a good exercise regime that I can do at the house, or in the yard. And I came by this....I will post it below. And I also wanted to mention that although people need to do exercising to stay healthy and not gain weight, my purpose is to lose some weight- about 15 pounds.

10x Jumping Jacks

10x push ups( I can't do those, so girly push-ups?)

10x Mountains Climbers

10x Squats

30 second plank

then it says to repeat from top 9x, then 8x, then 7x, ext down to 1x.

But I cannot decide if I should do that each day, or the following two...

20 Calf Raises (feet parallel)
20 Dead Lifts (weighted)
20 Squats with an Overhead Press (weighted)
20 Goblet Squats
20 Jump Squats
50 Jumping Jacks
20 Squats (no weight)
60 Second Wall Sit
30 Lunges
40 Calf Raises (feet turned out)
50 High Knees
40 Sumo Squats
30 Reverse Lunges

25 Crunches with feet on the floor– traditional crunches, hands resting gently behind ears or neck, elbows out, chin to the ceiling
25 Crunches with feet up and knees at 90 degrees
25 Crunches with legs straight up in the air
30 Second Plank– on hands or forearms
15 Bicycle Crunches– back and forth, 15 on each side
25 Russian Twists– grab a dumbbell or a heavy book, sit up and lean back so your feet are off the ground and move your arms from hip to hip, bringing the weight from your right side to your left and back, 25 times
15 Reverse Crunches– get into crunch position, but this time lift your bottom half toward your top half
30 Second Plank
25 Double Crunches– traditional crunch and reverse crunch, at the same time
25 Full Sit-Ups– at the end…so mean
25 Heel Touches on each side– lift your shoulder blades off the floor, then reach for your ankles, right side, then left side, 25 times each
30 Second Plank–

What do you guys think I should do?

And again, I am so sorry! I am killing myself with guilt over here.

 

[foxxycat]

Just try 5 or 6 of the exercises every day. if you do all these you will burn out.

stick with compound exercises=meaning they have the most bang for your buck.

Squat

chest press

overhead press

deadlift

if you want to learn proper technique check out the site stronglifts.com and he has videos to show how to do the exercises-you don't have to do the 5lb increase everytime-I use it for advice on how to properly lift.

you can build muscle or build endurance. endurance is doing high reps of an exercise at relatively stable weights- building strength is going gradually heavy.

in jan I started with 10 lbs. I now am around 55 to 75 lbs for those compound exercises. I have that tightness in the buttuck like Winchester so I couldn't push it higher but I could if it didn't hurt.

calf raises are really good for shin splints. Do those before jumping jacks.

are you near a planet fitness? several of us use this gym. I ran out of heavy objects to safely lift so I use the gym now. I started in jan by doing 15 min of aerobics high intensity. took a month to get to 30 min. I can now steam through an hour or more. But start light and practice your form. Proper form is more important than lifting heavy.

youtube has tons of workouts. if you scroll back to march and april here I posted a few links of some really good workouts.

if it hurts-stop. don't push through it. you will regret it. don't forget to eat something hour before lifting otherwise you get run down and feel like no energy. And water/gaterade but watch out for that sugar in sports drinks.

 

[foxxycat]

the plank is a really good one but I guarantee you wont be starting at 30 seconds. you will probably get 15 at the most. its hard but Ithink this is more effective than situps.  theres a video on youtube called standing exercises for the abs. you can add weights after you get the form down. these are basic lifting of feet or twisting side to side-they work. I found that they don't recommend the situps in the exercise world due to back issues. so if you do pull ups or push ups you will still activate the stomach just the same. I think that exercise you listed where you squat then do overhead press is a great all around exercise. those are the powerhouse combo exercises I call these. you don't spend tons of time doing single section movements. you can combine this one with calf raises after you push the weights over your head for 3 exercises in one.

have you done lifting before? I want to stress if you haven't, start with 3lb hand weights. that will be more than enough. stay at that for a week. then see if you can up to 5lb the following week. I also had to cut out so much carbs that it was interfering with weight loss. Its hard to change the way you eat but its really important to fuel the body with better choices. I try to play switcheroo on my mind. if I want something bad I try to find an alternative. Peanuts and eggs are my best friends lately.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

Hubby and I are still walking two miles every day Monday through Friday. It has to be early now because things are heating up here now where we live. We give ourselves a break on the weekends. On the walking days I also put my Fitbit One on my shoe and ride the stationary bicycle eight to 10 miles. On these days I get between ten and eleven thousand steps.

On the weekends, I try to still do the bicycle. I have lost 15 pounds. I changed my petite tens to size eights and now some of them are too big. I have washed and dried on hot heat some of them to make them shrink. I am not trying to lose any more weight. But I still want the exercise and to encourage my husband to keep going. He wants to lose six more pounds. He has to date lost from 240 to 206. We are thankful to be able to do what we can do because we are not young folk anymore. :lol3:

Keep going everyone. Exercise is good for us and makes us feel better. :nod:

 

[artiemom]

I did go to the gym today, but felt out of it. The dreaded elliptical only saw me for 20 minutes. I had enough after that. Heart rate was ok, but muscles were tired. I think it is because I did not eat correctly yesterday. I had a small bag of chips.. I think that did me in. Back to eating healthy today. 

I finished the rest of my routine, but found it difficult. 

Drinking more water today and having a salad for supper. I did have a protein bar after the gym. I have found that I really do need the protein. 

I usually have either a protein smoothie (when home) or a protein bar (on the road), immediately after I exercise. I really think that has had a positive effect on me. 

I was also not very hydrated, yesterday... lots of water today. along with green tea.. reg and decaf.... I really like it. My favorite brand is Tazo. Pricey, but I really enjoy the tea. 

 

[foxxycat]

Artiemom 
I had the same thing happen to me with the bike-made my knee scream. I think I figured out why. The regular pedal bike has our feet right under our hips. the gym one you have your feet in front of you-for some reason when i bend my knee on right side to the upper limit it really hurts bad. i tried making the seat higher so my leg straighens out-i wish these had more settings to make it fit better, all it did is make my hips move back and forth. i really miss the old spinning type bikes=the seat is smaller so it doesnt cut into my thighs and its the regular set up. i did 2 to 4 min and gave up.

this was after the 40 min i did on that stair elliptical machine. even then when i had it on higher incline it really seems to bother it. 

i didnt do anything else. i did stretches on that stretch machine with the wrist bands. my knee is still sore. so i havent done anything in a week, so tomorrow try again and do some more calf raises-this i notice if i dont do them-then i pay for it. 

 

[tammat]

cleopatras mom I'd try the first workout. It sounds easy but it won't be at all. I've done quite a lot of circuits like that one. Use a stop watchor your phone to time yourself. The idea is to get faster each time you do it. Have a go at the push ups. You never know unless you try. You may surprise yourself.

I went for another 30 min walk with my kids yesterday.
Today I did my biceps and triceps with Rohan this morning. They are still pumped. That's the best I've ever done with my triceps.
It's looking like rain and forecast for showers so I'm not sure when to take the kids out. We will be going for 30 mins walk oh yes we will :lol3:

 

[tammat]

foxxycat here is a link to explain TORQ
All my training is based around this theory. I use lighter weights to save wear and tear on my joints and I concentrate on activating the muscle (only the one muscle) to lift the weight. I find it incredibly hard to fight against my mind and body that wants to use whatever it can to heave the weight up. Of course it depends on what you are trying to achieve. I want to get bigger muscles in the most efficient way I can. I'm not trying to get super strong. I would love to say that I can bench heaps but I can't. I'm getting better at what I do and my muscles are getting harder. I'm very happy with that.

http://www.labrada.com/blog/workouts/lighter-weights-for-more-muscle/

What's that saying? "Horses for courses"? Something like that. We are all working in different ways. We are all getting fitter and that's all that matters.
Go people Go!!!!

 

[Winchester]

Did an hour with the dumbbells last night, working on a little bit of everything, followed by a bunch of crunches. Threw all my PT stretches into the mix, too, while I was at it.

2.75 miles on the treadmill this morning. I may try 3 miles tomorrow.....so far, the leg is handling things pretty well.

It's going to be a long time til I get back up to 6 miles! 

 

 

[Columbine]

Yesterday was a write-off...just a bad day in general, and no exercise got done at all :anon:

Back on track today though, and did an hour of yoga this morning. Need to get to my baby-girl this afternoon, but am so drained from yesterday that I don't yet know if I'll manage it :slant:

Winchester - Hang in there. Healing can take a horribly long time, but you WILL get there if you listen to your body and don't push too hard too soon

 

[Winchester]

Columbine, you will have better days. 

 I'm thinking of you today. Hope you're feeling better.

 

[artiemom]

 
Artiemom 
I had the same thing happen to me with the bike-made my knee scream. I think I figured out why. The regular pedal bike has our feet right under our hips. the gym one you have your feet in front of you-for some reason when i bend my knee on right side to the upper limit it really hurts bad. i tried making the seat higher so my leg straighens out-i wish these had more settings to make it fit better, all it did is make my hips move back and forth. i really miss the old spinning type bikes=the seat is smaller so it doesnt cut into my thighs and its the regular set up. i did 2 to 4 min and gave up.

I understand, but it was the recumbent bike that I was using. I do not dare attempt the regular bike for the above reasons. 

I think it is just the up and down motion that aggravates my knee. I can feel the kneecap grinding when the knee bends. Needless to say, I do not take the stairs. It does seem the elliptical is better for the knee. It is the thigh muscles, mostly back of upper leg, which are really weak. I am slowly building them up. 

Tomorrow will be a gym day, however very late in the day. 

Artie has a Vet appointment at 11:00 am. I allow an hour to get there. I have to leave at 10 AM.. That would mean I would have to be at the gym at 7AM. That is too early for me. I cannot exercise that early in the morning. I have tried it several times in the past. 

It will mean the gym at around 1PM...yuck.. May be a quick trip, but I will at least attempt it. I feel I really need it this week. I am feeling really fat. It is just one of those fat feeling weeks. 

I am losing weight as far as the scales go, but I am still in the same size clothes. I do not understand; unless I was really being a 'stuffed sausage" in the clothes. That is what is getting to me the most. I want to see results in clothes sizes. 

It will happen... try to tell myself that. 

Yesterday was a very tiring day. I feel asleep while watching Jeopardy!! That was before 8pm!!  I was in bed by 9PM; waking up every few hours to use the bathroom. Good the bloating is leaving me. Artie cuddled with me at around 6AM. I got up at 6:45 AM....

dreary day, have to force myself to move and start the errands....errand day...

 

[jtbo]

Artiemom 

I had the same thing happen to me with the bike-made my knee scream. I think I figured out why. The regular pedal bike has our feet right under our hips. the gym one you have your feet in front of you-for some reason when i bend my knee on right side to the upper limit it really hurts bad. i tried making the seat higher so my leg straighens out-i wish these had more settings to make it fit better, all it did is make my hips move back and forth. i really miss the old spinning type bikes=the seat is smaller so it doesnt cut into my thighs and its the regular set up. i did 2 to 4 min and gave up.

this was after the 40 min i did on that stair elliptical machine. even then when i had it on higher incline it really seems to bother it. 

i didnt do anything else. i did stretches on that stretch machine with the wrist bands. my knee is still sore. so i havent done anything in a week, so tomorrow try again and do some more calf raises-this i notice if i dont do them-then i pay for it. 

That is indeed reason for my dislike to stationary bikes.

When pedals are vertical, pedal's axle should be roughly under your knee, I find that my legs prefer even axle behind the knee a bit, 1 inch is a lot in there. If pedal's axle is even bit front of knee I get lot of issues with pedaling.

Problem with stationary bikes that I have seen has been that seat is not much if at all adjustable in fore/aft direction.

Seat height should be such that leg is not straight when pedal is at lowest position, there should be slight bend.

Those are rough guidelines for bicycling fit, one has to experiment a bit from that, but indeed if pedals are too much forward I write such bike useless.

That is also why my stationary bike collects dust, those turbo trainers are much better as it is real bike you pedal, much better ergonomics than stationary bike and lot cheaper if one has a bike already.

 

[Columbine]

Columbine, you will have better days.   I'm thinking of you today. Hope you're feeling better.

Thanks Winchester :heart3: I'm very tired today, but it's turning out to be a LOT better than yesterday :smile2:

 

[Norachan]

Welcome to the thread @Cleopatras Mom  I think you need to do whatever you enjoy doing. It's easier to stay motivated if you're having fun. If you get bored of doing that routine, try some of the exercise videos on You Tube. Even dancing around to some of your favourite music is better than doing nothing.

@Columbine  Sorry to hear you're having a tough time. I really admire you for pushing yourself even when you feel exhausted.

@JTbo  How's your foot?

I walked for 2 hours on Monday.

Yesterday I rode my bike for 30 minutes, then did a 30 minute run later in the afternoon.

90 minutes horse riding today.

Horses15.JPG

• Norachan
• Jun 29, 2016

This is Ginji, a 5 year old Dosanko mare. She's rummaging through my pockets just in case there's any food in there.

 

[Winchester]

She's so pretty! And did you have a snack for Ginji? 

3 miles on the treadmill this morning! My first 3 miles since the duck doodoo hit the fan at the beginning of June. I'm going to stay at 3 for a while.