Exercise/Fitness Log

[Dragline]

Here's a new sciency article on ketogenesis that I ran across today:

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/min ... antageous/

(Ok, I admit I was attracted by the pictures of bacon. )

[jennypenny]

The leg isn't healing. Four more weeks on the crutches and no activity at all now, not even swimming.

I'm going stir crazy. I should have asked him for some xanax.

[Chad]

Wow, that really sucks Jenny. Not healing fast or not healing at all? Hopefully, the first.

[Dragline]

Yes, sorry to hear that.

[theanimal]

I've decided that I'm going to give the warrior diet a go. The book is coming later this week but I plan on starting out tomorrow.

For those of you who do/ have done it- Any tips or helpful advice for just starting out?

[jacob]

@theanimal - You will feel hungry around previously scheduled meal times for the next 2-3 weeks. Just plough through that. The body needs to learn that it's not about to get fed so that it will stop pumping out insulin at those times and lower your blood sugar. Also, if you used to exercise after the meals you used to eat, don't. You'll crash. Exercise before them instead.

If you're going to do some snacking, eat snacks with low glycemic values, like apples, not bananas.

[sshawnn]

The warrior diet is definitely something I am considering revisiting.

[jennypenny]

Would the Warrior Diet be considered a version of IF?

[jacob]

Yes

[theanimal]

Thanks for the advice.

The first day went really well. I only had a banana (before I saw Jacob's comment) and a couple carrots during the day before wolfing down my meal this evening. I know it is only the first day but I didn't really feel hungry at all during the day and experienced no crash or tiredness in the afternoon. Can't wait to keep going.

[jennypenny]

Peak Prosperity podcast with Robb Wolf about the paleo diet. He also talks about hormesis and exercise.

http://www.peakprosperity.com/podcast/8 ... et-fitness

[jennypenny]

*ahem* So I guess everyone has been too busy exercising to post what they've been doing??

I'm on the crutches at least another 4 weeks. (for those counting at home, this is week 9) Running is a distant goal right now. I need to find something else to do. I'm allowed to add weight training again as long as my foot doesn't touch the ground. I'm trying to think of different exercises and goals that would keep me engaged.

I'm considering doing the guy thing and aiming for a bench press goal. The normal goal is being able to lift your bodyweight, right? I could aim for that. (I could do it now if you cut off my arms and legs. ) It would also give me some incentive to lose weight to make the goal easier.

So if anyone has any other suggestions besides bench pressing a car, I'd love to hear them. I do much better when I have a specific goal in mind.

[Chad]

The cast and "no pressure" requirement really limit you for cardio. You could do the 100 rep workout. That might make the bench a little more cardio and give you a goal to hit. I'm usually all for heavy lifting, as I think it's more beneficial. However, your situation makes that more difficult.

[theanimal]

I've been slacking lately. Though I did do one of my favorite CrossFit exercises today. 18 rounds of 5 pull ups, 10 pushups and 15 squats, in under 20 minutes.

Looking to hop back into my regular routine of P90x2 starting Monday.

[m741]

Figured I might as well join in on this thread. I returned from a few months of very serious hiking about 1 month ago. I spent a few weeks not doing much physically (traveling a bit or being lazy).

Next Sunday I will be running a marathon. I signed up when I was hiking, figuring it wouldn't be that difficult compared to some of the hikes I was doing. I just wanted to finish the thing. From a strength/cardio perspective, at my target pace (slow) it's much easier than hiking; it's the impact on joints that I was most worried about.

I've trained for roughly 3 weeks. Longer runs started at 10 miles, then 13, and then 17. I've done some shorter runs in between and don't feel too concerned about finishing 26.2 (but who knows what'll happen). The stress on some of my tendons is definitely more severe than hikes, and if I had a choice I'd probably have added 2-3 weeks to training to build up a better base more safely. But I haven't felt at risk of injury during my training, though I've sometimes been very sore the day after.

The funny thing is that I found I don't really mind long distance running, and actually kinda enjoy it. I currently run in some old sneakers that I tore part of the soles out of (to reduce the cushioning). I tried running a bit in 'barefoot' sneakers, but that was too intense and I knew I'd be stretching out my recovery too much when I need to pack in the miles. I'd like to switch to barefoot-style shoes after my marathon, though.

Following the marathon, I'm planning on joining a gym that's just a few blocks away from my apartment, and lifting 3 days/week. Just a basic compound-movement plan of squats, deadlifts, bench press, etc. My new job subsidizes the cost of gym membership, so that's a savings of $50/month compared to my previous job. I'd like to incorporate some running, probably a short and a long run each week. Then I'd be able to hop into some road races like 5ks or half marathons without much trouble.

My new job also provides free food, which is quite a struggle. I'm always full, but have so far managed to eat (mostly) healthy. Lots of berries, greek yogurt, smoothies, tofu. But also cake, breads, bagels, etc. I'll be cleaning that up. It's a good opportunity to eat a lot of healthy food, at least; the tastiest healthy food can be expensive at supermarkets.

[jacob]

I scored a set of Spinervals (.com) DVDs on eBay for $15 (used amazon price $90+) and I got hooked, so I probably spent close to $100 total acquiring more DVDs. However, this has turned riding the trainer (I have a hot cancer pink Kurt Roadmachine ) from utterly boring pseudo-time trials (like what kind of average speed can I maintain through an episode of Arrested Development) to something I'm still looking forward to.

I like the Spinervals because it's one of the few times where you buy a DVD and most of the people + the training program actually kick your ass. I like that.

[I've been looking on the interwebs for cycling clubs around the area but was caught between the 16mph Saturday "dentist carbon bike beer-ride" and small serious roadrace-groups which seem something exclusive.)

My schedule is something like
Day 1: Clubbells
Day 2: Spinning
Day 3: Rest

If 1 or 2 felt easy I might do both on the same day. This combo actually works quite well since one is upper body and the other is lower body meaning I can exercise substantially more than if say day 1 was clubbells and day 2 was kettlebells ... or hockey or sailing,...

Slight fitness craze going on here, says DW. I suspect I reduced a couple of pounds off of my waist. I can tighten my belt by two additional holes if I want to. And once again I'm reminded about how nice it feels---in terms of more available oxygen---to be in "better shape".

[jacob]

Former personal finance blogger goes bankrupt buying workout DVDs ... nah, just kidding, but I scored a few more.

One of them (#27.0) includes a 20 minute time trial to estimate power output and I got 3.26W/kg as my functional threshold. That's not too bad for an old guy. Numbers!

I do realize the silliness (and hypocrisy) of riding a bike in my apartment while going exactly nowhere and yet taking the subway, but at least this helps heat the apartment (by 3-4 degrees) and I can go way faster than what's possible in city traffic.

[jennypenny]

I'm off of the crutches (12 weeks ). I'm not allowed to run yet. I'm walking now, and the stationary bike is next. I've never used it for regular exercise. What's the best approach with the bike? Pedal faster? Increase resistance? How can I measure how I'm doing with the bike?

[jacob]

That depends. Best for what? Go to spinervals.com and look at the [competition] DVDs (or maybe the fitness series). Some of them will have a free downloadable pdf with the training program. It should be semi-evident from the title/description what that session focuses on, e.g. "bending crank arms" will feature short intervals at heavy resistance (strength), "suffer fests" will be about lactic threshold training (high intensity), and "aero-whatever" are long low-effort rides (endurance).

I'm thinking maybe you should start with endurance.

Also some free stuff on youtube
http://www.google.com/search?q=youtube+spinning+class

[RealPerson]

I'm off of the crutches (12 weeks ). I'm not allowed to run yet. I'm walking now, and the stationary bike is next. I've never used it for regular exercise. What's the best approach with the bike? Pedal faster? Increase resistance? How can I measure how I'm doing with the bike?

The best way is wearing a heart monitor. Nothing like measuring your effort. If you are just going for general cardiovascular conditioning, I don't think you need any special training video IMO. The spinning videos are good to help you achieve specific cycling training goals.