Let's get Physical

[papayahed]

I joined a gym. And you know why does everybody think they know what's best for you when it comes to everything??? I had a brochure for the gym on my desk and no less then five people made comments and/or told me that they know of way better gyms and not to join said gym. (And don't even get me started on the house bugaboo!!)

With the gym membership you get bloodwork, training sessions, and a few sessions with a nutritionist.

Today is my first session with the trainer, the first session is just testing your fitness level. I am not looking forward to seeing how far I've digressed since last year.

[Oniw17]

You're working out for the summer too?

[papayahed]

You're working out for the summer too?

I'm not in school.:(

I kinda joined because of the summer, it gets to darn hot around here to bike or run outside.

[Virgil]

I joined a gym. And you know why does everybody think they know what's best for you when it comes to everything??? I had a brochure for the gym on my desk and no less then five people made comments and/or told me that they know of way better gyms and not to join said gym. (And don't even get me started on the house bugaboo!!)

With the gym membership you get bloodwork, training sessions, and a few sessions with a nutritionist.

Today is my first session with the trainer, the first session is just testing your fitness level. I am not looking forward to seeing how far I've digressed since last year.

Wow, you get blood work and training sessions. That's pretty good. All I got was the fitness test and some recommendations.

If you're interested in my workout and my work out philosophy, check my blog: http://www.online-literature.com/forums/blogs/viewblog.php?userid=9515&entry=4889.

[Niamh]

I joined the gym in september. I felt fantastic for months! What i do;
thread mill
cross country trainer
rower
bike
then lengths of pool
then off to the hydotherapy pool to ease down.
tehn after shower i dry off in sauna.

[Virgil]

I joined the gym in september. I felt fantastic for months! What i do;
thread mill
cross country trainer
rower
bike
then lengths of pool
then off to the hydotherapy pool to ease down.
tehn after shower i dry off in sauna.

Sounds like a good workout Niamh. I guess the swimming gives you some upper body strength. I believe some upper body strength should always be included. I find that many women ignore or fear doing strength exercises. It doesn't have to be heavy weights.

[Bakiryu]

Wow, I've never gone to a gym in my life. It's a tad expensive :( but it sounds really cool. All those exercise machines yay!

[Shalot]

It is good that you get the training sessions too because they come up with new ideas for your workouts and stuff so that you don't keep doing the same thing over and over (which is what happened to me). But, I can totally relate to people telling you which gym you need to go to, or which salon you should go to, or which doctor, or dentist, or whatver it is that you're trying to do. That always makes me want to just the opposite if they act like they know it all when they tell you what you should have purchased or whatever. "Don't get a dog, get an alarm system," they say. Don't put up siding, just paint it. Don't buy a Ford, get a Chevrolet. Don't eat sushi, just get soup. Oh, you should have gone to Wal-Mart, they add wiper fluid with the oil change...

:rolleyes:

[Dori]

I have a 60-year old man telling me what to do as my work out. In other words, I'm on the track team. :lol:

[papayahed]

Wow, you get blood work and training sessions. That's pretty good. All I got was the fitness test and some recommendations.

If you're interested in my workout and my work out philosophy, check my blog: http://www.online-literature.com/forums/blogs/viewblog.php?userid=9515&entry=4889.

That looks like a pretty good work out, I do generally tend to ignore strength training. The trainer is putting a program together for me, I imagine it will look something like yours.

I just got done with my fitness assessment and apparently there are geriatric coma patients in better shape than I am.:lol: They didn't tell me that, but that's only because they're trying to be encouraging.:lol:

The trainer i met with today didn't blink. It was kind of freaky, I look her in the eye then I'd have to look away.

[dramasnot6]

I used to be such a gym rat. But the gym at my university is waaaay too expensive, so now I just run 3-6 miles a day. That's in addition to the massives of walking I get from living on campus, our campus is enormous,it sometimes takes 30 minutes to get from one building to another for our next class.
I guess I got a lot more variation when I was at the gym, but I love to run and it keeps me healthy and fit.

[Lily Adams]

I used to be such a gym rat. But the gym at my university is waaaay too expensive, so now I just run 3-6 miles a day.

:eek:

...How can you possibly do that?



Hahahaha, so I may be an academic nerd, but I absolutely hate physical...ness. Physical movement. P.E. makes me so angry. It's supposed to make you all happy and all, but I get so angry. :lol: So the only class I'm all, "Ugh kill me now" in is P.E. And Spanish. :p Some stuff I might try, like, Iono fencing or something.

But I probably sometime in the future will join a gym because I will actually need to excercise...more and I've been in one and they're fancy and they don't look...too...bad...hopefully it won't bore me tears. That's it. Excercise is absolutely boring to me. Ugh. I think I use my brain far too much and it pretty much took over all the other parts of my body. @_@ It keeps screaming for attention and hates to be ignored.


Aw, man, now you have the song stuck in my head. XP

[Oniw17]

I'm not in school.:(

Neither am I. I was talking about how some people(myself for example) slack off durring winter months then start working out again for summer.

[papayahed]

:eek:

...How can you possibly do that?



Hahahaha, so I may be an academic nerd, but I absolutely hate physical...ness. Physical movement. P.E. makes me so angry. It's supposed to make you all happy and all, but I get so angry. :lol: So the only class I'm all, "Ugh kill me now" in is P.E. And Spanish. :p Some stuff I might try, like, Iono fencing or something.

But I probably sometime in the future will join a gym because I will actually need to excercise...more and I've been in one and they're fancy and they don't look...too...bad...hopefully it won't bore me tears. That's it. Excercise is absolutely boring to me. Ugh. I think I use my brain far too much and it pretty much took over all the other parts of my body. @_@ It keeps screaming for attention and hates to be ignored.


Aw, man, now you have the song stuck in my head. XP

You can always read a book while riding a stationary bike...:idea:

[Virgil]

I used to be such a gym rat. But the gym at my university is waaaay too expensive, so now I just run 3-6 miles a day. That's in addition to the massives of walking I get from living on campus, our campus is enormous,it sometimes takes 30 minutes to get from one building to another for our next class.
I guess I got a lot more variation when I was at the gym, but I love to run and it keeps me healthy and fit.

That's really good cardio, drama. I used to run not everyday but a few times a week. Only thing for me was that once I hit four miles on a regular basis, I would start getting aches and pains. I don't know how marathon runners do it. But you're young. :) The best upper body exercise, better than anything with weights or machines, are push ups. And they're free. If one had a routine of push ups, sit ups and running, you could be in really good shape without spending a penny. Other than sneakers I guess.

[dramasnot6]

:eek:

...How can you possibly do that?



Hahahaha, so I may be an academic nerd, but I absolutely hate physical...ness. Physical movement. P.E. makes me so angry. It's supposed to make you all happy and all, but I get so angry. :lol: So the only class I'm all, "Ugh kill me now" in is P.E. And Spanish. :p Some stuff I might try, like, Iono fencing or something.

But I probably sometime in the future will join a gym because I will actually need to excercise...more and I've been in one and they're fancy and they don't look...too...bad...hopefully it won't bore me tears. That's it. Excercise is absolutely boring to me. Ugh. I think I use my brain far too much and it pretty much took over all the other parts of my body. @_@ It keeps screaming for attention and hates to be ignored.


Aw, man, now you have the song stuck in my head. XP

I find physical activity keeps my brain healthy and awake. It clears my head and often helps me with my work.
But I sympathise, I hate playing almost all sports. I have always had the most horrid problems with hand-eye coordination(the doctor told my parents it was probably a genetic thing,when I was very young) so the throwing/kicking/hitting of balls has never come easy to me.
That made P.E.,which is usually just sports from my experience,quite hellish and turned me off of exercise until about 5 years ago,when i discovered the beauty of hiking,gyms,and a couple years later,jogging. <3


Gah! Push-ups! Thank you for the assurance Virgil, but I can't stand those things :sick: I used to do push-ups and sit-ups daily, playing some music or recorded lectures or something to keep me going, but I just find them to be dull. I need my exercise to be interesting to me to be able to do it thoroughly and regularly.

Running can be hard on the body. I know many people who don't run because they have knee or back problems. I think I should be alright though, my grandfather jogged daily from when he was 20 into his 70's! Hopefully I have inherited his amazing endurance and perseverence.

[Virgil]

I find physical activity keeps my brain healthy and awake. It clears my head and often helps me with my work.

Oh I absolutely agree. I think there is a relationship, especially with older people. I think it's related to improved blood flow, and your brain uses a lot of blood.


Gah! Push-ups! Thank you for the assurance Virgil, but I can't stand those things :sick: I used to do push-ups and sit-ups daily, playing some music or recorded lectures or something to keep me going, but I just find them to be dull. I need my exercise to be interesting to me to be able to do it thoroughly and regularly.
Hehe, yeah they're tough. But they only last three or four minutes per work out. Not usually enough time to get dull. Yes, interesting is very important, but most people find running dull. I don't, and obviously you don't, but many do. I try to link exercise to a performance metric, such as time performance or quantity. That keeps it intersting for me.


Running can be hard on the body. I know many people who don't run because they have knee or back problems. I think I should be alright though, my grandfather jogged daily from when he was 20 into his 70's! Hopefully I have inherited his amazing endurance and perseverence.
My knees is where I feel it. I thought it wouold be best for me in the long term to back off.

One thing you said earlier, drama, caught my eye. You're attending a university at your age? How many grades have you skipped? ;)

[dramasnot6]

One thing you said earlier, drama, caught my eye. You're attending a university at your age? How many grades have you skipped? ;)

Aw, you don't let me get away with anything! :p I skipped 3 grades. I'm giving my mother a series of heart attacks from worrying about me, she will never stop guilting me about "leaving the nest too early!".




Hehe, yeah they're tough. But they only last three or four minutes per work out. Not usually enough time to get dull. Yes, interesting is very important, but most people find running dull. I don't, and obviously you don't, but many do. I try to link exercise to a performance metric, such as time performance or quantity. That keeps it intersting for me.


This is true. I think it is important for everyone to exercise regularly, but we have to do exercise we enjoy. I love jogging outside, I feel connected with my environment when I run, there is something so refreshing and freeing about running outdoors,wind on your face. And you can't beat that runners endorphin high.
Of course, on a rainy day a treadmill will suffice,accompanied by a good,energetic playlist from my mp3.

[sprinks]

The only time I've been to a gym only as a result of my physiotherapy. And wow they were tough workouts. But I think that was also because I wasn't just working out, I was fixing the muscles that were almost dead. My physio informed me once that the pain I feel normally, just from being me with the condition I have, is the same pain a footballer feels after a tough game, or a marathon runner feels after running a long hard distance.

But I have many friends at school who go to the gym, most of the wake up at like 5am to go there before school, and the main reason they do it is because they feel pressured to look good... Although some just really want to tone up and get fit.

[papayahed]

This is true. I think it is important for everyone to exercise regularly, but we have to do exercise we enjoy. I love jogging outside, I feel connected with my environment when I run, there is something so refreshing and freeing about running outdoors,wind on your face. And you can't beat that runners endorphin high.
Of course, on a rainy day a treadmill will suffice,accompanied by a good,energetic playlist from my mp3.

When I used to run (and the reason I joined a gym no was to get back to running) I loved running outside in the winter especially in the early mornings. It was so peaceful and calm.

[Virgil]

The only time I've been to a gym only as a result of my physiotherapy. And wow they were tough workouts. But I think that was also because I wasn't just working out, I was fixing the muscles that were almost dead. My physio informed me once that the pain I feel normally, just from being me with the condition I have, is the same pain a footballer feels after a tough game, or a marathon runner feels after running a long hard distance.

But I have many friends at school who go to the gym, most of the wake up at like 5am to go there before school, and the main reason they do it is because they feel pressured to look good... Although some just really want to tone up and get fit.

Ah Sprinks, your condition sounds tough. I wish you the best of health.

[sprinks]

Ah Sprinks, your condition sounds tough. I wish you the best of health.

Thankyou Virgil :) Yes my condition is a bit tough, I have Hypermobile Joint Syndrome... And as much as the physical side of suffering from this condition is hard, the teasing and emotional suffering I've been through was just as bad. Luckily a year and a bit of physio and some operations mean that my conditions not as bad as it could be...
At first in the gym at physio I couldn't even raise my leg more than a few centimeters off the bed, then after about a year of working in the gym with a physiotherapist I was up to the point of raising my leg 25 times with a 3 kg weight on my ankle.

[Virgil]

Thankyou Virgil :) Yes my condition is a bit tough, I have Hypermobile Joint Syndrome... And as much as the physical side of suffering from this condition is hard, the teasing and emotional suffering I've been through was just as bad. Luckily a year and a bit of physio and some operations mean that my conditions not as bad as it could be...
At first in the gym at physio I couldn't even raise my leg more than a few centimeters off the bed, then after about a year of working in the gym with a physiotherapist I was up to the point of raising my leg 25 times with a 3 kg weight on my ankle.

Well, to off set whatever jerk teased you, let tell you that your story is an inspiration to me. Your accomplishments are on the order of ten times anything I've been able to do in the gym. There are people in the world that are given everything, and I don't just mean money, but health, stable home life, opportunities, and yet they are miserble and just spread cynicism. And then there are people as yourself that are faced with adversity and with a sense of dedication and discipline and even some good cheer overcome them, or even just strive to over come them. It's people like you who are my heros.

[Dori]

I ran 6 miles today with my track team (or part of the team). My 60 year old coach ran too. :eek:

The run was quite refreshing. :D Boy do I love a good run. :)

[dramasnot6]

I ran 6 miles today with my track team (or part of the team). My 60 year old coach ran too. :eek:

The run was quite refreshing. :D Boy do I love a good run. :)
Yeah! :D

[Lily Adams]

You can always read a book while riding a stationary bike...:idea:

...Oh yeah! Good idea.


I find physical activity keeps my brain healthy and awake. It clears my head and often helps me with my work.
But I sympathise, I hate playing almost all sports. I have always had the most horrid problems with hand-eye coordination(the doctor told my parents it was probably a genetic thing,when I was very young) so the throwing/kicking/hitting of balls has never come easy to me.
That made P.E.,which is usually just sports from my experience,quite hellish and turned me off of exercise until about 5 years ago,when i discovered the beauty of hiking,gyms,and a couple years later,jogging. <3

Why am I the only person where phsyical activity makes me feel worse? D: Ugh. It is sports more, yes. I actually don't really mind walking.

[sprinks]

Well, to off set whatever jerk teased you, let tell you that your story is an inspiration to me. Your accomplishments are on the order of ten times anything I've been able to do in the gym. There are people in the world that are given everything, and I don't just mean money, but health, stable home life, opportunities, and yet they are miserble and just spread cynicism. And then there are people as yourself that are faced with adversity and with a sense of dedication and discipline and even some good cheer overcome them, or even just strive to over come them. It's people like you who are my heros.

Thanks again... Reading this made me smile :)

[Dori]

Why am I the only person where phsyical activity makes me feel worse? D: Ugh. It is sports more, yes. I actually don't really mind walking.

Because you've forced yourself into that mindset. Just a guess...:)

[Lily Adams]

Because you've forced yourself into that mindset. Just a guess...:)

You know I think I have too. :( I just...ugh. Whatever. There's a lot of factors, I guess. I'm a pansy prissy person who hates being sweaty or sunburned. I also hate tans. So basically anything out in the sun and hot is not cool for me. I like dark, cool places.

[dramasnot6]

I like dark, cool places.

Gyms can be good for that.
Ohh maybe you can take up 80's-style aerobics! XD Actually, I think you'd really enjoy that...or dancing :D Those are fun,indoor exercises.

[papayahed]

ohh or maybe something like yoga or Pilates???

[EmilyBronte]

i dance almost every day. i also work out before dance by doing a really intense ab workout, so i have a strong core that gives me excellent balance, and i lift weights to have a strong upper body that is also toned.

i also go through periods of having the opportunity to do pilates and yoga, which are so much fun! i am not a runner at all, and it actually isnt a good idea for dancers to do a lot of long distance running because it moves muscles in the hip flexors so that you cannot use them as well as you need to for ballet especially.

dance really really makes you strong and fit, because it works all your muscles and not only strengthens you, but provides ample flexibility. i am very flexible.

i want to dance professionally, so i do everything i can physically and nutritionally to make my body an efficient, dancing machine!

[aabbcc]

I'm with Lily, for the most part. :D
Other than dancing, which I used to do for years (I gave up classical ballet when I was 14, after ten years of practice regular practice which in the later years transcended amateur level, because it seemed to be turning into something overly 'professional', which I did not want), I absolutely hate physical... whatever. I am rather 'passive' type, it boarders the impossible to talk me into doing sports, going running, anything other than dancing occassionally, like when we're out, or perhaps yoga - rarely - if I am in some weird mood for it.

Yet, I have no problems with health or weight (in fact I am statistically underweight), physical activities make me dizzy and feel weak after a while, and I detested PE from the bottom of my heart if I did it (but I'd still use every opportunity to cut it, and to chill in nearby bar during that class :D).

It varies from person to person I guess.

[Lily Adams]

Gyms can be good for that.
Ohh maybe you can take up 80's-style aerobics! XD Actually, I think you'd really enjoy that...or dancing :D Those are fun,indoor exercises.

Yeah, I know. That's why I said I'll probably join one.

I dance to my music...hahaha. Not surprising. I am actually taking a "special" P.E. class where we do lots of aerobic tape thingies inside but we haven't been doing those a lot recently...the people on the aerobics tapes make me want to throw up, however. :lol: They look all...plasticy.


ohh or maybe something like yoga or Pilates???

Yep, that's our class...


I'm with Lily, for the most part. :D
Other than dancing, which I used to do for years (I gave up classical ballet when I was 14, after ten years of practice regular practice which in the later years transcended amateur level, because it seemed to be turning into something overly 'professional', which I did not want), I absolutely hate physical... whatever. I am rather 'passive' type, it boarders the impossible to talk me into doing sports, going running, anything other than dancing occassionally, like when we're out, or perhaps yoga - rarely - if I am in some weird mood for it.

Yet, I have no problems with health or weight (in fact I am statistically underweight), physical activities make me dizzy and feel weak after a while, and I detested PE from the bottom of my heart if I did it (but I'd still use every opportunity to cut it, and to chill in nearby bar during that class :D).

It varies from person to person I guess.

Whoah, are we related? I'm a skeleton on the BMI!

Except I would never cut class. :p

[kratsayra]

gyms scare me . . . all those people who look like they know what they are doing on machines I don't understand! :) And all the etiquette. :p The only thing I understand is swimming. I haven't been swimming much this year - I got lazy. Also it started hurting my knees. :eek: The Dr. said it was Patellofemoral syndrome or something, which they didn't offer much help for besides telling me to do exercises to strengthen my legs (which I should really do).

But I truly love swimming. And it doesn't have the problem making you sweaty b/c you are already in the water!

I do yoga too, which is good b/c if I didn't have a class to go to, I'd never do anything. I get so sore from yoga - it's amazing. I barely realize I am doing anything in class and I'm so sore the next day.

I also like bicycling - I've been trying to use it as my primary form of transportation lately. :D

[SleepyWitch]

You know I think I have too. :( I just...ugh. Whatever. There's a lot of factors, I guess. I'm a pansy prissy person who hates being sweaty or sunburned. I also hate tans. So basically anything out in the sun and hot is not cool for me. I like dark, cool places.

try swimming (at an indoors swimming pool, if you don't like being sunburnt).
the cool thing about swimming is that you can do it on your own, you don't sweat (you do but you don't feel it) and it's no strain on the joints (like jogging etc).
I started swimming a couple of years ago and taught myself the proper techniques (breaststroke with your head under water and front crawl). I slowly worked my way up to 3,000 metres a week and when I'm really mad and have nothing better to do I can manage 7 or 8,000 metres in one week. on the other hand, you don't even need to learn how to swim properly if you prefer house-wife style :D

[cranberry]

wow thread mills are my favourites and some rowing excercises ;) COoOOlS and some of you might have mentioned the hot weather ...sure ur darn right
cuz no one cn cope with the very hot weather.

[Dori]

I live in extremes. I play ice hockey on an outside rink in the winter (in below freezing weather). Then in the summer I run track and sweat like a madman. :D

Personally, I like sweat. It keeps me cool. ;)

[kratsayra]

try swimming (at an indoors swimming pool, if you don't like being sunburnt).
the cool thing about swimming is that you can do it on your own, you don't sweat (you do but you don't feel it) and it's no strain on the joints (like jogging etc).
I started swimming a couple of years ago and taught myself the proper techniques (breaststroke with your head under water and front crawl). I slowly worked my way up to 3,000 metres a week and when I'm really mad and have nothing better to do I can manage 7 or 8,000 metres in one week. on the other hand, you don't even need to learn how to swim properly if you prefer house-wife style :D

That's marvelous Sleepy! I really should swim more often. Swimming is a great antidote to anger, isn't it. :p How many days a week do you usually swim?

[SleepyWitch]

That's marvelous Sleepy! I really should swim more often. Swimming is a great antidote to anger, isn't it. :p How many days a week do you usually swim?

I usually go once a week and do 3,000 metres in one go (with loo breaks in between each 1,000 m, though).
last week I was really mad at some univ stuff and went like 4 times and did 7,000 metres all in all, but I can really only do that much when I'm extremely mad or confused. Normally, I'm lazy though and it takes a lot of effort to drag myself to the pool at all.
Now my long term aim is to go once and my own and do 3,000 metres and once with my best friend and do 2,000 metres. :sick:

[papayahed]

So yesterday I decided to go for a bike ride as I left the house I thought "Hmmm It's windy, make sure you go against the wind going out". Between that thought and getting to the trail I was rocking the casbah and completely forgot everything. At the trail I could go left or right. I went right. I hadn't ridden in a few weeks but man I was riding really well, extremely well, I was high fiving myself in my mind. Until I was 30 feet from my turnaround point and I realized the wind was at my back the whole time. It was extremely windy. The whole time back I was cursing my stupidity, the ride back was quite tiring.

[djy78usa]

The best upper body exercise, better than anything with weights or machines, are push ups.

I love push ups too, but my favorite upper body exercise is the pull up or chin up. They're hard to get into if you've never tried, but once you get the hang of them, pull/chin ups are the most complete upper body exercise. You can feel them working just about every muscle from your neck down to your abs, and all you need is a bar.

If your looking for exercises that require little or no equipment, Google Ross Enamait.

[Dori]

I went on a biking rip over the past few days. We went 16 miles yesterday. :D Not to mention all the intermissions we took to climb up various trails on the way.

[papayahed]

Ya know what's annoying? There are these two women in the gym that just kind of walk around and occasionally sit at ajacent machines. It would be ok but generally only one is working out and the other is just kind of sitting there taking up a machine without using it.

[Virgil]

Ya know what's annoying? There are these two women in the gym that just kind of walk around and occasionally sit at ajacent machines. It would be ok but generally only one is working out and the other is just kind of sitting there taking up a machine without using it.

If you need that machine I would just go up and ask, are you using that?

[papayahed]

:blush: I didn't need the machine at the time but they were right next to me!! :blush: (I may possibly be a busybody!:lol: )