Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Conversation >

Exercises

Page: (1)2 3 4 5

All Acting Regiment

10:27 / 20.12.05

So, if you're like me and you're trying to avoid being plumper than Santa by keeping fit, what kind of exercises do you do? And how many? I'm up to a fairly pathetic 21 press-ups per session, with sessions whenever I've got a bit of free time.

What exercises do you do and how frequently?

10:47 / 20.12.05

I cycle 35 miles a day, Mon - Fri (in other words my commute) and a further 30 - 40 miles at the weekend offroad unless it's pissing down in which case I prefer to go climbing (indoors at the local climbing centre). If I can squeeze in another climbing session during the week I will. On top of that I'll do something like 20 - 30 chinups (overhand) every weekday followed by 50 pressups.

To be honest pressups and chinups will do very little to keep the weight off over the holiday - you'd be far better off running or cycling. If you decide to run make sure you get a decent pair of running shoes or you will destroy your feet, and don't do too much too soon. Swimming is also very good for keeping fit and trim.

10:50 / 20.12.05

yeah, I don't do exercises as such - I cycle a fair bit and swim, though I've been lazy for the past week or so.
I did get a programme at the gym and try to follow it but I prefer the cardio - the weights get a bit dull.

10:51 / 20.12.05

I am under doctor's orders to hit the gym as often as possible, on account of I got a bum ticker. This I generally manage five days a week, six if I can swing it. I'd say I'm religious about it, except that lately I've been skipping church more often than I skip the gym.

Monday-Wednesday-Friday is forty minutes cardio workout on the ellipticals. Tuesdays and Thursdays I run 5k on the treadmill. Occasionally, if I have time and/or inclination, I'll do a couple of rounds of leg presses and ab crunches.

If you knew me personally, you would know how hysterically absurd this all is.

10:52 / 20.12.05

I run, and do martial arts. Martial arts is more about flexiblity, co-ordination and dexterity than fitness the way I train. Though I'm sure you could find something else that'll burn fat. PS is right about press-ups good for building strength but not for burning fat.

Thread here about running. Defintely get some good running shoes if you want to start. Swimming has the advantage of being lower impact on your body.

I've just started doing shuttle runs: 10 yards and back, 20 and back, 30 and back, 4 times. Being doing this for a few weeks now, and I can feel that my cardio has gone through the roof.

10:56 / 20.12.05

Wow, that's a pretty impressive schedule, Jack Fear!

And I've seen people doing those shuttle runs, Illmatic - how do they work? i mean, how do they improve your cardio fitness more than just a regular run?

11:09 / 20.12.05

I love running - except at the moment I have achilles tendonitis so taking it easy. Can't even use the rowing machine I bought in place of gym membership. I should however do more than running and rowing, especially exercises for my upper body and abdomen.

Either that or stop drinking alcohol.

11:11 / 20.12.05

I'm crap at exercising on my own with no goal other than the rather less than tangible reward of health benefits - So I find classes or training in some kind of team sport gives me something more concrete to focus on - and it tends to be more fun too...

11:12 / 20.12.05

Brunner, hello!

Yeah, that was why I got the gym programme, because most of what I do is leg-based - and my swimming's not really strong enough to give me a good work out. Especially as my crawl is rubbish and I usually do the breast stroke.

But I am utterly feeble in the gym, I sit there wobbling under the lightest of weights, so it's embarrassing!

11:13 / 20.12.05

Sleaze - classes, yes, team sport, nooooooo (hides in cupboard suffering school flashbacks)

11:18 / 20.12.05

Hello to you Ariadne! I haven't been round for awhile....

I always found at the gym it was best to get a review of what you were doing fairly regularly in order that a) you didn't get bored and b) an instructor could shout at you for being so crap thereby (hopefully) motivating you to try harder! I used to really enjoy it....maybe I'll rejoin!

11:21 / 20.12.05

Team sport....at my school you had to play rugby to have any respect or get the girls. I prefered football so was understandably branded a "gay kiss-and-cuddle loser".

That was in New Zealand though. No wonder I prefer exercising alone!

11:57 / 20.12.05

I'm always impressed by those that can sit and cycle or stand and run for more than 10 minute intervals.

I belong to Bally's Total Fitness Membership - something I regret because a month into going I realized I'm more the rock-climbing/ swimming/ obstacle-course athlete. But that stuff is part of the Lifetime Fitness shop. The equipment at Bally's is better than most, and I prefer free weights to machines. I currently bench 160.

I refuse to use trainers, in that they frighten me a little. The little girl trainers might be nice to work with, but they are hogged by those that very obviously need their help: the severely obese and elderly. I'm terribly impressed by those folks as well. My gym is filled with pretty people.

My current physical problem is what I call man-body: at 25 I started to develop a bit of a tummy and luvhandles. 27 now, and forced to consider how best to diet on my already bird-like eating habits. I suppose I could run or cycle to burn calories and lose weight... but see the above paragraphs. I'd rather be climbing.

14:02 / 20.12.05

I climb, and eat healthily, and cycle to work when the temperatures aren't painfully cold, as they have been the past couple of weeks (the mornings have averaged -5 F... brrr.)

Climbing's the main thing, though. It's dependent upon having a high strength-to-body-weight ratio and I think that the body somehow recognizes that and adapts. Most climbers you'll see are amazingly lean, although of course it's not perfectly clear whether the leanness or the climbing came first. It does definitely promote a specific type of musculature, though.

14:27 / 20.12.05

I used to go down the gym 3-4 times a week, doing a avariety of cardiovascular stuff - mostly treadmills and the crosstrainers - and using the weights machines. Unfortunately I can no longer afford gym membership and the last six months have seen me get increasingly unfit, something that I hope to change in the new year.
I found that that the running was the thing that made the most difference to my overall fitness and general body shape.

20:28 / 20.12.05

I've been doing aikido for a number of years now, though in 2005 I've spent several months off the mat because of some serious injuries (broken hand, followed by a ruptured meniscus and now an infection that may be related to that). I've gotten noticably fatter lately, and I'm thinking of toning down on aikido and adding something that'll give me a bit more of a workout — I'm considering savate, but checking it out will probably have to wait until after the holidays.

21:14 / 20.12.05

I've been going to the gym for about three months now. I try for five days a week, but I average closer to three. I try to do an even split between cardio fitness (elliptical trainer, stairmaster, super circuit, treadmill), weightloss (same as cardio but at a lower speed), and weight lifting (lifting heavy things). As a consequence, I'm on the correct side of 200 lbs. for the first time in years, and I'm beginning to develop shoulders!

On days I can't make it to the gym I try to at least so some basic calisthenics or weight lifting with a barbell set I have at home.

I'll be a skinny 165 or a buff 185 lbs by this time next year!

One thing I had to learn, and I have the chiropractor's bill to prove that I learned it, is go slowly! Don't overdo it! That guy over there who looks like he has the same build as you? The one that just did his 10th rep with 100 lbs barbells? He's been doing it longer. Don't try to imitate him!

02:52 / 21.12.05

exercise can give you cancer...

i cycle to work most days - direct trip is about 5km but i usually do about double that (unless i'm right shagged after a long sqwark, so go home route 1) and ride by the lake in canberra. i also play mixed soccer one night a week and also try to do an hour walk two or three times a week. will have a dog to sit over xmas, so this is good (a 60kg rottweiler should keep me going!)

want to get back into running but probably need a buddy to keep that up, or i get a bit slack. all right, a lot slack. it's summer here now and i'll start again in autumn [aka fall] mebbe.

and stretching is well important. i do yoga and a big stretch most every day - i can't help but stretch something everyday, usually legs and back, if not also shoulders and neck from sitting here tap tapping away...

stretch, barbelith, stretch!

and so, what's your favourite stretch?

mine i think is a big groin stretch where i put one leg out behind me and fold the other across the front and bring my chest down over this front leg. great for groin, glutes and pelvis generally.

09:22 / 21.12.05

Ariadne: I'm not sure as to the why's and where's of shuttle runs, I can just feel that they work. I might have neglected to mention in my post above that you sprint full out while doing them, as fast as possible. I think it's the concentrated exertion, repeated, that builds up your fitness. You're exhausting your reserves (anaerobic?) and your body starts getting used to it, and puts stronger reserves in place, I guess. If anybody can explain that better than me, go for your life.

I might add that I feel like I'm going to puke and die by the end of the fourth set, but it's a feeling I've come to enjoy. It's a weird sensation now, starting out to sprint and not being automatically exhausted!

09:25 / 21.12.05

Interesting article here about interval training though this guy's schedule is too extreme for me (right now)! He makes the point about interval training being a way to build fitness that doesn't consume time in the same way as a long run.

09:27 / 21.12.05

ah yes, I've read about the benefits of interval training. Sounds pretty horrible, though!

pointless & uncalled for

12:37 / 21.12.05

I cycle every day. My commute is 12 miles in the morning and 5 miles home and I usually tag on a couple of miles a day on top doing shopping and visiting friends. At the weekend I get up to 40-80 miles in a day although this is for fun rather than fitness. The health benefits are an added bonus.

Things have been pretty slack of late because of a busy social life and the usual seasonal obligations and I'm really feeling it.

Other than that I walk most places and have a healthy diet. I'm happily avoiding most of the gross indulgence fest that is Christmas.

As far as I'm aware repetition exercises are for toning but you would need something to tone in the first place. I'd recommend cycling because it's practically free, sustainable, excellent exercise and regularly constructive.

12:40 / 21.12.05

My commute is 12 miles in the morning and 5 miles home

Dude, you must live in an Escher drawing or something.

16:31 / 21.12.05

i cycle commute 28 miles a day, throughout the year, and i'm generally quite smug about it. problem is that its now just the standard commute, and while it's always good cardio, its not pushing me enough any more. time to move again.

16:49 / 21.12.05

At the risk of being teased mercilessly...

Charles Atlas.

I first tried the full program about 5-6 years ago, and it worked. My general physical condition improved, and I lost a bit of weight. Then, like with most programs, I got lazy, stopped exercising, and after a while was right back where I started.

Recently, due to ongoing health issues, I started up the program again -- exercising twice daily, watching what I eat, the whole magilla. Two months in and I'm seeing results -- at my lowest weight in the last decade, and it no longer hurts to sit in one position for too long.

This sounds like a paid testimonial, I know, but I feel the need to defend a decision made by exposure to too many comics at a young age.

Red Cross Iodized Salt

18:00 / 21.12.05

I've been cycling to and from work since the transit strike came into effect in NYC on Monday night. It's the first proper exercise* I've had since giving up running five years ago. While I'm pretty sure I still prefer taking the subway, I'm surprised at how easy and quick the cycle has been (although granted, it's only about 8 miles each way) and I am seriously considering buying the bike I have been using (the friend who loaned it to me said he was looking to sell it if I was interested) and making it a regular thing. The only problem is the unfortunate state of my suits after being stuffed in a backpack.

* Helping people move apartment aside. I don't think getting fucked up and dancing all night counts as proper exercise 'cause of all the booze and fags that are also consumed.

20:45 / 21.12.05

Get a decent pannier, Red Cross, or leave your suits at work - you can then just take a shirt. Apparently if you iron it and then rap it in a towel it'll stay in good condition (I haven't actually tried that, I admit).

00:30 / 22.12.05

I do interval training, on the treadmill. Supposedly you burn more calories, obviously when you do the interval & also --this is the supposedly part-- when you drop back down to the lower speed. Who knows if that's true. It's pretty invigorating, though.

Anyway, I do cardio training 4x per week at the gym & strength training and yoga 5x per week at home.

10:17 / 22.12.05

aye, an ortlieb pannier is essential. and for distance cycle commmuters, i'd also recommend dryzone boot dryers. leave them at work, dries your shoes out in no time. scrunched up newspapers no more.

pointless & uncalled for

10:44 / 22.12.05

Dude, you must live in an Escher drawing or something.

I take a roll around Hyde Park every morning.

Tryphena Absent

11:02 / 22.12.05

I might add that I feel like I'm going to puke and die by the end of the fourth set, but it's a feeling I've come to enjoy.

Okay, this is how I remember it:
Basically you're forcing your body into anaerobic breathing, so it's no longer taking in oxygen and lactic acid is building up in your muscles, the more you do this the more stamina you develop because you can push your muscles into breathing for longer. The build up of acid is what's making you feel bad and possibly causing stitches but this is what your body is designed to do in order to keep you alive. It feels bad but it's not bad because it will help you in the long term. I on the other hand wouldn't dream of doing this kind of exercise.

wembley can change in 28 days

11:58 / 22.12.05

Possibly the best weights training sites on the Internet are Toronto-girl Krista's stumptuous.com and the good old ExRx.

Although I haven't been weighting so much lately - I've been rehearsing so much that my training schedule has gone out the window. Often, in the beginning of the rehearsal period, we do hour-long warmups that are fairly strenuous and involve a certain degree of strength training, flexibility, cardiovascular and plain old attention to physical details. Where God is, apparently.

When in training mode, I usually run a couple days a week and swim whenever my feet and legs feel like they've taken a beating. I lift weights (mostly as physio for my knees) and try to do stuff like handstands and cartwheels and what not. I'll do yoga in the mornings if I feel stiff, and on the weekends cut some serious rug on the dancefloor. I am a sweaty, sweaty girl at the club and I just love it, dancing for three hours.

A few, you-are-so-haaaarrrd exercise faves:

Clapping pushups: You heard the lady. Feet and hands in the air, clap your hands while you're up, next pushup. Warm up your wrists first. It's more ab strength than arm strength for this one.

Sit in a V: Oh-so-many variations on this one, legs together or apart, straight and high, low, whatever, as long as your only point of contact with the ground is your butt. If that's easy, now turn 360 degrees.

One-legged squats: I can't, but I will be able to soon.

Upside downs: Cartwheels, handstands, headstands - anything scary involving the balance. Handstand pushups are so not in my range at the moment, but we'll see.

Squat jumps: preferably across a large room, leaping as far as possible, landing as softly as possible. Go backwards. Squat jump turning 180 every time. Sideways. Next day you'll feel all the muscles you never knew you had.

And, well, so on. I got about fifty pages worth of great physical exercises last summer at a particular actor's training workshop in Berlin. By the fifth day I was walking down stairs backwards and had to modify the way I sit down by leaning forwards as far as possible so as to not use my quadriceps so much. It was great.

11:59 / 22.12.05

Feeling like puking is good fun, and appropriate for this time of year, without the damaging effects of booze! I think it's a bit addictive, I'm really enjoying it. What makes me feel awful is the breathlessness, but my recovery times are jumping up hugely.

12:02 / 22.12.05

Crossposted with Wembley there. I've tried clapping push-ups, they are harddddd.

12:29 / 22.12.05

Feet and hands in the air? How does that work?

Page: (1)2 3 4 5