The Official Exercise/Fitness Thread v. Run Forest, Run!

[wolfking]

Still, I prefer runner's stretch (even though I can't go nearly as low as that young lady).

Me too... I can get my elbow about 60% of the way down.

I would put a Tool, Stinkfist reference in right here, but there's no point. 

 

Stretching?!  Pffft.....

Wait until you get old, man. You won't be laughing then.

I could have bet my life savings that comment was coming haha.  Nah, I was being sarcastic, even me if I don't do a good foam roll and stretch every second day, my legs lock up like the Tinman.  I need to do more of it, but just hate doing it.  Although with my running increasing I have no choice, it's a must.

[wolfking]

Stretching is great. If you don't have one, pick yourself a good foam roller and a tennis ball as well. Really roll out them super tight spots. Hurts so good (c'mon baby, make it hurt so good)

Oh yeah... foam rollers are gloriously evil.

A necessary evil.

[wolfking]

4km swim yesterday and 11km run today.  I'm fucked.

[The Walrus]

More diet related, but I'm proud of myself. Family went to Texas Roadhouse yesterday. Everybody got a steak, except me. I got grilled salmon and a caesar salad and felt absolutely fantastic after the meal. Then I did some cardio. Treated myself to a vodka+diet 7-up afterwards 

[jingle.boy]

Wrecked my back a bit on Friday.  Was doing single-leg RDL, with 30lb dumbbells.  The weight wasn't the issue - I've done that lift before.  But in one movement, I somewhat lost my balance, and in trying to stay on my feet, tweaked something in my lower back.  Not terrible, but I've got the odd shooting pain down both hips and my outer quads.  Between that and usual DOMS, I think I'm on the shelf until at least tomorrow or Tuesday.  Won't be doing that movement again

[ReaperKK]

Stretching is great. If you don't have one, pick yourself a good foam roller and a tennis ball as well. Really roll out them super tight spots. Hurts so good (c'mon baby, make it hurt so good)

I'll use tennis balls to roll out my neck and shoulders and it's fantastic.

[wolfking]

Wrecked my back a bit on Friday.  Was doing single-leg RDL, with 30lb dumbbells.  The weight wasn't the issue - I've done that lift before.  But in one movement, I somewhat lost my balance, and in trying to stay on my feet, tweaked something in my lower back.  Not terrible, but I've got the odd shooting pain down both hips and my outer quads.  Between that and usual DOMS, I think I'm on the shelf until at least tomorrow or Tuesday.  Won't be doing that movement again

Ouch dude.  Yeah, maybe rest up til it subsides.  Don't want to fuck around with lower back shit.

[cramx3]

4km swim yesterday and 11km run today.  I'm fucked.

damn 

Wrecked my back a bit on Friday.  Was doing single-leg RDL, with 30lb dumbbells.  The weight wasn't the issue - I've done that lift before.  But in one movement, I somewhat lost my balance, and in trying to stay on my feet, tweaked something in my lower back.  Not terrible, but I've got the odd shooting pain down both hips and my outer quads.  Between that and usual DOMS, I think I'm on the shelf until at least tomorrow or Tuesday.  Won't be doing that movement again

Ouch dude.  Yeah, maybe rest up til it subsides.  Don't want to fuck around with lower back shit.

Yea get well Chad, I wouldn't want to risk hurting the back any further.

Did a 14 mile bike ride and 100 sit ups this morning, much needed after two days of not quite good workouts but good eats.  No set backs or anything though, was at 189lbs this morning and kept my belt at that last latch all last week (instead of fluctuating as it had been recently).  Also got new gym/pajama shorts as all my old pairs just fall down to my ankles now. 

[SchecterShredder]

I took up xc skiing this year (classic style). I needed something to keep my cycling fitness while i was recovering from vasectomy surgery. There's a massive 40 acre ravine and park about a 30 second walk down the alley from my house, and it's full of xc ski  and mtb single track trails. I've absolutely fallen in love with the sport! It's nowhere near as devastating on my legs as mountain biking, but my heart rate is jacked the whole time. The only downside, if you can actually call it a downside, is now i have to choose between skiing and cycling.

[jingle.boy]

My back is already on the mend... just feeling like general DOMS/soreness this morning.  Been using a heating pad to keep it loose.  I'll take today off (maybe just get on the bike) and maybe tomorrow too.  Try to get back at it on Wednesday - which I'll really need since it was wings/pizza/booze yesterday.

[Northern Lion]

I thought I'd give everyone here an update.  After beginning my excersize routine, I began having pain in my leg muscles and joints just about every weekend.  So I decided to hold off for a bit until I could find out what was wrong.

I've had this kind of pain before, but it usually only happened once every few months or years.  I went to the doc about it and after some blood work and X-rays to check for arthritis, they all came up negative.  My doctor encouraged me to keep jogging until we could pin point the problem.

So this week I'm starting back up again.  I really missed it and have really enjoyed jogging.  And I really want to achive my goal.

[wolfking]

I thought I'd give everyone here an update.  After beginning my excersize routine, I began having pain in my leg muscles and joints just about every weekend.  So I decided to hold off for a bit until I could find out what was wrong.

I've had this kind of pain before, but it usually only happened once every few months or years.  I went to the doc about it and after some blood work and X-rays to check for arthritis, they all came up negative.  My doctor encouraged me to keep jogging until we could pin point the problem.

So this week I'm starting back up again.  I really missed it and have really enjoyed jogging.  And I really want to achive my goal.

Have you tried basic stretching and trigger pointing mate?  Chronic tight muscles can cause a wide range of issues one would never think of.

[TAC]

Drinking enough water I assume too.

[Northern Lion]

Yes, I stretch well before I run, and I walk for a little bit to cool down after I'm finished.  And I do drink plenty of water.  That is at least one health habit I have kept over the years.

I always feel just fine after I run.  No cramping, no overly sore muscles, my joints don't ache... nothing.  It doesn't catch up to me until several days have gone by.  That's why my doctor initially thought it was arthritis.

I'll admit, it's been a little discouraging.

[wolfking]

Yes, I stretch well before I run, and I walk for a little bit to cool down after I'm finished.  And I do drink plenty of water.  That is at least one health habit I have kept over the years.

I always feel just fine after I run.  No cramping, no overly sore muscles, my joints don't ache... nothing.  It doesn't catch up to me until several days have gone by.  That's why my doctor initially thought it was arthritis.

I'll admit, it's been a little discouraging.

Sounds like something pretty normal mate.  It's normal for muscles to ache and get sore when doing regular exercise.  DOMS is real too (delayed onset muscle soreness). 

Stretch and roll after a big run too, not just before.

[Northern Lion]

Yes, I stretch well before I run, and I walk for a little bit to cool down after I'm finished.  And I do drink plenty of water.  That is at least one health habit I have kept over the years.

I always feel just fine after I run.  No cramping, no overly sore muscles, my joints don't ache... nothing.  It doesn't catch up to me until several days have gone by.  That's why my doctor initially thought it was arthritis.

I'll admit, it's been a little discouraging.

Sounds like something pretty normal mate.  It's normal for muscles to ache and get sore when doing regular exercise.  DOMS is real too (delayed onset muscle soreness). 

Stretch and roll after a big run too, not just before.

Huh, I've never heard of that before.  I never used to stretch twice when I was younger, but I guess now that I'm older I may need to start doing that.

But this doesn't feel like the achy sore muscles from working out type of thing.  I like that feeling, it's quite a bit more intense than that.  I can't even get out of bed.  Luckily I work from home most days.

[Northern Lion]

I reached a new mile stone today.  I was able to jog an entire block!  Not only that, but when I stopped I felt like I could have kept going.  That is a first for me and it made me really excited.  And I was listening to Megadeth's Post American World when I did it  .

Next week I will be able to begin jogging at the cemetery.

And I'm considering trying intermittent fasting.  I was wondering if any of you have had experience with this and if so what did you learn?

[Podaar]

How's the pain, Brother Lion? Has it subsided? I was meaning to post about that last weekend, but I got a bit busy and forgot? I can get joint pain (right hip, left knee) if I walk/hike/jog/run on hard surfaces and don't do it correctly. In my early fifties I adopted the "zero drop" principle for cardio and all but eliminated the joint pain. I wonder, would something similar work for you?

Congrats on your milestone! Push ahead, brave soldier.

As for intermittent fasting, it's pretty simple and I do it a couple of times per week (usually, Tuesday and Thursday). After dinner the night before (preferably no later than 7:00 pm), only drink water and don't snack! When you get up the following morning, only drink water or black coffee/tea. Don't eat anything until about 1:00 pm. When you do eat, have a light lunch, a small snack a few hours later and a moderate sized healthy dinner.

One way folks ruin the positive effects of IF is by over eating before and after. Guard against that and you should feel pretty good doing it.

[Northern Lion]

How's the pain, Brother Lion? Has it subsided? I was meaning to post about that last weekend, but I got a bit busy and forgot? I can get joint pain (right hip, left knee) if I walk/hike/jog/run on hard surfaces and don't do it correctly. In my early fifties I adopted the "zero drop" principle for cardio and all but eliminated the joint pain. I wonder, would something similar work for you?

Congrats on your milestone! Push ahead, brave soldier.

As for intermittent fasting, it's pretty simple and I do it a couple of times per week (usually, Tuesday and Thursday). After dinner the night before (preferably no later than 7:00 pm), only drink water and don't snack! When you get up the following morning, only drink water or black coffee/tea. Don't eat anything until about 1:00 pm. When you do eat, have a light lunch, a small snack a few hours later and a moderate sized healthy dinner.

One way folks ruin the positive effects of IF is by over eating before and after. Guard against that and you should feel pretty good doing it.

Thanks for the advice and support Podaar, it means a lot  .

I haven't had any pain the last 2 weeks, so I'm doing pretty good right now.  I had some more blood work done and it still came up negative.  I like jogging outside, but if it doesn't get any better I may need to invest in an excersize bike or elliptical.  And maybe all it is, is my body getting used to exercising again after many years of not doing it.

Either way,  I'm not going to stop jogging if it comes back.  I don't want anything getting in the way of me achieving my goals.

[jingle.boy]

I've done IF a few times over the past decade (and I know wolfking has as well).  I went on a 10am-6pm schedule as the jingle.family ate dinner around 5:30 when my kids were younger.  The only benefit I found really was that I was consciously just curbing unnecessary calories at night, and keeping my water consumption pretty high - satiating myself thru water.  Studies will point out to the benefits or perils of IF.  I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but I never saw any noticeable difference by simply controlling the "when" aspect of my caloric intake.  IMO, the biggest thing that matters is cals in vs cals out.  I never found that 200-300 calories before 6pm or after 8pm hurt or helped me any differently.  Cutting those cals out completely is what helped.

So, IF in the context of simply eliminating those cals is the benefit I found.  If you simply move those cals to your IF period, you're still consuming the same amount of cals.

I dunno... that's just me.

[Podaar]

Good points, Chad. I was kinda saying the same thing but just not as well as you did.

For me, personally, the benefit of IF is practicing will power. Learning that a little hunger pang isn't the end of the world or a call to gluttony. I enjoy reminding my cravings who's in charge and that many times a glass of water is as effective as a box of Hostess O's.

[jingle.boy]

I once heard a saying (which, I doubt is true), but the feeling of hunger is the feeling of calories being burned.  That's what I would tell myself when I was on my weight-loss journey.

[TAC]

Doesn't intermittent fasting just confuse your body and keeps it guessing when it will get fed again. My understanding is that your body will start storing stuff because of it.

I thought skipping meals, which intermittent fasting appears to be, was the worst thing you could do.

[Podaar]

I've not heard that before, Tim... and it sounds a bit off to me. The worst thing you can do is consume more calories than you can possibly burn off. A twelve to fourteen hour fast isn't really that much longer than getting a good night's rest. Plus, it's called intermittent because it's not a regular thing.

[TAC]

Isn't breakfast the most important meal of the day as it is the one that kickstarts your body's daily functions, digestive and otherwise?

[TAC]

Gregg, I've honestly never heard of intermittent fasting, but I did just read an article about it.

https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/intermittent-fasting-tips#1

I mean, I'm sure there's a million articles, right? This one talks about a feeding window of 12 hours. I mean, that makes sense. 6am-6pm or something like that. It does say to not skip breakfast.


My understanding was that you should never keep your body guessing. If you train it long term, that makes for sense.

[Northern Lion]

I've done IF a few times over the past decade (and I know wolfking has as well).  I went on a 10am-6pm schedule as the jingle.family ate dinner around 5:30 when my kids were younger.  The only benefit I found really was that I was consciously just curbing unnecessary calories at night, and keeping my water consumption pretty high - satiating myself thru water.  Studies will point out to the benefits or perils of IF.  I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but I never saw any noticeable difference by simply controlling the "when" aspect of my caloric intake.  IMO, the biggest thing that matters is cals in vs cals out.  I never found that 200-300 calories before 6pm or after 8pm hurt or helped me any differently.  Cutting those cals out completely is what helped.

So, IF in the context of simply eliminating those cals is the benefit I found.  If you simply move those cals to your IF period, you're still consuming the same amount of cals.

I dunno... that's just me.

That's what I'm thinking in my head.  I'm hoping that if my eating window is less, then my total calories will be less also.  I do a lot of snacking at night so this would help me curb that.  At least, that's what I hope.  But I really don't know that much about it and need to do more research.

[jingle.boy]

Just remember .... the body often confuses the feeling of hunger and the feeling of thirst.  Drink more water at night, and in the morning.

[gmillerdrake]

Running a Trail Half Marathon this sunday....it's a race I've ran every spring since 2012. It's called the 'Quivering Quads' because the State Park it's ran in (Quiver River) is nothing but hills.

Every year while I'm running it I think to myself 'Why the  am I doing this?'.....but then, when I finish the race I'm always glad I did. Weather is looking nice for the week and this weekend so it should be a good one

[jingle.boy]

God I hate running.   

[TAC]

Sounds brutal.

[cramx3]

God I hate running.   

Me too, my knees and ankles aren't the best thanks to genetics which is why I use a bike for my cardio.  But that's awesome Gary to keep at it again, and of course that feeling of completing something challenging is great.

As for intermittent fasting, I've been doing that Monday - Thursday at work which is really fairly simple for me to control.  I hold off lunch or any food until at least 2pm, sometimes pushing it out further if I don't actually feel hungry come 2pm and then usually have dinner around 9pm with maybe a snack afterwards if I'm still feeling hungry by 10pm and my daily intake is around 1-1.5k calories on these days with a 15-20 minute bike ride at night.  I really really struggle with sleeping on an empty stomach but I find these ~100-150 calorie fiber one bars really help curb my hunger for a late night snack and they aren't too bad for you.

[gmillerdrake]

But that's awesome Gary to keep at it again, and of course that feeling of completing something challenging is great.

This is the addicting part. As I age, the running is just getting to be more hard on my body.....but oddly, I enjoy running. But my mileage has decreased over the past year or so.....I used to run 4 or 5 days a week.....5 miles a pop. Nowday's I'm 2-3 times a week and the loop I do is a hair over 4.5 miles.

So, this sunday will be the first time I've ran over 4.5 miles since I ran this race last spring    while I like running, I don't like training for long races. I've ran enough of them to know that no matter what your body/legs at some point tell you 'I'm done'.....and that's when the real battle starts. I can handle that part....and that's where the text I bolded in your quote above comes in

[Podaar]

Thanks for the article, Tim. It was interesting, but didn't really say much different from what I wrote to Brother Lion...except, perhaps that I have the occasional "eating window" compressed a bit too much. I'll keep that in mind going forward.

I think what is important is that we each develop healthy eating habits in the way that works best us as individuals. My posts aren't meant to be, nor should they be, seen as authoritative. It's simply what has worked best for me and I'm sharing in the spirit of giving and receiving support. I have no interest in convincing anyone of anything, really.

@Gary. Excellent work, my brotha! Do you try to run with "zero drop" or the "barefoot" method? What are your thoughts on the possible benefit to lessening impact damage to your sexy self?

[wolfking]

Gregg, I've honestly never heard of intermittent fasting, but I did just read an article about it.

https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/intermittent-fasting-tips#1

I mean, I'm sure there's a million articles, right? This one talks about a feeding window of 12 hours. I mean, that makes sense. 6am-6pm or something like that. It does say to not skip breakfast.


My understanding was that you should never keep your body guessing. If you train it long term, that makes for sense.

If anything, I like to keep my body guessing all the time.  Some days if I start at 5am I won't eat until 12pm and have a IF day.  Today, I'm at home and just had bacon and eggs for breakfast at 7:30am.  With years of weight loss and training, I've discovered that people try and use things like IF, even some fad types of eating (even though I'm practicing semi keto) as a bit of a clutch or quick fix without knowing the true meaning of why they are unfit and overweight. 

One needs to really look at themselves with what they eat and how they train.  A fad diet or IF isn't going to magically make people lose weight get in shape and stay that way.  But people want to lie to themselves and make excuses.  From trying so many different things, it's really as Chad said, calories in and out.  How you do that is up to you and things like IF help just so you can compound more calories in one or two sittings.  On Saturdays and Sundays, I still don't eat until 5pm.  Maybe a coffee in the arvo, but that means I can eat more what I want in a big eating session, have a cheat, some ice cream, a donut, feel full and satisfied without going thousands of calories over.

So, IF isn't some magic trick, it's just a tool to help control how many calories are eaten in a day IMO.  Yes, there's research about fasting does things to you blood etc. etc. but I don't really read a lot into that.

Breakfast means 'break fast' also, so technically, if I haven't eaten and my first meal is a 5pm, that's breakfast.  Don't be fooled by what the mainstream media tells us about 3 meals a day and all the shit.  As Podaar said, you have do what works for you.  It takes years to really learn and find what works also from my experience.