What Are Your Exercise Programs?

[Diamondback]

Does this mean I need to upgrade to .50s or .44 Magnums for my workouts?

Darn, I just got the .45, and that was a huge chunk of a quarter's "discretionary budget"... lol

 

[zaika]

I try to have a variety of songs in my MP3 to use for different workouts. Some of them that have radical shifts in tempo are rather good for speed play. "I am Chewbacca" is one of these - start out with a jog on the verses ("The people here ignore me/the call me scrawny Dan"), then sprint the chorus ("I am CHEWBACCA!/ I am a WOOKIE!/ I fight the EMPIRE!/ I fix the ROBOTS!"), although I'm sure people must wonder why I'm grinning from ear to ear.

i....i think i love you.

lol lol

i must find that song.

as far as my exercise routine...meet w/ trainer (cardio/strength) once a week...swim twice a week...strength training once on my own...whatever outdoor activity i can do on the weekend for fun.

i'm hoping to start training for a triathalon soon.

 

[Diamondback]

Zaika and Mojito, if you're into sci-fi parody tunes and you haven't already, you might like Voltaire's Banned on Vulcan album. (Another of the Horsemen is a Trekkie, so I've been bombarded with that one a lot. About the only piece by that particular artist I've liked is When You're Evil, the driving beat makes good road-music, but I'll give him points for creative satire...)

 

[pgoat]

Well I bet she thought that husky voicemail was attractive!!

Well, my guns arent really getting big, I am just so proud of I can finally see a fraction of definition in them "is that what I think it is or is is just a freak shadow on my arm?!"

kilos may sound better, but bodymeasurements in inches sound a lot better (smaller) than in centimeters!

Yeah, I was channeling various gravel throated actors the last few days...

I'm not so crazy on ladies with Schwarzenegger sized guns, just like to see some definition and tone, as you said. I see Models walking down the block where I work all the time and I get sad imagining them starving themselves (not to mention all the model wannabes - at least the models are getting paid for it). Gimme a little healthy meat on yer bones every time.

 

[Mojito]

Zaika, it is a hoot! It's by DVDA (the South Park boys). I notice that I misquoted it though...it should be "The women here ignore me". A lot of the lyrics are highly inappropriate (no less than you'd expect from the lads), but I do love "I think of my home planet/when I'm in the conference room/I wear a coat and tie/but my heart is filled with gloom"

A lot of the Team America soundtrack is great for workouts - I ran through the red deserts of Western Australia singing along to the theme song (lyrics, of course, not repeatable here), and I think I still have "Montage" tucked away on my MP3 player...probably alongside "Eye of the Tiger". It seems appropriate.

Thanks for the recommendation, Diamondback! I always flit around the edge of SciFi and SciFi parody...and I am fond of naff tunes like "Star Trekking" and "Doctoring the Tardis". At various points both have been part of my workout tracks.

 

[Diamondback]

Thanks for the recommendation, Diamondback! I always flit around the edge of SciFi and SciFi parody...and I am fond of naff tunes like "Star Trekking" and "Doctoring the Tardis". At various points both have been part of my workout tracks.

Auugggh, you had to go and give me a flashback!
"Star Trekking
across the universe
Boldly going forward
'cause we can't find 'Reverse!'"

You owe me so bigtime if I'm ever in Sydney... (Dinner and a Charleston lesson? lol Hey, can you blame a guy for trying? )

 

[zaika]

Zaika, it is a hoot! It's by DVDA (the South Park boys). I notice that I misquoted it though...it should be "The women here ignore me". A lot of the lyrics are highly inappropriate (no less than you'd expect from the lads), but I do love "I think of my home planet/when I'm in the conference room/I wear a coat and tie/but my heart is filled with gloom"

oh yeah...i like them! only heard a few songs...i know what i'll be spending money on tonight. thanks mojito!

 

[adamjaskie]

Nothing too extreme. A reasonably balanced diet (though I don't count calories or get too involved in planning things out, I just eat plenty of veggies and cut back on cholesterol and saturated fat---leaner cuts of meat and less of it, olive oil instead of butter, etc.) and swing dancing. I lost 35 lbs in about six months, and in the year and a half since then I've lost another 20.

 

[Caroline]

always be able to run 3 miles

I have a lifelong goal of always being able to run 3 miles without stopping. It used to be 2 miles, but now I'm fitter so it's 3! I want to be in my 60s and 70s and still doing it. So, I have to keep up on it. Right now I average about 12 miles a week - I'd like to do 20 but that's a far away dream. Running is a great appetite suppressant (for me) so if I want to eat a pie I go for run...

...most of the time

 

[pgoat]

I have a lifelong goal of always being able to run 3 miles without stopping. It used to be 2 miles, but now I'm fitter so it's 3! I want to be in my 60s and 70s and still doing it. So, I have to keep up on it. Right now I average about 12 miles a week - I'd like to do 20 but that's a far away dream. Running is a great appetite suppressant (for me) so if I want to eat a pie I go for run...

...most of the time

I've not run regularly for many years but just my two cents - I found it harder to increase my weekly miles than lengthen my actual runs. I think I always went overboard, adding too much too soon.

As far as going from 2 to 3 miles, my suggestion would be this: Time your 2 mile runs to get an idea of your pace. Then reduce your pace and try to run further. You should require less effort to run and that should help get you through the extra distance. Of course, you'll be out there longer, so it will require that much more hydration and make sure your shoes are in good shape.

For example, I started out doing a fairly flat two mile route with co workers. We went from doing about a 10 or 11 minute-mile pace to about a 9 minute mile for that route over about 6 months.

Then we *Gulp* tried a different route on the next block - only one mile, but very hilly. That dropped our pace back to 10 minute miles or slower. The intensity felt about the same, due to the hill, despite the half distance.

Eventually we combined the two routes for three miles total. The added distance dropped our pace to 10 mins/mile or so but with a few more months, doing 2-3 runs per week, we got it down to 9 minute miles. At that point we were ready for a 5K race (about 3.25 miles). My first one took me about 29 minutes.

Within the next year or so I whittled my pace down to just slower than 8 minute miles for 5ks, but i did about 8.5-9 minute mile pace for a 10k, and 9.5 minute mile pace for longer races like a half marathon. I kept a journal to track my mileage, and found I needed new shoes (regardless of what brand or how much I spent) every 200 miles or my knees hurt. The added longer mileage runs obviously got me there faster and more frequently.

I think the key is to get your body used to the intensity the workouts demand, but you can 'trick' your body by adjusting the distance while easing the pace. It's like weight lifting; you start with 10 pounds and do 6 or 7 repetitions, and add a rep every week until you are doing 15 reps with that same weight. Then you go up in weight, but drop back to 6 reps. To your muscles, 15x10 pounds feels about as intense as 6x12 pounds. But by the time you work up to 15x12 pounds, you're stronger.

Hope that might help - good luck!

 

[pgoat]

also re: the pie...... I know what you mean.

You might wanna invest in a heart rate monitor. They are not too expensive. A decent one can tell you how many calories you burned, so you know what your pie allowance is!

 

[Mojito]

Auugggh, you had to go and give me a flashback!
"Star Trekking
across the universe
Boldly going forward
'cause we can't find 'Reverse!'"

You owe me so bigtime if I'm ever in Sydney... (Dinner and a Charleston lesson? lol Hey, can you blame a guy for trying? )

Oh yes - I do love a silly novelty song! (Unless it's been written as a ring-tone - ugh).

Happy to meet you and go through a few Charleston steps if you get to Sydney! It's a great workout in itself.

Pgoat's advice is great, Caroline - and I think you're taking the ideal approach, looking toward a long lifestyle of running. I'm aiming for the same thing, even if means nursing the biomechanical problems. 5 kms (3.1 miles) is a very handy distance for maintaining fitness, and is a good base if you want to train up for 5km and 10km races. The couch to 5km training program usually takes a month, and you're already well advanced on it.

 

[jayem]

Right now it's being on my feet for up to 12 hours a day at work. Once I wore a pedometer and I walked over 16 miles in one day.

 

[Caroline]

my suggestion would be this: Time your 2 mile runs to get an idea of your pace. Then reduce your pace and try to run further. You should require less effort to run and that should help get you through the extra distance.

For example, I started out doing a fairly flat two mile route with co workers. We went from doing about a 10 or 11 minute-mile pace to about a 9 minute mile for that route over about 6 months.

Then we *Gulp* tried a different route on the next block - only one mile, but very hilly. That dropped our pace back to 10 minute miles or slower. The intensity felt about the same, due to the hill, despite the half distance.

I think the key is to get your body used to the intensity the workouts demand, but you can 'trick' your body by adjusting the distance while easing the pace.

Hope that might help - good luck!

Thank you that is helpful, because right now I do run a rather spaztic 9.5 min mile when I probably should slow down and alter things a bit. I feel like if I just don't get it overwith I'll drop, and then suffer the embarrassments of having to hobble home. Being in better cardio shape is helping though - I can see myself moving into the longer run mode. I've got to be one of the few people on earth who has anxiety when they run ha ha!

Injudiciously perhaps, I entered myself in a 5K for late September. It's the Lowell/Kerouac one. I really want the t-shirt.lol

 

[Darhling]

I am a terrible runner - I am more of a bike person, either I run too fast or too slow, I never could get the breathing under control. But I could sprint down after a pizza right now. Must...Resist, pounds need to stay off.

 

[Smuterella]

hmph - I was just gearing up to start running again when my stupid cervical ribs (its in my back not my cervix people!) started creating numbness all down my left side, so now I can't exercise. i'm seeing an osteopath tomorrow and hopefully he can tell me what exercise I can do. Until tomorrow I have it on Doctors orders that I must be sedentary.

 

[pgoat]

Caroline, you can do it! That must be a good tee shirt - not all are keepers, but the good ones are.

I found that one sure way to keep your pace down to a good, even sensible speed is to run with other folks who are similarly matched to you - and then chat the whole way. You should basically be able to talk with just a little more effort than if you were standing around.

This is very broad/general, of course, but if you can converse as if you weren't running at all, you're going too slow. If you're having trouble getting a sentence out you should slow down. Of course, hills will make this harder, and you can always practice a little kick towards the end of your run or do sprints and intervals, but for the bulk of your training, easy does it and consistency seems to work best.

I tried experimenting with pace when I was running a lot; for instance, one night I was doing a 10K and I felt great, so I decided to be Superman and do the whole 6+ miles at my (faster) 5K pace. It worked fine - for four miles.....let's just say I had to walk most of the last two miles.....what started out as a great run turned out to be one of my slowest 10k times ever.

Finally, anyone who wants running advice would do well to pick up Jeff Galloway's book. It's very comprehensive and good for beginners or experienced runners who want to turn their skills up a notch.

Dang...you gals have me feeling lazy!! soon as this heatwave subsides I'm getting back out there and running again.
I Marshaled a 20 mile bike ride yesterday...people were passing out. I drank several water bottles and poured as many over my head...nasty!! One nice thing about the bike is you get a little breeze.

 

[pgoat]

hmph - I was just gearing up to start running again when my stupid cervical ribs (its in my back not my cervix people!) started creating numbness all down my left side, so now I can't exercise. i'm seeing an osteopath tomorrow and hopefully he can tell me what exercise I can do. Until tomorrow I have it on Doctors orders that I must be sedentary.

That stinks Smtrla. Hope you're feeling better and are up and at 'em again soon!

 

[PSK123]

I don't really have a set exercise routine so to speak, as I simply get tired of it after a while.

The main sports I do (rock climbing, skiing, swimming, kayaking and waterskiing) come and go in phases. One month I'll mainly go climbing, the next month I'll do swimming.

The only thing I do consistently is yoga.

Must get into a routine, but I just find it so dull :eusa_doh:

 

[Mojito]

Ow, Smuterella! That sounds painful. Good thing you've put yourself under a doc's advice...I always go into denial for at least a few days and sometimes longer, with the near inevitable result that the problem does not go away as quickly as it should.

Running is on hold for this week. I have nasty dose of 'flu (real 'flu - not just a bad cold).

Pip, sounds like the variety is working for you if it keeps you from getting bored - and if you have to do one thing consistently, I'd say Yoga was a good choice.