TIME TO GET RRRIIIIIIIPPED!!!!! - the exercise thread

@ZeroEsper push-ups? I started doing daily knee-push-ups a couple of months ago, now I can do reps of 5-10 standard push-ups for the first time in my life, and I've visibly gained muscle in my arms/back/shoulders.

@Aniseed I guess you've considered swimming? I'd suggest cycling, but if the low impact elliptical doesn't work for you, that's not much help. My sister has lots of joint problems and swears by Pilates, though.

 

@Lerxst: my father did have a few of those. The ones he had weren't very strong though. I'm actually not totally weak, so I'm starting out a big above the baseline. Next time I'm out and about I'll see if they have stronger ones, though.

@EulersBidentity: That is a completely reasonable suggestion except I have an unreasonable hatred of push-ups. Although I really should start doing them again because they're definitely good for you and probably if you're working out you should work push-ups in there somewhere.

Thank you both for the advice!
EDIT I just realized I said 'big' instead of 'bit'. Nice, Zero.

 

during the school year i go to the gym 2/3 times a week to pick up heavy things and put them back down. i actually really really like weightlifting, which i didn't expect since i hated gym when i was in school. my favourite exercise is probably deadlifting, my least favourite overhead press. it's very satisfying to see my numbers going up.

now that it's summer i haven't been to the gym at all, but i do bike to work sometimes.

 

@Aniseed - you might look into Callanetics, quite honestly. they're super low-impact and they work your muscles like nobody's business. also, the book I have has an extra section with altered exercises for people who can't do stuff for one reason or another - for instance, I have shit knees, so I can't do kneeling exercises, and the book has suggestions for that stuff. plus, their philosophy is "do what you can and force no more; try to do one more next time" - very low pressure, at your own pace. it's really worth a look, imo.

 

I can't speak to their suitability for anyone with a disability, but these are the core exercises that I do after a run - they don't take very long and don't require any equipment, and a lot of them are the same exercises you'll get assigned if you're in physical therapy for lower back pain. You can scale back the times to your ability level - the guy says to start at 45 seconds, but if you can't do 45 seconds, do 20 or 10 or whatever you can handle. If anyone's interested, I can also talk about getting into running.

 

@ZeroEsper I've seen ones at Academy and Sports Authority that go up to like 100 pounds of resistance. I think the brand is Lifeline. And on a lot of bands, the handles can accommodate multiple bands so if you have two bands that are both a little wimpy for you, you can COMBINE THEIR POWERS. The Lifeline handles can hold up to 3, I think; if you have the kind with the carabiner clip you can basically clip ALL of them on.

 

That sounds very helpful. I really will have to look into these! Thanks for the info!

 

i went swimming yesterday and it reminded me of how tiring i find swimming. i really enjoy it and all, but there's no other exercise that leaves me feeling so drained afterwards. does anyone else have this experience?

 

@budgie I haven't been properly swimming in years, but I think that with swimming it's something that you have to do regularly before that feeling goes away. When I still swam at least twice a week I had that feeling much, much less.

 

Haha, I've been avoiding confronting the issue, but I finally checked today and I've gained 40 pounds since last July. Shit, man. I spent two months losing 25, and all that time after gaining muscle mass and improving my run time, and now I'm edging up on 200 lbs. I guess after getting kicked from the Navy I just lost all motivation to take care of myself. Worst part is how I'm big enough and my hair's long enough that people see I'm a chick right off the bat, and it's really disappointing? God, i don't think girls are supposed to feel like this from being called a lady. And since my mom lost her job, a gym membership isn't really an option. Still, I lost at least 10 lbs the first time around just counting calories and doing bedroom pushup/sit up/plank routines and the occasional 10 minute workout off youtube, so maybe I can repeat the feat? Wish me luck, I guess?

or don't that is fine too

 

@tinyhydra are you familiar with fitocracy? it's a 'gamification' exercise tracker - basically, you get points for the exercises you do, plus there's mini challenges and the like. they also have a bunch of mini routines on there.

also there's a book called you are your own gym, which is really great if you can't get to a gym. there's a whole range of bodyweight exercises in there, plus ways to make them easier/harder depending on your skill level, as well as some multi-week routines. (i'd skip over the non-exercise related parts, personally.)

and good luck!

 

Seconding Fitocracy as being a fun little tool to have on hand - although I'm really bad at tracking workouts, tbh.
It's the warmest day of the year so far where I am, and I've walked nearly 8 miles for fun. Going to flop on the floor for a while and attempt thermoregulation and maybe drink a whole lot of coconut water.

 

As I currently do not have enough core strength and energy to stay vertical for a whole day (and thus wear a back brace when I need to go places), this interests me. Currently I seem to be hovering around 20-30s each. I might put up a chart or something and do them twice a day for a while, see what happens.

 

some hard push-ups to do:


looks silly but feels really good



suffering. i've only done one superman pushup in my entire life LMAO

this is good advice for all exercise in general

 

So I've never heard of superman pushups, and I watched this, and I thought "hey, this looks like a thing worth trying," and I got on the floor and tried to do one and NOPITY NOPE NOPE NOPE

 

@Lerxst yeah don't push yourself on those, you really could crack your back or something ;; the only reason i did it at first was because two guys were calling me a b*tch and a p*ssy if i didn't do it lol. thanks society

 

Related: I have never been able to do pull-ups. I have never been able to run a mile in a non-ridiculous amount of time. Neither of these significantly changes with cultivation: my college had an exercise machine that did "assisted pull-ups" (i.e. you were sitting on a hinged bench that was counterweighted by a bunch of blocks so that the effective weight you had to pull up was less) and I had to counterbalance half my weight before I was able to move myself that way. And in high school I did a lot of running during the swimming off-season.

I did a lot of swimming throughout my childhood, which was better but still not amazing, insofar as I was one of the most diligent swimmers on the team (I never missed a practice) but was always still the slowest.

I should ask to see if physical therapy is covered under my health insurance.

 

Doing half your weight is impressive to me! I can only pull up like a little over 3/4 of my weight. My legs are strong, but my arms are just weak spaghetti.