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

They joined me yesterday, and it went pretty well! We didn't get competitive, we did our own things, and I think we all did well.

 

They've come with me each time for a few weeks, and it's going great! We're getting along and also pushing each other a little bit.

 

i've started running recently! i was on the cross country and track teams in high school, but i haven't run in over a decade... i walk and bike a lot, though, so my leg muscles are pretty strong. so i'm in a weird position where my muscles are up to far more than my stamina levels allow. i ran about 3/4 of a mile yesterday and i felt exhausted afterward, but my legs don't feel any stiffness or soreness at all today. i'm hoping to build that stamina up more so i can actually get a workout in my legs eventually.

really it just feels silly to spend three times as long stretching as actually running-- yesterday i stretched for 10 minutes, ran for 7, and then stretched for another 10 afterward, lol.

 

My employer is covering a big chunk of a gym membership, so my wife and I have been going, and hiring a personal trainer once a week. Improvement is happening.

 

I've found a good walking route from my house, sticking to the small parks and canal nature-y areas and avoiding any big roads or any signal crossings... which is pretty impressive considering i'm also a one mile walk from either of the city center major train stations. The one i've been going on is a mile out and back and has been taking me about 20 minutes to walk when I put some effort into it, so I'm making it to 3mph walking.. i've mapped out how much further to go to make it a mile and a half or so, so I can get to 30 minutes of exercise, since at the moment i'm sorta just trying to get active enough to be hitting the 30 minutes 5 times a week baseline goal instead of getting too ripped

my long game goal is basically git gud at hiking and such, I can get out to the peak district pretty easily and am trying to do that more often. ii'm curious and it's something that's hard to google.. would working on taking up running help with stamina for hiking/walking longer times/distances? or is just, walking long distances my best bet for actually getting good at that.

 

Hope it turns out to work well enough to be worth it!

 

people who know more about weightlifting than me: do the towels in this actually do anything? is it any different than just holding the dumbbells in the same position?

 

I don't know much about weightlifting, but I do know quite a bit about hand and arm ergonomics, and the towels would change the way your wrist & stabilizing muscles would handle that same amount of weight. There would be less stabilizing action needed at the top of the lift, using the towels, because you don't have part of the weight coming up and over where you're gripping it. Whether that's good or bad for any particular lifting goals is outside my scope of knowledge, though.

 

If your grip is more stable you're expending less energy keeping the weight where it's supposed to be for the exercise, and can keep correct form longer and therfore do the exercises better.

 

Ah that makes sense. For me, most of my PT/OT has heavily involved strengthening various stabilizers, but I can see how if you're trying to work on other muscles, taking that out of the equation would free up the energy and focus.

 

All I can see is it looks like a really good way to drop the weight on your foot, the way he's got those towels tied. I'd want a firmer attachment.

 

it's supposed to be for a forearm workout, but the website i got it from doesn't say which specific muscles it's meant to target. and yeah, i was worried about dropping it which is why i didn't try it immediately!

 

From personal experience, yes it would help very much, even if you took up sprinting specifically. The one caveat that I’ve found is that running on a flat surface does not entirely prepare me for walking up slopes. It still helps a great deal, but the muscle usage is just different and intense enough to make it not feel the same kind of easy and comfortable. Walking or running on slopes or on a treadmill that lets me adjust the grade does wonders though.

 

@theambernerd Oh, it occurs to me that it will make a difference if you plan to be carrying gear when hiking. A proper pack from a sporting goods place would probably help. I don’t do a lot of hiking myself, but I have a vague notion that those things are not as complicated as buying a bra, but still may require some testing for fit and comfort? In any case, the extra weight will make a difference. So will heavy boots, if you don’t normally wear them. I doubt it will be an insurmountable hindrance, but it might be an unpleasant surprise if you’re not expecting it.

(Don’t start an exercise program of running regularly in heavy boots if you’re not used to running unless you have a professional trainer helping you out, even the military thinks this is a bad idea. If you need to rest, try not to sit unless you’re planning to stay there, because if your muscles cool down too much it won’t be fun. Keep yourself moving at least a bit until you’re ready to actually stop. Stretch your legs gently when you’re done. Don’t take off your shoes if you’re gonna need to put them back on again anytime soon unless you’re straightening your sock or removing a pebble or something, especially if you think you may have blisters, or it will be even less pleasant. Running shoes are important and need to be properly fitted. Athletic socks are worth every bit of the extra cost. If you start getting a stitch in your side while running, try changing which foot is hitting the ground when you finish an exhale and see if it helps any. Keep breathing as deeply as possible when it hurts to move your diaphragm, it’ll pass and you may get a runner’s high in compensation. If you start getting cramps in large muscle groups in your legs where it wants to tighten up and it’s hard to make it unclench, you may be low on electrolytes and should stop exercising and get a sports drink or at least a banana asap, then a proper meal.)

 

Went swimming for the first time in years! Didn't realise how much I missed it, and I'm still pretty good. If I can sort out budget and timing I might add it as a regular thing to my exercise routine.

 

I can feel my pecs flex now ^_^ I still have boobs so I can't SEE it, but I know I'm doing it, which is good.

 

I've decided to go to the gym every day (barring migraine days ofc)

I don't push myself especially hard, the goal is to turn it into an innate part of my routine since aiming for 2-3 times a week is too much irregularity for my poor adhd brain to handle

so far I've done one week, so fingers crossed that I keep it up!