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

A nice place for us to discuss the gym, physical therapy, running, swimming and all that good stuff (at whatever level we're capable of and comfortable with!!). Encouragement, rambles, commiserations and whatever else, all is welcome :)



*swole*

 

Cool :) it's a small thing, but it's better than nothing- I've been going up and down 3 flights of steps every day for the past 4 days to get to class, and I'm going to do that basically all summer

 

Last year I did a couple months of PT at the local hospital for the minor not-supposed-to-be-there curve in my spine. It felt really good! Exercise has always been a Very Special Hell for me, since I'm made of noodles and have lung/heart problems, but this left me pleasantly sweaty and tired but not feeling like I needed a mercy kill. I remember most of the exercises, but haven't been able to keep up with them since they require lying down and I have a bunk bed so I keep smacking my hands on the empty bunk above me.

Does anyone have recs for PT(-style?) exercises for other body parts? I could use some extra limb strength but normal exercises for them leave me feeling spectacularly shitty.

 

Pleasantly sweaty sounds nice haha- I always hated gym class so much but that was like my only source of real excercise, and that made me sort of hate it. @Lazarae idk what is available to you, but have you thought about taking up taekwondo? It's generally not a very intensive thing, sparring was the only thing that ever even left me out of breath, but over time it definitely helps tone your muscles, and really helps with flexibility. Other than that, have you thought about getting some resistance bands or small weights? Doing arm curls or lifts or such with either of those is a good way to build some arm strength. Sorry I know nothing about PT or what would be considered PT style :')

 

i started running in the fall, using the First Day to 5K playlist here. I almost got through it - made it to week 8, I think? and then it got frickin' cold, plus I moved cities and wasn't as comfortable running outside. i also did a nosedive into a depressive episode.

i did a couple runs of quick-intervals over the winter, and liked those a lot better. I am hoping to get back to running once this big work project is done. otherwise it's too many things on the brain at once.

another thing i do off and on (and should do regularly) is Callanetics. they're deep-muscle exercises (born of ballet/yoga/Pilates) that are not high-impact, but are quite high-intensity. my mom introduced me to them when i was in high school. they really do work - they do wonders. the book i have is old, from the 80s, and i think some of the exercises have been updated, but they still work. the whole workout is an hour long and is hard. when i'm starting out again i usually do it in blocks by muscle group (legs, tummy, butt) until i can do the whole thing in one go.

 

I wonder if there is any way to make aerobic exercise not the most mind-blowingly boring thing on planet earth. I like hydro and LOVE swimming, but gyms with pools here are so rare and expensive... and while i guess 45 minutes 3x a week is better than sitting on my ass all day, it's still not... nice. cause i cant swim like i want and stuff.
I like *bro voice* lifting, but my muscles are weak and the gym dudes keep bitching about cardio, and i can make *maybe* 3 and a half full abdominals before feeling like i need to throw up.

 

Once we get our shit together from moving, I'll be riding my bike to work. I hope to make progress in getting rid of middle-aged man gut.

 

Ugh I dunno- stepaerobics class? Kind of fun-ish, it makes you think at least. Or kickboxing for cardio? Kickboxing is pretty fun. I have completely forgotten what's aerobic and what's anaerobic at this point.

I wish I had a biiiiiike :c mine got stolen and I have nowhere to ride anymore anyway, so until I move somewhere else it's probably really not worth it to look at new ones.

 

I tried those "FUN FRIENDLY HIGH ENERGY LOW IMPACT JUMPING WITH MUSIC!! :DDDD" classes ages ago, but left wheezing blood murder. everybody was too energetic and happy, and it pissed me off. No, lady, i've just been slapped in the face by my own boob and probably will not catch my breath ever again, i will absolutely not have a "FUN, SUN BLESSED WEEKEND :D:D:D:D:D:D"
kickboxing sounds nice, tho.

 

i quite enjoyed playing DDR on the super-intense difficulties. XD aerobics but not kill-you-with-bouncing aerobics.

 

I used to HATE exercise, but now I absolutely love it, and I'm feeling so much better!

I'm taking private training (which is expensive as fuck, but it was something my ex-husband had paid for a long time ago and I'll be damned if I'm going to let that expire and go to waste) and I've just discovered rowing. I love it - it's so oddly relaxing just doing it, and of course it's great cardio. My arm muscles are so nicely formed now! Except my shoulders have grown a little and I can't wear certain shirts anymore. Oh well. Makes me think that when I've used up all my lessons it would actually be fun to row IRL, but I have an inkling that's a rich kid's hobby in this country and so might be prohibitively expensive.

When I go back to NL for holidaying I'll be riding my bike again. :D You can bet I'm definitely going on a few trips into the dunes.

For the rest I walk a lot. I'm thinking of taking up running as I'm starting to become restless. Love swimming, but pools are hard to get by, and I get a little anxious with all the other swimmers and my shoddy technique.

Squats are life! And weights too. Easy to do and really good for strengthening all those muscles. I can almost do a full pull-up.

I've been writing down and drawing all the exercises I do with my private instructor so that when the lessons run out I can do a lot of these by myself.

 

i hate doing exercise things, but today i went swimming and then had to climb up a ravine to get out, and it was really fun! (attached photo)
(I mean, the brief second of terror when i nearly shook hands with a spider was negligible)

I think I mostly hate doing repetitive things. I like hiking and climbing and fighting, because it involves a lot of thinking for me, but when i have to do, like, weights or something... :/

I am also a very bad swimmer. I think I try to do the otter swim when the bear swim might work better.

 

My goal is to become super bara but I've not got tons of energy and motivation to work out. And usually when I make it to the gym I mostly do cardio, because gym rats hog the equipment.
But I'd like to bulk up in the muscle department, yeah.

 

I love Iyengar yoga because of its very measured movements, which has improved my balance and spatial awareness. Other than that I do some dumbbell reps (10kg) everyday. Cardio sets off my rosacea so I'm avoiding it until I can get that under control.

Ah I also walk a mile and a half daily but that's to work so I don't really consider it exercise for some reason.

 

PILATES

ugh ugh ugh

basically it's the only thing I've managed to do more than once or twice, and I've been doing it since february. of course you never win pilates, you just fail less. and then she tells you to add this new thing and then you fail more. so it's bit of a trudge and sometimes I really hate it, but I feel good afterwards for struggling.

it's made my spine less curvy and I have muscles in my core now. aw yiss.

I wish I could become a muscle monster because dang, but needs more dedication.

I also enjoyed running when I did it, even with my giant boobs and jiggling belly fat. idk. if only I wasn't so lazy, dang.

walking! walking is good! never let anyone tell you it doesn't count!

 

I'm just gonna leave this link to Skimble Workout Trainer on the Google Play store here. I think there is an iOS version but can't remember off the top of my head. Got access to loads of weights and shit but don't really know what to do with them other than pick them up? Only have some dumbbells? Only feel like working out for ~5 minutes? Want to schedule your workouts in advance? Don't want to schedule shit, just want to wake up and go "I wanna work on (insert part here) today"? Need to find workouts you can do sitting down? It's got you covered.

It is free, but if you have $20 a year for a Pro subscription it unlocks more workouts and better-sounding robot trainers and does some other stuff and is very much worth it. Also some of the robot trainers sound a little like GLaDOS and I detected sarcasm quotes when one of them told me I would feel the "satisfaction" of a given exercise the next day.

 

i actually really need to lose weight and really want to get kind of buff.. i'm just not sure what to do really, because i have a bad leg/knee in the first place and having too much weight on it is making it worse, but it simultaneously causes me a lot of issues exercising. i can't do a regular eliptical for example because it feels like my knee/hip is going to dislocate if i do it for longer than 5 minutes.

 

I'm trying to get a membership to the gym right now, but three months is like 300 dollars. At the same time I really, really do wanna build up my arm muscles, but we don't own the equipment to do it. I wanna be strong so badly :c

 

@ZeroEsper Have you considered resistance bands/tubes? They can be used in lots of different ways, take up basically zero room when you're not using them, and aren't terribly expensive--I think you can get a decent starter set of several bands + handles + the thingy that you close in a door and run a band through so you can kind of simulate pull-up motions for like $25-30 at your local sporting goods store or on Amazon.