OT: Fitness

[MrVegas]

Crossfit. Google/map it, go to one of the free or introductory classes. Crossfit gyms are everywhere. Everything in a group and led/supervised by a trainer. Started this in Sept and fitness-wise it's been transformational.

 

So I just googled it and there is one about 20 minutes from my house. I thought it looked sort do-able until I saw people climing ropes and doing iron crosses on the rings. That part reminded me of when I was scared to go to gym class in high school.

[Iconoclast]

Don't let it scare you. That's part of what I love about it is doing all this stuff I would have otherwise been afraid to do.

 

No one expects you to be doing insane ring stuff on day 1. I'm still pretty much limited to dips on the rings.

 

Go try it out. I'm not sayin' it ain't gonna hurt. But it won't kill you, I promise.

[Outkaster]

Watch out for crossfit. Those guys act like they are in a cult. It's ok for the general population but may not be focused enough for everyone, especially if you are doing very specific sports.

[Iconoclast]

Don't be hatin' on cross fit. As the name implies, it's specifically NOT focused on repeating the same motions.

 

Crossfit has a very loose affiliation so each gym can be very different. Some aren't as good at handling beginners. I travel a lot so I've been to 6 different ones over the last year, some not as good and one that I thought was terrible. However, the one I go to regularly is phenomenal because of the trainers and the clientele and culture. I'm sure to outsiders it might seem cultish, but that's because it's a fantastic gym.

 

There are starting to become many sub groups of crossfit more focused to endurance or football or a more specific avenue. I've been suprised how many olympic athletes lately in the news have been using cross fit.

 

I wish I had a dollar for every out of shape person who tried to shrimp-fork crossfit too me.

[eric]

Running for me. I try to run 10-15 miles/wk. A mile per beer drank the night before is what I shoot for. My body would go to pot in no time otherwise. I sit at a desk all day programming, and sit at a keyboard about 4 nights/wk gigging and drinking beer. I'd like to keep doing this for another three or four decades (I'm 45).

 

This is pretty much my routine. I run about 5 miles a day 4-5x a week and I've cut out sweets and soda from my diet completely. This leaves room for adult beverages and I've been able to lose and maintain the weight loss for nearly a year. I run really early in the morning regardless of weather, hot or cold, unless it is pouring rain.

 

I do a small amount of core and strengthening work, but not nearly enough. I plan to shift at least one day of cardio over to abs and weights to tone things better.

 

Eric you never seemed like you had to loose a whole bunch of weight?

 

Gee thanks, LOL.

 

I'm not too much overweight, but I go through these awful spells when I digress and gain 15-20 lbs above my preferred target weight. I HATE LIFE when I am in that heavier zone. I have been maintaining the target weight for almost the past year and it is good. I aspire to shed about another 5-10 lbs and tone up my core, but so long as I can fit into my 32" waist pants and medium shirts, I'm a happy camper. When I gain the weight, I shift to more of a 34 or 36 waist and medium shirts look idiotic on me.

[MrVegas]

 

Gee thanks, LOL.

 

I'm not too much overweight, but I go through these awful spells when I digress and gain 15-20 lbs above my preferred target weight. I HATE LIFE when I am in that heavier zone. I have been maintaining the target weight for almost the past year and it is good. I aspire to shed about another 5-10 lbs and tone up my core, but so long as I can fit into my 32" waist pants and medium shirts, I'm a happy camper. When I gain the weight, I shift to more of a 34 or 36 waist and medium shirts look idiotic on me.

 

Man I'm jealous. I graduated from 32" to 34" in the mid 90's. Then I advanced to 36" in the early 00's. In the past few years I have occasionally needed 38" in a certain pair of pants. Not good. I'm 58 and need to cut back on my portions and get more into fitness.

[Justin Havu]

Yes, I know this thread is almost a decade old, but I thought I'd bump it.

 

I've been very active with a combination of cardio, mainly running and cycling, as well as strength training with dumbbells/free weights, and using an inversion table to stretch out my back a couple times a week, all of which has made gigging much easier for me, not only having the energy to get through a gig, but even hauling equipment in and out of the venue.

 

That being said, I was on a bunch of different antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds over the past five years due to having Aspergers/Autism and the anxiety that goes with that, and I've gained almost 80 pounds over five years because of all these frigging meds I was on. It got so bad that I couldn't keep a routine of working out regularly, and I needed to change some things.

First off, I stopped all medication back in August, and slowly got back into a regular routine of working out daily. Rightt now, and for the past month or so, I've been doing two daily sessions on my stationary bike--one in the morning, one in the evening. Started with 15-minute sessions, now at 25-minutes per session. As soon as the winter months go away, I'll be back outside running as well.

[area51recording]

When the weather is warmer (65 degrees or more) I love biking. I do 15 miles 3-4 times a week. The cold weather months are a challenge, however....

[Stokely]

I picked a bad time to re-sign up at the Y....Omicron being what it is, I'm not going in. With luck it'll blow through pretty quickly and I'll feel ok about huffing and puffing indoors with a bunch of other people.

 

I've very glad I have no indoor gigs this month.

 

Getting a bit tired of working out in the garage and (just) walking (jogging hurts my knees something awful.) The gym has battle ropes and all sorts of other things that would be tough to have at home, and I've always done better when I make a trip to the gym to workout. Thankfully a very short one, it's a five minute drive

[Ed A.]

Walking and hiking a few miles a day. I have a rowing machine I use when the weather is not so good.

[Justin Havu]

When the weather is warmer (65 degrees or more) I love biking. I do 15 miles 3-4 times a week. The cold weather months are a challenge, however....

 

Same here, I hate cold weather. I do have a stationary bike that I can pedal during the colder months as well as bad weather. It's just not as fun or engaging as getting outside on a bike.

[GovernorSilver]

Lately I cycle my fitness routine/goals.

 

Before the New Year, I completed about 3 months of calisthenics, incorporating ideas from the Red Delta Project and Mindful Mover channels I relied heavily on the NOSSK Twin Pro suspension trainer, which proved to be one of my best gear purchases of 2021.

 

This week I began an 6-8 week cycle of isometric strength training on the Isochain that I bought during Black Friday 2020. It has not yet turned me into Bruce Lee or Alexander Zass, but it's made my problematic shoulder and back feel a lot better.

 

After that, I plan to do 6-8 weeks of calisthenics focusing on vertical pushing and pulling, relying even more on the Accommodating Resistance principle taught by Mindful Mover. Then a cycle of horizontal push-pull, then back to Isochain.

[EricBarker]

For Christmas, I got my wife and I stationary bike stands for our bikes during the winter. Kinda tough to ride at -40F here in Alaska. We have them setup in the living room and can watch Netflix while we ride. We only just started last week, but I can already tell this is going to be a life-changing endeavor!

[Rod S]

I have a very nice gym in my apartment complex which helps. My fitness tends to be pretty mixed

 

- Stretching exercises every morning (through iOS app) - 10 min

- vibrating platform every morning. Thought it was gimmick, and often people advertise benefits is doesn't have, but helps a lot with blood circulation (my day job is sitting on a computer all day, and I have a history of circulation problems, including surgery)

- Workout 3x (weight training)

- 2-3x stationary bike (biking every other weekend weather permitting)

- 2-3x outside walking / hiking

- 2-3x ice skating (yes, ice skating in the summer in Brazil...). New rink was built about 1 year ago 5 min drive from my house, so decided to take it up again.

 

Working from Home has been a mixed challenge / blessing. I'm able to workout in hours I normally wouldn't have, but it also means I may be in conference calls way early morning and late evening (my job involves interfacing from Asia through west coast)

[Justin Havu]

Well, I increased my two 20 minute stationary bike workouts to 25 minutes. Still doing one in the morning and one in the evening. Not sore yet, but I definitely have more energy. Hopefully by springtime when the weather gets a little warmer, I'll be back out running as well.

[Stokely]

Mixed is good, from what I've read. There's a school of thought that says to change up routines all the time, to not let your body settle in too much. I'm enough out of shape that this is a nuance My issue is almost 100% bad eating habits. Too much alcohol as well, cutting way back on that is a resolution. When I was younger, I could do weights and basketball and eat anything I want, I'd get in shape. Not so now. It's almost the reverse--eating healthy means I'll lose weight no matter how much exercise I do (or don't do). I love exercise, I dislike a lot of healthy food!

 

I have issues staying with it, largely I think due to depression and stress. When my mental state gets run down, I tend to say **** it on healthy behavior. When I'm feeling more positive, I don't find it difficult to eat healthy or exercise...but overall, you'd have to consider both states and so it's "difficult". I expect that's very common.

[Outkaster]

Wow I remember this thread. Everything is still the same pretty much except recovery time. I have been into Martial Arts since 1979 but now it's Judo for me but now I teach a class in striking for advance and beginning students. Some of them want to compete so I help out so I can take the Judo class for free. .When I first wrote on this thread I was gigging a lot so I had less time. Music and working out don't always go together in my experience.

[MAJUSCULE]

Bought a stationary bike when I moved into my new place and it's been great. I watch a guilt-inducing amount of sports, so spending at least part of that time on the bike instead of on the couch helps with that. Also finally have enough space in my bedroom to lay out my yoga mat in a semi-permanent position, helping me get back in the groove for push-ups and stretches and such. Also just picked up an ab wheel to throw in the mix. And downloaded Strava, we'll see how that goes.

[Bill H.]

For fitness I mostly hike. Whenever my mental state gets down, I want to hit a trail because I feel better afterwards. I recently moved into an area abundant in trails, which was planned.

 

I also live on a street with a track a block away. That was also in the plan, but I don't use it as much as I should.

 

I recently pulled my weights out- New Year's resolution - but right now I'm so sore shoveling snow that they'll have to wait.

[ABECK]

Trail running several times a week. Completed my first 100 mile ultra-trail marathon in Sept and running another at the end of Jan. I find I need to sign up for an event to keep myself motivated enough to train and stay fit.

I also have gotten into rock climbing (top roping and bouldering), which is a nice total body workout.

I try to lift weights and do resistance training at least once a week to keep the blood moving and the muscles awake. At almost 50, I feel like I'm doing my part to stay active.

[Stokely]

If you have the room for it--or feel comfortable going to a place that has one--try a battle rope. I was pretty skeptical when I picked one up, thinking "this light thing? How can I get a workout with this?"

 

Once I looked up a few of the exercises you can do with one and tried them, I almost had a heart attack. It's a butt-kicker and kind of a good thing, you don't have to do it for that long

 

I also am pretty good at jump rope, used to be able to double-jump many times in a row and do some of the boxing-style moves. For some reason it hurts me knees less than jogging, probably because I can jump with my feet barely leaving the ground unless I'm doing some high stepping.

 

Another great old-school exercise is Farmer's Walk. Pick up two heavy things, walk. I love simple stuff! Just keep your back straight, that's the only way you can hurt yourself. That exercise works your entire body, though your forearms will probably be the first thing to go until they get stronger.

 

As far as actual weights, I can't do squats due to a somewhat lame leg that doesn't bend much...but I discovered that deadlifts are perhaps a close second in best overall exercise. I HAVE to do them last, because I'm completely worn out afterward. You wouldn't think they'd work the whole body, but they do.

 

My son is really into rock climbing (in a gym, and in particular bouldering). It is indeed tremendous exercise. I tried it a year ago and I fell off the wall like a fat spider someone sprayed with Raid, right on my back. Thankfully it's a very padded surface but I did jar my neck a bit. Gravity is a bitch when you are 50 pounds overweight, who knew!

[The Real MC]

Stairs are great aerobics. When I was emptying my parents' house I noticed that I dropped a few pounds after a visit. The repetitive walking up/down stairs was the culprit. Same thing happened when I moved a lot of stuff out to the basement back in 2020 when I relocated. The next thing I know, my pants were much looser. Checked my weight on a scale and discovered I had dropped 15 pounds. The "UHaul Diet" works!

 

I use stairs at work wherever possible. My office is now on the fourth floor. At least once a week I climb four flights of stairs. I used to do that without a sweat but this had been a busy year for relocating to a new job and new house, and I'm not in the shape I used to be. Have to build up my endurance. I just bought a single floor house that doesn't have stairs.

[The Real MC]

And making your own meals really helps to maintain the weight. Eating out is not only expensive, but they put in a lot of unhealthy additives.

[JohnH]

Ive had to go back to walking in the hilly neighborhoods and trails due to the pandemic surging again. My favorite is air drumming with sticks while on a sit down bike that has the seat back on it. It applies all kinds of new counting skills to my gigs and is such great fun. I learn all the drum tracks for the songs I work out to, favorite is Whitesnake and there's a bunch of other stuff from Glenn Hughes and Brian Tichy with Dead Daisies and his S.U.N. band too. Started partially doing this over 20 years ago then just built on it. Originally it was on the old stairmasters but I can't stand the new designs and it's just about impossible to do it on them. So the switch. I took a year off from it due to the pandemic and I really missed it. I started doing long walks in hills instead. Started back at the gym in la county in June when they removed the mask restrictions, then switched to the OC but with the surge Im not doing it. No point in doing that kind of exertion with a mask. Horrible. To buy the bike I do this on would be $3,000 I tried looking at buying weights online too but it's such a pain. Just will keep the gym for at least masked weight lifting only. Weights for 15-20 then leave. The day I picked up Stewart Copeland's completely soaked shirt when I was a roadie in 2002 told me I was on the right path for incorporating drumming into working out, (which I had already been doing a few years.) And now I see group workouts incorporating drumming so the secret is out!

[Joe Muscara]

That being said, I was on a bunch of different antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds over the past five years due to having Aspergers/Autism and the anxiety that goes with that, and I've gained almost 80 pounds over five years because of all these frigging meds I was on. It got so bad that I couldn't keep a routine of working out regularly, and I needed to change some things.

First off, I stopped all medication back in August,

This is a little OT Justin, but I hope that stopping meds is okay for you. I've heard stories about people stopping them because they create a fog, or because they now feel fine, etc. but they really do need them. If you're okay without the meds, that's great, but I just hope you're careful if you need them. Sometimes an adjustment of the dose is needed. Take care of yourself, bud.

 

Most of my fitness is in the Running thread, as I run half marathon distances pretty regularly. I've also added some workouts from Apple Fitness+. We used to do yoga from various DVDs and apps we acquired over the years, but we've pretty much got it down to Fitness+ now. We're considering a stationary bike for my wife as she's had some foot problems and hasn't even been walking like she used to with me. She's also used some of the other workouts in Fitness+ such as Dance and Strength, while I've just done Core and Yoga (she usually does those with me). And I'm trying to be aware of my posture when I sit, either at the computer and the piano. Too long slouching and my back punishes me for that.

[MAJUSCULE]

Another great old-school exercise is Farmer's Walk. Pick up two heavy things, walk. I love simple stuff! Just keep your back straight, that's the only way you can hurt yourself. That exercise works your entire body, though your forearms will probably be the first thing to go until they get stronger.

 

AKA an awkward gig load-out.

[Tonysounds]

I had quit going to the gym a few weeks before the lockdowns started. It just seemed a stupid place given what was happening. So June of 2020, the 25 pushup challenge was making the rounds of fbook, and it was a slap in the face that I had to tap out after 2. (like WHat!) So that started me on a quest to fix THAT crap. Started out slow, a few times a day, trying to work up to 5....10....15....20.....adding exercises as I go. So for the last year, i have a 5 or 6x a week routine of 6 sets a day, each set consisting of 40 pushups, 40 standing toe touches, bicep curls using 2 gallon containers of Tide (this is a new addition, so I'm only at 15 reps a set), 40 crunches, 40 overhead tricep curls (using a gallon of tide), 40 oblique twists (with a gallon of Tide), 40 sitting touch touches, 40 squats (alternating sets with 2 gallons of tide), 40 overhead oblique stretches, and 40 "bitch pushups" to end each routine. (For a total of 250 each per day) And I was getting 60-80 minute walks with the dogs every day, but that has become very spotty due to circumstances.

[Justin Havu]

This is a little OT Justin, but I hope that stopping meds is okay for you. I've heard stories about people stopping them because they create a fog, or because they now feel fine, etc. but they really do need them. If you're okay without the meds, that's great, but I just hope you're careful if you need them. Sometimes an adjustment of the dose is needed. Take care of yourself, bud.

 

All is well. They weren't really doing anything except making me really drowsy and sucking away my energy. As soon as I stopped them and started focusing on exercise, I really feel better than I ever have while on the meds.

[Stokely]

Another great old-school exercise is Farmer's Walk. Pick up two heavy things, walk. I love simple stuff! Just keep your back straight, that's the only way you can hurt yourself. That exercise works your entire body, though your forearms will probably be the first thing to go until they get stronger.

 

AKA an awkward gig load-out.

 

 

LOL!

 

The problem with "gig exercise" is that it's usually ergonomically "bad". Meaning, the stuff is the wrong shape and makes you hunch over, bangs you awkwardly etc. And of course there's the loading/unloading from a vehicle, that is the worst part. With farmer's carries you need to use something that can be by your side without you having to lean to one side (like you would carrying a big speaker!). You always do both hands, same weight. They make special "handles" for heavy weight walks but for mere mortals like me dumbbells can work. I was up to 95s before covid hit. As we all know, it's much harder to lift say a 40 pound keyboard than a 40 pound dumbbell

[Justin Havu]

We're considering a stationary bike for my wife as she's had some foot problems and hasn't even been walking like she used to with me.

 

I'd be interested to know which bike you end up with. Mine is a Nautilus U616 upright. Not a spin bike, as I wanted to be able to change resistance levels from the control panel. It's super quiet, which allows me to pedal anytime, day or night, without disturbing my downstairs neighbor. Lol!