FOT Forum
FOT Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: yesno on September 19, 2008, 03:05:15 PM
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My commuter biking isn't really working as exercise so I'm looking for something else.
So, I bought a ministepper to use while watching tv shows, but I think I'm going to have to return it because the amount of actual exercise I get from is is miniscule, and it squeaks really loud.
I might just go back to running, even though it's terrible on my knees. At least I can take the dog running.
But has anyone had any actual luck with smaller exercise machines? The kind where you can do some light aerobic exercise while reading a book or watching tv is preferable.
Also, does anyone else have trouble spelling "exercise"?
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I can't spell it either.
I too am devoid of knees to run so I'd love to hear some info on this topic.
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I'm a lazy bum, so I'm actually seriously thinking of getting a Wii Fit. I don't own a Wii, and as much as playing games interest me, I just have this totally optimistic idea of what the Fit will do to my exercise regime. I have a sneaky suspicion it will be a massive failure.
So I'm thinking of getting an exercise bike instead.
Also: exercise exercise exercise
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From what I hear, that Wii fit actually works pretty well as an exerciSe regimen, so I hope you keep your experience with it posted if you do it, because I'm curious about it.
In fact, there should be an FOT weight loss "biggest loser" game show type thing on this board. That would be fun and I'd compete, even if I haven't the first idea how to organize such a thing. I'm quite sure you and I are not the only soft serves around here. I know Julie alone could stand to lose at least 300 pounds (I <3 Julie, I kid!).
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I sold my Wii. It was gathering dust, and it plus all its endlessly multiplying accessories take up too much space.
Even if the Wii fit works, I like the kind of exercise where you can do other things. Running is good because you can listen to audiobooks and so forth.
An exercise bike is probably the best, because you can read, watch movies, etc.
If I had the space and money, I'd get an elliptical glider. I'd join the YMCA or a gym but I don't like other people.
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In fact, there should be an FOT weight loss "biggest loser" game show type thing on this board. That would be fun and I'd compete, even if I haven't the first idea how to organize such a thing. I'm quite sure you and I are not the only soft serves around here. I know Julie alone could stand to lose at least 300 pounds (I <3 Julie, I kid!).
I don't know if you listen to Jordan Jesse Go! or not, but we just wrapped up eight weeks of exactly that on the TSOYA board.
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Get a rowing machine.
You work everything in, like, 1/2 the time it takes with stationary bikes, stair climbers, etc.
It's fairly low-impact, too. I have a kind of bad right knee (it's been slowly healing over the past few years since I switched from riding a heavy-as-a-mother Schwinn Cruiser to a light and speedy road bike) and I have no problems with rowing.
It gets a tad tedious after a while but you can set it up in front of the TV or something and time will fly.
Seriously.
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You have to have good technique to use a rowing machine though. If you have bad technique it can really mess up your back and knees.
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I got one of those big exercise balls. Also, yoga.
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In fact, there should be an FOT weight loss "biggest loser" game show type thing on this board. That would be fun and I'd compete, even if I haven't the first idea how to organize such a thing. I'm quite sure you and I are not the only soft serves around here. I know Julie alone could stand to lose at least 300 pounds (I <3 Julie, I kid!).
I don't know if you listen to Jordan Jesse Go! or not, but we just wrapped up eight weeks of exactly that on the TSOYA board.
I do not! But now I have to reevaluate everything in my life, because of this.
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(http://i34.tinypic.com/34jekcm.gif)
I want me one of these.
Sure, I'd look like a dork, but .... a CUT dork!
Rowbike.
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You have to have good technique to use a rowing machine though. If you have bad technique it can really mess up your back and knees.
It's mostly a matter of keeping your back straight. There's a gal at my gym who lunges forward with her arms and pulls back with a jerking motion. I can't imagine the pain she'll go through down the line. But it's the University of Nebraska rec center and it's multi-level so there isn't anyone walking around showing people how to do things correctly unless you pay them.
Pilates will most certainly take care of you. You can do mat pilates at home without any equipment. It's a bit more work than yoga but it's still relaxing.
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get the machine George Clooney's character built in Burn After Reading
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get the machine George Clooney's character built in Burn After Reading
I was waiting for someone to mention that.
I don't like people either, yesno, but joining a gym is probably the best move. Just load up your Zune with Best Show podcasts and the time on the elliptical machine will fly. Actually, that's a lie, but it will certainly make the time more bearable.
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I'm going to join the YMCA if this running thing makes me start limping around again. The YMCA, I imagine, is less likely to have steroidal salespeople/trainers wanting to charge me for classes and bogus supplements. Also it's the last remnant of "muscular Christianity" which is the best-named religious movement ever. Plus it's got a pool.
I really do like running: no equipment, makes me feel happy, I can take the dog and make him less hyper (although carrying poo in a bag for 3/4 of a run isn't fun).
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It depends on which gym you join, yesno. The best advice is to visit the gym and look at the folks who are working out. If everyone is a well-toned workout bunny, you're likely to encounter the sorts of things you fear. If, however, you see a room full of out-of-shape slobs (not judging!), you probably won't have too many problems. My gym is definitely the second type and the folks who work there are nice and don't try to pressure you.
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Scope out the YMCA before you join at least a few times on different days at different times. My family joined the YMCA when I was in high school and from 3-6 pm you couldn't do anything but run on the track because they let buses of community kids programs in to use the facilities. My dad said he couldn't run in the morning before work or use any equipment because of how many people there were. I guess membership is always open. But, I'm sure not every YMCA is the same. We lived in a highly populated lower middle class suburban area.
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Get a rowing machine.
You work everything in, like, 1/2 the time it takes with stationary bikes, stair climbers, etc.
It's fairly low-impact, too. I have a kind of bad right knee (it's been slowly healing over the past few years since I switched from riding a heavy-as-a-mother Schwinn Cruiser to a light and speedy road bike) and I have no problems with rowing.
It gets a tad tedious after a while but you can set it up in front of the TV or something and time will fly.
Seriously.
I've considered this - the fitness coordinator at one of the local hospitals is a big proponent of these, and it got me curious. How much does a good one cost?
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I think they're a couple hundred to a thousand (!) bucks. I use one of the 2 at my campus rec center but I've been looking around so I can have one at home. It would save me time and give me the knowledge that multiple sweaty asses wouldn't be on it daily. Plus I could watch movies and whatnot whilst rowing and that would be rad.
I really wish I could take up running but my bad knee just won't let me. I've tried for 2 weeks or so a couple of times and the knee pain is just too much to ignore. That sucks. But the rowing machine has been no problem.
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I decided to take up swimming last night, trying to take advantage of the indoor pool at our apartments and because I get so bored running. Here I am the next day rubbing Ben Gay all over my left arm....
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About this, I realized that my knee problems were caused by just not running enough. I've been running 3 to 6 miles a day, 7 days a week since September and my dumb knee problem started in again but then went away. It's only when I used to run every other day that my knee would really act up.
(http://www.wherediditallgoright.com/BLOG/uploaded_images/Rocky-B-776636.jpg)
The point is, who the hell needs equipment?
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People who can't walk, or run, or even hop in place without falling over?
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People who don't wanna go outside in the punishing rain/snow but rather stay inside on their exercise bike and watch a movie at the same time?
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watch a movie on your iPod while you run. You can even take your laptop with you.
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That doesn't address the falling-over question. Or the weather.
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Army FM 21-20 is full of calisthenics that do not require equipment, but you should really consult Trembling Eagle.
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People who don't wanna go outside in the punishing rain/snow but rather stay inside on their exercise bike and watch a movie at the same time?
I don't really exercise at all these days, but I remember that when I used to run there was a satisfying feeling of camaraderie that I would share with other runners during horrible weather. Winter running is not so bad - you heat up very fast. And you feel very macho - something that I rarely get in other circumstances.
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Army FM 21-20 is full of calisthenics that do not require equipment, but you should really consult Trembling Eagle.
Calisthenics--other than those carried out in a chair or on the floor--don't cut it if one's sense of balance is shot. And exercises performed chaired or floored don't usually get the heart pumping. Or keep the muscles in one's legs from atrophying.
But I'm caviling. I actually mostly agree with you (although I'm favor walking more than running, because of knees). Yard sales are littered with abandoned exercise equipment.
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I'm going through one of my periodic kicks where I try to get rid of as much junk as possible. (Is it cheating if I count the contents of 4 7 foot tall bookcases as 1 item?) So I'm biased against big heavy thingies.
Elliptical gliders are pretty great. But running allows me to explore weird-ass corners of town, while also taking my dog on his big adventure of the day, while listening to H.L. Mencken's translation of The Antichrist. Win-win-win!
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(Is it cheating if I count the contents of 4 7 foot tall bookcases as 1 item?)
Yes.
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Army FM 21-20 is full of calisthenics that do not require equipment, but you should really consult Trembling Eagle.
Calisthenics--other than those carried out in a chair or on the floor--don't cut it if one's sense of balance is shot. And exercises performed chaired or floored don't usually get the heart pumping. Or keep the muscles in one's legs from atrophying.
But I'm caviling. I actually mostly agree with you (although I'm favor walking more than running, because of knees). Yard sales are littered with abandoned exercise equipment.
I've never heard of someone whose balance is innately off. Is this a medical condition?
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Yup. And that's enough about that.
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Well people who say, "I have bad balance" are often lacking the core strength. I know when I first started working out, I felt like I wobbled a lot - but you hit a certain muscle-mass threshold and it figures itself out.
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Lots of people have Gerald Ford's Disease; it's nothing to be ashamed of.
(Is it cheating if I count the contents of 4 7 foot tall bookcases as 1 item?)
Yes.
I try to channel my packrat tendencies into books and records and terabytes of digital files. Some people aren't cut out for the minimalist thing. And it doesn't help when your Life Partner has a billion hair thingies and nail polish bottles everywhere.
Oh, it's hard to be a rich westerner.
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i thrive on the minimalist lifestyle hence:
1) any exercise NOT involving equipment is best suited for me; i walk because i hate to run but i enjoy cardio. also, i loathe any establishment that encourages circulating everyone's heavy breathing and sharing sweaty workout equipment (i know that's why you bring a towel, but still...).
2) i enjoy the lifestyle of a nomad. i move when i want, where i want, and refuse to purchase any stable piece of furniture until im married and settled (again). everything i own (clothes, records, books, and computer) fits into the trunk of my car.
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About this, I realized that my knee problems were caused by just not running enough. I've been running 3 to 6 miles a day, 7 days a week since September and my dumb knee problem started in again but then went away. It's only when I used to run every other day that my knee would really act up.
Without knowing your knee history, this article might comfort you: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/sports/playemail/1002playphysed.html?scp=3&sq=running%20knees&st=cse
Granted, they'll probably change their minds in a few years, but until then...
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also, i loathe any establishment that encourages circulating everyone's heavy breathing
hahahahahaha what the fuck
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i thrive on the minimalist lifestyle hence:
1) any exercise NOT involving equipment is best suited for me; i walk because i hate to run but i enjoy cardio. also, i loathe any establishment that encourages circulating everyone's heavy breathing and sharing sweaty workout equipment (i know that's why you bring a towel, but still...).
I mostly like running because it's hard to stop doing. When I try to do calisthenics it's too easy to get distracted and go make a cup of coffee. But if you run 3 miles out you have to run back. I think gyms are probably good for some people because you'd feel like a tool if you went all the way there and didn't make the most of it. Putting on running shoes is kind of similar. And since I take my dog running in the morning, if I don't feel like running I still have to take him for a walk. So I might as well just run.
And here is this: http://armynursecorps.amedd.army.mil/army101/fm21_20.pdf
2) i enjoy the lifestyle of a nomad. i move when i want, where i want, and refuse to purchase any stable piece of furniture until im married and settled (again). everything i own (clothes, records, books, and computer) fits into the trunk of my car.
I wish I could do that. I do have a few decent/antique pieces of furniture but it's books and records that pile up. Even with that though there's no reason to hang onto a racquetball racquet you haven't used in 8 years and so forth so I try to get rid of that kind of clutter. I once sold a couple of hundred books and then regretted it and ended up rebuying a lot of them.
If you had an Abba-like jumpsuit that cleaned itself as your only outfit, and a laptop with music and VOIP and ebooks, you could get away with owning almost nothing. Something I learned from reading Momus' blog is that when you see some dumb little knickknack you might want to buy, just take a picture of it with your cell phone camera instead.
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also, i loathe any establishment that encourages circulating everyone's heavy breathing
hahahahahaha what the fuck
apparently i didnt finish that thought. either way, everyone's breathing heavy and its going back into the system and ive got to breathe it in again, like airplanes. gross.
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Find a hatha/vinyansa yoga class and go every day. Once you are there, they tell you what to do, and you can't leave. Some of it is hard and some is easy, and the hour goes by pretty fast.
Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream.
Plus: sometimes there is a cute girl in the class.
After awhile, you get hella fit, but really it's about the journey...........
don't stop believin',
-Ajax in Oakland
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I fall down distressingly often, mainly due to an old hip injury (it broke into 5 pieces one day. You shoulda seen the other guy.) and in the reconstruction process, they pieced it back together so that my gait is surprisingly normal, but there's a big wad of muscle mass missing there, so there are certain things I am never going to be able to do, like bowling (if I throw off of my right foot, my right knee buckles in towards the left just before the moment of ball release, and I hit the old drunk lady in the next lane.)
So, since that fateful day (July 6, 1998, but I am not obsessed with it or anything,) balance is shot for now and forever. And even just walking occasionally ends with me face down on the lawn or tumbling down the stairs like Mike's mayubinatorial ambitions. But on a treadmill (I do about 7 miles/week, approximately 2.5 per session three times a week,) there's a rail, and if I stumble I can grab hold, which is rare, but not impossible. I am never going to be able to reproduce that OK Go video, though. If only there were rails everywhere I walk!
Remind me to tell you all about my heart attack!
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Jesus, Dave, take care of yourself!
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no kidding. i'll say it again: start exercising those fingers and write that book (heart attacks included).
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i loathe any establishment that encourages circulating everyone's heavy breathing
Agree 100%. I can feel gym air settling on my skin like a miasma.
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i loathe any establishment that encourages circulating everyone's heavy breathing
Agree 100%. I can feel gym air settling on my skin like a miasma.
Thirded. I know there's a more scientific explanation that we learned in grade school, but during winter, I can't help but imagine the moisture that collects on their windows as some massive depository for evaporated sweat molecules and respiratory droplets.
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You guys realize all the oxygen on the planet has been breathed by millions and millions of people, right? And that all the water on the planet has been drank and urinated out by millions and millions of people, too?
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oh, brother. i always have to go around with you, todd.*
logic plays no part in this assessment. there are just some circumstances that make me much more aware of how gross being a human being surrounded by other human beings can be.
*meant to be sincere+sarcastic
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To mildly defend the notion of gyms being gross, UV light does kill viruses. And my mom always said that fresh air will do me a world of good.
In other news, as mentioned down thread, I find the reward of being able to watch DVDs a huge draw toward riding an exercise bike.