exercise equipment

[todd]

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?

[Sarah]

Yup.  And that's enough about that.

[todd]

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.

[yesno]

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.

[iAmBaronVonTito]

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.  

[tenspeed]

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...

[todd]

also, i loathe any establishment that encourages circulating everyone's heavy breathing

hahahahahaha what the fuck

[yesno]

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.  

[iAmBaronVonTito]

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.  

[mostlymeat]

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

[dave from knoxville]

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!

[Bryan]

Jesus, Dave, take care of yourself!

[iAmBaronVonTito]

no kidding.  i'll say it again: start exercising those fingers and write that book (heart attacks included). 

[Trotskie]

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. 

[tenspeed]

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.