More workout difficulties

Quote: Nareed

Quote: Face

A proper workout regimen means not only doing it on days you don't want to, but especially doing it on days you don't want to. It is entirely the difference between those who are fit, and those who are frumpy.

I'm kind of getting it now...

Yay! =)

Quote: Nareed

Funny story. A few weeks ago the main elevator in the building broke down. Now, when taking that one, you can only access apartments through the "front" door. In order to get to the "back" door, you need to take the service elevator, or the stairs. There are no stairs to get to the "front" door. So for a while I was going ´down to the parking garage and the gym, then up to the apartment, using the stairs. It's faster than the elevator, and it's only one story to the gym and two to parking.

I mentioned this to somene, in the context of my (near)-daily workout, and she said, in all seriousness "Oh, that's good exercise!"

Really! 31+ minutes in a treadmill and elyptical are what, then? overkill? training? But 20 seconds going up the stairs is "good exercise"? <facepalm>

I am constantly surprised at what people think of as "good exercise".

Granted, stairs are good. Taking them every day will certainly help. But, they are only a part of a whole, a sort of step towards a total lifestyle change. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk (or bike) to a nearby market instead of drive. Listen to audio books on a walk thru town, instead of listening on the couch. On their own, insignificant. Combined with other changes, a revelation.

I used to take the stairs at work, back when I parked on the fifth floor. 122 steps. Sometimes I'd walk one by one. Sometimes I'd run two at a time. Sometimes walk two at a time. Sometimes run one at a time for half, then walk two at a time for the rest. Always changing it up every day. It certainly didn't get me into "hockey shape", but it only helped, it added just that little bit more of activity and exercise to the rest of my regimen.

Keep it up. And congrats on the gains in the previous post. It's nice seeing results. Don't stop now!

Quote: Face

Yay! =)

Thanks.

Quote:

I am constantly surprised at what people think of as "good exercise".

It's a way of avoiding real exercise.

Last year as I was abortively trying to restore some daily workout, I had to haul up about 50 lbs. of samples up four fligths of stairs, twice. That day I deicided "this was a pretty good workout." But even then I knew in my heart that it wasn't, really.

Quote:

Granted, stairs are good.

It's ok. I go up and down a lot at work. mostly from the 2nd floor to the ground floor. I make it a habit to go down the stairs always, but take the elevator up most times.

Quote:

Keep it up. And congrats on the gains in the previous post. It's nice seeing results. Don't stop now!

Thank you. I expect I will, though the Vegas vacation will get in the way. Still, I expect I'll walk plenty of kilometers every day. I may even persuade myself to use the GN gym, who knows?

I wish I knew how I do it. Yesterday I went to be rather late, near 11:30 pm. I snoozed the alarm twice (it wasn't in danger, but it should have been nervous), yet somehow I woke up before the second snooze ran out.

This made me late, but I still managed to go on the treadmill for 25+ minutes. I could have done the elyptical as well, but I was concerned about the time. So insted I increased the treadmill speed earlier, upped the incline to 6.5, and did the last 2 minutes at 6.2 kph rather than 6 kph. The the traffic was milder than usual and I got in early....

Tomorrow is very likely off. I estimate we won't leave the office today any earlier than 11 pm, more likley 2 am.

I really need a vacation.

Quote: Nareed

I wish I knew how I do it. Yesterday I went to be rather late, near 11:30 pm. I snoozed the alarm twice (it wasn't in danger, but it should have been nervous), yet somehow I woke up before the second snooze ran out.

This made me late, but I still managed to go on the treadmill for 25+ minutes. I could have done the elyptical as well, but I was concerned about the time. So insted I increased the treadmill speed earlier, upped the incline to 6.5, and did the last 2 minutes at 6.2 kph rather than 6 kph. The the traffic was milder than usual and I got in early....

Tomorrow is very likely off. I estimate we won't leave the office today any earlier than 11 pm, more likley 2 am.

I really need a vacation.

How did you get the one job in Mexico where people work hard? ;)

Quote: theodores

How did you get the one job in Mexico where people work hard? ;)

Oh, there is at least another one. So the chances were 50/50 ;)

Seriously, at least I no longer work under a clock-watcher. These are people who measure productivity solely on how many hours you work. So if you finish early, thats' really bad and unproductive.

Funny thing. Monday we left work a bit past 10 pm. By the time I got home and had dinner, washed up and got ready for bed, I wasn't sleepy. I wound up dropping off around 11:40 pm, thinking there's no way I'd work out Tuesday.

Tuesday (today) the alarm goes off dutifuly at 5 am. i thought "Is this a joke?" and snoozed it. I did it again at 5:15, but then I woke up on my own a couple of minutes later (I'm thinking I should trade my internal clock for a nice Rolex). I was up, but not really awake. A couple of cups of coffee helped, but I stil thought "No way I'm working out today."

So I was down at the gym by 6:10, and lo and behold all the treadmills and the stationary bikes were taken. So I ent on the elyptical. I had to reset it at 7 minutes, as that's for some reason the maximum time it allows. But I did 20 minutes all told. I felt a bit mroe tired thna usual, but with less aches. I don't know what to make of that.

Anyone in the market for an internal clock with some decades of use?

Due to several tedious reasons, I missed workouts last Thursday, Friday and Saturday. By Sunday I was a bit apprehensive about being able to retake my normal routine. I started out slow, and found what progress I'd made was still there (much to my surprise). In fact, I could push it more than a bit, too (how??). And then kept right on going Monday and Tuesday.

Just now I realized I've been at it for about two months (should February qualify as a month, that is). I think I average 4.5 days per week, which is a great deal more than my work schedule led me to expect. I average my time as around 30 minutes per session, which is more than I led myself to expect from me.

The good news is only 12 days are left :) After than I'm off to Vegas and I can forget about any exercise for a long, long time. Walking several miles a day in 90+ degree weather does NOT qualify as exercise (some of it is inside air-conditioned buildings, after all).

I know full well when I return home it's back to the grind. But I don't need anyone to point it out, thank you (and if I hit a gigantic, life-altering jackpot, I'll hire someone to exercise for me <w>)

I missed Thursday because 1) I got home nearly at 10 pm and 2) I had a 7:30 appointment (who didn't show up until 8 in typical fashion). But I'm thiniking taking a day off is rather a good idea. I'm counting from Sunday onwards, so this week I've done 4 days already, and should do two more barring unexpected developments.

I'm also totally not watching my diet very much. I do eat healthy, but if I feel like a piece of cake or a salty snack, I get one (not often). And I still eat mostly my own (non)patented brand of low-fat cooking, plus ceral and milk in the morning and jicama with carrots and lime in the evening (I've been eating that for dinner for well over a decade). I did remove the daily yogurt for dessert. So far this is going great. Once I drop a few more kilos, though, I know I'll reach an equilibrium and go back on a more restrained diet.

For Vegas I'll stick to the tried-and-true routine of no breakfast, "lunch" around noon to 2 pm and dinner between 8 and bedtime. Assuming, that is, i don't wind up with a body clock telling me to wake up at 3 am (two hours time difference from my regular wake up time) and going to bed by 8 pm.

Monday will be out, possibly.

I need to catch a flight at 10 am. That means getting to the airport by 8 am or so. Now, usually when I've a boarding pass and no luggage, I'll get in just one hour before departure, but early-midmorning morning traffic is unpredictable, so I'd best plan to get in early. That means leaving home around 7, which is my usual time for breakfast after working out. So Monday's out, or I may do just 15 minutes (for all the good that does). At least I don't see the long walk inside the airport as "good exercise." ;)

It's shapingup to be a really bad week for workouts, or bad couple of weeks anyway. I missed Saturday and Sunday (couple of bad nights plus having to work on Sunday), then monday as predicted. But also Tuesday because I didn't get home Monday until nearly 2 am I'll ahve to amke it up the rest of the week, even next Sunday before leaving for Vegas.