Daily Workout Thread Weds 25th Jan

[Lorelei]

Morning all, thought I would kick it off today as I have a question! Can any of you suggest upper arm exercises please? I don't have any weights to use but I would like to try to tone my uppers ready for T shirt weather. I don't have access to a gym either so they will have to be ones I can do easily at home. Thanks! How are we all doing? I was quite good yesterday and kept to the programme.

 

[rainbowtrout]

pushups?

I''m off to the gym right now, post later about what is accomplish (yesterday was an off day and ate too much homemade cake (his birthday) )

 

[MissAva]

Good Morning Lorilei and RT!
Jaime and I took the dogs walking for 90min, I think we might have finally gone longer but a ton of fire and EMT trucks went zooming past us towards Bryce....so back home it was.

Lorilei- you can use milk or water jugs as weights and soup cans as well. Try These with things around the house, these look ok as well but I have never done this routine.

 

[princessv]

Hrm ok I went to the doctor''s the other day and was appalled by my holiday weight gain! So I ate healthy yesterday (its back to cutting out bad carbs for me again!) and will definitely exercise today....see now that I posted that I really will go

! Anyway, my law school formal is coming up too so I definitely have to shed at least 5 pounds by then Feb. 18!

Is it just me or does it seem that every winter around this time I get healthy, work out and lose weight...keep it off for the summer and then pack on the pounds between Sept-Dec?

 

[appletini]

I actually went to exercise yesterday and did my 30 min on the elliptical.

Well let me tell you what kind of insecure psycho girl was on the elliptical next to me. I had my headphones on and was watching ABC, that tv happens to be the one at the end. Well I''m about 1/2 way through my work out and the girl to the left finishes and gets off, and then starts talking to me. I couldn''t hear what she was saying so I took off my headphones. Well she is going off on me about how I ruined her workout because I gave a her a mean look, and looked at her like she was worthless and ugly. I''m in complete shock, as I really didn''t pay attention to her at all and was just watching the TV and she happened to be in my line of sight. I told her that I didn''t think any such thing, and I was just watching TV. She goes on to tell me how she hates people like me, who look pretty and perfect all the time and think they are better than anyone. So after her second outburst I tell her that I really was watching the TV, and on the news they were talking about a 16 year old who ran over a bunch of kids in front of a middle school, so if I had a mean look on my face it was because of what I was hearing on my headphones and had nothing to do with her. Then I went on to tell her that after all of the comments she just made to me, that I defintely don''t think very highly of her now. I think she realized what a psycho was being and finally left me alone. I looked over at the guy to my right and we were both just dumbfounded over what happened.

I mean really who acts like that...so insecure and immature!

I called one of my best friends to tell her about if afterwards and she couldn''t believe that I didn''t laught at the girl, and that happened in a sober situation.

 

[Lorelei]

Appletini that is a very sad story, this poor girl must have serious issues and be very insecure - you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. That is such a shame that she can''t feel good about doing something worthwhile for herself. It is shocking though that she felt she had to go off at you like that.

Matatora that''s great thanks for the exercises - I will print them out and give them a try using cans. I am not at the stage where if I wave my arms that the lower parts continue

, thus I want to prevent it happening!

 

[rainbowtrout]

well I did 1.5 miles again.

I did the first mile at 5mph and the second half mile at 5.5

Does anyone who runs know the best way to build up to running faster and over what period of time?

Good job everyone!

 

[stermag]

Today, it was the postponed interval training. A total of 2.1 miles, with alternating .03 miles at 8.0mph followed by .03 miles of a brisk walk. Not a huge distance, but quite tasking.

I think that, if you want to increase endurance, running in intervals is a great way to get accustomed to operating at a higher percentage of your max heart rate. It also is far less boring (if you're using a treadmill). Once you can comfortably run at 80-90% for >50 meters, you'll find that you'll soon be able to run miles and miles at 5.5mph, simply because the effort required (in terms of your max heart rate) will not be nearly as great.

Sprinting is actually quite exhausting, and despite the fact that you end up walking some of the distance, the energy you exert during the bit you run makes up for it.

 

[Jelly]

I took my dog, Jelly, out for a 30 minute walk this morning. I plan on doing another session or two on the exercise bike tonight.

I''m just starting this exercise thing, but I''m impressed at how you do 90 minutes with dogs, Matatora!

 

[ammayernyc]

Good morning all.

I did a little over an hour with my trainer this morning and about 15 minutes of light cardio before she got there. We didn''t do any cardio together today -- mostly pilates and arm exercises. Of course, we always do lots of lunges and squats.

Since I''m not working anymore, my trainer comes a little later. An extra hour of sleep is so great! I''m still pooped after the workout though!

I''m hoping to start seeing more changes now that my eating is much better...

 

[monarch64]

I am re-starting my exercise and going to the gym tonight (FINALLY). First my excuse was the holidays--I was too busy, then it was the after-holiday madness at the gym--too many people there, LOL! I also find it so much harder to motivate myself to go either before or after work...in December and January it''s dark when I get up, and dark when I leave work at 4:30!

Today, though, I read this thread and realize I must suck it up and force myself to go!!! You darn workout thread gals are motivating me!

 

[AmberGretchen]

Sounds like everyone is getting on track nicely in the New Year

My gym buddy and I have started taking this really tough strength training class at the gym a couple of times a week. Its fast-paced so its kind of cardio too, and we do an ever-changing mix of ball exercise, mat stuff, weights, resistance bands etc... Its very challenging. So I''m off to that (its an hour long) this morning. I went on Monday too. Hoping to get in some straight cardio tomorrow or Friday - its been a super-busy week at the lab, so unfortunately probably only 3 days this week instead of 4, but better something than nothing, right?

 

[Lorelei]

I always think anything you do regarding diet and exercise is better than nothing, it keeps the motivation up and helps you think of it as a long term routine - sometimes circumstances dictate that we can''t work out for a few days or make the best food choices but the thing is to expect that and do more when you can. Keep it up Amber, three workouts in a week is GREAT!

 

[stermag]

Virginia,

Congratulations on your 1 yr. anniv. As it happens, this Saturday is our anniversary too! 3 years, and counting.



Made a fabulous dinner today, if I do say so myself - nothing fancy, but it came out great. Marinated, baked chicken and boiled leeks and brussel sprouts with a sprinkling of aged gouda cheese. We''ve been doing so well lately, we even indulged this evening - had a whole-milk chocolate yogurt with slices of strawberries. A whopping 250 calories, but even given this treat, I still managed a 500 calorie deficit today.

Let''s keep it up, Ladies!

M

 

[lucious librarian]

Date: 1/25/2006 9:12:46 AM
Author: rainbowtrout
Does anyone who runs know the best way to build up to running faster and over what period of time?

I agree with Stermag, (who still has not said hi to me...lol) interval training will help you build up endurance. I do my intervals a tad differently than Stermag...I go for time. I usually warm up with a 4 minute jog at 5.6MPH and then start kicking up the speed every interval. My intervals average 1 - 1.5 minutes. I max out at 7.6MPH at the end of my run...for a total of about 26 minutes. I usually warm up for 15 minutes on the elliptical and then do my run. On my long days I will do intervals for about 30 minutes. I have found the interval training has built my endurance quite a bit. Hope this helps.

Peace
Elise

 

[lucious librarian]

Hey all! Doing great. Had a dentist appointment at 8 am so I was up by 5am this morning. 20 minutes elliptical and 20 minutes running intervals. (1) Bicep exercise (1) Tricep exercise. Hope everyone else had a great day! I am off from the gym on Thursday so will check back in on Friday.
Peace
Elise

 

[Mara]

Lorelei...the arm exercises i do at home are things like pushups (regular and then triangle ones for triceps, ow!) and lately i have been doing the small circles with the arms, i do 40 small circles forward and 40 backwards and then 40 up and 40 down and then 40 back and forth and turn my hands back and do them the other way too. at the end OW they burn.

that in conjunction with lifting weights ($5 at target for 5 lbs each arm), aka presses and similar should help you out if you do them religiously like every other day. good luck!!

for me today it was kind of hit or miss, my legs are really sore from the workout on monday and my 2m walk yesterday (i get sore ALL the time!!) and i think i strained my arm carrying portia around the park at a brisk clip, it hurts at the shoulder and along the outside when i lift it... so i''m taking it easy today...breakfast was cracklin oat bran, lunch was a salad with chicken and vinaigrette and an orange for a snack..but tonite we are going for burgers and fries at our fave place...so i''m glad i haven''t eaten any other crap today!

tomorrow it''s back to kboxing.

 

[larussel03]

I only did 2 20-min pilates videos today...one for abs and one for butt...but that''s still prob about 100 cals burned plus some muscle gained! Took today off cardio, b/c it''s FI''s hockey night and I get to watch all just MY CHOICE TV on Wed''s and Sundays when he plays ; )

 

[Lorelei]

Thanks Mara and everyone who helped me with the arm exercises - I will be incorporating some of each into my routine! Cut shapely arms don''t seem so impossible to get now!

 

[Mara]

Lorelei I also have been trying to focus on my arms more..I do kickboxing classes so I really get a good workout in those but we also do about 10 minutes of weights and similar at the end of each class and it BURNS when we are done, like screaming burns. You have to really do it until it burns, don't stop when it gets tough. We do sets..aka 1 minute of presses and then we do like a minute of lunges, then another minute of presses, lunges, presses lunges. At this point we are dying (after a 40 min cardio workout!) then he usually switches it to something like curls and situps, curls situps and then lastly we do the butterfly arms where you left them out to the sides, OMG this burns to death at the end, another 3 minutes of those. We are DONE by the end.

So I do those 2ce a week and then I am doing the arm exercises I put in my post up above where I do the circles...and pushups as well. I have definitely been seeing results!! So I think the extra ones I have added in at home have helped alot. Just be persistent and don't give up if it takes a while...arms are SO hard!

 

[Lorelei]

Thanks for the help Mara, I see what you mean with the arm rotation exercises - I tried those this morning and they burn like heck, but at least you know they are doing some good! No pain no gain I guess, but I will persevere with them as those exercises are easy and convenient to do. I would love to wear shorter sleeve Tshirts so that is my motivation!