The Workout Thread

[ih8music]

Searched around and didn't find anything like this here, so I figure I might as well start a thread dedicated to people's workout regimens & other exercise stuff...

 

I just started the Insanity program this week... today was the first real workout, their Plyometrics/Cardio Circuit training. Holy Shiznit, I knew it was going to be difficult, but that was 10x harder than I expected! Even though it's only a ~30 min workout, it completely destroyed me and I was sucking wind HARD from about minute 3. Has any one else tried this program?

 

I did P90X last year and got really good results, but I've since gotten lazy and am out of shape again. I considered doing another round of p90x, but I wanted to try something new (and honestly the idea of all those pullups and pushups wasn't appealing to me at all). I'm a goal-oriented person who needs a lot of external structure when it comes to working out, so I've found these DVD programs really work well for me. The Insanity program looked hard, but fun. Well, in reality it's BRUTALLY tough and I think I'm quite a bit away from being in good enough shape to make it "fun." At this point, I'm not sure if I'll survive the week, let alone the full 60 days...

[Spawn's dad]

I threw some of those DVDs into my off season workouts last year to break up the monotony. Typically I'd do an hour on the bike, a P90X or Insanity DVD, and then another hour on the bike. I didn't utilize any of the upper body workouts though. They do get a bit boring after you do them a lot. I can still say Tony Horton's lines on cue while doing the workouts.

[Guest Speed Racer]

Why do those programs have such lame names? Why can't they just call them what they actually are? I guess that's what marketing is, and as long as it gets people to exercise I guess I can stomach those crazy names.

 

My regimen still consists of running a few times a week and biking to work every day. I also do push-ups pretty regularly. I get dragged to yoga occassionally and that does wonders for me too, as I'm not too keen on stretching when left to my own devices.

 

ETA: I wasn't aware you had an off-season. It's, what, as long as a DVD?

[ih8music]

I threw some of those DVDs into my off season workouts last year to break up the monotony. Typically I'd do an hour on the bike, a P90X or Insanity DVD, and then another hour on the bike. I didn't utilize any of the upper body workouts though. They do get a bit boring after you do them a lot. I can still say Tony Horton's lines on cue while doing the workouts.

Wow, envious of having a 3hr block for working out... not to mention the endurance to pull that off. What do you do ("offseason" from what)?

 

And I can totally relate to the Horton's lines on cue... especially his lame-after-the-20th-time jokes. But even still, I really enjoyed P90X overall...

 

Biggest thing I hate about these DVDs though is the lack of time spent warming up & cooling down. It's like they're so focused into getting the workout done in 30, 45, 60 mins (for marketing reasons, I'm sure) that they skimp on these important steps. I always have to hang out for a while (after, especially) and stretch things out properly.

[Guest Speed Racer]

If I paid me for a DVD that I thought was a workout and spent 15 minutes telling me how to warm up and warm down, I'd be damn pissed.

[ih8music]

If I paid me for a DVD that I thought was a workout and spent 15 minutes telling me how to warm up and warm down, I'd be damn pissed.

 

Fair enough, but they should at least say something along the lines of "keep doing these stretches for the next 15 mins or until you feel loose." As it is, they pretty much stop after 2 or 3 mins of stretching and say, "Good job, you're done. Go drink your BeachBody™ Recovery Drink" (another peeve...)

[jff]

My exercise routine has been kind of lazy lately, but it keeps me relatively stable in terms of weight and keeping my belly from looking like my dad's. I'm pretty skinny, but when I put on weight it all goes to the beer gut area.

 

My wife goes to operation boot camp in the morning, which is pretty good motivation for me to get out of bed. My routine is to go to the basement, put on a record, run five minutes (1/2 mile) on the treadmill to warm up, do a weight and cardio routine I adapted from a Jillian Michaels dvd, and run five more minutes at the end, followed by a cooldown and stretching. This takes about 35-40 minutes total. I should probably lengthen my routine by 10 minutes or so.

[Spawn's dad]

Why do those programs have such lame names? Why can't they just call them what they actually are? I guess that's what marketing is, and as long as it gets people to exercise I guess I can stomach those crazy names.

 

My regimen still consists of running a few times a week and biking to work every day. I also do push-ups pretty regularly. I get dragged to yoga occassionally and that does wonders for me too, as I'm not too keen on stretching when left to my own devices.

 

ETA: I wasn't aware you had an off-season. It's, what, as long as a DVD?

 

 

lol. well I took two weeks off in September. The off season is merely defined as a period of time without racing. I'll build up the miles and intensity over the next 5 months until the whole thing starts again.

[Moss]

I have heard from several people that P90X actually works so maybe I should try that. Working in Boulder Colorado I am surrounded by tri-athletes and serious runners so I certainly have plenty of help. It's the time management and motivation I need help with.

[Guest Speed Racer]

lol. well I took two weeks off in September. The off season is merely defined as a period of time without racing. I'll build up the miles and intensity over the next 5 months until the whole thing starts again.

 

Right. And you also took that 7 day break when you made love with the asphalt.

 

You've got my kudos; 8 years of running on a team really wore me out. So nice to have free Saturdays again. And then the three years of post-college distance crap injured me/wore me the heck out, so now I'm just doing all this recreationally. A darn fun place to visit, but I don't want to live here.

[ih8music]

I have heard from several people that P90X actually works so maybe I should try that.

It really does, but that should not be a surprise -- you're working out 1-1.5 hrs a day, 6 days a week for 3 months. Pretty much any type of exercise you do with that regularity will give you results. But what's good about p90x is that it's a fairly well balanced workout between strength training & conditioning, and Tony Horton -- while he can be annoying at times -- is really good about coaching you through the workouts & showing how to adapt the exercises to your fitness level.

 

It's the time management and motivation I need help with.

I'm totally the same, which is why these 60/90 day programs are good for me. I plan out my work/workout schedule in advance (which given all the family/kid commitments I have basically means I need to work 6 days a week in order to get my 40+ hrs in) -- but despite how much of an inconvenience it is, I know there's a light at the end of the tunnel and a goal to reach.

 

My problem has been what to do on day 91 & after to maintain...I've tried jogging and bike riding and found them to be boring.

[u2roolz]

I typically workout on a treadmill for about 45 minutes to an hour almost 5 days a week.

I used to play my iPod loud, but then it effected my hearing a bit and threw me off a bit in terms of my equilibrium.

 

The Unnecessary Preachy Moment: It's all diet really, obviously. People ask me what I've been doing to lose weight and I tell them 60% diet and 40% exercise. I've cut out putting butter on bread and on baked potatoes. I don't go out to eat as much as I used to back in the day. I almost nearly eliminated soda from my daily diet. I like to have one can of Caffeine Free Coca Cola around dinner time. The rest of the day I drink water and at lunch I have that amazing Arizona (company) Arnold Palmer. It's a lot lower in sugar than their Iced Tea product.

 

I also brought Olive Oil into my diet to make things taste a bit different and better and somewhat healthier for things like grilled cheese sandwiches, salads, bread, baked potatoes, & pasta. Eagle Eye makes a lot of nice microwavable vegetable and rice products that I like to eat. I've also recently experimented with eating half of a baked potato one night then frying it up the next day with cinnamon to make Mock Sweet Potato Fries. It's pretty amazing. I also like cinnamon with my fish and chicken on occasion.

 

I also eat yogurt pretty regularly. I skip out on ice cream except for once a month or so. I like sorbet better, usually after dinner. And I guess when I think about it, I don't eat red meat much at all. I'll eat chicken, fish (haddock - grilled or on frying pan), and pasta.

 

I also like Pepperidge Farms' Pretzel Thins as a snack to go with my sandwich for lunch. And I'll usually rotate them with Cheez-its which are pretty good for protein. If I want chips, I'll buy the natural or lightly salted ones.

 

Luckily, I guess, my only excess weight is in my gut section.

 

Edit: Oh, and for me this lifestyle change has worked for me because it isn't anything too drastic or "trendy" in terms of exercise or dieting. It is manageable and I lose between 1 & 2 pounds per week on average. And the crazy thing is that that is a guess, even though I used to check that stuff weekly. So I don't really pay attention to the scale and drive myself crazy. I just do what I've been doing and make some small changes here and there to my diet and my routine.

[tugmoose]

1000 yards backstroke, 1000 fly, used to do it in 37 minutes, now about 42 minutes. gaining a minute a year.

[Tweedling]

I lift 3-4 days a week and do some Les Mills with my wife the other days.

I want to know what people listen to while they work out. My ipod is a must for my lifting or other cardio that doesn't require me listening to commands from some really in shape person who I end up hating for the last 20 minutes of the 60 minute workout. I'm always rotating but good old Rock & Roll and hip hop are what inspires me most.

What music, more specifically, what artists do you find helps with your focus and intensity? I'd love some suggestions. I'm listening to a lot of Jay-Z these recent weeks.

[Moss]

I totally agree diet is the biggest factor in losing weight. You have to jog for a good 15 minutes just to work off one beer. I'm sure if I give up the beer, chips and salsa alone I would probably start losing weight. I do everything exaclty wrong. I hardly eat at all during the day, then I get home and wolf down the calories. I did find that if I counted calories on the "Carol King" website I started dropping weight.

 

I just put my Sansa on random play when I work out. I find any music works for me to distract from the hell. I don't need hard rock or rap to get me going. Plus I like the anticipation of what is going to come on next.

[jff]

 

I want to know what people listen to while they work out.

 

Most of my "now playing" posts are the things I listened to during my morning workouts. Today was Dark Side of the Moon to accompany my abs and lunges routine. Yesterday was Aerosmith Live Bootleg. Last week's selections included Alice Cooper and AC/DC.

 

I guess I've been leaning towards '70s classic rock and hard rock lately.

[ih8music]

I totally agree diet is the biggest factor in losing weight. You have to jog for a good 15 minutes just to work off one beer. I'm sure if I give up the beer, chips and salsa alone I would probably start losing weight. I do everything exaclty wrong. I hardly eat at all during the day, then I get home and wolf down the calories.

For me, it's late night snacking. I eat really well-balanced, sensible meals during the day, but if I'm up past midnight then chances are close to 100% that I'll have an extra beer or three, plus chips, salsa, etc. I've lost 8 lbs in the past 2 weeks doing little other than making sure I get to bed before 11 pm. Problem is, with my work schedule, it's really tough for me to turn in that early -- I have to make up for it by starting work at 5 am... and I am SO not a morning person.

[Guest Speed Racer]

I haven't ever listened to music while working out. I mean, outside of a gym where they forced me to. No headphones. When I'm inside, I sweat far too much to make headphones a viable option, and when I'm outside I'm too paranoid. I walked to the library in high school with headphones on once, and I was look around so much to make sure nothing was going to come out of nowhere and tackle me that I think I got whiplash. That, and there's noise everywhere I go; the peace of silence is plenty motivation for me to keep going.

[jff]

I haven't ever listened to music while working out. I mean, outside of a gym where they forced me to. No headphones. When I'm inside, I sweat far too much to make headphones a viable option, and when I'm outside I'm too paranoid. I walked to the library in high school with headphones on once, and I was look around so much to make sure nothing was going to come out of nowhere and tackle me that I think I got whiplash. That, and there's noise everywhere I go; the peace of silence is plenty motivation for me to keep going.

 

I feel the same way about headphones. I don't like being deaf to my surroundings.

[Spawn's dad]

Suffer enough and you can damn well eat whatever you want. Just in from 5 hours on the bike and I'm not sure I'll fill myself up before my jaw gives out. Emotional suffering works too. I lost 20 pounds during my first divorce

[Guest Speed Racer]

My freshman year of college, I raced a 10k on the track, and about 10 hours later raced a 5k. Two personal-bests. After the 5k, I ate three chicken breasts, two tofu dogs, seven ribs, two brownies, a full plate of pasta salad and a burger. I don't think I've eaten that much in a single sitting before or since.

[ponch1028]

Great topic to discuss. I love it.

 

I'm really impressed by the responses from everyone. The variety of people's philosophies and approaches reinforces what was the biggest hurdle for me, which was finding what would work for me that I could sustain and maintain at the beginning. I've been curious and a little intrigued by the P90X for awhile, but what I've been doing seems to work, so I'm sticking to it for the time being.

 

Five years ago at age 28 I went in for my annual physical and it was the first time I ever registered "overweight" for my age and height and all that stuff. I had slowly begun adding weight over the years, usually 2-4 pounds every year but never taking any off. Then all of the sudden, ten years after you graduated high school you weigh 35 more. I wasn't pleased with the weight gain, but I was not super sensitive to it. However, I did recognize that my stress level seemed elevated, the quality and quantity of my sleeping had deteriorated, and the cost of all my gains (mid sleep sedatives, mid anti-depressants, $$ for larger clothes, $$ for increased food costs) was becoming a problem. So I decided to do something about it, figuring that they are all interconnected.

 

The first thing I did was adjusting the things that were unnecessary and not too difficult to let go of. I quit drinking sodas. I also limited my alcohol to one glass of wine or one beer per day, small adjustment but something that would accumulate over time. I used to drink heavy stouts or porters. Now, if I have a drink at all, it'll be a Peroni or Amstel Light with an occasional ale or stout once or twice a month.

 

At first, I did not adjust my portions of what I ate, just what I drank. I figured at some point, the exercising would require adjustment in the food department, but I didn't start there.

 

I started to exercise in the morning. At first it had to be the morning. By the end of the day, I would be too tired and have too many distractions and excuses to put it off. But early in the morning, I didn't face those obstacles. So I started working out at the YMCA in the early mornings and would run for 30 minutes and then do 20-30 minutes of various weights. I started going 3 times a week. Soon, I noticed that the gym was full of guys playing basketball on Monday/Wednesday/Friday mornings. So I joined in on that when I could instead of the actual workout. Eventually I started going about 5 times a week, mixing workouts with playing ball. Eventually, once the healthy habits moved past the "struggle to maintain" stage to "intuitive behaviors" my diet began to change, both quantity, quality, and the time of eating. I didn't keep track throughout the time, but by the end of the year I had lost over 20 pounds.

 

My stress decreased, my quality of sleep dramatically improved, and I was left with shirts and pants that no longer fit. Exercise also became one of my primary methods of dealing with stress and anxiety, both professionally and personally. Eventually I stopped playing ball because I appreciated more the solitude and the time to get lost in my own thoughts and meditations. I've since moved outside whenever possible, running in nature rather in a exercise room. I stopped going to the Y after 1 and 1/2 years, realizing the people parading around were becoming a visual distraction for me and the super buff and fit people were demoralizing me and filling my head with unrealistic and unhealthy comparisons. At some point, and I can't point to when, my workouts became something I looked forward to rather than dreaded.

 

So shift to the present, I do some form of exercise or stretching pretty much everyday. I run probably 4-5 times a week, usually 4 miles. I do minimal weights. Mostly, I do push-ups when I'm feeling lethargic and crunches when I'm feeling bloated. I also try to swim once or twice a week as a substitute for running, give my knees a break and just listen to my breathing under water, which I find very peaceful and reassuring.

 

I'm not as strong as I'd like to be, and I'm not as muscular or ripped as I would like to be, but I feel healthy and generally at peace in life, which is all that really matters in the end - it makes me a better person and certainly a better husband and father. Plus, by focusing on achievable goals and lifestyle adjustment, I've been able to sustain my healthy living. Over the past 4 years, I've lost an additional 15 pounds, but for the most part it's been adding a little muscle here and there and cutting out the fat, so I really don't look too different than I did after that first year, other than the additional 3 inches I've taken off my waistline.

 

My goal this year is flexibility and core strength. So instead of adding time for more exercise, I've added more time to stretching and breathing exercises.

 

I can't guarantee that it'll work for you, but it worked for me.

[u2roolz]

Good story above. And something that I left out in my initial post on this topic, I would like to add now.

 

To me the P90X (or your garden variety "fad" diet) is some temporary solution to what could possibly be a long term problem (weight gain or even to maintain health).

 

I really think people to need to look at the "problem" in terms of a lifestyle change and not jump onto anything for a quick fix. Usually, that may work but only for a 6 month period or whatever. Then it's onto the next "fad" diet or exercise creation:

[Moss]

 

I also limited my alcohol to one glass of wine or one beer per day, small adjustment but something that would accumulate over time. I used to drink heavy stouts or porters. Now, if I have a drink at all, it'll be a Peroni or Amstel Light with an occasional ale or stout once or twice a month.

 

 

This is where you lost me.

 

 

Actually I really liked your description. Some great info and ideas in there.

[radiatortunes]

Suffer enough and you can damn well eat whatever you want.

 

This. I work out so that I can eat a burger or fudge brownie every once in a while without worrying too much about pushing maximum density. And also because I'm sort of an endorphin junkie. Like ponch1028 I exercise in the morning before work. I'm pretty lazy and will think of any excuse to not work out if I leave it until the end of the day. I did too much distance running in the late '90s/early '00s and incurred some chronic injuries so now I only run a couple times a week. The rest of the time it's cardio in the gym. I know I should rotate in some weight training but I find weights so boring. Maybe in the new year...

 

The music at the gym I go to is pretty brutal so an iPod is essential. I love that hour of working out and listening to good music. Such a great way to start the day.