The "I sometimes break a sweat" thread

[Doohicksie]

Sorry. I'd send you some summer, but I hear there's real problems getting it through customs.

 

:flirt:

[Cereal]

My new toy, I love it! 

Get some dirt on that thing, man!  Are there decent mtb trails near you?

[Hoss]

Lots of left turns from Delaware Ave. southbound; clogs up the street.

I laughed this morning as three of the five cars in front of me turned left into the JCC, adding a minute or so to my commute.

[Eleven]

I laughed this morning as three of the five cars in front of me turned left into the JCC, adding a minute or so to my commute.

 

Yep.  Every morning.

[JJFIVEOH]

Get some dirt on that thing, man! Are there decent mtb trails near you?

Very few. Dedicated bike trails are very limited down here, not a very good biking experience. But, like TBJ said, gotta do some searching. There's plenty of areas to go biking. A1A is a good cruise. Markham Park isn't bad. This bike won't be doing much mountain biking yet, but it will. I get jealous when I see what's available in almost every other city in the US.

[biodork]

Saturday was beautiful weather in San Francisco.  We ended up walking over 11 miles for the day, mostly going from our hotel in the financial district through Chinatown, down around the Bay, and partway across the Golden Gate bridge.  So nice to be outside.

[Doohicksie]

11 miles in a day is a LOT.  Your dogs must be hurtin' after that.

[Doohicksie]

I missed my weekly Sunday night ride yesterday, and it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow, so I figured I better get a ride into tonight.  Got 25 miles in on the fixed gear bike.  A little cooler than it's been but the wind wasn't as bad, so it was very pleasant.

 

You're going to be really familiar with the sights of Fort Worth before you know it....  ;)

 

First:  NEW BIKE LANE!!!!  Westcreek Drive used to be two, two-way streets on either side of the the creek.  But this week they made each side one-way and marked off bike lanes.  Frankly I don't think this was needed; Westcreek (on either side of the creek) was already a good bike route, but I appreciate the effort.  (Ha!  I just noticed they left the Two-Way traffic sign up.... oops!)

 

The Hulen Street bridge, which goes over a tollway which goes over a train yard, with a lovely view of downtown a few miles off.

 

The ZEN TAXI.  Don't worry, I don't know what this means either.

 

The top of West 7th Street looking down toward downtown.

 

The West 7th Street bridge into downtown at the bottom of the hill.  From the top to the bottom = 160 ft. descent = WHEEEEEEEEE!  :D

 

Don't worry, I'll never cross the bridge like this:

The cop at the end of the bridge let him off with a warning (seriously).

Edited February 23, 2016 by Robin Egg

[ubkev]

No warning needed, he should have booked it Cru Jones style and made that cop chase him through a lumber yard!

[MattPie]

No warning needed, he should have booked it Cru Jones style and made that cop chase him through a lumber yard!

I think you meant Danny McCaskill style.

 

Get some dirt on that thing, man!  Are there decent mtb trails near you?

It's all sand and alligators and snakes down there, right?

[Doohicksie]

I found some dirt tonight on the ride above. I took a stone path through the park and forgot how much it rained. In several spots I had to go through the mud that washed over the trail. I didn't realize how bad it was till I got home and discovered both me and the bike were muddy. No alligators though... they stay down in the river around here (and they're pretty rare anyway).

[ubkev]

I think you meant Danny McCaskill style.

 

Had to look him up.

[MattPie]

Had to look him up.

 

Same with Cru jones. :)

[Eleven]

Alternated rowing and fast-walking today.  Was kind of interesting.  5 mins fast walking, 3 mins rowing, 3x each.  Got the heart rate up a little bit without too much exertion.  Which is exactly what I want on a non-trainer day.

[biodork]

11 miles in a day is a LOT.  Your dogs must be hurtin' after that.

Was definitely happy to sit down afterwards, lol.  We had a leisurely pace and did that over the course of several hours with a couple little stops for snacks and/or pictures, but we earned our dinner, for sure.

[dEnnis the Menace]

3 weeks at the gym now, at least 3x/week.  Down 10lbs in that time.  Doing about an hour of cardio every time I'm there.  Trying really hard to lose that sympathy weight I put on with my pregnant wife (who is t-minus 5 weeks till the twins arrive). 

[Doohicksie]

3 weeks at the gym now, at least 3x/week. Down 10lbs in that time. Doing about an hour of cardio every time I'm there. Trying really hard to lose that sympathy weight I put on with my pregnant wife (who is t-minus 5 weeks till the twins arrive).

10 lb. in 3 weeks is impressive. Good work!

[Derrico]

3 weeks at the gym now, at least 3x/week.  Down 10lbs in that time.  Doing about an hour of cardio every time I'm there.  Trying really hard to lose that sympathy weight I put on with my pregnant wife (who is t-minus 5 weeks till the twins arrive). 

Get your workouts in now man.  When those twins come you'll likely be way too sleep deprived to even think about the gym.  Good luck with everything.

[dEnnis the Menace]

Get your workouts in now man.  When those twins come you'll likely be way too sleep deprived to even think about the gym.  Good luck with everything.

 

that's what I'm being told haha.

[Hoss]

I'll try to check in here more often. Just finally wiggled enough money loose for a good gym membership. Signed up a week ago today and have gone four times. JCC has everything I need and then some with people who mind their own business and do their thing in there.

I've always had a bit of self-consciousness about the gym so I'm trying to just get in a zone and make it work.

 

Time to lose the dad bod.

[Eleven]

I'll try to check in here more often. Just finally wiggled enough money loose for a good gym membership. Signed up a week ago today and have gone four times. JCC has everything I need and then some with people who mind their own business and do their thing in there.

I've always had a bit of self-consciousness about the gym so I'm trying to just get in a zone and make it work.

 

Time to lose the dad bod.

 

Just a few suggestions now that I've been "back at it" for more than six months:  

 

1, if your budget allows it, get with a trainer.  Even just for one session.  He or she can work out a plan for you and leave it to you to implement the plan.  If the budget doesn't allow for it, try to talk to a friend who is a gym rat.  

 

2, realize that no one is really looking at you.  They're focusing on their own workouts or their music or an episode of something on their iPad.  That will help w/ the self-consciousness.  

 

3, realize that this is about long-term behavioral change and not short-term results.  At your age, you'll be faster out of the gate than I was, but still, don't worry about the numbers.  "The numbers" being how much you lift, how fast/far you run, and how much you weigh.  Focus instead on how you feel, and, after a little while, on how the dimensions of your body have changed.  I've only lost 13 pounds.  But I've shifted at least as many, if not more, from fat to muscle.  The fact that my pants are loose while the upper part of my suitcoat is tight is more meaningful than the number on the scale or the number on the weights.

[TrueBlueGED]

A full 7 weeks removed from surgery, I got the okay to run as tolerated (apparently the shoulder bouncing around will be painful, but not harmful). I've actually only put on like three pounds, but to go with 11's "it's how you feel" theme, I feel like a saggy sack of meat.

 

First hurt my shoulder back in September so it's really been more like 6 months without serious training...before this whole thing, I didn't take off more than a few weeks total per year for about 16 years. And I still won't be able to get back to heavy lifting until the end of June, which sucks, to say the least (figure 10 months of zero to extremely limited strength training). Rebuilding myself by that point is going to really suck, and it's hard not to think about. But today? Today is a good day because I can run again. I'm fired up baby!

[Derrico]

A full 7 weeks removed from surgery, I got the okay to run as tolerated (apparently the shoulder bouncing around will be painful, but not harmful). I've actually only put on like three pounds, but to go with 11's "it's how you feel" theme, I feel like a saggy sack of meat.

 

First hurt my shoulder back in September so it's really been more like 6 months without serious training...before this whole thing, I didn't take off more than a few weeks total per year for about 16 years. And I still won't be able to get back to heavy lifting until the end of June, which sucks, to say the least (figure 10 months of zero to extremely limited strength training). Rebuilding myself by that point is going to really suck, and it's hard not to think about. But today? Today is a good day because I can run again. I'm fired up baby!

Good to hear your back to running.

 

This reminds me of this garbage TV show my wife watches.  It's called Fit to Fat to Fit.  Basically personal trainers who don't work out and eat nothing but crap and intentionally add 70+ pounds of fat over 3 months.  Then they train with an obese 'regular' person hardcore for 3 months to lose the fat and gain the muscle back. 

 

If you have a half hour to kill and want to watch someone in shape not workout and almost eat themselves to death and then lose the weight again I'll leave this here.

 

http://www.aetv.com/shows/fit-to-fat-to-fit

[darksabre]

Just a few suggestions now that I've been "back at it" for more than six months:  

 

1, if your budget allows it, get with a trainer.  Even just for one session.  He or she can work out a plan for you and leave it to you to implement the plan.  If the budget doesn't allow for it, try to talk to a friend who is a gym rat.  

 

2, realize that no one is really looking at you.  They're focusing on their own workouts or their music or an episode of something on their iPad.  That will help w/ the self-consciousness.  

 

3, realize that this is about long-term behavioral change and not short-term results.  At your age, you'll be faster out of the gate than I was, but still, don't worry about the numbers.  "The numbers" being how much you lift, how fast/far you run, and how much you weigh.  Focus instead on how you feel, and, after a little while, on how the dimensions of your body have changed.  I've only lost 13 pounds.  But I've shifted at least as many, if not more, from fat to muscle.  The fact that my pants are loose while the upper part of my suitcoat is tight is more meaningful than the number on the scale or the number on the weights.

This is all good advice. I started hitting the gym seriously back in October and managed to get into a routine. I'm going three nights a week after work and I've been doing a lot more upper body and core work than ever before. I'm down a ton of fat, but my weight has stayed exactly the same, which is exactly what I wanted. I don't pay much attention to what weight I'm using for my exercises, I just try to do my sets as smoothly as possible. Some days are better than others, but I'm just having fun and I like the routine. 

 

I've started mixing some of these dumbbell exercises into my routine as a way to loosen everything up at the end of the week. I like em. http://greatist.com/fitness/30-dumbbell-exercises-missing-your-routine

3 weeks at the gym now, at least 3x/week.  Down 10lbs in that time.  Doing about an hour of cardio every time I'm there.  Trying really hard to lose that sympathy weight I put on with my pregnant wife (who is t-minus 5 weeks till the twins arrive). 

It's good to still be young eh? I'm like you. Once I set a diet and start getting exercise it just comes off. 

 

You think you can stick with it when the twins come?

I'll try to check in here more often. Just finally wiggled enough money loose for a good gym membership. Signed up a week ago today and have gone four times. JCC has everything I need and then some with people who mind their own business and do their thing in there.

I've always had a bit of self-consciousness about the gym so I'm trying to just get in a zone and make it work.

 

Time to lose the dad bod.

I hear you about the self consciousness. I don't know when exactly I got over it but I think for me it's about being prepared. If I know the gym has the equipment I want to use then I can just focus on that until I get familiar with the place and start exploring a bit. 

[Hoss]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I do a lot of work with the free weights and dumbbells because they allow me to focus more on the weights than those around me. Headphones help, too.

 

My partner I've been going with is smallish and focuses almost entirely on his biceps so I'm obviously not following him.

 

I'll try to provide a few updates here and there. Anybody else use protein powder?