Thursday, January 20, 2011, Check-In

[muck_a_luck]

Hey, EED community!

Here is your daily check-in post! Hope everyone is having a great day!

If you are posting for the first time, or new to the community, please review the community's standards, below.


1. Mod (that's me!) will post a Daily Check In post, for those who prefer to note their daily activities in response to a prompt. Please only place exercise comments here.

2. All members are encouraged to post daily independent posts about their activities, if they prefer that to a prompt.

3. Please place any NON-EXERCISE comments in independent update posts and behind a cut. Some people are sensitive to discussion of diet and nutrition. That is integral to many people's exercise activities, so I want members to be able to discuss that, but for those who are here strictly to log exercise, I would like them to be able to avert their eyes.

4. Everyone is encouraged to introduce themselves, discuss their exercise goals, and post updates on their activities. "I finally made it to running a mile!" or "I kicked up into handstand today!" are updates that we all want to hear about and share! Please put long posts and entries involving diet and nutrition behind a cut, though.

5. Aside from intro posts and injury announcements, please try to include an exercise update in every post.

Comments

[just_ann_now]

Barbara Benagh's "Power Yoga for Every Body" - Invigorating series, Challenging Level. My first set at this highest level. The sun salutations module was more intense than in the intermediate level. The Vishnu's Couch, side planks, and Bakasana modules were the same. The other new module was Bridge/Wheel; not difficult (thank you, Rodney Yee) but held for a long, lonnnng time. It will take practice to hold wheel as long as she asks me to!

[alphaviolet]

That sounds like a good workout.

[just_ann_now]

It seemed to go very fast, for being 65 minutes! I guess that comes from not being so intimidated by some of the poses any more.

[alphaviolet]

I'm impressed. :)

[vass]

An hour of water aerobics.

[willful_zephyr]

Did my gym-less workout at the corporate fitness center over lunch. Did the "plyometric" version of some of the exercises this time. Overall, I was much better than on Tuesday (I think having slept made a big difference).

Pretty worn out, now. I think there is some naproxen in my future.

[rydra_wong]

Morning yoga. I was going to do something later on, but then found myself feeling completely wiped out, so declaring a rest day.

[runawayskellum]

My first post here... hi!

Today I completed the ballet and the yoga workouts from my 10-minute workout DVD. I've been doing these mostly-daily for a week or so to build up strength and flexibility before I start exercising more intensely.

Speaking of which - and let me know if this isn't the appropriate place to ask - can anyone recommend good, fairly gentle aerobic exercises to try? I don't have much money and want to get a bit fitter before I try running in public. I have plenty of strength-related things to try as I improve but for aerobics I'm stumped.

[willful_zephyr]

Hi, and Welcome!

Don't know about availability or cost in your area; but, I've been swimming since I cannot run anymore.

You can also just sun-salutation at a measured (but constant) pace for 20 minutes, you'll get plenty warm and winded.

Hi and welcome!

[rydra_wong]

Brisk walking works well as a gentle aerobic exercise (where "brisk" means anything above a leisurely stroll; you should have enough breath to carry on a conversation).

If you want to work up to running, I know a lot of people will progress to doing intervals -- walk a bit, jog a bit, walk a bit, jog a bit, etc. etc. If that sort of thing appeals, you could try the "Couch to 5K" plan (I am not a runner, but it seems to be very popular in DW exercise circles).

[lyorn]

Walking 5 km, going to the gym with the usual routine (warm-up, weights, stretching), except for running, because the warm-up already made me cough a little. Six push-ups on the low bench, but couldn't complete the third set of 12 curls with 6 kg weight, and fell off the balance ball again when doing a plank on it. Managed to fall on the mat, though.

[semielliptical]

Yoga after work, 30 minutes.

[alexseanchai]

Yoga. I stuck the plank thing in the beginner 1 routine I memorized instead of bothering to put in the DVD.

[natmerc]

Decided to take a break from the yoga tapes and did about 30 min of various forms of sun salutations from memory, letting myself stay in positions as long as I wanted. Nice.

[natmerc]

... and 1.5 hours of curling.

[alphaviolet]

Spent close to 4.5 hours walking today (not on purpose) - thanks to the fact that the subway was closed and I had work-related errands. *yawn*

[smackshack]

"CrossFit, I'm feeling healthy and well-adjusted. What torture can you offer me today?"

"Why, I can offer you 10 sets of 7 kettlebell swings, 7 pushups, and 14 jumping lunges. You have one minute in which to complete each set."

"Hmmm, kettlebell swings OK, pushups OK, jumping lung--SW33T B4B33 J33BUZ!"

[willful_zephyr]

Yah... CrossFit is one of those that I'll do every so often, and wonder at people who do it all the time. It just seems like you'd eventually break, unless you really rest on your days off.

I rarely take days off, so I think I would fall apart.

[smackshack]

I'm doing Level I classes (for raw beginners, the elderly, and the blancmange) twice a week, and I every time I go in I'm nervous. But I've noticed that in these classes -- and even in the mainstream classes -- it's quite common for people not to finish the day's scheduled workout. In my case I feel a lot of tension between trying to "win" by finishing strong and trying to protect my health by paying attention to form and pacing. It's a challenge to teach myself that it's OK just to do what I can -- show up and survive -- instead of trying to impress myself or anybody else.

That said, this is definitely a crowd with very high goals for themselves. My personal goals are probably below average by their standards, but I feel I need some outside structure to complement the stuff I do on my own.

[willful_zephyr]

The Marines taught me too well how to ignore current discomfort while "getting the mission done." If I'm going fast, I will not notice tweaks and twinges, and will just keep going. I will suffer for it, later.

I will include your observations next time I'm talking with someone about CrossFit - it doesn't work for me, but I don't want to put someone off it just for that.

[smackshack]

Hm, that's interesting. For me part of the attraction of CrossFit is that, unlike a normal gym, they work you hard and then throw you out when the class is done. I don't have Marine training, but I do have a healthy helping of perfectionism and self-loathing that makes it hard for me to leave a gym unless I've overtrained by using every piece of equipment I can find. :-/

[zennish]

One thing I've learned so far: do not ever sacrifice form for speed, because when you do you will get hurt. If you find your form slacking, fix it before moving on. Crossfit's good for lots of things, but finding that balance between form and speed is ridiculously hard to do and the consequences are often completely not worth your while. I partially dislocated my SI joint while deadlifting, and while my hip was already borked from an unrelated incident I think I could've prevented further borking if I had taken my time and slowed down. Some days you just have to go for the lower weight and grit your teeth through it.

[smackshack]

Ouch. Yes, that's a most pertinent reminder.