Physical Exercise Log, Encouragement, Discussion, and Chat

bèlla · Jun 29, 2021

@JustSomeBloke

I may recant that when I’m in Europe. It will start off small. Then I’m preparing for a century.

But realistically, that level of commitment will cut into other things. You end up living the sport. I don’t want that.

JustSomeBloke · Jun 29, 2021

Tuesday 29th June 2021

Just got back from an easy, gentle cycle ride. It was good to get out in the fresh air and evening light, and I'm hoping it will help my legs recover from the hard, hilly ride I did last Saturday. I was out for an hour, but I ride quite slowly, so I'd guess about 12-13 miles.

JustSomeBloke · Jun 29, 2021

bèlla said:
@JustSomeBloke

I may recant that when I’m in Europe. It will start off small. Then I’m preparing for a century.

But realistically, that level of commitment will cut into other things. You end up living the sport. I don’t want that.

Some of those challenges look much harder than an imperial century (100 miles). I think it's fair to say that the people who are really good at those kinds of challenges are born, not made, although training is obviously important too.

I haven't ridden an imperial century for a few years. I'm slow, and I find that riding in hilly areas is more interesting than flat areas, so it takes me all day, and can really only be done in summer, unless you want to ride some of it in the dark as an additional challenge. You don't have to ride long distances every weekend all year round. It's possible to build fitness up in the spring, and then maintain a base level of fitness over winter with shorter rides.

At the moment I can only manage 30 miles on a hilly route, but that's on my fixed wheel road bike. It has only one gear, and no freewheel, so it causes my muscles to tire much more quickly than a regular multi gear bike. I could certainly ride a lot further on a bike with a freewheel, multiple gears, or on flatter terrain. But I like the fixed wheel bike, because it's so beautifully simple, and it gives a good workout in a short distance.

Niels · Jun 29, 2021

Yesterday: Strength training

Today: Leisurely bike ride

bèlla · Jun 29, 2021

JustSomeBloke said:
Some of those challenges look much harder than an imperial century (100 miles). I think it's fair to say that the people who are really good at those kinds of challenges are born, not made, although training is obviously important too.

Physical attributes aside, it's a question of how bad you want it. You don't have to the be the best, fastest, etc. You have to be committed. Competition isn't my fuel. I love the adrenaline rush and accomplishing the goal. That's what drives me.

I used to spend 2-3 hours every day walking. I didn't care about the weather. I have a cold suit and metal cleats for the ice. All that mattered was the number. Once I hit my steps I was satisfied. There were many times my mother asked if I was going out when the temperatures were low. That made it better. Going against the grain and showing up in spite of it was a high.

I love demands. The grind is intoxicating. It gets me amped. And because its hard, that makes it more alluring. That's why I get reeled in.

I haven't ridden an imperial century for a few years. I'm slow, and I find that riding in hilly areas is more interesting than flat areas, so it takes me all day, and can really only be done in summer, unless you want to ride some of it in the dark as an additional challenge. You don't have to ride long distances every weekend all year round. It's possible to build fitness up in the spring, and then maintain a base level of fitness over winter with shorter rides.

I like the idea. But I understand the sacrifice. Right now I'm not on board.

How'd you like it? What are your favorite spots?

At the moment I can only manage 30 miles on a hilly route, but that's on my fixed wheel road bike. It has only one gear, and no freewheel, so it causes my muscles to tire much more quickly than a regular multi gear bike. I could certainly ride a lot further on a bike with a freewheel, multiple gears, or on flatter terrain. But I like the fixed wheel bike, because it's so beautifully simple, and it gives a good workout in a short distance.

Do you have a trainer at home?

sampa · Jun 30, 2021

Today rest. Ran 8 miles yesterday in the rain. Wore out after getting home late and getting to bed late. Friday plan to do a 8 Mile Run from a park to a sand dune, a little incline training and back. Switching up my half marathon training plan to do rest weeks. I will taper back the mileage the next week. Trying to match my schedule in some way with my running partner that's training for a full Marathon.

JustSomeBloke · Jul 1, 2021

bèlla said:
Physical attributes aside, it's a question of how bad you want it. You don't have to the be the best, fastest, etc. You have to be committed. Competition isn't my fuel. I love the adrenaline rush and accomplishing the goal. That's what drives me.

I used to spend 2-3 hours every day walking. I didn't care about the weather. I have a cold suit and metal cleats for the ice. All that mattered was the number. Once I hit my steps I was satisfied. There were many times my mother asked if I was going out when the temperatures were low. That made it better. Going against the grain and showing up in spite of it was a high.

I love demands. The grind is intoxicating. It gets me amped. And because its hard, that makes it more alluring. That's why I get reeled in.

I've heard of people becoming addicted to those step counters. One person reportedly tried marching on the spot at home before bedtime, when she realised she hadn't met her daily steps target. But apparently the step counter wasn't fooled, and only counted genuine walking.

Did you walk on your own? Often when people go out in extreme weather it's because their friends are going, and they want to be part of the group. It's a bonding and belonging thing as much as anything else.

bèlla said:
I like the idea. But I understand the sacrifice. Right now I'm not on board.

How'd you like it? What are your favorite spots?

I can't be bothered with really long rides at the moment. The times I've done it in the past, it was mostly for the sense of achievement at riding more than 100 miles in a day. On long rides there usually comes a time when I wish I wasn't so far from home. That might happen when I've still got 30 miles to go, and the feeling will persist until I'm 5-10 miles from home, at which point I'm almost there, and I feel relief that the end is close.

bèlla said:
Do you have a trainer at home?

No. It's not my thing. I get bored easily. I like seeing the ever-changing view as I ride.

bèlla · Jul 1, 2021

JustSomeBloke said:
I've heard of people becoming addicted to those step counters. One person reportedly tried marching on the spot at home before bedtime, when she realised she hadn't met her daily steps target. But apparently the step counter wasn't fooled, and only counted genuine walking.

I used to do that. Then I started running through the house. My daughter would see me whizzing to and fro and shake her head. Finally, I decided to dance and it was easier. That's where it started.

Did you walk on your own? Often when people go out in extreme weather it's because their friends are going, and they want to be part of the group. It's a bonding and belonging thing as much as anything else.

Yes. I never had a partner. A few times my daughter joined me but she said it was too much. Especially when we traipsed through sleet. She insisted we head home. It was snowing hard and visibility was poor. If I was alone I would have kept going. She never went with me again.

JustSomeBloke · Jul 4, 2021

Saturday 03 July 2021

The weather is very unstable at the moment. I spotted what looked like a usable window and headed out with my basketball. When I got to the outdoor court, it was obvious that the rain had only stopped recently. There was no one else there, and some areas still had small puddles. I picked a hoop in the driest area with no puddles underneath it. As I played the sky got darker and darker, and I wondered if it was going to rain again. After 90 minutes the first big drops of rain began to fall. I took shelter, hoping it was just the edge of the shower, but after a few minutes gave up and drove home. As I drove home lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.

Niels · Jul 4, 2021

I've mostly continued alternating between cycling and strength training. Mountain biking when the trails are open, road biking when they're not, and lifting weights every other day. Yesterday, the trails were closed due to mud from rain the day before that, so I went road biking instead. I still wanted to ride my mountain bike, however, so I also went mountain biking today. The trails were open, but fairly empty because of the holiday. Other than a few hikers, I didn't pass anyone in either direction. Later in the evening, I lifted weights.

Fortunately, it looks like the weather will be nice tomorrow. I'll probably hit the trails again. If the weather and my schedule allowed for it, I would probably ride every day. Unlike resistance training, which requires more time off for recovery.

For now, I'm not pushing myself very hard on the bike. Just several miles of rough/hilly terrain. Enough to get the heart rate up, and get into a groove. Longer rides will eventually follow, like I was doing before the pandemic.

JustSomeBloke · Jul 6, 2021

Monday 05th July 2021

Last weekend was pretty much rained off for cycling. I had my eye on Monday evening for a ride, but the weather was so unstable the forecasts were changing hour by hour. Eventually I decided to go out, and try to find a bus shelter if I got caught in a downpour. This was a bit risky, as some parts of the ride are very exposed, and at the top of the hills there is no shelter at all. The sky got very dark while I was riding, and a few large drops of rain fell, so I waited a little while for it to pass. I was lucky for the rest of the ride and managed to miss the rain. I did about thirty miles and two big hills.

JustSomeBloke · Jul 7, 2021

Wednesday 07th July 2021

I walked to the shop. It's not that far. About a mile there, and another mile back, but I suppose it all counts, and it's another 40 minutes of exercise. They didn't even have everything I wanted. I was looking for red grape juice, cheese, and baking potatoes, but they only had cheese. So I got the cheese, and I saw some triple chocolate chip cookies, so I grabbed a bag of those too.

JustSomeBloke · Jul 14, 2021

Wednesday 07th July 2021

I thought I'd do a quick gentle ride to help my legs recover from the ride I did on Monday 05th. But after a few minutes I realised that my legs felt quite weak. Recently I've been riding up steep hills on a fixed-wheel bike, so my rides have involved quite a lot of anaerobic activity. I think I need to leave more time for recovery in between rides to avoid over training. I intended to ride 10-12 miles, but as my legs felt so weak I took a shortcut, so it was probably more like 5-6 miles.

Thursday 08th July 2021

I went for a walk around my neighbourhood. It was late and dark, but I quite like walking at that time. When the air is still and a little cooler, I can often smell all the trees and flowers as I walk past them. I walked for about 70 minutes, so I'd guess maybe about 3 miles.

And on the topic of cycling, I was reading an interesting article recently. It seems that if you can ride 100km (62.1 miles) in under 6.5 hours, then you have the elixir of life.

Cycling can hold back the effects of ageing and rejuvenate the immune system, a study has found.

Scientists carried out tests on 125 amateur cyclists aged 55 to 79 and compared them with healthy adults from a wide age group who did not exercise regularly.

The findings, outlined in two papers in the journal Aging Cell, showed that the cyclists preserved muscle mass and strength with age while maintaining stable levels of body fat and cholesterol. In men, testosterone levels remained high.

More surprisingly, the anti-ageing effects of cycling appeared to extend to the immune system.

An organ called the thymus, which makes immune cells called T-cells, normally starts to shrink from the age of 20. But the thymuses of older cyclists were found to be generating as many T-cells as those of young people.

shineyourlight · Jul 17, 2021

JustSomeBloke said:
Physical exercise makes us feel better, so here's a thread for people in the Singles sub-forum to log and share their physical exercise, and offer encouragement to others. It doesn't matter if it's a short walk, or an Ironman triathlon, just log it all here. All types of exercise are welcome, and discussion of exercise types, programmes, objectives and techniques are also welcome. Exercise logs can be as long or short as you like, and with or without pictures.

Happy exercising!

I'm starting with a trainer this week! He used to be a good friend of mine back in college and I wanted to add more to my workout regime.

Will post more Thanks for the thread!

JustSomeBloke · Jul 17, 2021

Saturday 17th July 2021

I went out for a long walk in the countryside. A big hill and and a lot of sweat was involved. Definitely got my heart beating fast.

JustSomeBloke · Jul 26, 2021

I haven't done much exercise recently. I was going to go for a cycle ride last week, but the bike I wanted to ride had a flat tyre. It would have been quick and easy to fix it, but I decided to do some other jobs on the bike before riding it again.

Friday 23th July 2021
I woke early, so decided to go for a walk to start my day. I had a quick breakfast then headed out. It felt good to be out when the day was new. Walked for about 75 minutes. A bird pooed on me a few minutes after I started walking, but that's supposed to be good luck, so I didn't mind too much.

Saturday 24th July 2021
I spent another two hours at the outdoor basketball court exercising my shoulders. My shoulders felt tired and slightly sore the next day, so I guess it was effective.

Monday 26th July 2021
The bike I wanted to ride is still not ready, so I went for another night time walk. There was not as much traffic as I expected, so it was surprisingly peaceful. While I was out I could see a planet in the night sky. I'm not sure what I was looking at, but Jupiter and Saturn were both supposed to be visible, so it must have been one of those two.

sampa · Aug 13, 2021

Not a log, but let's see if I make it 12 miles running tomorrow. I'm also trying to attend a women's conference at the same time. I did 2 hours today and I will join them for lunch after my run. I'm expecting at least two and a half hours of running.

Just posted here to keep this thread going.

Sophrosyne · Aug 13, 2021

I cheat instead of using a log I use an exercise twig as logs are too heavy.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) · Aug 24, 2021

Going to be toning up on my forearms in preparation for this one. Not a huge fan of using tats to draw attention to parts of the body that arent otherwise attractive.

HisGraceAbounds · Aug 25, 2021

I have almost that exact same tattoo...

Mine is black/white, but it's the same forced perspective, same arm. Wow.

ETA: Here's a bad picture taken with my left hand:

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