Excercise for excercise's sake?

[terrafirma]

think of exercise as preventative maintenance for your body! All it is. Respect your organs too.

 

[TNMIKE]

Walk

I had major surgery (colon resection) in late July. I have been walking three to five miles a day and though its been very hard I can see results.

If you dont do anything else walk. Its really good especially as you get older.
I just added a military patrol pack with a five pound bag of sugar in it. In a month I will add five more pounds. The terrain here is mountainous and if you walk at any speed at all you get a pretty good cardio workout.

I agree with a lot of posters about eating habits. Its a problem for me and I need to do a lot better in that area.

 

[Kogafortwo]

I race too

I ride bikes - running is so dull as the scenery moves too slowly. As for the gym....bleurgh.

This year I entered the "Etape du Tour" - it is a stage of the Tour de France, in the mountains - 120 miles and 14,000 feet of climbing. I managed to do it in 9 hours - but this meant pretty serious training - 200 - 300 miles a week on the bike.

Strangely enough, cutting wood was excellent cross training and very good for weight loss. I'd ride 140 miles to a friend's farm, sleep like the dead that night, cut wood with him the next day, sleep like the dead again, then ride home again.

This is me training in Spain in June this year:

Hey RXE,
I ride too. I did the TransAlp Challenge in 2005: 7 mountain stages from Oberammergau, Germany to Riva del Garda, Italy. Here is me at the top of the Stelvio Pass in Italy, about 9000 feet.

This year, I did a few non-competitive century rides in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Best result: "Blood, Sweat, & Gears" around Boone, NC. 100 miles, 13,000 feet verticle, 5 hours 57 minutes. I was killing myself the last 20 miles trying to beat 6 and I just made it.

Since then I have been getting fat and lazy and enjoying every minute of it.

 

[turnkey4099]

I must be getting into the mood or sumpin. Was disappointed to find it raining lightly this morning. Decided I could skip the walk. Couldn't do it and hit the treadmill. Still boring but I have figured a way to hold book and read it while walking. Helps a bunch.

Pushed my time out to 40 plus minutes today at a reasonable rate with the old pump going good from the first few steps.

Guess I am not doing too badly for someone who thought getting the mail was a walk.

Harry K

 

[rxe]

100 miles, 13,000 feet verticle, 5 hours 57 minutes.

Damn - that's good.

I too have been getting fat and lazy since July this year. I look at the bike and think I should get out and do 100 miles. Then I think, naaah, and go into the garage to fiddle with something mechanical. I'll get back into it eventually, but I'm a bit burnt out after this year.

 

[Kogafortwo]

Damn - that's good.

I too have been getting fat and lazy since July this year. I look at the bike and think I should get out and do 100 miles. Then I think, naaah, and go into the garage to fiddle with something mechanical. I'll get back into it eventually, but I'm a bit burnt out after this year.

Thanks for the props! Riding hard is my little way of avoiding the mid-life crisis. I also am surrounded by bikes in my garage, but lately I pull a saw or some other motorized equipment off the shelf and tear into it.

Keep ridin' & sawin'.
-Chris

 

[slowp]

Hey, but there's good news. I was listening to the radio (BBC program) and you can be fat, but healthy by just exercising, which is what I do. They weigh me at the doctor's and then take blood pressure and then look amazed.
It is OK now that I'm back working in the woods. I contemplated this while making cookies. Mmmmm, good dough.

 

[belgian]

Damn - that's good.

I too have been getting fat and lazy since July this year. I look at the bike and think I should get out and do 100 miles. Then I think, naaah, and go into the garage to fiddle with something mechanical. I'll get back into it eventually, but I'm a bit burnt out after this year.

I agree, that's good !
Used to ride a lot of mountainbike myself, untill a recidive hernia caused me to slow down dramatically. I still ride my race bike nearly every week in summer with the local cycling team, and average is about 17 miles/h in hilly environment, typical trip distance is about 50 to 70 miles. And that is tough enough for me.

I take out my fully MTB in wintertime, can't resist, really. Nothing better than a good ride in the woods in the morning

 

[Kogafortwo]

Thanks Belgian

Hey Belgian,
17 mph in the hills for 50-70 miles is very respectable. It must be the Duvel that keeps you fueled up!
Do you have a cross bike too? The Belgians are the cross-racing masters of the world as you well know. Too mudy and cold for me though. It's bad enough crossing a pass in the Alps at 8500 feet with a 36°F rain.

 

[pyromaniac guy]

last thanksgiving i took a good hard look at myself. i stepped on the scale and saw the numbers read 286. finally it sunk in, i was only 14 lbs away from the dreaded 300.

i wore a size 42 pants, and had a huge gut. i stand 6'1" tall.

i decided early in the year that i would start to work on that. as of right now, i have "trimmed" down to 240 lbs. i started going to the local Y, and i spend about an hour and a half there, 3 or 4 times a week.

i feel better than i have in years. my overall goal is to get trimmed down to about 225-230. i know i can make it...

 

[Trigger-Time]

Chainsaws and diet...........lost 45 lbs
last year in 7 or 8 months. I have put
15 lbs back on but have been holding
the 30 lb loss for 10 months now

Hints

Don't eat in front of TV
Smaller bites and fully chew your food before slowing.
Use smaller plates and bowls.......tricks you'r mind.
Cut out sodas.
Cut down on carbs......bread, potato's and sugar.
I only drink water now......was hard at first!

 

[pyromaniac guy]

Chainsaws and diet...........lost 45 lbs
last year in 7 or 8 months. I have put
15 lbs back on but have been holding
the 30 lb loss for 10 months now

Hints

Don't eat in front of TV
Smaller bites and fully chew your food before slowing.
Use smaller plates and bowls.......tricks you'r mind.
Cut out sodas.
Cut down on carbs......bread, potato's and sugar.
I only drink water now......was hard at first!

one to add:

drink 16 oz of water before you sit down to eat

 

[belgian]

Hey Belgian,
17 mph in the hills for 50-70 miles is very respectable. It must be the Duvel that keeps you fueled up!
Do you have a cross bike too? The Belgians are the cross-racing masters of the world as you well know. Too mudy and cold for me though. It's bad enough crossing a pass in the Alps at 8500 feet with a 36°F rain.

Hey Chris,

The good part of getting out with the boys in the cycling team is that after a good ride, there's plenty of time to enjoy a few smooth belgian beers ...

Duvel however will knock you down in an instant after a heavy physical effort, but the regular draft beer goes down reaaaaal gooood.

Cross biking is indeed a european competition dominated by the belgians. Too intensive for me though : one full hour with heart beating in the red zone is something for the verrrry sporty people, it would kill my back also. mountainbiking is much more fun...

 

[logbutcher]

Amen

... and also cuss and spit whenever. You don't see fat guys working in the brush.

Can you say "AMEN" ??????????

 

[slowp]

Can you say "AMEN" ??????????

Setting chokers can also help flexibility. A while back I was feeling totally sore and stiff from some kind of weekend project. Went down the hill and felt sorry for the guy pulling rigging by himself so I helped out for a few hours. Came back up the hill dirty, thirsty, but no longer all stiff and sore. The various contortions required to get the choker around the log were perfect for loosening up. I can see a new fitness fad starting...Choker Setting Pilates/yoga. There'll have to be a video and a couple of chokers to sell with it. Oh, and suspenders. I didn't have mine on and that was a little bit of a problem cuz the Carhartts were stretching out too. The guy down there offered to let me use the bugs but my pants would've fallen down from the belt and weight. One whistle....

 

[Al Smith]

I think an exercise routine would be good for everybody,a healthy body promotes a heathy mind they say.In my little case I can't get into to it.

Although I mainly work with automation and robotics at work,I do get the occasional climbing in to maintain a certain degree of flexabilty.I don't walk just to walk,If I'm going some place,that's a different story.I split a majority of my wood by hand,to maintain upper body strength.I do have a splitter though for the extremely stuborn stuff.

It all goes back to the old adage of use it or lose it.It's ten times easier to maintain than try and get back what you lost,I can attest to that.

 

[Jacob J.]

You don't see fat guys working in the brush

Yeah, actually you do. One of the timber cutters that broke me in when I was 19 was a 6'4", 340 lb. dude that could move like greased lightning.

 

[oldirty]

Yeah, actually you do. One of the timber cutters that broke me in when I was 19 was a 6'4", 340 lb. dude that could move like greased lightning.

jacob i am going to go totally off topic here but this sounds more like a scene from the HBO show "OZ" than it does work.

lol



oldirty

 

[joshua mason]

any exercise program can benefit anyone. i work road construction so through the summer months im not home enough to workout. i try to hit the weights pretty hard through the winter months. although weight training is not as good for cardiovascular health and conditioning as riding bikes or walking, you will burn more calories lifting in a shorter workout do to the heeling process after the workout. your metabolism will also stay at a faster rate. so if you dont have alot of time, then weights is where it is at.

 

[brian660]

I work on an oil rig, when i`m not working 12 hour (minimum) days for 2 or 4 weeks straight i`m at home cutting wood or working my buddys ranch or hunting or fishing or touching the girlfriend...



going to the gym would be a vacation!