Excercise

Phil_aka_Pip

I was told today to do some. Reasons why I don't (time, mainly, but also total lack of interest) were argued away.

I'm beginning to wonder how much extra time of life each hour of exercise will buy you. If you do an hour's exercise do you get an extra hour of life, do you get less, or do you get more? By how much is your life shortened by not doing any exercise? If you live longer, is is just so you can do more exercise? (If the latter, I'll quit now). And is any extra time just going to be spent getting abused in a council-run geriatric nursing shithole home?

Does anyone know where to start looking for answers (websites &c)?

bertie

Phil_aka_Pip said:

Does anyone know where to start looking for answers (websites &c)?

we're upset you had to ask

fatherjack

Exercise is boring - play a sport instead.

Isn't drumming a reasonable cardiovascular workout?

Fender Japan Strat.....

Phil_aka_Pip

I'd have thought loading the van was good enough exercise. I'd rather do it for going out to a gig though.

I am equally bored by sport. I hate it all.

fatherjack

Seriously (for a change):  If you think that loading the van is good exercise, you need to get some exercise.  However, you could combine the best of both worlds by becoming the lead vocalist in a Buster Bloodvessel tribute band.

TTony

Phil_aka_Pip said:

I'm beginning to wonder how much extra time of life each hour of exercise will buy you.

As with many things, it's probably not so much about the length, and more about what you do with it.

So, yes, being healthier and fitter will probably extend your life by some amount. 

But you'll be able to do more for longer - that's the important bit.  And it can be silly things - getting up out of a chair more easily, not aching & paining after you've had to mow the lawn or whatever, being able to have the odd binge night and recovering more quickly, etc.

And who knows what hot totty you'll bump into in the gym ...

frankus

Agree with Tony - it's a quality thing (who wants to live longer; Don't you want to live more?) but quality of exercise matters.

A 4 minute Tabata session that leaves you gasping for breath is generally better for CV and the muscles than 30 minutes on a treadmill.

I'd recommend finding a trainer if you want to do Tabatta as it will put strain on your body... doing the plank for 30 seconds puts strain on my lower back atm.

I love exercise, my favourite is working a punch-bag for about 40 minutes as my arms feel like dropping offf after 20 minutes so then it's all back and hips and towards the end it's coming from the legs and feet -- so it improves my boxing technique.

The best thing about exercise (for me) is that after a beasting - the rest of the day is an utter piece of piss. (Someone described it as "every day swallow a frog" - it's the hardest thing you'll do all day, everything else pales).

I have to maintain a level of fitness or forfeit my grade in Karate, so daily routines are the only way and I enjoy them, I'd spend 30 minutes twice a day stretching if I could because I feel so much younger after stretching.

Other perks of exercising - in the sack (improved stamina and better blood flow sorts a lot of stuff out), clearer mind (better blood flow), positivity (more endorphins, testosterone AND less cortesol), better mental faculties (increased spacial awareness for starters), better mobility (provided you stretch afterwards)... also a sense of being in control of your body.

Also I enjoy pushing myself and over-coming the sense of trepidation I have part way through a work-out. I'm not up to my Karate instructors attitude of "do it, pass out or throw up" are the only outcomes to a routine... I do still give up from time to time.

As soon as you exercise you speed up the metabolism so any flab will gradually disappear without crazy calorie stuff...

If that all sounds a bit radical, start smaller, I did... I used to do 1 minutes stretching in the morning and 1 minute at night..

I found I don't like gyms, I prefer working outside with free weights or body weight for short periods of time several times a day. I do occasionally look in the mirror but I prefer to measure improvement in terms of what I can do.

I've given up fizzy drinks (I found the mainstream ones depressed me - either the sugars or soem chemical), I don't really drink, a glass of wine a week.. I actually prefer to drink water - especially after a real shoeing... it is the best tasting drink ever.

I'd just be wary of doing too much too soon.

ROOG

Gym is expensive, but it worked for me as I hate sports of most types. About six years ago I realised that my body was turning to blubber, the Gym has turned it around and I now get a bit cranky if I don't get a session in at the Gym most days. 

Loads of very nice ladies attend, however most are very preoccupied with getting their exercise done.

As of course am I!

Seriously, you could give it a go, you may find it addictive.

CabbageCat

I find all exercise to be less fun than not-exercise but I still do it (sometimes) because I feel kinda bleargh when I don't.

dafuzz

I used to do a lot more, then I fell into a lull where I did naff all. Earlier this year I picked it up again and nearly killed myself with the 'Insanity Workout" thing, and while I never quite completed the 60 (iirc) days it got me off my arse to do regular exercising again.

These days I walk to and from work (7-8 miles 5 days a week) and do a bit of yoga at home on the weekends. Feel great. I listen to podcasts and audiobooks on my walk - tech or self-help stuff - and I've never felt so far from the old, cynical, depressed substance abuser I was this time last year.

Now I'm a young, positive, chirpy substance abuser

strumjoughlamps

quick walking, yoga and weights for me, sometimes sit ups and lunges thrown in but not so much nowadays as yoga covers most of that.

CabbageCat

strumjoughlamps said:

quick walking, yoga and weights for me, sometimes sit ups and lunges thrown in but not so much nowadays as yoga covers most of that.

And it has the added bonus of causing you to grow a nice vagina in place of your John Thomas.

snakemanStoo

frankus said:

I'd just be wary of doing too much too soon.

Whatever you choose to do, I'd just like to echo this from Frank

Phil_aka_Pip

fatherjack said:

Seriously (for a change):  If you think that loading the van is good exercise, you need to get some exercise.  However, you could combine the best of both worlds by becoming the lead vocalist in a Buster Bloodvessel tribute band.

Getting out of bed is exercise enough.

holnrew

I need to be careful to not do too much or I get palpatations.

Deadman

strumjoughlamps said:

quick wanking, yoga and weights for me, sometimes sit ups and lunges thrown in but not so much nowadays as yoga covers most of that.

Sound advice.

octatonic

90% of it is diet- you can't exercise away a bad diet.

Totally agree with Frankus on the quality of the exercise but also what works is the exercise that you are prepared to do.

The worst exercise regime is one that a person simply won't do.

Further to this, plenty of people just don't exercise because they say they hate it.

I'd urge a person to change that 'script' in their mind.

Find something you love and do it regularly.

Yes, you will live longer and have a better quality of life while you do.

How much is way to variable.

Or don't.

I know way too many people who say they will do it then don't so I generally don't bother saying more that what I've said.

It is up to them.

Clarky

got to agree with Octa on the 90% of it is diet thing…

I spent years in the gym and ended up being a moderately fit / strong man inside a fat one

then back in March I started carb cycling

I'm now 60lbs lighter and my waist is 12" smaller

having lost a lot of fat I'm finding my gym stuff is more effective, so I'm getting stronger and fitter

when I weighed 113kg I could only bench 85kg

now I weigh 86kg I can bench 112kg [and I can almost shoulder press my body weight [82kg]

I go to the gym 3 times a week [start with a little cardio, then weights, then stretching]

not only am I much stronger, fitter, more flexible, I feel really good, look better than I did when I was 20, life seems much more optimistic..

also… the way other people treat you and talk to you is really different

my lil' world seems to be a better place right now...

duotone

ROOG said:

Gym is expensive, but it worked for me as I hate sports of most types. About six years ago I realised that my body was turning to blubber, the Gym has turned it around and I now get a bit cranky if I don't get a session in at the Gym most days. 

Loads of very nice ladies attend, however most are very preoccupied with getting their exercise done.

As of course am I!

Seriously, you could give it a go, you may find it addictive.

Am seriously thinking about starting dancing lessons in the new year, its a combination of putting on some weight due to being at a desk job, wanting to get fitter, learning a new skill thats is something vaguely music related (the music in this video really appeals to me) and meeting some new people outside my circle of friends.

octatonic

Clarky said:

got to agree with Octa on the 90% of it is diet thing…

I spent years in the gym and ended up being a moderately fit / strong man inside a fat one

then back in March I started carb cycling

I'm now 60lbs lighter and my waist is 12" smaller

having lost a lot of fat I'm finding my gym stuff is more effective, so I'm getting stronger and fitter

when I weighed 113kg I could only bench 85kg

now I weigh 86kg I can bench 112kg [and I can almost shoulder press my body weight [82kg]

I go to the gym 3 times a week [start with a little cardio, then weights, then stretching]

not only am I much stronger, fitter, more flexible, I feel really good, look better than I did when I was 20, life seems much more optimistic..

also… the way other people treat you and talk to you is really different

my lil' world seems to be a better place right now...

You must look ripped at 86kg mate.

Well done.

digitalscream

Part of the problem (which I still have) is that it sometimes seems like you've got a mountain to climb.

However, to see the benefits, just take a look at Rick Graham (the GOTY winner a while back) 18 months ago and then look at him now. Back then, he was very overweight, and by his own admission everything in life just seemed like one big cloud of negativity. Now, he's a totally different guy; some of that is a consequence of getting fit (in a really big way), and part of it is the reason for getting fit.

Either way, you just have to watch his videos to realise that he's far, far happier as he is now than back then.