Exercise and how do you get motivated?

[Evo]

I've always kept myself in pretty good shape, I have all of the exercise equipment at home and actually used them every day, until I damaged my knee over a year ago. Now I wiggle and jiggle in places that I shouldn't be wiggling and jiggling.

I need to get back into shape but I just can't seem to get motivated. I keep thinking of all the million other things I need to be doing.

Tomorrow I AM going to go hiking, which is something I love, maybe I can stop thinking about work. Of course the best hiking is up where the mountain lions are (for anyone that remembers my thread about the mountain lion in my neighborhood that ate the neighbor's chihuahua, some woman ran over it with her car).

I was wondering what others do for exercise. How do you get motivated? Does it make you feel better?

 

[BoulderHead]

Had not one, but a pair of mountain lions hop the back fence at a friends house less than two weeks ago. A few days prior it was a bobcat doing the same thing. I have photos of the bobcat which took a two-hour nap back there before knocking down the bird feeder and leaving. Intended to attach images but file limitation at PF is too scant. Anyway, yes, exercise and proper diet affect the mind in positive ways as well as doing good things for the body. Motivation can be a problem as the better I feel the less inclined I am to exercise and doing nothing leads only to more of same.
Good luck

 

[Kerrie]

i do a lot of hiking during the dry season (only about 4 months here in oregon :tongue2: )...sometimes i run (usually on the treadmill due to the rainy weather), and yoga is a favorite, although not considered vigorous excercise.

 

[JasonRox]

I used to work out, but now I seldomly do. I injured myself in a few places, so that is a set back. It has been like 2 month since I have last been at the gym, which is when school started.

This winter I'm going skiing on weekends because I have a SEASON PASS :)! That should be fun. I can't wait till the snow comes! YAY!

 

[singleton]

For exercise I do 30 mins on the crosstrainer and end up burning just under 400 cals on average (I'm a big guy so that is easy). For me it is much easier to do it in the morning right after I wake up, chug water and stretch. I can't stand working out at night.

As for staying motivated--I don't. I just put it into my schedule and follow the schedule. Things like donating blood and cutting the lawn are in the schedule (obviously I don't like those!) but my simple rule is to follow my schedule heh. Simple but effective.

Besides, I feel damn good after a cardio session so it works out okay. I was living a really sedentary lifestyle for years and ate the -worst- imaginable food and consumed too many subtances. Felt like a sloth but with daily cardio, healthy diet and regular sleep patterns I began feeling really great after a month (more energized and confident).

Edit: damn all my responses in the General Discussion forum are long enough to be books

 

[Moonbear]

I just walk the length of a convention center multiple times a day for a few days a year! I just measured since the convention center floor plans from the meeting I just got back from actually had a scale on it. 0.384 mi from end to end, and 385 ft from front to back. Considering one usually zig-zags through the posters from one end to the other (and I ALWAYS end up with groups of posters I want to see that are on both ends), plus the walking to and from the hotel, which was 7 blocks from the convention center (about a 10 min walk...there was a shuttle, but that seemed slower than walking since it stopped at multiple hotels along the way). I find myself needing to eat 4 meals a day to keep up with that much walking!

Other than that, I walk a lot from my office to the lab, and take stairs rather than elevators when the distance is less than 5 floors. And in a week, I'll be wrestling sheep again for 2 days.

I'm actually dreading this workshop I'm going to be attending tomorrow through Sunday. I'll be sitting from 8 AM to 6 PM, then a dinner break, then either socials or more sessions until 9 or 11 PM. I'm not sure I can sit still for that long! Actually, I KNOW I can't sit still for that long. 5 hours on the plane to and from CA was torture enough, and even then I get up a few times and wiggle around in the seats a lot (good thing I'm small, it's a lot easier to move around and stretch out on planes, I don't know how tall people can stand it).

 

[Dagenais]

I've always kept myself in pretty good shape, I have all of the exercise equipment at home and actually used them every day, until I damaged my knee over a year ago. Now I wiggle and jiggle in places that I shouldn't be wiggling and jiggling.

I need to get back into shape but I just can't seem to get motivated. I keep thinking of all the million other things I need to be doing.

Tomorrow I AM going to go hiking, which is something I love, maybe I can stop thinking about work. Of course the best hiking is up where the mountain lions are (for anyone that remembers my thread about the mountain lion in my neighborhood that ate the neighbor's chihuahua, some woman ran over it with her car).

I was wondering what others do for exercise. How do you get motivated? Does it make you feel better?

A lot of the stuff I do might not suit an older lady that well (basketball, tennis, soccer).

I do mountain bike though. Bicycling itself can be a fun, relaxing sport. You get a decent work out without the pains of jogging. Golf is also fun, but I stink at that...FORE!

 

[singleton]

A lot of the stuff I do might not suit an older lady that well (basketball, tennis, soccer).

I do mountain bike though. Bicycling itself can be a fun, relaxing sport. You get a decent work out without the pains of jogging. Golf is also fun, but I stink at that...FORE!

Do you like sleeping inside ?

 

[Evo]

A lot of the stuff I do might not suit an older lady that well (basketball, tennis, soccer).

Yep, senior citizens like me need to be careful not to break anything. :grumpy:

I think hiking will be a good way to get back into exercising. The trail is uneven and goes up and down which requires different muscles from walking on a flat surface. I tried doing my stair stepper last night and I was bored stiff after 5 minutes.

I am not a morning person. What do you think? Is working out in the morning better or at night, or does it not matter?

 

[Evo]

I just walk the length of a convention center multiple times a day for a few days a year!

Moonbear, I think you can relate to working long days then trying to find the time and energy to exercise along with all of the other daily chores.

 

[singleton]

As for morning vs night everyone is different. I just flat out find that I am more energized (because I'm fresh) in the morning and can get that 30 mins on the crosstrainer.

At night, after a tiring day, I'd be lucky to last 5 minutes on the crosstrainer. Plus the fact I'd stink and have to shower before bed whereas in the morning you can have your daily shower after the workout. Generally you shouldn't do an intense workout 3 hours before sleeping either they say.

Morning workouts don't give me more "pep" throughout the day, but, I feel more relaxed and mentally aware (maybe it is because the juices are flowing) but I can sit and read more easily.

 

[The_Professional]

Ever since breaking my stair master (the wiring came off loose splitting into two) my routine has been pretty irregular. Although, I still do a lot of walking to and from class and work. I've been looking into doing weights since I find that doing a lot of cardio makes me skinny and it also burns muscle mass.

As far as motivation, while I do cardio I just think of all the greasy food I can ever imagine...double hamburgers with double cheese, french fries, hash browns, philly cheesesteaks dripping in oil.

I find that exercising in the morning before I ever eat anything achieves the best desired result. You'll burn twice the fat.

 

[Evo]

Having gotten out of my exercise routine, I know that if I exersize I will have more energy, but I don't have the energy to start exercising.

Singleton, you're right, exercising in the morning is probably better, it would raise my metabolism early in the day and burn more calories.

Ok, I admit it, I can hardly lift my coffee cup before 10am.

I wish my current employer had a gym on premise like my last employer.

Boulderhead, yikes, two mountain lions?

 

[recon]

What is 1 block in kilometres or miles? My young cousin from Canada keeps boasting that he can run 10 blocks in a go.

 

[check]

My only excersise is the 1.4 km walk to the university and back and maybe to again. Never more than 3 trips there or back 'cause I usually just take the bus on the 4th trip :D

 

[Math Is Hard]

I power-walk several times a week. I do the silly-looking arm-pumping and everything. If you can get past the funny looks you get, it's great exercise.

Don't worry, Dagenais. I wear one of those "help-I've-fallen-and-I-can't-get-up" alarms, just in case of emergency. :tongue2:

 

[Gokul43201]

I enjoy hiking in the summer time. It's been a while since I've played a sport...ain't no time for much of that.

I walk/jog to school and back everyday - that's about 2.5 miles. And I walk about a mile for lunch each day. The labs I work in are located in the first and 4th floors. I run up and down 3 flights of stairs about 10 times a day.

Last month I hauled about 15 or so 100 lb sand bags to fill into vibration damping boxes. Before that I had to mount four 80 lb isolation transformers up 10 ft high on a wall. Last week I was testing our new winch, for which I had to load 400 lbs of lead bricks onto suspended frames. Yesterday, I was mounting a 75 lb magnet onto a cryostat.

So basically, working in my lab gives me sporadic bursts of intense exercise. And on the other hand, I might spend a whole month on a design project or working with data, and my only exercise comes from my commute.

 

[Moonbear]

I am not a morning person. What do you think? Is working out in the morning better or at night, or does it not matter?

A few years ago, I came across someone presenting a poster at a conference on this topic. I can't recall the details, something about the effects of morning vs evening exercise on glucose metabolism or something like that. They had a preferred time of day, though I can't really recall which it was, and I remember being very skeptical of it, so they must have concluded morning was better. Now, the problem is, I can't remember if it was a study with rats or humans! I think my own conclusion was they didn't have a significant effect, or some other flaw in the design that prevented them from making a conclusion about the findings.

 

[Moonbear]

Moonbear, I think you can relate to working long days then trying to find the time and energy to exercise along with all of the other daily chores.

Yep, I definitely can relate. I have never been one to exercise just for the sake of exercise. But, I'm not lazy or overweight or out of shape either. I just do things myself that others would hire someone to do. It's leaf-raking season. That's one heck of a workout! Definitely a combination of cardio and strength involved, especially when the leaves are wet. :yuck: I'm one of those people who would turn a treadmill into a plant stand after a week of staring at it. I get horribly bored by the idea of walking nowhere, and it just doesn't fit into my schedule. So, for me it's really a matter of just pushing myself more in my regular routine. Take stairs instead of elevators when you can, walk short distances rather than driving (in some cases, it's faster to walk than sit in traffic and hunt for parking spaces anyway), when you take stairs, you can even jog up them rather than walk to get more benefit out of it.

 

[Kerrie]

A lot of the stuff I do might not suit an older lady that well (basketball, tennis, soccer).

as the saying goes, getting older is like wine; you get better with age. :rofl:

 

[Polly]

I exercised a lot in uni days, if I was not hitting the books I would be taking long walks from the quiet part of Hong Kong to the most bustling part of town (Causeway Bay) and back. Nowadays the biggest motivation for me to get my butt out of the chair is the dreadful prospect of parting with my wardrobe .

 

[Evo]

I do tons of yardwork, a lot of hauling 40lb bags of topsoil, fertilizer, etc..., lots of shoveling, weeding, so I am generally fit, especially upper body, I walk a lot and I walk very fast, I just have lost tone in certain areas, specifically buttocks and abs.

I know I'm going to have to work out to get that kind of tone, but I've lost my love for my exercise machines.

 

[PerennialII]

In my mind the easiest way is still to jog ... you spend the least time and get the most of it. 30 mins here and there and in no time you're in shape. And if its tough just go as slow as it takes, running is a horrid exercise form for many 'cos they try go way too fast...

 

[motai]

I was wondering what others do for exercise. How do you get motivated? Does it make you feel better?

Being on the cross country team, I do quite a bit of running. On easy days we do an average of around 3 miles, and on hard ones it can be a combination of 5-6 miles plus speedwork. I find the most relaxing workouts to be the ones which average around 10 miles at a relatively slow speed. Some of the more stressful ones tend to be the 5ks that I run at meets (which I have to run fast for an extended period of time). Speaking of which, the regional race that ill be running in is at 5 to 6 o'clock this evening.

As long as I have time to run I generally will go out and run. Here in Florida, the best time for a light jog is definately in the winter seasons. After heat-training over the summer, nothing feels better than running in crisp 50 degree air.

One thing that motivates me to a certaint extent is self-improvement. If I run, my cardiovascular system gets stronger and thus my heart will stay in a less-stressful state most of the time.

 

[JasonRox]

I work at a grocery store... does that count?

 

[Chi Meson]

I would die if my knee blew out!

If I could not run, I don't know what would happen to my mind. I suppose I'd bike more often. Definately swim more, but these are just not the same as running.

How bad is the knee? Have you considered road-biking? It's relatively low stress ont the joints if you keep the gears low.

 

[Evo]

How bad is the knee? Have you considered road-biking? It's relatively low stress ont the joints if you keep the gears low.

I fell on a drinking glass and the thick base of the glass went deeply into my knee, luckily no serious damage.

But even now it doesn't feel right, hurts to bend it sometimes and it pops alot. I'm afraid of putting too much strain on it, running is out of the question.

 

[Chi Meson]

Owie Owie Owie Owie Owie Owie!

I am terribly susceptable to empatheic pain!

 

[chroot]

Have you seen a doctor or professional trainer Evo? You don't necessarily have to do movement-based exercises to get toned -- weight-based exercises or isotonic exercises will work great too. You might even want to start getting back into things with one of those goofy (ahem, cool..) stability balls.

- Warren

 

[Tsu]

Generally, at least 3 times a week, my JOB is an EIGHT HOUR work out! Fast-paced walking (or skipping! - yes! sometimes if I'm in a hurry and the hallway is long I break into a major skip-a-thon! I get awfully strange looks from Drs, staff, and patients but it's fun, good exercise, and EVO! it might be easier on your knee?), heavy lifting, pushing and pulling patients. At the end of the night, I'm still in pretty good shape! Our students, however, are dragging their butts! Not bad for an old lady, huh?