Time to get Fit thread

[stangmx13]

Thanks Robert. I was so happy in Oct

I know I skew towards high aerobic in most of my training. I'm trying to balance it out. It's frustrating because some of those orange workouts were attempts to be in the purple. I find it's a little tricky to stay in the low aerobic zone too sometimes. I also think its hard for me to jump into high intensity work without a Loooong warm up. Like, 20 minutes in zone 1-2 minimum before it feels ok to push. I'm not sure what that means. Maybe thats a function of being 45 years old lol.

It's crazy to me how nuanced endurance/cardio training is. Weightlifting is so much more straightforward.

I know exactly how you feel laughing

Doing explicit VO2Max and Sprint intervals has helped me get purple when I wanted purple. The ones my Edge840 provides in the DailyWorkouts work every time.

Btw if you want to know how those labels/colors are applied to workouts, they all come from here. Garmin bought FirstBeatAnalytics a few years ago and has been integrating their tech. There's a lot of info on this website.
https://www.firstbeatanalytics.com/en/features/workout-labels/

 

[stangmx13]

And, Robert, Mike, you two make me want to get some sort of fancy doohickey to help measure my heartrate while exercising. I am super fortunate that even at my fattest my blood pressure was good.

My SO has a Garmin Forerunner 255, replacing an older AppleWatch. She likes the Garmin a lot more. It is much better at tracking data for exercise, has much better battery life like Mike said, and is easy to use. IMO, you should only consider the AppleWatch if you are actually going to use Apple smartwatch features like Siri & other apps.

Garmin has this feature called "Body Battery" on their watches. It's another metric for balancing strain during activities and recovery from rest or sleep. We went on a bike touring trip with a group and everyone really got a kick out of her Body Battery percentage going all the way to 0% near the end. Too much wine and not enough sleep . One time we went on a short hike after a morning of riding and her watch said something like "You recovery has been delayed by 4hrs". Garmin knows!

 

[Climber]

^ Brett, should I do a threshold run if my legs are still A tiny bit sore from my workout monday?

My watch is suggesting 17:00@8:25/mile with a 10 minute warmup and cool down. That is a threshold workout for me right now. It's a workout I want to do but, I did a weighted hill climb workout on monday that kicked my ass and made my legs pretty sore. I have full range of motion today with no real pain, just some residual soreness. Any thoughts?

Anytime you have soreness, you have damaged cells that your body hasn't repaired yet. A recovery run has its place but I'd be more inclined to suggest that you do alternate ice (15 min) and heat on your legs, twice to help them along with recovery and ensure that you have sufficient protein intake to provide your body with materials to complete its recovery.

I like to alternate on a hand crank machine for maintaining fitness level when I'm pushing hard on the bike, swimming is also a good fitness activity and that cycles the legs in a different manner that would aid in recovery.

 

[two wheel tramp]

My A1C is 5.3 as of yesterday. I was at 6.6 in June of 2021. hit 6.1 in October of 2022 and hit 5.5, aka the healthy range, back in September. Losing weight has been the cause of the significant drop from October of last year until now.

I am fucking psyched and relieved that the number not only stayed down but improved!

6.7 = diabetes. I was so damn close to having a disease caused by poor eating, excess weight, and lack of exercise.

 

[Holeshot]

R: you're a great story of what commitment and work will produce. we're so proud of you! Unfortunately, you now have a new job: role model and saleswoman. As I'm sure most others do, getting others to follow your path is true humanity. Yeah, workout/ fitness/ training is an addiction and unlike most addictions, this one's not so bad to drag those that need it into it.

IMO!

 

[Mike95060]

My A1C is 5.3 as of yesterday. I was at 6.6 in June of 2021. hit 6.1 in October of 2022 and hit 5.5, aka the healthy range, back in September. Losing weight has been the cause of the significant drop from October of last year until now.

I am fucking psyched and relieved that the number not only stayed down but improved!

6.7 = diabetes. I was so damn close to having a disease caused by poor eating, excess weight, and lack of exercise.

When your bloodwork comes back rockstar, the hour or so of "work" you put into loving yourself through sweat every other day feels pretty minimal hu? The problemes I don't have seem so much bigger than the work it takes to keep them at bay. Keep going!!!

 

[two wheel tramp]

R: you're a great story of what commitment and work will produce. we're so proud of you! Unfortunately, you now have a new job: role model and saleswoman. As I'm sure most others do, getting others to follow your path is true humanity. Yeah, workout/ fitness/ training is an addiction and unlike most addictions, this one's not so bad to drag those that need it into it.

IMO!

My mom has started taking short walks. I worry she might be too far gone, healthwise, but I am glad she is trying and hope she will show some signs of improvement. (I am concerned she has congestive heart failure.)

When your bloodwork comes back rockstar, the hour or so of "work" you put into loving yourself through sweat every other day feels pretty minimal hu? The problemes I don't have seem so much bigger than the work it takes to keep them at bay. Keep going!!!

My self-loving is daily. I must stay on the gas. I do take a rare rest day, but for the most part, I make that time for my health. In the winter, the walk does triple duty: Midday lunch break, fitness, and getting the sun on my face, which helps keep my spirits high in the darkness of winter.

I noticed my legs hurt this last week, which didn't make sense. I wasn't going harder or doing more. Last night, I looked at the soles of the walking shoes I bought in September. They are TOAST, and I am damn proud of that. I estimate I've walked at least 500 miles in them. I'll open my wallet again for a new pair of the same shoes. They will love me at Beck's (my shoe store).

Have I mentioned I really like walking?

 

[Mike95060]

^ Stava and Garmin both keep track of mileage on gear. Having the delicate ankles I do, I replace my running shoes at about 250-300 miles and it makes a BIG difference. Also don't be afraid to buy two or three pairs of shoes at once and rotate them weekly. Walking is awesome for fitness.

 

[two wheel tramp]

Most of my walks are out of cell range. (I live in the boondocks.) I can track my mileage manually, though. I had several pairs of shoes age out and die at once. I have no qualms about buying a couple of pairs to rotate them. Having sore legs because I killed my shoes is dumb. I don't want to risk injury.

I will now think of you as delicate.


*hums tiny dancer*

 

[Mike95060]

Garmin and Strava track via GPS, cell coverage no matter

 

[two wheel tramp]

Oh heck yeah! When I get back to OR I will look into those.

 

[Mike95060]

The free version of Strava is an easy app and download.

 

[Holeshot]

My mom has started taking short walks. I worry she might be too far gone, healthwise, but I am glad she is trying and hope she will show some signs of improvement. (I am concerned she has congestive heart failure.)


and getting the sun on my face, which helps keep my spirits high in the darkness of winter.

Really bummed to read on the CHF and your Mom. I will say, being the eternal optimist; you said the best reason above for her is the same as you (and all of us), in bold. Exercise is the ultimate anti depressant.

 

[Mike95060]

^ the link between endurance athletes and trauma is pretty well established.

Yup, checks out here

 

[Climber]

My mom has started taking short walks. I worry she might be too far gone, healthwise, but I am glad she is trying and hope she will show some signs of improvement. (I am concerned she has congestive heart failure.)



My self-loving is daily. I must stay on the gas. I do take a rare rest day, but for the most part, I make that time for my health. In the winter, the walk does triple duty: Midday lunch break, fitness, and getting the sun on my face, which helps keep my spirits high in the darkness of winter.

I noticed my legs hurt this last week, which didn't make sense. I wasn't going harder or doing more. Last night, I looked at the soles of the walking shoes I bought in September. They are TOAST, and I am damn proud of that. I estimate I've walked at least 500 miles in them. I'll open my wallet again for a new pair of the same shoes. They will love me at Beck's (my shoe store).

Have I mentioned I really like walking?

It will never hurt for your mom to be more active, she might be beyond recovering bone mass but she can always improve her cardiovascular system. When people get into their 80's, taking time off to just laze around is never a good idea, you can get away with it in your 20's, 30's and 40's but when you get older you're just getting decline.

As for your legs, the shoes are a good place to start, but it could be something else, soreness without increased activity can be due to moving in a different way than usual, often a sign that you're favoring something and in compensating that way you're putting more of a load on other parts of your body. Our bodies are amazing things and sometimes we do things subconsciously without being aware of doing it. If the new shoes don't bring about quick resolution, have somebody capture video of you walking and see if there is an imbalance in your movements.

 

[two wheel tramp]

Really bummed to read on the CHF and your Mom. I will say, being the eternal optimist; you said the best reason above for her is the same as you (and all of us), in bold. Exercise is the ultimate anti depressant.

I don't want to diminish anyone's struggles with depression but for me, exercise does me a lot of good. Four miles a day is my sweet spot for my mental health and the sunlight mid-day makes a big difference.

^ the link between endurance athletes and trauma is pretty well established.

Yup, checks out here

I think a lot of us ride to dissociate from the world. Exercise gets me to a similar zen state. I have worked through some pretty complicated emotions on a good walk.

It will never hurt for your mom to be more active, she might be beyond recovering bone mass but she can always improve her cardiovascular system. When people get into their 80's, taking time off to just laze around is never a good idea, you can get away with it in your 20's, 30's and 40's but when you get older you're just getting decline.

As for your legs, the shoes are a good place to start, but it could be something else, soreness without increased activity can be due to moving in a different way than usual, often a sign that you're favoring something and in compensating that way you're putting more of a load on other parts of your body. Our bodies are amazing things and sometimes we do things subconsciously without being aware of doing it. If the new shoes don't bring about quick resolution, have somebody capture video of you walking and see if there is an imbalance in your movements.

You are a genius. I did have my get-off recently which was a full body right-side impact. Then I had a chunk removed out of my back and the stitches ruptured. I feel like the right-side impact stuff has been worked through but the back, SHEESH, it's still bothering me. I wonder if I am carrying more tension than I have been aware of on the right side and that is giving me some grief. I got in to see a nurse and she instructed me on how to care for it so that the incision will heal. I cannot get new sutures due to risk of infection and this stupid gash has been bothering me for a month.

 

[Sharxfan]

TWT with regards with what Climber said about gait. A running specific shoe store will also do gait analysis usually for free and could help you pick out a shoe that helps with any gait issues.

I went to a store here locally and they did the gait analysis and I got some inserts and new shoes and jogging became fun again. Also shoes wear out I replace mine as soon as I notice knee pain or every year whichever comes first but I am a heavy guy so you may get more mileage out of your shoes.

 

[two wheel tramp]

Welp, my sweetheart made the decision for me of which fitness watch I will use. A shiny new Apple watch was delivered today!

TWT with regards with what Climber said about gait. A running specific shoe store will also do gait analysis usually for free and could help you pick out a shoe that helps with any gait issues.

I went to a store here locally and they did the gait analysis and I got some inserts and new shoes and jogging became fun again. Also shoes wear out I replace mine as soon as I notice knee pain or every year whichever comes first but I am a heavy guy so you may get more mileage out of your shoes.

I went to a local place called Becks and they put me on a device that measured where I apply my weight/pressure. I bought some inserts, too. I am still not trying to run because the running bra I bought goes right over an open wound on my back. (which is finally healing up. stupid cyst!)

I am going in today to buy a new pair of walking shoes. I am back in Oregon and glad to be off concrete and back on unpaved/asphalt roads. I think the slightly softer surfaces will help. I am also questioning whether eating dairy again has bothered my joints. I may need to be strict with the vegan diet again.

 

[Climber]

If you take time off from breaking down animal proteins for a year or two, it will take your body awhile to get back to where it can break them down the way they had before.

Years ago, in my later 20's I tried getting away from red meat to see if it would make a difference. It didn't make a noticeable difference to how I functioned besides feeling like I had lost a bit of an edge. When I ended the experiment and went back to eating red meat, it took months for me to be able to digest it in the manner that I had prior.

This is one reason why I'm so against parents starting off their young children on macrobiotic diets, they are basically making the decision for their kids as to what they'll be able to eat throughout their lives. It's kind of like a parent locking their kid into a religion with no options or choices.

 

[Mike95060]

Ok Robert I got your next piece of kit It would be SOOOO cool if it gets developed into an accurate, affordable and reliable real time wearable. Imagine training and knowing EXACTLY how hard to push and when.

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