Workout Group Put up or shut up

[marina]

I'm about a week into my gym every morning routine. It's pretty much cleared my insomnia, but only as long as I go every day. Insomnia was back over the weekend. My knees are sore and bitching about the increase, they especially bitch when I walk on the treadmill for my cool-down from the adaptive motion machine where I do my cardio. What do you guys think, should I switch it up? I've been doing the same thing every day.

[deznice]

Originally Posted by marina

I'm about a week into my gym every morning routine. It's pretty much cleared my insomnia, but only as long as I go every day. Insomnia was back over the weekend. My knees are sore and bitching about the increase, they especially bitch when I walk on the treadmill for my cool-down from the adaptive motion machine where I do my cardio. What do you guys think, should I switch it up? I've been doing the same thing every day.

I'll tell you one thing I've noticed too, I ma sleeping like a machine at night, My wife no longer pushes me to the couch b/c I'm snoring or rolling all over the bed, I usually wake up refreshed as well. I come into work feeling great. It's addicting!

Nothing wrong w/ switching it up I would think... Go for a long walk outside instead of using the machines, It helps me to get outside... You burn just as many calories if you run 1 mile then if you walk it, just takes longer obvi... Alsao are you paying attention to diet at all? Diet helped me tremendously

[deznice]

Went for a 2.5 mile run last night, my 1st dog is starting to hate me lol, he's dragging ass while i pull on him... Glad that finally got reversed :-)

I am going farther and farther w/out having to walk at all, it's very noticeable. When I started bootcamp one 1.1 mile circuit was tough for me and I would walk half of it and the dog would be ahead of me the whole time.

Yesterday the dog was holding me back, I am starting to conquer the hill that I hate (about 1/5-1/4 of a mile, not sure how to measure grade but reasonably steep) I used to walk up it, then I used to sprint up ½ of it… Now I try and sprint the whole thing… I am completely sucking wind at the top but I am making it… It’s good that I push myself at this part I think…. For most of the run I could be talking to someone and having a convo (the first ¾ of a mile anyways.

I signed up for another bootcamp too!. Different company but it was a great deal. Every weekday for a month… I may only do 3x a week b/c I want to keep my running schedule, we shall see.

[marina]

Originally Posted by deznice

I'll tell you one thing I've noticed too, I ma sleeping like a machine at night, My wife no longer pushes me to the couch b/c I'm snoring or rolling all over the bed, I usually wake up refreshed as well. I come into work feeling great. It's addicting!

Nothing wrong w/ switching it up I would think... Go for a long walk outside instead of using the machines, It helps me to get outside... You burn just as many calories if you run 1 mile then if you walk it, just takes longer obvi... Alsao are you paying attention to diet at all? Diet helped me tremendously

I totally know what you're talking about. I think my body was getting bored with my old gym schedule. In addition to the insomnia, I wasn't feeling the same rush as I felt a year ago when I started going to the gym. This morning I did 15 mins on the stationary bike, then another 8 or so, then 15 adaptive motion machine and 10 treadmill. Unlike other days, my knees actually hurt at the beginning of the cool down, but by the end, they were feeling fine.

I have changed my diet significantly. It's way more focused on fresh fruits and veggies, and way less on bread, cheese and preservative packed frozen or processed shit. And it wasn't totally deliberate.

I started by trying to stay away from anything processed or with preservatives or complicated chemical ingredients. I wasn't strict about it, but I kept it in mind when grocery shopping. Then I started grabbing fruits and veggies as I was going out the door to work and eating them as snacks instead of cookies or popcorn or meeting left-overs that show up around the office.

Now I fill two ziplocks full of fruits and veggies and if I want something I know will be bad for me, I eat those first. Usually I'm full, but when I do still want junk food, I don't eat as much.

Having had an eating disorder as a teen, diet was something I was really worried about, and for the first year of regular exercise I refused to change a single thing about the way I was eating, but I was just drawn to different foods over time. Diet is the thing I worry about the least now.

[deznice]

Originally Posted by marina

I totally know what you're talking about. I think my body was getting bored with my old gym schedule. In addition to the insomnia, I wasn't feeling the same rush as I felt a year ago when I started going to the gym. This morning I did 15 mins on the stationary bike, then another 8 or so, then 15 adaptive motion machine and 10 treadmill. Unlike other days, my knees actually hurt at the beginning of the cool down, but by the end, they were feeling fine.

I have changed my diet significantly. It's way more focused on fresh fruits and veggies, and way less on bread, cheese and preservative packed frozen or processed shit. And it wasn't totally deliberate.

I started by trying to stay away from anything processed or with preservatives or complicated chemical ingredients. I wasn't strict about it, but I kept it in mind when grocery shopping. Then I started grabbing fruits and veggies as I was going out the door to work and eating them as snacks instead of cookies or popcorn or meeting left-overs that show up around the office.

Now I fill two ziplocks full of fruits and veggies and if I want something I know will be bad for me, I eat those first. Usually I'm full, but when I do still want junk food, I don't eat as much.

Having had an eating disorder as a teen, diet was something I was really worried about, and for the first year of regular exercise I refused to change a single thing about the way I was eating, but I was just drawn to different foods over time. Diet is the thing I worry about the least now.

I get that... I don't obsess over diet, But I am not eating white breads, or having any sort of soda/juice. Just too much fucking sugar. I try to balance fiber and protein. I aim for more then 60 g protein and 25g fiber a day... It's suprisingly easy and helps you recover and stay naturally energized...

Been meaning to mention the knees to you as well. Mine have been hurting for a while now... Nothings being pulled but the strain on them makes me feel a slight noticebale pain when moving them... Lats night after my run I iced them for like 20 minutes each... They feel great today :-)

[marina]

Originally Posted by deznice

I get that... I don't obsess over diet, But I am not eating white breads, or having any sort of soda/juice. Just too much fucking sugar. I try to balance fiber and protein. I aim for more then 60 g protein and 25g fiber a day... It's suprisingly easy and helps you recover and stay naturally energized...

Been meaning to mention the knees to you as well. Mine have been hurting for a while now... Nothings being pulled but the strain on them makes me feel a slight noticebale pain when moving them... Lats night after my run I iced them for like 20 minutes each... They feel great today :-)

I actually started exercising because of my knee pain, and I've noticed over the last 2 years that if I skip exercise 3 days in a row, my knee pain will come back, and if I keep skipping exercise, it will feel almost as bad as it was when I started and I had to wear braces all the time. Although, nothing clicks, like it did 2 years ago, so I guess that's something.

I still can't run on the treadmill or outside for any length of time before my knees hurt like a bitch, which is why I stick to low-impact machines. But the low impact machines take away a lot of the work-out. I know for a fact that if my knees were 100% I couldn't do half the distance or speed that I can do on the machines.

I've noticed that they respond best to strength training. I usually do the leg press every other day. I do about 15-25 reps with my feet straight, then about 10 with them turned out and 10 pigeon toed. I keep the weight reasonable so that I'm building muscle, but the joint doesn't suffer. If my knees are feeling a strain while lifting, I reduce the weight.

In addition, I do about 30 reps of an exercise a physical trainer taught me, which is just going up on my tippy toes and then coming back down. Because I have weak arches, I try to put most of my weight onto the pinkey toe region of my foot when I'm at the top of my toes. This is supposed to help my arches, but I notice it also works my calfs.

Sometimes, if I can't get to the gym but I know that my knees will be hurting, I do the tippy toe thing, and some leg lifts and squats wherever I happen to be, and they won't hurt as much, and sometimes they won't hurt at all.

[DWarrior]

Originally Posted by deznice

Nothing wrong w/ switching it up I would think... Go for a long walk outside instead of using the machines, It helps me to get outside... You burn just as many calories if you run 1 mile then if you walk it, just takes longer obvi... Alsao are you paying attention to diet at all? Diet helped me tremendously

Well, actually (slurp)...

This went against my intuition. Exerting force in less time should definitely consume extra calories, increased stabilizers working and having to absorb more impact, oscillating center of gravity, etc. Just moving your legs up and down alone takes more calories for running, since you're actually bringing the legs up, whereas in walking you just kinda bend it a bit.

Anyway, I looked it up. The article to support this: How Many Calories Are You Really Burning? | From Runner's World I know, it's from runner's world, but the article is basically a summary of an academic paper.

Assuming you can run somewhere around the same distance as you walk, running seems better. If you can walk 3 miles, but only run 1 mile (knee problems or something), then clearly walk.

[DWarrior]

Originally Posted by marina

I actually started exercising because of my knee pain, and I've noticed over the last 2 years that if I skip exercise 3 days in a row, my knee pain will come back, and if I keep skipping exercise, it will feel almost as bad as it was when I started and I had to wear braces all the time. Although, nothing clicks, like it did 2 years ago, so I guess that's something.

I still can't run on the treadmill or outside for any length of time before my knees hurt like a bitch, which is why I stick to low-impact machines. But the low impact machines take away a lot of the work-out. I know for a fact that if my knees were 100% I couldn't do half the distance or speed that I can do on the machines.

I've noticed that they respond best to strength training. I usually do the leg press every other day. I do about 15-25 reps with my feet straight, then about 10 with them turned out and 10 pigeon toed. I keep the weight reasonable so that I'm building muscle, but the joint doesn't suffer. If my knees are feeling a strain while lifting, I reduce the weight.

In addition, I do about 30 reps of an exercise a physical trainer taught me, which is just going up on my tippy toes and then coming back down. Because I have weak arches, I try to put most of my weight onto the pinkey toe region of my foot when I'm at the top of my toes. This is supposed to help my arches, but I notice it also works my calfs.

Sometimes, if I can't get to the gym but I know that my knees will be hurting, I do the tippy toe thing, and some leg lifts and squats wherever I happen to be, and they won't hurt as much, and sometimes they won't hurt at all.

I've also heard strength training builds up the joints, although almost everyone advises against the leg press in favor of the squat (not sure how it is for medical conditions, but food for thought). The squat with proper form supposedly strengthens knees.

The "tippy toes" exercise you speak of is the Calf Raise. And you're right, it's a calf exercise.

[marina]

Originally Posted by DWarrior

I've also heard strength training builds up the joints, although almost everyone advises against the leg press in favor of the squat (not sure how it is for medical conditions, but food for thought). The squat with proper form supposedly strengthens knees.

The "tippy toes" exercise you speak of is the Calf Raise. And you're right, it's a calf exercise.

I might switch to squats. But partially because of my fallen arches, and (according to my doctor) the natural bow-leggedness of women, my knees go inward when I squat, and it kind of worries me. Also, my Achilles are stiff, so I don't make it all the way down without turning my feet outwards or going up on my toes. These are things I don't have to worry about on the leg press machine, but I do feel that I should be able to squat without looking like too much of a mutant.

[Rufio]

Originally Posted by marina

I might switch to squats. But partially because of my fallen arches, and (according to my doctor) the natural bow-leggedness of women, my knees go inward when I squat, and it kind of worries me. Also, my Achilles are stiff, so I don't make it all the way down without turning my feet outwards or going up on my toes. These are things I don't have to worry about on the leg press machine, but I do feel that I should be able to squat without looking like too much of a mutant.

Stretch, give yourself at least a good 5-10 to properly stretch before doing anything, it loosens up the stiffness in your muscles and might even help out with your knees