Not sure it counts but spent a couple hours at the bottom of the pool today. Had Corson’s Pools by this week to ifs the sand filter & the guy mentioned that an acid wash in the winter would help the appearance. They scrape the calcium deposits off with a putty knife. This got me to thinking & I grabbed a putty knife when I went into the pool with the family. Scraping the calcium deposits was quite effective. It turned into a family affair with 2 putty knives, a brass “toothbrush”, a steel pool brush and a pool pumice stone. I also brought a 30 lb and a 40 lb dumbbell into the pool to use to keep myself on the bottom. Moved those around throughout the duration. It worked quite well and I felt like I’d done a bunch of physical activity afterwards. Not sure it counts for a workout but it was a fun, productive activity that hopefully burned a bunch of calories.
July 2010
8 posts
Just thought I’d point out to the #fatoff10 participants that today’s Groupon (1 day deal) is $30 for 1 month of unlimited yoga at Bikram Yoga Phoenix. If I lived anywhere near, I would totally do this.
I believe this studio is at Camelback and Central.
I’ve never felt better in my life (physically) than when I was doing Bikram consistently. Was awesome for flexibility, strength and fat loss. If I could go regularly, I would replace all weight training, cardio, etc. with Bikram. I just haven’t been able to find a scenario that fits with work and family with regard to location, time and budget. The class is 90 minutes. It is pricey too.
http://www.groupon.com/phoenix/
If anybody does decide to give this a shot and has never done Bikram before, I’d be happy to share my 2 cents before the first class. Have a couple tips that helped friends & family have a better 1st session.
Chris Lee
After reading Tyler’s post about being tired, I thought I might post some thoughts on eating/drinking after a workout. I believe it is one of the things that helps keep my energy up.
I’m also coming at this more from a frame of lifting weights so I’m not sure how much this translates to other activities (running, etc.).
I mentioned before but my workouts consist of treadmill and lifting weights. I’m working pretty hard, often “flirting with the pukes” during the lifting portion. Not crossed the line yet but it’ll probably happen at some point. I’m trying hard to build muscle so my metabolism helps rid me of the body fat.
With exhausting my muscles as much as I have been, I’m holding up pretty well with regard to being tired. I think my post workout drinks might be helping with that?
I went back to doing something I did in the old days just by habit. At that time, the prevailing research said that you have a 30 minute window after exercise that allows you to refuel your glycogen (stored carbohydrates) stores much more completely if you get carbs within that time frame. If you don’t, it takes you much, much longer to get them refueled. Less energy > more tired.
Back then I would down one of those 100 gram carb drinks (400 calories) after every workout.
From the bit of research I’ve done in the more recent past, I understand the current wisdom supports that and adds that it’s also very beneficial to get protein as quickly as possible as well.
I’ve also seen a couple articles saying that carbs aren’t recommended after exercise but they’re in the minority.
What I’ve been doing is hitting the Muscle Max right next door to the gym after workouts and getting a cold grape Isopure Mass. It has 35 grams of protein and 53 grams of carbs at 350 calories. I could be nuts but I really think it helps. Over the years, I’ve grown to like the weird tastes too. They’re pricey so today I bought some of the powders to replicate it at lower cost. We’ll see how that goes.
With stuff like this, I try to go to the extreme source for information. In this case, to build muscle (while I’m not actually looking to get bigger but in fact shrink) I’ve come across a lot of bodybuilding information again.
Post Workout Basics - Optimizing Glycogen
Post Workout Carbs - Best Choices to Grow & Recover
Post Workout Meal Nutrition
3 Reasons for Ditching Post-Workout Carbs (counterpoint)
I’d be interested to see if getting some carbs/protein right after exercise helps with the tiredness.
Cheers,
Chris Lee
Posted at http://fatoff.posterous.com re. #fatoff10. Interested to hear what other people are doing regarding their workouts #fatoff10 and other.
I’m currently lifting hard and doing cardio the same session - mostly at LA Fitness on Hayden & McCormick Parkway. I’m shooting for 7 days a week but will be satisfied with 5. Working to do a really intense 30 minutes on weights and another 30 on the treadmill. I was doing another routine recently that I’ll mention later as it’s great but I’ve switched over after talking with a trainer. When we talked about the previous routine, I bought into his suggestion that I should focus on building muscle as it burns more calories at rest. His argument was that if I put on 10 lbs of muscle, I would burn an extra 500 calories a day doing nothing (as muscle burns calories at rest). While I already know this, the way he put it to me resonated: burn an extra 500 calories a day by doing nothing (with the extra 10 lbs of muscle) or spend an extra hour on the treadmill every day.
This puts me a little at odds with the #fatoff10 competition as my goal isn’t to lose as much weight as fast as possible but to make changes (workout and dietary) to help rid me of the body fat and make me more fit in the long run.
So I’m currently on a 3 day split (day 1: chest/shoulders/triceps; day 2: back/biceps; day 3: legs/abs) with cardio (mainly treadmill) every day. Then on day 4, I repeat. I like this for a few reasons. I can work out every day without worry of overtraining. I can work out intensely and get fried in a short time (“flirting with the pukes” regularly). I also like the feel of the muscle coming back. Also for me, lifting for ½ the time rather than spend it all on a treadmill is mentally easier to achieve and get enthusiastic about.
I’m interested to hear what everybody else is doing for their workouts.
And if anybody ever wants to hit the gym together at any of the locations, that’d be fun too. I can bring a guest for free anytime I go.
I finally got back on track a short while ago with regard to working out. One of my coworkers and I got fed up with being out of shape and we happened to have a bunch of passes to the Scottsdale Racquet Club. I also found a good workout and we just started. Having someone to work out with and to push me was definitely helpful in getting going. At first I was kind of reliant on it to go. After I made some progress, I was encouraged enough to know I am going to continue working out no matter what. We went well for a while at SRC but then when we couldn’t make the membership numbers work, we switched over to LA Fitness. Since then, it’s continued to go well.
As this was happening, I also heard that Gangplank was having another Fat Off. I’d wanted to participate in the first one but was out of town and didn’t get going in time. I’ve been way too unfit for too long and thought it would help in the effort to get back in shape. I’m also excited to get a chance to participate with more of the community in this effort. I like the friendly competition/teamwork aspects of it and $25 wasn’t too much to prevent me from signing up.
I really don’t expect that I have a chance to win for a variety of reasons. With the kids and where we live, I don’t think I’ll make many challenges. I’m also not committed to losing as much body weight as fast as possible. I’m looking to change my body composition and part of that strategy for me is to build muscle to help crank my metabolism. With that being said, I don’t know if I’m going to drop a tremendous amount of weight within the time period. I am hoping that it will all help me make changes that I will be able maintain indefinitely.
I’m done with being unfit forever. I want to get this behind me and be a good example for my kids indefinitely. Just got to make it happen.
Butterfish crudo with lardo & oven-dried tomatoes. Always a must order.
@chrislee