alathIN Member

Depends on your goal and the type of exercise. Most aerobic exercise (ie below lactate threshold) can be done fasting. Doing some of your exercise fasting can help with fat loss. If your pre-workout snack is primarily carbohydrate your body will preferentially use carbohydrate to fuel that activity. This can make it harder…

The scale/tape will tell you whether eating back works for you. Personally if I eat back 100% of what MFP tells me to I maintain weight but do not lose. If I do not eat back at all, I faint (slight exaggeration). Eating back about 50% of my exercise kCal works for me and I lose weight when I do that consistently.

I would suggest something in the hybrid/mountain bike family. They are more versatile and designed to be more stable. Hybrids tend to have more of an upright seating posture, and slightly less off-road friendly; mountain bikes are similar but a somewhat more aggressive body position and more suited to off road. There are a…

Go very easy. Do not increase your overall distance by more than 10% in any week. Spend at least 80% of your running time at an easy, comfortable pace where you can speak in complete sentences. Get properly fitted shoes. Stretch. Do not be shy about getting a coach or going to a clinic to learn some things about technique.…

In my fitness group, we have recovery periods built into every workout. We also have "recovery week" every third week, where we reduce volume by about 30% and it is mostly low intensity. (We also have "medium week" and "big week.) It is during recovery that you actually build fitness. Stress - adapt. If you never get any…

Previous replies have already alluded to this, but it's worth emphasizing. At the elite/pro level, men have an advantage in almost every sport. At the amateur level, all bets are off. There are women in my multisports club who are as fast swimming as any of the men. Running and Tris, there are women who are among the top 5…

Totally normal side effect of mirena. Lifting was a coincidence. Lift away.

I do like to do this whenever possible. Some ideas: 1. rent a locker and keep some of your gear at the gym 2. shower when you get back home 3. ride a bike with saddle bags for cargo (not running, I know, but it's cardio during your travel time)

Shower at gym with chlorine removing shampoo. Because after swimming my next stop is usually work ;-)

Bingo. The fit person can put out the same watts without feeling as much perceived effort. But they're still putting out those watts. Or, another way of saying it, at the same level of perceived effort the fitter person is putting out more watts and doing more work. But kCal don't care how much work you feel like you're…

I like the suggestions above about how people organize their weeks. Just wanted to throw in, sometimes there is also value to your monthly and yearly patterns. In my fitness group, we have a three week pattern of 1) medium week, 2) big week, 3) recovery week. We still train on recovery week, but decrease both volume and…

Don't give up on "real world" running too soon. It's not a foregone conclusion that treadmills are less injury-genic than the real world is. Running in the real world you get more variation and use of accessory and stabilizing muscles. Incidentally, there is also some evidence that "green space" experience enhances the…

It overestimates for some people/activities and underestimates for others. Bottom line you will know if you are losing weight. Personally, I have found I can only "eat back" about half of the kCal that MFP says I have "earned" by exercise if I want to keep losing weight.

Obviously different experiences on this, but for me seeing the podiatrist was no help at all. Orthotics did not help me; never felt right and the concept makes no sense to me - the foot is supposed to act like a spring; the way orthotics work is to hold up the moving part of the spring so it doesn't spring. They also did a…

Hate to come off like the triathlon nerd here, but the combination of swim, bike, run is hard to beat. Running is great, but as you have learned it is a relatively high wear and tear activity. Adding in some swimming and cycling can help distribute the injury load. Sounds like spin class is going well for you; keep it up.…

I only learned to swim starting at age 45. It's become my favorite fitness activity. Here's the formula that worked for me: Stage 1: Swimming lesson once per week, swimming on my own at least two more times per week. This is the hardest stage, it feels like a struggle and you think you will never learn. A great tri coach…

Reflective is OK, but I prefer to be actively emitting light. I like the little blinky LED things you can hang on yourself, at least one on every side of the body. I am +/- on headlamps. On a trail or any other irregular surface, it's great to be able to see where you're going. Sometimes on the greenway, which gets a fair…

It's a tossup between swimming, biking, and running. Right now I am excited about swim season and had a great swim with my group this am.

I acknowledge that there are some running experts who say this, but OP should also be aware that many of the top coaches advise doing most of your training at an easy aerobic pace - meaning you can converse normally or even say the Gettysburg address without getting breathy. Obviously different people have different goals…

I agree with the finding that treadmills were absorbing a lot of shock, and therefore I was faster on the road (a bit more energy going into movement rather than compressing the shock absorbers on the treadmill). There is a flip side to that: you don't have all that shock absorbency, so you may find some stride flaws more…

I am going to suggest putting this marriage on hold. Not because of the weight gain per se; fat is not a deal killer. You can have a good marriage with someone who's overweight. He is obviously stressed and possibly clinically depressed, with a huge and relatively sudden negative turn in his health - but even that isn't a…

You can shrink them with medication (has its own side effects) or uterine artery embolization, or have surgery and remove them. Diet doesn't change them much. They have to be pretty big and/or numerous to make your abdomen visibly larger, though.

"His response was "Do you need permission to purchase shoes too?"" I'm going to go WAY out on a limb here, and say this guy is a terrible person to be in a relationship with. Anyone who thinks it's degrading to coordinate decisions with your partner is not someone you want to be in an LTR with.

People do quote a max HR for pregnant women of 140 - you will see this all over the internet - but I've never found any evidence basis for this. What I tell my pregnant patients is 1) if you're already used to a regimen you can probably continue it, 2) watch out for overheating and dehydration, you will need more fluids…

Depends on what kind of exercise you're doing and how hard. One "rule" that helps me: running makes it feel 15 degrees warmer, cycling makes it feel 15 degrees colder. For running, I don't change much from my Summer gear. Tri pants and short sleeve tech shirt into the 50s, and the only thing I change in the 40s is a long…

Don't push your pace or distance this week - just run easy with the goal of warming up for a great stretch. Don't stress about your "off" run. You didn't lose much (if any) fitness that quickly. You may not have been completely over your cold. Take it easy, don't stress, and have fun Saturday!

Cheap treadmills have some problems that are likely to make them unsatisfactory. I have known of people to have good experiences buying a quality treadill used, but be prepared to spend some on maintenance/upkeep/repair. Stay away from the cheap department store treadmills.

There are pros and cons on this. Certainly improving my running technique and form has been a huge part of my fitness journey - running is more enjoyable for me, with a smoother feel, I am faster, and less injury prone. But it's trickly to go making changes to your mechanics without expert supervision - you can easily make…

My best recorded 10K time came at the end of an Olympic distance triathlon; 58 min. Among a bunch of triathletes, that is toward the back of "mid pack." The front runners are typically 37-38 min for the run.

Some people have had great success with TI, others not so much. Obviously their style is much more geared to distance swimming which sounds like it fits with your goals. People definitely do use TI for open water swimming - Terry Laughlin, the head of TI is a very accomplished open water competitor. Among swim instructors,…