alathIN Member

Yes, you're right. But I doubt many spouses have got their other halves to participate in a 6 year fitness program, by defeating them in an argument.

Is this meant to be snark? Because although you may "win" the argument by being right on the fact, you are very unlikely to "win" your spouse's wholehearted participation this way.

Don't try to be your spouse's coach. He does kind of semi- have a point; consistency is the key to fitness gains. But to say "I can't have consistency, therefore I'm not going to exercise," is an obvious cop-out. So, yes, you are correct. However there is no winning if you try to argue your spouse into exercising. Run your…

I started swimming as a 44 year old. This was my progression: Step 1: for about 6-7 weeks, I was getting one swim lesson per week and swimming on my own at least two other times each week. It took about 6-7 weeks of pretty regular practice and coaching before I had my first "breakthrough" and could swim continuously (ie…

Depends on what your goals are. Road bikes are made to go faster. The biggest difference is tires - much lower resistance on road bike tires (you can put road-ish tires on your MTB for an inexpensive speed gain). Also road bikes are lighter and position your body more for speed. If your main goal is to use cycling as one…

I learned the recovery cycle from the coaches of my fitness group and it has changed my life ;-) I do think this is an under-emphasized concept in fitness. Here are a couple of links that discuss the concept: http://voices.yahoo.com/foundations-effective-exercise-program-design-the-6954442.html…

In addition to fueling (which everyone has mentioned and I agree) you should also look into recovery. First off - at night, are you getting enough sleep? Do you ever take a rest day? Do you ever have a recovery week (where you decrease your workout volume and intensity by about 20-30%)? Remember the key to fitness building…

There is a huge variance in YMCAs. Some of them are palatial, some not so much. YMCAs generally are very family friendly, with child watching and child activities and lessons and teams and such; if you have kids this can be huge. Most Y's will accept out of town members when you are visiting a different city. Very handy…

It kind of depends on whether your primary goal is fitness/performance or weight loss. If you're trying to maximize fitness/performance, definitely take in some carbs first and refuel with carbs after. However this does not have to be a carb feeding frenzy - unless you're running a marathon, something along the lines of an…

On days I do the early swim with my group, 04:39 am. I am doing that swim 4 days a week now.

In addition to getting personally fitted for shoes (I'm the third or tenth vote so far), do you have some kind of systematic way you are adding the volume? Are you allowing adequate recovery time? Perfect shoes + excessively fast volume increase - recovery time = injury

Recovery is important. I think the best way to understand fitness building is the stress-adaptation model. When you exercise, you are putting a stress on your body. When you allow recovery time, your body adapts. The stress-stress-stress model is not good for anything other than getting injured. I will do a park walk or a…

Favorite: running outside, preferably trail run, with my group - so socializing as we run. Second favorite: outside, by myself, listening to music Distant third: treadmill, listening to music, sometimes with TV on but not paying attention to it

Generally high-rep and cardio-intenstive exercises do not make you huge. Just google to look at some pictures of runners, cyclists, and triathletes. Obviously there are unique benefits and downsides to any exercise you do, but my overall take is that any form of exercise you really enjoy and are motivated to do is a good…

Have you talked to your therapist about this specific anxiety? What did he/she say?

Two answers: 1) Several studies have compared different weight loss programs for women. Those that included strength training were more likely to have permanent weight loss rather than gaining back. You don't just want to lose weight, you want to improve your body composition (more lean, less fat) 2) Rather than just…

It just makes me feel better, more connected to my body. Less stressed. That in turn makes me more likely to eat what I really need rather than eating out of stress or boredom. Also building lean tissue makes it easier to lose adipose tissue.

One more vote for all of the following: 1) lots of people use seat covers. At my gym they have a few for people to use, also some people bring in their own. 2) you will get used to it. The stronger your butt gets, the more you will like a small saddle because the big padded ones and seat covers can actually get in your way…

I don't eat all of my exercise kCal - at least not every day - but I do eat back some/most of them. My experience has been that MFP gives a large kCal allowance for very long low intensity workouts - so if for example I have a 5 hour bike ride, I will only eat back a fraction of that. For shorter more intense workouts I do…

swim, bike, run - in that order.

Running every day is not necessarily crazy. Starting out running every day, after a layoff when you haven't been running, might be. The head coach of my fitness group has a saying: you will be a lot faster on race day if you are slightly undertrained, than if you overtrain and are sitting at home with an injury. I would go…

Yay, USMS! Keep with it. Before you know it, you'll be one of the medium- or fast-lane people helping a newbie out ;-) Now your next step is to sign up for a meet. Nothing will motivate you to get out and swim every day like knowing you have to swim a mile (or 500 yards, or 200 yards, or whatever) in front of people and an…

It's always an ongoing quest to find motivation. For some people, having a weekly appointment with a PT is motivation. You've paid, so you're not going to miss the appoinment. Then the PT gives you feedback on technique, teaches you some new stuff, helps you clarify your goals - all helps with motivation. And then they…

3 brands that have never/rarely let me down: Pearl Izumi, 2XU, TYR (for swimming stuff).

One suggestion: go to your local YMCA and get a consultation with a personal trainer. They will certainly have some suggestions for you. Being somewhat of a swimming fanatic myself, I'd point out that swimming is a great exercise for people with joint problems. And no excuses about being 59 and don't know how to swim; I…

For me, signing up for an event is a motivation, target, and focus for my training. It works best if the event is coming up soon enough that I feel some deadline pressure, but far enough down the road that I can work at it over time and see some improvement in that interval. With that in mind, two weeks may be a bit short…

It sounds like you are resistant to swimming, but actually it is one of the best forms of exercise when you are overweight and having joint problems. If you have a confidence problem, perhaps consider swim instruction? I don't know if this is your issue or not, but some overweight people are self-conscious about being in…

Hands-down, slam-dunk, no contest: if you have some extra money to spend on your fitness program, spend it on quality coaching/instruction. There is no gadget in the world that is anywhere near as valuable as having an expert outside eye look at what you are doing, how you are doing it, and help you better achieve your…

Spin class was my "gateway drug" between being overweight and out of shape and now being a triathlete. My YMCA has a great spin teacher who is also the head coach of the triathlon group and an experienced cyclist. I started off learning a lot about cycling (that also helped my real-world cycling) and learned a lot about…

So if you feel like you have adequate recovery - meaning, when it's time for your next big workout (or big week) you are feeling fresh and ready to go - then the next thing to look at is how quickly you are adding volume/intensity. An old running guideline is to increase by no more than 10% per week.