Exercise/Fitness

fairytales_end wrote:Exercise bike with Bones or NCIS playing!
And the reps of situps, pushups, stepups and squats.
Oh and walking 20-60mins a day
Stretching helps lose weight if you do it right too.

If you're trying to lose weight, apparently just dancing works..

I would totally do this! If I had a bike, I would be all over that!

And yes, I'm trying to improve my reps of squats and lunges!

I thought I'd chime in on this, cause I recently had to re-do my routine. I used to run, because it's the easiest for me and my schedule, which changes every day. (Change clothes, run outside for awhile, come back and go back to studying). However, this summer I had to stop. I've now taken up swimming which I'm dubbing the most effective ever because every part of me is sore. (I rank soreness as effectiveness... probably not healthy, but how else do you know?) Plus, it's fun. Only drawback is you have to belong to a gym and you have to go and take all the time getting there and what not. (Also, another drawback is that women should do weight bearing, high impact exercise (like running) because it builds strong bones and helps prevent osteoperosis). But I digress.

Willi, it might help you to do pilates (at my gym they call it "mat pilates") stretches or yoga stuff. Plus, pilates itself is good exercise for your abs and back. At first, it's very painful (at least for me), but it gets better. I'm back to the painful point now (due to not doing in for awhile) but last year when I did it more regularly it felt good to stretch everything out and I did get more flexible! It's also easy to do without a gym... you can rent DVDs (from a library, or find them online) and do it in your apartment for $0.

So, now that I've written a treatise on my exercise habits, I'll end this ;-).

Oh, how I need to get back in the gym! I established a routine of 5 days a week of cardio (elliptical) plus at least 3 times a week of working with a trainer. And I have lost 42 pounds since February! But, the thing that worked the best was going vegan. Cutting out all of the excess animal fat has not only helped me lose weight, but has made me healthier overall.

I've fallen out of my routine due to illness, but I am getting back on the horse this week!

I just thought of another thing...

My husband and I have been planning out our meals, to the point where we only buy enough food to make a "real" portion for each of us. This is a lot less food than we would typically each eat as a portion, and the result is both of us have lost weight! As he isn't exercising (at all) and I haven't been doing it long enough to notice a difference, I think this was it. Plus, it's SO easy and nice to have everything planned out for each day! (rather than buying a bunch of chicken, pasta, etc and then throwing whatever together each night).

I'm kinda late to this thread, but, I read on th first page that someone said to NEVER strech before running or jogging. I was just wondering why that is. I run X-C, and we strech before AND after we go out everyday. And, I must say, our team is pretty good. (Well, my team is good, I'm really slow though. But, I'm getting better.) No offence intended, just wondering why you should strech before running/jogging.

Well, there are differing theories as to why or why not stretch, but I've never stretched before OR after exercise, and I've never hurt a muscle by not doing it. I would say whatever makes you happy.

As for me.... I'm finally able to get back into walking again! Woohooo... my dogs are so happy they just bounce up and down and bark and carry on... it's great! Just small walks for now until my foot gets stronger, but hopefully we'll be able to go for a nice long walk on the weekend.