Balancing Workouts With Life

[[old] Ducatista]

<!--QuoteBegin-gw1+--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(gw1)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin-Roland+--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Roland)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->run your own business...then generally you would have more time to erg than everyone else. </td></tr></table><br />Obviously Roland does not run his own business, it is certainly not a 9 to 5 job!<br /><br />GW </td></tr></table><br /> I got a chuckle out of that one, too.<br /><br />BobD, it wasn't very nice of you to call GW a butt.

[[old] DIESEL]

<!--QuoteBegin-Ducatista+Mar 28 2005, 01:48 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Ducatista @ Mar 28 2005, 01:48 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--><br />I'm perfectly happy rowing on an empty stomach, which makes mornings easier. I know some on the board don't approve of that approach, but rowing before breakfast beats NOT rowing after, in my book.<br /> <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />I used to have that problem too... seriously try what I do - get 8oz. of juice ( I like natural apple juice or natural grape juice) and a scoop - 1.5 scoops of vanilla whey protein powder. It's very nutrient dense - and the liquid equivalent of a bowl of cereal and a 4 egg white omelette all in 80z. of liquid. Not enough to cause cramping or an upset stomach. That will definitely give you a little more juice in your a.m. workouts. Then eat a real breakfast after you workout. <br /><br />P.S. whey protein is very cheap. I get 5lb. jugs for $25 that's something like 90 scoops (at around 30g protein per scoop).<br /><br />D <br />

[[old] Guido B]

Here's how I do it. I work out two to three times a week. I take a group class based on muscular endurance. Classes are at 5 pm or 6.15 pm depending on the days. On days I have a class at 5 pm, I row after class. On days I take the 6 pm class, I row before. I already got the hussle of going to the gym, change, take a shower after workout, so I try to make the most of it. My evenings at the gym are my evenings. I don't make any other arrangements on that evenings, they are good for my health and my morale, so they are important. Period, end of discussion. <br /><br />I usually take classes at 6 pm friday evening. On fridays I usually can't wait to get out of the office. The earliest time I can leave is 4 pm and the gym is on the other side of the street of my office. So I'm usually on the erg by 4.20. I make up for the time by starting early at work or work later on other days. I used to go for a drink on the way home on friday. Now I'm doing something that's much better for my health. The friday evening feeling of being fed up with stress disappears ones I start training. By the end of the evening, I'm ready to take on the weekend.

[[old] RacerX]

Good topic. I have a pretty demanding job all things considered - lot's of travel, mostly International and an average of 60 hours a week when home. We also have a 13 month old daughter who is priority 1.....so...<br /><br />1. Be Consistent - I work out 5-7 times a week. Minimum, every week. Since I was 14. Some weeks I'll get a bunch of doubles in and that is the norm when I train hard for something. But try to do at least a little bit most days. That way if I miss a day due to schedule it isn't that big a deal.<br /><br />2. Fit the workout to your schedule - I agree with a poster above - when limited on time I tend to do harder shorter workouts. long runs/rows are usually on the weekends.<br /><br />3. Create space/time - I am up generally at 5:00 weekdays and 5:30 weekends. That way I can have a cup of coffee, check and answer some e-mail from Europe and get to my workout by 6:00. Done by 7:00 - 7:30. Half an hour play time with my daughter, just when she gets up, shower and at the office by 8:45. (Note, a long commute really kills you. I'm only 15 minutes from my office so that really helps). <br /><br />4. Lunch is made for working out - unless i have a meeting I workout at the rowing club 2-3 days a week and bring something back to munch on while I check e-mail, read a report, etc. <br /><br />5. TV is a black hole - We may watch a movie in the evening, but I am in bed by 10:00 unless we are out. Generally 7- 9 is time for my daughter....<br /><br />6. If you travel a lot find a sport that works anywhere - running is always a great way to fit a workout in, and I can do a great yoga workout anywhere.<br /><br />7. And finallly - I hate working out in the evening! More often then not something comes up that interferes. I love the feeling of doing something for myself first thing in the day. <br /><br />That's what has worked for me the last 30 (!) years. <br /><br />Aaron

[[old] richkrz]

It sounds like most of you who answered stick to strictly rowing, rather than trying to work weight-lifting into the scenario too. Is that the case?

[[old] Roland Baltutis]

<!--QuoteBegin-Ducatista+Mar 29 2005, 01:01 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Ducatista @ Mar 29 2005, 01:01 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin-gw1+--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(gw1)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin-Roland+--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Roland)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->run your own business...then generally you would have more time to erg than everyone else. </td></tr></table><br />Obviously Roland does not run his own business, it is certainly not a 9 to 5 job!<br /><br />GW </td></tr></table><br /> I got a chuckle out of that one, too.<br /><br />BobD, it wasn't very nice of you to call GW a butt. <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Come on you blokes. I read BobD's comment as telling you blokes to get off your butts and make time to exercise. Otherwise I reckon you'll end up with a butt to match the joke. Don't make excuses about your jobs, even if you own the business. Your health is far more important than your job. What's the point of making all that money if you don't have any time to live life and enjoy it.<br /><br />The trend over here in Oz at the moment is to take a "Seachange". That is to sacrifice your busy highly paid and highly stressed career for an easier lower paid job with an ideal lifestyle. That way you can exercise as much as you want, stay healthier than your higher paid counterpart, and hopefully live longer (providing an SUV doesn't shunt you off your Ducati).<br /><br /><i>Keep it smooth, keep it relaxed<br />Roland Baltutis</i><br /><br />

[[old] DIESEL]

<!--QuoteBegin-richkrz+Mar 29 2005, 04:56 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(richkrz @ Mar 29 2005, 04:56 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->It sounds like most of you who answered  stick to strictly rowing, rather than trying to work weight-lifting into the scenario too.  Is that the case? <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />No. I do both. You just make the time.

[[old] afolpe]

Well, it obviously depends on how you view yourself. If the major thing you take satisfaction from is energetic pursuit of fitness and sport/leisure activities, then sure, you should make that your first priority, and change your job, etc. But at least a few of us out there, while viewing exercise and fitness as an incredibly important part of bieng a "whole" person, ultimately regard it as less important than our other life activities. Certainly there are intellectual and emotional pursuits that I regard as at least as satisfying as exercise (some days more than others). So the trick for most of us is to figure out how to fit serious exercise into the rest of our lives, without totally changing the rest of our priorities.<br /><br />Andrew

[[old] maf]

<!--QuoteBegin-richkrz+Mar 30 2005, 07:26 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(richkrz @ Mar 30 2005, 07:26 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->It sounds like most of you who answered  stick to strictly rowing, rather than trying to work weight-lifting into the scenario too.  Is that the case? <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />I'm a one-activity man. I think it's the caveman heritage <br /><br />Usually up around 6:30 or so, help with kids etc, check emails, do some log checking for work before the users get online, row about 5-6k and at my desk before 9am. I get to repeat in the evening around 9PM maybe two or three times a week.<br /><br />I like to row a bit before I stretch, so I've adopted and modified the suggestion here about integrating warmups to save time. I now row a 1k warmup, do my stretches, then add an extra 1k warm-down at the end of the piece without stopping. So if I was doing a 5k row, I'd actually do 7k including warmup/down as 1k + 6k. Seems to work for me (on a sample of one) <br /><br />Michael<br />

[[old] BobD]

And don't forget that you accomplish a lot of things besides fitness when you exercise on your tight life schedule. Several studies have shown that exercise is about the best stress buster known. <br /><br />I'm a runner and a rower by the way, I'm 65 and my 10K run is 1 hour.

[[old] Ducatista]

<!--QuoteBegin-Roland Baltutis+--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Roland Baltutis)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Come on you blokes. I read BobD's comment as telling you blokes to get off your butts and make time to exercise. Otherwise I reckon you'll end up with a butt to match the joke. Don't make excuses about your jobs, even if you own the business. Your health is far more important than your job. What's the point of making all that money if you don't have any time to live life and enjoy it.<br /><br />The trend over here in Oz at the moment is to take a "Seachange". That is to sacrifice your busy highly paid and highly stressed career for an easier lower paid job with an ideal lifestyle. That way you can exercise as much as you want, stay healthier than your higher paid counterpart, and hopefully live longer (providing an SUV doesn't shunt you off your Ducati). </td></tr></table><br />Do you need a ladder to mount that horse of yours, or will a leg up do the trick?<br /><br />The people I know who own small businesses do it for the love, not the money, and certainly not for the free time, though "be your own boss! have lots of time!" is a common and comical misconception. Can't blame you for sharing it.<br /><br />On stress: people toss that word around as though it's universally bad. But haven't you found that striving for excellence carries with it a certain amount of stress, regardless of the profession/avocation/pursuit? That's good! I work in a creative field that's positively simmering in energetic stress — and out of that comes extraordinary work, and the deep satisfaction that goes along with creating that work. And it's not just the end result that floats my boat. The process and the people I work with are endlessly entertaining and enriching. I've been at my job for eight years, and I still get excited about it on my morning walk to work. Talk about an ideal lifestyle! It may not be for you, but it's physical and mental tonic for me. <br /><br />The Duc was my first bike, by the way. My skills progressed beyond my machine, but my challenging/stressful/deeply satisfying job doesn't pay enough for me to buy Italian high performance. So I brought a British literbike instead.

[LindaM]

I usually cap off my "shorter" rows (45 - 55 minutes) with 15 minutes of stretching and light weight lifting. Longer rows (upwards of an hour), I just do a few stretches and go shower.

[[old] akit110]

<!--QuoteBegin-Ducatista+Mar 30 2005, 09:47 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Ducatista @ Mar 30 2005, 09:47 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin-Roland Baltutis+--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Roland Baltutis)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Come on you blokes. I read BobD's comment as telling you blokes to get off your butts and make time to exercise. Otherwise I reckon you'll end up with a butt to match the joke. Don't make excuses about your jobs, even if you own the business. Your health is far more important than your job. What's the point of making all that money if you don't have any time to live life and enjoy it.<br /><br />The trend over here in Oz at the moment is to take a "Seachange". That is to sacrifice your busy highly paid and highly stressed career for an easier lower paid job with an ideal lifestyle. That way you can exercise as much as you want, stay healthier than your higher paid counterpart, and hopefully live longer (providing an SUV doesn't shunt you off your Ducati). </td></tr></table><br />Do you need a ladder to mount that horse of yours, or will a leg up do the trick?<br /><br />The people I know who own small businesses do it for the love, not the money, and certainly not for the free time, though "be your own boss! have lots of time!" is a common and comical misconception. Can't blame you for sharing it.<br /><br />On stress: people toss that word around as though it's universally bad. But haven't you found that striving for excellence carries with it a certain amount of stress, regardless of the profession/avocation/pursuit? That's good! I work in a creative field that's positively simmering in energetic stress — and out of that comes extraordinary work, and the deep satisfaction that goes along with creating that work. And it's not just the end result that floats my boat. The process and the people I work with are endlessly entertaining and enriching. I've been at my job for eight years, and I still get excited about it on my morning walk to work. Talk about an ideal lifestyle! It may not be for you, but it's physical and mental tonic for me. <br /><br />The Duc was my first bike, by the way. My skills progressed beyond my machine, but my challenging/stressful/deeply satisfying job doesn't pay enough for me to buy Italian high performance. So I brought a British literbike instead. <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Excellent point about stress not being a universally negative thing. Some stress can be good i.e. a meaningful, challenging job, an indoor rowing competition. In fact, I daresay most of the good things that came to be in our civilization came from someone at sometime going through a lot of effort and stress! <br /><br /><br />

[[old] gw1]

<!--QuoteBegin--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Don't make excuses about your jobs, even if you own the business. </td></tr></table><br /><br />Roland,<br /><br />I'm not making an excuse or will i ever. My quoting you initially was simply to sarcasticly highlight that i disagree with your statement (i may live in the US but i'm still an Aussie). <br />I do happen to run my own company, coach both my boys Little League teams, train firefighters / EMS from the surrounding 2 counties in surf life saving and find time in the last year to medal at the World titles.<br />Now lets get this topic back to being constructive! <br /><br />Re Topic:<br /><br />To fit all of life's pieces together IMO you have to prioritize and balance your time, to reach your short and long term competitive sporting goals you must set a structured plan and follow it. The degree to which you follow your plan will reflect in your performance. For many sport/training is not about the competition but about health and well being, therefore their priorites will differ and they may be less structured in their regimine.<br /><br />Cheers<br />Gary

[[old] Roland Baltutis]

"On stress: people toss that word around as though it's universally bad. But haven't you found that striving for excellence carries with it a certain amount of stress, regardless of the profession/avocation/pursuit? That's good! I work in a creative field that's positively simmering in energetic stress — and out of that comes extraordinary work, and the deep satisfaction that goes along with creating that work. And it's not just the end result that floats my boat. The process and the people I work with are endlessly entertaining and enriching. I've been at my job for eight years, and I still get excited about it on my morning walk to work. Talk about an ideal lifestyle! It may not be for you, but it's physical and mental tonic for me. <br /><br />The Duc was my first bike, by the way. My skills progressed beyond my machine, but my challenging/stressful/deeply satisfying job doesn't pay enough for me to buy Italian high performance. So I brought a British literbike instead." <br /><b>Above</b><b>[/quote] Ducastista</b><br /><br />Stress then is where we differ in opinion. You say that it's not always a bad thing but I try and avoid it like the plague. I know that it adversely affects my performance in the sporting arena, leads to errors in my work and causes friction amoung family and friends. As BobD mentioned in his post, exercise offers great stress relief. Nothing like a long solo run in the peace and solitude of a park, cross country ski along a remote trail or even an early morning row on the water to think problems over and try and workout a solution while your out there. Afterwards you come back relieved and more relaxed, ready to face your problems in life. The strange thing though is that my workouts on the erg don't help anywhere near as much as my outdoor sports to relieve stress. Maybe it's the combination of fresh air and motion through changing scenary that makes the difference.<br /><br />That's how I strive to lead a stress free life. Exercise is my tonic and gets priority over my job. I'm a great believer in <b>" A fit body leads to a sound mind ". </b>And that shows in my job as I'm able to carry out mental tasks that I'm certain I couldn't do if I didn't get regular exercise.<br /><br />However, I understand that you can get relief from stress in other ways. Before I started a family I use to ride my high performance motorcyle, giving it a good thrash along a windy mountain road scrapping my knees on each bend. I came back feeling good and relieved of any stress. A Ducati does offer more stress relief than a Triumph but the catch is that you'll need to work longer hours to pay for it.<br /><br /><i>Keep it smooth, keep it relaxed<br />Roland Baltutis</i>