For me, exercising and fitness is not only a large part of my life, it actually adds to my quality of life. I am still quite flexible and can play ball with my 13 year old grandson without sucking wind and being achey all over. Most importantly, I love excercising and do not find it a chore.
I also believe that excercise is really good for one's mental prowess. It not only relieves stress, but often allows for clarity of thought.
My new C2 arrives next Friday.
Best regards to all!
Barry
60, 5'6", 172 lbs.
What has increased fitness given you?
i think benefits for me have been somewhat limited, though i see no negatives in working out. i generally dont drink but last winter i drank and passed out, was admitted to the hospital and they determined that there was nothing wrong with me. a month before that i was drunk, made a friendly conversation with a guy and he punched me about 10 times and i wasnt able to punch back because was too drunk. i started working out several months ago. so yesterday i got drunk again. i did it to make myself more sociable at a club. i kept drinking and at first it did nothing to me. then suddenly my face became numb and i became sociable. for some reason i couldnt stop drinking, but i definitely slowed down. well 2 hours later i was still drunk. i fell and got a cut on my pinky, 2 of the fingers are lightly sprained, but i think they'll be ok tomorrow. then as i walked home i was just being friendly to some foreigners and told them they couldnt get any girls. they called me gay and i just laughed it off and continued talking about girls. i did not raise my voice, but they started yelling. it clearly touched them because they couldnt get any and they told me to walk the other way. one of them wanted to fight me, but eventually all 5 of them decided to walk into a gas station and let me pass. i guess if he had punched me, i wouldnt be able to punch back because i was too drunk. basically the same guy that beat me up in the winter would've beat me up now just the same... then i walked to my apt and my legs felt extremely heavy(i worked out earlier that evening). i went to bed and the ceiling started spinning and i felt nauseous. so i went to the stall and forced myself to throw up for 30mins. i still feel nauseaous this morning.
i look about the same as before. i mean i dropped several inches off my waist, but you could do that with a diet just as well... but with sports, i make new friends who share interests. i think i have much more in common with gym friends than with people i might've met at other recreational activities.
i look about the same as before. i mean i dropped several inches off my waist, but you could do that with a diet just as well... but with sports, i make new friends who share interests. i think i have much more in common with gym friends than with people i might've met at other recreational activities.
Re: What has increased fitness given you?
After a decade+ of sitting on the sofa pigging out and never exercising, I dusted off the old erg last October and started rowing at night instead of "vegging". What has this given me?Carl Henrik wrote:So you're fitter now than before. Has it been worth the time and effort? Will it be worth it ahead? Why?
Lost 75 pounds in 8 months and have kept it off the last 3.
Replaced my entire (and I mean entire) wardrobe (waist 44 -> 34). (this cost me a few c-notes however).
On that note, I was at the mall shopping for clothes, and actually went into one of those "hip and fashionable" stores with the club music pumping out of it that's only for the skinny 20-somethings, and I came out with some snazzy stuff that fits! (I'm 40, and used to shop at the "big and tall" stores before). Wow - what a feeling!!
Back in January I started running a little - I could do 2 miles, but only if I stopped to rest 6-8 times during the run. Last week I ran 10k (6.2 miles) with only 3 walks of a minute each. Should be able to do it straight through within a month or two.
I can chase my 9 and 6 year old boys around a lot better (and, like LJWagner, can do more with them). In the pool I can press them above my head and fling them into the deep end!
I can expect to see them graduate college - the old me might never have seen that.
I get compliments on the change all the time (although it is starting to slow down as people get used to the new me). Each comment keeps me going!
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icomefrombirmingham
- 2k Poster
- Posts: 249
- Joined: July 13th, 2007, 2:48 pm
- Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario
I'm with the bartman.
I decided to lose weight and get fit in late May this year. The final straw was my new doc telling me my BP was high enough that I should be on medication, though this only realy added to my growing realisation that I wasn't noticing many (any?) 65+ year old 285 pounders.
Three months later, I've dropped 40 lbs and several belt holes, my BP is well within normal plus I no longer need to medicate for arthritis or cholesterol!
More energy, less lethargy and the knowledge that what I eat now is actually benefiting my body.
So far I don't see many down-sides!...I (with the exception of my bottom)even enjoy my time on the erg.
Brent
I decided to lose weight and get fit in late May this year. The final straw was my new doc telling me my BP was high enough that I should be on medication, though this only realy added to my growing realisation that I wasn't noticing many (any?) 65+ year old 285 pounders.
Three months later, I've dropped 40 lbs and several belt holes, my BP is well within normal plus I no longer need to medicate for arthritis or cholesterol!
More energy, less lethargy and the knowledge that what I eat now is actually benefiting my body.
So far I don't see many down-sides!...I (with the exception of my bottom)even enjoy my time on the erg.
Brent
6'2.5", 228lbs[img]http://www.c2ctc.com/sigs/img1247165781.png[/img]
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Lincoln Brigham
- Paddler
- Posts: 31
- Joined: March 29th, 2006, 6:55 pm
- Location: Redmond, WA
- Contact:
What has increased fitness given me?
Apparently it's given me gray hair!
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igoeja
- 2k Poster
- Posts: 216
- Joined: September 25th, 2006, 8:49 am
- Location: New York, New York
- Contact:
changed my life
If people knew more of the benefits of fitness...
Anecdote:
Finding fitness changed my life. I had to drop out of school for 2 years, and at the time, my life consisted of insomnia, smoking, reading, music, and sulking. One night around 4 AM, unable to sleep, I went running around a local high school, sprinting laps. Well, laps evolved into running, the incorporated biking, then weight lifting, then vegetarianism, then smoking cessation. I eventually went back an finsihed up my degree, as well as changed my career goals. After a few years I found rowing and bought a CII. Fitness fan, but no longer fanatic, for 20+ years.
Facts:
Better moods, better sleep, more energy, more sex, lower body fat, more muscle, more energy, more brainpower, more women, more money...
Anecdote:
Finding fitness changed my life. I had to drop out of school for 2 years, and at the time, my life consisted of insomnia, smoking, reading, music, and sulking. One night around 4 AM, unable to sleep, I went running around a local high school, sprinting laps. Well, laps evolved into running, the incorporated biking, then weight lifting, then vegetarianism, then smoking cessation. I eventually went back an finsihed up my degree, as well as changed my career goals. After a few years I found rowing and bought a CII. Fitness fan, but no longer fanatic, for 20+ years.
Facts:
Better moods, better sleep, more energy, more sex, lower body fat, more muscle, more energy, more brainpower, more women, more money...
Re: What has increased fitness given me?
D**n. Totally jealous. I've lost my 75 lbs, but now look like your "before" picture. (for MY "before" picture, look up the Michelin tire mascot).Lincoln Brigham wrote:Apparently it's given me gray hair!
Tips on how to get from there to your "after" photo? I've come to expect that to add muscle mass, the cardio would have to be cut way down in favor of lifting? Has this been your experience?
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Lincoln Brigham
- Paddler
- Posts: 31
- Joined: March 29th, 2006, 6:55 pm
- Location: Redmond, WA
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Most of the last 10 years has been spent hitting the weights, focusing on Olympic weightlifting. In the last two years I've added rowing and other Crossfit workouts. I row an average of 10-30k per month, mostly short sprint intervals. As a result, my best rowing performances are at 500m and 1k distances. (Top ten according to the rankings.) I rarely do any cardio workouts that last longer than 30 minutes. Cardio health is good enough for me - resting heart rate is 48, bp is 117/68. In Feb. I ran a 5k in under 27 minutes with no training runs longer than 2 miles.
Some recent workouts:
Wednesday: clean & jerk up to 70kg (~20 reps total) snatch up to 55kg (~15 reps)
Thursday: rowed 1.1k @ 2:04, 550m @ 1:54, 2x250m @ 1:30
Friday: 40 chinups, 28 dips, 84 lunges, 200 situps, 60 high pulls with 30lbs., 2k row, 12 handstands. (Entire workout took 40 minutes)
Saturday: 1 mile run, dead sprint on the straightaways walk the curves.
Sunday: rest
Some recent workouts:
Wednesday: clean & jerk up to 70kg (~20 reps total) snatch up to 55kg (~15 reps)
Thursday: rowed 1.1k @ 2:04, 550m @ 1:54, 2x250m @ 1:30
Friday: 40 chinups, 28 dips, 84 lunges, 200 situps, 60 high pulls with 30lbs., 2k row, 12 handstands. (Entire workout took 40 minutes)
Saturday: 1 mile run, dead sprint on the straightaways walk the curves.
Sunday: rest
Thanks for the info.
I've been training for an indoor race this January, which will probably peel a few more pounds of fat off and should get me into the best cardio shape of my life (at 40 years old), but then I was thinking right after that of joining a gym to have access to a lot of weight circuits and free weights. Maybe I'll use next Feb-May to cut way back on running/rowing, and see if I can pack on some muscle before next swimsuit season!
Congrats on your health. You've given me a target!
Tom
I've been training for an indoor race this January, which will probably peel a few more pounds of fat off and should get me into the best cardio shape of my life (at 40 years old), but then I was thinking right after that of joining a gym to have access to a lot of weight circuits and free weights. Maybe I'll use next Feb-May to cut way back on running/rowing, and see if I can pack on some muscle before next swimsuit season!
Congrats on your health. You've given me a target!
Tom
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