Exercise Invitational!

T

Trout Tamer

Joined
Jan 20, 2004
Messages
1,526
I just finished reading the thread Mongo started about remaining motivated to work out. While reading it, a thought occurred to me - why don't we have an accountability system over the web? I am like several others here who is needing to keep trim and remain motivated to be so. I am only 26, but I got my leg crushed 2 years ago and am still dealing with that. Therefore, weight watching is more difficult (can't run, have limited walking ability, etc) but it is still doable. I currently ride the exercise bike @ the gym, lift upper-body weights, and swim. Therefore, here is what I propose:

-every Sunday, for a trial period of 1 month, we will post our previous week's exercise efforts, whether they were biking to work, lifting at a gym, walking the dog, or whatever.
-we will state some feasible goals for the upcoming week, even if the goal is to simply "stay the course"
-if anyone is motivated by numbers, we/they can post weight gain or loss or strength/cardio time gains or losses.

Is anyone interested in this? For me, it will be a good way to take stock of the previous week's activities and it'll give me a nudge in the right direction. We can try it for a month to see if anything positive truly comes out of this. Are there any takers?
 
I'll join up! I just started dating this very fit woman and am feeling self conscious about my gut...I was thinking last night in fact how I need to jump start myself again. Great idea :D
 
I'm in too. I do get exercise but need to do sit-ups and I think there is a womens version verses a mans. I'm 5'6" and 140 pounds so I don't want to really loose weight just get in tone too. It's a deal and let's do it. Cavelady
 
Count me in! I made losing weight and improving my fitness a goal for '04. On 1/1/04 I weighed in at 320 now I'm weighing in at 250. I'm running my first 5K on the 16th of this month.
 
I'll get in on this as well. I just started a new exercise program. My goal is to gain some muscle. Right now I'm skinny, weak, and pathetic. Not necessarily in that order. :)

-Bryan
 
Ok, since I guess I'm partly to blame for this thread ( :D ) , I guess I'm in too. I have gone twice this week, am sore as hell right now... having troubles scratching my nose! My starting weight is 251&1/2 lbs. I have about 6 weeks to collect on my dinner with Danbo, so the motivation is there. I'm too embarassed to admit how weak and out of shape I'm in now, but I will definately report any positive gains.
 
I'm in too. I've spent too long in the top paddock this year. I started working again after a 3 year semi retirement and lots of plane travel and hotel food had had it's way with me.

My plan is simple, I'm calling it X1-24 (one must have a trendy name for these things) The goal is to exercise continuosly (Paddling, beach running, Yoga, boxing, cycling) for 1 hour each day. The mode doesn't matter and the 60 minutes can be accumulated in several small sessions (for when I'm travelling) or 1 big session.

I committ to you, my edgy brethren, to do this for the next month.
 
Hey, this is a great response! :) Let's start the posting this Sunday then, listing what we can remember of this previous week's exercise. I need to really concentrate on my leg therapy, so I'll be reporting that, as well as my normal exercise. Let the fun begin!
 
Count me in. I work out twice a week with freeweights, but I need to get more cardio in. I've lost 85lbs this year, between diet and exercise. Another 45 and I'll be happy :)
 
Hi All-

Cool idea, but I figure there has to be an easier way to maintain the database other than a discussion thread. Hmmmm....puts thinking cap on....

~ Blue Jays ~
 
Until we have some direction from our great leader - the Mighty Trout Tamer - I'm going to use this thread to respond. I'm happy to jump on a new thread each week but I reckon it might be better to keep using the same thread.

Things started badly for me with a couple of long road trips and a few overdue reports for work that kept my arse stuck to either the car or home office seat for a few days. However I am now 2 days in to X1-24. I did a 1 hour walk on Monday and the same yesterday, Today I'm planning a session in the home gym and some light beach running.

Rugger, Runswithknives, Cindy, Boot, Bryan, Mongo, MrBadExample and Blue jay - make sure you check in. Don't think you can duck out now. You've made the commitment. If I don't hear from you I will come over there (hey I've got the frequent flyer miles) and stick a wet finger in your ear if you don't comply. This aint no weeny holiday camp (insert other boot camp/drill seargent cliches here)
 
Count me in. I already started :D

Here's what I posted in the other thread, I like the idea of using the same one better.

Me. said:
I went job searching today at a plaza, and instead of taking the more efficient bike option, I walked. It wound up only taking 55 minutes (with an added detour just for walking's sake), and I didn't find a job, but I lost some calories
Click to expand...
 
Well, I have to grudgingly admit that I feel a little better now. I was sore as hell after my first week of lifting, now that is getting better. However, I am still as weak as a pencil-necked geek. It pisses me off to see how much I struggled with a weight in bench press today that used to be my SECOND WARM-UP SET WEIGHT! God, I feel like such a pussy. But, like I mentioned in the other thread... I am not competing with anyone else, just myself. At least I benched more today than the last time. I am able to comfortably do at least 20 minutes on the elliptical thingie, whereas the first time had me sucking gas after 5 minutes! :eek: Now time seems to be my biggest constraint, as I work out in my mid-day break.
I actually feel a little better with what I attribute the addition of cardio workouts. The down side is that I now want to eat about 2X as much as before!
No wet willies from you Ming65!
 
Your last post expressed something that has been a barrier to me getting fit a few times Mongo. Being an ex-athlete I was always falling into the trap of thinking that 'if I can't do what I used to be able to do - then I'll do nothing'. I was constantly comparing myself to what I was doing in my prime. This seems to create emotional baggage towards each exercise session - with the feeling that a huge effort is going to be required or it's just not worth it. This caused me create a negative association with training and fed the war with my motivation/will power.

A couple of years ago I made the decision to have no expectations of any exercise session. My only commitment to myself was that I would put on my running shoes and walk out the door - from that point on I would do just what I felt like and nothing more. This worked a treat as I ceased associating exercise with feeling bad about myself and just enjoyed getting out there. Half the time I trained hard - because I felt like it, and half the time I took it easy - because I felt like it. Within six months I was at my playing weight and fighting fit.

So my approach will be the same this time. I have a rough exercise plan - but will put any expectations on myself besides just getting out there and enjoying a bit of fresh air (or stale sweaty air in the case of my home gym in the back shed).

ps: I like that idea of adding incidental exercise needleremorse. That's part of my plan as well. For the days when I'm too busy to train, I'll just make sure that I accumulate at least 1-hour of walking. Onya mate!
 
I just noticed this and wanted to say congratulations guys, and good luck. Having a group to motivate you makes all the difference.
 
Howdy, y'all, I'm back. It is fine with me if we use the same thread to keep track of our exercise. However, I see some potential problems with that - 1) how often will we update? If we write in every day or two, it will be easy to also skip a day or two; at least, that's my belief. 2) as time goes on, and the thread grows, it will be easier to not post. I can already here myself/someone else thinking, "Oh well, seven pages are already there, no one will see my post or care if I'm with it."

From my perspective, we should post 2x/week, once on Thursday to keep us in the flow during the week, and once on Sunday evening/Monday to re-cap the weekend. Whether we use the same thread or start a new one every 2 weeks is debatable. Anyone have any insights on this? If not, then let's consider this Thursday our first official check-in. We will use this thread until it gets too big (anything over 4 pages will constitute need for a new page). Consider the other thread I posted dead; this will be our home base for the present. Rock and roll! :)
 
I have an idea: At the end of each week, each member posts an account of every day that they did some form of exercise. At that time, we can look at who actually posted. Trout (or someone) can then publicly humiliate the non-compliers. If you can't exercise for one day due to circumstances beyond your control, that's alright, just state that. But let's not see 3 days a week or anything. So, every time you exercise just jot down what you did in Word or something and put them down at the end of the week. In that post you could also state goals for the next week, or say whatever else you want. I think the weekly accounts will save Spark and the database a whole lot of trouble that we usually see with the giant threads, and it will be more organized/easier to keep track of who is holding up their end.

Tuesday can be the meetup, so next Tuesday, for example, I will post an account of my activity from this week. If you'd rather do two days to keep the flow, that's a good idea too. These things are too easy to fall out of in routine. If we go with the weekly, someone needs to yell at us everyday to do something :D

I might have a problem with this system though for the next week and the week after. I'm going to Canada for one week on vacation and then Maine for the week after. In Canada we'll be walking a good bit, but probably not as much as I'd like to. We'll see about Maine.

Should we state our goals for this week now?
 
Needle:
I am not quite sure I'm tracking with all of your ideas. Here are some I don't quite understand: "At the end of each week, each member posts an account of every day that they did some form of exercise. At that time, we can look at who actually posted."

Are you saying that you think we should all start our own thread, or that we have one thread in whick we post our week's worth of exercise?

"But let's not see 3 days a week or anything."

I think that 3 days/week is much better than nothing, especially if that person has a particularly busy schedule or eventful week.

"every time you exercise just jot down what you did in Word or something"

Writing down the exercise is a good idea; I have trouble remembering just what I did, when I did it.

"If you'd rather do two days to keep the flow, that's a good idea too. These things are too easy to fall out of in routine."

I think that 2 updates per week is optimal. If we only post once a week, it will be too easy to slack. If we have to post more than 2x/week, this will become a big headache. I still prefer the Thursday/Monday split. Thursday is in the thick of the work week, when it can be difficult to make time for exercise. Monday is directly after the weekend, when people are most prone to easing off. However, maybe we should kick the days back by one, posting on Wednesday and Sunday.

Thanks for the response, Needle. I do think we should post our goals for this upcoming week, once we figure out exactly where we wanna post 'em :confused: :)
 
Are you saying that you think we should all start our own thread, or that we have one thread in whick we post our week's worth of exercise?
Click to expand...

We should have one thread where we post a weeks worth of exercise. At the end of each week, we all post what we did in this thread. (Monday: walking, Tuesday: running, for example).

I think that 3 days/week is much better than nothing, especially if that person has a particularly busy schedule or eventful week.
Click to expand...

Very true, I'm setting the bar a little high there :D These things are hard to work into a schedule, and weather etc. also plays a big role. It should all work out for everyone no matter how often they exercise as long as they don't stop altogether or start consistently declining.

Any[time,where] we post is fine. It's your thread, and your idea :) I have a feeling the first week will be a little disoriented :D
 
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