March 15, 2010
fitness, mental health
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I have felt just chilled to the bone lately. No, it’s not especially cold outside. In fact, it’s a balmy 40F outside right now. It’s the damp, and I know it.
Damp, raw chill is probably my least favorite weather. Even the swimming pool felt really cold to me before I began my laps today, and they keep that pool pretty warm – usually around 75F. I usually stay pretty warm for several hours after a good workout, but not today.
I’m working snuggled under my slanket today with a rice-filled warmer at my feet and drinking a hot cup of tea. Tea is more warming to me than coffee. I’m not sure why.
I saw an interesting question the other day about swimming. “Will swimming make my shoulders broad?”
Interesting question. The real answer is that yes swimming will most certainly aid in shoulder development. Whether or not you find that desirable is your call. I will point out that you’re not going to look like a member of the East German 1970s women’s swim team without two things A) Steroids and B) Their training schedule. Good luck with that. Me? If I put in three miles of laps in a week, I’m all good.
Which, in this rambling post, brings up another point about steroid use. While not in favor of chemical performance enhancers, meeself, I sometimes think people have a rather unclear idea of how these things work. No-one takes steroids then sits on their butt playing video games and expects to win athletic contests. It’s the drugs and incredibly grueling workouts that do it. It’s not a magic pill (or shot).
And in the interests of even more rambling, I’m noticing I really do respond well to playing video games that feature bright, sunny weather with blue water and sand. I have not wanted to hibernate nearly as badly as I often do on gray, wet days when I spend my coffee break on WuHu Island. I think that surrounding myself with sunny, tropical images is probably a positive thing. I sometimes wonder if Nanny constantly burning things on icky days was a similar thing. I think I get my solar-powered tendencies from her. We might love water, but it’s the combination of water and sun that’s the thing. The only time I’d want to visit the far North or the far South would be sometime around the Summer solstice, I think. I’m hoping for more sunshine than this spring. Last year’s spring and summer were reminiscent of that Bradbury story “All Summer in a Day” and I think another one like it will send me buggy.
And speaking of coffee breaks, mine is over and I need to get back to work.
March 9, 2010
fitness
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I actually used the weight room rather than do body weight stuff today.
For all that I’m in favor of body weight exercises and really think that there are dozens of paths to fitness, I gotta say I like freeweights better. Oh yes, body weight exercises travel well, what with only needing about six feet of floor and no equipment. But having that bar across your shoulders is cool. Well, it’s cool to me.
That’s important. What do you like to do?
I think that in our chasing fitness (or sometimes just waving cheerfully from our chairs and getting on with our blogging), we get too into the perfect workout, or what we thinking we “should” be doing.
If you’ve decided being more active is important to you, finding something that makes you feel good is important. I don’t swim and use free weights because they’re The Ultimate Exercise. I swim and use free weights because that’s what I’ll do. Sure, sure, I can come up with a million reasons why I’m Right to Do What I Do in terms of great exercise and Why People Who Do It Different Are Wrong. But, I have a friend who hates exercise for the sake of exercise. Oh, she’ll paddle twenty miles in a kayak. Show her a mountain and she’ll hike on up it chattering cheerfully all the way. Don’t try to put her in a gym. She’d be miserable. And I’m sure if it were her way, she could come up with a million reasons why she is Right to Do What She Does and Why People Who Do It Differently Are Wrong.
Both of us would be wrong, too.
So, if you’re into being active, what do you like?
January 20, 2010
fitness, goals, writing
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I’ve been reviewing my work Screw Skinny, Get Fit and I realize that I’ve been messing around on this project for too long. I need a big, huge deadline that’ll embarrass me if I don’t meet it to get my lazy butt in gear about this thing.
So, here’s the deal.
I’m going to be offering ScrewSkinny for sale in PDF or PRC (that means you can read it on a Kindle, or in Mobipocket) starting April 1, 2010. I haven’t set a price yet, but it’s going to be under $10. If I get another big contract, I’m just gonna have to give up some knitting time. This is gonna happen no matter who else wants my literary excellence.
This book is not for the athlete. It’s for someone who is sedentary who wants to build or maintain health and fitness. If you have an active, outdoor lifestyle, you’re all good and don’t need this. It’s for someone who’d rather knit or play WoW. Yes, there is a strong geek focus.
I discuss levels of ability, including handicaps of various sorts, and explain why The Perfect Workout is nonsense.
November 3, 2009
fitness
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Hey, you gym bunnies? I have a heads up for ya. Some day you may wind up seeing a fat chick in the gym. No, really. I know that the media says we don’t exercise (because exercise magically melts the pounds away the second you step on a treadmill, dontchaknow?), but some of us do.
Now many of you are thinking, “Oh hey, cool. She’s decided to work out. That’s great!”
You know, you’re right. Choosing to be active is a great health choice in many cases. That’s why we do it, right?
Since chances are good that you prefer to be benevolent and supportive, I’d like to offer a few little tips.
- Unless you know her really, really well, don’t say “I’m proud of you” the second you see her in the gym.
Yes, there are people who need the strokes and the hand-holding. Do you know that person well enough to know if she needs it? Be sure before you say something like that. The whole “I’m proud of you” thing can come off just awfully condescending from a stranger, even if your intention is to be benevolent. When she’s done her first pullup, though, feel free to throw confetti and blow horns.
- Be aware that body consciousness exists.
It may be the custom to parade around in the altogether in your locker room, regardless of age or body type. (It is in my gym!) However, it might take awhile before any new person (fat or not!) is necessarily comfortable with chatting with someone they don’t know well totally naked.
- Unless asked, don’t monitor her progress.
Again, I know people like to be supportive of positive life choices, and that’s cool. There’s a difference between having someone be supportive and finding that someone has tried to make a project out of you. The latter is a real pain in the butt.
- Do be inclusive.
While I’m sure you know the rule about not bothering someone in the gym with headphones in, if she’s not wearing them, being friendly is good. You and I know that all it takes to be a member of the Cool Kids Club in a gym is showing up, but it’s not common knowledge among the uninitiated. Let ‘em know they belong.
- Don’t make assumptions about her fitness goals
She might be trying to take fat off. She might be working on her strength and not bothering with body fat percentage. She might be rehabbing an injury. Unless you know what her fitness goals are, your advice is probably useless. Wait to be asked.
Do I blame social gaffes on chasing someone away from the gym? Not entirely. If you really aren’t into being there, you’ll probably find just about any reason not to. Still, if you want to make sure your gym is a welcoming, inclusive place, it’s a good idea just to be matter of fact about people being there rather than making a big deal of any one particular class of person showing up.
October 27, 2009
fitness
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Technically what I really should be doing as far as workouts it swimming three days a week and doing a full-body weights workout twice a week.
I, uhhh… Well, I haven’t been doing that.
I don’t think I’ve ever dropped below two workouts (usually a 1000-1500 yard swim) a week, but I have a sedentary job, no yard to take care of that needs yardwork and sedentary hobbies. Two workouts a week with that lifestyle isn’t really enough to stay healthy and strong, and I know it. If I had a dog I was walking every day, or was doing something where I was walking the equivalent of a couple of miles a day, it’d be different.
However, with my lifestyle, a good solid workout every weekday is pretty necessary.
With that in mind, I hauled my complaining butt into the weight room today (swam yesterday) and decided that since I’ve been a slacker, I was going to drop back to embarassingly light weights just to make sure I did the darn workout. You know, Rule One and all.
I was weaker than I thought. That wimp workout was a challenge!
Ah well. I’ll do the wimp workout again on Thursday, and then next week do it again. Then I’ll be a little stronger and can add a little more. I wish I loved working out. I mean, it’s okay when I’m in the weight room and all, but I’d rather stay in a warm bed, I really would.
I actually found it hard to hit the weight room today — afraid of being judged or made unwelcome. That was goofy and there was no excuse for it. I knew the people in there. I see them several times a week. None of ‘em have ever been mean to me, so there was no reason in the world to think they would do so because I was working out instead of working behind a desk! If they’re going back to their blogs or weight lifting discussion boards and making fun of how the fat chick looks at the squat rack, I certainly don’t see it. But they don’t behave as if they’re into that level of petty nastiness in the gym, so I’ve no evidence to think they would.
It got me to thinking. Sure there’s a lot of nastiness about appearance out there, no doubt. But it seems a bit unkind to brace oneself for it when one hasn’t any evidence that it’s likely to happen. Now, I got picked on in school, so I know what it’s like to cultivate the appearance of deafness, but be braced inside for nasty comments. I know the inward flinch, the way you script in your own mind for a good comeback. Which, of course, you never remember to use when the situation happens, anyway. That mental bracing is a waste of valuable butt-scratching time when you think about it. You’d be much better employed learning to fart the Jaws theme rather than spend precious mental energy on it.
And in my case, thinking about my form when the bar is loaded across my shoulders is a lot better use of mental energy than worrying about how I look to others. I mean, if I look around to see if I’m being judged, I’m more likely to fall and hurt myself. Forget that!
October 7, 2009
fitness
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I had a woman approach me yesterday in the gym asking when the hours for swimming were going to change so that people could get in the pool early in the morning. I blinked at her, kind of confused and said that she could do so every morning.
She said, “The schedule says Lap Swim. I don’t swim laps, I do water exercises.”
I explained that she’s quite free to grab a lane and work out in the water if that suits her fancy. She may have to share a lane if the pool is busy, but no-one’s gonna care if she swims laps, aquajogs or whatever. We have everything from competitive swimmers with tons of gear and a workout printout in a sealed plastic bag to people who have to use a cane get down the ramp into the water and do aqua workouts with a belt to keep them floating in the deep end.
I love seeing that. Working out isn’t just for the athletes. Bodies need to move, but not all bodies can move in the same way. I like the fact that the range is accepted and that no-one is made to feel as if they shouldn’t be there unless they’re training for a triathlon or something.
June 6, 2009
fitness
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I was called athletic today.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love being called that. Tickles the hell out of me. But I really don’t see myself that way. Yeah, yeah, I know, what else does being an athlete require but spending some time on a sport on a regular basis?
I’ve mused on this before, but I still haven’t internalized the idea that I wanted to — that being an athlete merely requires something physical you love and do on a relatively frequent basis. I mean, I just swam over a mile today!
Am I a great athlete? No. Am I even a fast swimmer? Hell, no!
I think part of it is that I do sometimes slog through a swim. Goodness knows I did today. I was constantly telling myself, “C’mon. You decided to put in a 2,000 today. Just keep doing it. You’ve got one more length in you.” This was not one of those glorious swims where I feel like a god. (Though I like those a lot better).
Now, a lot of why I’m doing the 50 mile swim is because I’ll get a t-shirt at the end of it that I intend to wear when I’m working the front desk at the gym. So very often women built like me are scared to come to the gym. They’re scared their goals won’t be listened to. They’re scared of being judged. The gym I go to is about getting moving on a regular basis and not about getting down to 12% body fat, but there are gyms that feel otherwise about it, and goodness knows that can put someone off.
Although maybe I’ll be taking away hope when I prove that exercise doesn’t automagically make you skinny. Who knows?
June 5, 2009
Uncategorized, fitness
2 Comments
I got called a fish today. I was absurdly pleased. What was cool about it to me was that it was by someone who has decided to train for a triathlon. For those of you who’ve done a tri, we’re definitely talking Clydesdale1 here.
The guy is not particularly a skilled swimmer, but I’ve seen him swim and have seen him move on dryland. He’s got good body control, so I don’t think it’s going to take too long for him to relax enough for him to get his form down. What pleased me so was that this muscular, athletic man tried my sport, has seen me perform, and respects what I do. In truth, he’ll soon outpace me. I been swimming seriously for about three years, and consider it a great swim if I can do 2,000 in under 50 minutes. He’s already doing a 1,000 in half an hour, just a few weeks into training. Though I did make a snarky crack that I was not going to let him beat me swimming, he’s gonna get a lot faster than ever I can.
It means a lot to me as a heavy woman to be respected for athletic stuff, especially when it’s not framed in terms of what it makes me look like, but performance.
1This is a category for men over 200 lbs. They may be fat, or just big, heavy and muscular. This guy is big, heavy and muscular, and truly rather reminiscent of a draft horse in power. The female equivalent is called an Athena. I think the weight cutoff is something like 145.
May 28, 2009
fitness
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I swam a 2000 today. That is by no means a normal swim, though I suspect by the end of the summer that it will be. Right now, a good solid 1500 is my normal workout. A 2000 takes me about 50 minutes and I don’t always have that much time. No, I am not a fast swimmer by any stretch of the imagination!
So, that’s 20,000 yards since May 1. I want to see if I can possibly get in another 5,000 by May 31, so that I can be properly on track to get to my goal on time without scrambling too much. I have until Aug 31, so ideally I need to put in 25,000 yards a month. That’s a good, steady pace. Not insane, but there’s little room for slacking.
That’s a lot more yardage than I’ve ever swum in a month.
This is doing a good job of keeping me focused on working out. You pretty much have to keep working at a pretty steady pace or you won’t make it. Oh sure, there are already people who have racked up something like 35,000 yards. They’re competitive swimmers and hats off to ‘em.
I found out an aqua aerobics class only counts as 500 yards. I think they’re getting the short end of the stick. Those classes are an hour long! I’ll grant you probably don’t go quite as hard as I do, but… Well, if aqua aerobics is what you’re doing, either your fitness levels aren’t quite at the lap swimming range, your technique isn’t up to it, or you’ve got a disability where there’s Just No Way. I wouldn’t begrudge an hour class counting as 2000 yards if it’s getting butts in the pool. Doing what you can is important. I mean, there’s a reason I’m a swimmer and not a runner!
I’m all mellow and relaxed and sleepy after my swim. I may nap. I may just veg. But goodness me, it’s nice to have work done, have worked out and have a free afternoon. I don’t get this often, but I sure like it.
May 4, 2009
fitness
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I put in my 1500. Only 86,000 yards to go! The lifeguard was funny. “How many miles did you do today, young lady?”
Yeah, right… If he’s more than ten years older than I am I’ll swim 2000 tomorrow. I still wish I could have retorted, “One.” The challenge clocks the yardage in 500 yard blocks, so it’s not like I can work up incrementally and get up to a mile slowly if I want the milage to count. Even so, I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next couple of months, swimming a 2000 (which, for the purposes of clocking the challenge is the distance closest to a mile) is going to be my basic swim.
Today’s swim was okay. I got into that zone where your body is working hard, but your mind just starts to float and drift. I don’t get that for every workout, but when it happens, I really like it. It mellows me out a lot.
Not many people have signed up for the fifty mile challenge this summer, and all the ones that did were the triathletes and the Masters swimmers. I have to complete it now, just out of stubbon pride. Besides, since I work at the gym and all, not following through would be embarrassing. No, I’m not biting off more than I can chew with this. 6,000 a week is pretty doable, even on a busy week.
Speaking of busy, I have clients who need my services and wouldn’t want to leave them twitching. Work time!
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