[September Discussion] Health & Fitness

[Songstress]

It's a new month, and time for a new discussion. As the year winds down toward the holiday season,especially in America where we tend to throw the diet out the window and engage in serious gluttony, perhaps we (ok, I) can avoid packing on extra pounds with a good discussion about fitness!

 

Or at very least I can feel guilty about not doing what I know I should, right?

 

So please welcome this month's guest, Karasayl!

 

Karasayl joined Dragonmount in April of 2010, and is a member of the Band of the Red Hand and the Aiel, but is most involved in the "Other Tower" , as Ren'Shai Discipline Lieutenant in the Warder's Guild.

 

Karas has a long history with the subject at hand, having been involved in league soccer, weight training, martial arts, and sword fighting, as well as being a member of the U.S. Military.

 

As usual with our discussions, please be civil and respect one another's opinions.

 

Karas will be starting the discussion soon, so please refrain from posting in this thread until he gets here!

[Karasayl]

Hi everyone, first let me say its been a real honor to be invited to speak to you all here today!

 

Health and fitness is certainly a rich topic and hotly debated in todays modern society, and how could it not be with burgeoning numbers of illness due to lack of exercise from a seditary lifestyle, mal-nutrition, and general mental and social imbalance. I've always held a view that people should look at health with a balanced holistic approach, everything you do or do not do, affects it. Think of the old grade school approach to explain this- anyone remeber the concept of the health pyramid in school? Basically each side of of health (physical, mental, and social...I shall be omitting spiritual for the momment) determines whether your health is obtuse, isosceles, equalitateral...equilateral being the ideal in my personal opinion. Now you may be saying, Karas, I'm very introverted and not particularly active, does this make me unhealthy? Not nessicarily, one needs to view thier health assessment based upon personal goals, general societial consensus of what is determined to be healthy, and capabilities. In this regard I believe everyone can become a paragon of health and also have goals to strive for self improvement.

 

Seeing as this is a huge topic which encompasses everything from diet, sports and exercise, etc. let me open up with a Q & A section so I can hear what you have on your mind!

[Cbinpdx]

I do not recall any "health pyramid" from school. Are you perhaps referring to the "food pyramid", or is this something different?

[Tiinker]

Woo this is great! I just signed up for the gym about 5 minutes ago. What do!

[Karasayl]

Well certainly every schools ciriculum may be different. Its not the food pyramid but rather fitness and health can be measured by physical, mental, and social wellbeing. Any over emphasis would develop that "side" of the pyramid at the expense of other. This preference of health and fitness focuses in the conceptt that overall wellbeing is more preferred than excelling in any one field. Or at least, one should seek growth of all three concurrently.

[Karasayl]

Woo this is great! I just signed up for the gym about 5 minutes ago. What do!

 

Thats great news! Let me ask you, what are your fitness goals?

[Niniel]

How do you find a way to motivate yourself? Is it just fun to train or do you have a goal?

[Rasheta Ardashir]

How do you find a way to motivate yourself?

Yes this Karas! I have a real lack of motivation a lot of the time.

[Cbinpdx]

I have a specific sports fitness goal of wanting to learn how to windsurf. This sport seems to require good overall conditioning, including endurance. Although ANY conditioning will be an improvement for me at this point in time, are there any specific resistance exercises you recommend that are helpful to this specific sport?

 

I am also interested in team rowing and whitewater rafting.

[Karasayl]

How do you find a way to motivate yourself? Is it just fun to train or do you have a goal?

 

Thats a good one Tina, actually much of exercise is actually all about mental focus.

 

I recall when I was younger that there was this girl I wanted to impress...she was friendly to me, but I thought that if I was a little more fit she would "notice" me more. And so in an attempt to impress her, I went crazy. 6 hours of working out daily with a very strict diet! While she was a good focus at the time, its hard to push oneself to thier limits or force oneself to head to the gym after a long day of work- so in this regard its important to have goals. Keep in mind that while everyone may want to look amazing or gain the prowless of a world class athlete, we need to keep our situation and time in perspective. Theres only so much time in a day afterall.

 

I try to break down larger ambitions into small accomplishable steps and just try to be consistant. For example, if I want to loose 10 ilbs I know that I'll have to increase both my cardio and watch my diet- but I'd do this by just taking it a week at a time and not get overly paranoid about it on a daily basis. I see this as a problem for a lot of people, they make a goal, but then they intitially go crazy at the gym only to burn out and lose motivation. So better to be consistent and run 20 minutes 3 times a week instead of trying to do 1 hour everyday if you can't maintain. Find what works for you! If you can keep a routine up for 2 weeks, it starts becomming a regular event in your schedule. Need help consistent, bringing a friend along helps a lot. Not only can working out become more fun, but you'd be surprised how well a compliment goes when working out. If I can't find a gym buddy, then I just find some upbeat music and loose myself in the beat.

 

I also believe that you have to reward yourself and take breaks now and then. You're not a robot, and one shouldn't have those sort of expectations. When feeling unmotivated I just think of my current small accomplishable goal and force myself. Afterall, exercise releases endorphins so afterwards you'll feel good afterwards.

[Karasayl]

I have a specific sports fitness goal of wanting to learn how to windsurf. This sport seems to require good overall conditioning, including endurance. Although ANY conditioning will be an improvement for me at this point in time, are there any specific resistance exercises you recommend that are helpful to this specific sport?

 

I am also interested in team rowing and whitewater rafting.

 

With any conditioning, the most important part of your body to train is your core. It affects everything else and prevents injuries. While I've never windsurfed, I imagine ones lats, delts, and triceps would be very important. You should focus on using a resistance band or if you want to lift, use lighter weights focusing on a lot of reps. Also, when doing carido, if you are using a tredmill I'd start by find a moderate speed and seek to just maintain it for as long as you can.

 

As for more specific exercises, drop me a pm with what equipment/facilities you have and I can try and come up with a more detailed plan for you. :)

[John Snow]

You did sword fighting?

Real sword fighting or the [redacted] version that the french have made it into?

Either way, I'm jealous

[ruairidh7]

You did sword fighting?

Real sword fighting or the [redacted] version that the french have made it into?

Either way, I'm jealous

 

I'd love to try something like that

[ruairidh7]

Quick point, getting into a sport, especially in a club environment, is a brilliant way to make new mates. I think it's often overlooked but it's one of the best aspects of sports

[Cbinpdx]

I have a specific sports fitness goal of wanting to learn how to windsurf. This sport seems to require good overall conditioning, including endurance. Although ANY conditioning will be an improvement for me at this point in time, are there any specific resistance exercises you recommend that are helpful to this specific sport?

 

I am also interested in team rowing and whitewater rafting.

 

With any conditioning, the most important part of your body to train is your core. It affects everything else and prevents injuries. While I've never windsurfed, I imagine ones lats, delts, and triceps would be very important. You should focus on using a resistance band or if you want to lift, use lighter weights focusing on a lot of reps. Also, when doing carido, if you are using a tredmill I'd start by find a moderate speed and seek to just maintain it for as long as you can.

 

As for more specific exercises, drop me a pm with what equipment/facilities you have and I can try and come up with a more detailed plan for you. :)

 

Thank you. I belong to a fully stocked gym.

 

*heads off to read more about core conditioning*

[LedZepMan]

I work at a pretty physical job. And even though muscular im fine in the arm region, over the past year or two ive gained a bit of a paunch. I recently quit smoking and would like some advice on a good workout.

 

Firstly can i replace running with biking and swimming as a cardio workout? I detest running.

 

And secondly, besides crunches, what are a few good ab workouts i could try to get a good all around workout for that ttoublesome stomach/love handle area?

 

And i agree with the pyramid. Mental and emotional well being play a big part as i have recently learned

.

[Smiley73]

just as a quick aside:

 

I go to an all boys school and there's a sizeable amount of people there whose goal it is to just "get big". So they gym all day, protein shake, kreatin, animal stack themselves till they are absolutely massive, like obscenely massive. And a lot of the time it's for no other reason than because they can and I think that the sort of mentality that they're in and what they might be taking in the form of substances is particularly dangerous.

 

Just as a flip side, not exercising is bad for you but so is the opposite, so as cliche as it is, all things in moderation

[ruairidh7]

I work at a pretty physical job. And even though muscular im fine in the arm region, over the past year or two ive gained a bit of a paunch. I recently quit smoking and would like some advice on a good workout.

 

Firstly can i replace running with biking and swimming as a cardio workout? I detest running.

 

And secondly, besides crunches, what are a few good ab workouts i could try to get a good all around workout for that ttoublesome stomach/love handle area?

 

And i agree with the pyramid. Mental and emotional well being play a big part as i have recently learned

.

 

Do plenty of cycling and swimming and have a healthy diet and the weight will drop off you no bother

[Crimson_Ayla]

How do you know if you are healthy, overall?

[Smiley73]

How do you know if you are healthy, overall?

 

probably just do a physical check-up, not sure exactly what they're called, they take your cholesterol, test you heart rate max, body fat percentage, that sort of stuff

 

otherwise I suppose you might just feel healthy or know that you could do some physical activity quite well

[Karasayl]

You did sword fighting?

Real sword fighting or the [redacted] version that the french have made it into?

Either way, I'm jealous

 

I do dabble in a little classical saber and HEMA/italian longsword stuff, but my mainstays have always been Daehan & Haedong Kumdo (korean/Japanese fencing) and Einshin Ryu Iaido. :) If your interested I'm sure theres a Hema/ WMA group near you- most of them have free practices.

[Karasayl]

Quick point, getting into a sport, especially in a club environment, is a brilliant way to make new mates. I think it's often overlooked but it's one of the best aspects of sports

Thats a fantastic point. I hate to admit that I've wanted to get back into soccer, and seeking out a small amatuer club is a great way for me to get back into it- but I guess I've been mostly focused on personal sports. Not that I don't like team sports, but they often conflict with my schedule.

[Karasayl]

I work at a pretty physical job. And even though muscular im fine in the arm region, over the past year or two ive gained a bit of a paunch. I recently quit smoking and would like some advice on a good workout.

 

Firstly can i replace running with biking and swimming as a cardio workout? I detest running.

 

And secondly, besides crunches, what are a few good ab workouts i could try to get a good all around workout for that ttoublesome stomach/love handle area?

 

And i agree with the pyramid. Mental and emotional well being play a big part as i have recently learned

.

 

First all, actually running is absolutely horrible for ones knees, so biking and swimming are great alternatives as they are much lower impact.

 

I like planks,flutter/bicycle kicks alot. While most people focus on crunches because they see isolated results (isometrics), as a rule of thumb, its best to always work large muscle groups first then isolate. Exercises like these target many more parts of your core. For obliques, I would do three 3 things:

 

- Increase your cardio

- side planks and dumbell side bends are good and easy oblique exercises to begin working on

- work your lower back by doing supermans

 

Again, one should focus more on lots of reps and sets for toning!

[Karasayl]

just as a quick aside:

 

I go to an all boys school and there's a sizeable amount of people there whose goal it is to just "get big". So they gym all day, protein shake, kreatin, animal stack themselves till they are absolutely massive, like obscenely massive. And a lot of the time it's for no other reason than because they can and I think that the sort of mentality that they're in and what they might be taking in the form of substances is particularly dangerous.

 

Just as a flip side, not exercising is bad for you but so is the opposite, so as cliche as it is, all things in moderation

 

Unforunately I see this all the time...but whats funny is that most people whom want to just "get big" do it wrong. Think about it this way:

those whom bodybuild focus more on muscle symatry and toning whereas a weight lifting will focus on sheer mass. I think a lot of them have to ask what is thier ultimate goal with lifting. At least in my experience, most people did that sheerly to attract people for dating....and while these notthing wrong with that, if one doesn't maintain thier show muscles it will quickly turn to fat. Now I dont think using supplements is bad, but people need to learn how to use that stuff safely. For ex: Too much protein can promote organ failure as it can be a lot for one's liver to process, so those taking a lot of it need to increase thier fluids and fiber. Many supplements have insane amounts of caffiene, can have dangerous side effects mixed with other supplements, or are manufactured by some rather unhealthy animal byproducts. Users should be aware.

Just as you stated Smiley, moderation :)

[Talya]

What a great topic. I have to agree with over doing it. that happened to me recently. I was trying to do way too much and ended up making myself ill. I should remember I'm not as young as I used to be so can't do that kind of work out.

 

I agree with running it does damage the knees...I shouldn't do it now because of one of my knees. Though it actually was damaged doing too much Step aerobics over many years!

 

I now try not to push myself too hard but still get a good work out. I have also started a walking club at work. A brilliant way to get a little fitter and have a good gossip whilst walking, I'll let you know how it goes!

 

Again I see core was mentioned, it is very important to work your core (which means your back as well as abs). I go to Core workout classes that last about 45mins, they are pretty hard, but have helped my back no end!

 

I think that no matter who you are, whatever problems you may have there is something for everyone out there, it may be just finding it. motivation is helped by doing things with friends (hence the walking club), although I do like to go to the gym on my own. If there was more advice out there to help those that need to do something. Gyms are brilliant for those that know about fitness but can be discouraging for those that don't, or feel inhibited because they don't have a so called 'perfect body'. I like the gym I go to, because it's full of 'normal people'...all ages (15-75), all abilities and also disabilities. The more expensive ones seem more like posing places, which puts people off.

 

i would love to do more, but I'm limited by my knees on what I can do.

 

After the Olympics here they have had come and try events all over the country, so that people can try out different sports, hopefully it may encourage more people to get involved, not just to compete, but to take part, which can be great fun!