Guaranteed to Work

Nim says:
http://www.aralifestyle.com/article.aspx?UserFeedGuid=bf387abe-3a1c-4758-a448-d78578631598&ArticleId=2453&ComboId=13918&title=Breakthrough-discovery-for-joint-relief&origin=222839-APP13

Nim says:
this picture looks like it was put together by someone who doesn't understand what a knee looks like

Bravewolf says:
riiiight... "Researchers in Cambridge, Mass., have discovered..." Where's the study? Where's the citations?
it's a special knee

Nim says:
but it looks like the knee caps are on the backs of the knees.

Bravewolf says:
just by taking this product, your knee will reform itself into a Super-Knee(TM). Hop like a kangaroo! Leap 6 foot fences in a single bound! Always wanted to screw around in a construction site with all that pesky barbed wire protecting it from unauthorized entry? Now's your chance!

Nim says:
haha

Bravewolf says:
I'm sure it's totally legit.

We (heart) Dooce

Things you never want to hear our trainer say in the middle of a workout

I'm considering hiring the services of a nutritionist, if not a personal trainer. My physical fitness regimen is suffering of late. It's like I don't have any motivation - I have the equipment and the ability to take on a significant amount of exercise, but I just don't. Something has to change.

The problem is, of course, that I'm lazy. Most people are, but some hide it better than others.

Kinda Barefoot Running?

These are the shoes that I had for about a week before popping them in the mail to return to MEC because one of the straps unravelled. I wore them twice and I'm waiting eagerly for their replacements.

I wore them for a little while the day I bought them and adjusted to walking "barefoot". I also discovered that even though the Vibram soles protected against most things, they did not protect against the pain of stepping on a small rock with all your weight on your foot.

I have pes planus; for the uninitiated, that means flat feet. When I walk barefoot for any length of time, my arches (what there is left of them) start feeling like day-old taffy - feeling stretched and start jabbing me with pain. So I wear orthotic insoles, which solve the problem, more or less, even though I can feel it when I've been walking for a couple of hours.

I was pleased to find that these Five Fingers KSO shoes seemed to address this to some extent. They have very good arch support. I'm not about to go out and run a marathon, but I am hoping that I could start running my local trails and see if I can build up to a decent distance.

It's an interesting feeling, running with these shoes. First, you don't have any artificial barriers, which means that your ankles get tired a lot faster than in regular shoes. Second, you can feel your tendons working that much more. Third, you feel a lot more aware of your feet.

I'm not about to praise these shoes to the skies; I'm starting slow so my arches have time to adjust (if they do adjust; there's every chance that things can go the other way). What I'm hoping is that they will strengthen. However, I'll have to get back to this blog on that.

I found some interesting tips over at Zen Habits on starting barefoot running. I'm going to try them when I get my new shoes and we'll see how things go in a few weeks.

Surf your pounds away!

This is my awesome new weight loss attempt. I hope that I'll at least walk some of the time and the rest of the time, I'll be standing, which will hopefully discourage me from spending hours in front of the computer! At least it will encourage me to pick up a weight or two every so often.

My stationary cycle desk didn't work so well. It was awkward to get into and half most of the time, I didn't cycle at all. At least on this, you have to stand. And standing means that you are a) burning more calories and b) not sitting. My butt is seriously starting to get numb from the hours I spend in the chair at work, at home... it's time to try a change. (What's next if this doesn't work out? A giant tub where I can do leg kicks while typing through a plastic interface?)

Here are the biggest problems I've noticed:

• The whole thing shakes when it's on. This means that the computer desk shakes; everything shakes. Not sure that this is fixable, no matter what I've got. It's the nature of portable exercise machines.
• The lights dim when I turn this thing on. I'm paying close attention to my next electric bill and I'm also on the lookout for a cheap manual treadmill. This cost me $30 off of Craigslist and I can probably get the same or slightly more/less for it if I move to a different model.
• It's noisy, making watching TV for my boyfriend somewhat problematic. Bless his heart, he hasn't complained. Apparently the noise of an ancient treadmill is less annoying than me moaning about my inexplicable weight gain while I stuff another chocolate bar in my gob while working on my 3rd hour in my computer chair after spending 8 sitting on my ass at work. There are quieter treadmills out there - again, I'm on the hunt for another.

We'll see how this works out in the next few weeks.

Walking, the All-Purpose Exercise

Today I went for a run, walked Tierce across the sand flats in Courtenay, BC and walked for another hour with a friend while we solved the problems of life, love and the universe.

Walking is something that most people do on a regular basis, but it's not always seen as a serious workout. However, if you walk - walk like you have some ass to kick and can't wait to get to it - you can have a seriously badass workout without actually exhausting yourself and having time to enjoy the scenery.

One hour of brisk walking can burn between 250-300 calories. That doesn't seem like a lot, but you're not just going for burning calories; you're building endurance and working your legs, butt and abs. You can work them even more if you incorporate hills into your workout. Or, strap on a backpack.

Walking is the original all-ages, all-fitness levels exercise. If you want to build your cardio, this is where it starts.

(My arm workouts came from hauling Tierce back when he wanted to make a close personal acquaintance with a Trumpeter Swan. This was not for the swan's sake; those things would have kicked Tierce's ass from here back to Nanaimo.)

And the Winner is.....

So, the search for the perfect gym is complete. Okay, maybe not perfect gym but good. My perfect gym would include a hot tub and cute guys with no shirts giving out free massages.. but I digress.

My gym dilemma really came down to the choice between the Nanaimo Aquatic Centre and the Anytime Fitness gym at Southgate Mall. (I'd link the Aquatic Centre but there is no proper website for it that I can find for it)

The benefits to the Aquatic Centre is that it's a bit closer to my house and that for my membership fee I get access to the pool facility as well. However, it does tend to get a ton of teenagers in it after school let's out.

The benefits of the Anytime Fitness gym are that it's 24 hour, so I can go whenever is convenient for me, there is a huge range of brand new machines and free weights there, they have a squat rack and a smith machine, AND that it's not within walking distance to the high school :)

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against teens working out at the gym, I think it's awesome that they're exercising; I just have issues with groups of them taking over parts of a busy gym and standing around and talking while they leisurely sorta work out.

So, for me, the clear winner is the Anytime Fitness facility. The fact that it's a properly stocked gym makes it far more appealing to me. The Aquatic Centre, when I had my previous membership, was really frustrating due to it's lack of equipment. They also offer a free 7 day trial membership, which is pretty nice.

So, two workouts into it so far and I already just about can't dress myself in the mornings, I can hardly wait until I work out hard!

In which Nim does her best Jesus impersonation and returns from the dead..

Okay, so I wasn't *dead*.. I had the flu. Let me tell you though, I certainly WISHED that I was dead! Or at least unconscious for a week.

Nothing puts a damper into your best fitness plans like a bout of illness or an injury. I've had months of progress derailed due to a shoulder strain that killed my motivation to work out for weeks afterwards.

However, now that I'm feeling myself again, I'm going to get back to my project of researching local gyms so that I can find one that really suits my needs before I lock myself into a monthly payment. Whereas this wasn't a huge pressing need up until now, with our office's new program of paying for 50% of gym membership costs I want to ensure that I am taking full advantage of that!

There are two gyms near my house that I'm considering getting memberships at, the first one is the Nanaimo Aquatic Centre and the second one is a 24 hour gym. They're both close to the same price, so I just need to compare what I'd be getting for my money.

The Aquatic Centre has a gym and pool facility included in the price. There are a few big drawbacks to this gym though. There are no barbells and there is no Smith machine. So, while I can do squats with dumbbells, this is a little less than ideal. Also, the hours that they're open aren't great and in the afternoon/early evening the facility tends to be infested with sweaty teenagers.

The good thing about the Aquatic Centre is that you can use the pool and hot tub after you've worked out; though they tend to be full of teenagers too. Also, this gym is the closer of the two to my house. It might also be slightly cheaper, though I might be mistaken on this point.

Next time: my review of the 24 hour gym...