Ditto for me. Well, I didn't get good sleep but went to the gym in the morning so it didn't matter. The gym was still pretty empty due to the holiday weekend effect, and I got my favorite Arc Trainer and did an hour and fifteen minutes of high level interval while watching "Snapped." Then I did 45 minutes of abs, yoga, and weight lifting. I love the feeling of picking up a weight and realizing what once felt so heavy now feels so light. I left feeling very Zen which is why I adore the gym and all exercise :)

Kelt, great to have you in here. Besides likin' ya a whole lot, you are always so interesting and full of knowledge.

I only shower at the gym if I have gone swimming because I'm usually eager to clean my swim suit by wearing it in the shower and then to get the chlorine off my skin as well. Otherwise I wait until I get home because it's a much nicer experience.

I find people don't pay attention to each other in the locker room and shower if I don't make eye contact and give off a "busy" vibe. Or if I'm clearly wearing headphones that also helps. Of course, I'm not a butch so I can speak to that. I did once have a bad experience with a gym staff person in the locker room telling me to use the back of the locker room because I'm heavy. I immediately burst into tears and reported it. I haven't had other looks-related issues, and the showers at my gym are private (though they have sucky water pressure so I use home anyway.).

So, how long does it take you to do 9-10 miles and what do you do for those 9 to 10 miles? What does your exercise walking involve (what type)? Do you do other things along the way? Do you just listen to natural sounds? What time of day do you do it? Do you wear sun screen? Just interested to hear more.

45 mins on the treadmill...hoping to keep this up!

It's hard to imagine someone being so cruel as to comment on another person's body. I'm really sorry that happened to you. Some people just don't understand that sometimes words can hurt more than blows, and they don't heal nearly as quickly.

Nobody actually confronted me. All I was doing was going in and walking through to have a look at the facilities. It was the stares and glares, nudging a friend and point me out kind of thing. Every. Single. Place. I will just have to get over myself, and do the usual pretend I don't notice anything. I'm hoping that if I go the same time on the same days that after a while it will just be regulars who will get used to seeing me around. The place with the best pool also noticed me the least, unfortunately it is 5X as expensive and the other amenities are not very nice. I will just have to see what happens when it is time to decide.

My game plan is that on gym days I will do both weights and swimming and on non-gym days I will continue at the beach for cardio. My current beach walk takes about three hours for the walking portion which I do with walking poles. Frequently I stay longer and socialize with people that I have met down there and will sometimes go for lunch with one of them afterwards. It really is my other home which is probably why I have been doing too much of that and not enough resistance and flexibility exercise.

Just a lot of new and different things to get used to. It will be hard for me to tear myself away from the beach on most days, but it will be a term length experiment and I really need to do it. It is still quite a ways off so I will have time to make the mental shift, I hope. I have a trip to take an early August and when I get back I will settle the details.

Thanks for the tip about the headphones, I don't usually use them when working out because I like to interact with people around me, but it might really help me out in the locker room.

There is something else that I ran across while trying to figure out the parameters of the work out I will be doing. Jennifer knows what I'm numbers freak I am so this article caught my eye.

The upshot is that when using some of the machines like elliptical, treadmill, etc. that the part of the program that counts your calories is usually fairly inaccurate. This study which was based on VO2 analyzer readings found the following discrepancies:

Treadmill: Overestimated calories burnt by 13 percent.
Stationary Bike: Overestimated calories burnt by 7 percent.
Stair Climber: Overestimated calories burnt by 12 percent.
Elliptical: overestimated calories burnt by 42 percent.

Sorry...:scared:

A fellow that I follow in the quantified self community found a handy calculator. It is interactive and you can just plug in your machine reading for correction.

You can use it here.

Another thing that I discovered the last time I was using an elliptical and the gym while that was that I had problems with the built in heart rate monitors that utilize the hand grips. There was a lot of variation from machine to machine and even while exercising on the same machine I would get wildly variant readings.

I like having all the numbers spit out it once at the end of my workout instead of having a separate wrist monitor although of course the separate monitor was the accurate one. I found that I could just wear the chest strap from any Polar heart rate monitor and it would communicate with the equipment in the gym as long as I did not use the silver groups. That way I could still use the readout reference at the end and just write it all down at once.

Of course if you are using an all-in-one activity tracker this is entirely moot.

I know I am probably the only one in here that is that fussy about numbers. But I thought if there were any other data geeks in here it might be handy.

:cheesy:

Kelt, I am struggling a bit with understanding what you are saying. Are you saying that your experience in the locker room is worse than in regular bathrooms? I wonder if you are just noticed it more because since you were looking around the locker rooms (to assess the spaces), you grazed over people's faces and typically you avoid looking at people in the bathroom?

To be direct, I personally would never do the pool thing just so that I didn't have to deal with the whole shower/locker room thing. I would suspect that locker rooms would be worse for butches for two reasons:

1) women are probably even more conscious of their environment because they are getting undressed
2) the amount of time I had to spend in that space would be longer than in a public restroom which just means my discomfort would last even longer. I suspect it would become intolerable.

However, I would bet that yes, if you went the same time every day people would get used to you and also you will learn to do whatever it is you already do psychologically to get through public bathroom experiences. Perhaps it won't be as bad as you think?

Good luck.

Dapper, you hit both points exactly. When I was in the locker rooms the women who were undressed had a more pointed reaction to my presence. Yes, significantly more than the restrooms. Point two is probably what's been holding me back from my original start date a few months ago. Combined with the fact that I myself would have to be visible (hell, I don't even let my doctor see me), I'm not really sure how I'm going to pull this off.

I have been trying to figure out someway to get in and out without having to use that space while still being able to do a weight workout and a water session in the same visit.

I have postponed too long and I want to be able to get in a good 12 week run before January when everything will get all clogged up. I was then going to take January and February as a period for maintaining my gains from the fall and assess at that point whether or not I need to do another 12 – 16 week run at that time.

So far, I think I'm just going to have to tough it out. Part of why I am writing all of this in here is to hold myself accountable, so that I won't chicken out again. I hate that it has to be like this. Just when I think I've got it all figured out how to move around in this world I run into another brick wall. It is tiring after 50 years.

Thank you for being able to articulate that succinctly.

Gemme, I am also an absolute creature of habit. Routines drive pretty much all of my behavior. I am sure that is why this never came up for me before, in fact, this is the first time I've really thought about it. Big surprise for me!! I just always did all of my stuff at home. The only reason for this is wanting to try getting into a pool. For orthopedic reasons I think it would be a very good idea for me, both now and in the future. So, yeah I'm going to have to figure this one out.

The numbers, especially on the elliptical, we're pretty disturbing for me too. I figured that at least this way I won't be head-scratching if something doesn't turn out the way I planned it to due to an error in somebody else's calculations.

I have been investigating some of the full on activity trackers but sadly, the two that hold the most interest for me are not available yet. That's okay, the system I have in place now has been working pretty well. I will just stick with that.

Off to the beach!!

:theisland:

The above makes sense to me. I assumed that there was some rule where Kelt was/is where you had to shower first, get wet or whatever before you got into the pool. I dunno, I remember we had to do that when I was a kid before we could get into the private pool where our family was a member.

Is there a reason why you must change in the locker room, Kelt? I am not sure that you were even talking about changing, just maybe you were talking about putting your clothes in the locker?

Sorry, Kelt, I still need more clarity!

The workout attire is on (oh, for about two hours now); if only I could begin the actual WORKOUT! :blink:

It really does for me! (Interesting Experiment)
 

How Exercise Can Calm Anxiety

In an eye-opening demonstration of nature’s ingenuity, researchers at Princeton University recently discovered that exercise creates vibrant new brain cells — and then shuts them down when they shouldn’t be in action.

For some time, scientists studying exercise have been puzzled by physical activity’s two seemingly incompatible effects on the brain. On the one hand, exercise is known to prompt the creation of new and very excitable brain cells. At the same time, exercise can induce an overall pattern of calm in certain parts of the brain.

Most of us probably don’t realize that neurons are born with certain predispositions. Some, often the younger ones, are by nature easily excited. They fire with almost any provocation, which is laudable if you wish to speed thinking and memory formation.

But that feature is less desirable during times of everyday stress. If a stressor does not involve a life-or-death decision and require immediate physical action, then having lots of excitable neurons firing all at once can be counterproductive, inducing anxiety.

Studies in animals have shown that physical exercise creates excitable neurons in abundance, especially in the hippocampus, a portion of the brain known to be involved in thinking and emotional responses.

But exercise also has been found to reduce anxiety in both people and animals.

How can an activity simultaneously create ideal neurological conditions for anxiety and leave practitioners with a deep-rooted calm, the Princeton researchers wondered?

So they gathered adult mice, injected them with a substance that marks newborn cells in the brain, and for six weeks, allowed half of them to run at will on little wheels, while the others sat quietly in their cages.

Afterward, the scientists determined each group’s baseline nervousness. Given access to cages with open, well-lighted areas, as well as shadowy corners, the running mice were more willing to cautiously explore and spend time in open areas, an indication that they were more confident and less anxious than the sedentary animals.

The researchers also checked the brains of some of the runners and the sedentary mice to determine how many and what varieties of new neurons they contained.

As expected, the runners’ brains teemed with many new, excitable neurons. The sedentary mice’s brains also contained similar, volatile newborn cells, but not in such profusion.

The runners’ brains, however, also had a notable number of new neurons specifically designed to release the neurotransmitter GABA, which inhibits brain activity, keeping other neurons from firing easily. In effect, these are nanny neurons, designed to shush and quiet activity in the brain.

In the runners’ brains, there were large new populations of these cells in a portion of the hippocampus, the ventral region, associated with the processing of emotions. (The rest of the hippocampus, the dorsal region, is more involved with thinking and memory.)

What role these nanny neurons were playing in the animals’ brains and subsequent behavior was not altogether clear.

So the scientists next gently placed the remaining mice in ice-cold water for five minutes. Mice do not enjoy cold water. They find immersion stressful and anxiety-inducing, although it is not life-threatening.

Then the scientists checked these animals’ brains. They were looking for markers, known as immediate early genes, that indicate a neuron has recently fired.

They found them, in profusion. In both the physically fit and the sedentary mice, large numbers of the excitable cells had fired in response to the cold bath. Emotionally, the animals had become fired up by the stress.

But with the runners, it didn’t last long. Their brains, unlike those of the sedentary animals, showed evidence that the shushing neurons also had been activated in large numbers, releasing GABA, calming the excitable neurons’ activity and presumably keeping unnecessary anxiety at bay.

In effect, the runners’ brains had responded to the relatively minor stress of a cold bath with a quick rush of worry and a concomitant, overarching calm.

What all of this suggests, says Elizabeth Gould, director of the Gould Lab at Princeton, who wrote the paper with her graduate student Timothy Schoenfeld, now at the National Institute of Mental Health, and others, “is that the hippocampus of runners is vastly different from that of sedentary animals. Not only are there more excitatory neurons and more excitatory synapses, but the inhibitory neurons are more likely to become activated, presumably to dampen the excitatory neurons, in response to stress.” The findings were published in The Journal of Neuroscience.

It’s important to note, she adds, that this study examined long-term training responses. The runners’ wheels had been locked for 24 hours before their cold bath, so they would gain no acute calming effect from exercise. Instead, the difference in stress response between the runners and the sedentary animals reflected fundamental remodeling of their brains.

Of course, as we all know, mice are not men or women. But, Dr. Gould says, other studies “show that physical exercise reduces anxiety in humans,” suggesting that similar remodeling takes place in the brains of people who work out.

“I think it’s not a huge stretch,” she concludes, “to suggest that the hippocampi of active people might be less susceptible to certain undesirable aspects of stress than those of sedentary people.”

Logistics:
I will be doing a two-part work out when I go to the gym. The first part of it will be a weightlifting workout which if done properly will leave me quite sweaty, I will need to shower off before I get in the pool. I will also need to shower the chlorine off of me when I get out of the pool so that I can put on dry clothes and not ruin my car. Wearing the suit underneath of my workout clothes would be impractical because a.) It would be very hot and, b.) Should I need to use the restroom I would have to completely disrobe anyway. Restrooms are in one end of the locker room.

Unfortunately the first place but I looked at had a very generous locker room with completely private showers and I thought that was what they would all be like. The other two places not so much. The first one is an insanely expensive tennis club so I will not be going there and choosing one of the other two instead.

I will likely walk softly and carry an enormous towel.

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming:

Today's workout, 9 miles Nordic walking in sand.

Three hours walk time, one hour chat with friends.

:cheesy:

Today... I laughed so hard my abs hurt!! Watched The Heat with Teddy.....lol

Oh, ok, Kelt. Gosh that would be hard :-( I hear you.

treadmill--one hour

swimming--half hour

I joined the community centre pool for laps!

I was going to say this too. Sometimes in our locker room a man will accidentally walk in, and there is a big reaction or even a new woman who is not one of the regulars, and so everyone's curious (and, as Daktari said, sometimes especially defensive during tours when they are partially undressed and the person coming in is dressed). I think once you become a regular somewhere people will not give you as hard a time. I feel a sense of family/connection with all the regulars, even if we are different and/or don't care for each other. There's still the commonality of having all this time we spend next to each other at the gym! Speaking of which, I did an hour next to Jill on the Arc Trainer today. She did level 15 and held the sides instead of doing the arm motion. She was extremely quick (like a fox I tell you!) and was texting and watching Ellen Degeneres. I was doing a high intensity slower session and using my arms and legs while watching Judge Judy. Then I did 30 minutes of yoga, weight lifting, and abs next to the serious, older, petite, muscular Asian woman whose name I do not know, though I do know her whole exercise routine, and I'd venture to say she knows mine :).

I completely agree that the women who are already in there have a heightened sense of vulnerability because of their own state of undress. I get that and I'm okay with just having to grit my teeth for a little while until they get used to me, and they will. I play well with others and make friends easily.

I think that especially in the US we are all sort of conditioned to be uncomfortable with our own bodies in a public space. I understand that people are uncomfortable in their own skin and I am also. I think the monster in my head is that I'm in the wrong skin at all, and additionally do not care for it.

I think the other patrons will get over it faster than I will.

Nordic walk in sand 9 miles. *copyandpaste*

Going from 6 miles to 9 for the last four days = sore legs in the morning.

:theisland:

Last weekend while on my walk I was talking to a friend when we noticed a huge plume of black smoke across the water and were trying to figure out what it was. Turns out it was the Asiana plane crash. Strange stuff out there some days.

:praying:

Can you give us a quick description of what Nordic walking involves, Kelt?

I've been struggling with the intense heat and humidity! So I'm still inside a lot on the rowing machine. It's supposed to be in the 80s this weekend though, woohoo! I have a Sunday ride scheduled with a friend I am training with. Her longest ride of the season has been 22 miles so I'm hoping to push her to about 35 on Sunday. With hills.

It's an adaptation that came from off season cross country skiing training. Very popular in northern Europe, and being incorporated into a lot of rehab programs in hospitals. It looks kind of like this, I just do it on a beach.
It's basically a very fast aggressive walking with upper body recruitment, but no impact. I think of it as an outdoor elliptical machine.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/i...qk_M407I4uWuVN

I ran into one of my friends this morning and she was sporting a brand new set of poles. She is from India, everybody who thought I was a little touched a year ago is drinking the koolaid. She is #7. :cheesy:

Thanks to you asking I found a picture of it underwater!! I could seriously get into that! Unfortunately the only picture I found is one that I cannot transfer into here.

Today was a crappy day. I had a migraine this morning which made me feel exhausted all day. And I had several unpleasant experiences at work. :(

I did not want to go to the gym tonight. I argued with myself for quite a while. But I had a race to finish dammit! So I trudged off to the gym.

I'm so glad I went. I feel so much better after my workout. :)

And I had the fastest time I've walked all week! :cheesy:

Today's time = 1 mile in 40 minutes and 1 second.

Don't you just love when you can turn a day around like that?!

Today I decided to use my resistance bands rather than free weights. It was a nice little switch up. Really need to get back to yoga on a daily basis.

Any kind of moving is exercise, my friend! It is great that exercise is built into your way of life.

So far--
 

thirty minutes of laps -- 10 mins front crawl / 10 breaststroke / 10 front crawl

Even with sore knees I have kept rideing the bike just not as for or as hard,it feels like cheeting but I can still get some cardio in my work out.I have done thiryt to fortyfive minits day working out with weights and playing basket ball plus useing the bowfles till I just give out.For the next three days I have pool games to go to so my program will be much easyer but not forgotten,so when i'm done will get back to what I am doing.I am starting to drop a fue pounds again,I was thinking it wasnt going to happen again so I am pleased just wish I didnt have to crunch the workouts so hard cause I dont want to blow out something then cant workout at all.

Another 9 on the beach, a beautiful sunny day.

I should probably crank up the SPF tomorrow.

:tanning:

3 hrs at the pool, swimming, walking, and water arobics.... legs feel like jello.... I will sleep good tonite!