Yes you can. It’s considered polite to reset the weight and seat if you think it likely the person will be returning shortly.</p>
<p>
Really, all it takes is asking “do you mind if I work in?” That will either cause the person to get off the machine to let you use it, or they will immediately stop reading their email and do their set, and then get up. If the rare (IMO) case they say no, you can decide how aggressive you want to be, ranging from “how many more sets do you have?” up to “dude, you are hogging the machine and being rude” said loudly enough that everyone around you can hear.</p>
<p>These people aren’t mind readers, they will not sense you fuming from across the room, they don’t know you want to use the machine unless you say something.</p>
<p>I call them on it, too. I am not a serious weight lifter at all, but I have a right to use the equipment. Sounds backwards, but my age and gender empowers me in this situation. I take the meat heads by surprise with my request. </p>
<p>So far, I’ve always managed to do other exercises while the machine hogs are texting. There are a couple of machines where this behavior occurs frequently, so if they are empty I grab them even if it’s off rotation. But now I feel empowered to kick them off. Frankly, I sometimes watch with bemusement as they sit for 10-15 minutes on one machine, texting away, oblivious to the rest of the world. </p>
<p>I also hate it when someone loads the equipment with some seriously heavy weights, and doesn’t take them off when done. A couple of times I’ve had to get staff members to take them off, because they were more than I could lift comfortably.</p>
<p>I now work out at a university fitness center, so I’m surrounded by students. They are more inconsiderate than the older adults I’m more used to. They never put mats or weights away – just leave them scattered on the floor. </p>
<p>Anyway, I need to shut this laptop down and get to the gym. I’m planning on doing either light weights or no weights, to rest my sore back. I already took a 5-mile walk this morning.</p>
<p>Hey everyone, I’ve been taking a break from CC but not exercising :). Such nice weather, summer is the best! </p>
<p>I think my calf is finally getting better, I sure hope it is. Ran/walked today and am feeling pretty good. Besides that I’ve been biking mostly and walking when it’s been too wet or windy. Did a trail run on the weekend so I was feeling hopeful today on the roads. </p>
<p>So glad to hear you are off the crutches MOWC. Just a reminder that we can’t take our good health for granted but so glad you are mending. Been following your other thread, lots of good info on there. </p>
<p>There was a man on the bike path this weekend with his dog off the leash. It was busy with lots of family’s out on their bikes. You bet I said something to him. It’s so inconsiderate to think of yourself and not others. After I yelled and his dog ran in front of me, he told me I was right. ;). I’m scared of dogs, not everyone loves them. </p>
<p>There was a discussion about how much can you exercise a day. Me, I’m a casual exerciser and one type of exercise a day is fine for me. But my crazy triathlete BIL and his wife do multiple things every day they can ( and that is almost every day). My BIL gets up at 5:30 to run everyday and then after work will go for a 60 mile bike ride. He doesn’t swim every day but probably try’s to get in 3 swims a week. So it can be done and there are plenty of people who do. But do what you love for as long as you love it. </p>
<p>Glad you’re enjoying the summer, deb, and I hear you on the dogs thing. I really don’t understand letting your dog roam free like that - or my pet peeve - the retractable leash. That never ends well! My dogs are nervous around bikes - a few kids on bikes have gotten too close for comfort to them - they all want to see “Marley” and just zoom right up within inches, so we try to give them a very wide berth and not go where there will be bikes. Works out well for everyone! :-bd </p>
<p>Short two miles this morning - I hate humidity - I am supposed to “rest” tomorrow and Thursday before the 10K on Friday. I don’t want to rest. I have my fitness assessment tomorrow so I guess that will be something. H surprised me and is signing up to walk the 5k. There is hope! </p>
<p>Workout today–45 minutes on the Cybex machine (like an elliptical but requires more effort) and another 30 minutes of weight training. Walked home from the gym (about 2 miles). Did a power walk home so I could watch the US in the World Cup
( sad outcome). Found a good yoga studio–I’m at vacation home for July–signed up for class tomorrow am.</p>
<p>My gym peeve for the day: people who leave a sweaty mess on and around their treadmill. The gym has wipes and towel service. Some people just can’t be bothered with a simple courtesy swipe over their mess, or maybe they figure that being on vacation (the majority there are on vacation) relieves them of responsibility for cleaning. It’s disgusting.</p>
<p>Two mile walk in the very humid morning. Two miles of running on the treadmill, and a strength workout.</p>
<p>Yay Mr. Sabaray! Hopefully he will have a good experience and be motivated to continue!</p>
<p>I was thinking about going over to the pool to aquajog after work, but I got stuck at work and it got too late. I may walk the dog around the block once it cools down just a little. Really hot here.</p>
<p>What was I thinking? Fully loaded, the backpack weighed 49 pounds and I completely underestimated the challenge of walking with that much weight. Let alone walking six miles to get to the campsite. In muggy 87 degree weather. I literally staggered in around 7:30, pitched the tent,. Cooked dinner in the dark.</p>
<p>I seriously considered hiking 1.5 miles the opposite direction today and trying to get a cab for a 35 mile loop back to my car. But, the pack was 10 pounds lighter (minus water, food). So I shuffled the six miles back to the car. Very, very slowly. </p>
<p>I was so gob-smacked that, when I hit up Dunkin Donuts for a coffee to drink in the car, I pulled a MOWC and got a muffin. I’m pretty sure that I was fully glycogen depleted! Despite drinking a 16 ounce coffee and eating the muffin in the car, the scale said I lost 3 pounds. Did I mention it was hot and muggy? And, I sweat like a pig…</p>
<p>After two hours in the car, I literally couldn’t walk. A hot shower helped and the ibuprofen has kicked in, but every muscle in my body is sore. Good workout! :)</p>
<p>Just think what it was like when you were carrying that weight all the time, iDad! How far you’ve come. Mr. Sabaray thanks you all for the support.</p>
<p>Good point, sabaray! Glad you made it back OK, iDad. (I would have gotten 2 or 3 donuts instead of a muffin.) That would NOT be fun to carry all that weight, even with a good distribution and good pack! </p>
I hear you iDad about hot and muggy. Tonight was my 5k race night on trails and I did not enjoy it. It was 91 when I finished … Ugh. I just peeked at my heart rate monitor to make sure I wasn’t over doing it and slowed down when it went over 170 BPM. In hot weather my conditioning really shows. I guess I will just keep running this summer to form a better base for next year. I do not like hot and muggy …
<p>Wow. 8 miles round trip with 3000 feet of elevation gain. Is she trying to kill the ol guy? I have found that the youngsters have absolutely zero sense of how hard it is for non-hikers to do these hikes. I think you always want the first outing to a be “win”. There’s always another day if the first hike is too easy!</p>
<p>fireandrain:</p>
<p>On a back, I’d always give it extra time. Back injuries are just no good. Better to let them totally heal. I’d also take a hard look at your workouts to see if there are any back killers: sit ups, crunches, deadlifts, bent over rows, etc.</p>
<p>I was actually going to go with donut (and you guys know how gobsmacked I had to be to even think about it). They only had jelly and that disgusting strawberry icing kind. Couldn’t bring myself to eat a jelly donut. The coffee cake muffin was a treat.</p>
<p>That was after two full packets of SuperStarch protein. Still a big calorie deficit as breakfast was an apple and a bunch of almonds.</p>
<p>The real treat was digging into a monster salad for dinner tonight.</p>
<p>Wow, idad! Congrats. When I read your post, my very first thought was the same as sabaray’s! At the end of my Kalalau hike, I was so ready to ditch my 20-lb pack! And I used to carry that “pack” on my body for many years! I cannot even imagine carrying 60 lb! </p>
<p>Some swimming in the ocean and some snorkeling, but the snorkeling was not great - the water was a bit murky. I grilled us some steaks for lunch, and the leftovers were used to make steak salad for dinner. :)</p>
<p>Good morning. Woohoo to Sabaray’s h
Glad you survived your hike, idad. One of my employees is off back packing in Banff right now. She is a tiny thing but was a Div 1 athlete and an experienced backpacker so I’m hoping she returns to me in one piece next week!</p>
<p>Me, I’m just ole Sisyphus, going up the hill, then aquajogging for a bit after. Then consuming too much on weekends, then starting over the next week…</p>
<p>I think by this time last year I must have been avoiding the hill because I dont recall so much flora crowding the trail. When its hot, with the dense green and the mosquitoes swarming it does feel like a bit of a jungle. Which makes aquajogging feel like a cakewalk after.</p>
<p>I’ve ordered some more of those face nets hoping to lure more guests up the hill on weekends, but got a definitive no last weekend I guess word is out to not go up the hill </p>
<p>We have a work crisis at the moment with a lead employee off on leave so I have to get better at putting more exercise in on the weekend because despite the long light I am often working til dark. My fantasy of after-work bike rides this summer has been pretty much just that. And at the moment, I’m finding it hard not to stress-eat. But this too shall pass!</p>
<p>MomWC, I’m with you on the glory of the morning-swim-outdoors thing. It’s the only thing keeping me sane at the moment!</p>
<p>Kcmom, glad you are at least getting some exercise in on the weekdays. That is so hard when work takes more hours out of your week. The over consuming on weekends might be my problem … I’m not trying to lose a ton of weight, but would like to see more of my legs getting firmer with all this running I’m doing. I am starting to conclude that I might just have curvier legs (especially calves) than the average 50-year-old lady. I saw so much progress in May/June, but I think as my miles ramped up my eating did, too. </p>
<p>I’m traveling to Ohio this weekend so am already scheming how to keep eating as clean as possible and also fitting in two runs. I am hoping my Sisters-in-law are in the mood for some long walk-and-chats, too. I don 't mind the 11-hour drive each way, but it pretty much wipes out huge windows of exercise possibilities on those days.</p>
<p>Snowflake, WELCOME TO OHIO (well, when you get here)! What part of the state will you be in? I’ll be leaving the state and country for Canuck land for the holiday weekend, but currently weather in Ohio for the weekend looks FANTASTIC! </p>
<p>Trying to eat clean the next day or two in prep for the weekend which I know will include a mix of good clean eating and just good tasting eating! Ice cream is Canada is AMAZING…! </p>
I cannot even imagine carrying 60 lb! </p>