Diet/Exercise/Health/Wellness Support Thread

Increased mileage from 8 miles on Monday to 15 miles this morning. Listening to books on my i-phone makes me lose track of time easier than music. I’ve discovered the joy of getting up earlier and arriving at the trail just as the sun rises. First to the parking lot the last two days! Also nice to not have to worry about weaving in and out of runners and walkers. Pure happiness getting home after doing a great workout to walk into the house just as DH is pouring his first cup of coffee!

Coming in late on the Airdyne discussion. As IDad has stated, it is a great commercial quality piece for indoor cardio exercise. Relatively inexpensive, lasts forever, the user has infinite variable control over the intensity, and it’s very efficient because it works the arms and legs. The only 2 downsides are that the fan is very noisy and for a variety of reasons (which I’ll delve into if anyone has an interest), it is not a good piece at all for indoor cycling training if that’s where your interests are.

As alluded to by MOWC, a lot has changed in the world of indoor cycling. 25 years ago, all that was available outside of professional training labs were old fashioned stationary bikes with friction pad resistence and rudimentary " computers" that gave you a timer and maybe speed. Those who were serious about off season cycling training were pretty much limited to sticking their bikes on rear wheel trainers (most of which were not great) or riding their bikes on rollers. About 20 years ago or so, an inventive amateur racer named Johnny C came up with the idea of developing indoor cycling as a group fitness concept that would simulate the feel of riding a bike outdoors. Partnering with Schwinn, he developed the first Spinning bikes that were designed to be fully adjustable to fit like a personalized bike and which could be used in indoor cycling classes for high intensity interval training, pedaling technique and segmented tides designed to simulate topographical conditions that would be found out on the road. Add to that the use of mind-body imagery and exercise concepts and a phenominum was born. Early on, serious racers eschewed Spinning because the use of break pad resistence didn’t feel “real” and because the available monitors in a class, if any, were still very rudimentary. Also, and perhaps most importantly, the newly conceived Spinning classes were designed to appeal to classes filled with general exercise and fitness buffs while racers wanted very focused and structured training.

Well, a lot has changed in 20 years. Indoor cycling bikes (Spinning is a trademarked term which can be used only with bikes approved by Mad Dogg Fitness in classes taught by Mad Dogg certified instructors) now offer magnetic resistence (very real world feel - increases as you increase cadence, just like on the road),) have sophisticated monitors providing all sorts of performance metrics (including actual or calculated wattage, heart rate, cadence, interval splits etc) which can be downloaded to training software on a computer. Rest wheel trainers now offer actual wattage, magnetic resistance and connectivity using Bluetooth or ant+. There is a broad variety of training software that will interface with rear wheel trainers so that you can program your workouts and control resistance automatically through the software. There are even videos using helmet cam recordings of actual races or famous routes (like stages of the Tour de France) that have imbedded signals that interface with trainers do that as the video plays, the trainer adjusts to match the topography. And indoor cycling classes now offer many classes to meet the needs of neophytes to world class racers looking for structured periodized training.

During the off season, I spend half my indoor cycling time riding my bike attached to a very sophisticated rear wheel trainer called a Wahoo Kickr and half my time on a very high end dedicated indoor cycle. There is so much variety I can take advantage of that I can avoid boredom. I have to admit though, after about an hour of indoor cycling, Im at risk of having brain synapse misfires :)!

Did a 50 mile ride today trying to prepare for the Lu Lacka Wyco Hundo next Sunday. Boy do I need to get my legs back for long rides,

The level of knowledge on this thread is incredible - what great people you all are - to those of us who chime in and those lurkers we have that I’m sure also appreciate the sound advice.

3 mile run and a 3 mile walk in Columbus today while visiting my D1. 68 degrees and sunny. Wish I had the time to do that daily and the beautiful weather to go along with it!!!

The neat thing about this thread is that we all learn from each other- whether it’s a nutrition tip, a new exercise, or fashion expertise!

Abasket - our paths might have crossed today down in Columbus. Did 6 miles around campus and along the river. Visiting daughter at OSU.

Adding my run to the log. :slight_smile: Beautiful cool morning, no wind. Yesterday a couple of walks, one while visiting a favorite spot I don’t get out to as often anymore. Sun still shining early evening. Amazing how long the days in the PNW are getting to be already!

Love, love, love the long days!

Ohio, let me tell you EVERYONE was out and about today- I may have seen you among the gobs of people!! I ran in Grandview - just beautiful. D2 will be in Cbus for freshman year in the fall - but not at the “BIG” school - one of the small privates. We are 3 for 3 for D3 schools in Ohio!

I’ve done a lot of running in Columbus- especially Worthington. I went to Marion, OH many times a year for 10 years on business- and also to Alliance, OH. I ran the Columbus Marathon in 1993 (I think- if that’s when the Phillies were in the World Series) and it is one of my favorite marathons.

My son went to school in Alliance. :slight_smile:

Must say I’m a bit jealous of my two who will be in Cbus. So vibrant and so much to do/see/EAT! We had a nice dinner in Worthington last night. Luckily, D1 loves visitors and I usually have a few work events a year down there so I visit frequently.

I ran in a 5K this morning – last year, this race my first-ever 5K. Ran it 1:40 minutes faster (29:18), came in 6th in my age group. Last year was the first year for this race, and it grew by 50% this year, so it was much more competitive (if I had gotten this time last year I would have been 2nd in my age group). Very pleased with how I did --not a personal best, but I was particularly happy that I sprinted at the end. It was a gorgeous day for a race.

Beautiful weekend. 4 mile run yesterday, 9 holes of golf today. Seriously the 9 holes of golf did me in. I used muscles that have not been used all winter. Not complaining but my oh my, I am sore and worn out.

Congratulations, fireandrain on the PR! Sounds like you had an enjoyable race.

deb, isn’t it amazing how some not so strenuous exercise like golfing or weeding suddenly reminds us of the muscles that we forgot we had? :slight_smile:

I am ready to attack the metal! I probably could use some boxing gloves after doing our taxes!

Way to go, fireandrain! Nice drop in time.

Deb and BB, your comments really highlight why functional training has become such a significant and irriportant aspect of fitness programs. Exercises designed to address postural issues, mobility, muscle compensations, the alignment of the kinetic chain, exercises that simulate movement patterns found in specific sports, recreation and daily life activities, exercises involving multiple muscle groups in more than 1 plane of motion, all are designed to enhance participation in your favorite activitie and avoid injuries. Really interesting stuff.

@fireandrain, wow, great job!

Ran the 10 Miler training race on Saturday and it was a good run. Weather was perfect - low 40s and no wind. I ended up first in my age group (out of 72) so I was really happy. Because this was a training race there were no awards, so no BSO for me. I am feeling good about the half marathon coming up very soon.

The Airdyne discussion is very interesting (thank you for asking about it - I had always wondered what it was but didn’t want to ask!). It sounds like a really good piece of equipment for home exercise when the weather is too bad to be outside.

Regarding finding muscles you didn’t know you had, I have always thought that spreading mulch was a killer the next day. Will need to be doing that soon but I’m not complaining because spring is finally here!

Good job on the 10 mile race! You sound like you are well prepared!

@C3Baker, lol, proof perfect that everything is relative. Low 40’s, even without wind, is NOT perfect weather to me! Nope, sunny and 65, THAT’s perfect!

Good job on the run, though! :slight_smile:

Oh, no question, the Airdyne is horrible for simulating riding a bicycle. If you pedal an Airdyne as fast as the recommended pedal RPM for bicycling, you’ll be bent over panting like a dog in less than 30 seconds. At higher rpms, it’s not even really “cardio” training. More like running wind sprints. Excellent cardio at lower speeds. Very high intensity conditioning at higher speeds.