BCE: Champion makes thin cotton/spandex hoodies for women–it’s one of my favorite hoodies because it’s not heavy. I get them in a store called Bob’s–there’s always a sale and they send lots of coupons if you sign up for their program. They have men’s exercise clothing too. Don’t know if there’s one in your area
<p>There’s a Bob’s in a strip mall nearby and it’s next to a Staples. I have never been in the store nor do I know what they sell. But I guess I could drop in soon. I had a look at their website and like the brands that I see.</p>
<p>Went over to Bob’s (I needed some groceries and there’s a Market Basket in the strip mall) and it’s an interesting store - some active wear and casual and work clothing. I was disappointed in the active wear though. No running clothes and the prices were full retail. I didn’t check the women’s section but perhaps it’s like Marshalls right now - good prices for women’s stuff but not for men.</p>
<p>While at the checkout in the grocery store, I noticed the man in front of me. He had an oxygen tank in his shopping cart and plastic tubing on his face. He bought cigarettes using an EBT card. At least he wasn’t overweight.</p>
Testimony to the power of nicotine drug addiction. By a fluke of nature (nicotine molecules bonding to specific brain receptors that specialize in triggering dopamine rewards to reinforce behaviors), it is a diabolically difficult addiction to break. Nicotine addiciton is a near-perfect behavior modification reinforcement mechanism, rewarding you every time you light up, all day, every day, for your entire life. Pow. Eight seconds after the first puff, the brain releases a shot of dopamine with in turn tells other parts of the brain that whatever it was that triggered that release is something you should do again. That man will almost certainly smoke until the day (in the not too distant future) that he dies from smoking.
I have a big milestone this Friday night. At 1:00 am, I celebrate four years to the minute I snuffed out my last cigarette (after one puff). That’s over 29,000 cigarettes I have not smoked. You better believe that I’m going to spend a few moments reflecting on that anniversary.
It will also be the two year anniversary of my decision to stop eating like a moron and start getting a little exercise.
<p>I tried out my third pair of shoes tonight at the gym…no good…my feet were cramping in them so badly I could hardly focus on the class…Does anyone recommend those “barefoot” gym shoes? I looked at them today but got talked into a different cross-trainer…They are super flexible and I think they might be the way to go for exercise classes…</p>
<p>My son has them - loves them. YOu have to “break them in” - and really get used to them, as you have to retrain some of your muscles.</p>
Warm up videos:
One of the coaches at Mike Boyle’s put together videos of two stretching/warmup routines. There’s a good bit of overlap between the two, but these are some terrific exercise ideas – either for warmup or, really, for a good geezer workout.
[MBSC</a> Adult Warm-Up Phase 1 - YouTube](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phu00itkn58&feature=related]MBSC”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phu00itkn58&feature=related)
[MBSC</a> Adult Warm-Up Phase 2 - YouTube](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1BC68GXDEc&feature=related]MBSC”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1BC68GXDEc&feature=related)
I’ve been doing quite a few of these in my warmup and, over time, it really makes a big difference.
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<p>love the understatement.</p>
<p>It wasn’t an understatement at the time. Here’s my first post to this thread almost two years ago:</p>
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<p>You should have seen me. Big ol’ belly bouncing up and down as I did “intervals” on that rickety old death-trap yard sale exercise bike.</p>
<p>The first time I went out for a walk, I did a whopping 1/4 mile and my legs were on fire. A couple days later, I went a quarter mile, turned around, and just about died on the way back up the hill. I sure never imagined where it would lead. Never. I thought I was the “you know what” when I bought the 8-pound dumbbells and could barely carry them out to the car. It was really sad, but all you can do is laugh about it and figure that, if you just start chipping away at it, the fitness will improve and improve and improve… I turned a big corner at about the one year mark.</p>
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<p>If you’ll just be walking on smooth gym floors and mats, perhaps just go barefoot, since there isn’t gravel or whatever to be annoying when walking barefoot?</p>
<p>iDad- Congrats in advance on the no-smoking anniversary and again on the incredible change you have made in your health and fitness. Your story continues to inspire us all.</p>
<p>All of you on this thread are important motivators and supporters for me!</p>
<p>Frosty run (28 degrees, fog, no wind) this morning. Darkness into daylight. Really very nice. Just early… Turned off my headlamp 3 miles into the 6. Saw 2 red foxes in the field across from our new house when I finished. Sitting at work now drinking tea.</p>
<p>Pretty good week so far. Workout today in small group–TRX squats and rows, KB swings, Smith machine, KB cleans, TRX biceps and triceps or core exercises, stairs 3x. Finished with 30 minutes of run/walk on treadmill. We also used ropes for undulation. Had never used these before. It was hard and got my heart rate going. Here’s an example.</p>
<p>[Undulation</a> Rope Workout: Video Series | eHow.com](<a href=“http://www.ehow.com/videos-on_2073_undulation-rope-workout.html]Undulation”>http://www.ehow.com/videos-on_2073_undulation-rope-workout.html)</p>
<p>Sounds like a great workout, Bromfield. I’ve seen people using the undulation rope and it looks intense!</p>
<p>Today’s Work Out:</p>
<p>Dynamic Warm ups</p>
<p>3 rounds- 90 seconds each
bicycles
tornado bridges
butterfly sit ups</p>
<p>3 rounds As Fast as Possible:</p>
<p>30 KB swings 12 kg
sprint 60 yds.
15 BOSU push ups
sprint
15 yds. lunges with BOSU straight overhead
sprint
30 KB sumo deadlift high pulls
sprint
30 side to side BOSU mogul jumps
sprint</p>
<p>finished just under 30 minutes.
I was decent at the kbs, amazing at the BOSU jumps and amazingly slow at the push ups…</p>
Hi All! Have missed you! 
Back from Mexico and ready to be done with this back injury. The plane ride was difficult and my pain has flared. Had PT today and she said my muscles were very tight and they were really sore after a gentle massage. I have to wear the TENS unit alot but I am not taking any pain pills/muscle relaxers. Yay! I have worked too hard this past year to get totally out of shape. I have gained a bit of weight but have been given the go ahead to start walking as long as there is no pain. My knee is a little sore but haven’t been able to ride the recumbent without my back being sore. grrr… Have to remind myself to stick with the slow but steady approach once again.
MOWC…my D2 signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon. So proud of her!
<p>Glad you are back, NM. Good for your daughter! I ran Twin Cities in 1997 and the weather turned out very hot (unusual). Coming up from Texas, I handled it, but the locals were dropping like flies. Well-organized race and nice course.</p>
<p>3 miles, 8:25 pace, felt great. Smith Machine and free weights. I think that I’ll be slowly cranking up the distance for several weeks. The M Nike Shorts worked out well too.</p>
Got to do a workout in the best gym on earth (my basement!). Tough stuff. I might be getting too ol’ for this. On the other hand, Everything felt pretty good, including the rear-foot elevated split squats with two 30 lb DBs. I got five chinups in all three sets, but the fifth one was ugly. Trap bar deadlifts felt great.
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WARMUP (1 set)
Bent-over thoracic rotation
Squat to stand
Forward/backward jump
Lateral jump
Lateral cross-behind lunge
Seal jack
Reverse inchworm
Forward-backward hop
Curtsy lunge
Straight-leg walk
Heel to butt walk
CORE (1 set)
Stability ball plank (2 x 30 seconds)
Side plank knee drives (30 seconds each side)
DB farmers walk (1 60lb DB at side)
Stability ball mountain climbers
POWER (3 sets)
Box jumps (16 inch bench)
Med ball - overhead slam
STRENGTH 1 (3 sets)
Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat (2 x 30 lb)
Chin ups
STRENGTH 2 (3 sets)
Trap bar dead lift (140 lbs)
Alternating overhead press (2 x 30 lb)
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I think that you’d like our gym at the Y.
Just got back and spent some good quality time with a bunch of machines.
<p>Welcome back, N MINN. You must be going nuts with this back pain. It’s been a long time…</p>
<p>Do the docs or PTs have a firm conclusion about the cause? Or, just general back pain?</p>
<p>At the moment the diagnosis is a rotated vertebra which is causing muscle spasms/pain at the nerve endings…or something like that! It is getting better. Just very slowly.</p>