What do you guys do to keep fit?

[Joe2017]

I purposefully selected a gym where no good looking girls hang out. Because I am there to train, not to drop the weights due to the sudden surge of blood to the wrong places.

Good point! Everything has a time. I will continue to go to my boring but effective gym, listening to music.

 

[Joe2017]

Don't "underestimate" tennis. I knew a guy that died of a heart attack playing tennis in his 40's. He was overweight, and technically obese by medical definitions, but most colleagues and friends would have regarded him as a relatively fit and healthy. ( Of course, weight may not have been the sole, or even major contributing factor to his death.) Your docs advice is sound....start slow, baby steps.

True. I have played tennis competitions until my 25 years. Tennis is not a recommended sport if you are not in very good physical condition because it requires accelerations and sudden stops, this destroys the ankles and knees, and forces the heart to make aggressive efforts. It is also an asymmetrical exercise from the waist up, which only develops the part of the body that drives the racket. The spine and shoulder suffer like hell.
I had to leave tennis when I broke my soleus muscle that needed six months recovery, and luckily I didn't break the Achilles tendon.
I know cases of people who have suffered heart attacks and strokes, but they are usually people who do not train, don’t keep regular medical check-ups (with carotid ultrasound test), and want to play as if they were in the final match of ATP master. Some have survived fortunately because good tennis courts are prepared with ADE devices. Tennis is a very enjoyable sport but should be played in moderation to be healthy.

 

[hawaiianhawk]

Used to go to the gym 5-6 days a week for a hour or so doing 45 minutes of weightlifting/strength training and 15 minutes cardio. Quite going once I started new job landscaping and construction repair cause it's a total workout. Most days weedeating 4-6 hours, pushing a mower or rapelling off the sides of cliffs chainsawing shrubbery. Noticed I'm not as toned or and have less muscle definition, but still buff enough

 

[Joe2017]

I just bought my first tennis racket this week since I'll be advancing to the next class next month. I'm looking forward to all the extra running to burn some calories.

I would recommend to invest in good tennis sneakers specific for the type of surface of the court where you play. Your legs and lumbar will thank you.
The best thing about playing tennis with girls is when they bend over to pick up the ball But it is easy to lose focus on the game.
Enjoy your tennis time!

 

[Viggagadye]

Thanks for the great advice on here guys. Here's a summary of what I'm getting so far:

1) start off slow with exercise and don't do tennis or I'll die
2) get enough regular exercise
3) stay away from sugar (I'm already pretty good on this one)
4) sleep more/well (this is probably what I'm worst at)
5) relax on the work a bit and avoid stress
6) more water, less alcohol
7) cleaner, whole foods and supplement where necessary

It's not rocket science, but hard to implement all at once. But will be trying to implement each of these.

 

[Keihan]

Thanks for the great advice on here guys. Here's a summary of what I'm getting so far:

1) start off slow with exercise and don't do tennis or I'll die
2) get enough regular exercise
3) stay away from sugar (I'm already pretty good on this one)
4) sleep more/well (this is probably what I'm worst at)
5) relax on the work a bit and avoid stress
6) more water, less alcohol
7) cleaner, whole foods and supplement where necessary

It's not rocket science, but hard to implement all at once. But will be trying to implement each of these.

Other than exercising more, the two most important things that I try to keep in mind are the stress and sleep. A decade back I was working as a behind-the-scenes campaign operative and the hours involved were killing me. I was working about 20 hours/day, waking up at 4am and sleeping at around 1am, every single day for six months. I was exhausted and stressed-out all day, every day. And that's the absolute worst my health has ever been. Even if I exercised (when I had time) I still put on weight and just looked bad. I know it goes against logic that getting lots of sleep and being relaxed will drop weight, but it does.

As for alcohol, I always have a few drinks a day but I'm also not getting absolutely shitfaced. Getting intoxicated ruins your REM sleep and so you'll never really get a good night's rest if you're plastered. And in any event, who actually feels like exercising after an all-night bender? So my formula: Eat dinner at least four hours before bed, take a nice hot shower, have a couple of vodka sodas and maybe a nice craft stout after dinner, rub one out to a 1999 Britney Spears music video while my other half is snoring on the couch then slip off to bed around 10pm and wake up at 5am for my morning jog.

 

[MikeH]

Getting intoxicated ruins your REM sleep and so you'll never really get a good night's rest if you're plastered.

The current research indicates it might be even worse; even a single pint of beer at night can fuck up your sleep and have serious health effects when done regularly. Namely early age Alzheimer seems to have strong links to that.

 

[darkniteangel]

I work out 4-5 times a week. At least 2 days of cardio and the rest weight training. I really need to work on my diet though. Its not bad but could definitely improve.

 

[Keihan]

The current research indicates it might be even worse; even a single pint of beer at night can fuck up your sleep and have serious health effects when done regularly. Namely early age Alzheimer seems to have strong links to that.

DNA testing has suggested that I'm at a higher than normal risk for Alzheimer's Disease, and I also have a history of dementia in my family. That's why I'm of the "live hard die young" opinion, but also treat my other half as good as possible in case I make it to my 80s and need someone to change my diapers and take me for walks.

 

[Sudsy]

The current research indicates it might be even worse; even a single pint of beer at night can fuck up your sleep and have serious health effects when done regularly. Namely early age Alzheimer seems to have strong links to that.

Yeah... you should have at least six pints if you want a decent sleep.

 

[Merica]

A few ideas:

1. make sure your getting a good nights sleep. It is pretty central to good health. It has a direct impact on how your Body ( your personal chemistry set) works. Tiredness also affects the quality of decisions you make re diet and exercise.

2. get some good body composition scales that can measure your weight to two decimal places, and weigh yourself daily.

3. use an App like Google Fit ... and record as much info as practical.

4. In terms of exercise, there is a big difference between being an Olympic athlete, a gym bunny and just an ordinary Joe that is fit for 'life" and who will pass his or her annual check up. You can google up lots of current data about how much exercise you need....to see the benefit. The WHO recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week or an equivalent combination of both. That is a very low target. Doubling that level is quite easy.

5. Dieting involves a lot of personal choices. How strong is you will? How strong are your bad habits? For me, when I have needed to knock of weight, my strategy is:

a. intermittent fasting ( google the strategy)
b. eliminate/reduce booze - in fact try and get as close as you can to 100% water
c. eliminate/reduce sugar ( this is my main problem)
d. eliminate dairy
e. eat mostly natural foods -- eliminate/reduce processed "factory" made food; fast food
f. eat veges rather than fruits
g. pop a multi vitamin tablet to cover gaps in your diet
h. reduce carbs - eat brown rice and "steel cut" oatmeal.
i. eliminate sauces and condiments

I’ll second Intermittent Fasting. I can drop weight super fast when I’m doing it right and disciplined. Like 15-20 pounds a month and I feel fucking great! I’m most successful when I’m just eating one meal a day. I give myself an hour window and I don’t really worry about what I eat so much, I just eat what I want. I try to eat well but sometimes I don’t. It doesn’t seem to matter with the weight loss as I still lose weight even if I’m eating burgers, it just affects how I feel. Lighter meals make me feel better.

Depending what I have going on, sometimes my one meal will be lunch, sometimes dinner. I don’t overthink it, I just eat one (usually large) meal until I’m full.

The trick is that outside that one meal, you don’t consume ANY calories. Nothing but water, black coffee or unsweetened tea. Even cream in your coffee will fuck up the fast. Zero calories in between meals.

The first few days suck but then your body adapts. I find myself craving going to the gym more as my body is burning off fat. You have to take electrolytes as a supplement once in a while but you can easily order something online that you can just add to your water or whatever.

Also, you don’t have to do only one meal a day. My friend eats two meals. One at noon and one at 6pm. Nothing else in between noon and 6pm and nothing outside those times either. Just two meals, period. And he eats what he wants too, but usually pretty healthy. He lost like 75 pounds in 8 months. Went from like 230lb to 165lbs. He said it was the easiest thing he ever did once he just decided to do it. Never worked out once...

So if you do that plus eat healthy for the most part and even throw in some even light exercise and you’re golden... Good Luck!

 

[oLUXo]

I would recommend to invest in good tennis sneakers specific for the type of surface of the court where you play. Your legs and lumbar will thank you.
The best thing about playing tennis with girls is when they bend over to pick up the ball But it is easy to lose focus on the game.
Enjoy your tennis time!

Yes, I got the indoor shoes as a gift for joining so it's been good so far. It's only for indoor, but I'll have another pair for when I go outside.

 

[Lukes]

I too was once a overweight from years of eating fast food, working a stressful office job and avoiding exercise. At one point it was so bad I had to start buying new work clothes because I couldn't fit mine anymore.

But I started doing research and landed on a combination of intermittent fasting, high protein / moderate carbs and fat diet, strength training and cardio. I also walk a lot (about 50km per week). So far I've lost 30 pounds of fat and gained a considerable amount of muscle. I'm in the best shape of my life and I'm far stronger than I was in high school when I was doing sports and weight training. That was over a decade ago.

It takes research, trial and error and a good amount of patience. Not everything you try will work (or work well anyways) so you have to be accepting of that. But if you commit to a healthy, active lifestyle you won't regret it. The bonus is when you get naked with a woman and she finds your body attractive instead of thinking you remind her of Jabba the Hut.

 

[Acid Burn]

When I quit smoking and decided to get in shape I was 26 and had never jogged in my life (unless running from the cops in high school counts). I found a pair of Nike's at some stupid shopping mall in Osaka, put them on and started jogging (probably at something embarrassing, like 15:00/mile pace). I made it about a block, or roughly one minute, before I thought I was going to suffocate and have a heart attack and that was my first workout. The next day my entire body hurt and my lungs were still burning. But you'd be surprised how quickly the body can heal itself and adapt. Within a couple weeks that 1 minute jog turned into 5, then 10 minutes the next month. About a few months in I stunned myself by running a 10:00 mile. By the end of the year I was running three or four consecutive miles at 8:00/mile pace. And then a few years later the federal government really turned me into the athlete I wasn't meant to be (I was running a 5k in the morning in around 20 minutes, and that was my "easy day" workout), but that's a long time ago.

Knowing you started as pathetic as I did gives me motivation. I’m not at 5k yet but getting there.

I can jog behind a hot female running for miles, and runners have a sort of code, where that's not weird or scary because we're all runners, and runners don't do creepy shit to each other

I find I go further faster with a nice lady in front of me. Especially if she’s in Lululemon leggings.

 

[Ken1988]

I’ll second Intermittent Fasting.

I, too, second intermittent fasting. I lost 30 lbs in the first two months after I followed a one meal per day diet. That was about 10 years ago. Before that, I didn't take any diet plan seriously because I wrongly believed that the most healthy way was to eat/drink whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and that the leading cause of my overweight was a lack of exercising. That proved me wrong 10 years ago. Back then, I went to the gym almost every day for a cardio/weight routine, but my weight kept on increasing. I felt as if I was Monty Python's Mr. Creosote...so I started a one meal per day thing. It was because I didn't think I could control what I would eat but I could control the frequency. Yes, a first few days were hell. Meanwhile, in the hell, I felt my sense of smell got keener, which was a strange sensation. It took a month for my body to adjust, realizing that the feeling of being hungry doesn't depend on the emptiness of the stomach.

The quick and visible result motivated me to refine my diet further, and my weight came down to 145 lbs (for 5'8"). Various bodybuilders' forums gave me many useful tips. Now I am on a keto diet with intermittent fasting. The keto diet is controversial, and with intermittent fasting, it gets you in a catabolic state easily. Also, it can easily result in electrolyte deficiency. For these adverse side effects, a bodybuilders' forum suggested a solution - a cheat day every week. So I enjoy bread, rice, ramen and other carb stuff on Fridays or Saturdays. I feel it suits me very well.

 

[warubuta]

The current research indicates it might be even worse; even a single pint of beer at night can fuck up your sleep and have serious health effects when done regularly. Namely early age Alzheimer seems to have strong links to that.

Shit. I vaguely remember reading about that but I can’t remember when or where.

 

[Lukes]

The keto diet is controversial, and with intermittent fasting, it gets you in a catabolic state easily. Also, it can easily result in electrolyte deficiency. For these adverse side effects, a bodybuilders' forum suggested a solution - a cheat day every week. So I enjoy bread, rice, ramen and other carb stuff on Fridays or Saturdays. I feel it suits me very well.

The keto diet is definitely controversial but I've tried it before and it was a positive experience. Hard to maintain it though since you really need to plan your meals ahead (and prep them). In Japan where everything is full of carbs or served alongside them, I imagine that would be a challenge if you're not cooking your meals at home.

 

[Keihan]

Knowing you started as pathetic as I did gives me motivation. I’m not at 5k yet but getting there.

I find I go further faster with a nice lady in front of me. Especially if she’s in Lululemon leggings.

The other thing I would be very careful about as you gradually increase your distance is making sure you're running in the correct type of shoe. The wear pattern on our shoes will be the easiest indication of whether or not you naturally pronate, and should therefore be running in a support shoe. I learned that I pronate very little and should stick with neutral shoes, and I learned this the hard way. About a year into my getting in shape, as I was starting to increase beyond two or three miles, a friend recommended a very expensive Asics model that--and I was unaware of this at the time--was a heavily supportive model, which he said he had great success with. I ordered it off Amazon. Within a week of running in this new shoe my knees began aching, my ankles were aching and everything just felt wrong. I went to the running store and spoke with the staff and then found out the awful mistake I'd made. I switched back to neutral shoes and I've never had a problem again since.

One more thing you might consider as you get into better shape is adapting your foot strike to a more efficient type. Most heavier/newer runners tend to be heel strikers. The upside to this is it uses less energy so it feels easier. The downside is it has more of an impact on your joints and back and you tend to go slower. For me, once the government required me to become a better runner, I began transitioning into a mid/forefoot striker, meaning I never land on my heels and always on the balls of my feet (or front of my feet if I'm sprinting). The downside to this is it uses more energy and puts more pressure on your Achilles. The upside to this is it's considered much more efficient, faster and lessens the impact on your knees and joints.

If you're considering that, I would highly recommend checking out the brand Altra. I discovered their shoes about a year ago and I consider their Escalante model the best "training" shoe I've ever used and use them exclusively for all of my slower/recovery runs. They're designed for mid/fore foot strikers and encourage a more efficient running form and they just feel awesome. I believe they're all the rage now in Japan so they should be easy to find. I wouldn't recommend them for sprinting or racing, but I've taken them down to around 7:00/mile pace when getting around idiot tourists or hollering crazies/vagrants, chasing hot women or just ending my run at a nice clip.

5K, or about 3 miles, is a good training distance. It's enough of a run to get a decent workout (especially at a faster pace) but also won't take up your entire morning or evening. There was a very scenic 6-mile run along the shoreline I used to love doing during sunset but including the warm-up, cool-down and stretching on both ends and walk home, that shit would take almost two hours. Too busy for that after work now and I don't feel like waking up at 3am just so I can do this and get to work on time.

Tomorrow I'm going on an slower 4-miler on the boulevard at 5:30am. I love running in the early dark, especially since the vagrants are all still sleeping, and I've found that the more committed health fanatics prefer morning runs meaning the women tend to be younger and hotter. Runner's etiquette so I always smile and nod at the hotties as I pass, and they always smile and wave back, but I don't kid myself. I'm dressed in super short UA running pants, neon-colored UA tight runner's shirt, color coordinated UA running cap with an LED blinker and custom, color-coordinated running sunglasses for sunrise--they probably think I'm queer.

 

[Keihan]

I’ll second Intermittent Fasting. I can drop weight super fast when I’m doing it right and disciplined. Like 15-20 pounds a month and I feel fucking great! I’m most successful when I’m just eating one meal a day. I give myself an hour window and I don’t really worry about what I eat so much, I just eat what I want. I try to eat well but sometimes I don’t. It doesn’t seem to matter with the weight loss as I still lose weight even if I’m eating burgers, it just affects how I feel. Lighter meals make me feel better.

Depending what I have going on, sometimes my one meal will be lunch, sometimes dinner. I don’t overthink it, I just eat one (usually large) meal until I’m full.

The trick is that outside that one meal, you don’t consume ANY calories. Nothing but water, black coffee or unsweetened tea. Even cream in your coffee will fuck up the fast. Zero calories in between meals.

The first few days suck but then your body adapts. I find myself craving going to the gym more as my body is burning off fat. You have to take electrolytes as a supplement once in a while but you can easily order something online that you can just add to your water or whatever.

Also, you don’t have to do only one meal a day. My friend eats two meals. One at noon and one at 6pm. Nothing else in between noon and 6pm and nothing outside those times either. Just two meals, period. And he eats what he wants too, but usually pretty healthy. He lost like 75 pounds in 8 months. Went from like 230lb to 165lbs. He said it was the easiest thing he ever did once he just decided to do it. Never worked out once...

So if you do that plus eat healthy for the most part and even throw in some even light exercise and you’re golden... Good Luck!

An uncle of mine always advocated for fasting, but he's also an overgrown hippie and pothead and asshole so I never listened to him. But I'm not sure that sort of lifestyle would work for me. We always had the "several small meals, not one big meal" mantra drummed into us by the coaches.

I know for me, when I was still training hard, two things I couldn't live without were carbs and electrolytes. And honestly, BEER is how I had the energy to do what I was doing. My average day was:

1) Wake at 4:45am, eat a half-pack of energy chews and a half-can of Red Bull or something similar
2) 90-minute run (alternate daily between tempo runs, interval/speed workout and slow/recovery run)
3) Breakfast was 40-grams of protein powder plus superfoods powder mixed into almond milk shake plus a granola bar
4) Hit the gym around 10am for 90-minute free weight workout
5) Lunch was Muscle Milk protein shake and a small snack
6) Evening 30-minute ab workout, usually 200-300 situps non-stop or 10 sets of sit-up speed exercises
7) Dinner was anything I wanted with less than 700 calories
8) Three Asahi Super Dry tallboys
9) Sleep at around 9:45pm

I would also drink some sort of electrolyte drink all day long. A cop friend of mine on the local SWAT team recommended Pedialyte (the shit you give babies when they have the runs) and it actually worked...but it was expensive.

One day, just for fun, I decided to cut out the beer at night in favor of just a glass of red wine or a double-vodka. The next day, I had no energy in my morning run. Same with the next day. Same with the next. I knew it had to be my beloved Asahi. Cracked open three cans that night and in the morning felt like the superman I knew I always was. Never made the mistake of forsaking my first love again.

Of course, I could just be mentally justifying alcoholism. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

[MikeH]

The other thing I would be very careful about as you gradually increase your distance is making sure you're running in the correct type of shoe.

Amen brother. In my opinion it is very wise investment to go in to a professional running shop and let them see you run in a machine for a while. They can figure out what kind of shoe is best for you in just a few minutes.

That will save you lots of pain in the future. I need a bit of pronation support in my shoes or my tibialis anterior muscles start killing me. And yeah, I didn't know that kind of muscle existed either but I learned it pretty fast; just a week of running with non supportive shoes and they let you know where they are.

For changing your stride I recommend trying the Vibram Five Fingers shoes or something similar. Added benefit is they are easy to take in your carry-on bag when travelling lightly and are perfect for the running machines in hotel gyms.

 

[warubuta]

For my whole life I have never been able to exercise just for the sake of fitness, with maybe the exception of doing dumbells regularly off and on over the years. I have cycled, climbed, windsurfed, seakayaked, snowboarded, landscaped, built large structures, swam, etc. as much as I can and at every opportunity. I do it because I like doing it. I could never spend time in a gym. Thats for insecure pussies who like to look at themselves in the mirror. I am inside all day because of my work. I have also never really done team sports or ball sports such as tennis or soccer. I dont want to be in locker rooms with other sweaty men. No thanks. I never really paid much attention to my diet, but I always ate reasonably healthy stuff and in moderate amounts. I like beer. The older I get, the more I like it. I drink three or four pints a day. I dont eat much sweet stuff. No cake or ice cream. I was extremely fit until I was about 45. Now I am getting a bit of a gut. My muscle tone and flexibility sucks. The prospect of having to eat better, cut out the beer, and do more deliberate cardio and muscle toning exercises depresses me. I think I am just going to keep course with the outdoor sports as is and get fat and weak and then die at about 80. What I worry about most are my joints. Especially my knees. Once your knees go, you are fucked. Might as well just jump into the whirlpool.

 

[Keihan]

For changing your stride I recommend trying the Vibram Five Fingers shoes or something similar. Added benefit is they are easy to take in your carry-on bag when travelling lightly and are perfect for the running machines in hotel gyms.

Vibram FiveFingers are hard core but will get the job done right. I imagine your calves and Achilles are going to scream after the first few runs but that's the quickest way to becoming an efficient runner. I briefly flirted with the idea of picking up a pair after two of my friends began running marathons in them. Never thought of the benefits of travel and hotel treadmills, but I'm just paranoid about stepping on a nail or something while running through urban areas. I do need a pair of something minimalist for my upcoming Bangkok trip so I can blow off some steam at the hotel gym and avoid following my dick into a ladyboy go-go bar in Nana Plaza.

 

[MikeH]

I do need a pair of something minimalist for my upcoming Bangkok trip so I can blow off some steam at the hotel gym and avoid following my dick into a ladyboy go-go bar in Nana Plaza.

My Vibrams have been in countless trips to Bangkok and to the hotel gyms there as while I normally prefer running outside everywhere in Bangkok that is not an option for me. That is because I am one of those soft guys who don't like the idea of dying in a horrible mess of motorbike metal.

But just to let you know; I haven't yet found a proper amount of kilometres in the treadmill with or without the Vibrams that would have prevented me following my dick to the ladyboy or other bars in Nana. If you find the correct mileage for that please report it here so I can avoid that exact number in the future. Thank you for your co-operation and understanding.

 

[Keihan]

But just to let you know; I haven't yet found a proper amount of kilometres in the treadmill with or without the Vibrams that would have prevented me following my dick to the ladyboy or other bars in Nana. If you find the correct mileage for that please report it here so I can avoid that exact number in the future. Thank you for your co-operation and understanding.

Unfortunately, I think Elvis, the Loch Ness Monster and Big Foot are all conspiring together to hide that number.

 

[Sudsy]

If you find the correct mileage for that please report it here so I can avoid that exact number in the future.

The answer is obviously 42, since that's the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

The unit... that's the question. I'm gonna go with parsecs.