Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with exercise

Fun with a purpose?

Bardolph — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:22:51 -0800

I like the mood and health benefits of exercise, but hate the inherent pointlessness of the activity. Short of going into construction work, what are some activities or hobbies that involve physical exertion, but to some other purposeful end? I had this revelation a few weeks ago, while helping break down a stage for a local theatre: spent several hours lifting, carrying, writhing, running, and stretching, ended up completely exhausted, and loved every minute-- while in the gym, it's as much as I can do to make 20 minutes before my willpower collapses and I'm out the door. I think the key factor was having some immediate purpose to focus on besides just the exercise. If you're building/moving something, well, it's got to get built/moved, whereas in regular exercise the long-term health benefits quickly become insufficient justification for that next excruciating rep. Sadly, my brain has also proven too devious to for most artificial reward schemes-- if there's no point, I can bloody well see there's no point, sticker or no sticker. Plus, I like doing stuff, and would like to be able to do stuff while exercising, if possible.

Since I'm fresh out of friends needing apartment-moving assistance, what might be some other physical-exertion-intensive, yet constructive, activities to take up? For what it's worth, I'm a girl, and super-uncoordinated (can't throw a frisbee, can't catch a ball) so (1) extremely heavy lifting, and (2) any kind of sports are probably out of the question. Suggestions?

Intermediate Swimming Advice?

freshwater_pr0n — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:52:45 -0800

Help me transform myself from someone who knows how to swim (albeit inefficiently) into a real swimmer who swims laps for exercise. I know how to swim well enough to have fun at the lake or stay afloat/swim to shore if the rowing shell or kayak I'm in capsizes. I'm not afraid of the water; in fact, I already spend a few hours a week swimming with my dogs in an area where I can usually touch bottom. I'm in good cardiovascular shape but I can only make it through one lap in the pool, and I'm absolutely exhausted afterwards.

All of the adult swim classes I've checked out are geared to people way beneath my skill level (can't swim at all) or way above (lap swimmers who want to improve techniques they already know.)

I want to become efficient enough to swim laps. What advice or resources do you have for me?

Cycling towards Bethlehem

sondrialiac — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:01:42 -0800

Small stationary bikes? I need a stationary bike to do some mellow aerobic exercise in the disgusting heat of August and other similar awful weather.

It needs to be, in this order:

1) Small, possibly small enough to fit under a desk
2) Cheap
3) Adjustable

I was thinking about something like this.

Any ideas?

Anywhere in NYC that has a good selection of teeny tiny bikes to choose from?

Boxes is a funny word

mad bomber what bombs at midnight — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:29:50 -0800

What can I use for at-home box squats? I'm trying to do the one-legged squats and one-armed pushups from the Naked Warrior, but I'm having trouble finding "starter" boxes. If you're unfamiliar, these are what you sit on to do a less-than-complete squat. They should also be usable to elevate the pushup.

Ideally these would be stackable, stable on either hard floor or carpet, and sturdy enough to support bodyweight. Maybe two feet across, half a foot deep?

What are these called and where can I get some? Cheap would be best as they're just a temporary crutch.

Should I benchmark my body?

catlet — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:34:37 -0800

Many MeFites are curious about metabolism, and so am I. I am particularly curious about metabolic rate testing: its accuracy, the experience, and whether it's worthwhile for me. I am 40, female, 5'8", and a mesomorph with stellar bone density. I've struggled with my weight all my life, although I was not clinically overweight until college and not obese until my mid-20s. I then spiked up to 297; about five years ago, I dropped 50 pounds that have never come back. Three years ago, my doctor advised me to do medically-supervised liquid fasting; I got down to 185 and a size 12, but regained the weight over the next couple of years (I did not realize losing that much also lost my coping strategies for the insane amount of stress I had/have). Over the past few months, I have gotten back on track and am working out more regularly and strenuously than I have ever managed. I'm giving you this background info because I am teetering between confused and worried, thus my AskMe today.

As I said in this comment, I do about 7 hours of hard cardio a week and lift 3x, and have done so since April. I am also monitoring what I eat, primarily by doing Weight Watchers, but I've also started using FitDay to get a detailed breakdown. I range between 1400-1800 calories a day, most of it non-processed "real" food; I have maybe 2 drinks or glasses of wine a week. I have lost two pounds in three months, although I'm down 3 sizes. I swing between worrying that I've completely ruined my metabolism over the past 27 years, and wondering whether I'm actually undereating and triggering starvation mode (again). My gym network offers metabolic testing with the BodyGem tool, and I'm thinking about doing it to get closer to my body's truth than the 10kcal/pound formula. This article (refereed journal) indicates that the BodyGem is more accurate than the formulas.

So, after all that... have you had metabolic testing done? Did the results surprise you, or was it what you thought? Did you use the results to change your eating successfully? Does it need to be done regularly (quarterly/yearly/etc) to be truly useful? I appreciate any info you can pass along - anecdotal, scientific, practitioner stories, you name it.

What exactly is displayed on Curves (for Women) Smart equipment?

Savannah — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:45:24 -0800

This is in regard to Curves Smart equipment, which is now available at some Curves for Women fitness facilities. Does anyone know what exactly the display depicts? Although I've seen pictures of it, which shows "Cardio", "Energy", "Range", and "Reps", I'd like to know what each one is indicating. Also, prior to the installation of the Smart upgrade, the hydraulic resistance was non-adjustable. The only way to get more resistance was to speed up. It appears that the hydraulics are still configured the same. If so, then is it safe to assume that the only way to increase intensity/resistance is to do more reps in the same 30-second time frame? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Give me rock hard(ish) abs!

cheerwine — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 19:03:10 -0800

I started following hundredpushups.com today. I'd like an exercise plan along those lines to follow on the off days to work my abs. Is there a hundredsit-ups-type plan? Are sit-ups even the best way to strengthen my abs? I'm only looking for exercises that I can do at home without equipment and without much space.

I feel like Popeye with a bulgy gut

brandnew — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 05:14:32 -0800

The best way to develop muscle without weights? About 4 months ago I was a slightly overweight 210 lbs @ 6' tall. I had a nice amount of muscle mass and somewhat of a bulgy gut. I had been doing a regular weight training program over the past several years: heavy weight, slow reps of 8. I would work out at the gym 3-4 days a week, and occasionally I would mix in a jog or an elliptical session.

Then, my schedule at work changed, and it made making it to the gym much more difficult. Also, I had wanted to lean myself out for some time. So, I decided 4 months ago I to switch my exercise routine to jogging, yoga, walking, calisthenics.

Now, 4 months later, I'm down to 182 lbs (yay), but I look like crap. Most of my previous muscle mass in my shoulders, chest, and back has withered away. However, oddly I've retained a good amount of muscle in my arms and legs. But, my waistline hasn't changed at all. Now I just feel like a skinny guy with a gut .

Obviously I want to change things up so that I develop more muscle, especially in my shoulders, chest and back. However, going back to weights will be difficult. I can't make it to the gym regularly, and I don't have the space for my own weight equipment.

What can I do?

Or I could quietly jiggle

Polychrome — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:51:09 -0800

How can I work out in my apartment without bothering my neighbors? I've struggled with ways to stay in shape for a long time now, and finally I found something that worked and that I had stuck with every day for the past week: workout videos. I was so happy that I finally was getting in a sweaty workout every day and I was feeling really good about myself, until my neighbor just knocked at my door a few minutes ago demanding that I "cut out all the stompin." I apologized and told her I hadn't realized, and she huffed off without saying anything. I don't want to bother my neighbors (I know how annoying it is when the same lady and her family blast motown into the wee hours of the night all weekend so that I can't sleep) but I really want to work out. I hadn't considered noise to be a problem because, aside from the occasional blasting music, I have never heard a peep from my neighbors; I've also done my own workouts before without complaint (but never stuck to it for more than 2-3 times a week), but the building seems very well insulated. I am in a corner apartment on the second floor of three.

So how can I work out in my apartment without bothering this lady? I would really prefer to continue working out in my apartment, and it also really bothers me that I shouldn't be able to do something like that in my own home. I considered going down and asking her if there was a good time for me to do this, but I am a little intimidated of her. This lady was severely ticked off. I don't think she really ever leaves her apartment and I work all day.

Also, I am sure people who suggest this mean well, but I do not want to join a gym. I have several reasons for this that you might want to dispel (cost, location, time, fear of working out in front of other people, lack of knowledge of equipment, etc. etc.) but the bottom line is that even if I got a gym membership, I wouldn't go. Going for runs or bike rides around here also isn't a very viable option (biking was actually my first choice before I started this) as I live off the highway with no running/biking area. The workouts I've been doing are cardio/strength, but I'm willing to change them as long as I get in a good, sweaty workout. I need to do something that I will stick with for now and that is working out at home, so any ideas?

Running without headphone cord SMACKSMACKSMACK

chesty_a_arthur — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 09:29:07 -0800

Help me solve my ipod earphone problem (specifically, the cord smacksmacksmack while running.) I run with an ipod. I have a couple different sets of relatively inexpensive headphones, which are fine; I am a total Philistine when it comes to sound quality. But I am a delicate flower, and the smacksmacksmack of the headphone cord on my arm or neck drives me so crazy that I sometimes wind up stopping just to mess around with it. I know about wireless Bluetooth headphones, which I would like, but cannot justify the expense right now. Has anyone come up with an awesome solution to this problem?

I know there are various cord-winding solutions available that seem like they'd make sense for a device in a coat pocket, but my device is in its foam-rubber arm sleeve (which incidentally has an elastic loop that is maybe to secure headphones but damned if I can figure out how) on my arm, and I'm running. I don't want to hold anything in my hands.

I need to pick a hairstyle and run with it.

Metroid Baby — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:47:38 -0800

If keeping sweat and hair out of my face while running is my only consideration, would it be better to cut my hair short, or to let it grow out and wear it in a ponytail? I currently have an overgrown chin-length bob, and I’m due for a haircut. I haven’t decided what to do yet. I like my current style, and I’ve liked having my hair longer, so getting a similar cut I can grow out is definitely an option for me. On the other hand, I’ve never had my hair shorter than ear-length, and I really want to try a pixie cut.

One of the deciding factors for me is how easy it will be to go running with my new haircut. I work out five days a week, and three to four of those workouts involve running. I haaaaate getting sweaty hair in my face when I run. At my current length, I can sort of hold my hair back with a half-ponytail and a stretchy headband, but it’s not a perfect solution and the headband often slips. When my hair was longer, I would just pull it all back into a ponytail and it’d be no problem. I'd need to let my hair grow for at least a few months before that becomes an option, though.

The pixie cut is compelling because my hair would simply be too short to flop in my face. However, judging from the amount of sweat that gets in my hair now, I worry that, without much hair to absorb it, that sweat would just pour down my face instead. That doesn’t sound like much fun either. Or does it evaporate? And I realize that, if/when I grow it out, I’ll have to go through the floppy bangs and headband phase again.

Which is more comfortable for sweaty workouts: short hair or long hair in a ponytail? It seems like a silly question, but I only have experience from one side and honestly don’t know the answer. I don’t care how my hair looks when I work out, just that it’s out of my face. (I do care how my hair looks when I’m not working out, of course, but that’s not relevant to the question.)

Additionally, if there’s some magical running hat or headband out there that can stay put, keep my hair out of my face, and keep me relatively cool and dry, I’d love to hear about it. I’ve looked at various hats online, but I’m not convinced.

Thanks as always!

My Office Is So Cold the Lactic Acid FREEZES.

Medieval Maven — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:11:54 -0800

So I've started a new, pretty hard-hitting exercise regime (bootcamp, if you wanted to know) and I'm sore as crap, and my office is excruciatingly cold. I'm trying to figure out how to mitigate this, since the cold is making my muscles clench up and that, you know, does not feel good. Things I can't do-

1) Turn the thermostat up past 72. People will bitch and then turn it back down.

2) Space heater, for obvious reasons.

3) Not work out until I am no longer sore.

FWIW, I did not have this problem yesterday, but yesterday I went home where I can make sure the house is not so cold as to send me into gales of shivering.

I was thinking blanket for my legs (I am already wearing a sweater), maybe an electric blanket. Is this a really awful idea for reasons I don't know? I know that hot yoga is supposed to be good because it facilitates better stretching with the being hot part, and I don't want to get THAT hot, but even with getting up frequently, eating meals outside, and stretching today, my legs are ridiculous. Sorry if this seems stupid, but I've just not been in this particular situation before and I don't want to do something stupid out of ignorance. Any other suggestions that do not involve Ben-Gay (since I do have coworkers, who are apparently also Polar Bears) are very, very welcome.

Sadly, I'm swimming stupid.

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:37:37 -0800

Tips for a novice swimmer. I'm interested in adding swimming to my usual exercise routine, but I'm not really sure how to begin. (I'd say I haven't swum for any significant length of time since I was a young teenager.) How long should I be swimming laps for each day, and how best to build up to that goal? How many times a week do you go, especially if you're running, biking, and weight-lifting on other days? What swimming styles work best for muscle definition and losing fat? No advice too basic. Thanks in advance.

Please make me fit, oh MeFi

paultopia — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 11:08:41 -0800

Workout filter: where you, yes you, lucky intarwebs, get to judge my fitness + diet regimen (long, detailed) I'm a 29yr old male, who is seriously overweight but used to be a lot MORE seriously overweight -- I'm about 295ish now, I used to be around 350ish. Took off those pounds with a combination of undirected gym, cutting back on things like sodas, and starting grad school = biking all over the place on huge campus. Was starting a serious exercise plan about a year ago, then I broke my ankle. Getting back on track now.

Now it's time to kick out the jams. I keep reading that 2lbs a week is a safe amount to take off, so I want to do so, for a year -- the goal being to be under 200 pounds by the end of June 2009. I'm in decent health apart from the weight -- no major medical problems, lots of muscle, etc.

I like aikido and swimming a lot, and feel vaguely obligated to do yoga because my muscles are not very stretchy. I want to include muscle-building stuff too. I HATE long cardio ordeals, so my cardio will be in the form of high-intensity interval training (HIIT).

ERGO, here's the workout plan:

sunday: HIIT on elliptical machine (15 mins, or working up to it), 20-30 mins swimming

monday: 20-30 swim, 1 hour-1.5 hr long yoga class

tuesday: 1 hr aikido class, 20-30 swim

wednesday: weights (all muscle groups), swim

thursday: aikido, swim

friday: HIIT, swim

saturday: weights, swim

Diet: goal is 2000 calories daily. Not sure how to get there, since I'm a single, poor, grad student with a sweet tooth who hates to cook. Also a little too addicted to dairy-filled latte caffeine bombs, and I'd like to figure out a diet that permits that.

Does anyone have any wisdom on a) the exercise plan noted above (too grueling? too easy? poorly conceived?), and b) how to do a healthy diet without having to spend hours a day cooking or choking down inedible salads? (Links on the latter would be great.)

thanks...

How to get in shape in 6 weeks!

phaedrus441 — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:48:46 -0800

Give me a brainless workout plan that's as easy as HundredPushups.com for the next 6 weeks! The key is that I have 6-8 weeks with no work, so I want to get in better shape (amongst other things).

Currently I go to the gym about twice a week, and mainly just run. Recently I've started doing the Hundred Pushups plan, and now that I see how easy it is to just follow a strict plan, I want a plan for everything else!

Is there a resource that just says, "Monday, do these exercises. Tuesdays, do these," etc.?

Am I lazy in asking for this? I want to workout about 1-2 hours a day, if that's any help.

Books on DVDs on exercise as body-exploration?

shivohum — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:12:04 -0800

Are there any good DVDs or books that teach you exercise as a way of understanding and having fun with your body? I'm looking for a system whose focus is not primarily on losing weight or being healthy but on learning about your body and being able to do cool things with it you couldn't do before (gain better balance, stand on your head, improve your ability to drag furniture even), but that would also incidentally give you an excellent workout. Ideas?

How many calories am I burning?

Carsey — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:07:21 -0800

Does one burn the same amount of energy going slower & longer as going faster & shorter? If I walk 5 miles in 2 hours, do I burn the same amount of calories as if I jog the same 5 miles in one hour, or if I run it in 30 minutes?

I'm not fat I'm husky

autojack — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:50:58 -0800

What should I change about my current diet and exercise regimen to see some success in shedding fat? I'm 28 years old, male, 5'9" tall, and around 155 lbs. I think my weight and overall level of fitness are healthy, but I would dearly love to rid myself of the fat around my middle. I've been surprised that my current fitness regimen hasn't been more successful in this area, and I suspect that some simple changes may be all I need.

After being almost completely sedentary for several years, I took up rowing again 18 months ago. I belong to a club that has a small gym, and in addition to occasionally actually rowing in a boat on water, I've worked out using rowing machines religiously, two nights a week after work. For those of you familiar with the numbers, my workout is 30 minutes long, three sets of 4, 3, 2, 1 minute cycles of 20, 22, 24, 26 strokes per minute. I typically row about 6400 meters in that time. Other than that, and a certain amount of walking around town and up the very steep hill I live on, I get no other exercise. I work behind a desk all day.

A couple of months back, I started thinking that maybe an upper body weight-lifting workout, in addition to the rowing cardio workout, would be beneficial. My leg and back muscles are in great condition from the rowing, but my arms and chest were lacking. My logic was that by adding more muscle, I would burn more calories throughout the day and thus lose some more fat. I added two more nights a week at the gym, doing lat pulldowns, bench press, military press, bicep curls, and tricep pulldowns, interspersed with various situp-like exercises, followed by a 20 minute "calorie burning" (according to the machine) stairmaster workout. Although I definitely have more toned arms and chest, I think I look about the same in the gut department. There's definitely muscle under there - I use it all the time when I row. I just need to get rid of the flab!

In terms of diet, I think I eat pretty well. Almost no junk food, no soda, candy, or chips. I drink around a liter of water per day just at work, plus water or juice with meals. For the first eight weeks of weight lifting, I cut red meat and pizza (two otherwise pretty regular staples) out of my diet entirely. On a typical weekday I'll eat cereal or oatmeal for breakfast, a fresh deli sandwich or burrito for lunch, and maybe fish and rice, or Indian food, or stir fry (all from Trader Joe's) for dinner. On the weekends a lot of times I'll only have two meals - a big brunch/breakfast and a moderate-sized dinner. I don't eat huge portions. I don't snack at all. I read labels and try to avoid fake sugar, trans-fat, and other stuff like that, but overall I try not to be obsessive and masochistic about my diet. I like to eat and cook for myself!

The only ideas I've had myself on what I might change are diet-related. For one thing, I probably drink about six beers every week. Doesn't seem like that many, but they're certainly empty calories. Maybe I should cut out some or all of those?
Also, I tend not to eat breakfast until I get to work, maybe around 10am. Then I have lunch around 1, and dinner around 7 or 8. Maybe if I consistently ate breakfast at home, earlier in the day, and/or switched to more frequent smaller meals, that would help. And perhaps I should be more diligent about getting in 3+ smaller meals on weekends instead of the big breakfast/dinner routine.

I have no problem motivating myself to go to the gym - I find the workouts enjoyable, I feel great afterward, and if I didn't go I would just sit at home and watch TV. I see friends there pretty often as well, so it's social. Our gym is relatively limited in what it offers: rowing machines, stationary bikes (pretty crappy ones), stairmaster, free weights, kettle balls, bench press, pulldown weights, two kinds of leg weight machine, and the new, entertainingly large and unwieldy "fitness tree" (on which I think you can do dips, pullups, leg lifts... dunno what else). Any suggestions on what I can do within those confines, I am absolutely open to.

I guess the reality is that I'm looking for an aesthetic change more than anything else. I'm not interested in "losing weight," I expect to gain some from muscle. I also don't want to be a calorie counting diet nazi. I think I'm close to my goal, and I'm hoping you guys can suggest some tweaks to bring it all home. Thanks in advance (and, on preview, sorry this is so long) : )

The Hunt for the perfect 13 compound lifts ??

hboogz — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:50:19 -0800

I've read somewhere that a workout regime consisting of 13 compound lifts is really all you need. Does anyone know which 13 lifts they may be talking about ? or can point me to the article ? I'm curious to see what other folks think about doing predominantly compound lifting ?

I want to see more results with my workout and want to incorporate more compound exercises..

Nutrition for weight training.

2or3whiskeysodas — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:59:46 -0800

Favorite books or websites dealing with good muscle-building nutrition? I have seen the light, maybe: I've been weight-training to add some muscle but eating to lose weight, and that's not working. I'm thin enough at this point, so I'd like to try a new diet or two and see what works.

I'm down to hear the hive's general advice, tips and such, but am more interested in books and web resources. I do best with "programs". Also, this isn't terribly important, but I'm not really into the macho bent at sites like t-nation.com; if that could be avoided, great. But if there's exceptional information within, I could put up with it.

Thanks in advance!

Developing my own fitness routines?

rikhei — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:03:35 -0800

I'm interested in developing my own workouts. I know what to do, but how do I string it all together? I like to think I have the puzzle pieces; I just lack the knowledge of how to put the puzzle together.

A little background: I've a membership with my local Y. As a work-related perk, when I joined, I got 6 free sessions with a personal trainer. We've met 5 times, and our last time will be this week. I've enjoyed meeting with him; he's taught me a lot of different moves. I definitely would feel comfortable meeting with him occasionally in the future, or asking him questions as I have them, but I can't really afford to continue meeting with him on a regular basis.

He's typed up our workouts, and so I have a good idea of what we've done. Mostly, we've worked with a stability ball, a resistance band, and free weights. We've also worked with a few of the machines.

I've got my own stability ball, resistance band, and free weights, and of course, access to all those at the Y. I also belong to SparkPeople, which I think has an excellent library of exercises. If I'm ever at a loss, I'm sure I can come back here, too - I saw a lot of great suggestions while reading over other people's related questions.

What I'm looking for, I think, is a set of guiding principles. So far, the most useful thing I have seen is on Stumptuous - specifically the section on this page that discusses building routines. I'd like more information in that vein.

I am looking for general resources - books or websites would be welcome - but I also think that finding answers to the following questions would go a ways toward helping me figure this out:

(1) How do I determine how many minutes of cardio I need to do? Generally, when I'm at the gym on my own, I only do cardio. I do about 25 minutes on the treadmill and 10 minutes on something else (either the arc trainer or a stair stepper or something). I know I need to do more, and work myself up to about an hour. Should I ever do more than that? (Not sure that I will ever have the patience to - I don't like the gym, really - but let's consider it anyway.) How many minutes should I do on days I strength train? Am I trying to quantify this more than I need to? (Note of possible relevance: I'm morbidly obese, so I'm guessing, in general, that the more cardio I do - within reason - the better my health will be.)

(2) How do I determine how many sets I need to do? Or should the number of sets remain consistent - should it be the resistance or weight I change up instead?

(3) And the question that has been bugging me - can I spot train? I keep hearing that you can't spot train, but it's also been framed in a confusing way. Two examples: you can't get rid of upper arm flab just by doing tricep curls; you can't get a six-pack just by doing crunches. It seems to me that what they're saying, really, is that you can't expect to lose fat if you're just doing strength training - you need to do cardio, too. Am I right? If so, well, DUH. But you could still get yourself some pretty nice abs even if they are hidden under a nice layer of fat, right?

(4) Part of the reason I ask the previous question is because my next question is: how do you identify weaker muscles? I'm aware that I need to strengthen the muscles in my lower back. Unfortunately, I am aware of this because I injured it last November and had to go to physical therapy and focus on just that. I'd like to avoid injury, and if I can do so by pinpointing weaker muscle areas, that would be good.

Is there anything that I can ask differently, or that I should ask of my trainer when I see him that last time on Wednesday?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

Drop and give me 100!

um_maverick — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:43:47 -0800

My friends and I are about to embark on a 6-week push-up training program. Obviously, this has to be a competitive event. The problem, though, is finding a fair way to measure who wins... I came across Hundred Pushups last week and, being terribly out of shape, decided to do it. After telling some fellow type-A friends, we're turning it into a competition, but running into difficulty figuring out how to measure. All of the identified options have drawbacks, so we're looking for new suggestions or ways to modify any of the items below:

(1) Who can do the most pushups after 6 weeks - Some people are more in-shape now than others, so this would be unfair towards those starting behind
(2) Absolute increase in pushups - Requires a "weigh-in" at the beginning, where people can cheat (consciously or subconsciously) and not do as many pushups as they're cable of. Also probably has starting-point issues like point (1).
(3) Percentage increase - Has the same weigh-in issues as (2) and also gives advantage to people who start weaker. E.g., someone who starts at 25 would have to get to 250 in order to compete with the guy who starts at 10 and gets to 100.
(4) Something based on BMI - I was hoping to find a chart of "If you're BMI is x, y pushups are expected" online, and measure success relative to the chart. No dice finding such a chart, though
(5) Everybody over 100 wins, everybody under 100 loses - same starting point issues at (1), nobody in the group likes ties

Thanks!

Staying Fit While Traveling in Europe

gm2007 — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 11:41:18 -0800

Going on vacation to Germany and Italy for 2 weeks. Looking for ways to try to stay fit while traveling. We will be staying with friends in Germany and may have access to a Gym, but will be staying in a house in Italy with no gym access. Any ideas for this? Possibly equipment that I could take that would assist?

Tips for running?

mintchip — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 08:25:33 -0800

Tips for running? I run (interspersed with some walking) 3-5 miles about 4-5x/week.

1. Other than getting good shoes, what do I need to do to protect my knees? Is getting knee and joint problems from running inevitable?

2. How bad is it to run on a decline? In the area I live it's really difficult to avoid running downhill.

3. Even though I'm quite fit I seem to be really slow about building up aerobic endurance. Is there something I can do to speed this up? I get out of breath after maybe 1/2 half mile and then walk for a bit and start running again. How long before I should be able to go the whole distance without stopping?

Any other jogging/running tips are welcome.

Stretches for hip pain

bjork24 — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:14:44 -0800

I've been having moderate hip pain for the last two days, and I'm not sure what caused it. Either way, I was wondering if the hive mind could suggest some good hip stretches or exercises that might help alleviate the pain, or at least keep it from getting worse. Thanks!