Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with exercises

me me me ME me me meeee

2or3whiskeysodas — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:11:16 -0800

Vocal warm-up suggestions for a play that requires me to talk loudly for about an hour straight, and then sing loudly for another hour? I'm performing a (virtually) one-man show that has me speaking, sometimes yelling, for about an hour in Act I. In Act II I'm singing almost throughout, including one song where I have to go full-on high-pitched ROCK POWER.

Additionally, my character has a kind of pinched voice, even when singing, and doesn't sing from the diaphragm at all. I'm trying to work on getting the same effect without murdering my throat, but it's tricky.

I've read a bunch of threads here with general warm-up advice and some great recommendations for teas, lozenges and other stuff I can ingest, many of which I'm eager to try. However, can anyone point me at some specific warm-up exercises I could be trying? The show opens in (oh shit oh shit oh shit) a week and I don't want to go mute halfway in!

Help! Thanks!

Fit to Snowboard

Foam Pants — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:15:11 -0800

I'm going to learn to snowboard this winter. I have at least a month to prepare. What sort of exercises and activities can I do to increase my fitness for this activity? I have access to a gym, skating rink, hiking, biking, etc., and a recently acquired snowboard that is sitting in my livingroom. From what I have read in past askmetafilter questions on somewhat similar topics, maybe I should start going to the skating rink. What do you think of yoga (which is an option)? Should I be trying to increase my aerobic fitness with some running? I have to admit, I am a bit of a chicken shit to try longboarding and there is no surfing.

How to turn an apple into a banana

cloudsandstars — Sat, 23 May 2009 10:15:40 -0800

I'm an apple, but I'd much rather be a banana. How can I get rid of my middle and reshape my body? Unfortunately, my lofty goals at the beginning of the year turned out to be an epic fail for me. I have managed to lose about 7 pounds over the last 7 weeks, but I remain around 50 pounds overweight. I am the textbook "apple" shape, with most of my extra weight around my middle. I know this is unhealthy, and it is starting to look bad, too. Not to mention the effect it is having on my emotional state of mind and confidence level.

I've already cut way back on my sugar intake and portion sizes, and have simply started moving more. That is helping, but I'm afraid that with my slow metabolism, it will take years to get this harmful weight down to a manageable level. I'd rather it take months.

So, what I'm really asking here is: Are there any specific foods should I eat, foods I should avoid, and which exercises would be most effective in helping me get rid of this particular type of stomach/hip/back fat?

I'm a busy girl, I work a lot, am trying to save money, and would prefer to do any exercising in the privacy of my own home.

Thanks.

How do I develop a sense of humor?

SocialArgonaut — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:14:45 -0800

I'm waaaay too serious (please excuse the irony in my even asking this question): What makes for good humor and how can I learn to get better at using it to improve my relationships with other people? I've learned that humor is how we prevent ourselves and others from taking things too seriously, from getting stuck in the mire of everyday drudgery. In a recession/depression, humor is more important than ever for keeping things in perspective. My problem is, I need to learn how to do this. I am often too serious and I need help to get in shape, to work off the weight of the world that weighs me down.

Presently, I'm trying to hang around funny people to learn from them and watch comedy programs like the Colbert Report and the Daily Show. I suspect there's more. What else can I do or what has been helpful for you in your experience?

Are there any specific guides or exercises for how to cultivate a better sense of humor? Do you have any experiences, tips, suggestions, advice, resources, web links, books, magazine articles, youtube clips, movies, and comedy programs that would be helpful in developing a better sense of humor?

Assuming I know nothing, what makes for good humor? Are there humor calisthenics I could practice? Clubs? Forums? Workout videos? User manuals? Habits?

Altruistically, I also know that my getting better with humor is not only good for my own state of mind, but also means better relationships with other people and a better quality of life for almost everyone I talk with throughout the course of a day.

Please excuse the lack of humor in this post. In tough times, can you help make the world a better place with your suggestion of something you've found helpful to change that?

What do you dig about books with instructions?

lauranesson — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 14:53:51 -0800

What great workbooks or instructional books have you found? I'm looking for really great examples of the workbook style of text: the kind of books you can follow from beginning to end, with exercises or assignments to complete. I'm thinking of creating one as an art project for some friends, so I'd love to know what you liked about the good ones.

I'd also love to hear about terrible workbooks that just didn't work for you. Subject matter isn't important to my request, so anything from art to math to psychology is useful. It also isn't important to me whether the book includes space to write in it (just that it has assignments), unless you find that such space was useful/annoying.

What makes a workbook great?

Thanks for your help!

Web Marketing/Usability Think Tank Exercises

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:12:07 -0800

What are some good “think tank” exercises for my team to get them to brainstorm a bit on some new initiatives for our major retail website? Hi everyone,

I was tasked today to come up with a “think tank” exercise for my small team of 5 front-end facing project managers to help come up with some ideas for new projects and initiatives for the next few years for our retail website. These initiatives can range from a complete site overhaul to a simple feature enhancement that improves the experience of our users.

At past jobs, for similar exercises, I’ve asked people to submit to me any URLs that they currently visit that they think are “cool” or that they couldn’t live without. I’d then facilitate a meeting where as a group we would view the sites and discuss why we liked them, etc. I plan on asking this same question to this new team just to get people started, but I’d also like some ideas for additional exercises to get the ‘creative juices flowing’. It would be great to get them to articulate what it is that makes a website something they check every day. For example, is it the features, the content, the interactivity, the design? I plan on asking these as direct questions, as well.

Essentially, our website, while clean and relatively user friendly, has historically been a slow adopter of web usability trends. In the future, however, we’d like to be more current with our site in regards to these trends, as long as they benefit our users and enhance profitability. For example, we’re just now adopting user interface functionality that has been common on other sites for years. We’d like to be more of a driver or at least an earlier adopter of trends in our marketplace.

So my questions are as follows:
1.What are some good “think tank” exercises for my team to get them to brainstorm a bit on some new initiatives for our major retail website?

2. What are ways that you use to inspire people to brainstorm, particularly around web usability and driving conversion rates?

The caveat here is that my team is not the marketing department. We already have a great marketing department that drives a lot of the strategy for our site. The leadership at my company, however, would like everyone in the pipeline of our projects to take a more active role in our strategic direction and planning, rather than just being purely executional. My direct management has requested that I spearhead this initiative for my direct peers.

Thanks, and I look forward to your responses!

Warmup activities for young writers

lunalaguna — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 16:20:35 -0800

Looking for interesting, not cheesy, ideas to get 8th-10th graders warmed up for an afternoon of writing and discussion. I'll be leading some warm-up activities at a writing camp next week for 13-16 year-olds. I'm looking for ideas for some simple, quick activities (< 15 minutes) that'll get everyone up and interacting with each other. Freewriting and get-to-know-you type exercises are already planned, so something physical, not necessarily writing related, would be best.

Help me hold my head up high

jbickers — Wed, 21 May 2008 03:54:00 -0800

I'm very tall (6'6"), and like most tall people, struggle with posture - I tend to slump my shoulders forward and tilt my head down, especially when standing. Are there any exercises that target that area (upper back, neck) that will pull the shoulders back and make standing/sitting properly "feel right"? (I lift weights regularly, but I think my back is a weak spot - the more I lift, the worse I feel my posture gets.)

Group activities that prove how very, very wrong you are about the world

Skwirl — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:57:48 -0800

Is there a team building or group communications activity that highlights the important role of intuitive, macroscopic thinkers? (Team building activity spoiler inside) I've seen several facilitators perform the group activity where everyone is given a card with writing and is asked to keep the card private. Then, the facilitator asks each person to count the number of F's on the card and the participants gather across the room according to the number that they report. Then individuals from different groups (who have counted different numbers) exchange cards. The big reveal is that everyone has the same card. It's pretty darn humbling when, often after arguing your point, you find out you have the wrong count.

I suspect that the room divides pretty cleanly along the lines of detail people (Or MBTI sensing preference) versus macroscopic people (Or MBTI intuitive preference). The moral is always supposed to be that everyone has a different experience of the world, but I can't help but think that people in the correct camp are going to lose some of the humbling benefit of this exercise.

Is there a similar exercise that helps to teach humility in group interactions that might not divide so cleanly? Ideally, there would be an exercise that could be done in conjunction with the "Count The F's" exercise that would turn the tables. Are there any other exercises you've witnessed similar to "Count the F's" or that also help demonstrate different worldviews and ways of thinking?

Practice makes perfect

mullingitover — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:26:53 -0800

What are some activities that are like 'going to the gym' for your profession? Earlier this week I was pointing out that playing scales on the guitar is like 'going to the gym' for your playing ability. Playing the scales can be boring, but it helps you build up dexterity and takes the thought and effort out of it when you're trying to pick up new songs.

This led me to wonder what other exercises professionals use to keep up their chops. I'm interested in learning what it takes to be a better system administrator/programmer, but I'm curious about all professions: What do you do in order to incrementally build your skills in your line of work?

creative writing exercises

invitapriore — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:00:53 -0800

Give me some exercises for creative writing. Exercises have always helped me in all disciplines to develop my skills while maintaining focus because of the limitations given. I'd like some good exercises for creative writing, specifically ones that impose challenging constraints, as problem-solving seems to be the most productive way of learning for me.

Thanks for your help, and if you have something that doesn't quite fit the criteria but that you think is great anyway, feel free to post it.

Where can I find a bboy workout?

misled — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 10:51:47 -0800

The B-Boy workout: How are B-Boys able to build such strength in proportion to their own bodyweight? Traditional bodybuilding should be able to help, but are there certain exercises that allow for people to control and distort their bodyweight in the way B-Boys do? I apologize if the title doesn’t make much sense, but I do not know how else to title the question.

I am fascinated with the way B-Boys are able to control their bodyweight in different ways. If you would like to know what I am talking about, here are two videos:

Video 1
Video 2

What kind of exercises do they do? Is there a workout program out there that helps grow their skills more or is it purely the dance that does it?

Eyesight Improvement Exercises

haelen — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 23:02:10 -0800

I use reading glasses for reading (obviously) and when using the PC. They're low-strength (+1.5). I wondered if anybody here has tried any eyesight improvement exercises which have caused a noticeable improvement in their eyesight.

Building Muscle Mass

grumblebee — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 07:30:49 -0800

I want to gain more muscle mass and strength. I don't want to look like a bodybuilder, but I do want to look very fit. (I'm a male nearing 40.) My problem is, I don't have a good gym nearby and I live in a small apartment. I don't have room for a free weight system. Can one build the sort of body that I want without weights or a machine, simply by doing exercises (pushups, etc.)? How reasonable is that approach? If that won't work, what sort of machine should I buy that doesn't take up much real-estate space and is pleasing to the eye. (I've looked into these, but they only go up to 52lbs. Is that enough?)

How to get "cut" abs?

geoff. — Thu, 18 Mar 2004 10:32:57 -0800

Vanity is fun! Ok I want a six-pack like those sexy beasts in magazines. I did a lot of research hoping that I'd find a wealth of information. Unfortunately the most I can find on usenet and Prescription Exercise is geared toward building strength, not that cut look. Most other information I found says all the situps can't help you if your body fat is not 5-6% (apparently that's really low, ahd how to measure body fat). So lacking any other clear sources, anyone here have experience with abs? Do they just magically appear at 5-6% body fat? If you work them out is that when the appear? Some more detailed information, I started a month ago doing 100 situps a day. Then doing as many as I could till "failure" (a method suggested on ExRx and elsewhere). I've cut back to about 150 every other day. My stomach is getting stronger, as I could barely do 100 and now I can easily make it to 150, it's usually my lower back that gets strained first. My abs are hard and show somewhat if I contract them, but otherwise it's just a normal stomach.

I know this sounds really vain but I the fact I can't find clearcut answers is so frusterating. Plus the fact Ive been workign my ass off to look good as it gets warmer and I'm not looking like Baywatch dammit.

I should mention I realize spot reduction is a myth and I don't believe I have any fat (no belly), but 5-6% doesn't sound like no belly but absolutely no fat at all on a person.

How to improve spatial reasoning?

sid — Sat, 21 Feb 2004 23:20:45 -0800

Does anyone know of exercises/games (or other methods) to improve spatial reasoning? [more inside] Although I'm pretty good with words and okay with numbers, anything involving manipulating or traversing 3D objects in my head leaves me in a lurch. Some symptoms of my disability:

-I get lost very very easily - I find it difficult to orient myself and I have little to no sense of direction. I guess most people make a 'map' in their heads but I tend to go by landmarks and 'feel'.

-I can't judge how big of a tupperware container to put leftovers in - they always end up too big or too small.

-Still can't park the car properly.

- I'm rubbish at physics and physical chemistry - I only get good marks in these subjects after tons of practice.

Is there anything I can do to get better at this stuff? I'm thinking exercises involving manipulating 3D objects in my head but I don't know where to go to find such exercises or if they would actually help.