Category: Uncategorized

Exercise goals and nutrition

Well given my recent learning of things the hard way (low blood sugar bad. Eat before working out) I was wondering if there were any other simple revelations I was missing out on.

I checked out the Mayo clinic, and they suggest eating carbs before, either a small amount about an hour before or a larger amount 3-4 hours before.

Wikipedia’s sports nutrition page suggests carbs right after workouts, both aerobic and anaerobic, for glycogen replacement.

I’ve also heard that carbs should be avoided right after workouts because they immediately cut fat metabolism.

I have a few goals. From most important to least important, here they are.

  • I want to reduce my risk/delay the onset of such negative health consequences as diabetes, heart disease, and (heh) cancer.
  • I want to get the most out of my workouts, and that means not fainting in the middle of intense exercise.
  • I want to retain and expand my flexibility.
  • I want to gain muscle mass. Okay, well, really, strength first and showy muscle mass a close second.
  • I want to lose fat. I’m currently just above the unhealthy range for % body fat. Ideally, I’d like to be solidly in the middle, or towards the low end (for vanity’s sake).

What I’ve been doing is this:

  • about 20 minutes of stretching. (I’ve heard that randomized studies indicate that this increases, not reduces chance of injury, at least while running, but flexibility is still important to me).
  • about 30-60 minutes of lifting. 2 sets, 8 reps.
    • Upper body days: lat pulls, dips, bench presses, military presses, various rows, biceps, triceps. lateral shoulder raises.
    • Lower body days: (mostly machine), leg press, leg curl, leg extension, the leg squeezing and leg spreading things that I don’t know the names of.
    • Both days: 20 V-ups, 30 side crunches, each side, 30 legs up cruches, 20 back extensions.
  • 30 minutes of cardio, more often than not, I do this on the elliptical cross trainer. Sometimes I run instead. Very, very rarely, I do the bike.

So all you fitness experts *cough*, offer me your input.

like an idiot, kicking my own ass

I decided to check out my gym’s weight lifting class this morning. It’s been a little over a week since I’ve worked out. But I figure I’m in good shape. I consistently err on the side of more weight than the instructor recommends. After all, most of the people in the class are female, and they’re socialized to be less athletic, right? (okay, so I have an arrogant, misogynist, prick inside, check. But at least I try to keep it in my own head).

Fast forward to half way through the class. I’m having trouble keeping up. Dripping sweat. My mouth has gone dry, I’m seeing stars. I can feel something unpleasant approaching though I’m not sure whether I’m about to vomit or faint. I decide both would be very bad outcomes. I sit down on my bench. When I feel like I’m out of imminent danger, I go to the back of the room to avoid disrupting the class further. This after only 30 minutes. My water bottle isn’t helping.

I’ll go with lower weight next time.

Travel Woes and an Excellent Weekend

I cut it too close.

After I made it through security (airBART was slow, security line was long) I heard that they were canceling my seat if I wasn’t at the gate right then. The gate was about as far as a gate could be from security. I didn’t make it. I’m now flying through ontario and las vegas on my way home. I’m boarding group B for the first leg, but I’ll be functionally boarding group pre-A for the remaining legs. An annoying end to what has been a frickin’ awesome weekend. (okay, so friday was a little excessively mellow for my taste, but that’s not terribly surprising).

Friday evening, there was the late night Harry Potter with , , , and . Saturday morning massage (by a WoW geek, CMT) and haircut. Brunch with , then back to Tom’s to prepare for the wedding. Travel with , Ellen, Tom, and Urso to the wedding. A simple, brief ceremony (where and I were the only people other than the bride and groom named in the ceremony.) A fabulous reception, where I got to embarrass Lili. Very vegetarian friendly. Drinks at the hotel bar with most of the aforementioned and more. And Nathaniel, Ken and I wrapped up the evening with a Shadow Labyrinth instance run (at 5:*mumble* am).

Sunday, it was east bay, post-wedding brunch. There was a film crew from the local public radio for some restaurant show. It was fun. Then I got to meet , neat guy. Back to Simon and Lili’s for a little WoW action. Next a trip to the Eagle for a beer bash for charity. I got to see TomC and Nathan again. Met their friend Jason. Also saw Marco (whom I’d also seen after brunch with Josh), and Ted. Someone I know got a smiley face drawn on their penis with a marker. And back across the Bay to Stef and Eric’s for board games. (Along with Simon, Lili, Angie, Nathan, (who deserved more prior mention in this), Tom, Tom and Ethan. I played much tichu and blokus had many varieties of toasted cheese on fancy bread. Josh, Nathan and TomC played a game of Zavandor (I was embroiled in Tichu at the time, sadly).

Then today’s annoyance with the late and the canceled ticket. On the whole, a wonderful weekend.

This advances my intent to move back to the bay area at some point in the next several years. It’s simply home to me. While I may grow more into Chicago, it will never have the same feeling to it. As a vegetarian, biking, sex-positive, homo geek, I fit in. To (way over-)generalize, Chicago is for meat-eating, motorist, hetero/closeted/sex-embarrassed sports fans. I have no desire to stare across that gulf day in and day out for the rest of my life.