Never been to a gym
#26
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If I don't go to the gym, I actually lose weight, which makes me faster on the bike. When I go to the gym regularly, I put on upper body muscle, which definitely weighs some pounds. I definitely like having a decent amount of upper body strength and like having the biceps, so off to the gym I go.
Biggest variable in the quality of the gym is the equipment, not what other people are doing. Long as the "text for an hour" people don't sit on the equipment while they dawdle, I really don't care if they're there.
Biggest variable in the quality of the gym is the equipment, not what other people are doing. Long as the "text for an hour" people don't sit on the equipment while they dawdle, I really don't care if they're there.
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Building all around athleticism, strength training, mobility, agility and conditioning is more important to me than cycling performance and I prioritize those things over cycling...I usually workout 3 times per week and ride my bike 3 times per week....I train at home and do outdoor workouts all year round with Kettlebells, Clubbells and bodyweight exercises such as weighted pull ups, weighted dips, weighted push ups, walking lunges and squats...I am a minimalist when it comes to workout equipment, the less the better...I can build and maintain a high level of fitness and conditioning without any gym machines and I don't even own an indoor trainer. My training is very unconventional and I hate traditional bodybuilding style gym workouts and I never liked commercial gyms with all their fancy complex machines and stupid big screen TVs and music in the background, I much prefer to go outside and get my workout done outdoors with few basic exercises.. .I would rather do a Kettlebell workout outdoors while its snowing than use an indoor trainer or a treadmill in a climate controlled gym.
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Good health and physically fit mean two different things. Being in good health can mean the absence of disease., but if you can't do basic body movement such as 10 pull-ups, you're far from being physically fit.
Cyclist (and runners) aren't physically fit because they have pathetic upper bodies. Pro cyclist and their long distance running counterparts sacrifice the balance to win the race.
Cyclist (and runners) aren't physically fit because they have pathetic upper bodies. Pro cyclist and their long distance running counterparts sacrifice the balance to win the race.
I don't mind gyms per se, but what annoys me is that it's replacing proper sports and is beeing presented as a sport itself. It often doesn't make people fit for anything but looking like an athlete. I avoid them anyway because there is nothing I want to do I need a gym for, but I recognize they could be usefull and efficient to build up muscle to improve performance is the sport of one's choice. But it's becoming a goal in itself, and is presented as a sport itself. I believe people would enjoy themselves a lot more and become happier and healthier if they'd compete, play a skillfull game in a social environment, maybe even in the fresh air and the weather, using their brains and their reflexes at the same time, instead of slaving away at some peace op equipment to sculpt their body.
Everybody should do as they like of course, but as a society let's not forget about the real thing.
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#30
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I think you're probably using a bad form or too much weight or too much volume or doing exercises which you shouldn't be doing...Start with few basic exercises and learn proper form before doing more damage to your body... Weight training should make you feel better not worse.
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Their fitness is very sport specific. They prioritize developing running or cycling fitness because that's what their main goals are.
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#33
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My perspective, as a weak, skinny, physician in his 60s, who spent a lifetime in endurance sports, is that we're all cyclists until we get seriously ill or break a hip or something, at which time a muscle reserve and some conditioning above the quads will come in quite handy. I also do another sport where upper body strength is important for speed and safety and I keep burning it off on the bike. I have found that work on the core and the posterior chain groups, i.e., the hamstrings and glutes, which cycling does almost nothing for, has helped with speed, power, and endurance on the bike and cured my lower back issues.
Weight-bearing exercise prevents bone loss, for which little ginks such as I are at risk. I can't run anymore because I had my gnarly old C-spine rebuilt surgically once and I don't want to risk more damage, so I'm left with floor exercises.
There is also an accumulating body of data relating resistance training to mental and emotional wellbeing and it's a good complement to the trainer in the dark and slippery days of winter.
I like my gym. It has all the types an urban setting can provide and the users are almost all friendly and considerate. My wife is comfortable there and we can go together. Yes, some of the mooks grunt and moan orgiastically, some matrons park enormous bags in the middle of the floor, and everyone sits on the equipment and looks at their phones, but I fart.
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Overdoing things is a real issue, especially in an activity that has a pro sport that is focused on overdoing things to win.
I see too many miles, too lean much more often than too much sleep. And for some, the more sleep, less exercise would make them both fitter and healthier.
#35
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Moved in the weight cage a few days ago going to hit the weights again all compound movements the basic old fashion style of lifting. Last time I ripped my abdomen open deadlifting at almost 51 i will have to discipline myself to workout lighter and not get another hernia
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I've been in and out of gyms my whole life. Sometimes I'll frequent them as much as 4-5 times a week and other times I may not step inside the place for 2 months. I've got a great deal with one of the local chains and my yearly payment is only $60, so missing a couple of months is nothing as far as hurting the pocket book. As I get older I find it harder to get motivated to go in for a workout. Also, I'm no longer trying to be the strongest I can be, I'm trying to continue with weight bearing exercises in order to keep my bones strong. That along with 3-4 days a week on my bike, I feel well rounded, flexible and healthy.
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Good health and physically fit mean two different things. Being in good health can mean the absence of disease., but if you can't do basic body movement such as 10 pull-ups, you're far from being physically fit.
Cyclist (and runners) aren't physically fit because they have pathetic upper bodies. Pro cyclist and their long distance running counterparts sacrifice the balance to win the race.
Cyclist (and runners) aren't physically fit because they have pathetic upper bodies. Pro cyclist and their long distance running counterparts sacrifice the balance to win the race.
I use my local gym because it has a pool. Any other upper-body work I do is core exercises, and resistance band work, which I can take and do anywhere (and haven’t bothered with in a while, truth be told).
Last edited by Leinster; 12-31-18 at 09:34 AM.
#38
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They are fit for running and cycling.
I don't mind gyms per se, but what annoys me is that it's replacing proper sports and is beeing presented as a sport itself. It often doesn't make people fit for anything but looking like an athlete. I avoid them anyway because there is nothing I want to do I need a gym for, but I recognize they could be usefull and efficient to build up muscle to improve performance is the sport of one's choice. But it's becoming a goal in itself, and is presented as a sport itself. I believe people would enjoy themselves a lot more and become happier and healthier if they'd compete, play a skillfull game in a social environment, maybe even in the fresh air and the weather, using their brains and their reflexes at the same time, instead of slaving away at some peace op equipment to sculpt their body.
Everybody should do as they like of course, but as a society let's not forget about the real thing.
I don't mind gyms per se, but what annoys me is that it's replacing proper sports and is beeing presented as a sport itself. It often doesn't make people fit for anything but looking like an athlete. I avoid them anyway because there is nothing I want to do I need a gym for, but I recognize they could be usefull and efficient to build up muscle to improve performance is the sport of one's choice. But it's becoming a goal in itself, and is presented as a sport itself. I believe people would enjoy themselves a lot more and become happier and healthier if they'd compete, play a skillfull game in a social environment, maybe even in the fresh air and the weather, using their brains and their reflexes at the same time, instead of slaving away at some peace op equipment to sculpt their body.
Everybody should do as they like of course, but as a society let's not forget about the real thing.
I think I disagree with your post as much as anything I've ever disagreed with on this forum.
The alternatives are not "train like an athlete for competition" vs. "train like an athlete for looks", it's train to establish or maintain a higher level of fitness than you would without training. Only you yourself can answer "fitness for what?"
I'm engaged in a job where I try to defeat people mentally all day long. My gym time and most of my riding time is a respite from that sense of needing to compete all the time. That doesn't make the fitness and emotional benefits I get from that time any less of a "real thing" than some arbitrary contest over who happens to be faster that day.
Yes, working a piece of equipment in a gym is mindless, but I bring my tablet and enjoy a movie while I do it, and I get a lot more fitness benefit from it than I would sitting on a bench, waiting to strike out..
#39
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Yeah, the pull up thing is no measure.
I could never really do them very well despite being quite good at technical rock climbing but for a lark did 1000 pushups one day. That was simply 20x50 while at work.
I don't hit the gym in the summer, preferring to just be active but do in the winter to focus or compensate. Last year I did a lot of focused spinning to increase my cadence and core and this winter I am swimming to augment trail running when it's too crappy outside.
If were to measure general fitness I think I would focus on cardio and core more than a particular extremities strength. Good cardio and balance/flexibility gives one a foot up on many activities.
I could never really do them very well despite being quite good at technical rock climbing but for a lark did 1000 pushups one day. That was simply 20x50 while at work.
I don't hit the gym in the summer, preferring to just be active but do in the winter to focus or compensate. Last year I did a lot of focused spinning to increase my cadence and core and this winter I am swimming to augment trail running when it's too crappy outside.
If were to measure general fitness I think I would focus on cardio and core more than a particular extremities strength. Good cardio and balance/flexibility gives one a foot up on many activities.
#40
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Dad brag video, but significant to the thread. The trainer pictured above, now in his 60s trained two juniors. There is not a complete ROM, on purpose. These are some good all around cycling gym work that for other than a pure climber, will generally improve cycling, certainly short duration speed. Mine has since decided he likes more upper body weight, and that has hurt his RR and hill climbing. But he can sure do a lot of pull-ups.
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#42
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I am not a pro cyclist, I don't race or compete, cycling is not a sport for me.... Cycling is one of the activities which I happen to enjoy and I just ride for recreation and commute. Cycling alone doesn't meet my fitness needs that's why I feel a need to do other forms of exercise.
The health benefits of weight training and resistance training are well documented. It's more than just about looks...It's never a bad thing to have a little extra strength and muscle, extra speed, agility and athletic ability... plus it makes me feel great mentally.
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#44
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I think I disagree with your post as much as anything I've ever disagreed with on this forum.
The alternatives are not "train like an athlete for competition" vs. "train like an athlete for looks", it's train to establish or maintain a higher level of fitness than you would without training. Only you yourself can answer "fitness for what?"
I'm engaged in a job where I try to defeat people mentally all day long. My gym time and most of my riding time is a respite from that sense of needing to compete all the time. That doesn't make the fitness and emotional benefits I get from that time any less of a "real thing" than some arbitrary contest over who happens to be faster that day.
Yes, working a piece of equipment in a gym is mindless, but I bring my tablet and enjoy a movie while I do it, and I get a lot more fitness benefit from it than I would sitting on a bench, waiting to strike out..
The alternatives are not "train like an athlete for competition" vs. "train like an athlete for looks", it's train to establish or maintain a higher level of fitness than you would without training. Only you yourself can answer "fitness for what?"
I'm engaged in a job where I try to defeat people mentally all day long. My gym time and most of my riding time is a respite from that sense of needing to compete all the time. That doesn't make the fitness and emotional benefits I get from that time any less of a "real thing" than some arbitrary contest over who happens to be faster that day.
Yes, working a piece of equipment in a gym is mindless, but I bring my tablet and enjoy a movie while I do it, and I get a lot more fitness benefit from it than I would sitting on a bench, waiting to strike out..
#45
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#46
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I go to the gym to hit the treadmill, 4 or 5 times per week. I'll mess with free weights if I have to wait, that's about it. Actually a fitness center, at work and one at home, which aren't formally gyms which brings up something I've been wondering about. For years. Although I'm only there for about an hour, it's been quite a few of those hours and in all that time I have never seen someone working hard on weights, working up a sweat, breathing hard. They do a little with free weights, sit around and wander a bit, 10 or 15 minutes later do something else. Is this common in regular gyms, or is it just my "fitness centers" where there isn't much direction and people perhaps don't know much about it?
#47
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As I said people should do as the like, but I don't believe that there are so many gyms because people like the mindless working of a piece of equipment better than playing some ballgame or other competitive sport that keeps them in good shape, nevermind the level of competitiveness. But they have to drag themselves to the gym instead because they find it harder and harder to fit an organized or social sport in their lives.
I know I get a better and more intense workout at a gym than I would schmoozing with my "team" half the time.
Not all of us are jocks, and we don't aspire to become them. We just like being fit.
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10 pull ups of any kind is not so easy at my age, near 60. I'll check it every week or two, or three, and doing that I've worked up to 9 and I was pretty proud of that. I can only do the "proper" ones a day or two after a set of "partial" pull ups - if I start straight in doing them right it feels like I'll strain the elbows.
#49
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I'm going to echo what others said. If everything is hurting as you say, particularly your joints and not just delayed onset muscle soreness, you probably need to change something.
Planet Fitness is a fine place for many people to go. Certainly, you can get a sufficient workout there in order to meet your fitness needs. But, having said that, their rules are sort of the lifting equivalent of making a cycling club and saying "no lycra allowed".
The one I joined doesn't allow people to drop the weights on the ground, grunt loudly while lifting, and it is about the furthest thing from a pick-up scene that I have ever seen. Everyone has to disinfect equipment after they touch it. They don't allow you to wear shorts south of the equator, so the plummers union is a bit miffed, but it makes for a nicer scene overall.
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I can recall a time when I worked up a nice amount of sweat on my shirt (wearing a t-shirt and shorts) from squatting while the person beside me constantly complained to her trainer that he was pushing her too hard. She was wearing a jacket (like a zip-up sweat shirt) on top of a regular shirt and sweat pants. There was not a drop of sweat on her so clearly, he wasn't pushing her enough.