Is anybody doing more physical exercise now than they were doing before? Or doing anything else to get fitter? I am, though it is hard.
I've about halved by alcohol consumption. Dodging beer is easy enough since the bars are closed. Dodging wine is somewhat more difficult.
I also now walk 7 miles four times a week as fast as I am able. This is the start of my third week. Though I am a little disappointed to find out that the fastest I can walk for 7 miles is 3.8mph. I'd have thought I'd have been better than that.
Still, it'll come I hope.
I was about 6kgs overweight (90kg versus 84kg at 6ft tall), I'm now about 4. Hopefully that will all gradually go away.
Other than my love of putting food in sandwiches I eat pretty healthily, so all I've done is cut down on the bread.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Mon 11 May 20 at 18:00
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I'm doing less I have to admit, I'd normally get away from work to go to the gym during the day probably 4 times a week either a run, circle or a circuit.
I've tried doing work outs on yt, Joe wicks or an insanity workout for example but it's not the same thing. So I've been sticking to running at the moment.
I'll try and get back into something a bit more intensive, been saying this for the last couple of weeks though!
Last edited by: sooty123 on Mon 11 May 20 at 18:46
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>>I'll try and get back into something a bit more intensive, been saying this for the last couple of weeks though!
i was put to visible shame by my cousin. I had little choice.
Both my daughters normally go to the gym 4 x 3 hours per week and Muay Thai fighting 3 x 3 hours per week and both are struggling, and failing, to maintain their usual level of fitness.
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I wish I had the time to do that long at the gym, although sloping off for over an hour a time isn't too shabby.
Anyone else on here do any online workouts?
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I'm doing the same as always, I'm still working so I get some exercise at that and both dogs get a good walk every day. It was supplemented by cycling up to the weekend when I sold the bike. I still have an old fixed gear bike attached to a turbo trainer in the garage but after ten minutes of that I'm ready to gouge my eyes out, indoor exercise not being for me which is why I'd never go near a gym.
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>>which is why I'd never go near a gym.
Not my thing either. Until about 4 years ago I did so much sport that I'd never in my life needed to think about either exercise, diet or drinking habits. I had lung problems at that time and couldn't do anything for quite a long time and then just failed to get back to it through idleness.
We can't travel any distance at the moment, but as soon as we can I'll be back to wind/kitesurfing with a vengeance. For the time being I've got running (hate it more than I can say) or walking. So walking it is.
I did try an online workout thing. I lost the will to live about 3 minutes in and it's unlikely that I'll give it a second go.
Some serious sea swimming is what I need.
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Our normal dog walking is off the agenda at the moment. We live in a spot on a hill which means that I can walk just over 3km uphill then downhill to the mainroad followed by a harsh uphill section (I'm used to that as it's my route home from the pub) three to four times a week - My 2 hours every two weeks at the Foodbank has now become a regular five day week, for instance I shifted 188 Kg of stuff yesterday and another 200kg this morning, so exercise is not an issue. My diet hasn't changed that much, we obviously eat out less (at least once if not twice a week in the previous normal) but the restaurant in the village does a cracking take-away - we indulge once a week. I don't drink in the week, but will knock back a few cans at the weekend. Since Christmas I've dropped from 82 to 76 kilos at Christmas my waist has gone from 34 to an easy 32 - no known underlying health conditions. I feel as good, if not better than I've felt in years. I sleep well.
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Good for you.
I wish I could find some kind of work equivalent to your foodbank efforts. That's what I need, a more physical lifestyle not forcing myself to do bouts of exercise.
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Normally I'd swim 1000m most evenings at a local leisure club, but of course that's not possible right now. I've replaced it with a 12 mile circuit on the bike, mostly on cycle paths, but it's pretty flat round here so not overly challenging. Dog gets his usual 4.5 mile walk in the mornings but that's about it. My back is suffering from the lack of swimming, an old injury that benefits from non load bearing excercise. Missing my weekend mountain biking too.
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>> Normally I'd swim 1000m most evenings at a local leisure club, but of course that's
>> not possible right now. I've replaced it with a 12 mile circuit on the bike,
>> mostly on cycle paths, but it's pretty flat round here so not overly challenging. Dog
>> gets his usual 4.5 mile walk in the mornings but that's about it.
>>
That's probably more than enough. I think we get in the mindset that we need to "Work out" to stay healthy, but a daily session of briskly stretching your legs for half hour or an hour does the trick for most people if it is combined with a reasonably healthy lifestyle.
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>>but a daily session of briskly stretching your legs for half hour or an hour
On which subject, what is a 'brisk' speed? Or fast or slow for that matter?
I walk 7 miles. I genuinely walk it as fast as I can. By the time I get back to the house I am very hot and very sweaty and my shins are killing me, so I thought I was doing well.
But then this morning I discover that I'm doing it at an average of 3.7 miles per hour, which has quite disappointed me. Especially since at the moment that is surely as fast as I can go.
My idea was that as soon as I got up to a reasonable speed I would then start extending the distance. Seems that might be more difficult than I thought.
It's quite up hill for about 1.5m, flat for about 1.5m, gentle downhill for 2.5m and then flat for 1.5m
What would be a good average speed goal? Anybody got any idea?
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I was always told 4 mph is a good pace to go at, although I never timed myself.
Only thing I can suggest is lengthen your stride right out, without doing your self an injury, see how you get on.
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>> lengthen your stride right out,
That's a thought, I'll do that. I haven't been paying attention to my stride. Thank you.
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>> >> lengthen your stride right out,
>>
>> That's a thought, I'll do that. I haven't been paying attention to my stride. Thank
>> you.
>>
No problem, most people don't. The taller you are the bigger the difference, it might be a bit odd at first and you might suddenly be aware of something you've never had to think about before but stick with it.
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>That's a thought, I'll do that. I haven't been paying attention to my stride. Thank you.
Joining the Ministry of Silly Walks?
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>>Joining the Ministry of Silly Walks?
This morning for the last couple of hundred metres, pretty much. Everything hurt and legs felt like jelly.
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>>Only thing I can suggest is lengthen your stride right out,
Sooty, a genius suggestion; focus on the stride and now 4.2 mph. (8 miles, 114mins)
It was hard, especially for the last mile, so I am sure I will get better and faster. I definitely owe you a beer for that one, thank you.
Properly cheered me up, I was quite frustrated before.
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Surprised no one had mentioned to you that you were mincing a bit previously...
;-)
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It does rather make me wonder, but then I'm not the most approachable type and since I don't like walking I probably look a bit cross.
We also have to wear masks so I probably look like a bad tempered outlaw angry because he's lost his horse.
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>> >>Only thing I can suggest is lengthen your stride right out,
I have a naturally long walking stride, my normal speed is 3 mph, my fast stride is about 4.2 as well.
Its a pain for competitive dog handling, the dog can prance by my side tightly at 3mph but not the long stride, so my normal dog pace is 3mph with a much shorter stride, the hips really swing with that one. Makes 90 degree and about turn much tighter too with a short stride.
My fast pace is a run to most people, dog copes with that, its fast but short stride. Slow pace is the trickiest for me and dog.
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>> >>Only thing I can suggest is lengthen your stride right out,
>>
>> Sooty, a genius suggestion; focus on the stride and now 4.2 mph. (8 miles, 114mins)
>>
>> It was hard, especially for the last mile, so I am sure I will get
>> better and faster. I definitely owe you a beer for that one, thank you.
>>
>> Properly cheered me up, I was quite frustrated before.
>>
Glad to help.
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>> >
>>
>> I walk 7 miles. I genuinely walk it as fast as I can. By the
>> time I get back to the house I am very hot and very sweaty and
>> my shins are killing me, so I thought I was doing well.
>>
>>
Seven miles is a good workout, I don't think the speed matters if you do the endurance and at 3.7 mph you are out for two hours which is good going.
If you want to up the speed cut the distance.
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>> If you want to up the speed cut the distance.
Ironically it's the first bit which is the hardest, uphill and noticeably so. I'll see if I can work out how much it rises.
But I guess that means I would be faster if I didn't do that first bit. I guess I need to get a Fitbit or similar.
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There is a great app for walking called Viewranger. It uses your GPS to track your route, speed, altitude etc and records the walk. Here and in Portugal it has maps which are pshow about 8-0% of usab;e and "legal" footpaths.byways etc. it is good for route planning too, and (probably more here than in Chile!) you can browse routes other people have made in your area.
www.viewranger.com
There are other similar apps but I keep coming back to that one. I'd be interested to know whether it works in Chile!
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I'm doing very badly with the pedometers I've tried do far, though Google Fit seems to give me a reasonably accurate guess. Some of the others though were awful.
However Viewranger sounds great, I'll give it a go and let you know.
Edit; just downloaded it, seems to work fine, will let you know after tomorrow's walk. M.
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Just went for a little amble with the girls so thought I'd try it.
Time, speed and distance all seem correct and pretty much the same as Google Fit. Though it was only 1.5 miles so not a huge test.
It doesn't measure steps which is a pity, since that interests me.
It does record elevation change which interests me also but I don't quite understand what it is telling me.
It is very accurate on the walk route, even reflecting me wandering into a forecourt to look at a car.
We walked a circular route to one would expect net elevation change to be 0ft. But it said total ascent 61ft and total descent 59ft. Only 2ft, but still. Though now I think about it perhaps I didn't start and stop it in the same place.
It also shows both GPS elevation and map elevation which are different. In particular changes seem much more extreme on the GPS elevation - but I'm not really sure how it'd measure that anyway - signal delay?
It is a bit naggy about me buying the Paid Version.
I shall use both it and Google Fit tomorrow, and see where I get to.
Thanks for the suggestion.
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I guess it's mreo a walkers aid than a fitness tool hence no steps. A previous version of Android had step counting built into the OS but I can't see it on my phone now. Maybe I don't have the right sensor.
I've always assumed it is the most accurate for distance but ISTR we both put it on for one walk and the distance was slightly different.
Does it show you footpaths and tracks, so you can plan a route? (Better done on a PC screen than phone).
You can also share your routes, either publicly or just between friends. Maybe not a lot of use to you over there but we found some routes in Portugal doing that (again that's something I do on the PC).
I don't see an nag screens, not in normal use anyway. I read that it was set up and initially run by a husband and wife team but a US company took them over 6 - 8 months ago. I've not noticed much change since then but I guess they will be trying to monetise it.
Last edited by: smokie on Tue 12 May 20 at 08:40
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Went out for my 8miles this morning. I know it's 8.01 miles because I've measured it a number of ways. Irritatingly ViewRanger thinks it's 7.91miles. I don't know why that would be, it's got the route exactly correct.
Interestingly it says I walked up 256ft in the first mile. Doesn't sound like much really and I'm a bit surprised it hurts so much.
It does show footpaths and previously walked tracks, which I might well give a go in the mountains. Though I'm walking for fitness rather than enjoying it (I don't) so it will depend on daughter driven enthusiasm.
It is a good App though, a good recommendation.
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FM2R, 256 ft in a mile is almost a 5% gradient. In the far off days when gyms were open I used to use a treadmill. Each 1% of increased gradient I put in had an effect on heart rate and effort.
And thats on a controlled surface with constant gradient, add in the vagaries of a real track and once you get to 5% it’s certainly felt.
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If I want to record a walk on my mobile, whether in the UK or Spain, I use Wikiloc. As do several friends. It records ‘Your Trails’ which you can then save. It records distance, average walking speed and moving time, total time, elevation gain and loss, maximum and minimum elevation, trail type ( loop or linear). You can then name the trail, add your difficulty rating, route description, add photos and share with friends. It also has a useful graph showing up down up down !
It’s a free app. At least I can’t recall paying for it
Please post feedback if you, or anyone else here, decides to download and use it for your walking adventures. However exciting they may be.
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Stuck it on my phone and will try it out - but I'm fairly commited to Viewranger just because it holds a couple of years history of my walks (more teh routes than the fact that I actually completed them!!).
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The Pedometer app on my iPhone give me miles, steps and how many floors? I have ascended - don't know why.
The free Strava app gives more information than you could want or need - distance, speed, time, PBs and PRs (what's the difference?) section names(?), your ranking on that section, and more.
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I'm struggling to exercise as I should.
Up to 2013 and working in London the combination of biking from Euston to the office and vv plus lunchtime perambulations on foot kept me OK.
Subsequently driving to work and the proximity of Greggs to the office made a breakfast roll, pastry or bread pudding plus lunchtime sandwich and then evening meal plus wine/beer at home too tempting.
Became aware that having had trouser waists creep from 28 up to 34 in 30 years I was close to 36. Health check with GP put my weight at 10 stones when I'd been 8 1/2 to 9 for years.
Took to biking the last mile and half to office leaving car at edge of town and restricting to once a day at Greggs got me under control.
Still only eating twice a day while WFH but really need to get out more.
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>Took to biking the last mile and half to office leaving car at edge of town
I think you said before but I don't remember what you said, how far is it work -> home for you?
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Walking speed.
My iphone didnt show steps. Too old. When it failed at the end of last year i bought a dreaded Huawei, and that does. I also bought a 27 quid watch thing to go with it, mostly for checking my terrible sleep patterns.
They work very well, and for our daily walk record the usual stuff like cadence, heart rate, speed, and maps of the route clearly and graph it all over time.
Anyway, we don't walk very hard, just wander along. And we do between 3 and 3.5 mph without trying much. My resting heart rate is usually about 62, and gets to about 115 max when walking, sometimes, whatever that means, though its mostly nearer 100. So not exactly maxing out.
If i do a quick sanity check using time out and the known distance we are walking then that seems about right for speed.
It is completely flat here of course.
On the plus side we have discovered a whole bunch of pleasant local walks we had no idea existed, including one to the back of a big nature reserve, so cuckoos and marsh harriers and so forth last week.
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>>It is completely flat here of course.
Jist as well ewe don't live in Cornwall!!
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We've done the coast to coast, chunks of the Lake District, Peak District, Yorkshire and Scotland (and many others) over the last few years. Nothing prepared us for the 100 odd miles of the South West Coast Path we did last year. Started at Minehead. Not very high, but just goes on and on and on, up, down, up, down...
It was brilliant but we were doing nearer 2.5mph over that terrain over a whole day. Certainly slower than the coast to coast. Have to come back for the remaining 600 miles - we didn't even get to Cornwall.
Then there's the new "England coast path", at whatever it is, couple of thousand miles?
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I walked the SWCP several years ago (2006) in 3 chunks spread over 15 months. Part of my recuperation programme after a serious medical incident. It almost gave me another!
I’m used to ‘roughing it’ so backpacked with ultra light gear with the occasional night under a roof when the weather turned foul. When I did it, it was the only UK National Trail over 1k Kms. May still be.
I flew down to Bristol from Leeds, train to Taunton then bus to Minehead. Poured with rain so my first night was in Sea View B & B in Porlock. Things improved after that inauspicious start.
I strongly recommend you join the SWCP Association. They give you a complete annually updated guide with recommended days walking, listing ascent, distance, time etc plus a comprehensive accommodation list in the back. I also bought their ‘Log Book’ which also gives recommended days, one page per day for dates and notes of that day’s journey. Enjoy.
Summer 2018 I backpacked the Pembrokeshire CP over 2 weeks.Much less up n down, quieter but stunning scenery. I’m continuing my Wales Coast Path journey, starting with the Ceredigion Way, as soon as possible this year. Ruddy marvellous and exceeded all my expectations.
Presumably you are using the Cicerone guide book ?..more info than the SWCP Association book but I carried both and dumped other kit to keep the weight down.
Happy trails
Last edited by: legacylad on Tue 12 May 20 at 11:15
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Bless you, LL, but your idea of walking isn't quite the same as ours. We're much too wussy for all that organisation and backpacking malarkey. I did that on the Ridgeway when I was 12 and thought that was enough of that, thank you. Especially when I got to the first night's tent, and discovered I'd spent six weeks paring down every ounce in the pack, but unknown to me my darling mum had packed a six pack of glass jam jars and my slippers.
No, we ring one of the trail companies when we do these things, often Mickledore, and say "we want to walk this trail on these dates, please give us an upgrade to the best available accommodation on the last night as a reward, off you go".
Then they do all the legwork, work it out, arrange with the first night's B&B some parking for the duration, we walk the thing in nice daily chunks, carrying only a coat and a sandwich, a luggage humping carrier picks up the cases and moves them to the B&Bs, often to the actual room, then finally a taxi from the last door back to the start point, usually after a very nice hotel and meal.
It's probably a hundred times more than you would pay for the same thing, but for me, it's a hundred less times hassle sorting it out and I enjoy it a hundred times more than I would otherwise.
So we get the appropriate maps and books in the deal. I can't remember which we got for that path. When we walked around the Isle of Wight coast path we mostly worked on the theory that if the sea was on your right you'd not be far off.
I appreciate, of course, you will never speak to me again.
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Heck no Crankcase. I think it’s marvellous that we have the health and opportunity to get out there and do it. The views and weather are the same. Some of my best long distance walking friends, we’re currently 2/3 of the way along the Southern Upland Way, prefer a luxurious hotel wherever possible at day’s end. Personally, conditions permitting, I’d much rather be in my tarptent, listening to the nighttime sounds on a wild camp after dining on ginger nuts rather than being in a smart hotel restaurant. They shudder at the idea of sleeping in a tent, but we rub along just fine and our mutual love of walking and the outdoors makes us good companions.
Each to their own.
Give me my small tent anytime over mountain huts with snoring and trumping all night, or a bothy with mice scuttling around. Once inside my goose down sleeping pit I’m soon in the arms of Morpheus.
Last edited by: legacylad on Tue 12 May 20 at 22:24
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==>I walked the SWCP several years ago .. over 1k Kms .. Summer 2018 I backpacked the Pembrokeshire CP
No wonder yoos got a dodgy hip leglad, knowlmean.
I managed 'to do' the SWCP last year ... from my bed:
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0793GXSBL/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
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Thanks for reminding me. I bought it, read it, lent it to someone and never got it back. Same person I lent Cannery Row to, one of my favourite shorts reads.
No idea who I lent them to!
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Neither a borrower or a lender be ~ I speak from experience!
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Anyone else on here do any online workouts?
>>
If anyone is interested in them, I can recommend this one, it's a pretty good workout.
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/52480996
Last edited by: sooty123 on Tue 12 May 20 at 15:17
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>> Anyone else on here do any online workouts?
>> >>
>>
>> If anyone is interested in them, I can recommend this one, it's a pretty good
>> workout.
>>
>>
>> www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/52480996
An excellent way to spend the last 40 minutes of my life. And it probably would be.
I think i need to get a bit fitter before I try that.
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I use a Withings (Nokia) watch. Its the only one that looks and works like a proper wear anywhere smart watch - A watch you can tell the time instantly. Yet does steps, fitness routines, heart rate, exercise times - pairs with phone GPS+google maps for an accurate walked/run/cycled route, Pairs with phone for text/email/phone alerts.
And because its primarily a watch, its always on your arm, even on nights out because it looks smart. The battery life is superb, A 14 day holiday on one charge is easy. Fully waterproof.
(oh they make scales as well that link to your withings phone app)
And its not dear in the scheme of things
www.withings.com/uk/en/steel-hr-sapphire-signature?
I cant praise the thing high enough
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 12 May 20 at 19:18
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Haven't heard of those before, and I am quite into watches. I had a Google - of course - and found this tinyurl.com/yaxqwktb a bit cheaper and, how shall I say, a rather more rugged dial.
I might get one to add to the collection.
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>> I use a Withings (Nokia) watch. .
.
.
.
.
.
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>> www.withings.com/uk/en/steel-hr-sapphire-signature?
>>
>> I cant praise the thing high enough
>>
That looks pretty good. How tightly do you have to wear it?
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Not excessively, I replaced the neoprene band with a leather one. I was wearing it yesterday while in hospital and my obs were being taken, and the heart rate detector is pretty much bang on.
Cant vouch for the accuracy of steps, as all watches have variable inertia sensors, but with the press of a button it will link to your phone and clone its GPS.
I love it because its the only watch you need and can wear 24x7 in all circumstances.
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My Fitbit has just expired - needless to say just out of 24months warranty :( and I had been looking for a replacement. Not sure that that style, and nights out are a real consideration when you are over 70 - funeral wear maybe? However having looked at the Withings site I became interested, until I looked at the specfications! 13mm thick! You might as well start wearing a blood pressure cuff on your arm as well.
I suppose if you have previously been wearing heavy weight mechanical bling, encrusted with Premier League or drug dealer diamonds you may not notice it.
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>> having looked at the Withings site I became interested, until I looked at the specfications!
>> 13mm thick!
All "smart" watches are thick, specially those with heart rate sensors, in use it looks and feels nothing like a blood pressure cuff. It looks much more discrete than an Iwatch or a gear and no worse than any Fitbit.
>> I suppose if you have previously been wearing heavy weight mechanical bling, encrusted with Premier
>> League or drug dealer diamonds you may not notice it.
whatever .
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I stand corrected, without resorting to using the micrometer my old Charge2 measures 12mm on the HR sensor, but that is only in the area of about 10mmx7mm.
Is the Withing 13mm thick over the entire face area, or does it have an HR monitor 'hump' - I might still be tempted.
Last edited by: sherlock47 on Wed 13 May 20 at 08:29
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It has the "hump", designed to compress the skin layer a bit as they all have to to work. On a flat wrist its 8-9mm thick from skin layer, the sensor is a 12mm diameter circle.
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An excellent way to spend the last 40 minutes of my life. And it probably
>> would be.
>>
>> I think i need to get a bit fitter before I try that.
>>
Yes it's probably not a beginner one but you'd be surprised how quickly you'll get there if you stick with them.
I know a few people said they didn't like indoor exercise but those type of videos can get you pretty fit surprisingly quickly.
I have to admit I had to drop to kneeling press ups for the last set, he just breezed through them, mind you he is a PL footballer!
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Exercise in the current situation - sooty123
