What was Your Workout Today?

[FIREd]

Only walked 31 miles and climbed 640 ft this week. Felt a bit under the weather early in the week.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DFW_M5 Wonder how Ranger training compares to Seals?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemo2 I read Couch's Chosen Soldier.......those guys don't sit around either.

I've read all of Couch's books. He's become the default expert on this training-- nobody else has earned the access.

To my uneducated view, I think Ranger & SEAL training are about the same. SEALs work much harder on upper-body strength and cold-water endurance while Rangers work much harder on whole-body strength and long marches with full packs. Both have their weapons skills. Both have their mission skills. Both train to excess on fighting hurt & fatigued, which is a good thing.

Both could improve each other's training by borrowing techniques from each other. I'm impressed with the Ranger's peer-review system and their formal boards at the end of the training. I'm impressed with the SEAL emphasis on competitiveness ("It pays to be a winner") and individual initiative. But both communities could probably debate their training effectiveness for hours.

The good news is that both communities seem to work well together in combat... and that's due to lots of training together, too.

It's interesting that the Ranger instructors say "Our swim test shows which soldiers grew up playing in the swimming pool and which ones grew up playing around the fire hydrant" and "Our peer review system shows which soldiers grew up playing organized sports (with adult referees) and which ones grew up with their own sandlot pick-up games."

I need to sit down with my cousin the Army Ranger (as of June, a veteran pursuing a civilian career) and see how his experiences match Couch's opinions.

Dick Couch describes a concept that I've been fumbling to explain to my daughter: mental toughness. It's the difference between a freakishly brilliant student who breezes through school with a 4.00+ GPA and no real effort versus one who has to spend hours on extra instruction & study while scrabbling for every point they can wring out of homework, projects, and tests... and then grumbles about a 3.20. You can guess which category surrounds my daughter on campus, and which category she's feeling a little discouraged to be in.

[Mulligan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DFW_M5 I would try some light dumbells coupled with elastic tubing work. I have the same issue with my right shoulder (torn cuff, but never repaired). I started out light and with that work it did get stronger, but probably will never be like it was in my younger years.

I am a big fan of using the elastic tubing. Great resistance workouts and maintains my flexibility. My body and ego had to have a discussion about weightlifting. The body won. The lifting was taking a toll on my body joints. Now I lift just for tone and maintenance. The ganglion cysts I got on my wrists were the final straw. Fortunately they went away. I thought it was a tumor or something. Never had heard of them but they were disgusting looking. Glad they are gone.

[easysurfer]

Was going to go for a bicyle ride but instead spent the morning and afternoon taking my car to the shop.

I did end of having to leave the car overnight and hike back home a few miles by foot...so that was my workout!

[Nords]

Surfing this morning, making sure that conditions are good for a friend who wants a lesson on Wednesday morning. It took me a couple hours to make sure everything looked OK.

No taekwondo tonight... a friend is having troubles with her sprinkler controller, and I think it's because none of us have the programming instructions. I found a copy on the Internet so now I'm ready to try this again.

[Gotadimple]

Swam this morning - 1.2 KM in 48 minutes. A little slower than usual, but I'm ready to add 2 more laps to the 24 I swam this morning, as my arms don't feel as tired at the end of the session.

-- Rita

[packrat44]

12 oz curls. Have to build those arm muscles.

[Rambler]

3+ mile run (30 min) followed by a mile walk to "cool down"...except there was no cooling down to be had. The temp at 6:30 this morning in Tokyo was already about 84, with about 94% humidity. The air felt thick enough to need a knife to cut thru it. Followed that with 6 miles on the bike.

R

[Nords]

Spouse and I were total slugs today. Blew off taekwondo last night, blew off our calisthenics workout today.

I broke a slight sweat about 6 PM pruning some branches off a bush.

At least I'm going surfing tomorrow...

[H2ODude]

In response to plantar fasciitis from running, acquired a great used mountain bike (specialized epic) and took it out for my first trail ride this morning. I gave up road biking from car danger and too many reports of people being killed/maimed. Now I can go out and break bones but hopefully not get squished! I had a blast out there!

[Koogie]

Soooo... this one will be a little different. Went to do my weekly hill workout today (6 x 400m) and the river ravine where I normally do it was blocked off by about 150 cops due to the discovery of a human foot in the river yesterday.. they were searching the valley and the media circus was in full swing.... if EVER there was an excuse not to workout, this would have been it. But, went to my old backup hill and knocked them out.. actually blew away my old times.. must have forgotten to pay the Gravity Bill again.. ha

[W2R]

How awful, Koogie! Glad you got your workout in, despite everything. That must have been so disconcerting, to say the least.

Yesterday I did my usual workout, 19.1 tons. For some reason it seemed lots harder than usual, but my heart rate monitor told me I wasn't working any harder. I have been feeling a little under the weather the past few days, so that was probably why it was so hard. But anyway, I still managed to lift every weight in my routine. A couple of people at the gym noticed how much I was lifting and complimented me, which was a big ego boost and very motivating.

[MBAustin]

Doing my workout vicariously by reading this thread today

I got new walking shoes on Friday. Wore them for my normal 2 miles on Monday with no problem, but on Tuesday I realized after about 3/4 mile that I had a blister on my left heel. Decided to tough it out and walked back home at my normal quick pace. Bad mistake - blister ripped open and the skin pulled off when I took off my socks.

I did manage my yoga class yesterday, but even with a bandage on it hurt too much to put on my shoes. Fortunately I can wear my Birkenstocks everywhere I go until it heals a bit more.

Really feel like a slug from missing my morning walk.

[W2R]

Ow, that sounds so painful, MBAustin. I hope those walking shoes can be broken in so that they don't continue to cause blisters like that. Good idea to focus on your yoga right now and skip the walking temporarily.

I love my Birkenstocks! But I can't go on long walks in them, either.

[golfnut]

Figured out my workout tonnage - 17.1 tons 3 x a week over 12 machines. In addition to this :

-power walk on treadmill for 3 to 4 miles (worth about 500 calories).

- sixty sit-ups

- 24 shoulder exercises with light weights (10 lbs)

- bunch of stretches for back and legs

In total , takes about 2 hours to complete.

Been at it for about 8 months. My goal is to lose 35 pounds. Lost 18 somewhat quickly then gave up smoking and gained 3 back. Looks like I need to ramp up the treadmill and cut out the junk food to lose more lbs.

One thing I have noticed - increased distance with driver!

Golfnut

[Nords]

"Vigorous yardwork".

I think I'm finally getting ahead of the growth curve.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords "Vigorous yardwork". I think I'm finally getting ahead of the growth curve.

Good luck on that one.

My house had many lush, lovely, tropical looking banana trees in the back yard when I bought it. Unbeknownst to me at that time, banana trees grow like wildfire here and would take over the world if allowed to grow without cutting them back frequently. I never had time to relax in the back yard, because it took so much time to keep them cut back. After years of weekend "banana tree enslavement", a.k.a. vigorous yardwork, I managed to get rid of them with the kind assistance of a helpful neighbor. My back yard now has nothing but grass.

It's wonderful to have my weekends back...

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R My house had many lush, lovely, tropical looking banana trees in the back yard when I bought it. Unbeknownst to me at that time, banana trees grow like wildfire here and would take over the world if allowed to grow without cutting them back frequently. I never had time to relax in the back yard, because it took so much time to keep them cut back. After years of weekend "banana tree enslavement", a.k.a. vigorous yardwork, I managed to get rid of them with the kind assistance of a helpful neighbor. My back yard now has nothing but grass.

Been there, done that with two houses. They're about the only tropical fruit that we don't grow in our yard.

Our tenant has planted his own, which of course have become five or six. We joke that he'll have to take them with him when he leaves, but of course I'm going to have to figure out a way to kill the roots. Probably involving C-4.

Those roots are a big dig to get out, no? The second time we just cut off the sprinkler water for about six months.

Mango trees are starting to get on my hit list, too, but the key appears to be having them grow at the downhill edge of the property on the side of a steep gulch. I'm afraid that those trees will last longer than me...

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Been there, done that with two houses. They're about the only tropical fruit that we don't grow in our yard. Our tenant has planted his own, which of course have become five or six. We joke that he'll have to take them with him when he leaves, but of course I'm going to have to figure out a way to kill the roots. Probably involving C-4. Those roots are a big dig to get out, no? The second time we just cut off the sprinkler water for about six months.

One of the reasons they grow so fast here is that we get over 60" of rain a year, from the sky.... I do not even own a hose, or sprinkler. It only took them two or three months to grow fifteen feet high, with all that water.

As for the roots, I tried salt, digging them up to the extent that I could, and pouring Roundup directly on the roots, but still had no luck. I had several hundred of them, which was part of tha problem. My wonderful neighbor finally did it for me with digging and then tremendous quantities of Roundup and whatever else he had in his storage shed. My back yard probably qualifies as an EPA Superfund site with all those chemicals, but it was worth it to get rid of the banana trees. They never came back. What a perfect neighbor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Mango trees are starting to get on my hit list, too, but the key appears to be having them grow at the downhill edge of the property on the side of a steep gulch. I'm afraid that those trees will last longer than me...

Thank goodness I do not have mangos! They give me mango rash, too.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by golfnut Figured out my workout tonnage - 17.1 tons 3 x a week over 12 machines. In addition to this : -power walk on treadmill for 3 to 4 miles (worth about 500 calories). - sixty sit-ups - 24 shoulder exercises with light weights (10 lbs) - bunch of stretches for back and legs In total , takes about 2 hours to complete. Been at it for about 8 months. My goal is to lose 35 pounds. Lost 18 somewhat quickly then gave up smoking and gained 3 back. Looks like I need to ramp up the treadmill and cut out the junk food to lose more lbs. One thing I have noticed - increased distance with driver! Golfnut

Woo-hoo! Great workout, golfnut.