Content tagged with [fitness] on DuncanMackenzie.net

The 1% Incline Treadmill Myth

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 20:08:00 GMT

I read an interesting and well researched article about treadmill running vs. outdoor running... The 1% Incline Treadmill Myth, and I certainly agree with the conclusion that air resistance has little or no effect on a runner at relatively low speeds (compared to world-class runners that is). I do find running outside harder though, for a few reasons... one is that the ground is generally less forgiving than the treadmills I use at the Pro Club, and two is that in my part of the world... there is really no such thing as a 'flat' course. Even the simplest 3 mile loop around my area generally has about 150 ft down and 150 ft up .... and that is on roads that barely seem to be inclined at all to the eye.

For me, I normally have been running at 0%, but lately I've been experimenting with a variety of paces and inclines, I ran two miles last week at 5% for example... I feel it will do nothing but help my speed/endurance on relatively flat courses.

My weight loss results after 20 weeks

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 09:44:00 GMT

In September of last year I signed up for the 20/20 program at the Pro Club, a 25 week weight-loss program that includes personal training, dietitian appointments and even group therapy (yay!). Well, I'm pretty much wrapped up on the program, and a few weeks ago they had me in to take measurements and a photo... they took a photo at the beginning as well, so we end up with the classic before and after comparision.

Overall I lost 30 pounds, but that is only one number... I dropped six inches around my waist (so none of my pants fit), my bad cholesterol went down, my good cholesterol went up... blood pressure dropped... nothing but good stuff.

I'll be posting some other details over time, about the program and about what I'm doing now for exercise and diet, but if you're interested in specific details about anything, just post a comment to let me know.

Ran my first 5K race today...

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 08:10:00 GMT

Back in the summer I jumped back into fitness by signing up for the 20/20 program at the Pro Club. 20/20 is a serious weight loss program that involves both diet change (I'd characterize it as South Beach in style) and five workouts a week (including three with a personal trainer). Well, it has been quite successful so far, bringing my weight down from around 189 to about 160 over the past 5 months, and it has had the side affect of getting me back into running.

I've been running off and on for a long time, but ever since I put on a bunch of weight, I've never really felt like I could run all that fast or for very long. (Depending on your own running experience, I still can't run very fast or for very long, but it is all relative) Now, I've been running three or four miles a day, five days a week and my pace has been steadily improving. So with that feeling of increased confidence, I signed up for a 5K race this weekend, the Valentine's Love 'em or Leave 'em at Greenlake.

It was quite an experience for me, I had never run a race like this before and I really wasn't prepared for the number of people who running at the same time. Thirteen hundred people, that's a lot of post-race bananas.

It was amazingly organized, considering, and the start went really smooth (as far as I know... first time doing this), it only took about 30 seconds after the 'gun' to cross the actual start line... not bad, considering how many people were in front of me.

My finish time was 27:45, which was a bit disappointing, I had expected the competition would kick my speed up so that I could at least match the time I've been getting on the treadmill lately (I ran 3 miles in around 26 minutes a few days before), but I ended up running a very consistent nine minute mile (8:56) on each of the three miles. I think the real problem was that I didn't end up doing much of a final kick, I really should have jumped my speed up for that last mile. Overall though, I did run for the full 5K, I set a time close to what I expected, and now I have a 'baseline' to compare against for the next one.

SportsDo - GPS based activity tracking

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 20:35:00 GMT

My previous post about the Nike+ system left me searching for a similar solution for non-iPod users... without a lot of luck, but Mark let me know about http://www.sportsdo.net, which is very cool. This site/software uses any GPS enabled Windows Mobile device to produce some useful info about your activity (running, skiing, whatever). I'm interested and I'll probably enjoy using it, but it isn't really going to compete with the Nike+ system for two reasons: The first reason is that GPS isn't a great solution for this type of use, especially for someone (me) who does at least half their runs on a treadmill... (hmm... the software seems to think I haven't moved...), and secondly there is the question of the device. I'm not planning to carry my Moto Q with me while I run, it is too big. Even the smallest Windows Mobile device (that I know of) isn't really meant to be used while running, and I doubt many such devices come with an armband :)

Still, it is neat... perhaps if I would be willing to wear a 'fanny pack', I wouldn't mind stashing the Q in there.

Nike+ actually makes me consider an iPod

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 21:44:00 GMT

If you know me, or read my blog much, you'll probably gather that I've fully bought into the WMA/WMV world. I've always been a bit annoyed at the iPod model of things as well... I mean, seriously, you can only use iTunes with iPods and iPods with iTunes... talk about crazy... people need choice, who wants to be locked into one music player or one music store?!?

Of course, I don't get to rant about that anymore, now that we are doing the exact same thing with Zune... I don't like it any better just because we are doing it, but I've decided that I must be in the minority and that most consumers must not really care about being locked into a single store/brand.

Anyway, the long and short of this is that I would never consider an iPod, all of my media is firmly sitting in the Windows Media world. I have an Xbox 360, a Media Center PC, a Portable Media Center device, a Zune, an iRiver Clix and my wife has a Napster-to-go subscription. Yep, I'm in the Windows Media world alright.

But then I see this, and I really want it. I've been writing down my run distances and times onto a piece of paper for the past two weeks, and now I was going to find some form of online log to input them into... and my search brought me to the very fancy NikeRunning.com site. And from there, I ended up viewing NikePlus.com ... bugger!

I don't think I can do it, it would end up being just for running, and that is an expensive package just to run with... but it is very tempting.

Yay Vegetables!

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 19:59:00 GMT

Having finished my first week in the 20/20 weight loss program, and having lost 5lbs (or 2.7% of my weight, to put it in more relative terms), they've graciously allowed me to add veggies back in. Not too much of course, but a couple of cups of lettuce go a long ways towards making a chicken breast seem like a real meal.

Began a serious weight-loss program last week

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 17:20:00 GMT

I've talked about losing weight before, and I managed to lose a fair bit via the South Beach diet about a year and a half ago, but my weight recently started creeping up again and I decided to do something 'big' to get on the right track (which is something I've considered before). So, on Tuesday of last week I had my official first appointment with a dietitian as part of the 20/20 program at the Pro Club, which included a weigh-in :) .

As of that day (9/26) I weighed in at 185lbs, and I entered into a program with a goal weight of around 160. For 15 weeks, plus another 12 weeks of 'maintenance', I'm being led through a pretty structured exercise and eating plan to permanently modify my behaviour and therefore my weight. Since that Tuesday I've been limited to 5 meal replacement shakes a day along with two 6oz servings of lean protein (chicken for me, but there is a wide variety of choices that fall under the lean category). At the same time I've been working out with a personal trainer three times a week, and twice more on my own.

Overall, my calories in have been reduced to around 1400-1500 per day, while my output has been greatly increased due to the exercise sessions (I exercised 4 or 5 times a week on my own, but not at the same level of intesity). Less in, more out... should work out well.

Fun times... it is hard to explain how much you start looking forward to vegetables (I think I get veggies in week 2!).

Feeling like it is time to get rid of the flab...

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 15:17:00 GMT

Last year I managed to go from 205-ish down to around 175 … just by following the South Beach Diet and working out more consistently (shooting for 5 days a week, generally hit 4 at least)… but then I switched jobs to work on a new project (http://on10.net, a site that has featured Chris a few times) and totally fell off the wagon. Now I’m 187 (for months I’ve been putting 180 into the treadmill, but I actually weighed myself Monday night) and I’m really depressed about it. I’m actually thinking it is responsible for a general down-turn in my whole mood, about just about everything, so I think I need to do something about it.

By BMI terms, I believe I need to be 150 pounds (and yes, I know the BMI isn’t always right, etc... but it is a pretty good measure for most folks I think) and that is a fair ways down there. I attended an informational meeting today about the 20/20 program that I can join at our local health club (http://proclub.com/default.aspx?tabid=673) and I’m considering it… insurance will cover most of it, but it is still going to cost me around $2000 dollars, something I don’t really have at the moment. Funny thing is, if I lose some weight on my own I'll fall below the BMI # required to get my health insurance to cover any of the program and the cost will go way up (wouldn't that be silly... lose some weight while thinking about the program and end up ineligible :) ).

Hmph...

Atari CEO: No PS3 games before 2007 - Joystiq

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 04:01:00 GMT

I was surprised early to hear that God of War II was a PS2 game... and now this? I think it just the price that is scaring developers... scary to develop for a console that seems out of the price range of your target audience. I say "seems" because despite my own (biased) negative thoughts about the PS3, I expect it to be a pretty impressive machine... one that quite a few people will pick up. I do agree with other people's predictions that it will lag behind the 360, the $$ will see to that, but I don't think anyone expects it to flop...

I don't think I'll end up getting a PS2 though, as tempting as it is at the low-low refurbished prices you can find it at now; the idea was to pick up a used one and an EyeToy and then try to lose some weight playing Kinetic... but all that work for one game seems like a bad idea. Instead I need to find some way to do some mild exercise while playing any game on my 360. It wouldn't be instead of my normal exercise routine, but every little bit counts. A recumbent exercise bike seems like a possible solution, although I don't think my wife wants one in our living room.

Another 'episode' by me is up on 10

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 23:40:00 GMT

Yesterday my segment on Heart Rate Monitors went up onto on10.net, featuring a new monitor from Polar and the cool EnterTrainer product... check out the video to learn more!

Oh, and unlike some of the comments suggested, lifting up my shirt on camera is embarassing... and yet, I did it twice on camera!!

Lacing your running shoes... via animated gifs

Wed, 22 Jun 2005 20:40:00 GMT

When my brother took me to buy running shoes a few years ago, he made a point of showing me a couple of ways to lace them up based on the fit I needed... but over time I forgot, and now I have new shoes... luckily for me, the web saves the day (like usual) and I found this on the new balance site: Lacing for Better Fit

Article about the use of glucosamine and chondroitin for joint pain...

Mon, 20 Jun 2005 15:29:00 GMT

I used to get knee pain all the time, just walking down stairs would cause quite an ache, but after I dropped some weight that went away... now it seems that pounding my legs onto the pavement over and over again is firing it back up again, and it is getting bad enough that I'm feeling reluctant to run as often as I have been. Seeing me limp my way down the stairs into the changing room, someone that I was running with mentioned glucosamine, saying that it really helps repair the damaged 'stuff' that is leading to the discomfort when I run down large hills. Well, I have no idea if it works or not, but a bit of searching turned up a fairly detailed article about these supplements that makes them seem like a pretty good idea. I haven't picked any up yet, but if I do I'll let you know how it works out...

my first fitness 'Boot Camp' ends, and another begins...

Sat, 28 May 2005 04:21:00 GMT

Back at the start of April, I signed up for a group fitness class at the pro club, the "Boot Camp" ... a twice-weekly (for two months) running-focused outdoor workout that was supposedly modeled after real military training. Well, it wasn't anything like what I remembered from going through basic training with the Canadian Military, but I don't think anyone in the class would have actually wanted that. Paying to have people yell at you is something that only a small group of people enjoy.

Anyway, even without the yelling, it was quite the workout for me... considering I haven't run any real distance over a block or two since the aforementioned basic training (15+ years ago I think). We started out with short runs of 1 mile to a nearby park where we did a pile of sprints, pushups, situps, pull-ups, dips, etc... then did some hill repeats and finally ran the mile back to the club. Every session after that first one the runs got longer, involving more hills, more sprinting, etc... and every single class seemed to completely kill me... eventually getting up to 4-5 miles (with sprints and/or a workout in the middle of that distance). Sure, I was improving, but the runs were increasing as well so it never really felt like I was doing better. We ended up repeating some of the harder runs though, as the two months were drawing to a close, and they definitely felt a lot easier. Finally, on the last day of the course, we did a two mile timed run and various other fitness tests... all of which we had done on the second day of the course as well. I'm still really slow, but the improvement was quite nice to see... I improved by 20% across the board, in both the resistance training (push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups) and in the running (running the 2 miles in 24.15 the first time, and 19.45 the second time). Still not a good time for a mile (9:22 ish), but I'm not planning on running any races soon and running a mile in around 9 minutes is a lot better than around 12.

Was it worth it? You bet... I would never run that often, that hard, or that far without other people running next to me. For that reason alone, the motivation, I decided to sign-up for the next two months of sessions as well. I almost didn't, because all this extra running above my normal workouts has left me quite tired all week, and leaves little time for anything else (like late-night blogging, writing, or coding)... but the more runs I get in as part of the group, the easier I think it will be to keep it up on my own after this next 2-month session ends.

Wearing "sporty" clothes today...

Thu, 07 Apr 2005 13:31:00 GMT

And I'm not trying to be casual... stupid thing is, I went for a run on Monday as part of a "Boot Camp" group fitness program, and it was probably my longest run in the last 12 years... and now my foot is just killing me when I put on my normal shoes. Turns out, when I put my running shoes back on it feels fine, but I'm not a fan of wearing running shoes with my regular work clothes so I went all out today and put on track pants and a T-shirt (along with my comfortable shoes, of course). Likely, my co-workers will just assume I ran out of clean clothes :)

Interesting quote from an essay on body image

Tue, 01 Mar 2005 05:06:00 GMT

I was searching the web for details on how best to take all the various body measurements that is a standard part of any personal training program, when my search brought me to this essay.

Girls are indoctrinated at a very young age that Barbie is how a woman is supposed to look (i.e. no fat anywhere on your body, but huge breasts). NOTE: If Barbie were life-size, she would stand 5’9” and weigh 110 lb. (only 76% of what is considered a healthy weight for her height). Her measurements would be 39-18-33, and she would not menstruate due to inadequate levels of fat on her body. Similarly, boys are given the impression that men naturally have muscles bulging all over their bodies. Take a look at their plastic action-figures (like GI Joe Extreme) in toy stores. If GI Joe Extreme were life-size, he would have a 55-inch chest and a 27-inch bicep. In other words, his bicep would be almost as big as his waist and bigger than most competitive body builders’. These body ideals are reinforced every day on TV shows, movies, magazine covers, and even video games.

I get to play with action figures more than I used to, having a 4-year old son, and my wife and I are often amused at the contrasting body shapes of the male and female power rangers (the guys have ab muscles that seem to actually stick out through their uniforms, while the women don't appear to have any muscle on them at all...). Of course, now that I have a daughter I suspect I'll find the whole body image issue to be less amusing and more worrisome, I'm sure the Barbies will arrive at some point :)

Oh, and since people who find this post might be looking for the same thing I started out looking for, I found some directions on where/how to measure yourself here.

Some thoughts on losing weight from someone who doesn't really know that much about it...

Tue, 25 Jan 2005 06:22:00 GMT

When I first came down to the US, I had to pick a doctor and go in for a physical, and when the doctor was done with all the various procedures he needed to perform, he asked me if I had any particular health concerns. I really only had one, but I didn't see the point in mentioning it, I didn't really think there was anything he would be able to do for me anyway. I decided I had better let him know though, it seemed stupid not to tell your doctor about your only real medical concern. "Well..", I said, "my only real concern is about my weight... I'd really like to drop some pounds". The doctor's face seemed to light up and he said, excitedly, "I have just the thing for you, I can tell you exactly how to get rid of that excess weight...". At this point, I have to admit I felt a little surge of excitement, however unrealistic it seemed, maybe he knew of some great solution that I had never heard about, so I waited for his next words eagerly. He sat down in front of me and told me the answer: "Eat less, do more... it's that simple". Ah... funny guy.

He was definitely right about what was required, I have no doubt about that, but that simple formula never seems quite as easy to accomplish as healthy people make it sound. That was almost three years ago, and it didn't really cause any change in my activity level or my weight.

Around a year ago, I mentioned that I was hoping to lose some weight, a blog posting that I quickly learned to regret as it showed just how many of my work colleagues read my main feed (including my boss's boss's boss, who used it as an example of the personal side of blogging at several large meetings). Well, I can't say that I have any particular knowledge around what works and what doesn't, and I haven't reached my goal weight yet, but things are looking good.

Why am I telling you folks about this, if I don't have any great wisdom to impart? I could be unusual, but I like reading about other people's experiences with working out and losing weight, and it seemed like the right time of year to bring the topic up. The gym I go to gets crazy busy from the middle of January until around the middle of February and then drops right back to normal, so perhaps this is a good time to talk about working out... like I already said, I'm not an expert on this, and I'm still quite far from being classified as fit by most definitions... but here's my story anyway.

From last December to around July, I didn't accomplish much, I dropped 5 or so pounds but that was with going to the gym 4-5 days a week. That level of effort should have produced better results, but I'm quite certain that I wasn't really pushing myself and the fact that I totally ignored my eating habits pretty much guaranteed that I wouldn't accomplish much. Around August though, it was getting close to the birth of my daughter and I guess I started to realize that I was going to be a fat father in the eyes of both of my children, and that it was pretty likely that I would drop dead on them at some point (earlier than expected that is) the way things were going. I'm not positive that was the reason, but I know I started to feel pretty cruddy about staying this weight for the rest of my life, and I went to the bookstore (a real one!) and picked up the South Beach book by Dr. Agatston and started into the relatively unenjoyable Phase 1. Three weeks later I was into the next phase and it was starting to seem like something I could stick with for the long term.

Four weeks in, I had dropped 10+ pounds, which was more than I had lost at any time previous, and I continued to lose weight more slowly after that point. When you decide to cut out sugar and reduce your fat, it has quite an effect on what you are able to eat. Basically, everything I normally ate outside of dinner was suddenly off limits. Mochas had to be turned into non-fat sugar-free hazelnut lattes, pizza for lunch turned into wraps or a chicken breast and salad, etc... cheese sticks and nuts for snacks instead of cookies or PB & J sandwiches. Eventually I plateaued after having lost around 20 pounds, bringing me down to my current weight of 176-177, which would probably have seemed like enough for me to lose if you had asked me last year. I think about 15 lbs. of this weight loss was due to the change in my diet, but to lose any more it was essential that I increase my activity level quite a bit. I've been doing mild cardio (30 minutes) and weights 3-4 times a week, and I've recently added more intense cardio (35-60 minutes) 2 times a week. We'll have to wait and see on the results of this increased level of activity, but I think it is a good idea. All in all, the South Beach plan, without going beyond the guidelines set out in the book, has worked well for me and seems to be working for quite a few other folks, but I think the key to maintaining this weight loss and to hit my goal of dropping another 10-15% body fat is to keep the focus on the weight lifting and high-intensity cardio...

I think you need to really get excited about working out though, if it is going to work... if you had given me $120 to spend on myself a year ago I expect I would have picked up a couple of XBox games or some DVDs, but this year when my wife and I decided to just give each other around that much to go and pick out our own presents (yes, it takes a bit of the fun out of it, but we're busy these days :) ) I picked up a heart-rate monitor as my Christmas gift and I think that is really helping me understand how hard the cardio workout really needs to be if I want it to work. Over the past year, I've basically gotten myself equipped, choosing to spend more and more of my 'mad money', which is usually ear marked for gadgets and video games, on various bits of fitness gear: I've hit the factory outlet stores for Nike to pick up some nice workout gear, I have a good music player that I use for working out, I've subscribed to a fitness-focused magazine (helps keep your interest level up... really it does!), a body-fat scale to try and track a better metric than just weight, I even picked up a bag last year that seems to make it quicker to get in and out of the locker room. I had to make other changes in my life to make this work though, I used to get up at 8am and go to bed around 2am, and now I've shifted that two hours earlier... I pack my gym bag the night before and then get up at 6am and head right to the gym... not an easy task for someone who has been a night-owl for at least the last 10 years...

Well, I don't think I'll be posting my weight every week or anything like that, but I might talk about this type of thing from time to time... and feel free to post questions and comments, I might not know the answers for you, but you never know who might be reading this stuff!