BWCA Share your story here Boundary Waters Group Forum: Health and Fitness
Chat Rooms (0 Chatting)  |  Search  |   Login/Join
* For the benefit of the community, commercial posting is not allowed.
Boundary Waters Quetico Forum
   Group Forum: Health and Fitness
      Share your story here     

Author

Text

02/13/2012 11:22PM   (Thread Older Than 3 Years)
I'll post mine tomorrow when I'm not on my iPod but let's here everyones story. Why are you getting or staying fit? How do you do it?
 
      Print Top Bottom Previous Next
02/15/2012 02:38PM  
I started exercising back in college (13 years ago). I had gained about 40 pounds in college and was mortified at how hard it made the BWCA. My mil gave me a work out vhs and that started me right there. I lost all the weight and have kept it off through all my pregnancy's. I did gain about 60 pounds with each baby, however I walked 3 miles a day till the days I gave birth. I lost all the baby weight in a year after each one.

Back in December of 2011 our treadmill died when a power surge started our house on fire. I got a new treadmill now this month and need to loose the "Christmass and fire" weight I gained. So I want to loose that 8 pounds.

I have done triathlon in the past but since I hate running I came in last; however it was really fun. It was a canoe bike run and I came in 2nd for canoeing :)
 
Arkansas Man
Moderator
  
02/15/2012 02:53PM  
Basically the same story, athlete in High School and College. Stayed fit for a while, but then didn't. Found out in 08' I had Prostate Cancer, had Brachytherapy and was radiated for 10 months! Got fat and out of shape. Had bad knees so the wife and I started riding bikes in May of 09, that was over 14,000 miles ago. I have lost around 50 pounds and gained a tremendous amount of cardiovascular fitness. I have ridden in 8 Century's (100 mile rides) and look forward to doing at least 6 this year. Mileage for 2010 - 6045 miles, 2011- 6500 miles, 2012 - Don't know yet, I am behind in mileage due to foot surgery in December!

Favorite Century is the Hotter n Hell 100 in Wichita Falls, Texas in late August.

Bruce
 
talusman
distinguished member(1044)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
02/15/2012 08:47PM  
This year will be a little tougher. I usually do a lot of hiking and just before going into the BW I start on upper body work with weights at home. 2 weeks ago I had a heart attack. Not a big one but I had a stent put in and in a few weeks I'll hae another. Kind of slows down the workouts.
The good news is that I did very little damage to the heart so once the 2nd stent is done I'll have zero blockage and it should be easier to go harder. I'll have to take a stress test to set my target heart rate.
 
knitsocks77
senior member (64)senior membersenior member
  
02/17/2012 10:38PM  
I was always active and fit as a kid. I joined the Army after high school so was forced to stay in relatively good shape but then I got out and moved back home where I was able to eat whatever I wanted and never break a sweat. I really liked beer which is never good for the waistline. So, who knows how much weight I gained but then in 2009 I decided enough was enough. Got on the treadmill and started lifting weights and got back in pretty good shape. I lost 70 lbs. I ran my first half marathon. Then some job changes and job stress kind of took away some of my motivation. I gained about 30 lbs back and gained it quickly. Now, I have been able to give myself the kick I needed to get going again. During my sluggish months I was still doing races but finding the extra weight was just making it way too difficult. I've lost all but about 2 or 3 of the 30 lbs that I regained and now that I have a job and life with little stress I am able to keep a routine. The workout I have been doing has helped me to decrease my 5K time from close to 30 minutes down to 25 minutes and I am preparing to do my 1st triathlon as well as run in the Disneyland Half Marathon with a goal of running it in less than 2 hours. I am sure that feeling good and being fit will help in the BW as well. In 2009 I felt really good for my first ever BW trip as I was losing weight and getting in shape. In 2010 I was still successful as far as weight loss but I hadn't been keeping up with the upper body workouts. The hubby and I went to Insula from Lake 1 that year. Last year we went to Angleworm and did the Angleworm portage with 2 other couples. Even though I had gained some weight and didn't feel quite as good I handled the portage without much difficulty. This year, I plan to be in tip top shape so no portage or paddle will scare me! Sorry to ramble but fitness is really my life goal for 2012. Life in general is just so much better when feeling fast and strong.

And, Canoearoo, I also did a relay triathlon last October with canoeing, biking, and running...although I only did the biking portion but it was a fun event that I plan to do again this year.
 
Dennisal
distinguished member(1007)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
02/18/2012 09:44AM  
I use to walk 4-5 miles 5 times a week. I have acquired hip arthritis and now find it hard to walk that far because of the pain.
Last week I started on the treadmill and the stationery bike. Both were not too bad on the hip pain, but just enough pain to take the ambition right out of me. Push ups, sit ups, and lifting weights don't seem to bother too much, so working on those things for now.
 
02/18/2012 12:13PM  
maybe you can try swimming for your hip?
 
Mad_Angler
distinguished member(1720)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
03/08/2012 03:42PM  
My story is similar to the rest. Very fit in high school and college and then... not so much...

In December 2010, my brother and I started planning a moose hunting trip in Alaska. I wanted to be fit enough to fully enjoy the trip. So I started working out. At first, I was using the WII and showing some improvement.

Then, I started sixpackshortcuts. It is a program that is heavy on weightlifting. I saw good improvements in strength and a bit of cardio.

The moose hunting trip was in September. It was quite physically demanding. But, my body held up and I had a great time. We ate really well but I still lost 10 pounds.

After I got home, I quickly put the 10pounds back on. I was a bit tired of sixpackshortcuts. So, I bought P90X.

I got the first 2 months of P90X done. It was amazing. I enjoyed the mix of strength, stretching, speed, etc. I also saw nice improvements in appearance and strength.

Daughter 2 is about to start her senior year of high school soccer. So I bought Insanity Asylum. I thought it was a shorter, easier version of Insanity. Instead, it is a compressed, more intense version of Insanity. We both like it a lot. It is a great program to get ready for sports. We are just completing day 23 of 30.

Once Asylum is done, I think I'll take a week of rest and then resume P90X. When that is done, I'm not sure what I'll do...
 
04/05/2012 03:03PM  
for me exercising has to be enjoyable, i cannot work out in a gym. nordic skiing usually keeps me in decent enough shape, this winter it wasn't enough. bike riding is fine but unless i ride my gnarly wheeled mountain bike it isn't a very good workout.

i carry a heavy canoe, 75 lbs, dry. last summer on the portage from pine lake to canoe lake (uphill way) i discovered that i wasn't up to this anymore. i didn't die but it was tough.

yesterday i paddled the canoe route at lebanon hills park, eagan. about 5 miles of paddling this semi loop, lots of portages, most easy and short. kind of wierd to be carrying a canoe on hiking trails. at the end of the trip i had lifted my heavy canoe 12 times. that was a real workout. plus it is nice in there.
 
04/06/2012 09:33AM  
I've been to lebanon hills, it really is wonderful!

 
06/08/2012 12:05AM  
thinking about last summers portage from pine to canoe lake, i rejoined what is now la fitness (or something). i hope to loose about twenty pounds, i was beat by that portage, and that was humiliating, and in front of my son. yes i know the BW has some bad ass portages, but i always thought that i was ready for anything up here. but it seams that age and stuff catches up with us.
 
Arkansas Man
Moderator
  
06/08/2012 07:58AM  
Well after foot surgery in Dec. and a 3 week bout with bronchitis I am about 700 miles behind my yearly average but feeling pretty good! I did a 73 mile ride last Saturday in southern Missouri (no flat ground) that had about 4500 ft. of climbing. I averaged about 16 mph which is not bad for someone my size (6'5 and 275). My first 100 mile ride for the year is tomorrow, it will be interesting to see how I do!

On a good note, I recently had some blood work done (I have MGUS and have to have yearly blood test to make sure the m protein levels do not increase which could show Multiple Myeoloma) and my Cholesterol was 169 and my triglycerides, HDL,& LDL levels were all good! So I am proud of that fact!

Wife and I both have been going to the gym 3 days a week to lift and get stronger, Me for tone, her to strengthen her shoulder from her bike wreck.

Keep on stayin fit!!
Bruce
 
Woods Walker
distinguished member(834)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
02/12/2014 07:01PM  
I was a solid 225 lbs coming out of school & through college... got married & slowly ballooned up over 10 years to 318 lbs. After a trip to Colorado, I realized how out of shape I was & proceeded to become a gym rat. Took me about a year but lost 113 lbs & was 205 lbs, then I changed jobs & moved to Minnesota... Of course no more time for the gym rat & slowly went back up to 285 lbs, last year I kind of half hearted a weight loss to drop back down to 235 lbs using Myfitness Pal App.

I am sadly back up to 295 lbs, because of arthritis, foot issues & poor eating habits. Now I got promoted to an office job, which got me off the cement floors for 10 hrs a day. My feet are feeling better, so its time to get it going again. Dropped 7 lbs this week. My goal is to lose the 1st 50 by my June 12th BWCA trip
 
MidwestMan
distinguished member (242)distinguished memberdistinguished memberdistinguished member
  
06/19/2019 11:32AM  
Fast 16+ hours every day. Then I work out at least 45-60 minutes every day. Hot baths and steam rooms on occasion to sweat a lot.
 
09/24/2019 12:50PM  
Blown L5-S1 which made my leg numb. So I have to work on balance and leg strength constantly as well as low back/leg stretches. It drives me crazy but it is what I have to do.
 
04/10/2020 03:45PM  
Hey I was the last comment and here I am again. I already said what I do in the other thread but... yeah I also changed my diet bc I got diagnosed with Hepatic Steatosis. So I had to change my diet something wicked lol. Basically it is no bread, no rice, no pasta, no sugar, no alcohol, no red meat, no fried food, no fast food, and no salt. Not too terrible to do actually. Thankfully I was always a fast eater. I do it more to just be full so not much has changed except the alcohol cravings... sugar cravings can be bad too.
 
05/14/2020 02:30PM  
So it has been just over two months of that diet that I described 30 some days ago. I am still finding it very easy to maintain this. I was never overweight. I was 190 at 6 feet tall but with this diet I am down to 170 now.

I eat a ton of raw oats mixed with olive oil/chia seeds/honey for breakfast. I have a scoop of whey protein at lunch time. Then dinner is usually Lentils/spinach/ground turkey/chicken/squash/or tofu. Then I spice those up with random sauces like buffalo/vinaigrette/bbq/etc to make it taste different.

I have cheated and I have had about 7 cans of beer in the last two months. But I think I am doing quite well with it.
 
06/13/2020 02:59PM  
x2jmorris: ..... Basically it is no bread, no rice, no pasta, no sugar, no alcohol, no red meat, no fried food, no fast food, and no salt. Not too terrible to do actually. Thankfully I was always a fast eater. I do it more to just be full so not much has changed except the alcohol cravings... sugar cravings can be bad too."


I am 6' 2" and ballooned up to 318. Been a hard year with lots of stresses. I medicate stress and grief with food and alcohol. Had a good start to the year but never really got back on the wagon after a birthday trip to Cabo. About six weeks into the COVID quarantine, I decided I might as well get back on the wagon.

I am doing something like what you describe. Something like keto but I have more protein and less fat than strict keto. I generally do not have a meal for breakfast. Instead, I have a cup of Earl Grey mixed with heavy cream, butter, and MCT oil. Most days that gets me to lunch at 11:00. Lunch and dinner are a meat of some sort with vegetables of some sort. Lots of salad with olive oil dressing. I am generally taking in much less calories.

I started off just walking several times a week. A couple of weeks ago, after dropping below 300, I started lifting weights 3 times a week, walking three times a week, with one day of rest. One of the walk days, I try to do yoga but i am not always diligent about that. I suppose I should be.

The weight lifting program is a modified Wendler 5/3/1 program. I lift three days a week. Monday the Squat is primary with bench press secondary. Wednesday Shoulder Press and Deadlift are co-primaries. Friday Bench Press is primary and Squat is secondary. There is a 4 week cycle with the first week lifting doing 3 sets of 5 reps, the second week is 3 sets of 3 repetitions, the third week is a set of 5 reps, a set of 3 reps, and a max out set. The fourth week is a recovery week of 3 sets of 5 at a very reduced weight. The max outs on week three establishes your new one rep max which sets the weights for each lift to use in the next four week cycle.

My modification is that my first four week cycle I am not basing it off my actual 1 rep max since I have not lifted in over a year. Instead, I am am basically lifting an empty bar (45#) for everything except the deadlift, which I am lifting 95#.

Each lifting session I start with walking on my treadmill to get good and warmed up. While I do this, I watch You Tube videos on the Homemade Wanderlust channel. Quite entertaining. I end each workout with "assistance exercises". Basically, the idea is get some work in on secondary muscle groups. I do a mixture of curls, shrugs, core work. On deadllift day, I also do Hang Cleans. This is a whole body lift and really gets the heart pumping.

Next week is my first max out week. I will go ahead and attack this with probably just 90% effort to ease into it. I will also back away from my one rep max as the baseline for my second cycle. I am not looking to get injured :-)

While I will still be very heavy when I have my trip in August (targeting 275), I will be on my third, four week cycle. My body will be somewhat used to lifting weight and to walking. Better than nothing. We all have to start somewhere.

This trip I will taking with my 22 yo and 19 yo children. They will be in my Grumman aluminum tank and I am renting a solo to give it a whirl. If it goes well, I will plan on a solo in September. If it doesn't go well, my 19 yo will be using the solo canoe :-)
 
06/21/2020 08:00AM  
Awesome to hear Coach. Sounds like you have it all mapped out so keep at it.
 
08/10/2020 03:31PM  
wow nice to see my old post. Still working hard at staying in shape so I can enjoy the BWCA. Nice to see you all still here
 
      Print Top Bottom Previous Next