Fitness 2013

[Ideologue]

Quit smoking a couple of days ago.  I'm really tired of being in extremely poor cardiovascular health.  Oddly, I think my lungs and heart feel shittier right now than they do after a half a pack.

Don't congratulate me, I'm still as stuck to the Tar Baby as before, just not in inhaled form.

I'm sort of/kind of being serious about strength exercises again.  Trying to get enough protein, which is hard.  The shameful omission in my exercise routine is situps.  I find them so Goddamned tedious, not to mention as long as I've got this ten pound belt adding muscle just makes me look fatter.

[Eddie Teach]

Are you using snuff? That's worse than smoking. Teenagers get cancer from that shit.

Err, I'm thinking of chewing tobacco. Not sure what the risk for snuff is.

[Ideologue]

I never got cancer.

Ultimately, I wanna quit that too.  Will they still prescribe sedatives and painkillers for nicotine withdrawal?

[alfred russel]

Quit smoking a couple of days ago.  I'm really tired of being in extremely poor cardiovascular health.  Oddly, I think my lungs and heart feel shittier right now than they do after a half a pack.

Don't congratulate me, I'm still as stuck to the Tar Baby as before, just not in inhaled form.

I'm sort of/kind of being serious about strength exercises again.  Trying to get enough protein, which is hard.  The shameful omission in my exercise routine is situps.  I find them so Goddamned tedious, not to mention as long as I've got this ten pound belt adding muscle just makes me look fatter.

Ide, congrats on quitting smoking.

If you want to have better cardiovascular health, I think the best way is cardio exercises. That also may be a better avenue for training for someone that is struggling to get protein (exercises to build lots of muscle won't build lots of muscle without protein) and is also a good way to drop weight.

This is just my personal preference: I don't do situps. I hate them. There are alternative core exercises--situps aren't indispensable.

[Ideologue]

Ide, congrats on quitting smoking.

Yes, droll.

Anyway, I try to do jumping jacks every now and again.

Eventually I'm going to start running again, but I kind of want to wait for the healing to be underway in earnest so I don't look like an asshole in public (any more than usual).

[Brazen]

Didn't get a London Marathon place. Thank fuck for that.

[alfred russel]

Ide, congrats on quitting smoking.

Anyway, I try to do jumping jacks every now and again.

Eventually I'm going to start running again, but I kind of want to wait for the healing to be underway in earnest so I don't look like an asshole in public (any more than usual).

I've said both of these things before, but:

I don't know that jumping jacks are a good exercise routine post middle school gym class.

You won't look like an asshole for being bad at running. I guess when you start you will run slow and for short distances. But who will know? Someone running slow may be running a lot of miles--they don't look bad. And even if you run short distances, if you run for more than 1 minute, who is going to watch you that long? And if they do, maybe you are running intervals anyway.

I don't know if lungs actually heal in a way that improves running ability, but unfortunately you are going to be bad at running when you first start. The lung thing seems like more of an excuse to not run.

[Eddie Teach]

Jumping jacks aren't bad. They tend to be more intense than jogging for the duration you're doing them and they stretch muscles that jogging doesn't. That said, doing a couple minutes of exercise a day isn't going to do much.

[mongers]

Jumping jacks aren't bad. They tend to be more intense than jogging for the duration you're doing them and they stretch muscles that jogging doesn't. That said, doing a couple minutes of exercise a day isn't going to do much.

Just back from doing 3 hours on the bike. 

[Ideologue]

Yeah, I sit on my ass for three hours at a time too, M.

[Ideologue]

I don't know if lungs actually heal in a way that improves running ability, but unfortunately you are going to be bad at running when you first start. The lung thing seems like more of an excuse to not run.

I think improved respiratory function is one of the big selling points of quitting smoking.

[mongers]

I don't know if lungs actually heal in a way that improves running ability, but unfortunately you are going to be bad at running when you first start. The lung thing seems like more of an excuse to not run.

I think improved respiratory function is one of the big selling points of quitting smoking.

Just do it, suck in the pain (if any), and take AR's subsequent advice.   

[crazy canuck]

I don't know if lungs actually heal in a way that improves running ability, but unfortunately you are going to be bad at running when you first start. The lung thing seems like more of an excuse to not run.

I think improved respiratory function is one of the big selling points of quitting smoking.

Yeah, but if you dont use them you wont get much improvement.  Lets put it this way, if I can run you can probably run too.

[alfred russel]

I don't know if lungs actually heal in a way that improves running ability, but unfortunately you are going to be bad at running when you first start. The lung thing seems like more of an excuse to not run.

I think improved respiratory function is one of the big selling points of quitting smoking.

I doubt anyone is going to look at smoker you and say, "wow he can only run for 3 minutes, what an asshole", but then look at the "healed" you with the ability to run for 3 minutes 30 seconds and think you are cool.

On the other hand, someone who smokes and runs semi regularly will be able to run you into the ground, healed you or damaged you.

If you aren't just making an excuse not to run, I think you seriously misjudge what other people think. I don't hear any other runners laugh or in any way put down someone just starting out and trying to do a walk and run for a short distance. As a group, I think runners are basically universally supportive of beginning runners who previously were mostly sedentary.

[Ideologue]

That can't be true.  If everybody ran, they wouldn't be special, and their advantages would dissipate while the work required remained the same.