Have you ever realized that going for months without much physical exercise had influenced your well-being/alertness/motivation to get things done?

I'm not asking for links or explanations, but direct experience.

When I don't go outside for even a walk for a week or two I do start feeling quite lethargic.

Yep, I feel all of the above, OP, without exercise. It's a must for me.

Edit: About 3 days is my limit. Back in the hayday I didn't exercise enough and I didn't realize how much it had affected me until I realized I had hit a BMI of 26 (30 is obese) and had been wondering why I felt so shit.

Hmm just 3 days? wow

I have had times like when I was 3-4 weeks at home, learning Japanese almost everyday full time without going out much.

I'm naturally very fit and have quite a muscular body but I'm thinking that it doesn't matter much. I should still exercise for the sake of learning.

I want to exercise as much as I need for keeping my brain at it's best. But too much exercise would be a waste of time.

I'm thinking about: How much is the lower limit for exercise per week? Something like at least 2-4 hours, right? How much do you exercise then at least every 3 days? Too

Yes, I think the lower fitness limit is 3 hours a week. You train every two days and rest on sunday. An hour of bike is quickly done (especially if you have to go somewhere)(or if you have an exercise bicycle). I don't remember my tables, but I think an hour of bicycle is equivalent to half an hour of jogging, is equivalent to fifteen minutes of jump rope (same cardiovascular training). I've recently tried jump rope, it's really amazing (make sure to get a thin leathered one).

I haven't been studyinng Japanese for a few months, and usually I don't exercise. I'm sure it's related. Hopefully I get a job I applied for at a workout center, and that exercising will help my motivation. I could also listen to Japanese while working out, so it's probably a win-win.

It's said though, that working out doesn't help much and that aerobic exercises are much more better for the brain.

jettyke Wrote:It's said though, that working out doesn't help much and that aerobic exercises are much more better for the brain.

said by who?

SammyB Wrote:

jettyke Wrote:It's said though, that working out doesn't help much and that aerobic exercises are much more better for the brain.

said by who?

John Medina. The exercise section on his site.

I run for an hour or two every day. It's as much a part of my life as breathing.

Hahaha, you've got a nice name, onafarm XD

"Onanate-

Masturbate. Comes from a Estonian word "onaneerima". Which is one of the ways how to say masturbate." Urban dict.


Reminds me of the Gyuujuice case

At the moment I cycle 6 days a week, jog about 4 or so, I've started interval training 3 days a week to build my upper body up, I do yoga 7 days a week at home thanks to Youtube, I also do a bit of swiss ball work and do press-ups, and so on when ever I feel the need. I'm basically Garfield turning into Goku.

Considering what I do right now, if I do have 3 days off it's gonna hurt me.

P.s., Oddly I get most of this done during my transport time or time when I'm doing something else - gotta love ad breaks or spaces between lessons. I also have little concern about co-workers walking in and chatting with me when I'm doing these sort of things, which is a major impediment for most when it comes to at work exercise.

(Related Warstory: I did a rare kids class for one of my companies a few weeks ago and the kids turned up early and bowled on in to the room. I was mid-press up and the kids were like "Whoooo... Gaijin exercise... mind breaking... must find Ridlin immediately to calm potential brain explosion." It was hilarious because one of the little girls who I'd taught before just wandered on over and sat on my back. I ended up with 3 kids laughing there arse off sitting on my back as I broke ten decent reps. We also learned piggy back, carry me, squat, press up, star jump and any other exercise or activity word I could teach them during our lesson time. It was all sort of fun and reminds me of how much fun PE was back in the day.)

[ファブリス]

I'm doing pushups at home, pretty much. Thankfully summer is coming and I'll go cycling soon. No good Yoga classes here either, since I relocated away from Brussels, which is a big bummer.

I'm thinking of buying something like this for upper body workout using body weight without dumbbells or pulleys.

Anybody got one of these?

Wow, weird (and expensive!) device.
Frankly, all you need is a pull-up bar and a good book (You Are Your Own Gym, or "Méthode de musculation sans matériel" par Olivier Lafay)(downloadble everywhere).
Décathlon vendait des espèces de cubes de muscu (avec des parties amovibles pour faire plein d'exercices différents), le père d'un pote avait ça, c'était vraiment pas mal.
Ah summer time and its muscular displays...

My back has been quite weak lately.
It's from sitting in front of my computer.

I'm too lazy to do exercises though, so I hope that skateboarding will heal it eventually.

ファブリス Wrote:I'm doing pushups at home, pretty much. Thankfully summer is coming and I'll go cycling soon. No good Yoga classes here either, since I relocated away from Brussels, which is a big bummer.

I'm thinking of buying something like this for upper body workout using body weight without dumbbells or pulleys.

Anybody got one of these?

I use one a lot at the gym, but there is a way to do the same kind of exercises without one. Rig up just the pull-up bar or better yet, rings. Lifting your legs while hanging from your arms is actually a better workout, the captains chair just lets you hang from your shoulders because it's easier for non-gymnasts. You'll be able to far less suspended in mid air at first, but it quickly builds up.

Bummer about the yoga, you can find routines online to keep up the flexibility and even some more advanced ones. Do a small one every morning and do one before or after you workout doing something else! It's much safer than static stretching.

Medina is right, aerobics are good, but that doesn't mean lifting and strength training is bad at all. Quite the opposite, they are fantastic; aerobic exercise is just.. more fantastic. Plus there are plenty of ways to get aerobic workouts in a weight room. Circuits with low rest can keep the heart rate up while still giving certain body parts the right amount of time between reps. Rowing machines for 20 minutes, or the spinners. etc.

I start to lose focus if I don't exercise a couple times a week, but I have noticed that diet or sleep has a much quicker and worse effect. So right now I am working more on trying to get to bed and eat really well, since the exercise part is easy when you choose not to buy a car and have a 5km commute.

jettyke Wrote:My back has been quite weak lately.
It's from sitting in front of my computer.

I'm too lazy to do exercises though, so I hope that skateboarding will heal it eventually.

How do you know when your back is weak?

pudding cat Wrote:

jettyke Wrote:My back has been quite weak lately.
It's from sitting in front of my computer.

I'm too lazy to do exercises though, so I hope that skateboarding will heal it eventually.

How do you know when your back is weak?

You can't do pull ups.

I rock climb 3-5 times a week for 3 hour sessions each. thats pretty much the extent of my exercise but if I can't get to the gym for whatever reason I hop on my gymnastic rings and a pair of parallettes I made out of PVC. Running is not for me and climbing eliminates any problem if you feel your back is weak but the opposite happens. I have a climbers body now so my forearms shoulders back triceps are overdeveloped. Abs are okay but not like ripped ( I need to do more overhanging work ).

Yeah I suggest climbing to anybody. Its got a high start up price for a sport (~$200-$400) for gear but climbing outside is mostly free.

pudding cat Wrote:

jettyke Wrote:My back has been quite weak lately.
It's from sitting in front of my computer.

I'm too lazy to do exercises though, so I hope that skateboarding will heal it eventually.

How do you know when your back is weak?

The upper part is quite stiff and the middle part is aching slightly (like REALLY slightly)
And my back's turning crookback a little.

And my back feels weak also...

NoSleepTilFluent Wrote:

pudding cat Wrote:

jettyke Wrote:My back has been quite weak lately.
It's from sitting in front of my computer.

I'm too lazy to do exercises though, so I hope that skateboarding will heal it eventually.

How do you know when your back is weak?

You can't do pull ups.

Well definitely not in my case. I can do at least 10 in a row, probably 15.

Aerobics only beat weight training when it comes to cardiovascular function, and even then it's not by too much. It is good to run, swim, bike, etc, as you will certainly live longer. But if you want to be in overall good health, you should lift weights and eat right (yes, women, you too).

When I can get it from the home computer, I'll post a link to a site that will help jumpstart fitness knowledge for those interested.

[ファブリス]

@EratiK: I saw that book but I'm quite dubious. They say without machines but nearly every pose involves using furniture or props in one way or another. I mean, go find two perfectly similar chairs that are high enough and stable to use for dips, for example. They're not in my appartment. I think the intention is sound, but in practice, unless you wanna stick to Indian pushups and Indian squats... you need something to exercise with.

You think it's expensive? Hmm. There's one for just 170 € but I suspect it'd be less stable.

The idea with the machine I've linked to is that it uses multiple muscle groups (well, chinups do, maybe dips not so much).

Well that's a pull up bar which you can also do chin ups, dips (the handles), and abdominals. Actually there is a more compact version with the pull up bar on the same side as the dip handles, so you can put one side to the wall.

I guess the companion to that machine would be a squat rack for all the lower body workout with the almighty squats.

@jettyke: I have a bad upper back since spending so much time at my computer in my teens. When I went to the gym, doing exercises like the pulldown had a positive effect in that I was holding my back better I guess due to it being "toned". But frankly I couldn't bother going to the gym, I'd rather do core exercises like above, and use Yoga for everything else.

You asked for direct experience. There is one extremely simple Yoga exercise I do whenever I have a minute, and I can grab something at waist hight. It's called wall plank (scroll down).



I can't say that it will strenghten your back, but it will certainly undo the pressure and stress caused by bending forward at the computer. It will also help to open up your shoulders. This is actually a preparatory exercise for the full forward bend. I can tell you from experience just doing that wall plank 2-3 times a day for just a minute, you'll be amazed you can forward bend and almost lie your hands flat on the floor.

Try to do this with a chair or a table, and put your hands flat, it's a lot easier than the wall. You need something at waist height. The key is to tense your abdominals and upper front thigh so that it pulls gently your waist down, flattening your back, and also pulls your waist backwards to elongate the spine. Also rotate your biceps so that they turn inwards, so that you feel your scapula flattening on the back. Breathe slowly and fully.

Last year was the opposite.

The weight training program in which I had made great progress, I stopped going. I instead focused all that energy into studying.

Now I'm 15 pounds heavier (pushing 200#), but I put in a lot more time and got a lot better at Japanese.

I don't want to be 15 pounds heavier though. =(

I went back to the gym last week, when it comes to squats I still have nearly the same strength (3x5 205# was pretty decent, the max 3x5 I ever did was 245#) but my deadlifts dropped way down (max of 1x5 345#, struggled at 1x5 225#).



I want to build my own gym at home but there's no room. Thinking about putting it outside but I'm almost certain to forget to put tarp over the setup and have it all rusted up and damaged one day.

ファブリス Wrote:@jettyke: I have a bad upper back since spending so much time at my computer in my teens. When I went to the gym, doing exercises like the pulldown had a positive effect in that I was holding my back better I guess due to it being "toned". But frankly I couldn't bother going to the gym, I'd rather do core exercises like above, and use Yoga for everything else.

Doing the pulldown using no tools while sitting in front of the computer seems to make my back feel something. Might even try doing this daily!

EratiK Wrote:Wow, weird (and expensive!) device.
Frankly, all you need is a pull-up bar and a good book (You Are Your Own Gym, or "Méthode de musculation sans matériel" par Olivier Lafay)(downloadble everywhere).
Décathlon vendait des espèces de cubes de muscu (avec des parties amovibles pour faire plein d'exercices différents), le père d'un pote avait ça, c'était vraiment pas mal.
Ah summer time and its muscular displays...

I'll recommend the book too. I have it, it's good, and it's using body weight exercises. All you need are chairs (for dips and some weird push ups), and a pull up bar.


Edit, just saw your post

ファブリス Wrote:@EratiK: I saw that book but I'm quite dubious. They say without machines but nearly every pose involves using furniture or props in one way or another. I mean, go find two perfectly similar chairs that are high enough and stable to use for dips, for example. They're not in my appartment. I think the intention is sound, but in practice, unless you wanna stick to Indian pushups and Indian squats... you need something to exercise with.

Unless you're very tall, the chairs don't have to be very high, since you're folding the legs back. It's not much equipment, and the exercises did quite a workout for me. I followed the instructions for a good 5 months, and got quite some results from it. Whenever I get motivation to exercise again, I'll probably continue the same program.