"Designer" Gyms....

Dont knock weight training as a long term exercise. Running kills the knees, swimming kills the shoulders, biking is hard on low backs, knees, fertility, etc... Weight training can always be done in some fashion, no matter how bad your favorite sport has treated you.

MrJoshua wrote: Dont knock weight training as a long term exercise. Running kills the knees, swimming kills the shoulders, biking is hard on low backs, knees, fertility, etc... Weight training can always be done in some fashion, no matter how bad your favorite sport has treated you.

I can't speak for the other sports but running does not kill your knees, unless you have a pre-existing issue or train like a moron. This myth is usually told to me, once a week, by a person that hasn't run since middle school.

As with any sport if you start off slow and gradually build you shouldn't be killing shoulders, knees, or balls (although bikes can be evil).

Honestly I love anything anyone does to stay fit their entire life, but doing any of it for years will typically wear out the associated joint. You can only build so gradually. The only way to not have any long term effects from 40 years of a repeated motion is to be genetically blessed, train perfectly, and stay as physically perfect for that activity as possible.

To be a low damage runner the average person would need to be a flyweight. How many runners actually are?

kilgoretrout wrote:

MrJoshua wrote: Dont knock weight training as a long term exercise. Running kills the knees, swimming kills the shoulders, biking is hard on low backs, knees, fertility, etc... Weight training can always be done in some fashion, no matter how bad your favorite sport has treated you.

I can't speak for the other sports but running does not kill your knees, unless you have a pre-existing issue or train like a moron. This myth is usually told to me, once a week, by a person that hasn't run since middle school. As with any sport if you start off slow and gradually build you shouldn't be killing shoulders, knees, or balls (although bikes can be evil).

It's the spandex that kills your nads, not the seats.

kilgoretrout wrote:

MrJoshua wrote: Dont knock weight training as a long term exercise. Running kills the knees, swimming kills the shoulders, biking is hard on low backs, knees, fertility, etc... Weight training can always be done in some fashion, no matter how bad your favorite sport has treated you.

I can't speak for the other sports but running does not kill your knees, unless you have a pre-existing issue or train like a moron. This myth is usually told to me, once a week, by a person that hasn't run since middle school. As with any sport if you start off slow and gradually build you shouldn't be killing shoulders, knees, or balls (although bikes can be evil).

why are bikes evil? I would have thought that they would be very low impact.

I used to lift in a mom & pop gym in Tucker. Just a warehouse with a bunch of weight racks and machines. There were some cardio machines, but for the most part it was a meat head gym. Scream all you want, but you better be racking an elephant or you might get laughed at. I loved it. Sure, the lack of A/C in summer sucked, but they ran swamp coolers and lots of fans. Kinda wish I could find another gym like it. Seem nowadays everyplace is like this:

[opening: Globo Gym commercial] Globo Gym Announcer: Tired of the same old you? Tired of being out of shape and out of luck with the opposite sex? Tired of being overweight and under-attractive?

White Goodman: [finshing a ride on the skis] Yeah! Oh, hello. I'm White Goodman, Owner, Operator, and Founder of Globo Gym America Corp, and I'm here to tell you that you don't have to be stuck with what ya got. [a buffed Globo Gym member is lifting weights]

White Goodman: Hey, Rory. Looking good. Here at Globo Gym, we understand that "Ugliness" and "Fatness" are genetic disorders, much like baldness or necrophilia, and it's only your fault if you don't hate yourself enough to do something about it.

White Goodman: [climbing on the rocky wall; grunts] And that's where we come in. [evil laughter]

White Goodman: Globo Gym employs a highly-trained, quasi-cultural staff of personal alterational specialists. And with our competitively-priced on-site cosmetic surgery, we can turn that Frankenstein you see in the mirror every morning into a Franken-fine!

White Goodman: [wheels out a bandaged-like-a-mummy person in a wheelchair] Of course you'll still be you in a legal sense, but think of it as a thinner, more attractive, better you than you could ever become without us. How do I know? Well, I'm not only the founder of Globo Gym. I'm also a client. [a picture of a 600-pound White Goodman from 14 years ago]

White Goodman: That's me. Six years and 600 pounds ago... before I knew how much I hated myself. But that all changed once I founded Globo Gym. But don't just take my word for it. Listen to these Globo-Gymers tell you how it is.

My favorite cardio activity is dancing. Lindy, especially, is great cardio. It also helps that you're directing another 120lbs around a floor. It really helps that that 120lbs is usually quite attractive and can be led into dips, swivels, etc.

Actually, that was my primary physical activity when I moved back to Sacramento. That, and eating better, helped me drop 20+ pounds. I actually had a gal comment on that when out dancing the other night.

I think I need to adjust my dancing style, my right knee ends up hurting when I'm done. I think I torque my knee joint the wrong way with my footwork.

Yes, I think the most recent studies say that the average long term runner has thicker cartilage tan non-runners.

I question whether polling people that are still running is valid though since if running had caused you knee problems, you probably wouldn't be running anymore and wouldn't be included.

kilgoretrout wrote:

MrJoshua wrote: Dont knock weight training as a long term exercise. Running kills the knees, swimming kills the shoulders, biking is hard on low backs, knees, fertility, etc... Weight training can always be done in some fashion, no matter how bad your favorite sport has treated you.

I can't speak for the other sports but running does not kill your knees, unless you have a pre-existing issue or train like a moron. This myth is usually told to me, once a week, by a person that hasn't run since middle school. As with any sport if you start off slow and gradually build you shouldn't be killing shoulders, knees, or balls (although bikes can be evil).

GlennS wrote:

kilgoretrout wrote:

MrJoshua wrote: Dont knock weight training as a long term exercise. Running kills the knees, swimming kills the shoulders, biking is hard on low backs, knees, fertility, etc... Weight training can always be done in some fashion, no matter how bad your favorite sport has treated you.

I can't speak for the other sports but running does not kill your knees, unless you have a pre-existing issue or train like a moron. This myth is usually told to me, once a week, by a person that hasn't run since middle school. As with any sport if you start off slow and gradually build you shouldn't be killing shoulders, knees, or balls (although bikes can be evil).

why are bikes evil? I would have thought that they would be very low impact.

Yeah, I didn't mean that bikes are bad for your legs, but they can bother your man-bits after long rides.

DirtyBird222 wrote:

kilgoretrout wrote:

MrJoshua wrote: Dont knock weight training as a long term exercise. Running kills the knees, swimming kills the shoulders, biking is hard on low backs, knees, fertility, etc... Weight training can always be done in some fashion, no matter how bad your favorite sport has treated you.

I can't speak for the other sports but running does not kill your knees, unless you have a pre-existing issue or train like a moron. This myth is usually told to me, once a week, by a person that hasn't run since middle school. As with any sport if you start off slow and gradually build you shouldn't be killing shoulders, knees, or balls (although bikes can be evil).

It's the spandex that kills your nads, not the seats.

I don't know, last time I went mountain biking I jumped a log and the seat did a roundhouse to my jam jam.

Rock climbing is a great workout. I've been trying to bug a few of my friends to get into it for a while. No luck :(

I've also wanted to try some of the intense full-body workout yoga-ish classes local gyms have been offering. They sound pretty intense due to the number of people quitting the classes, so it sounds like its more my style than lazy social workouts.

I used to go to the gym 4 days a week and lift, but got tired of doing that during my last autox car build. 4 hours a night of working on the car meant I did not want to drive to the gym. Instead I adopted my own "300" style workout at home using nothing but my own body weight and an 85lb barbell. Its a nice workout as it combines cardio and lifting, and you can get the whole thing done in 20 minutes.

The gym has been becoming more and more of a "designer" gym lately. We lost a couple benches, got more treadmills, more 32" LCD TVs for each one, and the freeweights are always disorganized while the cardio machines are spotlessly polished. Honestly, I can't blame them. For every person who wants to come in and lift, there are 10 who want to watch television while breathing hard.

I just realized that about my climbing gym: they don't have LCD's anywhere. I think they have two TV's, one is for screening the occasional film, and the other is for keeping little kids entertained. Most of the time people are using the exercise bikes, they're in a spin class with some athletic gall YELLING at them.

I did one of the Yoga classes once... and it was really intense. I should do more of that.

I've taken quite a few great Tai Chi classes at colleges. Despite the reputation, Tai Chi is a seriously taxing and difficult workout if you're doing it correctly. It has also given me the ability to embarrass bigger guys when I work a heavy bag.

If you want a climbing partner, just troll around your gym, strike up a conversation with someone who seems cool, and see if they'd like up for belaying you.

My gym also has a partner board with listings for people looking for workout partners (frequently with disclaimers about how they are not looking for someone to date).

kilgoretrout wrote: Yeah, I didn't mean that bikes are bad for your legs, but they can bother your man-bits after long rides.

If so, you're seat or seat position is wrong, it shouldn't hurt to ride.

SupraWes wrote:

kilgoretrout wrote: Yeah, I didn't mean that bikes are bad for your legs, but they can bother your man-bits after long rides.

If so, you're seat or seat position is wrong, it shouldn't hurt to ride.

Maybe he's just got a hugenormous set of nards? I've yet to see a bicycle seat that would accomodate a pair of grapefruits.

I agree, it shouldn't hurt to ride. If it really hurts that bad, get your ass off the seat, stand on those pedals, and ride harder!

Bryce

Nashco wrote:

SupraWes wrote:

kilgoretrout wrote: Yeah, I didn't mean that bikes are bad for your legs, but they can bother your man-bits after long rides.

If so, you're seat or seat position is wrong, it shouldn't hurt to ride.

Maybe he's just got a hugenormous set of nards? I've yet to see a bicycle seat that would accomodate a pair of grapefruits. I agree, it shouldn't hurt to ride. If it really hurts that bad, get your ass off the seat, stand on those pedals, and ride harder! Bryce

There is a great line from a Blink 182 song "...he took the seat off his bike because he liked the way that it felt...." haha, reminded me of that.

BTW, I'm really loving this new gym I'm at. I can roam about and use two different stations at once without having to worry about someone standing in front of one and claiming they are using it. No one is staring at me like in the designer gyms, there is one TV and I think it might be from the 80s, and rock music is on at all times.

Nashco wrote:

SupraWes wrote:

kilgoretrout wrote: Yeah, I didn't mean that bikes are bad for your legs, but they can bother your man-bits after long rides.

If so, you're seat or seat position is wrong, it shouldn't hurt to ride.

Maybe he's just got a hugenormous set of nards? I've yet to see a bicycle seat that would accomodate a pair of grapefruits. I agree, it shouldn't hurt to ride. If it really hurts that bad, get your ass off the seat, stand on those pedals, and ride harder! Bryce

Yep, they're massive. I'll post a picture when I'm not at work. Ha!

I never said they hurt that bad. But after a 60-80 mile ride, things aren't super comfortable either. I think the spandex is more of an issue than the seat itself. So spandex is evil. There, I said it.

kilgoretrout wrote: I think the spandex is more of an issue than the seat itself. So spandex on guys is evil . There, I said it.

Fixed.

I have to thank this thread for turning me onto ANOTHER thing to put time and money into. Seeing people talking about rock gyms reminded me that the GF was into that where she used to live. So I found a local gym and took her on a "date" there this past Friday. I'm hooked! I've never really been too beefy in the upper body, I was a year-round swimmer and distance runner before I started steady 12 ounce curls in college. Lots of vball, ultimate, and mountain biking lately, but I think climbing could be the real workout I've been looking for. I'm shopping for shoes and a harness and I'll likely get their 10-punch card for $120 next time I go. Its only $10 for the GF on Fridays, thank you "Ladies Night".

But just wanted to thank the guys that planted the seed, I'm pretty pumped to get into the sport. If anyone else had a bit of interest, I suggest you find a gym close by and give it a shot.

You don't really need a gym to get strong, just look at your gymnasts.

You can get pretty buff with a pullup bar, a set of homemade parallettes and a sledge hammer. You could also hit up the playground.

Here is one of my favourite sites.. http://www.beastskills.com/tutorials.htm

I use the local community center gym or the gym at school every other week or so (I alternate between body weight and iron weight). They have the free weights, and racks that I need to use. Maybe try the local YMCA?

Yep, I've been reading and trying out exercises from Beast Skills for a while now. Also been doing the hundred pushups routine except with pullups :pain:. Muscle-up here I come.