Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

This video made me laugh. Emmy award winning Jackie Mason challenges you to get on the treadmill every day.

“And you’re saying to yourself, what is he doing on the treadmill? I work hard and I do intense exercise. You see how fast I’m running now? Take a look. Could you run this fast? Nobody could run like this. You know why? Because I had to build up to it. I was originally only able to do light exercise. Now? Now, I move like anything.”

If you have had a hard time increasing your exercise, give Jackie Mason’s plan a try!

This Nike Running commercial makes me want to go for a run in the rain… with my sister.

In answer to the Question of the Week, here is an entry from Jank at the Complete Running Network:

• Running on the Run » Complete Running Network

Jank has some great ideas about exercising when you’re traveling. He has a “P” filled list to remind you how to do it:

• Pack it in
• Plan ahead
• Prioritize
• Plunder
• Postpone
• Proxies
• Promenade

To find out what each of these list items entails, head on over to The Complete Running Network and read Jank’s entry.

Photo Credit: chasing my shadow by DocMultimedia on Flickr

I like to stay at hotels with gyms. Most of the time, I’m pleasantly surprised at how well-equipped they are. There is usually at least one treadmill in working order, so I am able to at least get my cardio in. Weights, however are a different story. I usually have no idea how their weights compare to my own unless they have free weights. The weight machines are all different.

How do you exercise when you’re traveling?

What should you bring to make sure you can exercise when you’re on vacation?

How do you convert your weight training routine from home to the one at the hotel gym?

How do you factor in any extra activity you do while you’re on your trip?

Since my normal life is mostly sitting in front of a computer, I usually find myself hiking, walking and moving more when I’m traveling. I’ve never really found a way to account for that. What do you do it?

Cranky Fitness has a great entry about how not to be a jerk at the gym:

• Cranky Fitness: First Time at the Gym? How Not To Make an Ass of Yourself

The entire article is worth a read, but this one is my favorite:

Don’t use the fact that you’ll be showering afterwards as an excuse to show up smelling totally nasty and funky. Fresh sweat doesn’t really smell–but old body odor and overripe gym clothes are supremely nauseating to be around.

Yeah, and don’t forget to wipe your gross sweat off the machines!

Via: Beginners: 10 Things You Shouldn’t Do at the Gym

I love this commercial for Reebok! Sometimes it feels like the couch is calling to me, but I’ve never had it wrestle me away from the door. Next time you’re feeling like skipping your workout, just think of how hard it could be to get to the gym.

Here is the trailer from E3 for the Wii Fit. It looks like you’ll be able to keep track of your own progress separate from the rest of the people in your family (something DDR was sorely missing). I’m really excited about this one.

Via: Shiny Shiny: E3 2007 Nintendo Wii Fit trailer – who needs the treadmill?

Ever since my obsession with DDR and Yourself! Fitness has worn down, I’ve been looking for a new exergaming option. It looks like Nintendo is happy to feed my obsession with Wii Fit. It’s a new game with a new controller called a Balance Board. You can see the full story about the announcement at E3 at Engadget:

• Nintendo Wii Fit gets you stepping – Engadget

Here is some information on the Wii Balance Board:

“The Wii Balance Board is a Reebok Step look-alike, with dual sensors that can detect your weight and balance on each side as you exercise to the various on-screen Wii activities in Wii Fit. The board is wireless, and holds the potential of full-body games involving the Wiimote and the Wii Balance Board simultaneously.”

Yes! That’s what we’ve been waiting for. I had no idea that it would be Nintendo to fulfill my wishes.

I checked Nintendo’s website, but they haven’t put any mention of this new product on it yet. That’s one thing I like about Apple. When they announce things, they usually have something on their website about it the same day. Nintendo wasn’t ready for fan girls like me to bombard their site looking for more information. I guess we’ll have to wait. I’ll keep you posted.

I was playing with the Nike+ website, looking at the runs I’ve done over the last year. I bought my Nike+ at the end of July last year, so I have a number of runs to go back and look at. Here is what the last year looks like:

That tall month in December, I walked 54 miles on the treadmill. That’s when I walked so much that I ended up with black toenail. It kicked my mileage down quite a bit. January, I ran my 30 miles like I promised on my resolution, but I was in pain the whole time. I just didn’t want to go back to Weight Watchers.

Now, I’m back at Weight Watchers. Rather than a noose around my neck, it feels liberating. I have been gradually increasing my mileage. If I follow my program correctly, I will beat the December mileage without sacrificing my newly grown toenails.

I never really kept an exercise log before. I wrote things down in my food journal, but I didn’t keep as much data as the Nike+. Now, I can look over it and see how far I’ve come and what I can do to beat my “best” month. Runner’s World always recommended keeping a running journal, but I never realized how powerful it could be. Seeing my runs stack up like this makes me want to create a year where the mileage just keeps increasing.

You don’t need to own a Nike+ to keep an exercise log. You can keep that information anywhere. I used to keep it with my food logs, but to compare this kind of thing on my own, I would have to wade through all the food to find my workouts. It would have been better if I had kept track of my workouts in ONE place by themselves.

If you’re a crazy spreadsheet fan, like I am, you could keep track in Excel, letting it graph your progress for you much like the Nike+ has done for me here. Of course a Mead notebook would work just as well for you. The most important thing is to keep an exercise log because it can be more inspiring than I ever thought it could.

When I’m exercising at the gym (or on my treadmill at home), it really feels like there is only one reward, the benefits of exercise. When I’m outside hiking, there are so many benefits that I can barely list them all. When I am hiking in the Wasatch Mountains, I forget that I’m exercising. Suddenly, the huge incline isn’t just a setting on my treadmill. It’s a mountain I have to conquer. Here are just a few of the rewards that hiking has to offer:

• Exercise seems less difficult: This can be a two-edged sword, because when I get back from my hike, I usually end up sore for a couple of days. I don’t feel the extra effort when I’m out hiking, but I certainly feel it the next day.

• There’s a reason for the exercise: All exercise has a reason, but when you’re hiking up a trail, there is a destination in mind, such as the end of the trail, or maybe you want to go as far as the waterfall. Whatever the destination, there usually is one, which makes exercise seem more important.

• It can be social: You can bring your family and have one of those family memories that last for years. It wasn’t just exercise, it was a reason to get together.

• You get to see pretty stuff: Instead of watching television or staring at the wall while I exercise, I see all sorts of beautiful and interesting things, when I’m hiking. For an example of this, read about Tom Mangan’s most recent hike: Two-Heel Drive: Latest hike: Portola Redwoods State Park.

• You feel like you went on an adventure: I don’t know about you, but I don’t go on the trails in my area very often. Even though they are only a few minutes’ drive, I tend to just exercise at home more often than not. When I do go on a hike, I end up feeling like I had an adventure, even though it only took me a couple minutes longer to drive there than to drive to the gym.

If you are feeling like you are bored with your exercise routine, plan a hiking trip next weekend. Find the trails that are near your town and take a hike. You’ll feel refreshed and come home with a camera full of interesting pictures. If you do, please share them here.