Getting in shape...

My wife has an Apple Watch that tracks her steps. I have a Fitbit. I’ve actually got an older one I’d pass on of you want it. I try to do 10k steps a day. And being at a computer most of the day you’d be surprised how hard it is to get there.
 
ghost said:
My wife has an Apple Watch that tracks her steps. I have a Fitbit. I’ve actually got an older one I’d pass on of you want it. I try to do 10k steps a day. And being at a computer most of the day you’d be surprised how hard it is to get there.
Click to expand...
On typical weekdays, I get 3-5k steps. On weekends, I get 10-20k steps.
 
jeepinmatt said:
On typical weekdays, I get 3-5k steps. On weekends, I get 10-20k steps.
Click to expand...
This is my challenge. On a "mostly meetings" day I'm lucky to get 5k, and thats with making it a point to get up and get coffee, walk around the building etc. Luckily one of my labs is in another building that is about 5-600 yards away so when the weather isn't crappy I have an excuse to walk out there. When doing data collection / lab work I end up walking around a lot too. Years ago my lab was in the basement and our elevator is sketchy so I was always walking up and down stairs multiple times daily. Wow what a difference that made. Now I'm in a single-floor building and I miss that.

Several years ago I remember there was this old guy in a different department on the 3rd floor that we'd see wandering around the basement 2x daily. Got to talking and learned twice a day he'd do a cycle of all the stairs in a loop. At the time I was like "What a kook." Now I get it.

My personal goal is a running average of 70k steps over the last 7 days, so on those slow days I try and take the dog for an extra walk around the block (he needs the exercise too!) which nets another another 1500-2k.

If you look back at a months worth of step records you can easily spot the weekends and busy Tuesdays when I'm doin ga lot of extra w/ the robotics teams.
 
Last edited:
10k steps/day is a completely arbitrary number, but equates to about five miles of continuous walking. Step counters are fine, but if you're "getting your steps in" by milling around, you're not getting the sustained elevated heart rate, etc, that confers a lot of the benefits of exercise. If you're looking to "get in shape", start by focusing on an hour of movement. Once you've established a baseline, you can decide if or how to integrate weights, F3, CrossFit, etc. The latter options are more likely to cause injuries that will reset any progress, too.
 
www.artofmanliness.com

A Guide to the Biggest Thing Missing From Your Fitness Routine: Zone 2 Training

I wasn’t a cardio guy for most of my life. I just didn’t enjoy it. I knew I was supposed to do cardio because it’s good for my heart and insulin resistance and whatnot. So when I did do cardio, I found ways to make the experience as not sucky as possible. The first prong […]
www.artofmanliness.com www.artofmanliness.com

theathleteblog.com

Heart Rate Zone Calculator | The Athlete Blog

This heart rate zone calculator uses Karvonen formula to estimate individual heart rate training zones based on user data (email not needed).
theathleteblog.com theathleteblog.com
 
shawn said:
10k steps/day is a completely arbitrary number, but equates to about five miles of continuous walking. Step counters are fine, but if you're "getting your steps in" by milling around, you're not getting the sustained elevated heart rate, etc, that confers a lot of the benefits of exercise. If you're looking to "get in shape", start by focusing on an hour of movement. Once you've established a baseline, you can decide if or how to integrate weights, F3, CrossFit, etc. The latter options are more likely to cause injuries that will reset any progress, too.
Click to expand...
this....and my tired and sore hardly ever is because of aerobic activity. Decent core strength, decent tone, and zero wind. Yep that is pretty accurate.
 
Start walking regularly.
Then add in a rucksack with 20-30 pounds of weight and do the same walk.
Always record what you do, and you’ll find yourself trying to improve your pace or distance. Then it’s a mental exercise as well as physical.
 
Go away kids. We’re exercising.
1709903640302.png
 
VortecJeep said:
Start walking regularly.
Then add in a rucksack with 20-30 pounds of weight and do the same walk.
Always record what you do, and you’ll find yourself trying to improve your pace or distance. Then it’s a mental exercise as well as physical.
Click to expand...
This is I think what we decided to do to start out with. Walking as a family has a lot has a lot more benefits than just exercising. It allows my wife and I to talk about our day, it gets the kiddo out and we get to talk about her day, it gets the dog the exercise he needs and it just helps me by being outside and breathing in the fresh air and clearing my mind a bit. I think once we start doing this, we will go further and further and then switch it up to something different. If the weather doesn't permit, we will switch to the treadmill. and I'm going to look more into this rucking thing. Sounds like it would be something i'd be into.
shawn said:
What are you doing then? Sitting on your ass and watching TV for an hour? Do it on the treadmill instead. One hour, zone two, three to four days a week.
Click to expand...
Typically, I am walking around the house looking for something to do, I'll piddle for a little bit. Watch a couple episodes of Joe Rogan's podcast or something, then get back up and get stuff done for in the morning, then its usually off to bed.

jeepinmatt said:
Just tell her its exercise or butt stuff 🤷‍♂️ 🤷‍♀️
Click to expand...
I am going to legit do this. That will get her motivated, if not, well at least one of us is getting a nice little workout in.

RatLabGuy said:
I'd wager your work lifestyle has you moving around quite a lot and already getting a lot of exercise, plus on top of your hobbies and home activities also being very active. That makes a huge difference.
A lot folks - and IIRC @Cherokeekid88 is in this category - have careers where the daily work is mostly just sitting.
This means that they have to find extra time outside of career time for exercie that you don't necessarily need.

This thread got long really quick and I haven't read everything, but IMO for @Cherokeekid88 or anyone else, it would be veru infromative as a start to get a watch or other device that tracks steps and ideally heart rate and heart rate variable (HRV). Almost anything does it now. See what your daily routine has you at today, that will tell you how much more you should be doing. Its a really gross measure, but you can do a lot for your health by just doing more walking etc. Ideally getting 10k steps daily, but even 7-8 isn't a bad start if you have a mostly sit-in-a-chair career and lifestyle.
Click to expand...
Right, my job is mostly sitting. I get about 4k-6k steps in daily. Usually more on the weekends. I'm hoping with us walking nightly, I can get it to 10k-12k steps in daily as well as making sure I get up and walk around every 30min - 1 hour. We have a program at work where we get points for our steps, adopting healthy habits, logging our exercises, etc., which also gives us a discount on our insurance premium (which is motivation all on its own)
 
Andy J. said:
My daughter and I ruck too. We both love backpacking, so I think of it as backpacking training. Here’s her pack waiting for today’s session.

View attachment 414051
Click to expand...
Talk to me about rucking…
Is it just walking with a backpack?

I keep hearing about it…and it seems like walking with a weight vest or backpack.

I need something lower impact than running. My body is prepared to carry extra weight around - it’s used to it - so if I can low impact and get exercise and not have to buy a bike like @Jody Treadway and crush my taint…might give it a try
 
Ron said:
Talk to me about rucking…
Is it just walking with a backpack?

I keep hearing about it…and it seems like walking with a weight vest or backpack.

I need something lower impact than running. My body is prepared to carry extra weight around - it’s used to it - so if I can low impact and get exercise and not have to buy a bike like @Jody Treadway and crush my taint…might give it a try
Click to expand...
Yes, at it's most basic, it's just walking under load. There are however rucking workouts - boot camp style workouts while wearing the ruck or using it like a kettle bell etc..
I don't know if they have a site near you, but some F3 regions have a ruck specific day/site. Mostly just getting in miles with a load on your back. But also occasional days with the workout also.

There is a whole world out there of rucking. It's a blast and a great workout. Day long and weekend long events that will really test you mentally and physically.

www.goruck.com

growruck.com

F3 Nation’s GrowRuck

Part of F3 Nation, GrowRuck is a weekend-long event that combines F3 GrowSchool with a Rucking CSAUP event to immediately apply F3 leadership skills.
growruck.com growruck.com
 
Back
Top