Lämmchen's Workout Thread

Lamb

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Still maintaining 10,000 steps a day! When I walk outside my allergies get to me so I might wait until all the crops here are harvested before I continue my walks outside. Whenever I walk near the corn fields I can't breathe.
 

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I've easily been getting my 10,000 steps and yesterday my daughter and I did such a long walk that I went slightly under 15,000 steps. My allergies are killing me because there was a guy mowing the sides of the trail that we passed a couple times and I forgot to take my pill when we got home.
 

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I've been doing well with the steps but today was a struggle so I forced myself to do this video:

 

tango

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Got an awesome walk in yesterday. I had planned to attempt a hike taking in 5000 feet of climbing to get the Volcano badge on Fitbit but on the day I wasn't feeling it. Just as well too, it was very humid. I got to the top of one mountain and realised I left my phone in the car so I cut that loop short, got my phone out of the car, refilled my water bottles and went up the adjacent mountain. All in a little under 29000 steps and 275 floors. This month has been my third best ever for floors.
 

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You're really moving along, tango! I find that my feet ache after doing 10,000 steps and if I go over 15,000 steps then my knees will hurt for a day. I have to supplement with extra magnesium to take away the inflammation but all that probably has to do with my Hashimoto's. I would love to go to the Appalachians and do more hiking but my knees are telling me to stay away.

Yesterday we did 4 miles but it gave me enough energy for the rest of the day to do things around the house!
 

tango

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You're really moving along, tango! I find that my feet ache after doing 10,000 steps and if I go over 15,000 steps then my knees will hurt for a day. I have to supplement with extra magnesium to take away the inflammation but all that probably has to do with my Hashimoto's. I would love to go to the Appalachians and do more hiking but my knees are telling me to stay away.

Yesterday we did 4 miles but it gave me enough energy for the rest of the day to do things around the house!

It's funny, with the mountains on the doorstep it's good to chalk up a lot of floors but in previous years the weather hasn't been conducive at all. This summer has been quite forgiving weather-wise so I've been able to get out a lot more than previous years. The last four months have been the four best for floors since I got my Fitbit in 2016 - from May to August of this year my total is just shy of 5800 floors. Last year it was so wet I didn't get much hiking in at all - it's not much fun hiking in a downpour and we had so much rain that the few dry days we did have got soaked up with things like mowing the grass and breaking the house.

My Fitbit is getting unreliable now and none of the current range are any good to me. I'm hoping I can get 7000 more floors before it packs up completely - I recently achieved Astronaut (28,000 lifetime floors) and the next and final badge in that range is Spaceship (35,000 lifetime floors). I'd like to get that before jumping ship.

With any luck Fitbit will take a break from spewing meaningless marketing fluff and produce a useful tracker for people who don't like wristbands. There seems to be a fair amount of support in their forums for bringing back the One or something like it. Their only clip-based tracker now (the Inspire) doesn't actually come with a clip - you have to buy it for an extra $20 - and doesn't count floors. I'd love to know what genius made that decision.
 

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I gave up on FitBit and use my daughter's OMRON pedometer. It seems to be more trustworthy than my FitBit ever was.
 

tango

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I gave up on FitBit and use my daughter's OMRON pedometer. It seems to be more trustworthy than my FitBit ever was.

I've often wondered just how accurate my Fitbit really is. My regular walk up one mountain counts between 110-130 floors, the adjacent mountain usually counts between 90-105. That's a big enough difference to wonder what it's missing, although I think the way it considers "a floor" to be a climb of approximately 10 feet at once I've often wondered how much of the variation is caused by stopping for a quick breather - maybe if I climb 11 feet, then 12 feet, then 22 feet it counts 4 floors but if I climb 9 feet, then 19 feet, then 17 feet it only counts 2 floors. Indoors I tend to be very light on my feet so it's also possible it misses some of my steps. But it's what I've got for now so until it packs up I'll live with it. The most annoying thing about the vagaries of counting floors is when I'm going for a specific badge, like the other day when I went for Canyon and expected the two parts of my walk to get me to about 380 only to get to the top of the second mountain and find it said 335 and I still had a fair chunk of work to do to get the rest of the climbing in.
 

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I've often wondered just how accurate my Fitbit really is. My regular walk up one mountain counts between 110-130 floors, the adjacent mountain usually counts between 90-105. That's a big enough difference to wonder what it's missing, although I think the way it considers "a floor" to be a climb of approximately 10 feet at once I've often wondered how much of the variation is caused by stopping for a quick breather - maybe if I climb 11 feet, then 12 feet, then 22 feet it counts 4 floors but if I climb 9 feet, then 19 feet, then 17 feet it only counts 2 floors. Indoors I tend to be very light on my feet so it's also possible it misses some of my steps. But it's what I've got for now so until it packs up I'll live with it. The most annoying thing about the vagaries of counting floors is when I'm going for a specific badge, like the other day when I went for Canyon and expected the two parts of my walk to get me to about 380 only to get to the top of the second mountain and find it said 335 and I still had a fair chunk of work to do to get the rest of the climbing in.

I have found that climbing doesn't give an accurate count of steps at least for either of my pedometers.
 

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Yesterday was the first day in a long time that I didn't get to 10,000 steps. I was too sore from doing yard work and I think it's possible that I actually got to that amount but not as "activity" which is what my pedometer counts meaning that take a couple steps then pausing won't be counted.
 

tango

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When my Fitbit gives up the ghost I'm done with them. I've been growing weary of them for a time because on the few occasions I've had to contact their "support" the staff are largely useless, and for good measure reading reviews of their current range it seems like their quality control is at least as bad as when I was trying to work with the original Charge. The only clip-on tracker they offer doesn't count floors. For good measure yesterday I found they don't care about tracking floors at all - I did my usual 6-mile hike but forgot to take my Fitbit with me. It turns out you can manually enter an exercise and adjust your steps, active minutes, and calories. Sadly even though you can enter "stair climbing" as an exercise there is no way to manually enter elevation gain. Since that's the thing I'm most interested in tracking it not only means I've lost 130 floors for the month which messes with my attempts to get personal best totals, they clearly aren't interested in customers like me despite their corporate fluff about "there's something for everyone in our range".

As if that wasn't annoying enough, the "assistant" yesterday couldn't do much more than offer me the helpful advice "take your fitbit when you go hiking". Yeah, thanks for that.

Not sure what my One is going to be replaced with when it finally dies but it's increasingly unlikely that it will be another Fitbit.
 

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I don't think I'd spend the money on a Fitbit. I never used the features mine had anyway...I just wanted the step count.
 

tango

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I don't think I'd spend the money on a Fitbit. I never used the features mine had anyway...I just wanted the step count.

The One was a really good product. It was something like $80 and that included the clip. It clips on a pocket/belt/bra/whatever and pretty much sits out of the way as it counts steps, floors climbed and active minutes. Of course it can't measure pulse as it's not typically pressed against any part of the body but it worked and was unobtrusive. So of course it had to be discontinued and replaced with something not as good - enter the Impulse, a product that gets nearly 25% one-star reviews on Amazon. The only option Fitbit makes that doesn't have to be a wristband, it doesn't count floors, and you have to pay an extra $20 for the clip that fits it.

The sad thing is that everything is moving to wristbands. But the wristbands are cheap and nasty - ugly silicone that doesn't breathe and that sticks to your skin. The only options are (you guessed it) to pay extra here and extra there so you get something that doesn't look like cheap and nasty blends of rubber and plastic, so before you know it you're the wrong side of $500 for a watch you have to charge every few days. I must admit I rather like the idea behind some of the older Garmin watches, that take a coin cell that can last a year before needing to be replaced and that you can buy just about anywhere. Some of Garmin's higher end watches look very nice but they come with hefty price tags - the top model of the latest Fenix 6X pushes north of $1000. I can imagine it looking very nice to wear but the trouble with a watch is that it fails any need to be universal. For me if I'm going to choose a watch I want it to be something I won't be ashamed to wear to events where I want to dress up a bit but at the same time I want something I won't be afraid to wear when I'm digging through gallons of cellulose insulation or pulling down a ceiling or something. A cheap watch looks out of place when dressed up and I don't really want a $1000+ watch on my wrist when I'm scraping wallpaper or pulling plaster down from ceilings and walls. So it's doubly sad that devices like the One are disappearing.

What I'm probably going to end up doing is choosing something based on its functionality knowing it will be a watch with a replaceable band, then replacing the band with a custom thing I can botch together to make it into a clip anyway. Then I can clip it on my belt.
 

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With the exception of the day we went car shopping, I have been maintaining 10,000 steps or more daily. I haven't done anything excessive besides simple walking.
 

tango

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Just got back from another walk in the woods. I promised my wife I'd help her with the yard work this afternoon, otherwise I could easily have loaded up with more cereal bars and water and been gone for most of the day. The woods are a great place to help clear my thoughts.
 

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Just got back from another walk in the woods. I promised my wife I'd help her with the yard work this afternoon, otherwise I could easily have loaded up with more cereal bars and water and been gone for most of the day. The woods are a great place to help clear my thoughts.

Well that would have irritated the wife if you didn't help out with the yard work :D But you're right that the woods are a great place to help clear thoughts!
 

tango

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Well that would have irritated the wife if you didn't help out with the yard work :D But you're right that the woods are a great place to help clear thoughts!

The funny thing was I got back to find my wife had already mowed a good chunk of the yard. We've got a couple of awkwardly shaped bits at the front of the house that she asked me to do, and then did the rest herself because she wanted the steps.

I really want more people to use the woods because if there's no demand the trails end up being abandoned, but the more people there are the less solitude there is. I've often thought of trying to form a hiking group but the thing I like most about the woods is the sense of solitude. When I can hike for miles and not see another person it's just wonderful. If I have a sermon to prepare I take walks in the woods, if I've got things on my mind I walk in the woods, if I just want to stretch my legs I walk in the woods. If I've got a major decision to make it can help clear my head, it does all sorts of good things for my mood. And it's good exercise too :)
 

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The funny thing was I got back to find my wife had already mowed a good chunk of the yard. We've got a couple of awkwardly shaped bits at the front of the house that she asked me to do, and then did the rest herself because she wanted the steps.

I really want more people to use the woods because if there's no demand the trails end up being abandoned, but the more people there are the less solitude there is. I've often thought of trying to form a hiking group but the thing I like most about the woods is the sense of solitude. When I can hike for miles and not see another person it's just wonderful. If I have a sermon to prepare I take walks in the woods, if I've got things on my mind I walk in the woods, if I just want to stretch my legs I walk in the woods. If I've got a major decision to make it can help clear my head, it does all sorts of good things for my mood. And it's good exercise too :)

How about a monthly group hike then? You might get people interested in doing only that and you'd still have the woods to yourself the rest of the time?

We had rails to trails back home and even though they weren't in the woods, it was the trails that I rode my bike on and walked. And it was packed with people! Weekends were ridiculous and they didn't have the best trail etiquette compared to the people on the weekday.
 

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So today I started toward a new goal. I was surprised a bit by the Dr. at a walk-in clininc that I'd been attending for a while since I don't have a G.P. He asked about exercise and I said that "I'd like to start walking". He knew I was a counselor so he said "we're going to set a 'SMART' goal for you" (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic/Relevant, Time-focused).

What can you do that is realistic?"
Walk for 20 minutes before work.
"Okay. How often?"
3 times a week.
"Where?"
Townsend Park.

Goal: "I will walk for 20 minutes at Townsend Park 3 days a week before work, and follow up with the Dr. in one month"

And he wrote it down in his notes! So the next time I see him (about a month or so) we're going to review the goal. That was a couple of weeks ago, but I started today. So 20 minutes, one full lap around the park, is one mile. Today did two laps - 40 minutes. So it's attainable. Measurable? Yes - I found a decent step counter app that keeps track of distance and time as well - 4200 steps, 2 miles, 40 minutes. So it's more than realistic if I was able to double it today, but it's a day off. It's up to me to keep up with the three days a week. I don't think that'll be an issue.

Overall I felt good afterward. I was able to increase my stride a bit as I went, although I kept a good pace all the way. My arms had a more natural swing the longer I went, too.
 
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Lamb

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So today I started toward a new goal. I was surprised a bit by the Dr. at a walk-in clininc that I'd been attending for a while since I don't have a G.P. He asked about exercise and I said that "I'd like to start walking". He knew I was a counselor so he said "we're going to set a 'SMART' goal for you" (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic/Relevant, Time-focused).

What can you do that is realistic?"
Walk for 20 minutes before work.
"Okay. How often?"
3 times a week.
"Where?"
Townsend Park.

Goal: "I will walk for 20 minutes at Townsend Park 3 days a week before work, and follow up with the Dr. in one month"

And he wrote it down in his notes! So the next time I see him (about a month or so) we're going to review the goal. That was a couple of weeks ago, but I started today. So 20 minutes, one full lap around the park, is one mile. Today did two laps - 40 minutes. So it's attainable. Measurable? Yes - I found a decent step counter app that keeps track of distance and time as well - 4200 steps, 2 miles, 40 minutes. So it's more than realistic if I was able to double it today, but it's a day off. It's up to me to keep up with the three days a week. I don't think that'll be an issue.

That's great! Walking can get addicting so you might find you want to walk more than 3 days a week if you can get the time. Having a step counter helps me a lot for accountability. It's not the most accurate but I know I'm in a good range if I can do 10,000 steps a day.

I find that sometimes changing up the steps helps too...today I did this video because I haven't done one in a while:

 
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