Intense?

Yesterday I got an email from JRock that contained a URL to an article titled, Rise, Shine, and Get Some Exercise. Interesting article but the following caught my eye:

only 45 percent of adults fulfill the surgeon general's physical activity recommendation of 30 minutes of intense aerobic activity three times per week.

First I wondered how they arrived at the 45% figure, I wasn't polled, how's that data being collected? But what really annoyed me was, "30 minutes of intense aerobic..." As a newbie these sorts of statements set off all sorts of warning bells.

What's intense mean? This sort of phrasing drives the newbie crazy and my fellow and former couch potatoes start visualizing strokes and major cardiac events, then there's the never ending "Before lifting your pinkie while thinking about exercise please consult your physician."

Now I agree that it's probably a great idea if you've been lounging around or you're about to get serious with it that you check with you doc. The newbie mentality though is that is a non starter, "NOW I have to go to the doc before embarking on my thirty minutes of 'intense' aerobic activity? I believe I'll continue to disappoint the surgeon general."

Well my fellow newbies here's what you do.

1. Find something you like doing or can at least tolerate that doesn't involve a screen
2. Get up and do it, um, NOW, not after later.

For me it was bike riding. I had this delusional dream of casually dropping in some conversation, "Yeah I did thirty on the bike today with an average twenty-three mph." It didn't take long for that bubble to pop, but last summer I managed to get fairly consistent with commuting into work. Six miles round trip. I'm very fortunate to have that short of a commute but that's not the point, I worked it into something I was already doing. That's the point. After a bit it kinda sorta becomes habit.

Did I visit my doc asking for permission? Nope.

Now do that for a bit and you'll get a feel for what's 'intense' for you. Walk (have you ever noticed when you're walking or biking slowly how many people will wave back if you wave first?), drop by my house and move a bag of mulch and not to the trunk of your car darn it!, whatever.

OK, you can do that, now what? Now if you decide to head into the gym you're gonna most likely have to check with your doc, particularly if you're over some age or weight. The gym doesn't want you to sue them (and you might rabbit, you just might) and the trainers don't want to injure you, nah the trainers want hurt you long time baby. You pull some major muscle or throw your back out, well that was fun for fifteen minutes but the trainers have something else in mind and not the sadistic way you're hoping for, that's what Madam Butterfly's Dungeon of Depraved Delight is for. No they want you about for the long haul so don't get impatient if they start you out easy, that's just the hook and they want to observe you, see how you're dealing. They want you to look forward to the next session, to dig it, if they're any good and I know two great ones.

::climbs off soap box:: Thanks for the article JRock.

I did something intense for me today. If you recall last week I wanted to get my avg HR above 144. I wrote: I'm going to lay out a careful plan of assault for next Tuesday - the goal will be an average HR of 150 over forty-five minutes.

As I climbed onto the elliptical this morning I realized that I hadn't laid out any plans at all. So my plan became my usual one of winging it. I took the machine up to level twelve right off the bat and let that run for about six minutes but it wasn't getting the HR up high enough so I upped it to level 13 and that kept me consistently above 150.

Then it became a waiting game of just keeping the HR above 150, it seemed like I was around 160 most of the time but I may have been delusional.

IronMan came in and was doing some treadmill work but the second goodMood showed up he was off that bad boy and over by the weights. I finished up around 6:15 and was exhausted. After the usual sobbing and what not I was composed enough to join them. Earlier I had heard Bubbles call out her traditional, "Good Morning" and as I was telling the guys about this book on lifting I got from the library Bubbles was suddenly at my side.

"You ready to go?" She was holding her awesome ABS Routine for Sissies Who Can't Handle the Real ABS Class routine in her hand. I said sure, figuring she was just going to show me a few things and it would be over in ten minutes.

Bubbles had other plans and put me through the full routine carefully checking my form and making me do them right. I managed to chat a bit during it and found out that Bubbles has had better weekends her volleyball team that she coaches not doing as well as hoped. One of her best defensive players going off on a cruise near Rome and another one doing something else. Then she was recalling how she was asked at the start of the season if she preferred the thirteen year old girls or the seventeen year olds to coach. Judging from her face I'm pretty sure Bubbles has made her mind up about THAT!

Because of my gabbing I think Bubbles was a few minutes late to ABS. I was threatened by D-TOSRV about my bogarting Bubbles ways as he stormed into the gym while I was wiping down my mat. quietGuy glared at me.

As I was heading out of the locker room I ask Kojak if ABS was its usual nightmare. Looking slightly shell shocked he says, "It was really tough and I BLAME YOU!"

That's me, Mr. Popularity :-)

PS: If it makes you feel any better Kojak I should be back in ABS in eight weeks, its my goal.