I want to be fit & trim - but HATE exercising!

[Marie13]

It never occurred to me to worry about catching a cold from wet hair even in the Midwest. From gym to home and inside quickly, but I do have a pretty short cut. You can always take a cue from cancer patients who’ve lost their hair and wrap some sort of thin scarf around your head.

 

[Esprise Me]

I lived in Boston in my twenties. One time I got a haircut at this new place, and they waited until after they shampooed me to tell me it was going to be another forty bucks for a blow-dry. I was a broke waitress at the time and that was kind of a lot of money to me, but it was mainly the principle of how they ambushed me. They clearly expected me to just meekly pay the extra fee, because they were *very* upset when I walked out into the February snow with a wet head. (Luckily I lived only two blocks away.) And actually, it wasn't that bad!

After that, I dared to shower in the morning and go out with a wet head more often. Sometimes I'd pop a ski cap on, sometimes I'd just pull up the hood of my coat. Sometimes the ends of my long hair would freeze, but as long as my core was warm, I was fine. FWIW.

 

[DBPacific]

It never occurred to me to worry about catching a cold from wet hair even in the Midwest. From gym to home and inside quickly, but I do have a pretty short cut. You can always take a cue from cancer patients who’ve lost their hair and wrap some sort of thin scarf around your head.

That's what I'll probably do in the end. I have both long hair and a 30 minute walking commute (I bike but I'm not sure how the bike paths will fare once it snows), so just wanted to see if there were any "advanced" wet hair tips that folks had.

Drat, now I have to practice scarf wrapping.

 

[Marie13]

I’ve gotten into a good groove with the recumbent bike again. 15.3 miles in 67 minutes tonight.

 

[drl]

I should be exercising now, but the cat on my lap has other ideas!

 

[Subcooled]

We should seriously put more women in charge of ScubaBoard to foster collaborative conversations

It suffices to say that we should put people with confidence in charge
...confidence, as is understood by Platon in his dialogue with Protagoras.
Ancient history of diving

 

[Catito]

What a great thread. Ten pages of sincere discourse with pleasant humor mixed in and not a single instance of bickering. We should seriously put more women in charge of ScubaBoard to foster collaborative conversations rather than competitive opinion wars.

Another fan of walking. At least according to Garmin, walking burns a ton more calories than an equivalent time spent on my Concept2 rower and SkiErg. Plus my wife and I get time to share our thoughts and resolve problems before they fester and turn into landmines.

I still love my Concept2 erg machines because they are so smooth and give the user a total body workout. The online community, virtual teams and periodic challenges are great and scalable to ability. The number of guys and gals in their 60s, 70 and 80s cranking out million meter years is something that attracted me to the two ergs. A user-friendly “fitness for life” piece of home gym equipment that doesn’t require loud noises or unleashing some internal prison voice. Anyways, the leg, lower and upper back strength lends itself to diving. Of course, the scalable cardio benefit also helps. Since I moved to Florida, I’ve rather given up on running. I hate to admit that but it’s true. The Concept2 ergs make that easy since developing cardiopulmonary health is so much easier (IMO) on the ergs.

Also a fan of swimming, another activity that is sustainable well into geriatric years and naturally contributes to diving fitness.

Keep up the great discussion. Thanks for letting me chime in the Women’s Perspectives sub-forum.

Well…I see, I think, the point you are trying to make…but I think it was an innocent comment. My Mom might have written the same. Generational.

 

[Kimela]

So ... as I watch a dear friend, who is in her early 70's, struggle with limited mobility, I am even MORE motivated to try to 'do better'. My son (who seems to know everything about everything - not being snarky, he really does!) says that because our society is so incredibly sedentary we tend to have difficulties with specific tendons/muscles literally shortening from not being used. The ones I'm talking about are the ones engaged in our pelvic area, glutes, hamstrings, lower back, etc. Taking them out on vacation once or twice a year for a week of diving won't cut it. One of the easiest things he has suggested to begin with are lunges. They're not hard to do. They DO hurt like hell the day after, but I think I will be happy to have done them when I look backward and realize all the time and pain has resulted in better mobility.

I've turned a corner (I hope it's permanent) in terms of exercise. Rather than a constant internal monologue about how much I HATE exercising, I've started to use that exercise time to listen to podcasts, talk to friends (you know who you are), or listen to my own thoughts. When those thoughts turn to "I fricking HATE this" I remember my dear friend whose lack of using her muscles has resulted in atrophy that will probably be permanent, and I think 'This is totally worth it' - not just for diving, but for living.

Ahem ... putting soapbox away ...

 

[Marie13]

Is a week or two a year all you dive?

Lunges are hell on the knees. I did dumbbell squats instead. I can do them without much pain.

 

[tarponchik]

So ... as I watch a dear friend, who is in her early 70's, struggle with limited mobility, I am even MORE motivated to try to 'do better'. My son (who seems to know everything about everything - not being snarky, he really does!) says that because our society is so incredibly sedentary we tend to have difficulties with specific tendons/muscles literally shortening from not being used. The ones I'm talking about are the ones engaged in our pelvic area, glutes, hamstrings, lower back, etc. Taking them out on vacation once or twice a year for a week of diving won't cut it. One of the easiest things he has suggested to begin with are lunges. They're not hard to do. They DO hurt like hell the day after, but I think I will be happy to have done them when I look backward and realize all the time and pain has resulted in better mobility.

I've turned a corner (I hope it's permanent) in terms of exercise. Rather than a constant internal monologue about how much I HATE exercising, I've started to use that exercise time to listen to podcasts, talk to friends (you know who you are), or listen to my own thoughts. When those thoughts turn to "I fricking HATE this" I remember my dear friend whose lack of using her muscles has resulted in atrophy that will probably be permanent, and I think 'This is totally worth it' - not just for diving, but for living.

Ahem ... putting soapbox away ...

I look at exercise as a necessity, but at the same time exercise is your last resort. You should take every chance you have to work out in your daily life. Take the autumn season, for example. I rake fallen leaves, but I am the only guy in the hood who rakes leaves. Everybody else uses leaf blowers. Some guys are old and overweight so they have an excuse, but my neighbor David is a sport enthusiast. He even walks the trails daily for good health. I've never asked him or other guys like him (there are plenty) but this puzzles me. They do not really save much time using leaf blowers instead of rakes but they avoid a good workout while polluting air and making noise. Even using a vacuum cleaner is an exercise so just do it more often.