Walk, run or bike?

[wb416]

I used to weigh 250 pounds and got down to 185 with biking. I now weigh ~165 through a combo of biking and Wii Fit. I was biking to school then to work after graduating; commuting via bike puts the daily exercise into your schedule and thus you're very highly likely to stick with it. Stay off the roads whenever possible - go on bike paths, dedicated trails, etc. Some drivers aren't very good at avoiding accidents, and 1/5 is under the influence of something.

You will require winter biking gear. A good jacket will make all the difference in the world. Wait. What kind of winters do you get in Florida?

One thing you will hear - which is false - is that biking is low-impact. It is not. It is just as likely to damage your knees as running, and I know several cyclists who have required knee surgery. (I am not one of them.) Go easy on your knees by ensuring that your legs are warm in the winter. Your legs will not feel the cold as easily as your chest. In other words, if you can't wear just a tshirt on top, you can't wear just shorts on the bottom.

Kudos to you for commuting to work. Not possible with my job, but sometimes I wish I had a job that I could.

Spinning at a higher rate (in easier gears) can help the knees too... and keep the heart rate up nicely!

 

[underseasian]

Might sound a bit daft on a diving forum but have you considered swimming? It has such a low impact on the body, keeps the whole body moving, rather than just exercising small groups of muscles and gets the heart pumping like a good 'un!

 

[wb416]

A couple of thoughts on bikes... I love the feeling of the wind in my face as I'm riding... it's motivating and exhilarating.

Bike types: In the time you have available, you could get a better workout from a mountain bike than a road bike... they are less efficient on the paved surfaces, so you have to work a bit harder over the same distances. That being said... go with a less aggressive tread, not "road bike smooth" mind you, but not nobby dirt trail either (that way you can also use hard pack or packed gravel trails). The nice upright position of an MTB is easier on your back too.

To get the good workout, try to pedal around 90 rpm... that'll get your heart rate up nicely... if you can't go that fast (or faster), just focus on keeping an easier gear vs a harder gear... easier on the knees and better aerobic engagement. The other thing that's nice about a bike is the ability to coast and recover a bit.

You can get one inexpensively at a Retail box store for a $200, but personally I think it's worth the service and quality to go to a local bike shop and pay more for the expert setup and service.

Now... the caveat to this... I biked over 1600 miles last year, and recently did 10K on the elliptical and improved 4 minutes from doing it about a month ago... yet... when I ran a mile yesterday it jolted the hell out of my back and knees... the only thing that can prepare you for running is... well... running....

As someone else said... don't be afraid to mix up your cardio... even Olympic weightlifting movements have the unique ability (among lifting exercises) to improve things like your VO2 max..... nothing like a few jerks and snatch to get your heart rate up (pun intented).

 

[E.C.Hansen]

In the past four years I have managed to quit smoking, read a couple books about nutrition and to start living an active lifestyle. Not to question methods or say that any theory about heart rates is correct or not, most of that is just information that you will never need. You don't have to buy exercise gadgets, monitors, or special diet foods, you don't have to commit to run/bike/swim hundreds of miles in the next year.

Treat the decision to be healthier like you treated your decision to learn SCUBA. Decide its what you want to do, learn how to go about it, and start enjoying it.

Probably the two best things you could do are:
1- learn a little bit about eating, specifically how to choose good foods, and how to form good eating habits.
2- Be active, start small and comfortable, do things you enjoy.

Four years ago my exercise routine was simply a promise to make myself sweat for at least a couple min. every day before I took a shower. I started with walks, and a couple basic grade school calisthenics. Now I just try to be active, I run often (because I enjoy it), I bike less often than I run (because I only like to bike when its sunny and pretty outside). And this is all secondary to the daily exercise that I'm doing to become a yoga instructor.

sorry for caps-yelling but I can't type this loud enough...

ITS MUCH EASIER TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE BY ADDING THINGS YOU LIKE THAN BY FORCING YOURSELF INTO THINGS YOU DON'T.

Congratulations on deciding to care for yourself, and good luck.

Eric

 

[OldNSalty]

To answer a few questions:

Themani-No, it never really gets very cold for very long down here. In an extreme, maybe in the high teens with windchill. Even in those cases, it won't last all day and cold spells in general only last a bout a week at most.

Underseasian-Actually swimming is a great idea but for me (1 wife, 2 kids and a dog) most of my 'me time' has to be spent around the house. Just not practical to run to the gym or pool every day for an hour. I am signing the kids up for some swimming lessons and hope to use that time to get in some laps myself.

Thanks for the info everyone. I have been doing the weights mostly as my Dr. informed me soon after posting here that I have a bit of arthritis in my toes (and in a few other places). At least the weights I can do sitting or laying down.