What do you like to do for exercise?

A bit different than the Health Club Thread, where we talk about what we've been doing. I want to know what you LIKE to do to get your physical activity. Team sports? Solitary running? Aerobics classes? What do you really enjoy? What's the most fun you've had, exercise-wise? What do you want to try that you haven't, yet?

I kinda hate running. But I love how it makes me feel. And there's a sense of... being in a club, if you will. Last night, the guy in line behind me at the checkout asked if I was a runner. I felt this weird, like...rush of pride when I answered, "yes, yes I am!"

Now, swimming...swimming, I love. I'd swim laps all day, until I'm exhausted. I love the feel of weightlessness, and the way the water slides over my skin. Both sets of grandparents had a pool when I was growing up, so there were entire summers spent playing Marco Polo, diving for pennies, and coming up with crazy ways to jump or dive off the board. My brother and I had this (admittedly weird) game, where we'd bind our wrists or ankles, or both, and swim the length of the pool. We thought it would be good to be prepared if we ever had to escape from...pirates or something, I don't know.

The most fun I've had exercising was in a class I took a few years ago. It was something like "Physical Education for Elementary School Students." We all rotated coming up with a lesson plan, and the students who weren't "teaching" that day got to pretend to be kids and play whatever games we came up with. We were all in our 20s, running around playing these crazy, fun, run-around-like-a-six-year-old games. We talked about how great it would be to have a group get together regularly, like a softball team or something, but play kids' games instead. Sadly, it never happened, but I still think it would be awesome.

Your turn.

 

In terms of exercise I will only do what I enjoy doing. I'm never going to go to a Gym just because I felt I should, or someone told me I should.
I want to be outdoors. The things I love to do are bicycling, cross country skiing, and skating/playing ice hockey.
I do more cycling than anything else, because I can do that pretty much year round.
If I had to pick my single favorite athletic activity, and my fondest memories of exercise it would be skiing with my wife and dog. Perfect day for us would be about 20F, fresh powder snow, deep blue sky and sun.
And for pure bang for the buck nothing beats pick-up ice hockey on Wednesday nights on the outdoor rink behind the grocery store in town.

 

I just returned from a brisk 2 mile walk. I hate running, but walking is fine. A little later I'll hit the health club and do the machines followed by 20 minutes of cardio. Tomorrow, I'll probably take an early morning walk and at the end of the work day do an hour of cardio. I alternate my days between strength and cardio. But lately I've been doing more cardio, I've been trying to drop some weight and I have. I enjoy biking but haven't this year much at all. I miss it. Don't recall the last time I was in water. Never was that much of a swimmer. Bad for, very inefficient. And never was around water that much growing up to be totally comfortable in it.

I like solitary exercise. It's a time to be alone with my thoughts. Morning walks help me plan my day. An hour of cardio with my iPad and headphones, I'm in my own world. Otherwise, I don't spend much time in my world just by myself. Besides the obvious physical health benefits, there's a therapeutic side to exercise as well.

 

My philosophy of exercise is based on movement: I need to move as often as possible and in wide ranges of motion, but with strength. The different things I do support that in different ways.

Strength training would be my one form if I had to pick only one. I credit it with most of the gains I made since finally "becoming fit" back in 2006. It includes mobility work so it's not just about becoming a muscle head (which seems to me kind of a waste of calories). It keeps me feeling strong and empowered.

Yoga stretches out the kinks and gives me lots of body awareness. This awareness has helped my lifting form in the gym and my sitting form at the other kind of bench (the one where I sit at for hours a week, reach my arms forward a little, press down with my fingers and sounds come out). It has also helped me with other things like presence and calmness.

I'm not doing any steady-state cardio exercise. I'm an urban cyclist now so I suppose that's raising my rate a little from normal and burning a bunch of calories, but I plateau fast and the stress of traffic negotiation... well I don't see it as so progressive as the other two (and progression is important to me... it's how I stay interested and keep unwanted pounds off).

 

I enjoy being outdoors so I backpack a couple of times a month, mountain bike, inline skate at least once a week, do yoga and train for triathlons. I just started using the TRX system to work on my core. My job is also very physical, which help me to keep moving.

As arkana mentioned above, movement, to me is what I like to do.

 

I could swim for miles if my body would let me. I'm like a fish.

I enjoy biking more nowadays than I used to. It presents a bit of a challenge because East Jesus Nowhere is filled with hills, but I've been biking enough recently that I can get up and around most hills without getting off of my bike.

I also like lifting heavy things.

 

I play league soccer twice a week,an over 50 and over 55 team all year long...and I am 67!

Xoxoxo

 

YEAH BUT YOU'RE WRONG!!!!

oops...sorry.

I believe the endgame is in D.C., 2014. In front of the Washington Monument.

 

In a normal session I jog for 15-30 mins and do various cardio-based exercises, such as shadow boxing, for 30-60 mins. It always depends on how much time I have at my disposal. Whenever I find the time, I like to head upstairs and swim for 2-3 hours.

Also, I really like to do push-ups. I think I'm getting addicted.

 

I love to swim in a lake or the Pacific ocean--do not like pools--will use them under duress.
I love 'my' yoga as I've adapted it over the *gasp* almost 40 years I've been doing it. I like the flexibility I get from it and the present-ness and centeredness that I am rewarded with. I take a yoga class every now and again to refine my technique. I keep some yoga manuals on hand to remind myself of poses that I've left out or have forgotten.

I'm very much a solitary exerciser. I should get over it but I was always last picked for everything in gym class and still, I feel insecurity when I look at what others can do that I can't. I feel more free doing yoga on my own. Since I love to goof off in the water--the more, the merrier in that venue, tho.
I don't presently own a bike but I love to bike ride and would do that in a heartbeat.

My knees are already cranky so I don't see running in my future but I walk the dogs every day. I don't count that as exercise since most people walk somewhere every day and some days that is the only place I go--around the neighbourhood.

I do need to start strength training and I'm considering what best would work here at home while I'm reviewing TV series (watching TV). I tend to get antsy sitting in place very long-- so free-weights are on the 'going to give it a try' list.

Fact is, I do not like to exercise. I like to have fun while moving. I've fought my weight all my life and need very much to increase my strength and endurance to counter not only the tendency to gain weight (currently, I am losing the battle) but to address the aging process effects and do as much as I can to counter the enlarged (compromised) heart.

 

I played team sports year-round when I was younger. I still like playing them, but I don't know enough people interested around here to start up a team (and most of the softball teams are church leagues, so...nah.)

I've grown to love solitary exercise, though. Running in the morning clears my head. On days I don't run, I'll pop in an aerobics DVD.

I was a member of the YMCA for a little while... I loved having pool access in the winter, but I didn't like using the weight room or the treadmills...too many other people. There was an older guy at the pool last year... we never talked, but we would occasionally be in adjacent lanes in the mornings. When we were, I would always push myself to keep up with him, and I suspect he did the same. My laps were a little more intense when he was there, and at the end, we'd nod to each other and go our separate ways.

 

Mainly I like lifting heavy weights. My problem with most other forms of exercise is that they become easy and boring. I like things to be more challenging. When I ran, I was more likely to run hard, than jog, and do sprints when I hit hills. I like moving, so I do different kinds of exercise for cardio, mainly biking recently.

I like trying new things. In college I took classes in: volleyball, fencing, gymnastics( wish I had a floor to use right now), weight lifting, rock climbing, and something I can't remember... I've taken some Tae Kwon Do, and Wing Chun. I've taken a few classes in BJJ, before I had to have my knee fixed. BJJ was the most challenging

One thing I've always loved is walking. I'd walk half the day if I could take the time. When I was younger I'd walk 10 to 15 miles at a time. Having to work puts the kibosh on doing that, so I sneak in a good walk whenever I can get away. Walking is the one non-challenging thing I've done that never really got boring. I guess it's because I get some serious thinking done, or I don't have to think at all, just take in the sights.

 

Ummm, nothing?

I'm an active outdoors guy. I get in shape for skiing by skiing. I get in shape for hiking by hiking, and so on for motorcycles, snowshoes, and such. The only thing I do with regularity and across seasons is walk Molly. She demands a couple of miles every other day or so.

 

Man, I miss taking college phys ed classes. I took weight training twice; a self defense class that used a mixture of akido, karate, and judo; pilates; fencing; and step aerobics. I honestly had a blast doing all of them.

 

Sex.

 

Team sports has always been my preference with solo training (cardio and weight training) on my off days if I wanted to be a star on the team. I played rugby for years, but the distance from the closest team for me now has caused some issues. I'd love to play again, but my work schedule doesn't always permit it. Up until my 12th week of pregnancy, I was playing indoor soccer and loved it. I stopped playing for fear of getting kicked in the stomach, but am looking forward to getting back on the team after I have BabySquirrel. (My teammate's daughter would love to babysit. I'm going to let her during our games while baby daddy is nearby.)

Now I'm just going on long walks. I took a lovely one with my friend E the other day. We walked around my neighborhood and had a great talk. That's nice.

I plan on joining a prenatal yoga class as soon as I get a chance to get out there to check it out.

Crippled Crossfit, what I lovingly call the MS exercise program on campus, will still be in my rotation of exercise even while pregnant. I told my student CC trainer that I am preggers and she's looking up pregnant friendly exercises.

 

I love cycling, both longer road rides and commuting around town—I try to get everywhere I need to go locally on my bike as often as possible, rain or shine. If riding isn't an option and I have the time, I prefer to walk. Hiking in the woods ranks among one of my very favorite things to do, and when there's enough snow on the ground, I love snowshoeing and skiing.

I love lifting, though I've done less and less in a gym environment as of late. I got a pair of kettlebells within the past few months and have been expanding my routine using them in my house, which presents its own challenges. I've been meaning to incorporate some medicine ball work into what I do at home, though I'll probably need to buy—or make—a new one before long. Several years back when my ex still had her pickup, my ever practical mom bought three of those plastic sealable containers to fill with sand and keep in a truck bed for traction. Though the truck is long gone, I've kept these things and bust them out periodically for an occasional awkwardly shaped weightlifting workout.

For about two years now I've been regularly attending a boot camp class run locally, which I absolutely love. I've been accused of being competitive with other members of the class, but my greatest stimulation comes with pushing myself to suffer in it as much as I possibly can.

One thing I hate, though: getting goddamned sweat in my eyes.
--- merged: Aug 5, 2013 at 3:10 PM ---

And yes, that.