Maybe its the winter blues or whatever. I've barely stepped out anywhere lately and my social activities involve sitting at a friend's place or a restaurant or a bar, playing video games or cinema or whatever.
Its freezing outside, I've been mostly depressed and as each day goes by, I fall more and more into a depressed state and my body becomes more and more usless.

I can't afford a gym membership right now and it'll hurt me too much if i get one and then never end up going. Its freezing outside and my room doesn't have much place. But mroe than anything, I want to start taking some positive steps. And the first thing on the agenda is building my stamina back up.

I've lost a lot over the years. I was part of atheletics teams .. never a runner but i was great at field events. I was considered atheletic only cause i could keep going if required. But since i joined the university over 5 years ago, i stopped doing everything i would, with my only exercize coming from walking block after block in -20 temperatures. I would have those days where in case i was in a hurrt, i could cover 16 blocks in a slow jog but thats it. 2 years ago, i was biking a bit. But now, i'm really the lowest I've been. I'm sure i would start panting if i jogged beyond 50 to 60 meters.

I really need to get back in shape. And i need help from you guys. I need to pick up my stamina but i have no idea how to start ... jogging outside right now will only cause me to get sick. and i have little walking space in my room, no money for a gym. Suggestions?

Jogging outside won't necessarily make you seek unless it's raining or the outside temperature is under the freezing point. I have jogged when it was really cold outside and you don't feel that cold because you're moving all the time.

Jogging in real cold weather is not advisable.

During winter I don't go to the gym. I workout at home for about 10-15 min. a day just with stretching, situps and pushups.

jb's right about jogging in cold weather. It's a quick way to give yourself a heart attack if you have undetected heart problems.

I would just do situps, pushups, jumping jacks, and jog in place in your room, bABA. That's a decent way to get your heart pumping and blood flowing everyday until the sun starts to come out again. Aslo, get a lot of sleep and drink a lot of water.

Blueberry mana restorer...

artur .... 2 weeks ago, the temperature everyday was -30 or below.
as of right now, the temperature is -3 without windchill.

I dont think its advisable for me to jog unless its like 10 or up.

@jb: stretching, situps, pushups ... help with stamina? these kind of things i dont like doing in front of people at all, specially family so i'm confined to my room. for sit ups, do i need to pad anything on the ground (my floor is hard word). no space for stretching or push ups.

sleep is something i have little control over .. even on a weekend, i manage 7 hours only if i forcefully stay in bed .. else i'm looking at 5 and a half to 6 and a half.

Does jogging while standing in place help? I always thought that was a myth? how fast? how long?

Well, your lack of sleep probably has a lot to do with your feelings of depression and fatigue. Sleep is extremely important to overall health. You might want to go to a sleep clinic to get that figured out.

And yes, jogging in place is good. Anything that gets your heart rate going is good for you. You'll have to jog faster than you would if you were actually moving, and just go until you can't do it anymore.

Excercise isin't really something that has to have a lot of rules. Like I said, anything that gets you moving, your blood flowing, and your heart beating fast is good for you.

Agreed, don't listen to this. Isn't this the same Lecter that set up whinning thread about being sick and went / almost went to the hospital multiple times. ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,)

Anyway, in cold weather make sure to layer your body with sets of clothes, to keep your body moisture away from the outside cold.

And hats and gloves are the most important as that is your biggest place where your body loses heat.

Lastly, vitamins are important to make sure your body is getting the minimum requirement.

bABA: You can do the pushups and situps for stamina as well as strength.

Do situps and pushups in sets of 10 in quick succession for 3-5 sets. For strength you could do a lot more. Do not forget to relax between sets with some stretching and breathing exercises.

If you can get a pad it is good otherwise, hardwood floor is just fine.

Finally, as Makeshift mentioned adequate sleep is very important.

breathable thermals, they keep you warm while also keeping the sweat away...I was able to run in upto -15 and be ok, at -20 I joined a gym which with a student discount cost me $350 for the year. If you are going to run outside I recommend a breathable thermal hat, some warm gloves...biking when it is cold is much worse then running, ti was actualyl biing outside that got me in end.

Have you investigated how much the gym membership is, it might be cheaper then you think.

gym membership easily costs about 40 bucks a month which i know is not that much but i'm on a budget now. plus the time invested in going to the gym, finding parking, gas comsumption (i'm really being nitpicky arent i?)

my friend called me and forced me to join his gym right now. he told me its only 129 dollars a year for just the weekends (which sounds good but then again, everything is booked up on weekends) and 1 month is free. He said I HAVE TO COME so i'll try it out.

jb: 10 push ups. Rest and then repeast 2 to 4 times? same with sit ups?

Thanks for all the help people.oh yea .. biking till end of april will be impossible unless i have a death wish .. the streets are so slippery, even cars are refusing to move these days ...

Yep. That will get you going and keep you active enough till warm weather comes along. Even then you can do it if you choose to.

YES!

I belong to a gym that is about 5 blocks from my house, so I walk there alot.

Most gym are busy between 5-7 pm during the week, that is their peak time, right after work. I go to the gymin the morning and I am always gone before 9am unless I have an appointment with my personal trianer or a spin class...most gyms are not that busy in the morning, so if you don't mind goign early it should not be an issue. Weekend mornings are often less busy then week days mornings since people sleep late.

Kewl.

don't like waiting around for machines and as a gym rat I am well aware of when people don;t like to be there, saturdays are less busy then sundays and the mornings are onyl busy for laittle while,s ome soem fo the before work people there, but 5-7pm is like packed.

When I joined the gym they tell you off the bat that if you come during 5-7pm if wil be busy, but the rest of the time its pretty dead.

I guess I'll have to figure out a schedule in that case.

I just did 10 push ups. I want to die. I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo out of shape.

I am thinking of Bill Murray in Stripes.

But again you had not worked those muscles in a while. You got the process started.

=D>

Second day is always the toughest. Your muscles will be really sore. But keep it going.

3 sets of push ups done. You think I should go for 5 or switch to sit ups?

For sit ups, should i do it on a carpet or hard wood floor? Whats the technique? hands under neck or on stomach. How high should i come up? knees bent?

Since you started with the pushups complete the other two sets for today.

Tomorrow you can do the situps. Either hands on neck or stomach is fine. If you want you can do it with your hands against the wall till you feel you don't need it.

Just alternate between the two.

Well done, bABA.

oh ok . .went for 5 push ups. I'll leave the sit ups for tomorrow.

Go out and kill some wyrven and some fire beetles and make enough copper to go to the auction and buy a Helm of the Bear which is +5 to stamina and +4 to intelligence.

Personally, I have a treadmill and run indoors, 3-6 miles @ 6.5 - 7.0 mph. Which works fantastic as I can watch TV/listen to music while I do it. But, I'm assuming if you don't want to pay for a gym membership that it probably out of the question.

Have you thought of workout tapes/DVDs? Before I had the treadmill, I used those during the winter as I do NOT like using public gyms (I'm have a very small germ phobia). I had a variety of tapes that I would rotate. It may sound fruity, but if you find a workout tape with a hot girl doing it, it encourages you to actually watch the damn thing. Generally they have well balanced routines and do a good job of working all of your muscle groups and getting a good aerobic workout.

BABA, there are a lot of ways to execise at home, without any fees. Do it to music. Run in place , Do situps , Do pushups , etc... Start eating low fat stuff, which is more healthy. Too much fat can rob you of energy. Smoking and drinking does too, so if you do that, try to stop. Clean as completely as you can. Washing walls, vacuum, dusting, washing bed dressings, etc... You'd be suprised what that will do to make you feel better. (use pine cleaner)


Plenty of time to get where you want to be before the nice weather rolls around. :wink:

Baba... have lots of sex...