Exercise during the pandemic

Info on gear, conditioning, and preparation for hiking/climbing.
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timisimaginary
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Re: Exercise during the pandemic

Post by timisimaginary »

nyker wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 9:46 pm In the same boat as you, I was literally just looking at stairmaster alternatives, specifically one that can fit moving it down the stairs, etc. without the need for a 10ft ceiling and not wanting to spend as much as a Denali expedition.
I see the dimensions of the X22i is 39" wide - do the arms/supports come off to be able to get this through doorways in a partially unassembled form?
it comes in two pieces, the bottom treadmill section, and the top rails/console section. the bottom section will easily fit through a door turned on it's side, but it's heavy, at least 200 lbs i'd think, so you need a couple strong people to move it. the top section might be trickier, it comes pre-assembled and the hand rails are about 38", but it's curved so you might be able to slide it through a doorway if you have room to go at an angle. if not, it can certainy be disassembled but i don't know how involved that process would be. the manual includes a blown-apart diagram of the treadmill with each part shown, and you can find the manual online, so you can look at that to get an idea of how much work it would be to disassemble/reassemble the handrails.

under normal non-pandemic circumstances, NordicTrack offers white glove delivery and assembly in the room of your choice, but not right now unfortunately. they'll do across-the-threshold delivery only, inside whichever door you specify. then it's up to you to get it the rest of the way to whichever room you want, and to assemble it (which isn't very difficult). however, my delivery guys were willing to do the moving and assembly themselves for a (not very small) fee. normally i would've done it myself, but i sprained my shoulder (in a bike crash, speak of the devil) and can't really lift heavy weights right now, so i bit the bullet and paid for the extra moving/assembly. these guys had a pretty nice side business going though, so if you're in a tricky situation yours might be willing to do the same, just be sure to have plenty of cash on hand.

as for ceiling height, you'll be fine with 8' ceilings if you're not really tall. at the top incline, you might be a few inches from the ceiling, but how often are you going to be at 40%? and when you are, you probably won't be running (so no bouncing up and down) and you'll be looking down at the screen so you won't even notice. i actually have mine in the unfinished part of my basement, which has 7-1/2' ceilings, but without a ceiling i get an extra 9" of headroom between the rafters. so i had it placed so that my head would be directly between rafters at the highest incline, and at 5'9" it feels fine to me.
"The decay and disintegration of this culture is astonishingly amusing if you're emotionally detached from it." - George Carlin
timisimaginary
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Re: Exercise during the pandemic

Post by timisimaginary »

mtree wrote: Wed Dec 09, 2020 9:49 am There are lots of comfy bike seat options out there. My current one is ok for short treks, but I'll need to upgrade if I go much further. I use padded bike shorts. They help, but its not the end all be all. A friend of mine had a crazy looking GINORMOUS bike seat that looked ridiculous. He swore by it. But if the seat is bigger than my ass I'll either switch to a recumbent bike or eat more cheeseburgers!
i always used to use padded shorts but when i started doing triathlons, i switched to minimally padded tri shorts, and once i got used to them, i actually found them more comfortable for longer rides. i found i had more chafing and numbness with more heavily padded shorts. once your ass adjusts, you don't need much padding. i think it's better to just bite the bullet and start off with less padding, and you'll adjust quicker. as for seats, the split nose saddle has worked best for me, but more to fend off numbness, not necessarily to prevent butt soreness.
"The decay and disintegration of this culture is astonishingly amusing if you're emotionally detached from it." - George Carlin
pvnisher
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Re: Exercise during the pandemic

Post by pvnisher »

My old mountain bike always required a certain amount of mileage before my derriere could handle more than an hour on it. Thought that was just the way riding was.
Then a got a road bike and it was instantly comfy.
A week later I ripped the mountain bike seat off, bought another identical seat, and have never been happier.

Also had tried a pair of thickly padded gel shorts and found they caused ridiculous numbness I didn't enjoy.

Now very thin or no padding is much more comfortable.
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kimo
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Re: Exercise during the pandemic

Post by kimo »

timisimaginary wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 9:30 pm NordicTrack X22i Incline Treadmill

i just got this thing delivered today. total gamechanger.

there's probably a bit of a tradeoff for straight treadmill running, since the deck is a bit shorter, but for my purposes (i mostly stick to running outside anyway) it's a worthwhile tradeoff.

i just got this thing so stuff like long-term reliability still remain to be seen. but i'm really excited to finally be able to get back to the kind of workouts i was able to do when i was still hitting the gym.
My wife and I purchased the Nordic X11i incline trainer last Christmas. It was delivered and installed in our home in mid-January (pre-pandemic). The X11i operates the same as the X22i but with a smaller screen (11 inch vs 22 inch) and lower cost.

I have a long stride due to my 6'2" height. I have no problem running on the deck at 7 mph and don't feel cramped at all.

Regarding long-term reliability: According to the iFit app, I've put 443 miles and 58,360 feet of gain on the incline trainer in 11 months. My wife has put 628 miles and 89,125 feet of gain on it. So just over 1,000 miles and 150,000 feet gain total. After all that, the trainer still runs like new - no weird squeaks, sounds, or performance issues. Knowing a treadmill takes a beating, I bought the 4-year extended warranty which includes an annual in-home tune up and maintenance visit.

I agree with your gamechanger assessment, but for a reason you did not mention: the iFit interactive app. This is different than the fitness classes that Peloton offers. In iFit, the trainers are filmed running or hiking or walking in the great outdoors - along beaches, up mountain peaks, and through neighborhoods. The speed and incline automatically adjusts based on the changing terrain. The trainers have a mic and share experiences, tips, and techniques throughout the session. It is satisfying to be able to run up to the summit of Mt. Baldy during my lunch hour at home. Last Sunday morning I ran the entire Kauai half marathon in the time it would take to drive to the hills. I'm often content waking up on a Saturday morning and hiking a peak from the comfort of home. I highly recommend the iFit app - it makes training at home fun. I now wish we bought the X22i for the bigger screen.

Here's some pix of the interface and some of the training sessions. I started with Tommy Puzey's Iberian Beginner Running Series and then have expanded my training from there. I also enjoy Zac Marion's various running series. Hundreds of training sessions with various trainers at various intensities are available on-demand.

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timisimaginary
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Re: Exercise during the pandemic

Post by timisimaginary »

kimo wrote: Thu Dec 10, 2020 8:23 am
timisimaginary wrote: Tue Dec 08, 2020 9:30 pm NordicTrack X22i Incline Treadmill

i just got this thing delivered today. total gamechanger.

there's probably a bit of a tradeoff for straight treadmill running, since the deck is a bit shorter, but for my purposes (i mostly stick to running outside anyway) it's a worthwhile tradeoff.

i just got this thing so stuff like long-term reliability still remain to be seen. but i'm really excited to finally be able to get back to the kind of workouts i was able to do when i was still hitting the gym.
My wife and I purchased the Nordic X11i incline trainer last Christmas. It was delivered and installed in our home in mid-January (pre-pandemic). The X11i operates the same as the X22i but with a smaller screen (11 inch vs 22 inch) and lower cost.

I have a long stride due to my 6'2" height. I have no problem running on the deck at 7 mph and don't feel cramped at all.

Regarding long-term reliability: According to the iFit app, I've put 443 miles and 58,360 feet of gain on the incline trainer in 11 months. My wife has put 628 miles and 89,125 feet of gain on it. So just over 1,000 miles and 150,000 feet gain total. After all that, the trainer still runs like new - no weird squeaks, sounds, or performance issues. Knowing a treadmill takes a beating, I bought the 4-year extended warranty which includes an annual in-home tune up and maintenance visit.

I agree with your gamechanger assessment, but for a reason you did not mention: the iFit interactive app. This is different than the fitness classes that Peloton offers. In iFit, the trainers are filmed running or hiking or walking in the great outdoors - along beaches, up mountain peaks, and through neighborhoods. The speed and incline automatically adjusts based on the changing terrain. The trainers have a mic and share experiences, tips, and techniques throughout the session. It is satisfying to be able to run up to the summit of Mt. Baldy during my lunch hour at home. Last Sunday morning I ran the entire Kauai half marathon in the time it would take to drive to the hills. I'm often content waking up on a Saturday morning and hiking a peak from the comfort of home. I highly recommend the iFit app - it makes training at home fun. I now wish we bought the X22i for the bigger screen.

Here's some pix of the interface and some of the training sessions. I started with Tommy Puzey's Iberian Beginner Running Series and then have expanded my training from there. I also enjoy Zac Marion's various running series. Hundreds of training sessions with various trainers at various intensities are available on-demand.


1.jpg

2.jpg

3.jpg
good to know about the reliability. i don't expect to put anywhere near 1000 miles/year on it, since i plan on using it 2-3x a week mostly for walking workouts or maybe a slow recovery jog here and there, and do most of my running outside. but i'll probably look into the extended warranty when the initial warranty runs out.

i didn't mention the iFit app since i've only used it once so far, but that was the reason i got the x22 console. since it comes with a free year of iFit, i figured it would be worth trying out for a year, and i do like the natural settings as opposed to the Peloton-style studio workouts (though iFit has some of those too). i'm not a social person so i don't really want to join a live studio workout with a PT shouting at me, but i don't mind following a video of someone running up a mountain or down a canyon. the one iFit video i've done so far was a short hike in Bolivia, following a very fit woman with very tight yellow yoga pants. it was a nice view... and Bolivia looked good too.

i do wish the search feature allowed to search by elevation gain, or at least displayed elevation gain in the workout result descriptions, since that is one of the details i'm most interested in when looking for a workout. maybe the iFit web app has more search options.

i also like the google maps feature that lets you map a course and run it, but i really hope they add the ability to create workouts based on GPX files. it would be great to put that incline to use by mapping a workout that climbs a 14er or follows a trail race route. i'd also love to see them add apps for Netflix or Kindle or something. when i used to go to the gym, i'd prop my Kindle up on the stepmill and read during a long workout, which i can still do with this, but it'd be nice to not have to do that and just take advantage of the nice big screen for reading. it'd also be nice to put on a movie or tv show once in a while instead to go along with one of my own saved workouts.
"The decay and disintegration of this culture is astonishingly amusing if you're emotionally detached from it." - George Carlin
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terrysrunning
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Re: Exercise during the pandemic

Post by terrysrunning »

timisimaginary wrote: Thu Dec 10, 2020 11:35 am
kimo wrote: Thu Dec 10, 2020 8:23 am i also like the google maps feature that lets you map a course and run it, but i really hope they add the ability to create workouts based on GPX files. it would be great to put that incline to use by mapping a workout that climbs a 14er or follows a trail race route. i'd also love to see them add apps for Netflix or Kindle or something. when i used to go to the gym, i'd prop my Kindle up on the stepmill and read during a long workout, which i can still do with this, but it'd be nice to not have to do that and just take advantage of the nice big screen for reading. it'd also be nice to put on a movie or tv show once in a while instead to go along with one of my own saved workouts.
also have the x22 in my living room. I was pretty annoyed when I got it how little they make use of that big pretty screen when there's so much that wouldn't be hard to do.

I don't recognize the authority of the government to tell me I can't go outside and exercise or get on a trail. I never stopped going to trails I wanted to and hiking or running. There is a minuscule risk of serious injury, none of our hospitals have been overwhelmed, and if that were to happen, and I still wanted to go out, I'd just accept that I'd have to self-rescue or die. Still my choice. And anyone with half a brain knows by this point that it's basically impossible to catch or give it simply walking past someone on a trail.
That said, I certainly have almost a best case scenario, as I have an icline trainer and rowing machine in my living room, a non-motorized treadmill on order for my garage(can't run inside on the icline trainer without shaking the neighbors places in my townhome), along with a full setup for weights. On top of which, I can walk out my front door and in 35 minutes be on top of Green Mountain in Lakewood (which is why I live here) so I don't really have to drive ever.
And I already had Covid so don't have to worry so much now anyway. Thinking of charging people to come work out at my place if they shut everything down again 🏃🏼‍♂️🏋🏼‍♂️😄
"My life is dope, and I do dope s**t" -Kanye
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