On Demand
Can You Work Out for Fun?
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Excercise doesn't have to be all about pain. We want to know ways of working out in New York that you actually enjoy. Examples include, kayaking, surfing, salsa, pole dancing, rock climbing...
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what ever happened to just doing the normal everyday things like taking the stairs over the elevator? Walking the extra 10 blocks to a different subway stop?
I was completed offended when Obama made the statement that it was the Palestinians who were wholly responsible for the Israeli –Palestinian conflict. Obama has a parochial view of foreign policy and America’s multi-racial and multi-cultural nature.
Taher
Pugilism.
Are you serious? Do you really think kayaking, surfing, salsa, pole dancing, rock climbing...are painless? Rethink!
--BL Show Responds:
I guess we meant that they aren't just about pain - they're enjoyable in their own right.
Dancing--I've been going to a bellydancing class at my gym. Great for the body and soul... Plus outside the gym contra and square dancing and swing dancing. Also yoga, hiking, walking.
Bellydancing! Great for the body and soul--great music! Also contra and square and swing dancing. Fun and aerobic.
Walking is the best exercise. Get out of your pointless automobiles.
hula-hooping along to music - lots of fun.
we've got beautiful scenery. try walking/running/biking down the west side path along the river. it doesn't get boring.
central park is 6 miles around and beautiful.
or dare i mention biking to work?
i like to walk and listen to podcasts. also while surfing the web i just contract/relax muscles while sitting around. sometimes doing spurts of exercise in between anything else helps. Like read 5 pages, do 5 push ups, get a cup of water, do 5 squats, watch 5 minutes of porn, work out your wrists for 5 minutes.
I jog listening to Brian Lehrer mp3 downloads, and sometimes other NPR downloads as well. Really. I find the talk to be calming, to help distract from the tedium, and you get informed all the while!!
Get a dog! The greatest personal trainer I know is my dog Darla.
I play capoeira about twice a week (we say "play" and a capoeira match is always called a "game") and really love it.
Capoeira Brooklyn has outdoor classes in Prospect Park every Saturday. Anyone watching will notice that we spend the first third of the class doing a lot of calisthenics--jumping jacks, situps, push ups--before we get into the game.
While I run, I listen to a lot of really bad, loud '80s music, sung by rockers in tight leotards and teased out hair. "Welcome to the Jungle," by Guns N' Roses is a perfect example. It makes me giggle and snort like a crazy person as I run on the treadmill, but it certainly keeps me engaged and entertained.
Saturday nights: CONTRA DANCING at the The Village Church 7th ave and 13th St. all dances taught
Tuesday nights: English Country Dancing (less vigorous, think Jane Austen)
I stay in shape by playing Roller Derby with the Gotham Girls League.
We practice 2-3 times a week for 2 hours then play a game about once a month. Skating is a great way to stay in shape!
Ride your bike to work, sex, free weights, walk the short stops to your destination by giving yourself some extra time.
walking every day in masai barefoot shoes - skating and rollerblading, depending on the season
if you get too buff you are stuck and will become too flabby if you don't keep at it. exercise should be fun!!! brazilian dance sounds fab - i think there's a consciousness component to this :)
I am fascinated to see a good proportion of the people at my gym watching the food channel as they excercise. Watching the cream and butter sizzling seems antithetical to sweating to remove the pounds!
I do Aikido 2-3 hours per week. Aikido is relatively useful (it's the most defensive of the major martial arts), it's very social (you really can't do it alone!), and very interesting. It takes at least a decade to get really good but only a year to get to the point where it's a decent workout. It's a good combination of short aerobic bursts, strength training for the whole body, and endurance for the whole hour of class. When it's at it's best, it's very flowing and beautiful-- there's a great "ah-ha!" factor, too, when you figure out the tricks to turning someone's attacking energy against them (sort of an intuitive physics lesson).
Guerrilla Gardening!
If you have the space, get into intense gardening...— NO!! — power tools. Use hoes, shovels, scythes, rakes, etc. Do it for at least 4 hours a day every day you your job allows. If you don't have the available green-space, maybe there is a vacant lot that could use "beautifying," a neighborhood park that could use another volunteer, or a neighbor who would appreciate the gesture... . Believe me, if you are turning the soil with only hoes and shovels, weeding with hand-tools, and leveling small plots of land with only human-power, it can be a real workout...and the earth will love you for it.
I like jumping rope because it's cheap, fast and gets easier. Kids like it, too.
I like to swim laps, but find extended workouts can be a bit tedious, so I got a a waterproof iPod shuffle and headset. It keeps me in the pool a lot longer. The City recreation centers, particularly the ones with pools, are the best deal in town.
yoga is definitely exercise. i break a sweat.
WHAT IS CONTRA DANCING?
The contra dance season starts at 7:30 p.m. on 9/8 at the Village Church at 13th Street and 7th Avenue. It's great fun, very aerobic, and done to LIVE music--all for less than the cost of a movie. No experience or partner necessary. Check out www.cdny.org.
walk to the store!
(and perhaps more importantly, walk home again with all your stuff!)
carry a huge bag to the grocery store and carry your stuff home on foot. good excercise and really makes you think twice about what you buy as you know you're gonna havta lug it home.
great excercise, saves money, cuts CO2 emisions and encourages watching the callories too.
helpful hints: wear comforatable shoes. if you have a choice of stores, go to one that's further away.
Gardening, housecleaning, cooking from scratch, carrying your own groceries from the farmers market. Physical labor is what people used to do before the jogging and gym craze. People who do hard physical labor every day often laugh at those who have time/energy to jog! Plant a garden or help someone with theirs.
While on the treadmill I listen on my IPod to lectures of the Teaching Company. The lectures are excellent and I forget about the drudgery. I have been doing this for 2 years.
Gotta get outside. Thank God New York is walkable. That's why I can't live anywhere else.
Thought this would be the obvious answer: listening to wnyc podcasts. Weekends and weekday evenings I try to run while the Yankees are playing. Listening to the game is a great distraction...although John Sterling's home run calls sometimes have me running into trees or into bikes. Actually, listening to his play by play is an aerobic workout.
Now that I moved to Hawaii I can't walk everywhere so I go to the gym...but first I Netflix all of the cable shows that I never saw...The Wire, Rome, Entourage, Extras, Big Love....and put them all on my video ipod...makes the time fly...but I hate it when people try to look over my shoulder!
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