Sports and Exercise - What do you/would you like to do?

Master_Craig

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A sports and exercise thread. Dunno if one already exists or not.

I'm curious and would like to know, what sports does everyone play, or has played in the past? Do you still play, if not how come? Are there any sports, exercises or other stuff in particular (like martial arts) you would like to get into in the future? What interests you?

For me, I never really used to do sports. When I was a kid I tried to play basketball but was absolutely horrible at it, however I was surprisingly pretty good at swimming. I stopped doing sports altogether at the beginning of high school and I didn't really go back into sports and exercise until I was twenty one, which I took up judo. I tried also doing wing chun kung fu for just over a year as well, but stopped due to lack of time and slowly losing interest.

I still do judo today (about five a half years now) and for the past year I've been trying to get into power lifting, albeit I'm not that good at it and not nearly strong enough to try and compete.

I've been trying to go for morning walks but sometimes it's really hard because I love sleep so much.

What about you guys? What do you do, or what would you be interested in doing?
 
I lift, mountain bike, play tennis, and really want to get back into boxing some day when I have more time.


Edit: oh i also have always really wanted to get into kayaking, would love to just get out on the water myself... but it's so expensive to buy a kayak...
 
Used to play football in Highschool. Loved it, was pretty good at it. Did wrestling in the off season, hated it. After school was done used to play basketball lots and lots. Was pretty decent in my day until after one day during a 3 on 3 pickup game I can down with a rebound the wrong way and heard a terrible tearing noise followed by the most excruciating pain I ever felt in my life.

Short time later I had a MRI and it showed that I completely tore my ACL. Through a series of circumstances that would be hilarious if it wasn't also so depressing, I've never had an opportunity to have it operated on and fixed so that kinda ruined my semi-serious sports playing. Add to that a few years later my heart decided it was going to start acting up on me. Suffice to say, I could be in much better shape than I am.

I've started walking more, trying to get some exercise in, but as someone who is wise in the ways of staying in good shape told me that all the exercise in the world is meaningless without proper diet and eating habits to go with it, and my diet isn't exactly what you'd call proper. So I kind of need to get the sorted out first and have been takin my sweet time with it. One Day! (just haven't figured out which day that is yet...)
 
intoTheRain said:

Do you even?



I used to play basketball just because it made sense given that I'm 6'7". Yeah, I'm that asshole at concerts. But I gave it up and now I hardly exercise at all. Between Uni and work I just don't have the time or energy for sports anymore.
 
intoTheRain said:
I lift, mountain bike, play tennis, and really want to get back into boxing some day when I have more time.

Edit: oh i also have always really wanted to get into kayaking, would love to just get out on the water myself... but it's so expensive to buy a kayak...

Sounds like you do a lot man. Boxing would be pretty awesome too. Kayaking is super fun, my cousins interstate are all into it but yeah it is pretty expensive.

C_nate said:
Used to play football in Highschool. Loved it, was pretty good at it. Did wrestling in the off season, hated it. After school was done used to play basketball lots and lots. Was pretty decent in my day until after one day during a 3 on 3 pickup game I can down with a rebound the wrong way and heard a terrible tearing noise followed by the most excruciating pain I ever felt in my life.

Short time later I had a MRI and it showed that I completely tore my ACL. Through a series of circumstances that would be hilarious if it wasn't also so depressing, I've never had an opportunity to have it operated on and fixed so that kinda ruined my semi-serious sports playing. Add to that a few years later my heart decided it was going to start acting up on me. Suffice to say, I could be in much better shape than I am.

I've started walking more, trying to get some exercise in, but as someone who is wise in the ways of staying in good shape told me that all the exercise in the world is meaningless without proper diet and eating habits to go with it, and my diet isn't exactly what you'd call proper. So I kind of need to get the sorted out first and have been takin my sweet time with it. One Day! (just haven't figured out which day that is yet...)

I tore my ACL too, not very pleasant to experience. I tore mine at the end of 2011 when training at judo. Had to get knee reconstruction and then rehabilitate it, so I was out for about six months. My procedure was the "LARS" system (Ligament Augmentation Repair System), basically a non-invasive keyhole procedure where they replace what was left of my ACL with a synthetic one. So far so good.

I'm glad to hear you're walking now, that's awesome. Regarding diet you're absolutely right, while exercise will help you lose weight and get fitter, losing weight is much faster and more effective if a healthy, balanced diet is thrown into it. Diet alone can achieve much greater weight loss results than exercise alone.

Wes said:
intoTheRain said:

I used to play basketball just because it made sense given that I'm 6'7". Yeah, I'm that asshole at concerts. But I gave it up and now I hardly exercise at all. Between Uni and work I just don't have the time or energy for sports anymore.

It's hard to make time, I agree, especially when you're so busy like that. So you're THAT guy, huh? The guy no one wants to sit behind at the movies? :p

HK-47 said:
I just do yoga and stretches, and found that even a little bit a day helps.

I've been told yoga can be pretty tough but it's supposed to be really good for us?

Yoga fire.
 
I've started rock climbing recently - indoor rock climbing that is. It's pretty fun, my gf got me into it and at first I was fucking nervous (I'm not particularly great with heights).

So now we go twice a week after work, tones the muscles up, which is good. But I'm not doing any cardio at the mo so the belly is still there!
I do play footy every monday, but I'm not going for a while due to a climbing course I'm on. So hopefully in about 2 weeks, I'll be getting rid of that puppy fat every monday, and then gaining it back on throughout the week with crappy food as per usual.
 
Kayaks actually aren't as expensive as I though. Can get a decent one for 700 and a cheapo for 300. (Used of course)..

If summer wasn't half over I might pull the trigger. Probably first thing next summer. Busy enough this summer I'd probably get out once at best.
 
intoTheRain said:
Kayaks actually aren't as expensive as I though. Can get a decent one for 700 and a cheapo for 300. (Used of course)..

If summer wasn't half over I might pull the trigger. Probably first thing next summer. Busy enough this summer I'd probably get out once at best.

I've wanted to get into Kayaking too. Play date next summer?

I go to the gym a couple times a week, but I've been sick this week so I've been resting up. I used to play squash a bit, which I really want to get back into. My work schedule doesn't really allow me to join any house leagues which is unfortunate, so I try and get to the gym and bike everywhere I can.
 
I really need to start working out regularly again. Since I moved to New York, I've lost about 40 pounds off my peak weight of around 315, thanks to the excessive amount of walking I do now. I'd really like to lose another 30 or so to get me down to 240. At that point, I'd probably be in really good shape. Even 250 would be great.

Unfortunately, I've just been too busy/unmotivated to start anything. Maybe once I'm done moving across the city I'll start doing something. I'll probably mostly work on core exercises. Lots of sit-ups and crunches.
 
I used to play rugby religiously,after a handful of concussions though I gave it up and never bothered to get back into it, I occasionally go and watch a game here and there, but really it's too rough a sport to dedicate that much time to anymore

I was also big into boxing in my youth, but just fell out of it when I was working and in school, might be something I pick up again

As of now I make sure to go bike riding/long walk at least every two days, not so much to stay in shape, i's more just a way to mentally unwind, just to spend two hours or so on the trans Canada trail
 
In summer swim, rollerblade, bike and hike mostly. Then some extra muscle fitness moves with little weights. Winter is for skiing and skating.

When I was younger I used to do track & field, floorball, badminton and volleyball. Now the idea of a scheduled/organized exercise sounds disgusting to me. I can't really even stand working out indoors.
 
No. lol

I walk places. Sometimes I dare to run to catch a bus. That's probably about it. I mean, I'm not adverse to doing sports, but I guess I'd have to have good motivation and good company.

In school, I didn't do too much. The usual p.e. class requirements... I would have joined a team, honestly, except that I was already in 3 and two halves of extra curricular musical commitments, and high school sports teams are meant to be competitive, which means travel and all sorts of shiz that I didn't want. More importantly, I didn't/don't get along with the sporty girls.

I *hated* so many people in high school, and being stuck in a room full of teenage bitches was horrendous. I tried a few times to take it out on them when we were playing sports, but unfortunately girls don't get to play contact anything, and apparently you get in trouble for kicking the soccer ball too hard or if the floor hockey ball leaves the ground going faster than you can walk.

Well, I did take weight lifting class in grade nine, with a few friends, and that was nice. The teacher didn't impose hard limits on how fast you had to run, but instead focused on just running two laps comfortably, or besting your last attempt. Grades were given according to improvement, rather than one objective scale. (I have bad memories of being forced to run six laps around the track, despite the fact that I'd start walking after two, and my time didn't even place on the stupid chart anymore -- which, by the way, included not one but four times that would result in Fs. Just to tell you what degree of a failure you are.)

Anyway, I'm way too self-conscious to do anything now. I'd like to, say, use gym equipment, if I could avoid the actual going to a gym part. And I'm not about to find a way to drag a bunch of machines into my home. I also wished my mom had put me into Karate when I was young... and yes, she reminds me that I wanted to go into gymnastics, which I did... which makes me incredibly sad, because I think part of the reason why I quit was self-consciousness about body image. At five years old. One of those times I wish I could punch myself.
 
Sorry for a "tl;dr" post but I read everyone's responses and found it really interesting... so I'd like to reply to everyone. :)

MattAY said:
I've started rock climbing recently - indoor rock climbing that is. It's pretty fun, my gf got me into it and at first I was fucking nervous (I'm not particularly great with heights).

So now we go twice a week after work, tones the muscles up, which is good. But I'm not doing any cardio at the mo so the belly is still there!

I do play footy every monday, but I'm not going for a while due to a climbing course I'm on. So hopefully in about 2 weeks, I'll be getting rid of that puppy fat every monday, and then gaining it back on throughout the week with crappy food as per usual.

Rock climbing is pretty fun, sounds cool that you're doing it. I can imagine rock climbing doing crazy things for your body since it's using pretty much your entire body to achieve the climbing. The football sounds good too. Like we've all discussed already, it's all about diet to lose that weight, but the exercise will certainly help. :) You'll be a bad arse, man.

intoTheRain said:
Kayaks actually aren't as expensive as I though. Can get a decent one for 700 and a cheapo for 300. (Used of course)..

If summer wasn't half over I might pull the trigger. Probably first thing next summer. Busy enough this summer I'd probably get out once at best.

I've found kayaks are expensive here, or maybe I'm just being cheap when it comes to money. Anyway, where I live isn't a very good place to do kayaking due to well... crocodiles, box jellyfish etc. Down south interstate is much better for that. You should do it when you can though, it is a lot of fun.

Rakon said:
I go to the gym a couple times a week, but I've been sick this week so I've been resting up. I used to play squash a bit, which I really want to get back into. My work schedule doesn't really allow me to join any house leagues which is unfortunate, so I try and get to the gym and bike everywhere I can.

Good call. I never go to the gym when I'm sick. I just end up being sicker for longer. My dad used to play squash when he was younger but he reckons his ankles and knees ended up getting injured for it or something. Hopefully you haven't, or don't encounter those problems either Rakon.

NickKmet said:
I really need to start working out regularly again. Since I moved to New York, I've lost about 40 pounds off my peak weight of around 315, thanks to the excessive amount of walking I do now. I'd really like to lose another 30 or so to get me down to 240. At that point, I'd probably be in really good shape. Even 250 would be great.

Unfortunately, I've just been too busy/unmotivated to start anything. Maybe once I'm done moving across the city I'll start doing something. I'll probably mostly work on core exercises. Lots of sit-ups and crunches.

I love hearing success stories of weight loss. Good on you man! :) That's a huge effort, absolutely nothing to sneeze at right there. I think if you keep up the walking you'll keep dropping that weight, even if you don't have much time for anything else. Keep it up. :)

Remember if your diet is pretty good (doesn't have to be 100% healthy, just "mostly healthy") then you can lose even more weight. Either way, fantastic effort NickKmet. :)

Green_Lantern said:
I've been doing Crossfit for about a month now....it really aucka but is really fun at the same time.

A mate of mine does CrossFit and he loves it. I'm not too keen on it to be honest, but I've seen people get awesome results from it.

Icepick said:
I used to play rugby religiously,after a handful of concussions though I gave it up and never bothered to get back into it, I occasionally go and watch a game here and there, but really it's too rough a sport to dedicate that much time to anymore

I was also big into boxing in my youth, but just fell out of it when I was working and in school, might be something I pick up again

As of now I make sure to go bike riding/long walk at least every two days, not so much to stay in shape, i's more just a way to mentally unwind, just to spend two hours or so on the trans Canada trail

My cousin used to play rugby "religiously" too but I'm not sure if he's into it so much anymore. Rugby looks like a very scary sport. All the guys I see who play rugby are usually absolute wrecking machines. Wouldn't want to be standing near them if they're sprinting. People have tried to convince me to play rugby due to my size but I'd rather not, I would probably get smashed! That and I just tell people I can't play sports that involve a ball. :p

The boxing sounds good, I think you should give it a go again when you can. Nice work on the bike riding and walks though. I find the same thing to rather relaxing and not so much "exercising", but a chance to think and just clear your head. Mentally relax, so to speak.

Affen said:
In summer swim, rollerblade, bike and hike mostly. Then some extra muscle fitness moves with little weights. Winter is for skiing and skating.

When I was younger I used to do track & field, floorball, badminton and volleyball. Now the idea of a scheduled/organized exercise sounds disgusting to me. I can't really even stand working out indoors.

Sounds like you're a fan of the outdoors, Affen. I prefer the outdoors too actually, when it comes to jogging and body weight exercises. I love doing that sort of stuff in the afternoon, about 5 PM or so when the sun is slowly beginning to set. However, my gym and judo club however are all indoor activities though because well, not much choice there! :p

Sightless said:
No. lol

I walk places. Sometimes I dare to run to catch a bus. That's probably about it. I mean, I'm not adverse to doing sports, but I guess I'd have to have good motivation and good company.

In school, I didn't do too much. The usual p.e. class requirements... I would have joined a team, honestly, except that I was already in 3 and two halves of extra curricular musical commitments, and high school sports teams are meant to be competitive, which means travel and all sorts of shiz that I didn't want. More importantly, I didn't/don't get along with the sporty girls.

I *hated* so many people in high school, and being stuck in a room full of teenage bitches was horrendous. I tried a few times to take it out on them when we were playing sports, but unfortunately girls don't get to play contact anything, and apparently you get in trouble for kicking the soccer ball too hard or if the floor hockey ball leaves the ground going faster than you can walk.

Well, I did take weight lifting class in grade nine, with a few friends, and that was nice. The teacher didn't impose hard limits on how fast you had to run, but instead focused on just running two laps comfortably, or besting your last attempt. Grades were given according to improvement, rather than one objective scale. (I have bad memories of being forced to run six laps around the track, despite the fact that I'd start walking after two, and my time didn't even place on the stupid chart anymore -- which, by the way, included not one but four times that would result in Fs. Just to tell you what degree of a failure you are.)

Anyway, I'm way too self-conscious to do anything now. I'd like to, say, use gym equipment, if I could avoid the actual going to a gym part. And I'm not about to find a way to drag a bunch of machines into my home. I also wished my mom had put me into Karate when I was young... and yes, she reminds me that I wanted to go into gymnastics, which I did... which makes me incredibly sad, because I think part of the reason why I quit was self-consciousness about body image. At five years old. One of those times I wish I could punch myself.

With sport and martial arts and stuff, it is always better to do it in good company. You can make friends through these activities but starting something without knowing anyone can be pretty intimidating sometimes. It's great to hear you do a fair bit of walking. :)

Regarding school, I was in the same boat as you Sightless. I didn't have many friends and I really didn't like the other kids. I tried to keep to myself but was often bullied due to being quiet, shy and overweight back then. I did P.E because I had to and I was lucky to somehow pass those classes because I always failed fitness tests and stuff and was often ridiculed for it by the other kids. I was also "that kid" who was usually the last to be picked for teams, due to my low fitness level and because no one liked me.

I'm also pretty self-conscious about my own body image. I also wish I started judo as a kid (like five or six years old) instead of twenty one, but I guess the lesson there is - it's better late than never. Maybe you should look into taking Karate? I'll chuck you a story of mine which well... I hope might help you? Hope you don't mind.

When I first started judo, I was 130 kg (328 Ibs) and I did absolutely no exercise and ate crap. I only started judo because I wanted to learn a self defence after being assaulted by two guys, unprovoked at a party. I wanted to learn a self defence that was locally close by and cheap, because back then I couldn't drive and I had no job. When I first went to judo, I saw a bunch of fit people doing crazy things with their bodies and it was super scary and intimidating. I somehow survived my first session (I was white as a ghost at the end, covered in bruises and feeling sick) and I didn't want to go to my second session, but I felt in the back of my head if I didn't go, I would be letting those guys who assaulted me "win".

After two weeks, I noticed I had dropped 6 kg (13 Ibs). I've never lost weight before and I was so happy, so that became my new goal. My original goal was to learn self defence, but then it became lose weight and get healthy. Nine months later, I dropped 32 kg (70 Ibs).

Five and a half years later I'm still doing judo, I venture into other physical activities, coach kids and I've yet to have to use what I've learned in "real life", hopefully I'll never have to.

Sorry to rant Sightless but my point is, it's never too late to start and it's better late than never. I understand that starting something new like a sport or martial art can be really tricky, but the first step is always the hardest. Once you take that first step, once that ball collects a tiny bit of momentum and begins to roll, then the rest of it slowly becomes easier over time. Promise you that.

Regarding the gym, that's fair enough if you don't want to go to one and really, home gym equipment takes up so much space! Have you ever thought about doing body weight exercises in your very own home and privacy? For example... my girlfriend recently started doing a "thirty day squat challenge", where for thirty days, she has to do a number of exercises (sit ups, crunches and squats) and slowly over the thirty day period, the intensity and the amount of work increases. To begin with for example, she only has to do like... ten or twenty squats. By the end of it, day thirty? She's gonna do two hundred. Maybe you could look into something like that, if you're interested?
 
At home, I will do pushups/crunches/stretches, now and then, but I don't push myself to do more. I should say that I'm not actively trying to make a workout routine or anything. It's more just that doing those activities can feel refreshing.

I know, people keep telling me it's never too late, but I feel like once you're past your teens/school age, you're stuck in that place where you can't really take kids classes, and you don't really want to take "adult" classes. Sure some places are "all ages", but I don't want to be stuck with a bunch of kids and their parents. :p

I'll just look everything up on youtube, right? ._.

Crossfit became such a weird explosionhere, and I'm not sure it's all that healthy. Some crossfit programs seem too intense, or seem like it's too easy to push too hard and injure yourself. The culture of crossfit clubs can enforce that drive too. Of course all of that is fine when you know what you're doing, and knowledge+caution and all that.

I wish it were more acceptable to play on playgrounds. I came to a really sad realization that once I graduated, it really wasn't okay for me to go back to elementary school playgrounds... Some years ago, I went back with a bunch of friends to my old elementary school. Granted, it was "past dark", although not really that late -- not past nine, I think -- a police officer came up with a flashlight and started questioning us, saying we couldn't be here after dark. I was devastated, because where else am I supposed to go if I want to swing on a swingset?? Where else can I play keep away or don't touch the lava, or sit on top of a series of uneven bars? :(
 
Master_Craig said:
HK-47 said:
I just do yoga and stretches, and found that even a little bit a day helps.

I've been told yoga can be pretty tough but it's supposed to be really good for us?

Yoga fire.

It increases your flexibility and balance, but can't really do the super advanced stuff too well. Did notice an increase in not getting winded as easily and I actually do feel a bit more flexible after doing it.

The fire in your joints, the fire in your thighs, in your shins, in your leg as you hold the pose, but you'll bend like fire as you slenderize your physique.
 
Yoga is another one of things to be wary of, not just because of cultural appropriation, but also because it asks you to voluntarily and routinely put your body in abnormal positions, which can put a lot of unnoticed strain on your body. Yoga instructors are certified, sure, but many programs that certify instructors don't actually require the person to understand physiology or kinesiology to a significant extent. You may spend 10-20 hours studying "anatomy", but this could include "energy physiology" -- i.e., not your actual body movement/positioning.

So I have a bit of a negative view of yoga, at least as it's come into the scope of the western world. Not to say that you shouldn't try it, like. I just mean people should either *actually* study yoga as a whole and in depth, or if you're just going to do some stretches, just call it doing some fucking stretches.
 

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