Maybe not the perfect thread to ask, but

What is a good set of earphones / earplugs that also have a mic. So you can listen to music on your phone while exercising, but if you get a call, you can just answer the call while you're running/biking/etc? Can be wired or wireless. Amazon has a bunch of Bluetooth ones for like $20-$25 that are probably good enough, but didn't know what others used.

Thanks

9/8/2016 4:43:54 PM

I reallly hope Apple slims these down a bit. There's some awesome features/technology behind them but they look awful.

I'd also be interested to hear what headphones are good that have a mic and a song skip/volume feature. Even my regular Apple headphones seem to pick and choose when the volume/song pick features will work.

9/11/2016 3:33:51 AM

I ordered these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H1A9VSS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Supposed to arrive tomorrow so we'll see

9/11/2016 12:54:06 PM

Those Apple ear tampons look phat.

9/11/2016 3:34:23 PM

^^Well the audio quality is pretty good and the fit is pretty good as well. But the microphone is located by one of the ears so I have been told that I was kind of hard to hear unless I was speaking louder than I normally would. Music sounds good though.

9/12/2016 7:18:34 PM

Just straight up doubled my best distance and met one of my goals! Got 10k in just under an hour - three weeks before I turn 30! I've been doing 5k a couple times a week pretty consistently for maybe a month now and just went for a second lap tonight.
Definitely going to join some clubs as soon as it cools down a bit and will also be signing up for the Nog Run Club's 8k Oktoberfest Run.

[Edited on September 12, 2016 at 10:47 PM. Reason : stoked]

9/12/2016 10:46:51 PM

First official / timed 5k. 42nd overall. 5th in my age group 26:47.

Course was hilly af. Also wasted probably a minute trying to get around strollers/kids/dogs/etc. I had read beginners should start in the middle / back but that was terrible advice - next time I'll start in front. Also next time I'll download my playlist because cell signals are non-existent with that many people

9/25/2016 4:30:45 PM

Good job!

9/25/2016 6:22:58 PM

Two miles in 13:30 this morning. I had been struggling to do one mile in under 7 minutes recently...but I attribute it to really hot weather and trying to run immediately after my regular workout. Cooler temps this morning and just did a run...no workout. Combine it with a RATM playlist and I was trucking it. Trying to break 20 minutes for a 5k in March. I think I can do it if I keep up the training. Best time in recent memory was a 21:10 two years ago...but I haven't consistently run for more than a month or two at a time since then.

9/26/2016 10:09:00 AM

my ironman is on saturday

9/26/2016 8:43:05 PM

Top 10 Bicep Exercises

9/29/2016 11:47:23 PM

So I'm giving up on the Jaybird X2s. I'm on my third pair (warranty them each time for sweat). They simply aren't sweat proof despite their claims. Going to warranty them again (right driver is dying) and sell them. Picked up a pair of Plantronics BackBeat FITs. They're actually waterproof (IP57 rating) and from what I can tell have the best reviews for sweat. They're not a fully sealed ear bud but I prefer being able to hear my surroundings if I'm running outside. Will report back after a few months of use.

[Edited on October 1, 2016 at 10:17 PM. Reason : s]

10/1/2016 10:16:40 PM

I must have the worst luck with Spotify ever. Still can't get any resolution on the desktop version. I was driving home yesterday and my songs kept switching to a Mexican playlist? Maybe somebody was in range? Turned off Bluetooth/Wifi, reset the app, logged out then in, etc. and there was only a single Mexican music playlist that replaced probably 20 others I had. No matter what I do my playlists appear to be gone, even on my desktop version. It also switched me to a family plan (no idea how long that's been going on) that I never signed up for, which is $5 more month. Not the end of the world but it's just problem after problem for me with Spotify and I can't get any support from their customer service.

10/3/2016 5:49:07 PM

That's weird. Still never had a single issue with Spotify on any device.

However I still can't get the stupid running cadence beat thing to work. Need to try it again soon.

10/3/2016 6:00:09 PM

^did you use their playlists or one of your own for the running cadence thing?

on a side note - if you run a race, download your playlist to your phone. you won't have any signal on race day, or at least I didn't. had to listen to broken up techno half my run

10/3/2016 6:51:33 PM

I tried one of their own. I got it to recognize my pace but then nothing happened after that. I'm going to try again this weekend on my next run.

Report back on the Plantronics BackBeat Fits: Awesome headphones. The quality isn't as good as the Bluebud X2's but they're not sealed so I wasn't expecting that much. They still sound great and are fully waterproof for the immense amount of sweat my head produces. The biggest two issues I have are the back portion flops around a bit when you're running. Not a deal breaker but a little annoying. Also when on my bike the profile of either my helmet or the earbuds makes the wind very loud in my ears. I can turn the music up so I can hear it but the wind is still very evident (and no I don't use earbuds on the road just on the green way).

10/4/2016 2:03:11 PM

Must read for anybody involved in the whole Paleo nonsense

http://robbwolf.com/2016/10/06/is-it-paleo-and-does-it-really-matter

10/9/2016 3:11:57 PM

Quote :

"I didn’t come up with this $h!t"

this is one of my pet peeves. why not just write "shit"? just in case a child is reading an article about paleo?

I think for most people it just comes down to calories in / calories out and just using some common sense and moderation. You want a bacon double cheeseburger and a pitcher of beer while you watch football? Knock yourself out bud, it's probably not going to kill you, but maybe run a little extra or have grilled chicken/fish with vegetables or a salad sometime this week to make up for it if you want to hit a prescribed (weekly for most people) goal.

Speaking of running - anyone doing the Oktoberfest 8k tomorrow? There were over 1400 registered when I picked up my packet yesterday. About to run off a week of drinking wine in Napa and will be my first run at all since Lunge Forward 5k two weeks ago.

10/14/2016 1:52:34 PM

People who follow a strict paleo diet and focus on what things are actually paleo versus what aren't (beans, quinoa, etc) are silly. I think using it as a rough guide on how to eat healthier is fine though. It's super easy to be in a caloric deficit by eating clean and I think that's what a lot of people take away from it. The whole argument on if certain foods were actually paleo or not is missing the entire point and not useful.

If it helps you control your intake of sugar and complex carbs and you eat healthier because of it then more power to you. Just don't be a dick about it like so many people.

10/14/2016 5:57:32 PM

After two cups of coffee this morning:



I think my caffeine tolerance is too high.

10/19/2016 5:03:04 PM

Ran the Spartan races in Winnsboro, SC over the weekend. First up was the Beast (over 14.3 miles & 30+ obstacles)---didn't run for time since I ran with the fiance, but we finished in 6 hrs. Ran the Sprint the next day for time since I was by myself & got 31st overall in my age group (and top 20% overall).

10/31/2016 11:05:40 AM

^nice! I'd love to do one of the shorter races

I did the Lunge Forward 5k, the Oktoberfest 8k, and the Say Boo to Cancer 5k this past month. The Boo 5k was a cross country trail and desroyed my shins. I haven't been able to walk right for a little over a week

Might have to back off a bit and mix up my training routine.

Strongly considering getting a road bike for cross training / some commuting / and hopefully a sprint triathlon in the spring if I can get my ass in the pool.

11/1/2016 8:53:02 AM

So my office building just opened a super nice big gym with locker rooms, all kinds of machines...but no racks. There's a smith machine and barbells but no normal bench/squat rack.

So I guess romanian/deadlifts are fine as your starting position is on the ground but I'm not comfortable squatting on a smith machine as they're super bad for it (not using stabilizing muscles, can be bad for your knees, etc).

Googling people are saying clean into a front squat which sounds like a bad idea.

I like squatting at the start of every lift session at my complex but wouldn't mind getting some workouts in over lunch at the office. I guess I can just focus on other muscle groups. I'm not familiar with using all those machines like they have at hotels. There's a bench specific machine but it seems like you're losing half the benefit of bench press as you aren't using any stabilizing muscles and it doesn't help your form at all.

Thoughts?

11/3/2016 3:18:30 PM

Is this curvature healthy? I see alot of this in weightlifters, they start to gain hyper extension. Also, she's got decent erectors maybe that's pulling it forward alittle making the spine more curved (looking), when it's actually not?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMWixYYAogo/?taken-by=brookewellss&hl=en

11/3/2016 11:48:10 PM

She looks like she has very poor posture due to over extension and lack of core stability. As they say in yoga (and lifting) find your neutral spine position.

-Then again she could be posing for the photo and purposely hyperextending her back. Muscles look better when they're not in a neutral position.

[Edited on November 4, 2016 at 2:15 AM. Reason : s]

11/4/2016 2:13:32 AM

^^^may I ask what type of Smith machine it is? If it's something like a Startrac (with good depth), you could just move the Smith machine bar to one side and put a barbell on the other side and squat.

11/4/2016 11:34:42 AM

^That's similar to what we have at our apartment. It's a smith machine with normal barbell notches. However the smith machine at our new office gym has no notches at all. Your only option is using the smith machine.

11/4/2016 12:24:28 PM

What do you guys think of kneeling squat that I see women do? Is this a weak ass move for weak as bitches are afraid of big legs?

11/10/2016 10:28:57 PM

I see it as an accessory lift AFTER doing regular squats. Probably good for yo butt if you got problems activating your glutes for squats. Definitely not necessary to do all the time.

11/11/2016 8:20:28 AM

I definitely would not use the smith machine for squats. It isn't good for stabilizing muscles but the real problem is not letting you use a natural range of motion. It will wreak havoc on your groin muscles almost for certain and most likely a few other areas

11/11/2016 5:26:21 PM

Oh yeah I'm not using it at all. I was just complaining that the new fancy gym at our office has a ton of equipment but no rack.

11/11/2016 5:27:40 PM

welp 2016 is almost over....

My goals:

- complete an iron man
- 19% body fat
- be able to do this: (standing press up handstand)

1) i did ironman maryland. unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, the swim was canceled, and the bike was shortened from 112 to 100. I still did the 100 mile bike and the marathon, but it technically wasn't the full 140.6. The marathon did have sections of shin deep water, so that was interesting

2) not gonna happen. i'm sitting around 22% but I've gained weight post ironman (not entirely shocking). hoping i can get there in 2017

3) ha nope

12/4/2016 2:23:31 PM

I'm down to 164 lbs and probably somewhere around 15-17% bodyfat. Been working on correcting my APT a lot.

Can do a handful of pull ups and I'm doing chest press with the 55's. Both are the best they've been since I tore my pectoral off my bicep in late 2014.

Going to really focus on strength training for the foreseeable future once I finish losing this last bit of fat

12/6/2016 3:04:29 PM

So in August I started lifting again regularly (previously I'd really only been doing bodyweight stuff - and haven't lifted regularly since college).

Currently my schedule:

Day A:
Squat 5x5 (just got to 225lb)
Overhead press 5x5 (up to 115lb)
Romanian deadlift 5x5 (~240lb if I remember correctly)
Dumbbell assistance stuff
Planks
Bit of yoga focusing on hamstring/hip flexibility

Day B:
Squat 5x5
Bench 5x5 (145lb)
Pendlay Row 5x5 (140lb)
Dumbell assistance stuff (e.g. 55lb rows)
Planks
Bit of yoga focusing on hamstring/hip flexibility

I've also been doing leg lifts between each of the first 3 major lifts. Usually 20-25. I haven't focused on 1RMs and have just been focusing on form and consistent 5x5 sets.

For cardio I usually bike about 40 minutes a day on lift days and 70-90 minutes a day on non-lift days during the week. Weekends anywhere from 4-16 hours split between running, cycling, skiing, etc.

Due to life I always get in two days a week and sometimes 3. The beginner gains are great again and looking forward to start mixing things up. I'm working on my flexibility first before transitioning to full deadlifts. I'm really liking doing romanian deadlifts weekly. Once I get to a certain point on these primary lifts I'm going to probably start focusing on particular movements each day rather than major push/pull lifts every day.

I'm probably around 20% BF right now based upon previous caliper tests but I'd like to get down to 16% Q1 of next year. Glad to be back at it!

12/6/2016 3:38:27 PM

Where can I go to use an InBody machine?

12/6/2016 3:59:30 PM

^Went to their site.

I wonder how accurate this thing is:

https://www.inbodyusa.com/pages/band

12/6/2016 4:02:46 PM

Interesting. I think in general bio-electrical impedance analysis (BIA), which is what that is, should be taken with a grain of salt but are a good ballpark. they tend to work better if you're generally pretty fit to begin with. ultra-lean or very overweight messes with it by overestimating and underestimating your %, receptively.

I pretty much achieved none of my goals this time around. I've run 10k in a run but have only done an 8k actual race. Never got to the 1000lb club but was super close. Maybe 950 or so.

Micro injuries just kept piling up on my this year and it's likely my fault.

I'm a very impatient person and when I get interested in anything I tend to dive in. I got huge as far as muscle and crushed my 2015 goals, but the downside was that I got too big too fast and caused a lot of problems in my shoulder.

So I decided I was too muscly looking so I started doing rock climbing and focused on getting my core and leg strength up while doing light toning reps for upper body. Ended up getting some sort of chronic tennis elbow from climbing although before that I was improving pretty rapidly. Doing anything started causing extreme pain for days.

Ok fine. So it's getting cooler so I switch gears to running. 1 mile. 2 miles. 5k. 5 miles. 10k. I'm doing pretty well and getting comfortable and actually enjoying running but then I do a cross country race and finish fine but my shin splints / high ankle is so bad after I didn't run for a month. I tried a couple of weeks ago and only got a mile or so and combined with an insane amount of work and school committments I've just fallen off.

I've been taking doctoral courses trying to get into a program while working full time and studying for the GRE, preparing applications, etc. which has been a total nightmare. I'm way over-committed at the moment. I've been putting in 12 hour days every day for the past week trying to finish up and am working on basically no sleep with all the stress.

[Edited on December 6, 2016 at 6:53 PM. Reason : tww is not a blog]

12/6/2016 6:51:19 PM

Anybody have recommendations for gyms with bumper plates in Raleigh? Not looking for a "crossfit" type gym that would have scheduled classes. I need a place where I can go at my availability and get a quick 30 minute workout in.

12/7/2016 3:30:11 PM

Sounds like you should invest in a few plates and just start a home gym if you have the space. Check out the Rogue Fitness website.

http://www.roguefitness.com/weightlifting-bars-plates

12/7/2016 6:02:57 PM

I have to keep stopping my runs because of a tight calf muscle. It's killing me. I'll rest it for a week, stretch everyday, think it's ready to go...then get 1/3 of the way through a run and it just knots up and I half to limp back to the house.

I don't know what to do other than rest it longer. I've been drinking more water and stretching daily (I use to be pretty shitty at both of those things). I'm thinking about getting a leg sleeve to keep it warm during runs. Maybe eat more bananas?? I don't fucking know.

12/7/2016 6:33:59 PM

^^I have the equipment, but twin babies have taken over all available space. So until a larger house is procured, I need a new gym.

I feel like this is an unmet need in the market right now. Anyone want to open a gym?

12/7/2016 9:24:47 PM

I would LOVE to open a gym. At least I'd have a place other than my house to store shit & could buy/sell more equipment with extra space.

I have some used Rogue bumpers I've been thinking about parting with. They're not Hi-Temps though.

12/7/2016 9:46:14 PM

Fuck, I was doing so good until that positive pregnancy test. Lost a ton of weight, getting strong, enjoying healthy food. Then I spent three months eating to avoid nausea. Ugh bitches. 2017 is my year.

12/9/2016 2:12:33 PM

2017 is mine as well. I spent the last 2.5 months dieting down to a fairly lean state while lifting consistently 2-3 times a week to preserve some muscle and prep my tendons and such.

Also spent a ton of time doing mobility stretching and working on APT in efforts to avoid immediate hip/hamstring issues.

I'm up to 5 dead hang pullups going chest to the bar which is a pretty good place to start. Chest is never gonna be the same and I have to be careful with the knees and such as I turn 35 this year.

I'm going to enter the year somewhere between 165-170 depending on how much creatine loading/glycogen refill affects me. I wanted to lose a bit more fat before the new year but it's just not in the cards as I have too many important commitments thru year end where im not willing to commit to dieting during them. Also, it's a much needed hormone level reset after my lengthy extreme dieting (typically only ate 1,000 calories a day).

I've never really done a great job with the "slow bulk" as I tend to eat a bit too much when I'm trying to gain muscle but I'm fully committed to making this my best effort yet. I really want to come in at sub 10% body fat for the summer which means not allowing myself to get fat this winter.

12/11/2016 10:41:43 AM

Can't. Eat. Enough. Food.

8 hours of snowshoeing/backpacking this weekend. 2 hours at the gym this morning. Hit 110 5x5 on the OHP! Just finished a 2 hour snowy bike ride. Finished with a single origin dry hopped nitro cold brew.

12/11/2016 3:56:16 PM