Questions re: Gym membership and/or excercise in general...

[northwind]

I'd recommend cycling myself, especially if you have somewhere decent nearby for offroad riding... it's lower impact than running, not so dependant on decent fitness levels (even I can cycle for miles!) and frankly miiiiiiles more interesting than running etc, the pictures move faster. "melancholy is incompatible with bicycling". I don't mind road cycling but it lacks the impact of offroading, I just commute by bicycle to build up my fitness for proper cycling. (sorry to the roadies!)

£2K is, frankly, a gigantic amount to spend on a bike. You could easily do it but. If it's the "bike to work" scheme or similiar Halfords will order in other bikes, but it does work out expensive to do that, they also work with Merlin cycles which gets you all sorts of nice kit.

But there's no need to spend this much, my own carrera is £350 new just now, or the next model up is £450, that's really as much bike as you need for most riding. Spending more gets better forks, lighter weight, etc but you just don't need it. It's a bit like going out and buying an 1198R for your first bike, I suppose. There's a sweet spot at about £400-£800 for mountain bikes which gets you a lot of bike. Don't know about road bikes but my commuter would have been £300 new and it does the job brilliantly.

If they'll let you get accessories as well that'd be good, you can get by easily with a cheap bike but it's a bit harder with cheap kit. Decent breathable waterproofs etc are pretty much a requirement.

Does it genuinely help depression? Well, ironically enough I couldn't ride, so I don't know, I was largely depressed because I was a crippo But I think it could, yes. It certainly improves my mood, people at my work probably thought I was high last monday after my sunday ride, which was awesome. Perhaps I was?

I hope you can find something to help, anyway. If you can, try and make it a bit more social too, any exercise is better done with a group.

i have a £250 claud butler and think it's the bee's knee's tbh it takes royal hammering the finish is standing up to everything i throw at it including daily commuting never being washed and it's still rust free i think suzuki could learn a thing or two about paint finish from them hahaha you dont need to spend masses to get a good bike

Originally Posted by BigApe

I always used to find running was a good way of clearing my head. Put the stereo on a just pound the streets. Without the stereo I found my troubled thoughts just bounced around in my head whilst running and solved nothing. Although I was still getting fitter. Did the same this evening. Started to get depressed about 'stuff'. Went out for a 5 mile run. Felt much better by the time I was back in.

Baph - sorry to hear you are feeling like this.

I'm with BA on this one, for me running is the only one which gives me enough time to clear my thoughts and for want of a better phrase 'zone out'.....no matter the weather or time of day.

Feel crap, then just pull your shoes on and run, did it last night a 9pm. My back was hurting so went out and knocked out a 10k.

It will cost you about £60-£120 for some decent shoes and a few bits of kit.

Someone mentioned cross country, if you are even close to as juvenile as me then this is the way to go, pushing yourself to the limit whilst being covered in mud and running through puddles really appeals to the in child.

The concentration required in doing it too really focuses the mind and makes you feel great. I have done about 5 XC races this year of varying length each a challenge and they gives you such a high afterwards.

If I was closer to where you are I'd drag your **** out for a run and show you. From nothing to a reasonable distance can be achieved relatively quickly.

I always find the gym makes me feel pressure to push weights beyond my ability as others are, so I don't enjoy it.

I sometimes cycle to work, but just don't get the buzz or sense of achievement from it (13 miles each way).

Recently I have also been doing circuits once a week, I really enjoy this. It is quite social and a real good all round work out, couldn't do it more than once or twice a week though I should imagine.

Boxing might be a good idea as it really does work you out, I used to box in younger years and the bags will just let you get any aggression out too.

Good luck fella.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by northwind

There's a sweet spot at about £400-£800 for mountain bikes which gets you a lot of bike. Don't know about road bikes but my commuter would have been £300 new and it does the job brilliantly

Yep road bikes are in the same kind of zone, I wouldnt buy anything cheaper than £400, but you can get some right bargains if you go down the 2nd hand route.

Nice to hear that you've recognised a potential problem and want to do something about it before it gets you sooooo far down there's almost no way back.

I've coached athletics/running before and when I was doing it there was always a large glut of people joining the running club every January, wanting to lose those Xmas pounds and get fitter/leaner etc for the summer.

Obviously what sport you choose is up to you and some peeps on here have given you there choice and what works for them, try a few and see what you think, don't just stick with one. By trying different ones you'll find what works for you, and as you try them all out you;ll get fitter in thr process too.

The bike funded by work sounds quite good, even if cycling turns out not to be your thing. If it's only a 6 mile commute then a £300 bike sounds just fine, and think how positive you'll feel about your new found "green" credentials AND how much monet you still have in your bank account at the end of the month with all that petrol you haven't bought!!!!!!!!!

If you do consider running then try this out first.........

Instead of running try brisk walkin (almost like power walking). I've seen loads of peaople take it up with the intention of getting fit/losing weight, only for them to give up after a week or so. They try to "RUN" straight away, can't understand why after only 2/3 weeks they're still out of breath and totally b*ggered after 500yds. Because they try too hard and when we tell em to slow down and ease themselves into it they look at you as if daft.

I've seen people join my club and for the first month all they do is a brisk walk 4 times per week. They'll do 4/5 miles at a time but they're walking very briskly and getting they're heart rate up to about 120 BPM. That's right in the middle of the fat burning zone, so after about a month of exercising 4 times per week for about an hour a time they can actually start to see the difference, and when they do start to jog for 2/3 miles at a time it's actually quite easy for them and they can build up the miles and interval training much quicker than the ones who say pah to the walking, look at it as cissy etc.

I just have one word of warning about a gym. I joined one a good few years back. It was winter, I spent most of my time at the running club coaching and not a lot of training, and fitting in my own training around my shifts was quite difficult especially on nights week. I was getting out about 3 times per week for my steady 6 miler and thought that if I could get to the gym once per week and use the treadmill for a 3 mile fast run it would help, coupled with what it would cost to join would be the motivation I needed.

I HAD to do an induction thingy and got some lad about 18/19 years showing me around. After a discussion I told him that I was just outside 40mins for a 10k and wanted to use the gym for spped work to get me under the 40min barrier, yet despite all this he wanted to do a program where I did 10 mins on each machine with a 2 min rest period, setting them all to an easy level!!!!!!!. When I started to discuss interval training he looked at me blankly, paused for a moment and then said "like I said just start nice n easy and build it up". What was obvious was that I knew more than him.

Most gyms do classes such as spinning, boxercise etc, again by giving them a try you'll find out what you like and get fit in the process.

If you still want to go to a gym then try classes such as circuit training as spinning. It's hard graft but it works and you feel great afterwards!

Hi Baph. There's no shame in going to see the doc y'know. I did - I didn't really want pills but he gave me amitryptyline (sp?) nonetheless, but they helped me through a rather nasty time.

Otherwise - running. I wouldn't dream of going to a gym now, I used to go but didn't really enjoy it. Running, especially outside the Shrewsbury urban area, is fantastic. You see things that most people are too busy to see. Like the Apester and Kev, I often run late at night, often at 10pm, that has to be in the town cos the street lighting ends just down the road from me - and I get back feeling oh so much better.

Originally Posted by Ed

Otherwise - running. I wouldn't dream of going to a gym now, I used to go but didn't really enjoy it. Running, especially outside the Shrewsbury urban area, is fantastic. You see things that most people are too busy to see. Like the Apester and Kev, I often run late at night, often at 10pm, that has to be in the town cos the street lighting ends just down the road from me - and I get back feeling oh so much better.

I used to love running in the evenings in Cardiff. I especially used to enjoy seeing people wrapped up in coats and scarfs and gloves etc and I would be out there in my little shorts and top

Now I've moved back to the countryside where there aren't many street lights I have to run in the morning instead at this time of year, it is so beautiful though.

Originally Posted by sarah

I would be out there in my little shorts and top

This thread is useless without pictures

I can thoroughly recommend the cycling. I commute to London on the train everyday. I used to get off at Victoria and spend a further c.40mins on the tube. It was horrendous - boiling hot all the summer, always in someone's armpit and no control of your time to work/home due to delays - I did the journey for 3 years before realising I was becoming unfit (from being v.v. fit), and generally dreaded the journey home every night. This made me into a bit of a clock watcher - which I really hate.

I decided to take the plunge and by a folding bike to take on the train, then cycle (avoiding the tube). The bike was £600 but saved me that in tube fares in the first year. I have now refine my route to not go into a mainline station, and cycle further - I am now almost back to my original fitness levels (this is 5 years on) and have saved another £500 by not going into London Victoria.

I know that cycling isn't for everyone - and I was knocked off my bike 20 months ago with the bike going under the car, and me over the top - but it was an old codger, and it's all sorted now. It has really helped me to get fit, and there is such a community of cyclists it's amazing - a really friendly bunch of people - and free exercise.

The cycle to work scheme is brilliant that you mention Baph. You can use the vouchers in other shops as well. i used mine in Condor cycles. Get someone to cycle to work with you, the community is great. I now used Nokia Sports Tracker on my N95 and with my cycling buddies (there are 4-5 of us a night) we race to the station - we have target times and track them via GPS - geeky? probably - definitely provides more of a challenge and focus to the ride (about 6 miles).

Not sure if that's of much use - I also try and spent time in the sea Kayaking at the weekends, so I can just forget about work, and focus on the bigger picture.

Whatever you choose to do, try to build it into your routine, so you have to do it - I bought a season ticket without the Tube, so I had to cycle - it's that forcing that makes it valuable - also remember that for something to become 'routine' you will need to do it consistantly for over 3 months before it becomes normal, so keep plugging away and it will pay off.