Howling (dumb)bells

The only problem with going away to a fantastic conference and staying up late each night talking science (and nonsense) is that you're knackered when you get home.

Add to that a few vet visits with a sick cat (now better, thankfully), a pile of stuff that has piled up in my absence, and a touch of old-fashioned laziness, and the result is a shameful lack of gym visits since my return.

After a last minute abort the previous night (so tired!), I finally dragged my lazy arse to the gym last night. It turns out that a week of eating lots of food and drinking lots of beer doesn't make you fitter. Who'd have known?

Fortunately, I'm not here today to dwell on my gym skills but rather my gym music. This time, I was listening exclusively to "Howling Bells". I don't know much about them, to be honest, so I won't attempt a biography or anything here. (That's what Wikipedia's for, right?) In fact, I only discovered them yesterday but so far I like what I hear.

The music is good gym music as it's fairly up-beat but is also at that mid-range pitch that copes quite well with background noise. I think it will do well in the car for the same reason. The vocals remind me of a cross between Kate Bush, Natalie Imbruglia and Lilly Allen; quite varied in style but always good. Well worth a listen, in any case.

My "Howling Bells" experience is also a great endorsement for making tracks available for free download. I discovered them through a freebie track on one of my favourite music sites, 7digital. The track was "The Loudest Engine" from the album of the same name. I liked it so much that I looked them up on another favourite music site, emusic, had a quick preview listen and downloaded a couple of albums ("Howling Bells" and "The Loudest Engine".) If it hadn't been for the free track, I probably would have never even listened to them and they'd be two album sales and one fan-in-the-making down!

(I say "album sales", although "album downloads" might be more accurate. With emusic, you pay a set amount each month and get a set amount of downloads. I assume the downloaded artists still get their cut, though. It generally works out cheaper than downloading tracks or albums from iTunes, play.com or 7digital. They don't have a complete catalogue but I have found some of my favourite musical discoveries through emusic, including Rage, The White Stripes, Slash's Snakepit, The Qemists, Black Country Communion, Gomez and others. If you have eclectic tastes and download buy a fair amount of new music each month, I definitely recommend it. You can even sign up for a free trial, which gives you a bunch of downloads and then cancel before having to pay. If anyone does want to check out emusic, though, let me know and I can invite you. I think I/we get some extra free tracks that way, which is nice.)

Location:Southampton, UK

Leg aches not headaches

[Warning: boring, self-indulgent gym post]
Last night, I resisted a last minute invite to the pub and went to the gym instead. I can't say it was as fun but I think it's safe to say that it was better for me and I feel better for it now. Due to the fighting off a bit of cold, I hadn't been for about a week and was in danger of losing the habit, and facing an eternity of online shame to remind me.

New equipment used: cycling machine (boring, like this post!)
Distance: 2km (run); 3km (cycle)

Location:LA Fitness, Southampton, UK

Rage Against the Running Machine

This gym session, I was mostly listening to Rage, a Scandinavian rock group. As their album art indicates, these guys are at the heavier end of the spectrum but don't let that put you off. This stuff is far from a wall of noise. The guitar work is particularly good, with every track laden with rocking riffs. I won't deny that a certain amount of fret wanking goes on but it's always perfectly timed and never seems gratuitous.
If I had to pick a weak element, it would be the vocals. There's nothing wrong with them - no out of tone wailing or excessive screaming - but you can very much tell that they're a Scandinavian rock group and it's simply not my favourite voice. It's not hard to imagine a large bearded fellow, singing into a battle axe a la Lordi on Eurovision. For some songs this works particularly well but it is definitely the aspect of their sound that I tire of first.
Nevertheless, Rage are excellent gym music companions. Not only are they loud, and a little bit angry, but a lot of their songs border on frenetic, which is great for the treadmill.

Gym goer or not, if you are a rocker then check out Rage as soon as possible.

Equipment used: treadmill, vertical traction
Distance: 5km
Future goal: get myself a program

Location:LA Fitness, Southampton, UK

Stretching my gym motivation to breaking point

[Warning: self-indulgent gym post]

Tonight, I went to the gym again, bringing my average gym costs since June down to just £25 per visit. Hooray!

My new plan is to try out a new machine each visit, until I have worked through them all. Having not yet re-booked for a session plan with a fitness guy (or gal), I went for something easy: the rowing machine. I'm also determined not to "travel" under 5km, so I ran 3km and rowed 2km before a cool-down perambulation (if you can perambulate on a treadmill) and a quick spell with the free weights. A very quick spell.

One problem I have in the gym is that I feel exposed and stupid as soon as I step away from the machines. I don't really know what I am doing when it comes to free weight exercises and stretches. Added to that, I'm not exactly Hercules, so I can only really work with pretty weedy weights, especially if I'm already knackered from rowing etc. Combine this with the fact that the free workout area is pretty small and (it seems) never empty, and you have one very uncomfortable and self-conscious exerciser.

I feel that exercise of this nature is a bit like dancing - if you feel uncomfortable and self-conscious, you look uncomfortable self-conscious. I therefore cut my exercise a bit short and saved my stretches for the changing room (and only then because it was almost empty). Perhaps I should sign myself up for one of the classes in an attempt to face (and conquer) my fear of looking stupid and uncomfortable.

Equipment used: treadmill, rowing machine, free weight
Distance: 3.5km (run); 2km (row)
Future goal: stretch in public after exercise

Location:LA Fitness, Southampton, UK

It's a workout, Gym, but not as we know it

Today, I went to the gym for the first time in quite a few weeks. Too many weeks. So many weeks, in fact, I couldn't even remember when I last went to the gym, so I looked it up. It was June 22 - exactly two months ago, almost to the minute.

Last time, I got a free trial session with a personal trainer. It was pretty good but I was literally still hurting a little a week later - part of the plethora of lame-assed excuses that stopped me going back since. Another part was the shame of seeing said personal trainer, having seemed so keen at the time and then failed to turn up again.

So why go now? Well, the time has come to reverse the polarity of the shaming beam. A friend has just signed up at the same gym and went first thing on Sunday morning, of all times. Then, my wife went earlier today. Finally, of course, there is Rule #1: Cardio. It was time to climb back on the horse. Or, more accurately, back on the treadmill. Without a horse: that would be cheating.

This blog is the final cog in the wheel of shame. My wife and friends are too nice to really make me feel shame for my non-attendance. Instead, therefore, I shall here record my triumphs, or acknowledge my lazy lameness, to be forever electronically recorded for posterity. Or, at least, until the inevitable EM pulse from World War III takes out Google.

Machines used: treadmill
Time run: 30 min
Distance: 5km
Rehydration: lucozade sport, raspberry

Location:LA Fitness, Southampton,United Kingdom