How tall are you and what weight are you, Sugartits?

[Gemmill 34746]

4 hours?! If you and your lass are the sort of couple that travels in full Karrimor gear, Merrell shoes and backpacks, am sure you'll love it.

 

That O Chateau place i linked to does 1 hour champagne cruises on the Seine. About 40 notes for the trip and 4 glasses of premier cru champagne. They wont make you ride a bike either.

Class recommendation. The cruise was quality and the O Chateau place itself was great too. Made the mistake of booking the cruise and the tasting menu on the same night though, so my lass is wrecked and has been since we left the boat, with 3 courses of food and 4 glasses of plonk still to come (most of her booze went unfinished, the spacka). Really good stuff though, so cheers for the local knowledge.

[Gemmill 34746]

By the way, Paris is unbelievable. I'm absolutely livid with myself for not getting here before now. Anyone reading this, if you haven't been, make it a priority for next year's holiday.

[Howay 12462]

I've been thinking about taking the missus there this summer G man, any tips? particularly on hotels.

[Gemmill 34746]

I've only been the once, but the hotel we've stayed in is great. In a really good location with a load of restaurants and bars within walking distance.

 

You can walk to all the big tourist attractions from here too.

 

It's called Hotel Luxembourg Parc and it pops up as 5th out of all the hotels in Paris on Tripadvisor, but I don't think it's anything like the price of the other hotels in the top ten.

 

Other than that, you would be best off getting recommendations off Chez or Billy Whitehurst. Chez lives there and I think Billy is married to a lass who was brought up there. Definitely do the O Chateau champagne boat cruiser though.

[Happy Face 29]

Bought a kebab last night while drunk.

 

Got it home and opened it then saw sense. Binned the while thing.

[Gemmill 34746]

Good man. Cannot believe there are people that will eat those things sober.

[Meenzer 14095]

I remember getting back from my year abroad in Germany, where a döner - while obviously never the height of culinary sophistication - still involved chunks (not slivers) of nicely spiced meat that was actually recognisable as meat, fresh salad and interesting sauces, served up in a thick fluffy quarter of round Turkish bread, almost verging into stottie territory, designed so as not to fall apart upon first contact with sauce, grease, air, hands, etc.

 

I'd somehow made it through to that point without ever trying a kebab in Britain. The first time I did so on my return... I'm still scarred. A truly subhuman experience.

[ChezGiven 0]

Glad to hear you enjoyed the cruise, its even better on a summer's evening. Sounds like you've had a mint weekend, that's got to be a lot of brownie points in the bag. If you are atill around and fancy a proper steak frites, go to the relais d'entrecôte on rue Saint Benoit in the 6th for lunch. It's near your hotel.

[Howmanheyman 27048]

Good man. Cannot believe there are people that will eat those things sober.

I like to have a kebab from a place in Wallsend every few months where they're not bad, the chilli sauce is lush, the salad is fresh and the meat is wrapped up in foil with the pitta on top for you to make up yourself. Only sober mind.

[Gemmill 34746]

Glad to hear you enjoyed the cruise, its even better on a summer's evening. Sounds like you've had a mint weekend, that's got to be a lot of brownie points in the bag. If you are atill around and fancy a proper steak frites, go to the relais d'entrecôte on rue Saint Benoit in the 6th for lunch. It's near your hotel.

Aye it's been class. We're just sat in the Jardins du Luxembourg (coats on obviously, it's fucking Baltic!), watching what must be half of Paris go running. It's no Exhibition Park mind.

 

My lass reckons her favourite thing on the trip was the boat cruise, so well played. I think she fancied the sommelier, Pierre. Fucking Pierre! 5 glasses of champagne in an hour meant she was wrecked by the time we got off the boat, and by the time she'd had the glass of champagne that they gave us on arrival at O Chateau she was quadraspazzed. She didn't touch any of the tasting wines they brought with the meal, which is probably just as well cos I would have had to carry her back to the hotel. Meant I had them though which explains this headache.

 

Will have to try Relais Entrecote next time - we're on about coming back in the spring.

 

Edited December 1, 2013 by Gemmill

[Tooj 17]

Did you see Rachel Khoo?

[The Fish 9027]

Who?

[Gemmill 34746]

Sadly not!

[Gemmill 34746]

Mint weekend very nearly ruined by the fucking useless twats at the airport. Checked in online yesterday, so all we had to do was drop our bags in on arrival at the airport, but played it safe and still got there 1hr30 early.

 

Queued at the little machines to print off our baggage labels, then went and stood in the "express" queue to hand bags in. 20 minutes later, this fairly long line hasn't moved, so my lass went over to this member of staff who was directing lines and he assured her that all would be well, and if it got close to a time when they were gonna close the flight, they would call all remaining Newcastle passengers forward. So we stood, inching forward, waiting for this call. At 10 to 3 (our flight was due to take off at 3:25, my lass goes back over to this wife and starts pointing out what flight we're on etc.

 

Eventually this wife takes notice, pulls us out of the queue and checks us in (has to reopen the flight to do so), and we leg it around to security. Convince the lad who's doing the priority security line to let us join that but when we get to the front and I wave my pacemaker card, he tells me I have to go to a different line. All of my stuff is already on it's way through the conveyor belt, and at this point I met the only useful bloke in CDG, who drags me, beltless and in socks over to the desk where I can go through without getting zapped by the scanner.

 

Get through there and my lass is stood with all the stuff off the conveyor belt, but I have to hang around while they fill in this anomalous security check form to explain why I didn't go through the scanner. It's now quarter past or so, and the kid filling this form in is taking forever, so I tell my lass to run to the gate. A couple of minutes later, this kid gives me my passport and boarding card back, and I set off legging it to the gate, properly sprinting as fast as a 37 year old bloke in jeans and winklepickers can sprint.

 

Get to the gate and they're still boarding. Huge sigh of relief. My lass hands the hand luggage bag over and I ask if she picked up the iPads, which we'd had to put in a separate tray. Had she fuck.

 

So off I go again sprinting through the fucking airport back to security. So as I get there this lass is just tipping the tray with our iPads in into some lost and found bucket. I stop her, but she wants me to prove that they're ours. I type the unlock code into mine, which convinces her, but she wants me to unlock the wife's too. Fuck me. So I'm about to start guessing her passcode only to discover that she doesn't have one, to which the lass tells me she cant then be sure it's mine and I have to go and get my wife. I know if I go and get her, we are definitely missing the plane, so I managed to prove by going on my lass's Facebook profile that the person that owned this iPad was married to me, at which point, I was back on the fucking running track again.

 

Fucking horrendous. French people seem mint, and I've had very positive experiences with them and their attitude all weekend. The one place you don't need a classic French attitude is at an airport when you're in danger of missing a flight though. Nobody gave a fuck apart from that one kid on security.

[ChezGiven 0]

Sweating like CT on weigh-in night. I don't get it though, you checked in online but had to get the flight re-opened to check in?

 

As a platinum frequent traveler I don't have these issues

[Gemmill 34746]

Sorry, had to get it reopened to get our bags on. The wife was just staring at the screen - she looked stressed as fuck tbf to her - and I kept trying to find out what the fuck she was doing. Eventually she snapped "I'm trying to reopen the flight to get your bags on and it is complicated, and you keep talking which is making it impossible!" That's me telt.

 

Edited December 2, 2013 by Gemmill

[Dr Gloom 19857]

sprained my lower back again

 

hobbling like around the office like an old man. annoying as was hoping to blast the gym before the christmas party season kicks off next week but the only cure for this is rest. annoying.

[Christmas Tree 3997]

A bit more than last week

[Christmas Tree 3997]

Is there a decent site / app / way to put together a decent sensible gym routine other than paying a PT £30 a go.

 

I've read that simply bashing cardio is not the best way forward and if anything should be the end of the routine.

 

I also don't really want to turn up and just him the bike and treadmill etc.

 

Any thoughts?

[Dr Gloom 19857]

Is there a decent site / app / way to put together a decent sensible gym routine other than paying a PT £30 a go.

 

I've read that simply bashing cardio is not the best way forward and if anything should be the end of the routine.

 

I also don't really want to turn up and just him the bike and treadmill etc.

 

Any thoughts?

 

you heard right. turning up and going though the motions on the bike and treadmill is unlikely to get results. there are plenty of websites out there that offer solid advice. there is also a shitload in this thread.

 

what are your goals? lose fat, put on muscle, or as is the case with most people, both?

Edited December 4, 2013 by Dr Gloom

[JawD 31]

Im looking at joining this place in the new year, should come along

 

http://www.spartanperformance.co.uk/

[Christmas Tree 3997]

Bugger

 

Men who turn into mid-life fitness fanatics may actually be HARMING their health

MAMILs (Middle-Aged Men In Lycra) are on the rise

 

They exercise vigorously to lose weight and stave off heart attacks

 

New evidence shows there is a threshold that, if passed, can be dangerous

A new study shows that middle-aged men who run marathons are at much greater risk of cardiac arrest

 

 

Struggling to fasten the buttons on a waistband, the glimpse of an emerging paunch, or a sudden realisation that climbing the stairs feels like taking on Everest - whatever the catalyst, an increasing number of flabby, fortysomething men are shaking off their sedentary lifestyles and embracing a programme of high-intensity exercise.

Researchers Mintel found the biggest growth in bike sales in Britain was among men approaching middle age - more than half of men aged 35 to 44 have one.

 

Known as MAMILs - Middle-Aged Men In Lycra - they exchange nights in front of the TV for frantic sessions on the treadmill in an attempt to get fit, lose weight and reduce the risk of a heart attack.

Dr Glyn Thomas, a consultant cardiologist at the Bristol Heart Institute, says: 'Sometimes men in their 40s may find themselves having a routine medical or health check and will discover their blood pressure or cholesterol is on the high side. This acts as a wake-up call and they throw themselves into exercising and taking on challenges such as 5k or 10k runs.'

However, an excessive, vigorous and unsupervised exercise routine might not be as healthy as it seems. Emerging science suggests there is a threshold of distance, intensity or duration for even the hardiest fitness fanatic, and overshooting this can have a serious impact, particularly on cardiovascular health.

A study presented at the American Academy of Family Physicians found middle-aged men who run marathons are at significantly greater risk of cardiac arrest.

This was tragically highlighted by the death of Michael McErlain, a 45-year-old Army surgeon, as he competed in a 44-mile charity D-Day run along the Normandy beaches in France last June. The seemingly super-fit Lieutenant-Colonel, from Hindhead, Surrey, died from undiagnosed heart disease.

So why does intense exercise put even fit men at risk?

As we get older the efficiency with which the heart pumps blood round the body and the way both the heart and the muscles use oxygen in the blood changes and becomes less efficient, says Eddie Chaloner, a consultant vascular surgeon at Lewisham Hospital, South-East London.

'The arteries start to fur up and narrow as part of the ageing process,' he adds.

 

Undertaking vigorous exercise without building it up in a calm fashion can cause a dramatic rise in blood pressure, leading to an imbalance between the demand of the heart muscle for oxygen and the ability of the coronary arteries to supply it. All of which could trigger a heart attack, says Dr Thomas.

'I see a lot of middle-aged men in my clinic who have taken up excessive exercise because they have hit 40,' he adds. 'They have panicked because they have put on weight or got high blood pressure and may have been referred to me for further investigations.

'But people don't realise that, aside from the risk of a heart attack, taking up exercise this way can actually lead to heart problems. Excessive exercise in middle-aged men can trigger atrial fibrillation - a heart condition that causes an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate.

 

'One in five strokes is caused by this - and the kind of stroke caused by atrial fibrillation is more likely to be fatal.'

In a review published in the journal Heart, two leading U.S. cardiologists looked at the heart health of 50,000 people over 30 and found that the 14,000 runners in the study were likely to live longer than non-exercisers, but only if they ran between five and 20 miles a week, not more.

The cardiologists concluded that exercising intensely for more than an hour or two may damage the heart, causing its tissue to stretch, tear and scar and raising the odds of dangerous changes in heart rhythm.

Taking up intensive exercise can also have an effect on joints, says Professor Tony Kochhar, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at South London Healthcare NHS Trust and BMI The Sloane Hospital.

'Cycling, for example, can be a particular problem for the hips,' he says. 'The body is no longer designed to deliver the way it could in our youth, so we have to adapt.'

There's no doubt the right level of exercise for middle-aged men is hugely beneficial for health - in terms of heart muscle strength, blood pressure and circulation.

By the time they hit their 40s, men start to lose muscle and gain fat. Meanwhile, loss of muscle and bone density, caused by dropping levels of the male hormone testosterone, can make muscles and ligaments stiff and tight, and more prone to injury.

Hugh Montgomery, professor of intensive care medicine and director of the Institute for Human Health and Performance at University College, London, says: 'Exercise can help reduce the risk of so many health conditions from obesity and depression to diabetes and bowel cancer - which is the second most likely disease after heart disease to kill middle-aged men.'

Exercising at this life stage can also give a man's sex life a boost. A Dublin study of 900 men in their 50s found those who shed their spare tyres through exercise had a higher sperm count and stronger erections, as exercise prevents levels of the male sex hormone testosterone from dropping. Meanwhile, a study by the University of Montreal of overweight middle-aged men who exercised regularly for just a few months found that as their waists shrunk, their mental agility grew.

This was thought to be down to exercise improving arterial health, making the body more efficient at using oxygen pumped in the blood to the brain.

So how should a middle-aged man go about exercising safely?

It's advisable to find out if you are already at an increased risk of heart disease through diabetes or high blood pressure - both of which can be assessed through blood tests organised by your GP.

Tell your doctor of any family history of heart disease and stroke. It's then important to start by spending several weeks simply becoming more active during the day, perhaps by using the stairs or walking to the shops, says John Dearing, a sports injury surgeon at Carrick Glen Hospital in Ayr.

After that, build up your fitness level slowly, perhaps walking 20 to 40 minutes, three times a week.

'You should walk, cycle or whatever you choose to do with enough exertion to become mildly breathless, but you should still be able to talk in sentences,' adds Professor Montgomery.

 

 

41% of men who exercise have had to quit due to an injury

 

It's not just your heart you need to protect. Warming up is very important to avoid muscle strain - this should take up about 10 per cent of the time of your session, says John Miles, the medical head at Cardiff Blues rugby club.

This could include basic movements such as lunges, squats and stretches for the lower limb muscles.

Once you feel as if fitness has improved, and you want to start speeding up then do this gradually.

Dr Dearing adds: 'If you take up, say, jogging, start by doing ten to 15 minutes. If you manage that without a problem, then do 20 minutes the following day.'

Establish distance before you think about speed.

Once you can jog a mile-and-a-half, you can vary your run with ten seconds of sprinting, followed by slowing down for a minute and then repeating three times - a system known as Fartlek training (from the Swedish for 'speed play', it means varying exercise with periods of intensity).

It's important to keep note of any symptoms that could suggest a strain on your cardiovascular system.

Dr Thomas warns: 'If you have any chest pain or discomfort when exercising, you must get it checked out.

'Heart pain occurs as a crushing pain across the chest, not just on the left side as people mistakenly think. Nausea and breathlessness when exercising can also be a sign of heart issues.'

Unfortunately, there is no cast-iron guarantee that your heart will be fine. But as Dr Dearing points out: 'Increasing physical activity has huge benefits - and some exercise is always better than none.

'But take a sensible approach, otherwise you run the risk of doing more harm than good.'

 

 

 

 

 

[Christmas Tree 3997]

you heard right. turning up and going though the motions on the bike and treadmill is unlikely to get results. there are plenty of websites out there that offer solid advice. there is also a shitload in this thread.

 

what are your goals? lose fat, put on muscle, or as is the case with most people, both?

Neither (let's put aside your disbelief)

 

I just want to gradually (after reading that article) increase my fitness level. I only need to lose a few pounds to hit my target weight so that's not an issue. And at 48 I really have no interest in a sculptured body or body building.

 

Just an overall improvement in fitness levels.

 

 

[Christmas Tree 3997]

Im looking at joining this place in the new year, should come along

 

http://www.spartanperformance.co.uk/

Not for me but thanks

[Christmas Tree 3997]

the website for your gym you just joined gives you routines based on your objective and fitness level... login and look

https://exerp.puregym.com/members_area/fitness-nutrition

it even runs tons of free classes you just signup to online..

 

utterly lazy you are like

I saw them the other day but thought they looked a bit generic. I was more looking for a site that would let me customise stuff for my age, fitness levels goals etc.