I will! 
We have the Coleman Xtreme and like it, worked for all our 3 day trips this summer as long as it didnāt spent the whole day in direct sunlight.
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Itās a really good cooler, especially at that price point. Mine is still going strong at about 10 years old. Pre-kids we used to do longer, more remote camping so the Yeti was worth it. In our current life the Xtreme is more than adequate. Iām a total Yeti fan girl, but itās overkill for most people (including me right now). Plus I have to worry about people stealing it from my campsite. I donāt like that.
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Iāve used a Coleman for years both car camping and being strapped to my bike for camping and ridden through mud and rain and wind and itās still in perfect shape. Anything more $ is outside my budget so I have no upward comparison. But I can compare it to just buying frozen food and eating the fresh food first lol
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Thread revival!
I want to do more work on my core. While I am capable of the standard movements like planks, leg lifts, Russian twists, boat pose, and crunches, they are difficult, unpleasant, and give me back pain when I try to push myself, as does carrying boxes or laundry. I think I might have some imbalanced muscles or bad habits or something. I plan to ask for a PT referral at the doc in Feb (I noticed weaker abs/posture after surgery) but in the meantime, is there a program, resource, video you guys have done that you recommend?
Looking for something short I can do daily-ish, possibly with some standing core*, dead bugs, and exercises I donāt know about yet.
(*Iāve noticed myself engaging abs in a good way when doing shoulder presses.)
Quad/front hip stretch ideas also welcome. I can do the standing quad stretch but laying down or leaning back while kneeling hurts. I think Iām compensating for less hip rotation with a flexy lower back. (I can open hips in squat or lunge or butterfly but not rotate back if that makes senseā¦ Like back leg in splits. In fact Iām not sure Iām getting to standing/laying flat without some back involvement.)
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How do you feel about Pilates, especially if itās a modified program? Itās been so helpful for me for core strength, and my problematic front hips feel a lot better/less tight when Iām doing it. If youāre open to it I can send some recs.
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Iāve hated it before but Iāve been considering trying again? I remember a lot of boat pose and hollow body holds/pulses. I prefer to cycle rather than hold but I donāt know if thatās effective?
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Pilates! Barre! The easiest chloe ting video you can find!
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Back before my body started hating everything, I used to love doing Foundation Training. Itās like 10-15 min a day, and made a huge difference for me in my core strength and mobility. Thereās a YouTube video with the full flow, but I bought the book and pieced together a little routine of everything that felt the best for meā¦the book gives modifications and easier things to try for just getting started, which is why I personally preferred it to the YouTube routine.
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Cycling/compound stretching and body weight work is very effective. I think more effective than static holds (for strength building, for flexibility you have to do some static), which I cannot do. Like Yoga with Adrienne is super painful for me and I canāt do the majority of it. My body has to be almost constantly in motion! I love pilates.
Barre classes might be good for standing core as well. I do lots of standing core work out of necessity and a lot of it is ballet. Itās 99.9% about technique and engagement because itās extremely easy to cheat. Pilates is much harder to cheat. So thereās that pro/con to consider!
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Thereās a book I really like called Tom Danielsonās Core Advantage. The cover looks kind of intense, but the book itself is great. The first ~1/3 of it is mobility exercises and theyāre all about a strong and well-balanced foundation before doing anything that feels like pushing through pain, etc. I think thereās some overlap in principles with the Foundation training @mountainmustache29 mentioned (Iāve only tried that video once or twice, though). Huh, youāve just inspired me to look into this book again.
Definitely guessing here just from a few sentences you wrote, but it does sound like your core work has been predominantly focused on the front side of your body (crunches, boat pose) and it might be out of balance with lateral & back strength and causing pain because of that.
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Met up with a friend today who took us on a 3.5 km walk. She said it was āup and downā but that her two kids had no trouble with it. I figured up and down isnāt fun per se, but shouldnāt be notable. She offered a hiking pole, and took one herself. I figured might as well try.
It was a workout.
And now I know I need a hiking pole in my life. It added so much stability and confidence in spots I generally would have called the shadowy one back for (I have bad knees and worse depth perception, which is a bad combo on downhills). Not for walks around home, but certainly for anything vaguely technical in the future. In fact, I think it would help me strengthen the knees more because Iād be able to take more risks and push them a bit more.
If anyone has a fave hiking pole, Iām looking for recos.
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Trekking poles are amazing! I have issues with balance and proprioception and they have opened up a whole new world of independent walking. I definitely walk more because of them.
I have these, which apparently are out of stock, but I love them:
https://www.rei.com/product/148199/leki-cressida-cor-tec-trekking-poles-pair-womens
I wanted aluminum, not carbon fiber, because I read that carbon fiber can shatter especially on rocky downhills. I also cared a lot about them being light weight because I am weak. And I wanted ones that could adjust small enough to travel in a suitcase.
I didnāt see a huge variation in reviews for different brands when I was researching a few years ago.
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I donāt have recs, but two suggestions - you can also use ski poles if they are the right height; and decathlon probably has decent ones at a good price once you know what features you want. SAIL will have good quality but price is all over the place.
I often forget hiking poles or would have suggested them ages ago
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I have used very cheap trekking poles and very expensive trekking poles before. Thereās not a huge difference between them, especially if youāre not doing long distance hiking. I would look for something on the cheaper end. Aluminum is fine. I do think the flick locks are more reliable than the twist locks though if you have a choice!
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If you can find them, trekking poles with cork handles are amazing. I think theyāre more comfortable to hold than regular cushion ones, and they handle sweaty hands much much better.
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Human got some from Costco and a friend had the same one. Cork handles as @Panda suggested. May be seasonal?
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Just thought Iād share this YouTube channel for isometric workouts
@Economista I feel like you might be into this! No equipment and she has shorter vids too, very efficient workout! I wish she gave more verbal instruction but other than that I really like it
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ooh thank you! I will check it out!
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1 hour isometricā¦ I think Iāll be dying
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