The Core
Why We Are Here => Water Cooler => Topic started by: littleman on October 08, 2018, 03:11:16 AM
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Just check in once a week to let us know what you are doing, even if that isn't much.
This week I went to the gym 4 times. I've also been getting a little cardio teaching my 6 y.o. to learn a bike. I've spent about an hour a day chasing after her and making sure she doesn't take a spill. As of yesterday she's fine on her own, so I've just been playing roller tag (not literally) with her on he bike and me on a skateboard.
Edit: fixed some really bad structure issues.
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Went on a couple of longer rides with one of the girls on our Me-movers - https://me-mover.com/ . Phew, kind of rough getting off the couch, but need to get in better shape. Actually doing it with the kids makes a little more fun.
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I've been unable to lift or run since the motorcycle incident. Hopefully starting again in two weeks. Preparing with some push-ups and stretching.
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We've been trying to do a long walk once per week and I've been running a bit longer too. I've been laying off most upper body anything since hurting my arm, but I did a pullup the other day without significant pain (first time since April or so).
I find my various ailments that were accumulating this spring do better if I wait until I'm fully rested before going at it again. So a lot of weeks, I have just two long, hardish things and the rest is mostly rest or short/easy things. Seems to be moving things in the right direction.
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I went to the gym four times last week, skateboarded probably about five hours.
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Moving house soon and ahve a possibility of setting up equipment in the utility room since it's bigger than where we are now. I won't have that tepid excuse of "Man i have to unfold the treadmill and plug it in".
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Pretty much a repeat of last week.
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extremely quiet thread
Another repeat of the week before. I've been pushing lighter weight and higher reps for the last several weeks as I'm giving my joints a break. I have to say it is nice to feel good after a workout.
I started doing hand and forearm exercise in a bucket of rice, a technique popular with boxers and baseball players. Its pretty crazy how quickly those small muscles in the hand get drained when used with constant resistance.
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Ankle and shoulder PT every day, with the goal of getting back to the normal routine ASAP.
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Still kind of lazy, but the arm is improving which is opening up possibilities. I've moved from avoiding anything over 5 pounds to carrying sheets of plywood.
Why sheets of plywood, you didn't actually ask? I am about 3/4 of the way done on building my small backyard training wall. It's only 12x9, but it is built on an axle and has teh ability to be set anywhere from straight up to 60 degrees over (i.e. 30-degree angle with the ground, 60 degrees of vertical). Raising and lower system yet to be worked out, so currently climbing on it veritcal.
Really looking forward to being able to get a bit more fit for climbing, joints and God willing.
The WAF (http://th3core.com/talk/hardware-technology/waf/) was much improved by turning it into an art project (Tunnel View in Yosemite, painted entirely with free leftover test samples of housepaint - had about six colors to choose from).
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Speedy healing guys.
Ergo, that wall sounds like it is going to be pretty cool when its done. I like Theresa's paint job!
My week was pretty much another repeat, four gym sessions, probably 6 mild skateboard sessions and some "bucket of rice" hand and wrist work at the end of the day as I watch a rerun of The Office after the kids go to bed.
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Ha ha... what a bunch of crippled geezers. Generally, my ailments all seem to be going away.
Did a couple of short runs and on relatively long walk (25-26 miles) and some testing sessions on the new climbing wall. Should have the rest of the parts in a few days and be able to climb it in the kicked out position.
Finally starting to lose some of the flab I put on this summer. Being evacuated to my in-laws for a month resulted in a significant accumulation around the middle.
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>geezers
I just had my 47th birthday and I commented that I'm getting old. My wife said that I am probably going to be around another 50 years and that that's a long time to be calling myself old.
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Yeah, Theresa told me the same thing.
The honest truth is that my knees feel better than they did when I was 30 and my calves feel a lot worse. So who knows.
And my dad is 89 and he can still work a full day in the yard with a shovel and pickaxe... so I'm hopeful that my actual, real old age will be like his.
So it's not so much that we *are* geezers, but looking at the last several comments, we sure *sound* like a bunch of geezers. Young geezers though.
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Nice to hear that your dad is doing so well. I have a grandmother on my mother's side that still lives independently at 96. My dad is really doing poorly though at 74. I just read an article that claims genetics are only 10% responsible for longevity.
The air quality has been too bad to do much outside, so I think I only went skateboarding once or twice in the beginning of the week. I did make it to the gym four times though.
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I've stopped watching my actual weight as much - I tend to hover around the 89-90 KG mark, If I really stick to a strict diet I sit around the 84KG
I've started to concentrate on my gym activities more and more with a flexible diet, seems to be working pretty well at the moment.
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So far in November - 7 runs, 2 mountain bike rides, one hike
Also some low intensity stuff - a bit of construction, a couple walks to the mailbox (which is 2.5 miles RT with some big hills), first session on the new climbing wall
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Sounds like a pretty good month so far!
I've done no outdoor stuff at all due to air quality issues, but I did have four good gym sessions this week.
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I'm always motivated by your consistent gym sessions.
>>air quality issues
The mountain bike ride I mentioned was about 3 hours of uphill riding and breathing fairly hard, but through the forest without long views. When we got to the summit which suddenly opens into a massive view (a historic fire lookout as it happens), I looked out at the smoke on the horizon and thought "I'm not sure that was healthier than sitting at home and eating ice cream." More fun though... although I do like ice cream a lot.
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>although I do like ice cream a lot
Yeah, but the mountain bike ride affords you more ice cream. ;)
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Yeah but now it's a double whammy - lung cancer and diabetes, all in one day.
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4/4 gym sessions. Did some good walking with my wife yesterday and went skateboarding with one of my kids today. It is so nice to have clean air again!
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5 weeks of PT complete. I ran for the first time since July. The ankle felt ok. Progress.
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Sound's like you are heeling up nicely. How's the rest of you doing Travis? Any rang of motion issues or nagging pains?
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We just moved house and once the floor's done in the utility room there's space for exercise equipment to be always-up, determined not to stop and start exercise now but to stick with it!
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Good to hear from everyone, but especially Trav!
Careful though. You can get hurt running HHH
I'm at 13 runs/bikes/hikes for the month out of my goal of 15. I'll run today. I've done some other shorter/easier things too. Trying to stay moving without aggravating aches and pains and seems to be working well.
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Regular Exercise May Keep Your Body 30 Years ‘Younger’ (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/21/well/move/regular-exercise-may-keep-your-body-30-years-younger.html)
The muscles of older men and women who have exercised for decades are indistinguishable in many ways from those of healthy 25-year-olds, according to an uplifting new study of a group of active septuagenarians.
These men and women also had much higher aerobic capacities than most people their age, the study showed, making them biologically about 30 years younger than their chronological ages, the study’s authors concluded.
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>Any rang of motion issues or nagging pains?
Range of motion is normal. Shoulder still isn't ready for lifting, but I completed some squats yesterday. Outside of exercise, the pain is gone. Trying to optimize "rest and test" to heal quickly without further injury.
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Went for a run the 40-degree rain yesterday before work and made my goal - 15 runs/bikes/hikes for November. Just before the snows came in.
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4/4 gym session, not much outdoor time last week.
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A repeat of last week, 4/4 gym sessions.
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4/4 gym sessions
*crickets*
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>> *crickets*
We're all embarrassed :-)
Been getting out on our new climbing wall. Ran at lunch today. Have gotten out skiing a few times and biking. California is kind of incredible that way.
But it's been a busy time. Getting a bit too flabby. My arm finally doesn't hurt, even after climbing, so hoping I can start doing some strength training - I love running, but I've never found it effective at getting rid of flab unless the mileages get really high.
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It sounds like you have been staying pretty physically active, I'm glad your arm is feeling better. This time of year is hard when it comes to callories in and out.
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Started weight training again last week, although the right shoulder is still a limiting factor.
2/3 last week
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Cool Travis!
I am not sure what exactly you are dealing with with your shoulder, but I've found that working around injuries can be very beneficial. I don't know what type of training you are doing, but avoiding compound movements that would engage the injured area and replacing them with more isolated movements can be a nice way to strengthen the rest of the body (or at least keep it from losing muscle mass) as you recover. Another thing that has helped me with various injuries is to work the injured area with light weight or low resistance -- light enough that it doesn't hurt at all. Sometimes to do this you have to put your ego in check, but I think it has really helped the bits of me that I've hurt recover quicker. Obviously it depends on what type of injury you have and you shouldn't do anything that your PT would say no to.
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Good ideas, littleman.
>put your ego in check
So very true. Had to reset expectations and start with bar-only bench presses. I'm only up to 65lbs (ugh). Failed many attempts at pull-ups, but now doing short sets. Progress. If necessary, I'll go kicking and screaming to an expensive PT/normal gym and work on isolation machines before returning to compound movements.
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4/4 gym sessions
Sounds like you are being smart about your recovery Travis.
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Just back from a week in Death Valley. Not high intensity, but enough walking to count
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Nice Ergo, I've always wanted to visit Death Valley. I'd like to go in the Spring someday. Long walks surrounded by nature are one of those things that make life worth living.
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I did my last workout for 2018, 4/4 gym sessions; and I'm feeling pretty good about avoiding most of the ever present delicious sweets this Holiday season.
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Death Valley is beyond amazing. A lifetime of interesting hiking, over 1000 miles of road, many of which require a high-clearance 4WD and most of which are dirt. It's the only place I've been in the Lower 48 that reminds me of my time working in Alaska in the 1980s.
BTW, we camped and hiked with Jake "bakedjake", known to many of you.
Been doing some skiing since I got back. Took a couple days off after a bit of a tumble, but will go today.
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4/4 this week, last week I only made it for 2/4 because of a harsh cold.
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3/3 weights this week.
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Lots of skiing this week and one run... including lots of teaching a four year old (which involves lots of skating and towing uphill).
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4/4 gym sessions, a couple of skateboarding sessions.
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2x weights, 1x run (2.5 miles) last week
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Ugh.. some skiing early, then stuck in cars and airports for three days thanks to Harper. Left home at 4am on Saturday... got into destination on Cape Cod tonight. With luck, our bags with our warm clothes will get into Vermont tomorrow and we'll be reunited on Thursday night.
No exercise. Lots of crappy food.
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4/4 gym sessions, a couple of middle-aged-man on a skateboard sessions again.
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4/4 gym sessions, no real outdoor exercise this last week due to rain.
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Good job LM. That's motivating to hear.
Pretty inactive weekend of family time, but I got some skiing in during the week.
We're on the east coast and our work schedules (meetings etc) are all set up for California time, so we can ski until 11am most days, but as the weather turned to rain for several days and we have had a lot of family time, I've been super lazy.
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Sup y'all, good to see everyone still at it!
I'm still hanging in there personal training 2-3 times per week. Tomorrow morning will make 3 this week. I've bailed on sports for a while since I haven't had time to play, looking to get back into it in the spring.
Trav, glad to hear you are doing well. Have you gotten back on the horse yet?
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2019: been doing 2x weights and 1x running each week. So far, so good.
Dras.. yes have been back on the bike a few times for short rides. Was fun but cold. Waiting for (warm) Spring before I go out again.
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I just got the street bike out this week. First ride in quite some time.
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Glad you are able out and moving Trav.
Dras, I actually revived this thread because of of you back in October.
4/4 gym sessions, its been too damn cold* to play with the kids outside.
*Yes I know....
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Glad you have been carrying on the tradition! And rocksteady as ever. I feel if I had more time and your drive, I'd be hercules inside 6 mos.
I didn't make it in Friday, had to stay home for an install. But, I'm hitting 3 times this week, hell or high water.
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Had planned mostly on skiing, but weather has not been the best. So got in a gym session and a couple of ski days, but not like I was hoping.
Snow due tonight though!
Meanwhile, back home it's dumping feet and feet and meters and meters (well, over two meters anyway)
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4/4 gym sessions, an hours or so of skateboarding.
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Actually had 4 sessions this week, first time in quite a while. The weekend was gray and dull so we kicked it off with a Saturday am extra.
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I've been skiing five times in five days - 2 times alpine and 3 times cross country
Today I went alpine in the morning, came back and picked up my dad and we went cross-country skiing together. He'll be 90 in August. While we were there, I met my old coach who coached me 1979-1981 and we took a skate ski lap together.
Good week.
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>Good week.
Sounds like that's putting it lightly!
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Nice week guys! Ergo, congratulations on getting the genetic lottery. I hope I'm able to go skiing when I'm about to turn 90, very impressive.
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Nice week guys! Ergo, congratulations on getting the genetic lottery.
Remains to be seen. My very fit and very athletic uncle on my mother's had a heart attack and died at 47. My mom showed the earliest signs of Alzheimer's in her 60s. So on that side, things ain't so rosy.
My dad will be 90 and still works in the garden and takes not a single pill of any kind - aspirin, vitamin, medicine. His brother was a chain smoker for 60 years, not into fitness at all, veteran of the Battle of the Bulge and died just this year at 93 and could crank out the NYT crossword puzzle until a few years ago. He quit not because of cognitive decline, but because he was bored - could do the Sunday puzzle in under and hour without a dictionary. One time told me, "Well I know all the rivers of Western Europe because I had to fight my way across them." So if I get those genes, I'm all set.
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4/4 gym and 2 skateboard sessions
My local corner of world was getting to me today. Stress turned to rage and I felt my fuses burning up. I was very thankful that I had my conflict with the iron today -- putting it all into something really helps sometimes.
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I'm on the Shovel Fit (tm) program for the foreseeable future.
Shoveled heavy consolidated snow for about three hours each of the last two days. Today has another few hours on tap. As many as I can stand to get things cleaned up before the next storm comes in... which will probably only drop 2 feet at our house, but they are saying 10 feet at higher elevations.
Also went skiing yesterday but took it easy.
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>putting it all into something really helps sometimes.
Ain't that the truth. Sometimes before/after gym can be like a snickers commercial.
Hit 3 last week. Going to be shy this week b/c my gym is moving. Good enough?
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>Shovel Fit
Looks like you are in for a lot of that this week!
>Good enough?
Absolutely.
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Good enough for you is good enough for me!
This week's Shovel Fit program appears to be canceled due to rain (up to 9000 feet; we're only at 5500).
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Well I put 3 in already anyway. Went Tues for round 2 since they were moving today. Went to help move for a while and got a solid workout doing so today for #3.
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4/4 gym sessions this week and last.
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3 sessions, 2 weeks back. Last week, only 2 as Friday I was wiped out and took the day off of everything.
This week, I think I'm going to switch to 4 straight days M-Thurs. Off to a great, early start after the time change this morning. Will probably ratchet the time back to only 30 minutes until I adjust and am ready to add more.
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4 straight sessions in the gym last week. Felt good man.
This week I've hit a couple snags with heavy early meetings on two days and primarily a quick skin cancer removal surgery has shut down any upper body workouts (or volleyball, etc) for 2 weeks. (Small basal cell carcinoma on my shoulder.)
I guess I'll pound legs a bit, but probably not 4x/week.
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Hey Dras, I am really glad you took care of that skin cancer! Sorry that it is slowing you down this week, but it is a small price to pay for the peace of mind. Last week was 4/4, this week I will probable not be able to go the full commitment.
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Back on it again, got the treadmill always up in the utility room, rowing machine pulls out so no excuses now, 4/5 this week.
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Good job GM!
I just complete my last workout for the week, 4/4.
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Yeah man, gotta take care of that stuff right away.
Welcome back gm!
Only hit 2 last week. 3 if you count my traipsing around the woods on a quad. Goal this week is 3 for M-W-F, alll legs.
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Cheers!
4/5 last week, will be the same this week didn't do it yesterday. Makes it so much easier when the equipment is up and in the same room as office - no excuses!
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There's always Saturday to make up!
Only 2 last week due to surgery. I could have gone Friday but really got tired of leg days.
Back at it this week, going for 4/week again.
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Gonna have to be tomorrow now, let slip today after i burnt my porridge while spreadsheeting :/
3/5 so far, hope to make it 4 tomorrow, somtimes its a good hangover cure :)
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>> burnt my porridge while spreadsheeting
Make your porridge in the microwave. It will turn off by itself.
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>> burnt my porridge while spreadsheeting
Make your porridge in the microwave. It will turn off by itself.
I don't use those things, read too much about our safety standard protocols when it comes to microwaves.
Should probably use a good old fashioned timer :)
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4/5.
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Did 4/4 last week. This week I was supposed to do my last workout today, but I'm unlikely to make it, I am stuck in an airport at the moment.
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A little motivation:
https://www.businessinsider.com/exercise-makes-you-happier-than-money-says-yale-and-oxford-study-2019-4
Researchers at Yale and Oxford may have proven exercise is more important to your mental health than your economic status.
...
[T]he researchers found that physically active people feel just as good as those who don't do sports, but who earn around $25,000 more a year.
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Did 5 last week. 4 in the gym plus one open play volleyball. Cold weather is finally leaving!
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Did 5 last week. 4 in the gym plus one open play volleyball. Cold weather is finally leaving!
Nice one. Yes i'm not looking forward to 30c temps doing this!
These poor guys :
https://www.google.co.uk/search?source=hp&ei=lOitXJ6wCI7hUtTJj-gC&q=sas+trainee+dies+in+heat&btnK=Google+Search&oq=sas+trainee+dies+in+heat&gs_l=psy-ab.3..33i160.97972.102305..102452...0.0..0.194.2125.22j4......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i131j0j0i10j0i22i10i30j33i22i29i30.56_SfghS1Mc
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4/5 again.
Surprised how quickly muscle starts to tighten, need to start doing more stretching.
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Drink lots of water, too. Most people don't drink enough, ever, and it really helps.
Once your muscle grows and gets healthy, the tightness does fade. A strong and healthy muscle is almost flabby when not firing.
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4/4 gym sessions & a little bike riding with the kids.
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3/5 last week, bloody man-flu.
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4/4 last week. No ball, didn't have time really.
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4/4 gym sessions
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Same here, 4/4 in the gym. Maybe I'll get to play some vball this week too.
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4/5 last week, we had visitors for bank holiday.
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4x gym and finally got to play vball a couple hours yesterday, so 5 total.
With a bit of luck, maybe 6 this week if I can play twice.
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4/5 again.
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I ended up having to do my Sunday workout Monday, but I'm still counting it as 4/4.
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Some skiing, some running and some yard work. Yard work left me the sorest and I couldn't figure out why until I realized I was basically doing max effort deadlifts trying to roll stump and logs onto a burn pile. Great functional exercise actually. If only I had more stumps and more of spring left, I'd be in great shape!
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Good job everyone.
I did 4/4 this week. I've increased the weights/volume and gained some size. Now I need to lean out some.
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4 x gym plus couple hours of volleyball. That two-a-day was rough. Glad I've had 3 off.
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3/5 last 2 weeks, added 5 mins to tread and 1 up on the rower resist
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3/5 again.
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5 last week. Though 2 were light, we were on vacation, so good enough.
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Good week - two runs, a ski tour*, several hours of cutting and hauling brush. Oh and lifting some rocks.
*ski tour - we're in the season where "taking my skis for a walk punctuated by brief instances with them on my feet" would be more accurate. Lots of exercise though
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3/5
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4/4 last week and the week before that. I am not sure how this week is going to go, some big family events are eating into my routine.
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4/4 last week. Starting a new volleyball league tonight so I should have 5-6 this week.
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4/4 last week somehow in what was an unusual week.
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6 as expected. 4 gym and 2 vball. Really needing that cardio at vball as I don't do much in the gym.
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3/5 last week, if you can count my first game of golf as 1.
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Golf is far better than sitting on the couch!
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Golf is far better than sitting on the couch!
Oh yes, was good fun too. My gf's Dad, who is 80 this year, beat us all!
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4/4 last week. How did you all do?
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Finally have had 10 days without snow - hasn't snowed since May 26!
Did a two bouldering sessions on our wall, a couple of slow runs in 6-7 miles range, and today took a chainsaw out for a bike ride and rode 7 miles and cleared about a dozen trees, which involved a bit of heavy lifting.
Less than I'd like to be doing, but it's definitely getting easier how that the weather is more stable.
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I did 5 last week. 4 gym + 1 vball.
This week we were able to scoot off to the beach and I have done zero, by design.
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4/4 gym sessions this week and last.
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4xgym and 1xvball = 5
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Last week was 5 x gym and 1 vball double header. Lost 3 lbs last week. I think I'm going to try to stick with daily gym visits at least for a while.
How you guys doing?
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4/4 gym sessions last week. This week will be a bit different, doing a lot of hiking and will probably only hit the gym on the weekend.
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LM - where are you hiking?
Great week - something every day: hiking (7mi), running (11mi), backcountry skiing (just a few hours b/c of a limited road opening), lifted weights, a little climbing and a day of hucking and hauling oak logs for a friend. It feels good. Now if I can just get more consistent!!!
Photo: looking down Ellery Bowl (Theresa... she's recovering from a minor procedure, so a shining knight is carrying her skis):
https://photos.app.goo.gl/vzndVansktEnePk29
Looking up the same slope
https://photos.app.goo.gl/75w1APoHkeNBg3ox5
The top few couple hundred meters are in what I consider to be the No Fall Zone. I've heard for two people who fell... neither died, but both were hospitalized. I'm less scared of that happening to me than watching it happen to my wife.
No pictures on the way down. I want everybody focusing on staying safe, not mugging for a camera.
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I'm in South Tahoe this week. It is very nice here, lots of blooming wild flowers and still some snow in the shade of the mountains.
That's an amazing week Ergo. I could see why you live up in the higher elevation.
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>>lots of blooming wild flowers
Nice! Yes, there are compensations for all the other things (fires, power outages, etc).
Did something today I've been wanting to do for a few years - parked my car part way to work and ran forest service roads to work for my "commute." Woudl have been more fun if I had started 15 minutes early, as I was a little worried about being late for a meeting (that was ultimately cancelled anyway).
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>compensations
This was the view from the place I was staying. We live in a beautiful state.
I did four hikes and two gym sessions this week.
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Purty.
6 this week. 5x gym plus a couple hours of open play yesterday.
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Nice Dras, that's a lot of exercise.
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Yeah man, I'm really digging it. The more I do, the better I feel which makes me want to do more. My knee gave me some problems for a while but I think it may be sorted now.
Nice hikes there. We keep talking about doing it.
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Nice guys!
Significantly lazier last week. Other than the commute run, I did a bit of bouldering and that was it. Have had family in town much of the time, so mostly strolling around on easy hikes with my dad (who turns 90 in less than a month and is coming here from sea level - going uphill at 7,000 feet has him pretty winded, so we aren't moving real fast, but hey, at 90, he's still walking about miles or trail with us every day).
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Damn that's excellent for 90! Hell my dad ain't even pushing 80 yet and I can't get him to do anything but sit outside to smoke cigars and drink whiskey.
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he's still walking about miles or trail with us every day).
Meant to say "he's still walking about three miles on trail with us."
Walking isn't his strong suit anymore. He'd do better if I had put him to work on gardening or construction. He doesn't take a single medication. But yes, I am hoping I have some of those genes.
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That's really is great. My dad has pretty much all the symptoms of metabolic syndrome (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolic_syndrome) and can hardly walk anymore, he's about to turn 75. I don't mean to post a downer, but I do try to keep his condition in mind as I think about my health.
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Decent week - two hilly runs of 7 and 8 miles, a bit of weightlifting, a tiny bit of bouldering on my backyard wall and helped a friend move, cut and grind 3600 pounds of steel.
Had an all time bear sighting the first run. I was running along the trail and a 25-30 pound cub walked across the trail about 100 feet in front of me from right to left. No sign of mom, so I stopped to wait, but she still didn't come, so I assumed baby was following her, rather than the other way around. I looped off trail to the right around a small hill, making plenty of noise but staying out of sight of where the mom was (I wanted her to hear me, but not see me). Then I crept around the hill and saw mom, reared back on her haunches (that is standing sort of upright) with her ears twitching this way and that and her nose sniffling and her eyes searching. She was on high alert, but still couldn't see me through the bushes. I walked out of sight again and came up on the trail about 100 feet away from her. She went back down on all fours and kept watching me and, as I backed away, decided I was no threat and went back to eating flowers with baby bear.
That is the first time I've ever seen a bear rear up like that in dozens (probably well over 100) bear sightings. I knew from reading that this not an aggressive pose, like you might see in an old movie, but an information gathering position, but it was really fun to see in action.
And BTW, any time you see a bear walking on its hind legs in a movie or circus, know that bear has most likelyy been tortured. They have typically been chained in a stress position similar to the torture positions in the CIA rendition sites. A wild bear rears back onto it's haunches and gets tall, but doesn't typically stand on it's hind legs unless it has some other problem (e.g. the famous bear in New Jersey that had injured forelegs).
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>but it was really fun to see in action.
I think I'd find that more terrifying than fun, but I suppose that you've been conditioned over the years.
4/4 gym workouts and a little walking with the kids for me.
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Exciting exercise session there ergo.
I was only able to get 4 gym sessions in due to the holiday, no gym access on Thurs or Sat. One vball session = 5 total.
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more terrifying than fun
Mmm... basically, 50 meters is a safe distance. 100 feet is slightly close, but the fact that as soon as she saw me, mom went back to eating tells you the distance was safe.
I have been bluff charged a few times where a mother with cubs runs at you, stops about 10 meters away and snorts and stamps. I had assumed that fear was causing me to exaggerate how close she got, but one time I went back to the spot where it happened and studied it and realized how close she really was. Then I was even more scared.
I try to keep my distance, but sometimes you don't see them in the underbrush. My closest encounter was coming around a bush on a wide trail (road actually) with good visibility, but the bear was coming around the bush from off the trail and we were about five feet away when we saw each other and both trotting towards each other. By the time I could bring myself to a stop, he was already five strides away. Their athleticism is incredible. One time I spooked one and it went 15 feet up a tree before I could even stop. When he looked down and saw it was just a human, he literally pushed off from the tree, did a half twist in the air, landed on all fours and walked up the hill.
All that said, black bears are not hunters. If you give them space to get away, they will choose to get away unless they have been habituated to people (so bears in the wild are a lot less dangerous than bears that frequent campsites).
Mountain lions, on the other hand... I am genuinely scared of them.
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BTW, I am also now scared of driving in the Bay Area, in a way that I wasn't when I lived there. I'm also not particularly comfortable walking through most cities at night.
It's all a function of what you get used to.
Black bears have killed 61 people across North America since 1900. This no longer worries me. My chances of being killed by a domestic dog, bees, or lightning are vastly greater. My chances of being murdered are 60,000 times greater. One of the safest places a person can be is in the woods.
https://bear.org/how-dangerous-are-black-bears/
The total death count from bears since 1900 is less than the annual death count due to lawnmowers. I don't own one of the latter. Much too risky ;-)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5191701/More-Americans-killed-LAWNMOWERS-Jihadi-terrorists.html
I feel safer with those jihadi bears than with those cars and lawnmowers :-)
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Fucken lawnmowers man. Something has got to be done.
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Not using the treadmill it doesn't push the cardio hard enough, even 30 minutes at 10kph, using exercise bike now plus weights and rower, averaging 2 times per week. Loving the weights, starting off light though.
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Not using the treadmill it doesn't push the cardio hard enough
https://thewirecutter.com/blog/history-of-the-treadmill/
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No vball last week. Just 5x gym.
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I did 4/4 gym sessions and a bit of skateboarding last week.
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Not using the treadmill it doesn't push the cardio hard enough
https://thewirecutter.com/blog/history-of-the-treadmill/
Thanks, realised after reading that that mine does inclines!
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>>inclines
I was wondering about that. I have found treadmills at an incline plenty punishing. In general, you have to go faster on a treadmill than real running because you're not actually moving any mass. You can compensate by increasing the incline. You still aren't moving mass, but you do have to lift your lefts and fight the downward slide
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Lots going on so I was unable to make the gym a couple days last week. 3 x gym plus volleyball league night = 4 total.
Hoping to be back to 5+ this week.
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4/4 gym session for the last two weeks
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Last two weeks were good and bad while visiting family
bad: ate too much, only did two runs and one hike (plus one more run on Sunday after I got home)
good: had access to a gym and did some weight lifting (7 times in two weeks). That felt good. And visiting family is good.
So all in all, I got a little more muscle and a little more fat. The balance has been preserved.
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I missed a workout a couple of weeks ago, but I've been pretty solid with 4/4 gym sessions a week other than that. Work has been pretty busy, but I've managed to get out with the kids and do some nice outdoor activity on the weekends.
How you all doing?
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Discovered pool workouts, *highly* recommended.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgvklHZSsmE
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A good longish climb, a hiking day, a bit of running and some easy weight lifting... all in all not a bad week.
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After a whirlwind of real estate deals, contractors galore and yet another move, I am back at it. I think I always had at least 2 workouts in a week, but this will be the first week in probably a month or more I can maybe get 5 days in. About to hit day 4 shortly, so should be good this week. 3 last week.
Right now I seem to be in some kind of fat burn mode. Not hungry at lunch and a protein shake satisfies. Doing this as often as possible, and my waistline is starting to look pretty decent.
nffc, really? Is it really fun or something? Doesn't seem very manly.
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>Doesn't seem very manly.
If its man enough for Baz Rutten...
40 degree weather and 80% humidity makes it enjoyable.
Get some of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00T4J02VK and give it a try. The quicker you move, the more resistance, try and clap you hands together;) Some vinyl kettlebells and step up to https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01M01MSUR and you have a decent upper body/abs workout. The pool not great for legs use the baby pool for squats etc. 25 reps about the sweet spot, no rest between excercises.
I found it transfers very well to improvements in the gym and cardi/boxing.
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I could see some benefits. It seems like an activity someone could do at any fitness level, you could increase the intensity by speeding up or increasing the speed. It keeps you cool, which is a major benefit in the tropics. It also seems like it would be easy on the joints.
.....
Right across the street from my house is a track and a soccer/football field. My youngest has been into running lately. She keeps wanting to race me and she's pretty quick for her small size! I've been doing some sprints chasing her.
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30 mins (8km) on the bike today at highest resistance, done nothing for weeks, eating well and smoking less, realising that drink is the trigger of the domino-effect of excuses stopping exercise. Bloody gf keeps buying booze, i'm strong-willed enough not to go and buy it but if it's in the house ...
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>Bloody gf keeps buying booze, i'm strong-willed enough not to go and buy it but if it's in the house ...
I was like that with food. I made up some rules and decided I was going to keep to them. Trying means you're going to fail, you have to be 100% on board with your choice; know that you have already made up your mind and nothing will break it.
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>Doesn't seem very manly.
If its man enough for Baz Rutten...
40 degree weather and 80% humidity makes it enjoyable.
Get some of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00T4J02VK and give it a try. The quicker you move, the more resistance, try and clap you hands together;) Some vinyl kettlebells and step up to https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01M01MSUR and you have a decent upper body/abs workout. The pool not great for legs use the baby pool for squats etc. 25 reps about the sweet spot, no rest between excercises.
I found it transfers very well to improvements in the gym and cardi/boxing.
Alright, if you're still doing this next pool season opener, I'll buy em.
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>Alright, if you're still doing this next pool season opener, I'll buy em.
You would enjoy it. It is much more challenging than it sounds and *way* more manly than that volleyball you play ;)
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Fucken lawnmowers man. Something has got to be done.
From my local newspaper
https://www.mariposagazette.com/articles/local-woman-dies-in-lawn-mower-wreck/
Nobody I knew, but still terribly sad. You can't read the full article without a subscription, but she apparently got close to the edge of a hill and rolled it.
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Damn, that's terrible.
I squeezed in 6 last week. M-Sat
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7 last week. 5x gym. Sat. I spent a couple hours hacking on a trail in my yard, and rode it a bit. Sunday I rode it a couple hours.
Here's a quick vid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZCdOIqUeVs
How are you guys doing? Did we quit when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
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Nice one Drastic!
2/3 last week, aiming for 3/3 this week.
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Drastic - how long is the trail? Looks fun. Now you have to do it for speed ;-)
Mix of running and climbing for me. Not great, but not terrible. On one of my regular runs, I did my fastest time in a long time a couple of weeks ago and one of my slowest times ever a couple of days ago. Oh well.
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Not sure, half mile maybe?
Yeah speed will come, it's not something to force. I hadn't ridden for 2 years prior to this weekend, so it was fast enough.
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I'm happy t see you all staying active. I've not been outside as much as I'd like but I did my regular 4/4 gym sessions last week. I've been eating a bit more protein lately and trying to add a bit more muscle. Sitting at 200lbs. atm.
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I am now doing protein shakes for breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack. Just one regular meal at dinner for over 2 weeks now, M-F and try to keep it lean and healthy. Energy levels were rough for a bit but seem to be normalizing now.
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I am now doing protein shakes for breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack. Just one regular meal at dinner for over 2 weeks now, M-F and try to keep it lean and healthy. Energy levels were rough for a bit but seem to be normalizing now.
That seems drastic! Wouldn't you be better off having small, healthy meals in place of the shakes?
I've been having porridge with fruit and nuts for breakfast (fills you up for a good few hours), beans and lentils soup for lunch, then a green soup (brocooli, spinah or what you like) in the afternoon then an evening meal.
Hainvg said that, i usually spoil it by having a spliff in the evening and then munching on crap :(
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A Harvard nutritionist on protein shakes :
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-hidden-dangers-of-protein-powders
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>>Harvard nutritionist
Okay, so a registered dietician at a Harvard-affiliated hospital. So she's more of an expert than me, but not like someone who is researching sports nutrition. I didn't pay for the article, but she's focused on a few things
- added sugars. This one is easy. There are many powders that are single-ingredient. I generally buy just single-ingredient protein supplements.
- toxic chemicals. That one is tougher. Rice, for example, is notorious for its arsenic content. But that's a recommendation not to eat a lot of rice rather than a recommendation about rice protein (for example). Going organic can help with some chemicals, but arsenic is a function of the soil the crop is grown in (and sometimes a legacy of massive arsenic applications in the past).
She also seems to be focused on people who are *replacing* real food rather than *supplementing* it. A friend was just complaining that for almost a year his wife has only eaten about two meals a week and otherwise just drinks these shakes. That can't be healthy long-term and insofar as the article is addressing those people, I'm sure it's right.
Anyway, a lot of the anti-powder advice is addressed at people who are looking to *replace* meals rather than *supplement* them. I think much better advice comes from your own NHS:
Rick Miller, clinical and sports dietitian from the BDA, has the following advice for gym-goers and bodybuilders who want to take protein supplements:
"A simple change in foods (such as Greek yoghurt in the morning with muesli and fruit, rather than plain breakfast cereal and milk) will help enhance the protein content of a meal.
"After you have taken this step, fill in the gaps with a reputable brand of protein supplement.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/body-building-sports-supplements-facts/
Also, I know that you, like me, are trying to balance protein intake with planetary impact. I notice that I can workout all I want and do not put on muscle without protein supplements - so I've recently been trying to force myself to throw down a scoop or two of protein powder each day. It's hardly double-blind, but I feel like my recovery is faster. A few days into that change, I wend for a ten-mile run and felt pretty worked at the end of it, but bounced back quicker than I have been coming back from shorter runs.
My other option would be to eat huge amounts of animal protein, but I prefer not to do that. Protein powders fill in the gap. But they fill the *gap*, they don't replace real food.
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Thanks ergo. Like everything is seems to boil down to a need for balance.
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REad this though about overuse of supplements. It's scary
https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/how-getting-shredded-on-protein-shakes-can-risk-your-health/8879360
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I'm planning to do this through October. I found I wasn't hungry at many meals and was burning fat quickly so this is just to help things along. The extra time not needed for lunch is a nice bonus.
Amy makes these with high quality protein that isn't cheap and a fresh piece of fruit.
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REad this though about overuse of supplements. It's scary
https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/how-getting-shredded-on-protein-shakes-can-risk-your-health/8879360
Crikey!
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I'm not reading that. lol I should be ok for 90 days yeah?
Last week I only hit 4. Wednesday I had too many meetings to fit it in, and I think my body needed a break anyway.
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I skim-read it. The article speaks from an Australian narative, but it is basically the same in the US. It first talks about a woman who had a rare condition where she couldn't properly handle protein and she died. Later it talks about someone who had liver problems from getting too much caffeine from the green tee extract in his protein powder. I think the point of the article is really about how the supplement industry is basically the Wild West. Both the problems outlined aren't from long term use, more about acute toxicity from bad supplements and/or over use. You could probably shield yourself from most of the risk by not overdoing them and by sticking to established brands.
4/4 for me last week
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I took the family to watch the Fleet Week Airshow in SF (https://fleetweeksf.org/air-show/) on Sunday so I did a makeup workout yesterday. So, I'm calling it 4/4.
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2/3 last week
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Busy last week, only got 3 in. Strong 2 already this week doe.
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4/4 gym sessions last week. I've also been doing sprints with light recovery jogs in the evenings.
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6 each last two weeks. 5x gym and 1 x dirt biking both.
I hit 203# this week, leanest and most fit overall I've ever been. Things are finally coming along. The fat under attack is no longer a cohesive unit. The long time dug in encirclement around my waist has been dispersed to smaller pockets of resistance. Their resources have been cut for weeks though, so it's just a matter of time. Normally, 100% doable by end of November. But these sumbitches get some serious smuggle action around the holidays so we're allowing a 30 day extension before calling it done.
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Been on a new thing - very slow running. Goes by many names: Low heart rate running, MAF, aerobic threshold (AeT) training. But the general idea is that you are running (or biking or whatever) at a pace that keeps your blood lactate below 2 mMol/liter. Since I don't have a lactate monitor (!!), I use the MAF guideline - 180 minus your age. For me that means keeping my average pulse below 124. Which is basically crawling for me.
The idea is to train your aerobic systems rather than lactate threshold (LT) training that trains LT and VO2 Max, but trains the aerobic system mostly by accident.
LT - increases stroke volume, lactate clearing, that sort of thing. So you can stave off depletion, but you are depleting your glycogen stores and when they are gone, you bonk. It doesn't matter how much lactate training you do, you will bonk if you go far enough.
AeT - basically is increasing mitochondria and, therefore, your ability to tap fat reserves, so you are not depleting your glycogen. So you may experience extreme muscle fatigue, but you don't bonk because your fat reserves always have more fuel than your muscles can sustain.
Anyway, I've recently become aware that the endurance athletes that I admire have been doing this for year and all this time I've basically been running too hard. This goes back to Mark Allen's victory in what is considered the greatest Ironman race ever run where he beat Dave Scott. This came after Allen spent six months doing slow running under the guidance of Phil Maffetone, originator of the MAF system.
Anyway, it's humbling, frustrating, difficult... but I'm really enjoying it.
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That sounds really interesting. Have you ever thought about experimenting with a ketogenic diet? There is a lot of research regarding ketones and endurance athletes.
Last few weeks I've been doing my regular 4/4 gym sessions, the air quality has been bad so I've not done as much outdoor cardio work.
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ketogenic diet?
I have friends who are hardcore keto. My feeling looking at how they eat is that I just like my carbs too much. I'm not willing to give up bread and ice cream to be healthier or a better athlete. As Clint says, "A man's got to know his limitations."
And note that Eliud Kipchoge is not keto or close to it. He eats a lot of whole foods, including grains. Of course, the way he runs, I'm not sure a marathon is even an endurance event anymore.
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201#, getting closer.
5 last week. 4 so far this week, took wed. off due to feeling a bit rough. Planning to dirt bike all day sun though.
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>Been on a new thing - very slow running
When I was seriously boxing training I don't think it was the brutal workouts that increased my fitness level the most, pain threshold for sure. The biggest bump I saw was from 45 min brisk walks on the treadmill, 5% incline, touch under 4 mph. Heart rate likely around the 110 mark although generally my heart rate seems to be less than the norm.
From memory Lyle McDonald notes that for a lot of elite athletes hard training is a very small part of their total.
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Oh... and I installed a barrel sauna a week ago tonight. I think I've used it five times. A little too much - had to take an electrolyte supplement. I think long-term it will be 2-3 times per week.
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I missed a workout a couple of weeks ago, 4/4 for the rest of it. We had a few days of nice weather and I did a little sprinting and skateboarding.
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Still doing a lot of the lowe heart rate stuff. Very frustrating. We'll see if it reaps benefits in the long run.
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Steady at 5x per week. One of those was dirt biking last week, can't wait for the next.
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I'm getting back on track with running/lifting mix. 2x weights, 1x run this week.
What bike are you riding these days, Drastic?
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Its good to see you exercising again Travis. How are your injuries recovering?
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I'm pretty much back to normal, thanks LM. Ankle is 100%. Shoulder still bothers me occasionally, but it's minor. Heavy travel has thrown the schedule off, but still getting runs in and things should calm down in January.
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>What bike are you riding these days, Drastic?
Still on the yz250f.
You still thinking about the TA trail again? I will definitely be in shape for it this year.
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>still thinking about the TA trail again?
Yes, but still undecided. Would love to have the company.
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Still trying to do quite a bit of the "zone 2" training - so went for a three-hour ski tour yesterday, mostly in zone 2. I need to increase the volume (serious endurance athletes average at least eight hours a week of zone 2; elite athletes might do more as well as some at higher intensity).
Also trying to revive the "Wake Up 10s" - a varying thing I do in phases. Basically, 10 each of a few exercises, just to wake up the body. So currently it's 10 pushups, 10 pullups, 10 ab wheels, 10 single-leg squats each leg and 1 minute each foot of standing on one foot with my eyes closed.
The last one is a great way to wake up your body since pretty much every muscle up to your neck gets at least some activation, though obviously 90% in your lower leg. The goal is 1 minute without touching the other foot to the ground or opening your eyes.
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That's all pretty great Ergo. I think the "Wake Up 10s" would be a great thing for most people and probably all that would be needed to prevent a lot of disease caused by inactivity.
Not that I get much endurance benefit from short duration (like 15 minutes) zone 2 level training, but I've been doing a little bit of it at the end of my weight training sessions -- mostly because I like the way I feel afterwards. Physically I feel light, and I notice that I get in a good mood.
Last week I did my usual 4/4, the week before that I was sick and took the week off ( this seems to happen once a year or so). My daughter got herself a boyfriend isn't really going to the gym these days. I hope that's temporary.
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I think the "Wake Up 10s" would be a great thing for most people and probably all that would be needed to prevent a lot of disease caused by inactivity.
It's minimal, but along the lines of your thinking, I got motivated to restart after hearing Peter Attia talk about the Centenarian Olympics on the Tim Ferris podcast. Basically, he came up with a list of things he wanted to be able to do at 100 (play on the floor with his great grandchildren, for example) and then the movements that would require. And that's what he's training for.
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Plan to be back in the new year.
Tennis has stopped... tennis elbow.
Swimming, as above.
Running, bad hip,
Cycling, still managing bits, but not enough. And I keep on walking the dog. So the Christmas break is the time I am planning to start a bit of gentle running, and go from there.
I will be back :)
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How you all doing? This season I've gotten sick a lot, nothing serious, but it seems to be the year I keep getting head colds. I've probably missed ten workouts in the last six months. I have a cold right now and I'm skipped the gym once this week so far and likely only going on Sunday again, so that will only be 2/4.
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Doing about the same here. Q4 travel + NYE flu. Very little lifting lately, but 3x short runs this week.
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I've been tracking on a spreadsheet since the end of last year. My goal is at least four "training" hours a week. I want to hit 400 hours for the year (eight average), but figure I'll make up for lost time when the days get longer. So far, managing about 5.5 on average.
400 hours of running or endurance training is a rough "weekend warrior" output. People like Kilian Journet log upwards of 1400 hours per year. They spend as much time running as I spend at work!
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Back to 5x weekly in the gym in the new year. Vball and dirt biking are off season so looking forward to that soon. Staying under 200 and only have a bit of fat left to go, 3-4 lbs maybe and it is falling off slowly. Feeling great.
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it seems to be the year I keep getting head colds.
Last couple years for me. Recently, I had the beginnings of a cold and backed off and thought I beat it. Then I went out for a 90-minute run and the next day... sore throat and runny nose.
I have been generally inspired by Scott Johnston's books (Training for the New Alpinism and Training for Uphill Athletes). He is a former World Cup XC skier and has been a coach to World Cup XC skiers and top alpinists for many years. His rule for elite athletes is to stop training at the *first* sign of illness.
He says the biggest mistake is to tough it out and train through illness and the second biggest mistake, which is the one I made, is to jump back in to it right after symptoms are gone. He says the next few days after cold symptoms are gone, you need to go very easy.
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Interesting stuff. I use to just push through it, but working out with a cold is just misery. Its nice to know that taking it easy may be the right thing.
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Here is one of Scott Johnston's forum answers to someone coming back from a cold
https://www.uphillathlete.com/forums/topic/recovering-from-illness/#post-3621 (second answer in the thread)
Some other threads
https://www.uphillathlete.com/forums/topic/training-after-illness-common-cold/
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And just randomly, came across this just now
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/should-you-train-through-sickness/
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I've been totally off the "exercise" wagon, but doing five days a week of construction work the last three weeks. Tore the cabinets and ceiling off my downstairs, added soundproofing and am putting the ceilings back up. Just need to tape, mud, paint, put the cabinets back and clean up and I'm done!
I had a serious cold at the start anyway, so it was probably better not to be running in the cold.
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>five days a week of construction
Sounds like exercise to me.
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Oh yeah. I've been pretty tired. That's why I put it in quotes that I've been off the wagon. In a similar vein, I've often found that a hard day of hauling and burning brush is one of the best workouts there is.
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Call me paranoid, but I am suspending my gym workouts until this coronavirus matter settles down; it just seems like a place where CV could easily spread. I am going to do home workouts for a while, I have some dumbbells and can do body weight exercises.
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A couple of things that I make do with sometimes
- a wheelbarrow loaded up with a 200 to 300 pounds. Do short uphill sprints of 5 to 20 seconds. Adjust the weight according to the steepness of the hill and the length of the sprint.
- move big rocks if you have any.
I haven't done it, but I know some people do some great workouts with 4" PVC pipe with water, but less than full, so it sloshes. So you do overhead squats, for example and have to stabilize as the water moves. Apparently really good and less than $20 for the pipe and caps.
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Good ideas there Ergo.
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also a backpack with weight in it (gallon jugs or dumbells) is good for weighted pushups
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Another great idea. My main concern is back right now -- pull-ups seem to irritate my shoulder joint, so I am stuck doing rows.
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CoronaVirus Addition
How you all doing with your exercise and nutrition during the isolation and social distancing stage of this pandemic?
Here is my breakdown...
Food:
My family is staying home. We live in an area where it is possible to go for walks without getting close to others, so I've gone out with them to walk around the neighborhood. We have plenty of food, but I find that I need to be flexible with my diet and I am not getting to eat as much meat and vegetables as I'm use to. Being satiated and eating healthy will probably get more difficult as we adopt to eating more traditional staple foods. Those foods are healthy, but I find it hard to eat them in moderation as someone with obesity in my history.
Exercise:
In the last couple of weeks I've been doing calisthenics and working with a home set of dumbbells. The amount of weight to move is limited, but I've been doing more reps to make up for it -- not idea, but its working. The higher reps feel kinda good as I get more of a pump than I did with the heavier weight at the gym.
4/4 home sessions, a good amount of walking with the family
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No issues with food here but I have found myself doing some comfort eating this week.
Have a home gym here so all good. Attached.
>low weight/high reps
Seen a lot of research that says for hypertrophy it doesn't really matter as long as you go to or near failure. Strength may be another matter.
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Food: Ordering bulk fresh, nutritious "meal prep to go" items from a local business that caters to the fitness crowd. Handling the containers as infectious until microwaved. Amazon NOW supplies to supplement.
Fitness: Power rack is in the garage. Miles of running trails in the neighborhood. Should be good to go!
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LOVE the gym :)
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Looks like you two are set. I'm a little envious!
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This is a good video showing a bunch of exercises possible with minimal equipment.
How To Adjust Training & Diet For Coronavirus + At Home Workouts (No Equipment Needed!) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MRNjTr6xrE)
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Just popped into this thread to see how you Guys were doing.... :)
I have been steadily increasing exercise over the last 2 months, for a short walk every day, to a long walk, to now pulling in workouts swimming and cycling. It is all at the pace of Sue and Lucy, so no muscle work specifically, and a lot of time spent on stretching. Some of that has also been heavy gardening, sawing, pulling down an old shed (Its a heavy one, it was an old railway carriage).
I can say I had not realised how lethargic I had become. I cannot say I am fully back on form, but after 2 months, I am getting there. The break from work has been good for me. I have only just started spending time stretching in the morning, instead of rushing off to do the first job.
The key is going to be how we all maintain this going forward, and as I need to work still, I am not sure how I am going to do it.... which I know is not a great start.
How are all of your commitments going? I hope you are finding this experience an uplifting one, on top of all of the worry that comes with it, and snatching some Magic moments from it.
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Forgot all about this thread!
Had a bit of a scare earlier this year when i used a peak flow meter, and i've been exercising at least 3 times a week since then, rowing, cycling (machines) and weights. It's basically a habit now. Loving the weights, haven't done them regularly for long before.
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>I am not sure how I am going to do it
Two quotes helped me;
A one hour workout is just 4% of your day.
If you don't make time for fitness you need to make time for sickness.
Neither has helped me with stretching though, boring ;)
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>If you don't make time for fitness you need to make time for sickness.
This. You will experience pain. You choose which type. Fitness vs. sickness, risk vs. regret, etc. Universal application.
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I've been doing some sort of exercise daily. I have my regular weight training I do four times a week. I'm working with limited weights so my reps are quite high, but I've found that even with light weights at 25 reps my muscles will let me know they are working. My 15 year old daughter is doing some youtube fitness regiment with a lot of floor exercise, I am doing a few minutes of them with her on my off days. There is a large church parking lot next to my house, yesterday I took my eight year old there so she could ride her bike; I road a skateboard along with her -- that was fun.
One thing I didn't do enough of in the gym is stretching mostly due to not wanting to touch the floor at the gym too much. Since I am now working out at home I've upped my stretching quite a bit.
I've upped my sun exposure, trying to get 15 minutes or so a day to keep my vitamin D up. I've been taking D supplements over the winter, but I do notice that the sun makes me feel better physically and mentally.
>pain
I am not convinced people need to feel pain to be healthy. Yes, to be very fit one will have to have pain in one way or another, but to just be an active healthy person moderate exercise and eating healthy is all that's needed; someone can just go outside and hike an hour or do some mild calisthenics and walks a few times a week. Really, any type of moderate physical labor will keep most people healthy for most of their life provided that their nutrition is right and they don't have any other health wrecking habits.
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A one hour workout is just 4% of your day.
If you don't make time for fitness you need to make time for sickness.
Ok on the wall :)
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I've been doing some sort of exercise daily. I have my regular weight training I do four times a week. I'm working with limited weights so my reps are quite high, but I've found that even with light weights at 25 reps my muscles will let me know they are working. My 15 year old daughter is doing some youtube fitness regiment with a lot of floor exercise, I am doing a few minutes of them with her on my off days. There is a large church parking lot next to my house, yesterday I took my eight year old there so she could ride her bike; I road a skateboard along with her -- that was fun.
One thing I didn't do enough of in the gym is stretching mostly due to not wanting to touch the floor at the gym too much. Since I am now working out at home I've upped my stretching quite a bit.
I've upped my sun exposure, trying to get 15 minutes or so a day to keep my vitamin D up. I've been taking D supplements over the winter, but I do notice that the sun makes me feel better physically and mentally.
>pain
I am not convinced people need to feel pain to be healthy. Yes, to be very fit one will have to have pain in one way or another, but to just be an active healthy person moderate exercise and eating healthy is all that's needed; someone can just go outside and hike an hour or do some mild calisthenics and walks a few times a week. Really, any type of moderate physical labor will keep most people healthy for most of their life provided that their nutrition is right and they don't have any other health wrecking habits.
Agreed about no need for pain, slow build up is good, and yes good diet. I'm worrying about how long it's taking my short daily routine to get easier it's been over 2 months and only feels slightly easier, haven't increased reps. Must be age or cancer, i can joke about that coz i'm a smoker ;+}
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I'm worrying about how long it's taking my short daily routine to get easier
It never gets easier, you get faster and stronger, but it its never easy :)
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It never gets easier, you get faster and stronger, but it its never easy :)
Yes! Same for weights, they are always heavy.
Best purchase I have made is an Apple watch. I like it to keep track of heart rate while exercising but the "I couldn't live without it feature" is an app called Auto Sleep http://autosleep.tantsissa.com/ . Cannot express what a game changer it is, sleep tracking is great, add on resting HR and HRV and it's a great way of tracking fitness/health.
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I'm worrying about how long it's taking my short daily routine to get easier
It never gets easier, you get faster and stronger, but it its never easy :)
Thank you for your positivity :)
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So, how you all doing?
I am still doing home workouts, I've missed a few but I've probably been at about 90% overall. The workouts have been strictly at-home and with the fires making the air quality very bad I haven't been outside much. The gym was opened back up for a while, but there's no way I'd go into that petri dish during the pandemic.
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Solid 3 workouts per week over the Summer. Weights and short runs. Lots of 20+ mile e-bike rides, but that is for the mental benefit of getting outside. No real physical benefit.
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Doing a fair bit of running and filling in with biking when my foot is acting up. A bit of climbing and the occasional weight workout too. I'm still doing most of my runs and rides as LHR/MAF (low heart rate, usually about 120bpm) which means that when I say I am "running," I'm referring more to the motion than the speed.
On those times where I run at whatever speed I want, I find I'm basically as fit as when I was defaulting to running harder, but I'm a lot less beat up. The other day, afternoon rolled around and I was thinking I really needed to get out and get some exercise, and then I remembered, I had done 6 miles at LHR that morning, but my body didn't feel it at all.
We were getting out backpacking a bit until Theresa twisted her ankle and got an avulsion fracture (that's when you sprain it bad enough that the ligament pulls off a piece of bone - ortho appt on Wednesday). Rather an ordeal for her - we were a bit over 10 miles from the car when it happened. Long, unpleasant hike home for her.
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I'm glad to read that you are exercising again Travoli. How are your injuries doing?
Ergo, your LHR/MAF workout seems like a pretty good hack for staying healthy and still managing to keep enough energy for the rest of the day.
That avulsion fracture Theresa suffered sounds extremely painful. Ten miles back with such an injury must have been awful. I hope she has a speedy recovery.
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A few days ago I became the owner of an adult trike, courtesy of my middle son.
He knew I was somewhat interested in a trike because of a conversation last year. Two of my sons had worked in bike repair shops so I figured they'd give me the best info around. I didn't do anything more about it at the time.
Fast forward to last week ... on a Grandma visit ... and three-year-old Kate blurted out, "Come and see the bike we got for you!" Ray had spotted a used trike in the secondhand ads. He drove 70 miles to the city to pick it up. He was going to clean it up like new before presenting it, but Kate spilled the beans. At present it has no cargo basket, but one is on order.
The first time I rode it I was surprised at how differently it handles compared to a two-wheeler, especially for turning. It will take some practice to ride it with confidence and control. A new learning curve!
My grandfather rode an adult trike around town until a week before he died at 96. I have a good role model.
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>injuries
Ankle is 100%, right shoulder still sore during bench press. Might be forever. But that's a fortunate outcome. Glad to hear you are finding exercise opportunity at home while the outside world (literally and figuratively) burns.
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I've been a bit lazy and a seefood/seafood diet hasn't helped.
Couple of home workout recommendations though:
https://www.roguefitness.com/onnit-steel-maces Take up almost no room, interesting workout, progress just by holding ever nearer to the end. I got a 6 and a 9kg which is a good starting point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBwDFD2GO7Y Again almost no room, no as hard as it looks. Great cardio workout and just the thing to keep the more mature of us light on our feet and quicken reactions.
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>>trike
That's great. I sometimes wonder about how I feel like I don't see as many these days as I remember as a kid.
>>A new learning curve!
The big thing is how unstable that platform is if you hit a bump with the back wheel, that's why they quit making the motorized three-wheelers. I assume you will keep your off-roading to a minimum though.
>>Ten miles back
Long day. I was grateful and proud that she made it back in one day - 9 hours to walk 10 miles, but she made it to the car just before we would have needed to pull out the headlamps. It's a bummer for her though. Our access to the outside has made Covid restrictions relatively painless for us, but now she's getting the cabin fever that the rest of the world has had to deal with these last month.
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>> keep your off-roading to a minimum
Yes, minimum! I plan to use it for errands around our small town, partly for exercise and partly to reduce car usage. Most travel would be on pavement.
I will be practicing on grass until I feel more in control!
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I like the spar bar, looks like a great way to build reaction time when training alone.
Those mace must do a number on hand and forearm strength.
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Still hitting the gym 5x most weeks.
Pic from a few weeks back.
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Dang Dras, you keeping stats? Weight, composition, etc? Nice work!
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Nice work Dras! I take it you got serious about your diet? Yeah, we need the details.
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I've checked bodyfat a couple of times and do follow what my weight is doing, but my main stat is the mirror. I've told my trainer the results I want and he tells me what to do to get there.
Diet is great during the week - protein shakes for breakfast and lunch M-F. Usually a healthy meal at dinner, sometimes we eat out. Some days I'll fast after breakfast until late afternoon or dinner if I'm feeling it. On the weekends I eat whatever I want, within reason.
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Seems to be working out pretty well for you. I would call that a disciplined diet, but you still get freedom to eat what you want in the evenings and the weekends.
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How is everyone doing on activity and general health aside from getting or not getting Covid?
My lower leg issues have been doing better, so I've been getting out running more. Not as much climbing and strength training as I would like.
I am in a continuous battle between my ability to get back to regular activity and the massive cache of ice cream in the freezer.
Backpacking was mostly canceled due to Theresa's ankle injury from last year not having fully healed, but we, plus a female friend of ours, did take the 13yo daughter of one of my oldest friend's on a 3-day backpack. It was a great experience for all four of us. Fun for the grizzled vets to see things through a young girl's eyes and she was so positive every minute.
For our anniversary, we did a climb that was an easy morning romp for us 15 years ago, but not only are we out of shape, it was 103 in the shade and we were in direct sun. The rock almost burned my hand to touch in some places. Even at 4pm after we finished, it was 97 in the shade. Theresa said, "Well, we're older and dumber" after that.
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I'm probably in the worst shape of my life - at least in terms of fitness. Weight not so bad, but spagetti arms and not much strength. Planning to get going on Monday ;)
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Good timing Ergo, I was thinking about reviving this thread. On top of Covid it sounds like global warming has impacted your workout some. I am sure the smoke has been brutal for you up there.
So, it turns out I make too much SHBG. I'm working with an endocrinologist to get it under control. This is probably related to being low carb for a very long time and my body down regulating my production of insulin. Insulin and SHBG have a bit of an inverse relationship. I've experimented with upping my carbs to be more in line with the SAD, but that didn't really make it any better and it got me a bit squishier.
Covid has impacted my workouts quite a bit. I haven't been inside a gym in about a year and a half now. I have a home routine where I do calisthenics and work with dumbells. It works OK. Actually, in some ways it's been sort of nice. I've noticed that my joints are complaining a lot less these days. I think the heavier weights I was using in the gym never fully let my joints recover from week to week.
My routine is still four times a week with repeating alternant workouts. In addition to that I do a late night walk (when the air quality allows it) after dinner and the kids are in bed -- not very long, just about 1.25 miles.
I've been working on losing the weight I gained during the first year of the pandemic. I gained about eight pounds and I've dropped five of them so far. My goal is to be the same weight at 50 as I was at 40 (the BIG littleman years were in my 30s).
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I've had a mixed year. I've been more active physically in recent months but have also gained a few pounds that I'd rather not have.
I have good intentions for the fall, but a complicating factor is more and more twinges from arthritis. I need to figure out how to work around that.
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>arthritis
BW, if you can stand the smell of menthol, this works.
https://www.amazon.com/Absorbine-Plus-Pain-Relieving-Liquid/dp/B073SYYLZN
It was a medicine cabinet staple when I was growing up. It is still around, but the big box pharmacies literally hide it behind all the pricey patches and rubs.
It is VERY thin, like alcohol, but the bottle comes with a shoe-polish-type applicator.
Louise uses non-prescription strength Voltaren Arthritis Pain Gel. It is an NSAID.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084ZMMVQS
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>>Voltaren
Discovered this in Europe many years ago. My Swiss physician friends think of ibuprofen and sodium naproxen as strong drugs and Voltaren as safer, but I think that's just because there it was OTC and the others were prescription, while here it was the reverse. In any case, we've imported it for years before it came to Costco and I use it on my toe that is arthritic due to an old injury.
>>SHBG
I hope you can get it under control. Did this come up as part of a routine exam, or were you having issues that prompted some digging? And, of course, don't respond if you'd rather not.
>>spagetti arms
>>squishy
Yeah... my wife taught the term "muffin top" :-) Doing better with all the ice cream stored around the middle, but like Littleman, I have always found it harder to do strength workouts at home compared to a gym. I'm not sure why, but it's just harder to get started and, once started, to keep going. Part of it is equipment, of course, but in my case I think most of it is psychological.
I have created this weird point system. Activities that I want to do (not necessarily fitness; it includes fiction writing, for example) get a certain number of points. Then I pick something that I really want to buy and I have to earn points at a dollar a point. Just bought a new laptop. Earlier this year I bought a sleeping bag.
Running, writing, stretch session, icing my leg - 3 points. I'm not too bad at making time for these.
Strength training, climbing, bouldering, yard work - 5 points. I'm always happy when I do them, but I need a kick in the butt to get started
Morning 10s (easy mobility exercises), "outside time", sauna - 1 point
My wife has long had a monthly grid to track art, journaling, exercise and things she wants to encourage and it lets her see at a glance how she's been doing. I need more help, so I introduced the point system. It definitely nudges me to do a bit more than I otherwise would, though I definitely have zero-point days.
So I have a grid and every month I print out a copy and paste it over the photo part of the wall calendar by my desk. It's not revolutionary, but it has helped.
>>global warming has impacted your workout some.
That was just pure idiocy. We made a plan without checking the forecast because the recent weather had been so nice, got off to a late start and climbed in the absolute peak heat of one of the hottest days. As Theresa said, older and dumber. It is, however, noticeably hotter than when we moved here, but the middle of the day in August has always been pretty rough.
>>I am sure the smoke has been brutal for you up there.
Actually, we have not had much smoke this year. Lately, we've been overwhelmingly in the Good range with some spikes into Moderate. Of course, we're always just one lightning strike or overheated catalytic converter from total immolation, but this has been a mellow year down here.
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>>>SHBG
I initiated the investigation, I felt off.
>smoke
I'm getting quite tired of it here. This is the third year in a row with poor quality air for weeks at a time.
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I'm doing pretty well health-wise but my strength & stamina are down quite a bit --a common problem for those on hemodialysis. As it turns out, kidneys release a hormone that manages hemoglobin. There is a synthetic drug that I typically get by injection once a month but it is a carcinogen, so they keep it and my hemoglobin at the lowest level.
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Bummer. So that means your blood is not as good at taking up O2?
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>not as good at taking up O2?
Right. So muscle strength is reduced and frequently feeling very tired compounds that because you don't feel up to doing heavy chores or -ugh- exercising. But lack of stamina is even more noticeable; I might lift 50# once, but I can't do it 4 or 5 times in short time frame. I feel winded, but not short of breathe ...it's an odd sensation.
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>I feel winded, but not short of breath
So, no real fix then?
I'm still training daily and in my best shape ever. Feelz good mang. Definitely new territory for me.
Only issue is having such a big appetite at night. It's hard to stop sometimes.
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>So, no real fix then?
Until the transplant at least, right?
Good for you Dras! Keep at it.
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>So, no real fix then?
>Until the transplant at least, right?
Right. But while slightly debilitating and requires some lifestyle changes, I'm waaaaaay better off than many/most dialysis patients. Hell, my kidney doc says I'm in 'otherwise robust good health' and better off than a lot of 71 yr olds in general. Overall, I'm fairing well and am able to do MUCH more than the average patient regarding diet, activities, my heavy hobbies, etc.
>health and fitness
OT, I'm currently in excellent health --just not the plow horse I used to be. Fitness, as in strength and exercise, is the problem.
Pandemic Weight Gain: 2 lbs
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>> feel winded, but not short of breathe
I had anemia a few years ago. I imagine it's similar. Just not carrying enough oxygen around in the blood. Felt winded and chest pain. I thought maybe I was having heart problems.
>> training daily
What does that look like for you? That is, what type of training and how much. I try to do something most days (not every day though), but I need to mix it up a lot. It *should* include more strength training, but I enjoy running trails too much.
My latest thing the last couple weeks is playing catch. The 7yo up the street suddenly became obsessed with baseball and we play catch. He even got me a glove because he dad is a leftie, so I can't borrow his dad's glove. I told him I hadn't worn a baseball glove in 49 years. I made a good running catch and he said, "You've improved since you were nine." I told him, "Hey, maybe I was really good when I was nine" (I wasn't).
Anyway after a lifetime of ranking baseball as one of my least favorite sports to watch or play, I find tossing a ball around with a kid for an evening is a great way to loosen up at the end of the day. And he really appreciates it. He is now set on making it to the Majors
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nice work Ergo :)
Keep it up RC!!
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Of course you're on top of the game, rc. We'd expect nothing less.
>> training daily
Gym with my personal trainer, usually 5x week. I'm currently doing 2 chest/back days, 2 leg/ab days, one bi/tri day.
I know the gym isn't for everyone, but it works great for me. I have to drive about 30 seconds out of my way to the office to land in the parking lot. Really good people which brings a nice social aspect I don't see in most gyms, and I've done business with a couple of them.
>catch
I've not played volleyball since the pandemic, save maybe one saturday last year.
Once the neighbor teen was out bumping the ball and I wanted to help and bat it around a bit. I didn't want to look like the creepy old guy trying to chat up a teen though, so stayed in. I probably should've gone for it.
I am really looking forward to dirt biking soon. I even bought my buddies bike who needed some garage space for a new Tesla, many months ago. I haven't ridden it yet. Full hospitals make me nervous about riding.
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I know the gym isn't for everyone, but it works great for me. I have to drive about 30 seconds out of my way
I love the gym actually. I'm a bit jealous. It's an hour out of my way to a mediocre good gym. It would be two hours for me to get to a gym that I would really like (good free weights and a climbing wall). I am way more likely to strength train and way more focused and productive when I do it if I have easy access to a place that is dedicated to that task, but currently I do not.
I used to belong to a serious bodybuilder gym (a few pros and several serious amateurs). I'm a short, skinny (by BB standards anyway) guy, but in years of going there, those guys with thighs bigger than my waist were never anything by encouraging and gracious. It was motivating even if bodybuilding style training is not my actual goal.
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My trainer is a former body builder. We have a sizable powerlifter set. Super nice people all around.
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4/4 last week, also down a pound.
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>> encouraging and gracious
I had that experience with swimming. I took the beginner's class at the local Y, then worked up to pass all the "stars". The only class after Star Six was the master's swim class.
I chugged up and down the slowest lane, with serious triathletes training in the other lanes. The moral support they gave me was a pleasant surprise. Even though my accomplishments were far, far below theirs, they cheered for the fact that I was pushing my limits.
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>My goal is to be the same weight at 50 as I was at 40
Looks like I'm coming in a little light.
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>>coming in a little light
Same here. It's really hard for me to put on good weight and easy for me to lose it.
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In that sense I think we are probably opposites. Adding muscle has always been easy for me, losing fat has always required a lot of commitment.
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I don't know about opposites... I don't find losing fat easy either.
Typically, when I get lean, it's by accident. It's that I have a lot of interesting things going on, either a major house construction project or when I was working as a ranger for example. I am rarely successful at intentionally losing fat.
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How's everyone doing physically and otherwise?
This has been a pretty good period for me lately in terms of running, climbing and a bit of weightlifting.
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well, I am riding the Pennine bridal way in less than a month. Trying to get cycling fit to be able to do 180 odd miles in 4 days, on tracks. Crazy idea for an old man like me!
I am doing it for these Guys;
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sebs-squad
Its Jason and myself doing it... not wild camping now, we have hostels booked.
I have got some tracking ready here for when we do it:
https://locatoweb.com/group/sebssquad
Need T shirts, and I need to get on the radio I think... planned start is the 18th May....
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>> old man like me!
You're younger than me, if I recall!
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Trouble is Jason is early 30's! you know how things "slip" in your 50's :)
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That's why I'm looking forward to my 60s. Apparently 60 is the new 40 (https://www.google.com/search?q=sixty+is+the+new+forty), so I'm expecting to get fitter, stronger and faster in my 60s.
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>>> old man like me!
>You're younger than me, if I recall!
Poor babies!
Other than the known issues, my general health seems very good. ....But let's not talk about my strength & stamina, that's depressing.
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That's why I'm looking forward to my 60s. Apparently 60 is the new 40, so I'm expecting to get fitter, stronger and faster in my 60s.
I like that.. its good.
RC, you're a young man still, thats why your general health is still good. 8)
I guess what you are saying is "Don't compare".
Jason, has his work cut out keeping up with me, just not at drinking beer!
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>> Poor babies
Hey, I wasn't complaining about getting old. I was bragging about getting fitter. Whenever I find myself using age as an excuse, I try to rephrase and reframe.
One of the jokes around the house came from hiking Half Dome with Jake (aka bakedjake) a few years ago. I was about 54 or 55 at the time. As we were going up the subdome, some guy quit and was coming down and ranting. He kept saying, "I'm 56! I got nothing to prove!"
That has entered the household lexicon. Anytime I don't feel like doing something, I just say, "I'm 58! I got nothing to prove!" I'm not sure what the first sentence has to do with the second sentence, but it's handy.
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"I'm 58! I got nothing to prove!"
Quote of the day.
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Still hitting the gym most weekdays. Finally on the back-end of working through some golfers elbow tendinitis from doing 10x10 pullups. It's probably taken a year or better so far and I'm still not 100% but I did some pullups this week, 5x5, for the first time in many months. Now I have a minor back tweak doing deadlifts so just doing stiff-legged deadlifts for now.
I decided to work on my protein intake, 1 gram/day per lb of body weight. I'm 215-220, my trainer says to shoot for 200-250/day. I started with just 200/day maybe 5-6 weeks ago and my muscle growth has really jumped. Side benefit from eating protein all day is I don't crave snacks or junk food nearly as much, almost night and day. The real boon though, has been this causing my blood sugar levels to remain much more consistent throughout the day. Causing far fewer instances of being hangry and mood is considerably more level overall. My weight isn't changing much but my fat is definitely decreasing, slowly but surely. My goal is to see all 6 abs this summer. Right now I have 2pack. lol
Great to hear you guys doing well. RC have you thought about a simple home routine with some dumbbells?
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>>probably taken a year
I damaged something (bicep/elbow) a few years back and kept reinjuring it. I think I did it by either deadlifting bent arm or trying to catch the weight on the down after power cleans. Anyway, I finally had to go a year and a half without doing pullups and being super careful to fully lock out my elbows during deadlifts.
I'm still pretty bad at pullups, but I'm working on ramping back up too. Mostly, I'm trying to get my "lock off" back. That's where you pull up with both hands, usually hand close, facing opposite directions on the bar and at the top you let go with one hand and try to hold with the other arm and if possible do a controlled lower. Right now, even with a 20-pound counterweight, I still can't fully lock, but I can do a slow, controlled drop with 20-pounds of help.
So far, no bicep pain, but it has been a long road.
>> protein
I'm on a low-protein, low-sugar diet... that's not the goal, but more an unfortunate (in the case of protein) or fortunate (in the case of sugar) consequence. I've been experimenting with diet just the last few days, above all trying to avoid FODMAP foods, but also others that I think are problematic. RC and, more relevantly since we share genetics, my sister have both mentioned this. Too early to tell, but I have finally decided my digestive system has some issues that are worth exploring. Interestingly, though my gut feels no better or worse, I have slept better the last couple of nights.
>> hangry
Have you ever tried fasting? I used to regularly have what a friend called "food emergencies" where I would just start to crash without food. I did a two-day fast a few years ago sort of by accident (stomach felt off and so I just didn't eat for two days). I also started doing a morning run in a fasted state, again not for some ideology, but just because it was the easiest way to fit it in. Strangely, though, after that, no more hangry for a really long time. Even a few years down the line, I'm much better than I was. I can now go for a two-hour run and not feel calorie-starved when I'm done. I usually crave a glass of water cut with a quarter cup of juice (before the low-FODMAP diet anyway), but otherwise not starved.
It sounds like you're doing well on the plan you're on an you probably don't want to fast if you're lifting frequently. Still, you could try a Saturday night to Monday morning fast. That would not hurt your recovery and might give a nice additional boost to the blood-sugar management.
BTW - when I was younger, I would occasionally go hiking for the weekend without food and fast the whole time, just to see if I could do it, as a sort of mental training/toughening. Those fasts did not seem to help at all with the hangry thing, but I suspect that's because the rest of my diet all the other days was not conducive.
>> all 6 abs this summer
Sounds pretty reasonable based on everything you're doing. I think that's usually around 9-10% body fat for most men. That's a good level. I hope to get there this summer too... but I hope that every summer.
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I'm still doing my home routine with dumbbells and a floor mat. I just can't see going back into a gym in the foreseeable future, I do miss it in some ways though. I temporarily stopped my night walks because my left foot got a nagging ache on it's heal -- it might be plantar fasciitis, but it seems to be getting better.
My elevated SHBG is being treated with a small injection of testosterone every other week. The idea there is not to replace my natural production which is in normal range, but instead the exogenous testosterone decreases SHBG production. I don't understand how this happens, but it does.
My current weight is 195 lbs., I'd like to be at 190 lbs. this Summer.
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>diet
Extended family member I visited last week: 380#, T2 diabetic (for decades), 84yo male who had been taking insulin shots went on keto a couple of months ago. 2 weeks ago, his doctor took him off all blood sugar meds because he was no longer diabetic. We were, in Rupert's term, gobsmacked.
+
He's lost 30#
>fodmaps
That's travoli's territory, I've just been following his lead.
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>> shoot for 200-250/day
What kind of protein(s)? Meat, dairy, vegetable, mixture?
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>> shoot for 200-250/day
Also, do you find it hard to eat that much protein? I suppose it would be easier if you had a lot of shakes, but in natural form that's a lot of meat. Even with shakes, if I have 40 grams in one meal I'll get really sleepy in the coming hours as my body works on breaking it down.
>T2 diabetic (for decades), 84yo male who had been taking insulin shots went on keto a couple of months ago.
I wish my dad had the discipline to do this.
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The pullups were a bit rough after the fact this week. Trainer said I should do them about every 3 weeks for now. I did use the assisted pullup machine today for some light, slow negatives to try to help things along. That lock sounds super tough. I'll have to give it a try when I'm healed up.
>Have you ever tried fasting?
Not in a while. Food for thought (heh), though. Thanks.
>I think that's usually around 9-10% body fat for most men.
Oh god I hope not. I'm not sure I want to be that lean, or do what needs to be done to get there, rather. I'm 15.5% now and shooting for 12%.
>elevated SHBG
I've been on TRT for about 2 years. I started with pills to create more naturally and that stopped working a few months ago. I'm now on injections and finally getting close to the right dosage. It's been a tough period to sort out and blood sugar being more level has helped a ton.
>no longer diabetic
Wow! That's awesome, didn't know that could be reversed so quickly.
>What kind of protein(s)? Meat, dairy, vegetable, mixture?
It's a bit of struggle, or will be to get to 250. I have a protein shake for breakfast (30g), late morning shake, and late afternoon shake for a total of 90. I usually eat either three bean burritos plus trail mix, greek salad with grilled chicken breast, or hamburger steak with slaw and piece of cornbread for lunch. Each of those are around 30-35, so I'm at about 120-125 before dinner. Dinner meals are usually healthy blue-apron kits with 30-35 give or take. A few hours after dinner I have yogurt with 25g and some fruit for a late dessert followed up by a 20g protein bar, close to bedtime for overnight muscle feeding.
My plan for the next level to go to 250 more often is some grilled steak after dinner, before yogurt. Trying to work up that appetite, and it's not happening yet.
>Even with shakes, if I have 40 grams in one meal I'll get really sleepy in the coming hours as my body works on breaking it down.
My understanding is your max protein per shake should be 30g every 2 hours or your body isn't fully absorbing it. Haven't really had any sleepy or slowdown issues that I've noticed unless I have a lot of carbs at lunch, like mexican food where I'll eat a basket or two of chips with salsa.
>Also, do you find it hard to eat that much protein?
Now that it's become a habit and I feel better throughout the day, it's been fairly easy. That extra 50 though, I'm not sure. My trainer did say to shoot for 200-250, so if I can hit it a couple days a week and nothing below 200, I'll probably be set.
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My friend who trains high-level strength athletes - olympic-style lifters (his own wife was third in the world in masters olympic lifting at one point), Crossfit Games competitors - recommends 1gm per pound for older athletes (a bit less for younger athletes who absorb/utilize it better). Some of that needs to be easily available (so meat, greek yogurt, whey shakes, that sort of thing), but he would count all the protein in tortillas or rice or whatever.
250gms for a 200-pound athlete sounds like a lot.
Funny anecdote - said friend tried to get back into rock climbing a few years ago and realized he was going to have to lose 50-60 pounds of muscle to get climbing fit again. He was huge, but all that extra weight was a killer. He had gone from 170 to 250 pounds at very very low bodyfat.
My wife has taken on a trainer and it's helping a lot. I decided to get in the act. I'm taking on a trainer too. We start next week. Tomorrow is his birthday. He will be turning 9 years old. But he is bouldering V8. 40 years ago, that would be among the hardest routes in the world. This is payback for ski lessons and playing catch with him over the years. We'll see how his coaching skills are.
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How's everyone doing?
I've gotten really inspired by the historic trail running season of Kilian Journet this year, which ranks among the great athletic achievements in any sport ever, and the record breaking run of Eliud Kipchoge (new world record of 2:01:09 two weeks ago in Berlin). I've been running quite a bit and also binge-listening to running podcasts.
Now that it's getting cooler, looking to do more climbing in the autumn, but that's been minimal the last month.
I have a goal for the season - this one particular trail in 59 minutes. All my running has resulted in taking 3 minutes off my previous time which still puts me 3 minutes over my goal. That probably sounds easy to a non-runner, but 5% is a lot and it's asymptotic. Still, it gives me motivation to get stronger (it's a short, steep, rocky run - so it places a premium on strong legs, which you can change, and VO2max which you mostly cannot change unless you're untrained to start with).
>>SHBG
How is that going? In my reading and podcast listening, I have been seeing that mentioned a fair bit, but I have not been paying attention. Forgot that it was mentioned here. I gather that it tends to rise with age, binds up free testosterone and I thought maybe there were some mentions of lifestyle options (I don't recall - diet? type of exercise?) that can affect it, but not sure about the latter.
From all I read, my endurance training focus is probably bad for testosterone levels... but I do really love endurance activity.
Also been monitoring HRV lately with Elite HRV. No big insight, but after a hard day on Tuesday, bad night's sleep, I woke up yesterday tired and the HRV was in the tank. Slept a bunch last night. Woke up feeling great. HRV had recovered nicely. I didn't need a high-tech measure to tell me that though. So I'm not sure it adds any useful info.
On the other hand, Kilian self-diagnosed with Covid based on his HRV dropping, even though it took three days more for testing to show positive. So it can be a leading indicator.
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>How's everyone doing?
I have a couple of stupid injuries right now that have kept me from working out for about a month. My left foot has plantar fasciitis which is surprisingly stubborn and taking a long time to heal. I've had that for about six months but have just been working around it. My newer injury is in my left wrist, I have no idea how I got it, but it seems to have something to do with my thumb. If I extend my thumb to far or bend my wrist downwards it lets me know it isn't happy with that. I've been wearing a wrist brace and slowly things are getting better.
[SHGB] How is that going?
I am currently getting 100mg of testosterone cypionate injected once a week. That level elevated my total testosterone to a bit out of normal rang, but put my free testosterone is right at where it should be.
>lifestyle options
I spent about a year pursuing that. I tried to increase my carbohydrates to see if it would bring my SHGB down, but it didn't work.
>my endurance training focus is probably bad for testosterone levels.
Long term ibuprofen use may be a contributor to hypogonadism in endurance athletes as well.
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>thumb
If you're not happy with your current brace, try these.
Sparthos Wrist Support Sleeves (Pair)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074CXTP9F
Louise has arthritis in her thumbs and we tried a half-dozen braces before ending up with these. Braces are premium items with a limited selection at the drug stores but are a commodity on Amz. I can order 4 for the price of 1 until I get the best results ...one of the things I love about Amz.
>health & fitness
I'm doing well. Strength & stamina have improved a little lately. My diet is highly experimental (72 oz of black coffee a day, heavy on meat) but the labs keep coming in within range so the doc & nutritionist keep quiet.
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Sorry to read about all the injuries LM. I think we all go through periods of that sometimes and hopefully this is just a bad string.
One thing I have prioritized a lot more in recent years is not getting hurt and not getting sick... but since I'm sometimes careless or stupid or (charitably) unlucky, you can't avoid it.
>>plantar fasciitis
I was watching some videos from a woman who is a Feldenkrais practitioner who claims that she can fix PF and people not getting paid to do so say she can. Articles like this
https://www.balancedrunner.com/how-to-fix-plantar-fasciitis-or-plantar-fasciosis/
Unfortunately, her writing and videos are just too abstract for me. It may work, but I struggle to connect my body to her words. Maybe it will mean something to you (I don't have PF; I found her for other reasons).
>lifestyle options
I spent about a year pursuing that. I tried to increase my carbohydrates to see if it would bring my SHGB down, but it didn't work.
Well, if eating a lot of carbs help, at least I have that going for me! I looked into the lifestyle options for 10 minutes with a few Google searches and they did not seem likely to have much impact. That's what my neighbor who was a physician who did a lot of TRT with his patients said as well (he injects testosterone as well and thinks everyone over 50 should). Problem is he is also an anti-vaxxer, Covid-denier, anti-masker (not to mention huge Bitcoin booster and climate change denier).
If I took his advice, I would be taking T injections, un-vaxxed, un-masked, heavily invested in Bitcoin and reading books about how the drug companies started Covid to boost profits and using terms like "mass murderers" to refer to companies like Moderna and Pfizer. So basically I discount everything he says, even though he was a practicing physician for a long time, did a lot of blood testing and HRT with a wide variety of patients and his strong bias based on clinical experience is that your experience is typical.
>>ibuprofen
None of that.
>>Strength & stamina have improved
That's good. Any news on where you are on the wait list? What, if anything, is happening there?
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>>ibuprofen
Be judicious with the nsaids. One of the first general kidney-related restrictions was "NO nsaids!" (also, no supplements). I'm only allowed acetaminophen for occasional use.
Heavy or long-term use of analgesics, such as ibuprofen, naproxen, and higher dose aspirin, can cause chronic kidney disease. The warning labels on over-the-counter analgesics say no more than l0 days for pain but they gloss over the known kidney issues.
For muscle & joint pain, TENS units are dirt cheap on Amz. 10 years ago, my doc couldn't believe I bought mine for $25.
Easy@Home TENS Unit Muscle Stimulator - Electronic Pulse Massager, 510K Cleared, FSA Eligible OTC Home Use handheld Pain Relief therapy Device-
https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Home-TENS-Muscle-Stimulator/dp/B00O9P2VLI
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>If I took his advice, I would be taking T injections, un-vaxxed, un-masked, heavily invested in Bitcoin and reading books about how the drug companies started Covid to boost profits and using terms like "mass murderers" to refer to companies like Moderna and Pfizer.
A broken clock is right twice a day.
>nsaids
I find it amazing how many things that we just assumed were safe end up potentially dangerous.
>>plantar fasciitis
Thanks for the link, I didn't get it from running as much as from walking fast. One of the issues with this type of injury is that a food will heal in a relaxed position when sleeping and then when one puts weight on their foot the fascia will stretch and reopen the micro tears -- causing a pattern that takes a long time to undo. I've been bounding my foot up in an arched back position when I sleep to keep that from happening.
>Sparthos Wrist Support Sleeves
Those look pretty nice!
>I'm doing well. Strength & stamina have improved a little lately.
Definitely good to hear!
>My diet is highly experimental (72 oz of black coffee a day, heavy on meat) but the labs keep coming in within range so the doc & nutritionist keep quiet.
Sounds like a diet I'd be very happy with.
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I have avoided NSAIDS most of my life. That’s not an issues
>> not from running
In theory Feldenkrais is about teaching proper movement and so whether walking or running, it shouldn’t make a difference. Whether it is legit or BS, I don’t know. My experience with that website is that she seems to analyse the mechanism of problems in ways that make sense, but I can’t make the leap from analysis to implementation with her materials.
>> TENS
In a similar vein, percussive massagers are all the rage. Tim Ferriss is always hawking the Theragun. It’s great, but it’s $400. I found this
https://www.amazon.com/RENPHO-Percussion-Massager-Handheld-Massagers/dp/B09PG3W4TG/
For $70 (currently listed at $100) and it is very similar to the Theragun in effect. A bit louder. Won’t last as long. It has been a game changer for my wife with her injuries and just post-workout soreness.
I do not have PF, but I use it on my calves and feet and it helps a lot with sore arches and an arthritic toe. Might be worth a try for PF.
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Thanks for the recommendation.
>A broken clock is right twice a day.
Of course the responsible answer would be to recommend getting your numbers checked out. There are many healthy men in their 50s, 60s and even in their 70s who have very good hormone numbers. If you are interested in getting a basic hormone panel get your Total, Free and Bio-available Testosterone checked; total testosterone* is really not enough to give you a complete picture. Also, get your SHBG and E2 (Estradiol) numbers because they interact with the other ones and it will help to explain the greater picture. Get the blood work done in the morning following a previous day with an average amount of activity and an average amount of sleep**.
*On my initial test my TT was in the high average range and my concerns were dismissed. Several months of process could have been avoided if I requested the finer details first.
**Stressors like lack of sleep could really alter your numbers
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I’ve been tested, but I didn’t know about SHBG or estradiol and I did it late in the afternoon after a period of low activity and so the readings were probably lower than they might be (came out low average). But said physician doses people to be 1500 to 1800 for total T, which would be very high even for a 19yo.
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>But said physician doses people to be 1500 to 1800 for total T, which would be very high even for a 19yo.
Yeah, that's not TRT at that point, but supplementation. Numbers tend to be highest when you first wake up, but I did read that time of day is less of a factor as we get older -- probably because of the influence of greater SHBG.
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I have switched to a circuit style routine and I believe my body is responding well to it. I've been doing one set of one exercise per body group so that I work out each group in quick succession in every workout. I'm doing it 5 to 7 times a week. It sounds like a lot, but it is actually a pretty easy commitment because each workout is only about a half hour. It serves well for cardio too, which is good because I still have to nurse my foot. Hitting all the muscle groups daily, but only one set seems to be adding some muscle to my frame and the cardio seems to be leaning me out a bit.
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>>sounds like a lot
It does, but it sounds like you're avoiding pushing too hard. There is a running coach whose podcast I listen to and he talks a lot about "stress buckets." Some people have very large stress buckets. Some people have small ones. Some pro athletes have huge stress buckets very little going into their stress bucket other than training, so they can train a lot. Some people have more normal buckets and they have demanding jobs, kids to take care of, etc, etc. So they can only have so much room left in their stress bucket for training.
I have found that a helpful framework.
Personally, I've been feeling strange since returning from a trip in early October. For a few days, I was cold all the time, and now more like mildly feverish or tired sometimes, but very mild and only occasionally. So for three days, I will feel better than I have in years where I'm running well and climbing hard, working on one of the hardest climbs I've ever attempted. And then on days like today, just blah and take a rest day or even two.
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I've been hard atthe exercise for the last 12 months or so, but my recent kidney stone (6mm which required surgery twice in two weeks) has made me re-evaluate my diet. It has meant some drastic cutting of hidden sugars, carbs as well as increasing fluid intake - which wasn't to bad to begin with.
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Probably mentioned this elsewhere. But this Guy is changing views on eating over here. Anyone interested in reading round diet is sure to get something from it.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spoon-Fed-almost-everything-about-wrong/dp/1529112737/
I think a lot of the research was done in the US, but its all about the Gut, and why not only processed foods are bad for your diet but your mental health too.
About the Author
Tim Spector is a professor of genetic epidemiology at King's College London and honorary consultant physician at Guy's and St Thomas' hospitals. He is a multi-award-winning expert in personalised medicine and the gut microbiome, and the author of five books, including the bestsellers Spoon-Fed and The Diet Myth. He appears regularly on TV, radio and podcasts around the world, and is one of the top 100 most cited scientists in the world. He is co-founder of the personalised nutrition company ZOE and leads the world's biggest citizen science health project, the ZOE Health study. He was awarded an OBE in 2020 for his work fighting Covid-19.
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The top review on that book on Amazon is about 2000 words. Longest Amazon review I've ever seen.
Just got in from climbing. I know this doesn't mean much to most of you, but I just got in from climbing and did a 5.12a with two falls and a 5.12b with three falls on top rope (i.e. my partner did the harder job of getting the rope up there). If I stay consistent for another couple months, I'm fairly sure I'll get one of them "clean" on lead (no falls or rests on the rope). That's a level I have not climbed at in a very long time. I don't have the speed or endurance I had then, but for pure technical difficulty on shorter routes, I'm pretty close to as strong as ever (I kind of did not think I would be here again). The 12a is the relatively famous Cookie Monster.
https://cdn2.apstatic.com/photos/climb/109501515_large_1494352135.jpg
This is mostly due to an energetic partner 30 years younger than me wanting to whip me into shape for summer projects. As a result, I'm also have more *fun* climbing than I have in many years.
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Ergo:
Interesting framework. I don't think I am filling that big of a bucket in this case because it is just one set per muscle group per day, so I am recovering pretty fully in the 24 hours in between even though that one set is to failure.
Sorry about the on and off fatigue. I hope it goes away soon. That said, you fatigued are still a badass. I woudn't try most of the things you do on a regular basis. Congrats on the climbs.
Creative666:
>6mm
Man, I've been told stones ara about the most painful thing a person could deal with. Please let us know how the surgery goes.
Rupert:
That's interesting stuff. I'll have to check him out more.
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You Folks Rock. That is some mean climbing, you must be out there several times a week!
And really great work outs LM.
Creative666, sorry LM reminded me a little sympathy was in order. I banged out a post and missed that!
Currently sat on my Arse most of the time. working on diet but next to no cardio or muscle work.
Arthur (the chap we went to see in LA on the recent dash) is 97 and still has a couple of weights by his chair.
With all of this inspiration around I really should do better.
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Just as an aside, I am half way through the Tim Spector book, and one of the things he talks about is the lack of rigorous data on taking supplements.
It has made us reevaluate what we have. Sue has a few, and its easy to get sucked in. I recently went back to :
https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/snake-oil-scientific-evidence-for-nutritional-supplements-vizsweet/
Downloaded the spreadsheet, ordered them by their evidence score and looked at the top and bottom ones. I found it interesting reading.
Creative666, if you are avoiding hidden sugars, you will probably like what Tim Spector has to say about OJ, bread, meat, porridge and general processing. I have recently certainly got better at listening to my body (general tiredness, bloated feel for example) and realising it is usually caused by what I have eaten. (sugar crash after eating the chocolate bar to get me though the next hour, as I did not breakfast properly in the first place.... )
Yes I can be Really stupid. :o
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>> Man, I've been told stones ara about the most painful thing a person could deal with. Please let us know how the surgery goes. <<
All good now, it was about 6 weeks ago.
It was 3rd one in 12 years, but it still doesn't prepare you for the pain - it is a straight 10/10 in the lower back!
But all good now, watching what I eat and drink and plenty of exercise!
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I don't think I am filling that big of a bucket in this case because it is just one set per muscle group per day
The idea of the bucket is how big the bucket is for you as a human. The amount you exercise does not determine the size of your life stress bucket, it determines one input into that bucket.
The goal is to help people look at stress holistically and realize that if you are having a period of super high stress at work or you are normally splitting childcare duties but your spouse is away for a month and it's all on you or you have a huge number of unexpected expenses and you suddenly can't pay your bills, all of these things are increasing your cortisol and other stress markers. So if you try to exercise like a pro athlete who has no kids, no spouse, no side job and lots of money to pay the bills, you are going to get hurt even if your built-in stress bucket is just as big as his.
For a college athlete, for example, a coach might dial back training during finals week. That's because over the very short term, the size of your bucket doesn't change. All you control is the rate at which you're filling it. Since finals has added a lot of stress, the risk of injury goes way up if the coach doesn't adjust training to accommodate the increase in other life stress.
Another way to put it is this - if you've got sh## going on, cut yourself some slack. Progress does not happen during training. It happens during *recovery* from training. If you do not have adequate capacity to rest, your training becomes a negative.
The case that's been getting a lot of coverage lately is Ryan Hall, the US record holder in the marathon and half-marathon. By the time he quit running, he was so overtrained that after a 30-min run he needed to nap, his testosterone level had fallen to 140 (at, I think, age 29) and he was 127 pounds and 5' 10" or 5' 11". He says his body was totally depleted. He quit running, rested, started lifting. Now he's a 190-pound monster, has rebuilt his endocrine system, is super strong and will never run a fast marathon again (but actually is faster in the 100M than he was when he ran a 2:04 marathon). It's pretty fascinating.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/21/sport/ryan-hall-marathon-running-weightlifting-spt-intl-cmd
>> fatigued are still a badass
I think what I do is mostly just different, not super hard. The "kids" don't think I'm badass. They think I'm fit "for your age." One of them who is 30 texted me at Thanksgiving and said she wants to be like me "when I grow up." So it's come to that now HHH
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>It happens during *recovery* from training. If you do not have adequate capacity to rest, your training becomes a negative.
Such a good reminder.
I like the stress bucket analogy. I've sort of been looking at it from a fuel/resource perspective which has helped, and is essentially the same.
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It's been a while since anyone has checked in.
How's everyone doing?
I was feeling really fit, then had an inury and had to take about six weeks mostly off due to a foot injury (so a full couple weeks mostly lying on the couch with my foot up). I've been back active for a few weeks and feeling quite good.
On the mental side, after getting walking again, we went on a short backpacking trip with lots of time to reflect and I realized that I wanted more spice in my life. I've changed up my feeds - less news, more inspiration. I also try to do one "special" day each week, i.e. a day where I do something I don't normally do. A bit more carpe in my diem ;-)
Beyond that, I've recently read or listened to a few things that, though they don't directly pertain to fitness, seem germane to the general topic of health and living well.
I discovered "adventurer" Alastair Humphreys, who has the idea of "micro-adventures" and encourages people to think about "adventure" they can have near their home, maybe in their own yard (climb a tree). I really like his stuff. https://alastairhumphreys.com/
I also read Bill Perkins, Die with Zero. https://www.diewithzerobook.com/welcome I had mixed feelings, but you might enjoy it if you're thinking about when is the right time to spend less time at work and spend more of the money you've saved.
I've sort of been looking at it from a fuel/resource perspective which has helped, and is essentially the same.
I think you mean "fuel" somewhat metaphorically like I was using the "bucket," but there's also been a lot of talk about fuel in the strict sense (i.e. actual calories) this year following the Tour de France.
1. Barring some substance for which riders are not as of yet tested, the best guess as to why athletes are able to perform at the highest level since they started testing for EPO is that they eat a huge amount while riding. Far more than in the past. Riders used to eat 30gms or at most 60gms per hour. The rule of thumb now is 120-150gms of carbs per hour during a ride. So roughly speaking, 400-500 calories per hour. Some riders are going as high as 600 calories. There were even cases of riders grabbing a bottle and dropping 30gms five minutes before the finish. That's too short a time for those carbs to reach the muscles, but the idea is that they are working on recovery before they even finish and would rather give up a few seconds in the last five minutes than compromise recovery.
A serious biker friend of mine has been doing this on his rides and has called it a "recovery cheat code." I've been bad at this for climbing, but for any runs over an hour, I carry a fair bit of food and make sure it's gone before I'm done. In a similar vein, I'm also trying to keep protein above 100gms/day. It should be higher in an ideal world, but that ends up being like a full-time job and I also start getting fat because it's hard for me to get 140gms of protein without taking in too many calories.
2. Riders are still not taking in enough calories overall and between the calorie deficits and the fact that biking is a non-impact, non-weight-bearing sport, a recent study found that the bone mineral density of TdF riders is similar to a typical 70 year-old. When you go into calorie deficit, proteins that go into building and maintaining bones go to other things. Also, calories deficits lead to hormonal crashes. Low T, low HGH, etc. They are planning followup studies to find out whether riders recover after they retire and go back to training less. Of course, with top endurance athletes now competing until almost age 40....
Short version (to quote my favorite running podcast): "Eat enough always. Eat too much sometimes. Eat too little never."
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Great update Tom. Thanks.
I've been slacking a LOT over the summer and hopped on the scale to see the damage. Around +10 pounds gained and felt like sh##.
Got back in the gym a few weeks ago, trying to dial in the "fuel" and make better choices. Already feeling better, but realized that a 49 year old body do not perform quite as well with the weights as it use to. Beginning to enjoy the workouts though and with that comes better food choices. The goal is to be in a much better shape before turning 50 next summer.
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>> 49 year old body do not perform quite as well
It's more about slowing the decline than hitting a PR. New goals help. In any case, in terms of quality of life and healthspan, the benefits only increase with age, even if the absolute performance declines
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ergophobe, so much in your post resonated / triggered me I'm not sure where to start with my follow up.
Well, probably the most emotional trigger first - and a silly one.
> I also read Bill Perkins
Bill Perkins was my grandfather's name. Like lots of kids, we worshipped our grandfather, so will check out BP2s work out of love for his namesake.
> It's been a while since anyone has checked in.
> How's everyone doing?
I'm not sure I've ever "checked in" on this thread, but now feels like as good a time as any.
Up until about a year ago, I'd slightly lost all fitness routine. Cycling had been my regular outlet - even just commuting between home and office 5 miles, twice a day, 5 days a week - gave a reasonable baseline of fitness. That fell away when covid came around and home became the office.
Potentially long story short(er): fed up with lack of exercise, I went along to a cyclocross training session at a local cycling club about a year ago. In an ideal world, I'd be mountain biking. But being a father of 2 young kids, living in not so mountainous - or even rural - London, its tough to find the time to get to the trails, do some riding and get back without compromising your weekend family time. Cyclocross seemed to offer the chance to ride offroad in a condensed format...
* the cycle club is 5 mins ride from my house
* they have a nice network of trails in an otherwise urban environment
* cyclocross or "cross" - as I have learnt - is a race focused discipline, with races limited to 40-60 minutes
all good for the time poor, city dweller!
So after putting the kids to bed one September evening last year, I went along with zero fitness, mediocre offroad technique and almost no understanding of what cross is, let alone any intention to race and slowly fell in love with it. Over the season, I entered 4 races, built up a lot of other miles cycling on and offroad.
Now, a year on, I'm actually nursing a couple of injuries - one picked up in a crash in a summer cross race 5 or 6 weeks ago and another from wakeboarding on my 45th birthday more recently. But, I think they're on their way out and I'll be racing cross again in 2-3 weeks from now. Injuries aside, the regular exercise and incremental objectives I set myself (1. do something; 2. do it again; 3. see what the races are all about; 4. race more; 5. get a top 10 finish in my category - and I'm still working on that one) have really helped reinvigorate my love for cycling, but also given all the side benefits I'd hoped for in terms of general wellbeing. Injuries aside, I think I'm the fittest I've been in 10 years and hope to build on that.
> but there's also been a lot of talk about fuel in the strict sense (i.e. actual calories) this year following the Tour de France
All that said, probably no surprise the TDF comment was also of interest.
I've just finished reading a book called the Midlife Cyclist by Phil Cavell
https://www.cyclefit.co.uk/journal/the-midlife-cyclist
Renowned cycling biomechanics pioneer, Phil Cavell, explores the growing trend of middle-aged and older cyclists seeking to achieve high-level performance. Using contributions from leading coaches, ex-professionals and pro-team doctors, he produces the ultimate manifesto for mature riders who want to stay healthy, avoid injury - and maximise their achievement levels.
Time's arrow traditionally plots an incremental path into declining strength and speed for all of us. But we are different to every other generation of cyclists in human history. An ever-growing number of us are determined to scale the highest peaks of elite physical fitness into middle-age and beyond. Can the emerging medical and scientific research help us achieve the holy triumvirate of speed and health with age?
The Midlife Cyclist offers a gold standard road-map for the mature cyclist who aims to train, perform and even race at the highest possible level.
I found it the most compelling read I've had in years. Brining together commentary from his experience as a bike fitter, and scores of relevant specialists: sports scientists, physios, cardiologists, pro cycling teams...
In reference to the TDF particularly, one factor was called out above all, even above nutrition and fueling as I recall: sleep.
There's discussion of how the top teams will invest in ensuring their lead riders get the best access possible to a good night's sleep.
>>I also try to do one "special" day each week, i.e. a day where I do something I don't normally do. A bit more carpe in my diem ;-)
This is great! Your frequency here is admirable! I started the year by writing down some personal objectives. One of them was to try a new sport once a quarter. I allowed myself different forms of cycling (Q2 was a criterium race), or picking up lapsed sports (Q1 was running). Come to think of it, I'm not sure what I'm chalking down for Q3... better get on that.
But compared to your weekly, the quarterly seems pretty unambitious! Hats off.
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>> above all ... sleep
I don't remember who, but someone said "Sleep is a weapon."
I've been trying to improve my sleep habits but it's challenging with a partner who snores. ::)
My main exercise recently has been gardening, and an adult trike that was a surprise gift from one of my sons. Arthritis slows me down sometimes but I've managed to maintain my weight loss from a while back.
Not much else to say, other than that shopping for clothes is fun these days!
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I'm still doing a home routine, with the same basic workout. I need to get some heavier dumbbells though. I've been doing these modified pushups, where the hands are turned outwards a bit so that the thumbs are turned more towards the top of your head and the elbows are close to the body. That style is suppose to be better for the shoulder and also hit the pectoral muscles better. They do seem harder to do at first, even though they healthier on the joints. I had a goal of being able to hit 50 straight without stopping. For the longest time I was stuck in the 40s, but a few weeks ago I made it into the 50s.
>Already feeling better, but realized that a 49 year old body do not perform quite as well with the weights as it use to.
I am on the verge of 52 and I don't even try. I warm up a lot before I do any resistance stuff. I also shifted all my sets up to much higher reps (as much as 30 now). All my exercising is with a lot of consideration to preventing joint and bone damage. I haven
t lost any muscle working out that way, probably gained a bit.
TRT has been a bit of a cheat code for me, it has made everything easier.
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Great updates. It sounds like I'm not the only one to get off the wagon and back on. It reminds me of something a para-Olympic skier said in a video after a nasty fall: "Six times down. Seven times up."
Bucky - my dad's main exercise for many years now has been gardening. At 94, he's still at it, sometimes 10 hours a day (but then he wakes up in the middle of the night with painful calf cramps and we keep trying to tell him that three hours would make more sense).
>> snores
Has he tried Breathe Right strips? Honestly, these have improved my sleep a lot. I just got a friend hooked.
>> cyclocross
That sounds fun. I always thought of it as one of those absurd British sports and then started running into devotees in the US.
I'm impressed. I realized the other day that all my favorite sports are things I started doing before I was 9 years old. It makes me feel pretty stuck in my ways.
>>Midlife Cyclist by Phil Cavell
Along similar lines, I found Joe Friel's Fast over Fifty to be a good rundown. Worthwhile read.
>>Bill Perkins
I don't know as I would say that about Bill Perkins. It's mostly ideas that I came across years ago in a book that really changed how I saw money called, "Live Rich, Die Poor." The gist of it is this: too many people have a target amount of savings that is based on what they think will lead to a good, maybe luxurious retirement. The problem is that they tend to either save that amount and then decide it isn't enough or they fail to save that amount and keep toiling away to get there. In the meantime their life energy is slipping away. By the time they finally quit toiling because they reach a magic number that represents the good life, it's too late for them to live the good life they had imagined.
His basic formula is to decide what the absolute minimum you need to live on is. Until you get there, you can't stop accumulating. But once you've hit that minimum, you want to figure out not a peak savings amount, but a peak savings date. At that point you start decumulating.
In any case, the idea is to spend your time and money and life energy when it will have the biggest impact, rather than saving and saving out of fear.
The book was salient to me mostly because I've been having an ongoing discussion with a couple of risk-averse friends who (in my opinion) have plenty of money but say they can't quit their jobs. What I have been arguing is that they are underestimating the massive massive risk of delayling living the life they want. I know too many people who appeared to be in great health and then died in their early or mid-60s.
So basically the argument is that you don't want to run out of money and be elderly and poor, but you also don't want to die with a huge pile of savings or be continuing to accumulate wealth at age 80.
>>But compared to your weekly, the quarterly seems pretty unambitious! Hats off.
I would say the contrary actually. I'm not doing anything as substantial as trying a new sport (yet!). In my case, this is more weekly micro-adventures along the lines that Alastair Humphreys talks about.
Basically, I realized that I was, say, going out and running the same trails and climbing the same climbs over and over. Fine for physical fitness, but a bit lacking for mental/spiritual fitness.
I noticed that if I just sucked it up and drove somewhere and ran/hiked/climbed/bowled/golfed* somewhere new, I felt a huge mental boost. So, last week we drove 2 hours and did a climb we had done before, but not for about a dozen years. The week before we drove 2.5 hours and hiked a mountain we had done once before about 15 years ago.
So it's not like I'm trying a new sport every week or ticking off a bucket list item. I'm just trying to do things that are not part of my routine. This week was going to be a movie night and climb in a place we haven't been for maybe 20 years with friends we hadn't seen in a long time. That fell through, but that gives you an idea of the limits of my ambition. Again, mostly the "micro-adventure" concept.
*the golfing and bowling have not happened yet, but who knows? Why not?
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>>one of those absurd British sports and then started running into devotees in the US
Belgian apparently, but certainly absurd and with quite some following in the UK and US for sure.
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>TRT has been a bit of a cheat code for me, it has made everything easier.
Seeing a LOT of that recently. Seriously considering looking into as well. So you just went to your doc?
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First thing you'll want to do is get tested. It isn't enough to look at total testosterone, but you should also get free and bio available testosterone, SHBG and E2 (estrogen) tested too. That will give you a great understanding of where you are at functionally. The more important number is free testosterone, that gives you an idea of what your body is able to use. There are a lot of dynamic interactions that influence numbers. As men get older they tend to make more SHBG which will limit usable testosterone. So what will happen is that total testosterone will be in normal range and free testosterone will be low. This tends to happen less to overweight men because insulin products suppresses SHBG, but the flip side is that overweight men tend to be high in estrogen because of fat causing aromatization. So, make sure you get a complete picture.
As for getting treatment, that can be complicated. A lot of doctors are resistant to hormonally treating men, there's a kind of cultural taboo when it comes to testosterone because of steroid abuse. Some GPs are very willing to prescribe some are not. Same goes for endocrinologists, I had one look at my run away SHBG and just said that she doesn't treat men and that I should become a vegan. There is exactly one doctor on my insurance plan that was willing to help me.
If you do not want to deal with insurance hassles there are a lot of private clinics all over the EU and US that would be happy to prescribe for profit.
Anyway, I should note that a drop in functional testosterone is completely natural. It is a type of male menopause, but instead of being an abrupt hormonal collapse like it is in women it is very gradual. I don't think the thinking has caught up on this topic yet -- it isn't really talked about anywhere. In my case it hit hard, probably from being on ketosis for so long.
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LM has gone way deeper than I have yet, but it's been on my mind a lot.
I found the stuff from Kyle Gillett helpful as an overview. He has info on his website and makes videos and podcasts, but this was the most succinct for me
https://www.artofmanliness.com/health-fitness/health/podcast-893-optimize-your-testosterone/
He's a young MD with a primary care practice and he treats people for hormonal problems from young kids who have medical issues up to oldsters. I don't have the knowledge or tools to really evaluate him, but he seem to know what he's talking about.
Also
- https://gilletthealth.com/
- https://kylegillettmd.com/
- https://podcastnotes.org/huberman-lab/episode-102-dr-kyle-gillett-tools-for-hormone-optimization-in-males-huberman-lab/
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I just mowed a running path into my little pasture so I can train Fernando, my livestock guardian dog, how to patrol. So..that's something. :)
I'm even considering getting back into triathlon. I miss the positive vibes.
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What type of dog is he?
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> what kind of dog
Fernando, the livestock guardian dog, is a Great Pyrenees. Basically, a big white fluffy creampuff to people and a terrifying fluffy mountain to fox, coyotes, and bobcats. I don't need more dog than that because I don't have really big predators like bear, wolves or cougars. He's less than a year old and about 100 pounds. His dam was 110 lbs and his sire was 120, so he's got a bit more growing to go.
I don't often hear it, but he has a deep, dark growl that absolutely sends the hair on the back of my neck straight up.
He's a pup and we sometimes have chicken chasing incidents, but he's getting better with age. (My lab/ boxer mix taught him that chasing chickens and cows was fun. *sigh*.) I was about to give up on him until last week when he chased a coyote looking for chicken dinner out of the pasture and then continued for about a mile.
Fernando was starting to roam into town -- I live about 4 miles out -- and the breeder told me to get him a regular path to walk every day so he knows where he needs to patrol. So, running path in the pasture for me and a patrol path for Fernando.
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Great Pyrenees seems like a great fit from what I know about them.
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That's awesome. When I worked from home all alone my wife wanted me to get a dog, but since they are not allowed on the vast majority of trails here, I never did.
But having someone who is thrilled to go outdoors and run around with you and perturbed when you are feeling too tired is a great means to regular outdoor time.
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A pretty big update on my part;
My brother-in-law’s brother (who is 54) has always been into bodybuilding have started when he was just 16yrs old. The sort of guy who can decide to drop 10KGs, tone his abs and build his arms within 8 weeks and then decide to put 10KGs back on in muscle on his legs... he just has his health and fitness dialled in at that level.
So with a bit of motivation from him to help get me started... and about 9 weeks ago I began a very basic but effective diet plan;
- Breakfast: 4 eggs, one tomato, on one small slice of whole wheat bread from a local bakery
- Dinner: Protein, veg with rice or potato (general rule of thumb being twice as much protein as rice/potato)
- Drinks: 4ltrs of water every day, lots of tea and still 3 or so coffees in the morning - I can't cut that out!
and that's it - if I am really hungry mid afternoon I might have some almonds or cashews which are dry roasted but no salted!
I've taken it down to the level of no butter on the toast, no ketchup, no jam, no sauces, very minimal salts, no chocolate/crisps/biscuits/cookies, no fruit juice at all, no beer (probably had 4 bottles of beer in the last 3 months or so). I have lost 10KG (22lbs / 1.6stone) in 8weeks. It has been enough to drop two waist sizes so now jeans/pants require a belt and board shorts now simply fall off if not properly tied etc..
I am now at the point of shifting to maintaining the weight and altering my lifestyle to keep it off.
I've been in and out of the gym my whole life - so I have a decent exercise routine in place - but again with some outside motivation and corrections I am lifting/pushing some personal bests, still very modest, but they are still my PBs :)
Conclusion:
93.3KG to currently 83.7KG
I look at food differently now, I see it as a fuel for the day as opposed to a safety cushion! Over the last 8 weeks I have done 5 24hr fasts, which I found tough at first but now I can breeze through them and the day after I feel really good!
So.. that's me, please forgive the rambling on 8)
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A pretty big update on my part;
That is good well done. Still bouncing along doing a few resistance exercises and a hit a few mornings a week. A weekly night cycle in the mud and rocks.
just off on a big motorbike trip, so hope I am fit enough for it. I believe its 50% dirt roads. find out when I get there. I know it can be hard work.
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Nice work! And nice update. I always like to see detailed updates on what people are getting up to. If anything that was too short ;-)
I seem to be up and down this past year - started feeling really fit, then a big storm cycle got me unfit for everything except snow shoveling, then was getting fit again and broke a toe, then feeling really fit and got a cold, then feeling fit and hurt my foot again, then feeling fit and got Covid.
Staying consistent has been my huge challenge this past year. I set several achievable goals for age 60, but so far have missed them all! I still have 6 more months, but the ones that require summer weather will have to be age 61 goals I guess :-)
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Nice job Creative666! Keep at it! Maintenance is not impossible, despite what people would have you believe. It feels pretty damn good to be part of the 5%.
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Some more detail for Ergo ;)
I've been very concious with my water intake as I have suffered from kidney stones in the past (3 in 10 years) - so I make sure I put the water away through out the day!
When I exercise I take USN amino energy;
Amino Energy gives you all-day energy and boosts fat loss. It contains BCAAs and EAAs that help form lean muscles, and L-carnitine to boost your fat metabolism. It also increases mood and energy and contains vitamins, minerals and electrolytes.
I try to take it 30 minutes before I work out, it really gives you a boost! About half way through the workout it 'takes over' and I can push harder and lift heavier - I have to overlook the fact the stuff is a glow-in-the-dark blue colour (think liquidised smurf juice) ??? There is a pink version also.. same glowing properties though!
I've kept away from the creatine powders and juices, I don't feel the need for that just yet!
- Creative666 (Craig)
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I am currently not taking creatine since I ran out some months ago.
But I was just thinking I need to get more. I just listened to a Peter Attia interview with Layne Norton. He did his doctorate on leucine under Don Layman (probably greatest expert on protein and muscle protein synthesis) and his first company was selling a BCAA supplement and his comment was that creatine is the first supplement to start with. Cheap, great safety data and strong
For me it is the only supplement that I thought made a difference. Granted, n=1, placebo effect and all that. Also it might depend a bit on meat intake. As a vegetarian, it may have a bigger boost than for others (in theory that would be true for L-carnitine, but I found no effect there).
There are also some interesting trials that are ongoing, but it looks like it may help with age related cognitive decline. Thats still in the realm of some suggestive studies but nothing solid yet.
Anyway, if you have not tried it, it’s worth a try.
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Creatine is interesting. It seems to be the only legal, non-prescription supplement that actually makes people stronger and have more muscle mass. I've seen studies that saying about 5% boost in each.
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Craig, great to hear your update. Congrats on the progress, results and commitment. Sounds like you're getting your rewards.
> I look at food differently now, I see it as a fuel for the day
This resonates.
I'm about a year into a lifestyle change which has brought around a lot of positives for me. I might have posted this earlier in this thread somewhere. In short: I started regular offroad cycling, which has led to winter seasons of cyclocross racing. Last winter - I didn't have a plan beyond: try cyclocross and try to get fit. This winter I've got a running start and have thrown myself into training hard(ish) and aiming for better results in races.
I started the season (first race was in September) hoping to get a top 10 finish - and finished 42nd in that first race. A reality check - so reset the ambition at top 20. Good progress through the season, and managed 11th place last weekend. Now looking ahead to a national level competition in 2 weeks time. Its a niche sport - so the capacity of even the national races allows for keen relative newbies like me to qualify!
As for the fueling... I've probably been somewhat less scientific than you. The first shift I made was generally cutting out / significantly reducing obvious crap like chocolate, crisps, etc. Taking the obvious healthier choice when available. Second: dropping carbs in favour of protein. I think these both helped me drop some excess fat and the training helped tone up and build muscle.
More recently, I'm back on the carbs! I find I get really tired and can't train as well without a normal dose of carbs - so always try to ensure I have potato, rice or pasta with a main mean, plus bread at other meals, and a solid breakfast. I figure the earlier months I must have been burning fat reserves that I can't rely on so much now.
Feels great being in control of this. I don't take it for granted, but want to keep the routine strong for as long as possible. Cyclocross season is short - ending January - so will need to find new outlets, but having been round this last year, I'm not too concerned.
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Good work Adam!
I would say that some form of carb is essential for a properly aligned diet and training plan (completely unresearched claim, but it feels right)! I've also learnt that everyone is different - I took a blueprint from a guy I trust implicitly (for health/diet/training) but I've seen how I can adapt it to my own lifestyle and it works well for me.
>> Cyclocross
This looks awesome, might see if there is a Cape Town Cyclocross movement!
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That’s awesome! You did mention cyclocross, but I don’t think you mentioned how ambitious you are!
Have you been reading all the articles about during-activity fueling by elites these days? It was in the air a lot during the Tour de France. In cycling, 100-120 grams per hour is common. That’s grams, not calories. For running the numbers are lower because the bouncing tends to cause GI distress, but runners with iron stomachs are downing big amounts of carbs in long runs.
And then lots of carbs right away after finishing. There was at least one stage where a rider took and downed a whole bottle of carb drink 7 minutes from the finish. It takes longer than that to reach the cells, but basically he was taking a high carb recovery drink before he even finished the race.
Some friends and I have been playing with this. Helps recovery. Costs a lot if you use fancy fuels.
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>Have you been reading all the articles about during-activity fueling by elites these days?
No, but sounds interesting.
I tend to ram down a 40/60g carb gel 5 minutes before a race as a precaution / last minute boost, but usually will try to eat well before hand. Large breakfast (porridge or granola with fruit and toast) plus regular snacks (bananas, granola bars).
Could be more structured post-race. Tend to eat whatever I can lay my hands on for the first hour.
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Craig, here's a nutty fitness challenge for you: Ultra Trail Cape Town.
Not as long or famous as Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB, the most famous trail race in the world), but it might have some of the hardest terrain of any race that is supposedly a running race.
https://semi-rad.com/2023/12/race-report-ultra-trail-cape-town-100k/
If you don't know Semi Rad or his book Chart Imitates Life, this race report will give you a good feel. Full disclosure: I read 10% of the words at most. I mostly just read pictures ;-)
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A few years ago, inspired by the book Wheat Belly, I cut way back on wheat products and gradually lost a hundred pounds. It took about four years. It was gradual enough that people who saw me often didn't recognize the changes. Who notices if one's plus-size friend lost a pound last month? The people who noticed were those who hadn't seen me in a while.
I have maintained that loss but hit a plateau that wouldn't budge. About a month ago I started aiming for full-on keto and have broken the plateau by a couple of pounds. At the moment my weight is the lowest in forty years. I'd love to someday reach pre-pregnancy weight but for now I'll just keep on keto-ing and see what happens.
I need to work on strength but don't have easy access to a gym. Advice welcome!
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Buckworks, congratulations on the achievement! I did keto for years and it worked well for me, but it did cause some hormonal issues which have been outlined here over the years. In short it: there is an inverse relationship with SHBG and insulin production in the liver. My insulin was so low for so many years that my SHBG was pushed out of range and my testosterone was being gobbled up at higher numbers than it should have been. Fast forward, I am injecting myself twice a week for the rest of my life. I find the benefits very much worth it though. There are reasons why I think this is less of a concern for women than for men, so I don't think you need to be very concern about a rise in SHBG messing with your hormonal balance.
I really encourage you to do resistance training when on Keto, preserving muscle mass is very important and also very advantageous to losing fat on the diet. You don't need a gym, you could get tremendous benefit from just some simple equipment and working out at home. I don't know your exact age, but I think you are probably somewhere in your early 60s? When dieting on the plus side of 50 we need to really think about sarcopenia. Avoiding it has shown to extend life and extent the quality of life.
Here is what I advise for gear:
dumbbell set (I don't know how strong you are, but you may want to start as light as 2.5lbs or 1kilo)
a stable four leg chair height stool
a floor mat big enough to lie down on and with cushioned enough to be comfortable to do floor work on
a step, as in stairs or the kind they sell for workouts
That's enough equipment to work your entire body.
I don't know if you have any nagging issues with rand of motion or curtain types of movements but I am going to outline some basics that when done together will work your entire body. You don't have to do this in any particular order but I usually start with the larger movements first.
Pushups (shoulders, tricep, chest, core)
If you are strong enough do regular push-up. If those are too hard do bent knee push-ups (what they use to call girl push-ups when I was a child). If those are too hard go to a wall and do a push-up against that. A lot of people make a mistake when it comes to push-ups and have their elbows out too far, they should be close to your body, It is harder that way, but better for your shoulder joints. Your hands should be slightly turned outward too so that your thumbs are up.
Goblet squats or Lunges (quads, gluts, some core, balance and overall body strength)
Goblet squats are easier than lunges. Hold a dumbbell at your chest and squat down. If that is too hard you can do goblet squats on and off a stool, You can also do it with no weight at all and use a stool with no weights too.
Lunges are great, you can do them with a dumbbell in each hand or without any weight at all. If you don't know how to do them
properly here is a video of the basic movement (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TwEH620Pn6A)
Cave raises
If you have stairs with a sturdy railing use that for support. If you don't have stairs get your step and put it next to a wall and use that for support. Step on the step and stretch your calves then lift up on the balls of your feet, and repeat. As you get stronger you can do this with weight in one hand and/or do one leg at a time.
Straight leg dead lifts (hamstrings, spinal erectors, lower back)
Hold the dumbbells in each hand and bend down at the waist while keeping your legs straight. You want to go easy on this at first. You can do it with no weight for this movement too. Always do this movement slow and controlled.
Dumbbell shoulder press (Shoulder muscles, triceps, trapezius)
While standing have the weights in your hands at about your shoulder level, slowly raise them above your head and bring them back down.
Floor Ab work (core)
You could do planks, crunches or leg lifts. Crunches are probably the easiest to start with. Do them nice and controlled. Make sure to have that mat underneath you.
One arm Bent over row (Upper back)
You will have to be bent over with one arm on that secure stool (you could use a chair too) and have one arm at your side hanging down. You want to keep that elbow close to your body. Bring the weight up to where your ribs are and then back down. Concentrate on where your elbow is moving not on where the weight is. Try to not round your back but keep it straight and parallel to the floor. A lot of peolpe tend to do this one wrong and use their biceps to curl the weight up in the movement. Your bicep should not be engaged at all and should be relaxed. Obviously do a set on both sides.
Dumbbell curls (bicep, wrist strength, grip)
Move slowly, don't swing your arms around so that your elbows are moving, They should stay at your side. Bring the weight up it is approaching your shoulder and then bring it down. You could alternate between the arms or do both arms at the same time.
Bent over side laterals (back of the shoulder mostly)
I am throwing this in there because people tend to get imbalanced in their shoulder development and that could lead to injuries or joint problems. It is a simple movement. You cold do it bent over with both arms at the same time, but I don't recommend that at first. Use the stool instead and do each side separately. The support of the stool will help with form and keep you level. You don't want your back twisting when you do this exercise. Your back should be flat like when doing the bent over row. In this movement you are pulling the weight outwards away from your body so that it aligns with your shoulder. Your elbow should have a very sight bend in it the entire time. Here is an example of someone doing it standing. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ukIlEyMbXw)
I don't think you need to do any tricep specific exercises because they are being worked in the shoulder press and the push-ups. You can add them though if you want to.
If you do all this you basically are working your entire body. There are many exerciser you could swap in or out to target muscles in different ways. Everything I outlined though are relatively easy on joints and can be done for years without issues if you are sensible about your movements and the weights you use.
I recommend doing just one set of each exercise per workout and do the workout at least three times a week. You could get the whole thing done in about 30 minutes. I know this is long, but you wanted advice and I seem to have a lot to say on the topic. If anything is confusing, please ask questions.
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Wow, thank you! That will give me some focus!
For the record, I'm 70. No joint problems at this point so I should be able to do everything you've outlined.
I think my triceps and biceps get well worked, playing my viola. :-)
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>viola
Wow, do you have any recordings available?
>That will give me some focus!
I feel like I left a bunch of stuff out. One thing though is that eventually, not the first few workout but say after a couple of weeks at it, each set should be stopped at or withing a couple of reps of failure. Higher reps are fine, you could go up to 30 if you want, but if you feel like you could do a movement for a long time then it is probably time to increase your weight.
I might post more for you if something comes to mind.
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I'll stop your right there Ergo, I'm not a runner :) I hold my hand up high and wear that badge with pride 8) But I love hiking and Cape Town being set on a peninsula with the main plateau of the Table Mountain national park being well over 200million years old there are hundreds and hundreds of trails/hikes of all degrees of difficulty being catered for.
One of my favourite locations is where my in-laws live. A small and very quiet coastal town about 80 miles from Cape Town called Bettys Bay, the Harold Porter botanical gardens there have three or four hikes and mountain trails which are breath taking, on one of the moderate hikes (one or two challenging ladder climbs) you are rewarded with a secluded waterfall where you can swim and relax in the ancient caves before heading back down taking in the fynbos and being careful to avoid the baboon troops that live on the mountainside up there.
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>Betty's Bay,
You made me look it up, looks stunning.
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Bettys Bay was my lock down COVID hide out - with such a small population and a beach that runs for 3miles and another 2miles long it meant I could walk freely with no mask and no one else around. The police might stop by and stand on a sand dune to check in but I think the idea of chasing one person across the dunes in 90F was a little off putting 8)
Some of my best drone and photography sessions have been in Bettys Bay - sunrise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH6KTNGG8Iw
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@littleman
I have acquired some small dumbbells and used your suggestions above to create a more concise list I can follow easily.
We've had a death in the family so my days have been too disrupted to get started yet. My last uncle died just a few ays after his 102nd birthday.
Next week, I promise!
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Bucky, that's wonderful! Your progress, I mean. Not your uncle obviously. I'm sorry about that.
But it is wonderful how far you've come and especially that you have made it last and that you did it without some crazy crash fasting diet. That's all great.
I've hesitated to add to what LM has said because the most important thing is to get started and he's already given you a lot to digest.
I think perhaps the most crucial parts are:
1. Get started
2. Don't get hurt
3. Keep going
What actual exercises you do or what equipment you own is secondary, especially since you're starting fresh. Almost anything you do at this point will result in gains.
That said, another "rule" I have along those lines is "bias for fun." Not everyone wants to lift steel or run. For example:
I'll stop your right there Ergo, I'm not a runner :) I hold my hand up high and wear that badge with pride
The thing you like is the thing you will do. That will make it so much easier to be consistent.
gear
I'm going to add a couple things to what LM suggested, but hopefully this does not add complexity or friction to getting going.
1. Something to hang from. If you have something sturdy to grab that you can reach with your feet still on the ground, great. If not, a chinup bar is a worthwhile investment (don't worry - I'm not suggesting you do chinups). My co-workers bought me this for my office door:
- https://amzn.to/46WJ2bg
2. Maybe a set of bands. I personally have never been able to get into band work, but plenty of people far stronger than me love them. Theresa just ordered these:
- https://amzn.to/3TwoG5z
Beyond that, get creative.
My first "gyms" at home and at work consisted of
- stones I collected ranging from 10 to 200 pounds
- jugs with handles (gallon milk jugs, detergent jugs). A gallon jug is about 8 pounds and works almost as well as a dumbbell.
- various household implements of destruction: sledge hammer, splitting maul, 20-pound pry bar, wheelbarrow loaded with aforesaid rocks, old piece of pipe and so on.
- an old backpack I could load up with jugs of water
- the stairs to my house and a stump in the woods at work
The options are endless.
I feel like I left a bunch of stuff out.... Higher reps are fine
That was the main thing that I was going to add and I think it's worth dwelling on a bit more.
If you start reading about strength training, you will likely find advice to lift heavy weights that you can only lift 3-5 times before failure. That's great advice... if you are young and have a lot of experience.
If you are older or a beginner or in your case both, that is a recipe for injury, which violates principles 2 and 3 above. If you get hurt, you can't keep going.
The flip side to that, is that if you are working with loads that are too light, you won't really be building strength. Littleman said you could go up to 30 reps. I would call that an upper limit, but I think he's right that that will work for you initially since you do not currently have a strength training habit.
At the beginning, it is best to err on the side of going too light rather than too heavy. Add weight gradually. Ideally, you would like to get to the point where you are failing at somewhere around 12 reps. That's heavy enough to make good gains and light enough to still be reasonably safe.
Finally, people will often say that you have to work to failure.
[Aside: funny story that only you can appreciate since you're the only one here who has spent much time with Theresa... Before we were even dating, we went to the gym together and started with a warmup on the bench press. I did easy reps to warm up and Theresa, aghast, said: "Hey! You didn't work to failure!" I already knew I liked her, but after that... ;-) ]
Anyway, you do NOT have to work to failure. In fact, I would say as you're starting, that you should stop well short of failure. If you work to failure, you will likely end up sore and if you're super sore, it will violate principles 1 and 3, maybe 2 if you get really sore. Better to keep it easy and keep it frequent and build slowly.
Physiologist Andy Galpin says that while working to failure is tremendously helpful for hypertrophy, for building strength, getting within a rep or two is fine. So if you can do 15 and you stop at 13 or even 12, that's fine. If you can do 25 and stop at 13, you will not make much progress.
Which brings me to...
I think my triceps and biceps get well worked, playing my viola. :-)
They might get tired, but you're building endurance more than strength. Ideally, your strength program will challenge the muscles in a very different way - more intensity, but less volume.
Whew! Like Littleman said, that's already really long and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. I'll throw out my current, albeit ever-changing list of "rules" that increasingly guide my approach.
1. Bias for joy/fun
2. Something is better than nothing
3. Start where you are
4. Goals determine strategy and strategy determines tactics.
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Sorry, my "computers off" time came before I realized that I never did say what, if not pullups, will you do with the pullup bar.
Ideally, put it in a place you pass frequently and a few times a day at a height that you can reach with your feet still on the floor.
Here's a quick mobility test: interlace your fingers with your index fingers pointing out (i.e. not interlaced). Now point as straight up as you can. Do your arms comfortably go back to your ears without having to arch your back? If no, start with Level 1. If yes, start with Level 2.
Level 1. This should be very gentle, more like a gentle stretch and not an intense one. Grab the bar and flex your knees until you feel a light stretch. Hold for at least 45 seconds (typically with stretches you'll feel a release around 40 seconds). Do this is often as you can. A couple times a day if possible.
Level 2. You have the mobility for a straight-arm hang, so now just bend your legs more and more. Put enough weight on your hands that in 30s to 60s it's starting to burn or your grip is weakening. Just keep adding weight.
Why?
1. Lots of people lose mobility in their arms and that limits their ability to do things like put their own bag in the overhead bins on an aircraft or reach something off a high shelf.
2. Grip strength is handy as you get unstable as you age. Being able to have a firm grip on a stair railing might extend your independence by many years.
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Well, I officially did my first workout using Littleman's suggestions. I kept having to stop and read the list. I expect it'll get faster as I get the routine memorized.
>> comfortably go back to your ears
Yes, I can do that.
>> Bias for joy/fun
For me that would be swimming. Good for the viola muscles!
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I am sorry for your loss, but congratulate you on the potential genetic lottery. 102 for a man is really outstanding!
> 1. Get started
> 2. Don't get hurt
> 3. Keep going
Absolutely!
>Well, I officially did my first workout using Littleman's suggestions.
That's great!!!
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Yay! Good work!
>>Yes I can do that
It sounds like you have very good joint health. It's not uncommon to read training advice that people over X (commonly as young as 50) shouldn't do exercises overhead because so many have poor shoulder mobility and put themselves at risk when they do things like the hangs I suggested or the dumbbell shoulder presses that LM suggested.
That's a huge plus and puts you in a way better place that most 70yos starting a training program. Sub-body-weight hangs wouldn't be a problem and they're definitely good for you and can easily be done at random times outside your main workout. And they feel good.
>> swimming
Yeah, unfortunately that's like running for me. Running is so convenient (maybe that's not true for swimming) and I have beautiful, peaceful places to run, so I always want to just default to it. But in an overall fitness program, just running is not enough for my goals.
So there is a bit of forcing myself to lift weights. From 18-39, I lived or worked or both within 10-minutes walk from a gym and I really enjoyed working out in that setting, but I really have trouble working out in my own home. I've found moving that workout outdoors and sometimes doing weird things like throwing moderately heavy rocks makes it way more fun for me. So it's a *bias* *towards* fun. Sometimes it's not especially fun and you just have to keep your eyes on the prize, but anything you can find that makes it more fun is always helpful, even if it makes the workout itself maybe a bit less optimal.
That's just my opinion and I'm a very process-oriented person and not a very goal-oriented person. Maybe for a goal-oriented person it just matters that the goal is compelling and whether the means are pleasant or not is not very relevant.
In any case, the big news is that you've started. That's fantastic. Keep us posted on how it goes and how you feel.
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PSA from Dan John: "About two weeks after New Years is the best time to buy lower end gym equipment."
https://medium.com/@danjohn84123/building-your-home-gym-d1a4404b7573
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Speaking of rep ranges.... 2016 and 2021 research papers show that for most regular people, high reps can lead to similar gains in hypertrophy and maybe even strength differences are not that great.
Of course, actual strength athletes training to hit a 1-rep-max have to train for that and thus need to lift heavy with low reps, but for most people, especially those who are relatively untrained, even 25 reps will result in gains as long as it is done to exhaustion. That can get pretty tedious working in those rep ranges though.
Thus, as a matter of principle, there is no ideal “hypertrophy zone.” From a practical standpoint, however, a case can be made that moderate loads provide the most efficient means to achieve muscle development given that light load training involves performing many more repetitions compared to the use of heavier loads, which in turn increases the time spent training. Moreover, the high levels of metabolic acidosis that accompany the use of light loads tends to cause discomfort [81], which in turn can negatively impact adherence. Alternatively, evidence suggests that heavy load training requires more sets to achieve comparable hypertrophy to moderate loads. Not only is this inefficient from a time standpoint, but the combination of heavy loads with high training volumes heightens joint-related stresses and increases the potential for overtraining.... Overall, there is a paucity of studies carried out in women on the topic. Given evidence that women possess a greater capacity to resist fatigue [87], it is conceivable there may be sex-specific differences in adaptations across the repetition continuum.
Review article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7927075/
Also, a study (this is the popular press version; I didn't go back to the original paper)
"Fatigue is the great equalizer here," says Stuart Phillips, senior author on the study and professor in the Department of Kinesiology. "Lift to the point of exhaustion and it doesn't matter whether the weights are heavy or light."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160712094259.htm
Generally speaking, this is good news for those of us who might have some years on the joints and don't want to run all the risks of lifting toward our 1RM.
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Speaking of rep ranges.... 2016 and 2021 research papers show that for most regular people, high reps can lead to similar gains in hypertrophy and maybe even strength differences are not that great.
Of course, actual strength athletes training to hit a 1-rep-max have to train for that and thus need to lift heavy with low reps, but for most people, especially those who are relatively untrained, even 25 reps will result in gains as long as it is done to exhaustion. That can get pretty tedious working in those rep ranges though.
I have my own rep range;
Yesterdays target was the chest
Dumbbell benchpress
- Warm up - very light weight 6KG - 3 sets of 20 reps
- 10KG - 3 sets of 10 reps
- 14KG - 3 sets of 10 reps
- 16KG - 3 sets of 10 reps
- 20KG - 2 sets of 8 reps
- 24KG - 1 set of 8 reps
- 26KG - 1 set of 8 reps
- 30KG - 1 set of 6 reps
- 36KG (my max) - 1 set of 3 reps
- 16KG till failure
No science, just what works for me - it was recommended by my brother-in-laws brother
I then did an incline dumbbell press and then dumbbell raises - similar sort of pyramid setup
Then a chest finisher with dumbbell benchpress and dumbbell raises using 8KG weights, 6 reps alternating between the two exercises until I couldn't do anymore.
Note* I could probably hit 40 or even 42KG (on the benchpress) and do 2 or 3 reps but I've seen some nasty injuries which I want to avoid at all costs! People just pusing to hard because they think they have to!
Note** Stiff shoulders, chest and arms today - plenty of protein and water to repair and rebuild the chest area
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That's a lot of volume! 19 sets per exercise sounds like a big mental load as much as physical.
Are you doing all those straight through?
Buckworks, how is the strength training going?
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I am not managing to train as often as was suggested here but even so, every once in a while I feel ... different. In a good way. Hard to describe.
My hand weights are a couple of pounds, and I found some ankle weights which I haven't used yet.
My main goal is to get stronger on stairs. Not feeling that yet.
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One of the cardinal principles of training is "specificity." In other words, if you want to get better at running, the best training is running. If you want to get better at flying trapeze, the best training is flying trapeze. Thus, if you want to get better at stairs...
This makes obvious sense I'm sure, but you can think of it like music. Playing viola will improve your viola the most. But playing violin will be better than not playing and may teach you a new thing about the viola. Piano will have less value than violin, but might help you rethink some things about the viola and let you work on other things. So if you have limited time to keep up your viola skills, you would want to spend all that playing viola. But if, say, your shoulders or fingers are getting too tired for viola but you want to spend more time playing music, the piano might be an option.
Another cardinal principle is "progressive overload." That means that you want to overload the system you're working (so in this case, primarily your leg strength). So rather than just climb stairs, put on a backpack and throw a few liters of water in it and climb some stairs. Next week, add another liter. And so on. Think of this somewhat like playing scales. No musician dreams of being really good at scales, but if you want to get truly fluent with the instrument, you have to do some scales.
You can add other challenges. Practice stepping off a stair as slowly as possible, controlling the speed at which you step down. This is called "eccentric loading" and is a special challenge for the muscles (and can get you real sore if you overdo it). The next level would be to slowly descend but just do a heel tap without weighting the heel, just touching, then reversing back up. I actually have our favorite mutual friend doing these to try to fix some knee issues. I don't know enough about music to come up with an analogy there. I think this is basically just playing scales in different keys.
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>> have to do some scales
Side comment: When I was a teenager, there was a fellow in the violin section of my city's youth orchestra whose father made him "earn" his TV watching time with music practice. If he wanted to watch an hour-long show, he had to pay for it with an hour of violin practice, ahead of time. He could bank the time; it didn't have to all be on the same day. He ended up as one of our best violinists .... and he also became very, very selective about what shows were worth watching!
>> Piano will have less value
Much musical learning happens inside the head, not just the fingers, so there can be considerable transfer of skills between piano and other instruments, or voice. Developing one's sense of rhythm, developing one's ear for harmony and tonality, understanding different genres, reading music, etc..
It's all good.
>> leg strength
In our area right now things are so icy that even a short walk is treacherous. Maintaining balance to avoid falling is paramount.
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Exactly. I saw that with T learning guitar after a life of playing piano and viola (did you know she was a viola player through high-school orchestra?). Her musical ability gave her a huge leg up compared to me, for example. Nevertheless, a few months of playing the guitar regularly and she was still way behind where she was on piano.
Very similar with physical activity. Stairs are the best thing for stairs. Squats and hill sprints can still make you a monster on stairs. Curls and shoulder presses will have minimal carryover, but not zero.
And much of it is actually "inside the head" or, more accurately, inside the nervous system generally, both central and peripheral. At our ages, most strength gains come from neurological gains (learning how to recruit muscle) than from actual muscle building. After age 40, adding muscle is very hard and it gets harder each year (this from Don Layman, the premier researcher on muscle protein synthesis - half the other experts in the field were students of his).
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I've made a trail in my pasture that I walk with my dogs. It's nice. One of these days I might run it. :)
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>> she was a viola player
Hah! No wonder we liked each other! :-)
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That's a lot of volume! 19 sets per exercise sounds like a big mental load as much as physical.
Are you doing all those straight through?
I have modified slightly as I was struggling to much on my heavier weights - I pretty much warm up on the 10KG / 14KG sets and then go straight to 18KG and go up in similar fashion!
I've seen a lot of horror stories with muscles and tendons being torn so I am still not hitting my PBs across all exercises - I can feel I have another 5% - 10% across all exercises but I am conciously not hitting them until I feel comfortable to do so..
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One of my go-to healthy meal options when I am in a bit of a rush with not much to spend in the kitchen is roasted veg with feta and steak. The local supermarket does the veg in a simple ready to go bag.
Butternut, Baby marrow, Red onion, Red/Green pepper and Rosemary - in the oven for 40 minutes then when it's fresh out of the oven crumble feta and toss it through... then a medium sirloin steak.
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My scale is reporting the same number but a few days ago I put on a pair of slacks that I hadn't worn for a while and the non-elastic waist was Too Loose. I'll have to take them in a bit.
I had mixed feelings about that because I wanted to wear my "power suit" that day and couldn't!
I'm chugging on with my little routine, still mostly indoors. I am sooooo ready for spring!
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Figured I would throw in here.
Since the beginning of the year I have been getting back into weight lifting at the gym. Been going 3 times a week consistently. I try to do squats and bench presses (or some variation of that) every time I go and then mix in a handful of other lifts (leg press, tricep work, curls, core stuff, pull downs, rows, etc.) and I have started deadlifts too.
My probably unachievable goal is the 1000 lb club (1000 combined squat, deadlift, and bench). I haven't tried any PRs yet but I have hit 205 on the squat with 5 reps, 135 on bench with 5 reps, and 215 deadlift with 5 reps. If I just did one rep I could probably hit 600 combined. 1000 pounds will be a pretty big stretch and not sure how long it will take to get there but it will be a pretty big milestone to hit. When I first started in January 135 lb squats were brutal and my bench was only 95 lbs so there has been some decent progress so far. Not sure if I can hit 800 by mid-summer but that is what I am shooting for.
And golf season is starting so I will get a lot of walking in there. I have tried using the cardio machines and have tried running in the past but I get bored with that really quick. But I could walk 10 miles on the golf course and still want to do more.
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My scale is reporting the same number
I thought of mentioning this earlier, but I didn't want to divert from the conversation on your strength journey, but... the number on the scales is one of the worst metrics of health and fitness and "losing weight" is typically a bad goal. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!!
A better goal is losing fat if you have too much fat (and most of us do, though there are people who need to gain fat to reach optimal health).
One great thing about your weight loss is that you did it very gradually, which means that your weight loss was probably overwhelmingly fat loss. That's a good thing. It is MUCH easier to lose a pound of fat than to gain a pound of muscle.
Many crash diets actually result in losing more than one pound of muscle for every pound of fat lost. Your body essentially eats its own muscle protein in order to fuel the processes elsewhere that require protein (like making blood cells and replacing cells in the heart, which are not optional, whereas skeletal muscle is).
All that to say that if your weight is the same, but your waist size is shrinking (or wherever it was you had to take in the pants), then CELEBRATE!
If you *gain* two pounds without the pants getting tighter, then celebrate again.
As we go into our older age, maintaining muscle is vitally important. Didn't you say you lost ONE HUNDRED pounds? Quick double check
gradually lost a hundred pounds.
I haven't seen you in a long while, but I would guess that after 100 pounds of weight loss which probably was mostly fat but probably involved some muscle loss (in general, if you go into calorie deficit you go catabolic and lose muscle unless you are both taking a lot of protein and doing strength work), adding muscle is probably more important for your long-term health now than losing fat, even if you haven't reached that pre-pregnancy weight yet.
So all in all, steady weight and shrinking waist is exactly the outcome you would hope for. Given how hard it is to add muscle at 70, you should give yourself several pats on the back.
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>>1000 lb club
Good goal! Scary goal! Don't get hurt.
You have me thinking about just shooting for the 600 club. I'd be happy with that. I have a lot of running and climbing goals for this year, but no strength goals. I think for me that would break down as 250DL, 200 squat, 150 bench. Maybe a bit more on DL and less on BP I'm sorry to say.
For a while, I was trying to get back to a 305 deadlift, which is 2.2X bodyweight for me and fairly easy for 12 reps in my 40s, but just way way beyond me now. Many years of lack of access to a gym and I usually stop at 185 or 195 these days, and not 12 reps.
As for squats, I don't have a rack, so I can only front squat what I can clean from the ground. After a bit of whining about it, I decided that it's probably good for me to do that for a while so I don't get hurt.
I don't have indoor space for all that, but the master plan is to build an outdoor space that's covered so I can put a rack in there and make it easier to store weights conveniently and change weights and do proper squats.
For now my gym looks like this:
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>> several pats on the back
Thanks! One productivity-boosting thing I've learned over the years is to celebrate small victories.
I now have a set of three-pound dumbbells but haven't started using them yet.