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Exercise...where to draw the line

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    • socks wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      Socks, do you vary your speed and intensity?
      On ocassion but not S a matter of regime or plan, just if I'm feelin lively that dY, dosen't happen to offten. Couple years ago I did try Jeff G's ??? Run walk run method . But couldn't stick with it.
      Galloway. That's what I do but I have worked up to continuous running. What's funny is I'm as slow running as I am run/walking. :D
      Lost in the right direction.

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      socks wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      Socks, do you vary your speed and intensity?
      On ocassion but not S a matter of regime or plan, just if I'm feelin lively that dY, dosen't happen to offten. Couple years ago I did try Jeff G's ??? Run walk run method . But couldn't stick with it.
      Galloway. That's what I do but I have worked up to continuous running. What's funny is I'm as slow running as I am run/walking. :D
      there ya go, Galloway, was draw in' a blank. I got old ladies out pacing me, no exaggeration.. I walk slow and steady but my gate is very short, it's the speed I feel most comfortable at and can set my watch by it, and pretty much always get with in a minute or two.

    • Cardio is grossly overrated.

      Monday:
      Pushups, 50. Any variation from standing vertical and pushing off a wall to a rigid torso, hands and feet honest to God pushup. Whatever method you choose when you can do 50 vary your type working towards getting into a real pushup position.

      Situps, 50. Again, work up to it.

      Squats, 50. Do I expect you to be able to do 50 air squats right now? no, work up to it. Start with sitting and standing 50 times and work up to it. when you can do 50 air squats add weight.

      Pullups, 15. Start out using a low bar and use only enough leg to get you there. Again, vary it till you can get to real pullups.

      Plank. 90 secs hands and feet immediately into 45 each side.

      Wednesday:

      Sprint 16 seconds and rest/walk 8 seconds. do this 8 times. Are you Carl Lewis? No, you're not. A sprint is simply max effort, not a "speed".

      Friday: See Monday.

      There ya go, that's all you need to do and it's scalable to the point that anyone can do it.
      If your Doctor is a tree, you're on acid.

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      I can do a variation of all of those except pull ups. What's an alternative for a pull up?
      You can use bands attached to the bar and put a foot in them to assist and slowly change out the bands as you progress. You can also use a low bar (set at neck height) and lower yourself then do the pull up with the tips of your toes on the ground and use only enough leg strength to keep you moving upward. If your bar is fixed above your head then you can use a bucket or a chair to raise you above the bar and again only use enough leg strength to keep you moving upward.

      Another good upper body strength exercise is handstand pushups. Sounds intimidating and it is, but again scale it. Start out with your knees on a couch or chair and bend at the waist doing pushups off the floor (make sure and put a pillow on the floor for your head....)
      If your Doctor is a tree, you're on acid.

    • Bottom line for any of the exercises? Range of motion. It's about doing the exercise with the range of motion intended for the exercise while doing whatever is necessary to take away enough of the work to allow you to accomplish it. By doing this you're engaging the muscles necessary for the motion and slowly building them up to perform the motion with your full body weight.

      TJ, I know you ride a lot; start paying close attention to the other riders and notice how many of the hardcore crowd are "skinny fat". Yeah, they're thin, but they are weak and some are to the point of being basically emaciated.
      If your Doctor is a tree, you're on acid.

    • Foresight wrote:

      Bottom line for any of the exercises? Range of motion. It's about doing the exercise with the range of motion intended for the exercise while doing whatever is necessary to take away enough of the work to allow you to accomplish it. By doing this you're engaging the muscles necessary for the motion and slowly building them up to perform the motion with your full body weight.

      TJ, I know you ride a lot; start paying close attention to the other riders and notice how many of the hardcore crowd are "skinny fat". Yeah, they're thin, but they are weak and some are to the point of being basically emaciated.
      I totally agree with you. When I'm sticking to my strength-training routine, I see a lot of results. My problem is I can't stick to it because it's not what I enjoy doing. I slack off and before I know it, a month will go by.

      But you reminded me to get back at it so yesterday I threw a blanket on the nursery floor (it was a slow day), closed the blinds, and did sit ups, planks, squats, and wall push ups. So thanks for the motivation. :)
      Lost in the right direction.

    • I was addicted to exercise in my mid-late 20s. Too much looked something like this:

      2 personal training appointments lifting weights each week at the gym
      3 Taekwondo classes per week
      5-6 runs each week (usually 2-3 miles)
      20 miles pedaling the bike around town each week.

      This went on for a good 4-5 years.


      Yeah, I still love exercise and do something strenuous almost daily, but my body certainly took a beating back in the good ol' days when I thought I was invincible.
      www.appalachiantrailclarity.com - Life on the A.T.

      Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.

    • twistwrist wrote:

      I was addicted to exercise in my mid-late 20s. Too much looked something like this:

      2 personal training appointments lifting weights each week at the gym
      3 Taekwondo classes per week
      5-6 runs each week (usually 2-3 miles)
      20 miles pedaling the bike around town each week.

      This went on for a good 4-5 years.


      Yeah, I still love exercise and do something strenuous almost daily, but my body certainly took a beating back in the good ol' days when I thought I was invincible.
      I was in great shape having worked in construction for 30 years, never did any workin out, just went to work. Then somethin changed as I got older, I went from one overuse injury to the next...and here I am a bag-a-bones ratteln'

    • I find that hiking is the only moderate-to-strenuous exercise that I can stand enough to stick with it. So don't ask my advice about a program. But my doc looks at my lipid profile and blood pressure and tells me I'm doing something right.

      My job, alas, keeps me chained to a desk or lab bench a lot of the time. But I make it a point to walk at least a couple of miles with a pack every goshdurned day, whatever the weather. (That includes deep winter.)
      I'm not lost. I know where I am. I'm right here.

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      Foresight wrote:

      Bottom line for any of the exercises? Range of motion. It's about doing the exercise with the range of motion intended for the exercise while doing whatever is necessary to take away enough of the work to allow you to accomplish it. By doing this you're engaging the muscles necessary for the motion and slowly building them up to perform the motion with your full body weight.

      TJ, I know you ride a lot; start paying close attention to the other riders and notice how many of the hardcore crowd are "skinny fat". Yeah, they're thin, but they are weak and some are to the point of being basically emaciated.
      I totally agree with you. When I'm sticking to my strength-training routine, I see a lot of results. My problem is I can't stick to it because it's not what I enjoy doing. I slack off and before I know it, a month will go by.
      But you reminded me to get back at it so yesterday I threw a blanket on the nursery floor (it was a slow day), closed the blinds, and did sit ups, planks, squats, and wall push ups. So thanks for the motivation. :)
      That's why I feel guilty if I miss a day...the slippery slope starts.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • twistwrist wrote:

      I was addicted to exercise in my mid-late 20s. Too much looked something like this:

      2 personal training appointments lifting weights each week at the gym
      3 Taekwondo classes per week
      5-6 runs each week (usually 2-3 miles)
      20 miles pedaling the bike around town each week.

      This went on for a good 4-5 years.


      Yeah, I still love exercise and do something strenuous almost daily, but my body certainly took a beating back in the good ol' days when I thought I was invincible.
      Slacker!
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      Any activity that gets someone off the couch is beneficial and worthy. The benefits of being active are not just physical but psychological as well. Active people are happier, more productive, have better sex lives, etc.


      True that! ;)
      www.appalachiantrailclarity.com - Life on the A.T.

      Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.

    • Totally unrelated to this thread, but I was driving to work tonight (after being up most of the day for my baby's HS graduation and subsequent party, woot) and I was behind a Dodge Challenger with a license plate holder that had "Doctor Who" on the top and "My other car is a Tardis" on the bottom. I started to pass, but I knew it would just piss me off when I got to the light and it was back in front of me.
      If your Doctor is a tree, you're on acid.