Exercise and Fitness II

[seastarr]

thanks for the advice, I do them on a leg raise/dip station or from a hanging position from a pullup bar. I've tried doing them palms on the floor, or even about 6-10 inches off the floor on some sort of bar type raisers but my feet just thump straight down, I can't seem to keep them up at all from that position. I'll see about trying them palms down on some yoga blocks, how high are those?

Oh, I get it now. I wasn't picturing you doing it from hanging. Yoga blocks sound a lot like the raisers you've been using--maybe 5-6 inches of extra height. You could start by just lifting your hips up off the floor, keeping the back of your heels down, and trying to lift one leg at a time from the floor. Or try one leg at a time from the hanging position to build strength. Heck, just try standing on one leg and lifting your other straight out in from of you and balancing for as long as you can with your leg high and your back straight. All will help with the double leg lifts. Have fun!

[Kat]

Recognition is the motivation for a lot of plastic surgery patients - "I caught a look at myself in the store mirror and wondered who the woman with overhanging skin over her jeans was - and then I realized it was me!"...or they hear an unkind question once too often, like "when are you due?" Recognition is also the motivation to get back into shape after a slow decline - the interview I read with Kathy Ireland was this exactly - apparently, her teenage son snapped a picture of her, and giggling, said "mom, you look pregnant!" as she was making a batch of cookies. Apparently, she had gained a pound a year over 25 years. Time for a change - changed her lifestyle with diet and exercise, and she was on the cover of a magazine again in a bikini just recently.

Anyone who laughs at their mom and tells them they look pregnant is fucking rude. And who the hell asks that of strangers? Haven't people fucking learned to mind their own business already?

I don't mind the idea of telling it like it is when it comes to fitness, when someone has proven that they aren't in shape and want to get better for fitness's sake, but I'm also not a fan of the "no one should ever look different even as they age" school of thought. I hope that when I'm 50, I can just accept the fact that 50 year old women look different from 25 year old women, and if I'm continuing to be active, that's great, but if people (in general) can't accept that aging happens, that's their problem, not mine. Because I bet not even cavewomen looked like bikini models when they were 50.

[seastarr]

Liffguard, seastarr, and lockesnow are like, the best n00bs ever.

That's 'cause we're old souls. :kiss:

[lokisnow]

thanks, except I joined the old board in Jan 2002 or thereabouts. :-p

[ztemhead]

somethingpositive.board

this is the physically strongest I've ever been. :)

not the "best shape" as I reckon when I was doing judo I had better coordination, flexibility, and "usable power" AKA the ability to translate power into action. I was in better cardio shape then too.

but in terms of ability to move X weight up and down and back and forth, right now is a personal high for me.

[lokisnow]

lol

anyway, legs day today, yay! I added five pounds to my max squat, 210x5. when I got to the last set I really really wanted to add 10lbs and make it 215, I'd added ten pounds on every set before compared to last week. I even put the five pound weights on the bar. Then I checked myself. I remembered how my form was getting wobbly on the last two reps of the previous set and how something didn't feel quite as correct on the last rep in particular. I decided not to be foolish and push myself too hard and sacrifice form for the sake of a meaningless number. So I pulled the fives off and put 2.5s on instead. Then I did my last set, by the second rep I could feel that my form was indeed under more strain to do it correctly, I didn't go as deep as I should have on the forth rep and my knees wobbled inward and I drove up more on my toes on the last rep, so I'm glad I didn't go heavier. Next week starts heavy sets of 5x5 for four weeks, so I'm going to really concentrate on nailing that form to the ground and not worry so much about adding weight. I'll be rewatching my starting strength dvd and rereading the chapter on squats. :-p

results time, after a four week max 0T session: Lat pull down 150x6 at start, now 175x6

dumbbell rows, 50x6-70x6

Good Mornings: 85x6-110x6

Deadlifts: 155x6-200x6

Dumbbell Shrugs - 55x6-75x6

Standing Front Dumbbell Raises - 50x3-60x5 (didn't do these this week, ran out of time at the gym)

Press - 95x6 (really a push press)-115x6

Bench - 155x6-185x6

Incline Dumbbell - 40x6-65x4

Decline Dumbbell - 50x6-55x5 (eliminated from workout after week 2)

Tricep Press downs - 100x6-150x6 (but if I tried doing them on the lat pull down station, I could only do half the weight stack of the other station, fucking pullies)

lying Tricep Extensions - 50x6-75x5

Straight bar curl - 85x6-110x6

Alternating Dumbbell Curls - 45x6-55x6

Straight Bar wrist curls - 65x8-85x10

Dumbbell Wrist Curls - 40x6-40x8 (elimated from workout after week 2)

Squats - 185x6-210x5

Barbell Lunges - 65x6-100x6

Leg Presses - 190x6-205x6 (eliminated from workout after week 2)

Standing Calf Raise - 200x6-260x6

Cable Rope crunches - 60x12-130x12

[Stego]

Disgusting leg workout today. I could not get up the stairs in my house afterward without siting down to rest twice. Did a 5x5 pretty much (6x5 for squats-- I felt froggy.) on squats and deads. Then did leg press, then front squats, then donkey press, then supersets for leg extensions/hamstring curls. I want to find a corner to weep in right now.

I love that my wife squats for more than all the little bicep curl douchebag frat boys that pose in the mirror. They go from flexing and preening to averting their eyes and acting shy pretty quick and it makes my day.

[OctopusArms]

Welp, I figure it's about time I get in on this subject. But some background, first. Last August, the 18th, in fact, my buddy sent me a picture from the fourth of July. "Who's that fatty?" I wondered, before I realized it was me. So I went to the gym, hopped on the scale. 315. Not again! I'd seen it before, and gotten down to 270 before kind of losing interest. Twice. So, I hit the cardio. Changed my diet, too, which was the biggest problem. Exercise and activity isn't a problem for me. I like being active: hiking, working out, did a little jiu jitsu the last time I was "slim", before it got too expensive. I wasn't lifting, though. Had my fill of it from years of playing football. I knew I should lift, but I just didn't have the motivation.

I hit 270 (again) in mid January. Then I moved. Then I got complacent, stopped hitting the gym and plateaued. Lost nothing between then and now (luckily I hadn't gained). I decided to start hitting the weights again in the beginning of May and start doing this HIIT stuff I've heard so much about. At first it was a little depressing, cause the only machine I can rack is the assisted pull ups. I'm starting to lose again, which is awesome, but I'm also really liking lifting again. I look forward to working out now, instead of feeling like I HAVE to go. It's nice. I also decided to to whip out the old football lifting program again, since that's when I was at my physical strongest and in the best shape. I squatted today for the first time in 2 years. 225 x 12 on my last set. I was pretty happy with that (and yes, they are the deepest of deep squats).

[ztemhead]

welcome to the thread.

have a cookie... no wait

have some yogurt and oatmeal instead.

[Elrostar]

Just got back from running 5 miles at the gym. No incline this time, did it in 48 minutes. For now I'm just trying to build my stamina back up slowly. But it feels good to be active again. This week ended up getting shafted because of graduation festivities for my wife.

But my plan is to go back later today and do weights (upper body).

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

the gardening workout: dug out an 8x4ft area for a sunny flower garden; lifted 3 bags of mulch (2cu ft each) and a 2cu ft bag of garden soil. That bag was HEAVY. After lifting all several times, I carried them to the back yard.

My thighs and back are really feeling it. (I know, not like squating 200lbs, but the 4 hours of straight work kicked my ass)

[lokisnow]

I walked to the gym (1.5 miles) got on the treadmill, set it to 5 degrees for 60 minutes at 3mph and began, then I added half a degree every minute I was on the treadmill, then once I was at 15 degrees I added a 1/10 of an mph to the speed. by the time I got to 4mph it was a hell of an effort, the plan was to go back down a 1/10 of mph every minute, but I modified and went down 2/10 every minute, then took a half a degree off every minute. One hell of a workout without ever going into a jog or run, quite impressive, and a nice way to vary up the cardio workout. :) then I had the 1.5 mile walk back to my apt. :-p

[Kat]

Yeah, I'm a fan of walking at an incline as well, locke. It feels more like hiking. Still trying to get back into the running thing, but not today.

Today was glorious weather, so I biked to the gym for a pilates class. Everyone else except for one woman was out enjoying the sunshine, so it was semi-private instruction. Then I biked back along the beach and through the park.

Tomorrow I am walking in the Bay to Breakers, which is a ~7.5 mile footrace. I'm sure by the time I cross the starting line, even, the elite runners will have already crossed the finish, but this is more an excuse to walk across SF in nice weather and people watch, since the race is really an excuse to party while moving. (They banned floats, nudity, and alcohol this year, but I highly doubt any of those will actually be absent.)

[ztemhead]

I like your exercise plan, kat.

I wonder if it would be socially acceptable to eat a Dairy Queen Banana Cream Pie Blizzard while doing the walk

[Kat]

It definitely would, but I don't think there are any DQs here, or if there are, I've never seen any. I would be unsurprised if I saw someone with a blender on wheels though. I think "floats" were invented just so people would not have to carry all their party stuff. A lot of the floats are like, decorated kegs on wheels. :cheers:

Apparently they unbanned nudity and you can have floats if they're pre-approved. The main problem is that people who live along the race route were having drunk people pee in their front yards or in the sidewalk because there are never enough potties.

[ztemhead]

Apparently they unbanned nudity and you can have floats if they're pre-approved. The main problem is that people who live along the race route were having drunk people pee in their front yards or in the sidewalk because there are never enough potties.

No Dairy Queens? The HORROR!!!

being convicted of public urination in Arizona means you have to register as a "sex offender"

[Mudguard]

Hiked up Iron Mountain yesterday, supposedly one of the toughest single peak hikes in the San Gabriels. 15 miles and about 7000 feet elevation gain. The hike completely kicked my butt. Took me 11 hours to complete. Brought 6 liters of water with me, and drank it all by mile 13. I could tell I was a bit dehydrated, so I checked my weight when I got home. Lost 5 lbs, even after drinking 6 liters of water and eating 3 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and two bananas during the hike. I could see the salt buildup on my shirt and parts of my face, so I'm thinking that I lost a ton of electrolytes during the hike.

When I got back home, I ate a whole pizza and a package of instant ramen for good measure in an effort to replace all the salts I lost. Don't think that was enough. Weighed myself this morning and I only gained back 1 lb of the 5 I lost.

[Stego]

You should be drinking more than 6 liters of water over the course of a day if you are being sedentary, IMO. In cold weather mountain training we were drinking about 5 galons a day and eating about 12 thousand calories a day.

[Mudguard]

Wow, 12 thousand calories. That's amazing. It's what I would eat in about a week. I have no idea how many calories I burned, but I'm sure it's a lot more than simply running 15 miles. I ate about 3000 calories yesterday, and it probably wasn't enough to cover all the calories I burned. I wish I had a good way to estimate how many calories I'm burning on these hikes.

I could have used an extra liter of water during the hike. I probably should bring salt tablets too. But carrying more than 6 liters of water makes a tough hike even harder. No sources of water on this last hike, so I had to pack everything.

[Stego]

I never ate that many calories before in my life. But in the sub-zero, low oxygen conditions they insisted we do that. And after a couple of weeks of it, we had all lost weight.