What did you do to exercise today?

[AshWilliams]

I just thought I'd put this out there for you guys that hit the weights.

I'm in my late 40s and it's somewhat of a struggle accumulating lean muscle mass, so diet plays a crucial role. I stumbled across this a couple of weeks ago during my research and it's really helped with eliminating the confusion around optimal caloric and protein intake.

A solid blueprint for optimally feeding the fires written by a professional bodybuilder:
The Balanced Macro Diet

 

[Joe13]

Got 5 workouts in this week.

Wife is hitting the gym with me after work so that's keeping me motivated.

Side bonus is I'm working longer days so Friday is a little less then a half day - I'll take it

 

[teflon6string]

I have seen lots of theorys on when to eat before a work out, including to only work on on a fast (ie in the AM before breakfast)

But good to you to figure that out.

I like to have something 2-3 hours before a workout ( like some fruit, egg, carrots) but not a meal.

My usual work out is at 1730

If I have not been drinking, water, then it is worse for me than not eating.

Totally agree, and I've usually been able to observe something like that as a perennial bachelor most of my life - usually waiting at least 30 minutes after a meal. Married now, I sometimes "find out" it's time to work out when Mrs. Teflon is suddenly ready. I need to communicate, keep an eye on my watch and plan ahead, just in case. No problem eating every hour if a full meal replaces a planned workout.

Sadly, I was down with a 3-4 day cold and the only reps I accomplished since Monday were with the TV remote. Will start again tonight with some easy dumbbells, pulldowns, stretches, etc.

 

[RicInOR]

Maggie's Farm

The Maggie's Balanced Fitness Program, Revisited for Autumn - Maggie's Farm

The Maggie's Balanced Fitness Program for adults of all ages and for all gender identifications.


Weekly Program:

- 2 sessions calis classes (or 1 class and 1 hr of do-it-yourself calis). Most gyms have classes in varying levels of challenge.
- 2 one hr sessions powerlifts and related heavy wts and cables (including 10 mins warm-up time)
- 2 twenty to 25- min sessions of HIIT (running sprints, jump rope, ski erg, rower sprints) combined with 2 half hrs of accessory weights (eg curls, dips, pullups, pushups, farmer walks, heavy ball games, Roman Chair, etc etc)
- 1 hr mixed medium intensity "cardio" - rower, stair machine, bike, treadmill, swim, elliptical - as an "active recovery" day. Or a longish (2 1/2 hr+) hill hike/rock climb.


I think the logic in this is clear: it is "balanced" because it covers bone and muscle strength/maintenance, general endurance, athleticism, and improved cardiac function. My three years of this program has revised my body, my ability, and my energy to an extent that keeps surprising me. Surprises Mrs. BD too. No bulging muscles though. That has to do with your genetics.

A program with this regularity requires decent sleep habits and rational nutrition. Can you lose fat with this program? Minimally.

What about Crossfit instead? Fine. Try it. I have friends who swear by it. No, it's not a cult. It's congenial and upbeat while they kick your bubblegum.


One caveat: About every 3 weeks I experience my (trademarked) "Double Gravity" when I get up at my usual farmer's 4 am. It means I can get up to pee, but an overwhelming force flops me back onto bed for an hour. I take that as a signal that my body wants a day off from intense exertion so I will usually just do the mixed cardio a little later that day.

 

[RicInOR]

I thought I had shared, but apparently not.

My company and their health insurance partner are doing a fun team activity.
Walking. I am sure the home office has posters up as they are "walking across Europe"

I signed up, and while a few weeks ago I was averaging 2500 steps per day, I am up slightly
My Cross-fit class does not count in those steps.
For the past 3 weeks I have averaged 12k/day. I got quickly to 5k, then 7k and 10k / day.
No where near @Boboclown 's work totals.

2k steps ~ 1 mile. My pace is also about 19 min/mile - just over 3 mph. I walk before work - park my car, walk around the campus ~ 40 mins, 1.9 mi. Then again at lunch. On days I hit the gym, that is it. On the other days, I go for a 3rd walk.
10k steps ~ 1 hour walking.

Because I work on the 3rd floor, I get about 12 flights of stairs / day too. Arrive to work, go for coffee, go for lunch + likely one more set.

This is a huge time investment ~4 hours on gym day. <3 on the others.



As of 1 Oct I am trying Keto for a month. I had no idea steak had gone up so much (Choice @ 11/lb)
But I have found some grass-fed ground beef with a good percentage of fat.
Chicken thighs over breasts.
Goal is 10lb drop in Oct. I am same weight I was July 1, been plateaued since then.

 

[RicInOR]

Preventing Muscle Loss as We Age

 

[OldBroad44]

I usually do some working out with 2-lb and 8-lb barbells so my hands and arms are strong enough to handle heavy revolvers. However not this time of year, after harvesting my dry bean breeding projects. Instead I'm hand shelling individual bean plants for single-plant evaluations and selection. Its lots more strenuous finger, hand, and forearm exercise than you might think.

 

[Rick Shaw]

Great thread! Every year, exercise gets a little more difficult. The creaks and pops seem to speak louder than the grunts and growls of the effort and drive. Yet we all get that it's one of the pillars to longevity.

As a recent retiree, I have my fair share of "USTA" exercises, such as..."I USTA bench, I USTA deadlift." There are now certain movements that are either near impossible, or darn risky. I now focus on flexibility and range of motion. Machine wise, I LOVE my "Chuck Norris approved"Totalgym." It's actually legit, and is based upon the Pilates Reformer. Those things can cost thousands, but my TotalGym was $180-. The TotalGym doesn't use weights per se. It uses adjustable percentages of your own body weight for resistance. I can't say enough about this great investment!

I start each day with push offs. Not push UPS. I just can't do a single push up on the ground anymore. Too many painful joints that can't handle the weight loading. I instead do a standing lean into a wall or counter and PUSH OFF in the similar motion as push ups. I do lots of these, and keep the form very strict. I also will lean over to the right or left the way a gymnast does on a parallel bar exercise. I do sets of 20, and I TRY to get in about 500 reps of wall push offs in a day. I also find that the counter top where your kitchen sink is tends to be the perfect alternate height for push offs and latismus presses that actually gives a total upper body workout with very low impact and very low risk. It's allows for a bit more resistance and challenge than wall push offs.

For the back, I then stand in a doorway and leaning back, pull myself forward in a modified rowing hand position on left and right sides of the door frame. I again do sets of 20...I try for about 200 of these in the course of a workout. Feel the burn!

Don't let Father Time come for you until you've enjoyed your fair share!

Every little bit counts. Seconds adds minutes adds hours, days, years.

Cheers,

Rick

 

[edslhead]

I walked a few miles out to the first trail cams to check or move em and just to make sure I walked enough, I left the key to the locks in my truck Doh

 

[Medic!]

I'm still walking every day.
I go to the gym Monday Wednesday and Friday.

I'm like a broken record.

 

[RicInOR]

I'm still walking every day.
I go to the gym Monday Wednesday and Friday.

I'm like a broken record.

I am playing the same record.
Last several weeks step count for the week:
1 49677
2 49971
3 82588
4 111721
5 98112
6 96638 ended Sun 10/7.

 

[Kruel J]

Lifted yesterday. Cleaned my dad's gutters today. Whew I'm pooped.

 

[CountryGent]

I bucked up and split a bunch of firewood today. I got a decent amount done, then a tire went out on the MULE, so no more. Though by that point, I was receiving nature's less than subtle message that I am no longer as young as I used to be.

Here is some in the pickup before going back down the hill.

 

[etrain16]

Got back to my regular M,W,F workouts after the vacation break. Don't know what I did this weekend, but tweaked my lower back somehow. Taking a break from the workout this morning to make sure I don't make it worse. Oddball thing because I didn't do any heavy lifting/twisting this weekend, though was on my feet Saturday for about 10 hours straight. Still, I don't think that would have anything to do with it. Weird stuff as you get older, injuries coming seemingly from no where.

 

[CountryGent]

I did a bunch of logging today. Normally I harvest timber in the spring months, but this has been a weird year. It most certainly was exercise and even took a nap this evening, which is exceedingly rare.

 

[The Heretic]

All week long I have been going over to my back acreage and working on the slash pile I burnt last weekend. I haul about 30 gallons of water over and dump it onto the pile of ashes and coals. Once in the morning before I leave for work, once in the evening after I get home. It isn't easy picking up the 5 gallon containers of water and pouring it on hot coals and ashes, and working with a pick axe and shovel raking the coals/ashes.

Today I spent about 4 hours on the pile, and I think I finally have it mostly dead. I will check it again tomorrow and if I am not too sore and tired, I may split and stack some wood that I cut last year.

 

[RicInOR]

I got 100 pushups done. 6 sets of 15+ 10 with feet elevated.

105,000 steps this week 2k/1 mile. I walk at 3mph.

 

[RicInOR]

This is a lot like a typical Cross-Fit work out.

Yesterday
10 Wall Walks (or hand stands)
20 Handstand Press Up ( well I can't do 1, so I did this in the downward dog position, head to mat and back )
30 Jump Thrust ( a burpee without the pushup )
40 Pull Ups ( I got 1 pull up, so I did jump pull ups)
50 Good Mornings with weight ( hip hinge - the same motion as a dead lift)
60 Box Jump (up to a height like 24 or 36 in, then step down)
70 Jump Rope (double under if you can)
---
380 reps for time.

 

[RicInOR]

Even a 10-Minute Walk May Be Good for the Brain

 

[RicInOR]

Just back from being beat up at class

Simple, really, just 3 exercises
1 Deadlifts
2 High Hang, Power Cleans ( only first of set is from floor, others from above the knee)
3 20m shuttle runs ( run 20 m, stop, run back 20 m, etc)

We did 30 in the first set, 20, 10. I didn't make it to the round of 10 in the 20min time limit.
And I wasn't that heavy - 185 deads, about 100 under my 3 rnd max. 105 on the power cleans.

As I said, wiped out, I answered the phone from the Red Cross