Exercising - some/a lot of advice needed- sorta bike related

[TGR]

Evening all,

I was just making a mug of coffee and realised I don't think i mentioned that the apps are FREE!! Yes - free.

There are versions which cost money but the three i did were free - that might encourage you to try them.

On a final note - FREE - TOTALLY FREE - NO COST. Give them a look.

Richard

 

[The History Man]

How much?

 

[TGR]

£0 and 0p. A bargain. Get the app and get started. As per this thread, the only real issue is day 31 and I am working at further exercise regimes. It is hard, as with everything, to gather up enough info to start. Tomorrow is another day

Night all

Richard

 

[konatime]

if you get a bit parrot with multiple press-ups and don't want to use weights then 5 x 1 minute press-ups (30 sec's to go down 30 sec's to go back up/cont travel) will stand you in good stedmans. 5 mins (per leg) of one legged sitting squats are also worthwhile, so are 30metre sprints, personally i'd drop squash, i'd drop crisps (packets of fat), find yourself a good grassed incline and invest your squash $'s into a pair of fell running shoes (norman walsh) for grip....whatever sets you can muster, walking up is fine. Once a fortnight dont eat for the day, it's a doddle. Walnuts to break the fat down in your veins and pumpkin seeds for the olde prostrate, ball o wool.

Both me training partners are post 46yrs (30 waisters) and follow the above..both will knock 50 mile of all climbing out for fun, i say fun cause they dont overthink anything other than if whatever is gonna be introduced is sustainable...sprints on a grass flat and sets of the incline can be done walking the dog...and presumably if the dogs healthy it will want to go out....a lot.. 'bum-bum'. If you aint got one borrow one. You'll be subliminally booking a good appointment.

 

[TGR]

Konatime,

Thanks for the advice BUT, an apologies for not mentioning it before, i hate running - with the minor exception of short sprints. I have never liked it and was never good at it and i hate it. And i do not use the word hate lightly. It is not for me - i have / had strong thighs and a lightish upper body so sprints for me and no longer than 200 m and that was a long time ago.

I understand your press up advice but i do not think i could do one of the 1 min ones - it is like a slow variation of two plank exercises with the slow movement. I would like to work up to doing them though. Neil has suggested that a load of press ups, sit ups, crunches or any exercise only really makes you good at the exercise and is not the be all and end all of being fit - i would have to agree with that. But the exercises give me additional strength and an ability to do harder exercises or weights etc

Regarding the squash - it is a game i really enjoy, it is not expensive and racquets are now under half the price they were when i last played 20+ years ago.

There will be an update later tonight! (ponder that LOL)

Richard

 

[konatime]

Konatime,

Thanks for the advice BUT, an apologies for not mentioning it before, i hate running - with the minor exception of short sprints. I have never liked it and was never good at it and i hate it. And i do not use the word hate lightly. It is not for me - i have / had strong thighs and a lightish upper body so sprints for me and no longer than 200 m and that was a long time ago.

I understand your press up advice but i do not think i could do one of the 1 min ones - it is like a slow variation of two plank exercises with the slow movement. I would like to work up to doing them though. Neil has suggested that a load of press ups, sit ups, crunches or any exercise only really makes you good at the exercise and is not the be all and end all of being fit - i would have to agree with that. But the exercises give me additional strength and an ability to do harder exercises or weights etc

Regarding the squash - it is a game i really enjoy, it is not expensive and racquets are now under half the price they were when i last played 20+ years ago.

There will be an update later tonight! (ponder that LOL)

Richard

Think things thru before you answer Richard...you hate running with the exception of short sprints...that's what 30 metre sprints are..bingo. Uphill grass...dont run...walk....or do a little pitter patter steps and then walk....bingo.


Neil is correct..a single discipline is not the b all but the 1 minute press-ups are capable of getting a man to lift his own body weight single handed..how strong are you looking for? You want to biuld up to em try holding the press-up position around 110 degrees....1/2/3/4/mins...same with the sitting squats, two legs planted 1/2/3/4 mins....

Squash involves twists and turns which if done enough invite injuries which curtail the training.....it's why me partners are totally not intrested in anything that interups sustainability....strokes/folks.

If you have a coffeee before you train you'll be 4% down, if you have a bulb of beetroot you'll be 4% up

Single handed riding up a shallowish smooth incline will do all that sit-ups do....and more.

 

[TGR]

Kona, you make some good points and i won't argue, but my preference is squash rather than hill sprints - i did think that through but doing a Kate Bush (Running Up That Hill) has no appeal at all. Interesting point about coffee vs beetroot, i didn't know that. I now wish i liked beetroot.

I do want a stronger upper body and your pressup plan would work but i think i would have to actually work up to them! Neil has made similar points but he promotes weight training which i may try. It really is an 'each to their own' situation - any exercise cannot be bad really. I play footie once a week and have only had 8 injuries so far (in 6 weeks) and a broken finger and a few staved fingers are a small price to pay for the fun.

Perhaps I should start another thread with this but here goes.

THE UPDATE

I have done some research and looked around for an exercise program which I think suits my needs. I think I found it and I was pointed in this direction by my reluctance to visit a gym. The program is called You Are Your Own Gym (YAYOG) and it was designed by Mark Lauren, a USA Navy SEAL apparently. The clue in the title means it meets one need.
I have the YAYOG book and downloaded the app – called Bodyweight Training – You Are Your Own Gym by Hard Coded Studios.

The book is available on Amazon as are some DVD’s. I may buy the DVD’s at some stage but the App is great. I have read a good portion of the book and focused on the diet section and nutrition which seems to be an integral part of fitness. The good news is that cheese is good (but only low fat), nuts are also good – and, as with everything, not in excess. I think I will have to do some calorie counting until I work out exactly how eating healthily works. My own diet seems to be at odds with what I read and being hungry for long periods of time is not a good thing.
I will not go into too much detail about the diet aspect but it is based on the premise that more muscle burns more calories as does an increased metabolic rate – so you modify your intake to achieve your goal. Less food does not necessarily mean weight loss and they seem to stress that you should lose the ‘right weight’ ie fat and not weight off muscle which can happen if you don’t eat correctly. I found it interesting but complicated so apologies if my abridged version is slightly inaccurate.

I visited Tescos today and spent a long time buying the type of food I should be eating – as per above. I bought beef jerky, cheese strings, nuts, raisins, dried fruit for snacking on and fish and other foodstuffs for lunch. It was probably the first time I have ever looked at a label in a supermarket and decided my purchase on the basis of the info on the label. It took ages though!!! I spoke to one of the shop workers who suggested I shop online as the info is all available there – a good idea I think. Anyways, I spent an awful lot of money on food for myself but, with time, I think that can be reduced. And perhaps, specialist shops may be better for some items than supermarkets.

Back to YAYOG and exercising. The book and app provide long term workouts and other various exercises for you to do. I wanted a long term one and there is a choice of 4 – Basic, First Class, Master and Chief. On the basis I had done my three 30 day challenges, I thought I could start on First Class – I had a look at it and thought it would be fine. Overnight I thought about it a bit and decided just to start at the beginning (as good a place as anywhere) – this will get me doing the exercises correctly and I won’t feel like a fish out of water from the start which would demoralise me.

The workouts are 10 weeks in length and you exercise for 4 days per week – total of 44 days exercise. The app is excellent as it has videos of the exercises and a written description of what you should be doing. It is clear and well laid out – I need it to be clear! With the workouts, there are also lists of exercises and a feature where you set your available time – 2 minutes upwards and it gives you exercises to do. I had a good look through the exercises and found quite a few that you could do in jeans – even standing at a bar you could do a couple! You do not need to sweat to do all the exercises. I think the app cost £1.69 and no more than £1.99 – maybe worth a look if you are interested.

So tonight I started. There is a 5 minute warmup and a 5 minute cool down period with stretches which I did. In between 36 minutes of exercises. Four exercises done for 7.5 minutes each with 2 minute breaks ( I hope that works out to 36). I will explain the process (hard to explain but simple when you see it). First exercise – press-ups. The app says do 1 rep. I did 1 rep and hit a button on the phone. The time it takes me to do the rep is the rest time I get before the next reps. So if 1 rep takes me 5 secs, I get 5 secs rest before the next reps. It then goes from 1 rep to 2 reps, to 3 reps and to 4 reps. From 4 reps it drops back to 3 reps, 2 reps and 1 rep. Then up again. So in my last 30 secs, I had 3 reps to do, it took me ages and I had maybe 15 secs rest before I had to do my final 2 reps and the time was up. I hope this makes sense. Apparently, this system of exercise is called Ladders.

All in all, it was hard. I am very glad I started where I did – on Basic, and the thinking overnight was worthwhile. The next level up would be too much for me – based on tonight’s performance. So only 43 days over 10 weeks to go. It may seem like a long time and it does to me but I am looking forward to this challenge.

I hope this encourages someone else to have a go! It’s a lot of typing for me!! LOL

Richard

 

[Neil]

Interesting point about coffee vs beetroot, i didn't know that. I now wish i liked beetroot.

Well caffeine is "controlled" by the IOC in relation to it's performance enhancing benefits, and being above certain limits in the bloodstream. As far as I know, they're rather unconcerned about beetroot.

But different values apply to short events in comparison to endurance events - all the same, stimulants as well as other substances have long been used in endurance events - like le tour.

I do want a stronger upper body and your pressup plan would work but i think i would have to actually work up to them! Neil has made similar points but he promotes weight training which i may try.

Just to clarify that point for anybody else reading, I don't blindly advocate weight lifting / training for everybody, it was more in relation to the bit in bold, really. Calisthenics, whether making them artificially harder, or otherwise, will improve some functional strength above a baseline, but after that, only increasing resistance improves strength, all other things being equal. A lot of the schemes I see in making calisthenics harder, or more of a challenge, sometimes comes with increased risk of injury, too.

Although I get the point, some of these exercise regimes are often based around not needing much, if anything, in terms of equipment.

Ultimately, the "best" exercise regime for an individual will come down to one that they don't hate, and perhaps derive some enjoyment of sense of achievement - ie one that they'll actually sustain - one that meets the goals they seek (which also may well change, as they improve), and presents least risk of injury (cross-fitters are you listening?)

 

[TGR]

A little update.

I completed day 2 yesterday and it focused on lower body - I found is easier than the upper body workout on day 1 but I would not describe it as 'easy'.

On the diet front, this is my first day in work after buying all the necessary stuff. I have done some calculations to work out what and when I should be eating so we will see how it goes. I will point out that after my extensive reading of labels in Tescos I forgot to look at the use by dates! It turns out that 2 packets of brown rolls were out of date yesterday and my bread was out of date on the day I bought it! Not happy about that.

I don't plan on daily updates for the next 42 days but I will report any significant news. Yesterdays 'significant news' was that my wife commented that I seemed to be more muscley! That can only be a good thing.

Richard

 

[The History Man]

Were you there at the time?