Work Out and Exercise

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

How does one keep the mind sharp without keeping the body active as well?

I've never been particularly enamored with working out, but I used to be very very active. In the last three years, I have been severely underweight and emaciated and I've been trying to get back into shape lately.

What do you do to stay in shape? Any tips?

[noddy]

i did the same thing to myself over the years and find gyms and weights soul destroyingly boring.

the only reliable methods for me are vigorous shagging, bush walks and house/yard maintenance which ive been slowly scaling upwards for the last few years.

dogs help with the walks because they get all house bound and hyper active without them, so it guilt trips me into doing it when i wouldnt do so for myself, i also get into photography so the creative release of looking for good pics is another thing i do when walking, which is great for the soul.

i find house maintenance tedious but ive got the missus to provide the motivation for that.

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

i did the same thing to myself over the years and find gyms and weights soul destroyingly boring.

the only reliable methods for me are vigorous shagging, bush walks and house/yard maintenance which ive been slowly scaling upwards for the last few years.

dogs help with the walks because they get all house bound and hyper active without them, so it guilt trips me into doing it when i wouldnt do so for myself, i also get into photography so the creative release of looking for good pics is another thing i do when walking, which is great for the soul.

i find house maintenance tedious but ive got the missus to provide the motivation for that.

Yeah, I've got myself two pull up bars here and I've been doing pulls up like crazy. Going all out: running three miles up hills; sit-ups; squats...the goal is get in good shape, because there is something that I can't back down from here. And though I don't think it will get violent, I will not be caught napping here.

[Simple Minded]

Napster & Noddy,

Good points. I would like to know both your ages, based on your posts, you both project age, and experience, more than hormones and confirmation bias. I guess you are both on the high side of 40. Also sounds like you both have hit that age where you realize "this ain't getting better on its own."

I'm 52 and I like the information that Matt Furey and Pavel Tsatsouline publish. As a former wrestler myself, Furey makes sense when he recommends body weight exercises only, core strength, and staying away from machines that isolate and only work single muscles/muscle groups.

http://www.dragondoor.com/b16/

http://www.amazon.com/Combat-Conditioni ... 433&sr=8-1

I also like Furey's line that "once you lose flexibility, movement is no longer fun, then you stop moving."

Also informative:

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywor ... vhvkt3vt_e

[Typhoon]

Napster & Noddy,

Good points. I would like to know both your ages, based on your posts, you both project age, and experience, more than hormones and confirmation bias. I guess you are both on the high side of 40. Also sounds like you both have hit that age where you realize "this ain't getting better on its own."

I'm 52 and I like the information that Matt Furey and Pavel Tsatsouline publish. As a former wrestler myself, Furey makes sense when he recommends body weight exercises only, core strength, and staying away from machines that isolate and only work single muscles/muscle groups.

http://www.dragondoor.com/b16/

http://www.amazon.com/Combat-Conditioni ... 433&sr=8-1

I also like Furey's line that "once you lose flexibility, movement is no longer fun, then you stop moving."

Also informative:

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywor ... vhvkt3vt_e

Interesting.

I recognize the Hindu push ups as Judo push ups

The Hindu squats are new to me. Just do body weight squats.

Have always only done body weight exercises.

One variation on the theme: fast [explosive] concentric contraction and slow [~ 6s] eccentric contraction.

[Parodite]

In the past I did hindu pushups as a movement-position part of my Surya_Namaskara excercises. If you stay in the pattern included the breathing rythm in-outs and do many cycles (20+).. this realy gets you sweat like hell and your heart pumping! And a good general muscle and flexibility training.

Should get back to this.. I'm around 12 kg overweight now, 102 kg.

[Miss_Faucie_Fishtits]

I have to look at a programme to rehabilitate me from this condition. I have always been lacking in upper body strength and the pay out is chronic pain, in my left shoulder especially. Glad it's not incipient arthritis or a degenerated rotator cuff......

[Simple Minded]

Interesting.

I recognize the Hindu push ups as Judo push ups

The Hindu squats are new to me. Just do body weight squats.

Have always only done body weight exercises.

One variation on the theme: fast [explosive] concentric contraction and slow [~ 6s] eccentric contraction.

I'm sold on body weight exercises, though I really have no expertise that would qualify me to advise other people.

Furey claims that Hindu pushups, Hindu squats and back bridges are three exercises that will do it all.

[Simple Minded]

I have to look at a programme to rehabilitate me from this condition. I have always been lacking in upper body strength and the pay out is chronic pain, in my left shoulder especially. Glad it's not incipient arthritis or a degenerated rotator cuff......

LzzrdGrrl,

Definetely check out Matt Furey's DVD on eliminating shoulder pain. I have found it to be very effective therapy, and the DVD and a chest expander (not that you need it.. ;)XOXO ) is very inexpensive.

Money well spent in my opinion. On a side note, if you know anyone with allergies, tell them to google "XPC powder, Dr. Williams."

Amazing stuff and almost as cheap as dirt!!!

[Typhoon]

[NapLajoieonSteroids]

I have two pull up bars, I love those. I have trouble doing "gym" things and having a specific regime but I could use the pull up bars all day...so everything is centered around that right now.

I do a few sets of pull ups and then every few days I'll do an hour's worth of them. I also like to hang from them and work on my mid-section area.

I need to develop some balance between strength and cardio training. Flexibility isn't bad outside my bum ankle.

I love to run, and it would probably be great for my heart right now, but I really need to add strength and muscle and I think the running will just get in the way of that.

[Simple Minded]

I have two pull up bars, I love those. I have trouble doing "gym" things and having a specific regime but I could use the pull up bars all day...so everything is centered around that right now.

I do a few sets of pull ups and then every few days I'll do an hour's worth of them. I also like to hang from them and work on my mid-section area.

I need to develop some balance between strength and cardio training. Flexibility isn't bad outside my bum ankle.

I love to run, and it would probably be great for my heart right now, but I really need to add strength and muscle and I think the running will just get in the way of that.

These are great for developing balance!!! http://indoboard.com/ Amazing how simply balancing also gets the heart pumping. My balance is better now than it was 20, 30, 0r 40 years ago.

Or if you are into motorcycles, buy a trials bike. Great for balance, coordination, mental focus, and cardio.

I think cardio was either the first or second rule of Zombieland.......

[Demon of Undoing]

If I had it to do over again, I'd stay away from running, American football and powerlifting. That and some other things led to a series of injuries that made it hard to sustain progress. As we speak, I'm thinking already how to get stem cell therapy for a few joints.

As of now and until I get off another 20 kg ( I got seriously fat toward the end), I consider myself in rehab. All I do besides bodyweight exercises is an 18 lb medicine ball and 25lb dumbbells. With them, I do Seven Bells ( a series of 7 somewhat unorthodox movements with the dumbbells, in sets of ten, back to back without rest. After that, Seven Balls, another series of seven movements this time with my homemade medicine ball, for ten reps, without rest. Before that, usually 20 Hindu pushups, 20 back bridge cycles, and fifty Hindu squats ( thank you, Matt Furey, I second all recommendations). Then I do all that again, twice more. Takes 45 minutes, and I'm dead after.

But no joint and bone pain. The dumbbells and ball are light enough that you build muscle via movement, not mass. As jacked as my knees, shoulders and back are, none of the Furey stuff hurts at all. In fact, I find that the more often I do them, the less pain and immobility I have. Do understand I've been in nine serious MVAs, and walked away from all of them. But that doesn't mean it didn't screw things up. So if my rickety ass can do it, Lizzie, you have hope. And I left out a butt ton of other stuff, untreated and treated. The Hindu pushups are healing. If you can manage the movement, it will make you better.

And diet. Good Lord, diet. It's three quarters of half the battle.

[Simple Minded]

If I had it to do over again, I'd stay away from running, American football and powerlifting. That and some other things led to a series of injuries that made it hard to sustain progress. As we speak, I'm thinking already how to get stem cell therapy for a few joints.

As of now and until I get off another 20 kg ( I got seriously fat toward the end), I consider myself in rehab. All I do besides bodyweight exercises is an 18 lb medicine ball and 25lb dumbbells. With them, I do Seven Bells ( a series of 7 somewhat unorthodox movements with the dumbbells, in sets of ten, back to back without rest. After that, Seven Balls, another series of seven movements this time with my homemade medicine ball, for ten reps, without rest. Before that, usually 20 Hindu pushups, 20 back bridge cycles, and fifty Hindu squats ( thank you, Matt Furey, I second all recommendations). Then I do all that again, twice more. Takes 45 minutes, and I'm dead after.

But no joint and bone pain. The dumbbells and ball are light enough that you build muscle via movement, not mass. As jacked as my knees, shoulders and back are, none of the Furey stuff hurts at all. In fact, I find that the more often I do them, the less pain and immobility I have. Do understand I've been in nine serious MVAs, and walked away from all of them. But that doesn't mean it didn't screw things up. So if my rickety ass can do it, Lizzie, you have hope. And I left out a butt ton of other stuff, untreated and treated. The Hindu pushups are healing. If you can manage the movement, it will make you better.

And diet. Good Lord, diet. It's three quarters of half the battle.

Demon, I second all of your pinions above. Bodyweight exercises are the best. The days of doing 30+ pullups are long gone for me, but losing 8-10 lbs would not hurt a bit. I like Furey's line of "A guy will walk into my gym and brag that he can squat 600 lbs, so I say, let me see you do a single leg hindu squat. They never can!"

I still feel a dislocated knee cap from high school wrestling on occassion, other than that, no serious injuries from the days when I was "young and full of piss and vinegar" (Merikan version of what Typhoon previously posted). God truly does protect fools, children, and young men full of hormones.

You are absolutely right, squats and movements eliminate and prevent pain. Do you have any recommendations for my laziness, forgetfulness, and mental disorders?

LG, especially effective, for my alien physiology at least, is any of Matt Furey's (karmic name for a wrestler?) packages on eliminating pain, sholder, knee, carpal tunnel, etc. If you want a second opinion that is.......

Demon, if you get a chance send me a pm with more detailed description of your bell and ball workout. I think you will love Furey's packages on strand pulling/chest expander usage. Very rehabilitating.

[Demon of Undoing]

Seven Bells, ten reps each:

1)Hammer militaries: hammer curl that extends into a military press
2)Standing Rows
3)Cauldrons: one dumbbell held in both hands at arm's length in front. On the same plane as your shoulders, move the dumbbell in a large circle, so at half movement the dumbbell touches the chin. Then back out to full extension, like stirring a tall cauldron at shoulder height.
4)Choo choos:Start with both ' bells at your side, arms extended. Make a big circle that describes start point, weight pulled as far back ( roughly touching the lats), then up to the armpit and then out to where the weight is at arm length in front. Like a choo choo train. Alternating each side without too much swinging forces real adaptation on shoulders and back.
5) Triceps extension behind the head
6) Isolated arm curls( bent over)
7) Standing butterflies- because of my left shoulder, this is the hardest to do.

Seven Balls ( Walmart basketball stuffed with a sandbag , sewn shut with fish line and duct taped with a whole roll wound around the entire monstrosity. Why? Because screw Amazon, that's why. Mine cost five bucks to make).

1)Standing switches: Ball at the chin, feet wider than shoulder width apart. Bend over and put the ball outside the left foot, then back up to the chin, then down and outside the right foot, then back up to the chin. That's one.
2) Crunch switches: Sit in a contracted crunch position and put the ball first on the ground by the left hip, then switch it over to sit beside the right hip.
3) Rock crusher: get in a low horse stance with the ball grasped in both hands on the ground in front of you. Pick up the ball explosively while keeping control, so that you have to " catch" the momentum at the top. This should make the ball go in an arc all the way to the point where it rests in between your shoulders on the back of the neck. Then, similarly " slam" the ball over your head and down to the ground, again catching all the momentum so the ball never touches the ground. Note: if you have tired hand, a slippery grip or aren't paying attention, you will launch the ball in an unpleasant direction. An eighteen pound sandbag hits with authority.
4) Krumphau/ Zornhau: this is a complex movement that involves stepping out and back while bringing the ball grasped with both hands, from the right hip, around the head, and down to the left hip while timing the step for when the strike would land. Then switch sides. This is a movement pulled from two German renaissance longsword techniques. Harder to describe than to do, but makes you use power and control in a very wide arc. Also, it builds up the wrath strike like nobody's business.
5) Slinging trunk twisters: line a regular trunk twister, but sling the ball from one hand to the other, transferring at the navel, stopping on the hip. Be careful to avoid rotating the knees and back. Properly controlled, this is mad effective at building up the abdominal wall. Again, control the ball- you'll sling it right into a TV or a dog if you aren't careful.
6) Wiper toss: laying on your back, squeeze the ball between your knees and rotate your lower body ( keeping shoulders flat on the ground), bringing your knees first to the ground on the left, then back over your middle, then to the ground on the right. For added difficulty, make it a circle, bringing knees up to your chest before switching sides. Two words: pelvic floor.
7) Lunge twists: start with ball on the back of your neck, then step out left foot first, timing the arc of the ball over your head so it reaches your knee just as your foot lands. Lichtenauer said that the man that strikes different from his step has no art).

Ten reps ( each side, where applicable) each exercise, no rest between. Stop for wind only between apparatus or positions ( like between doing the Bells and the Balls, but not WHILE doing any of them). Builds anaerobic endurance that way. The totality of the workout builds aerobics. The squats are indeed great for that.

[Simple Minded]

Seven Bells, ten reps each:

1)Hammer militaries: hammer curl that extends into a military press
2)Standing Rows
3)Cauldrons: one dumbbell held in both hands at arm's length in front. On the same plane as your shoulders, move the dumbbell in a large circle, so at half movement the dumbbell touches the chin. Then back out to full extension, like stirring a tall cauldron at shoulder height.
4)Choo choos:Start with both ' bells at your side, arms extended. Make a big circle that describes start point, weight pulled as far back ( roughly touching the lats), then up to the armpit and then out to where the weight is at arm length in front. Like a choo choo train. Alternating each side without too much swinging forces real adaptation on shoulders and back.
5) Triceps extension behind the head
6) Isolated arm curls( bent over)
7) Standing butterflies- because of my left shoulder, this is the hardest to do.

Seven Balls ( Walmart basketball stuffed with a sandbag , sewn shut with fish line and duct taped with a whole roll wound around the entire monstrosity. Why? Because screw Amazon, that's why. Mine cost five bucks to make).

Amen Brother. Thank God there's still a few of us cheap bastards out there. I sometimes fear generation me+2 will have to learn it all over again from scratch!! If its not in your gene pool, ya gotta keep the art alive via continuous practise & preaching!

1)Standing switches: Ball at the chin, feet wider than shoulder width apart. Bend over and put the ball outside the left foot, then back up to the chin, then down and outside the right foot, then back up to the chin. That's one.
2) Crunch switches: Sit in a contracted crunch position and put the ball first on the ground by the left hip, then switch it over to sit beside the right hip.
3) Rock crusher: get in a low horse stance with the ball grasped in both hands on the ground in front of you. Pick up the ball explosively while keeping control, so that you have to " catch" the momentum at the top. This should make the ball go in an arc all the way to the point where it rests in between your shoulders on the back of the neck. Then, similarly " slam" the ball over your head and down to the ground, again catching all the momentum so the ball never touches the ground. Note: if you have tired hand, a slippery grip or aren't paying attention, you will launch the ball in an unpleasant direction. An eighteen pound sandbag hits with authority.
4) Krumphau/ Zornhau: this is a complex movement that involves stepping out and back while bringing the ball grasped with both hands, from the right hip, around the head, and down to the left hip while timing the step for when the strike would land. Then switch sides. This is a movement pulled from two German renaissance longsword techniques. Harder to describe than to do, but makes you use power and control in a very wide arc. Also, it builds up the wrath strike like nobody's business.
5) Slinging trunk twisters: line a regular trunk twister, but sling the ball from one hand to the other, transferring at the navel, stopping on the hip. Be careful to avoid rotating the knees and back. Properly controlled, this is mad effective at building up the abdominal wall. Again, control the ball- you'll sling it right into a TV or a dog if you aren't careful.
6) Wiper toss: laying on your back, squeeze the ball between your knees and rotate your lower body ( keeping shoulders flat on the ground), bringing your knees first to the ground on the left, then back over your middle, then to the ground on the right. For added difficulty, make it a circle, bringing knees up to your chest before switching sides. Two words: pelvic floor.
7) Lunge twists: start with ball on the back of your neck, then step out left foot first, timing the arc of the ball over your head so it reaches your knee just as your foot lands. Lichtenauer said that the man that strikes different from his step has no art).

Ten reps ( each side, where applicable) each exercise, no rest between. Stop for wind only between apparatus or positions ( like between doing the Bells and the Balls, but not WHILE doing any of them). Builds anaerobic endurance that way. The totality of the workout builds aerobics. The squats are indeed great for that.

Printed it, and understood it. Excellent description!! THANKS!!!

[Demon of Undoing]

Sorry, I skipped the " send in PM" part. My concentration was much better when I was doing moderate drugs.

At any rate, thanks for the info. I was looking at it on my phone and it appeared to have rearranged itself into a modern art masterpiece. Will look into it on a PC today, where it ought not to show up as hieroglyphics.

I worked out yesterday for the first time since ganking the knee last week whilst shooting. Mostly focused on stretching out the ACL. Because of the fact that I was working from home simultaneously and going very slow, I only managed to go through one time. Felt good, though. My pain is much less today than yesterday, and range of motion is coming back. Going full power today.

[noddy]

coming off glandular fever finally and my already dubiously low levels of fitness have gone backwards - did a big bush walk for the first time since going under and i could barely make it up the hills... big jobs ahead so thanks for the tips and inspiration.

[Typhoon]

Speaking of injuries, I have an old knee injury [which retired me from judo]. Tore most of the anterior cruciate ligaments.

It got so that all it took was a misstep walking down the street to throw out my knee and put me back into crutches.

Back when it occurred, ligament repair was a hit and miss art rather than a science.

So the surgeon said I have two other choices: a brace or build up the muscles to keep the knee from popping out.

Decided a brace would just cause my muscles to atrophy, so tried to build up the muscles via lunge walks, squats, and leg extensions.

So far, it's worked. Although I expect to experience wear and tear problems in the future.

Hope some other fix than knee replacement will be available by then . . .

[Demon of Undoing]

The fragility of the althelete's knee has long been a major obstacle to a successful resolution of theodicy.

[Typhoon]

The fragility of the althelete's knee has long been a major obstacle to a successful resolution of theodicy.

Indeed.

Not to mention that it put an end to my plans for global domination.

[Sparky]

The fragility of the althelete's knee has long been a major obstacle to a successful resolution of theodicy.

Indeed.

Not to mention that it put an end to my plans for global domination.

Surely the seed? The thwarted physicist's judo ambitions, the ruined joint - from the fusion of this bitterness, techno-knowhow and a bite from a radioactive Fugu comes:

[Demon of Undoing]

Regenexx can likely fix you right now, Sun- sama. I simply haven't suffered enough nor been incapacitated enough to make it much of a concern. Until recently, anyway.

We have plenty of time to take over the world.

[Azrael]

Regenexx can likely fix you right now, Sun- sama. I simply haven't suffered enough nor been incapacitated enough to make it much of a concern. Until recently, anyway.

We have plenty of time to take over the world.

Let's make it a triumvirate.

Great suggestions, by the way. Most of my exercise, other than doing a lot of walking, is I do a fair amount of cardio and some other exercises at the gym (but should go more often). I think I ought to start taking some of the advice on this thread. I could get more done in less time for less money. I had never heard of "hindu pushups" or Matt Furey. I'm going to have to add this to my list of resolutions. I was already going to drink less (trying to lose 10 kg). I'm not fat, but high blood pressure runs in the family.

[Juggernaut Nihilism]

I was a gym rat for the better part of 15 years until, one day, the whole thing just became extraordinarily boring and time consuming. Since physical fitness had always been such an important part of my life (and because it certainly affects my mental and emotional life when I slack off), I did a lot of experiment and research on ways to keep it up without having to build my days around my workout, as I had always done. The two things I have found to be most effective are:

1) Short, extraordinarily intense workouts. A 20-40 minute (40 at the most) intense workout of sprint intervals or lifting heavy weights is better for you, more interesting, and faster than 2 hours of jogging, biking, or lifting weights for sets/reps like a bodybuilder. Intense energy expenditure followed by deep rest is more natural to the human energy cycle, and studies are now showing that working out in this manner is simply more effective for everything from fat loss to muscle building to having increased daily energy. Plus 20 minutes is better than 2 hours.

2) Find something physical that you actually enjoy and turn it into a sport. I always enjoyed wrestling and other combat sports, primarily jiu jitsu and Muay Thai, and power lifting-style workouts when I was in the gym. Generally thanks to incompetent football coaches in high school, I was always taught to push as much weight as possible, and by the time I was in my late 20s, I was pushing up on 400 lbs on bench press, 500+ on squats (a bench to squat ratio like that is pretty embarrassing and indicative of typical American vanity, but whatever). I kept pushing until one day, I destroyed my shoulder while working out, and it hasn't really recovered in the last few years. The sports I competed in have fallen by the wayside, and I can't lift heavy with my upper body any more. I know friends who run marathons, but I despise distance running and associate it with punishment (which it was, in football, wrestling, etc...). I was languishing for awhile, but since discovered long-distance hiking/climbing, it has helped a lot. That doesn't mean you have to get on the Stairmaster and prepare to climb Kilamanjaro, but getting a book of local day hikes and doing one each Saturday morning, with the eventual goal of climbing a local peak, will do wonders for your health and your overall sense of purpose and excitement about doing something physical. I'm climbing Mount Whitney in a few months, and knowing a few people who are in decent shape, but failed, rekindled my motivation that had been lacking for awhile.

Not to say you should be climbing mountains, that's just one example.

Oh, and eat well. When you're 20 years old, the body seems to have an uncanny ability to take whatever you put into it and create usable energy, but once you hit about 30, that ability seems to fall apart. In my experience, it isn't so much about keeping bad stuff out, as much as it is about making sure you get the good stuff. You can probably have that bag of Doritos, as long as it doesn't replace the greens, which it does for most people. If you can't bear the thought of giving up your daily ice cream cone, don't focus on that. Focus instead on adding a daily spinach salad.