Are you fit?

hitest

hitest

I could be in better shape, that much is certain. I go on long walks several times per week, but, I could do more. I would like to improve my health.
What type of exercise regimen do you do to stay healthy?
 
hitest said:
I could be in better shape, that much is certain. I go on long walks several times per week, but, I could do more. I would like to improve my health.
What type of exercise regimen do you do to stay healthy?
Click to expand...

Swimming for 2 hours a day for at least 2 months in the summer. That takes care of 5 kilos which are gained in the winter.
 
5 days a week in a gym (90 min).
Don't smoke, don't drink (well occasionally I won't pass on good single malt scotch).
 
gkontos said:
Swimming for 2 hours a day for at least 2 months in the summer. That takes care of 5 kilos which are gained in the winter.
Click to expand...

I know a guy who weighs something over 300 pounds but he's a swimmer. When he gets himself motivated to swim, he drops maybe a hundred pounds. Then quits and puts it all back on again.

About seven years ago, I used to work out with my sons and George Turner, a world known body builder. At 54 years old, I was in as good a shape as when I was in high school. But I got bored, other things kept me more interested, and now, here I sit, fat and tired all the time.

I have a beautiful city park right across the street from me but I rarely go there except to take the dogs for a walk. I tried walking/running but, again, get bored pretty quick.

I work by myself so I don't have anyone around to get together with. The best thing for me is sports but there's no one around to get together and play ball with. I'm trying to get myself to check out a senior men's softball team not far from my house but haven't done it yet.
 
@drhowarddrfine,

I used to do a lot of gym practice 20 years ago. I now realize that this is really useless. Pumping up a few muscles doesn't give you stamina!

For me, swimming means also that I spend a few hours with my daughter as well. It is amazing how the first few days you get tired and after a month you feel reborn.

George
 
Any excises that keeps your hearth rate high and steady for a long time will keep you fit and burn all the extra calories. That includes jogging, swimming, biking, climbing, etc (choose what you enjoy most). You just need to know your optimal hearth rate that varies from person to person and try to keep it steady. In combination with iron dedication and proper diet you can change your body completely in as little as 60 days. You can even mix in weight lifting exercises to shape your body further.

It's best to consult a professional to provide personal program tailored for you and your goals.
 
gkontos said:
@drhowarddrfine,

I used to do a lot of gym practice 20 years ago. I now realize that this is really useless. Pumping up a few muscles doesn't give you stamina!

For me, swimming means also that I spend a few hours with my daughter as well. It is amazing how the first few days you get tired and after a month you feel reborn.

George
Click to expand...

It's not useless. Gym is really a big science with its formuli and math. There are many types of exercises and ways to do them. You can target strength, mass, stamina, explosive power just by switching your routines and diet. If you are just going to do random exercises then it's going to be useless.
 
I am about 5 pounds overweight according to my BMI. I have trained schutzhund dogs as a hobby for the last 20 years. Doing schutzhund helper work was my main form of exercise for many years. I still train dogs (I have a SchH 3 dog and a 5 month old puppy at the moment), but have cut back a lot on the helper work (it's getting harder on the body).
 
During high school and university years I saw couple of my friends with spine problems. Nowadays in the office lot of them are just fat and lazy. Sadly..

I do swimming 3 times a week (one day with instructor, 2 days free style), do a biking/hiking and thinking about taking some fighting classes (did little bit of karate when I was young, but .. well .. I was too lazy, childish and just not ready).

And simply I don't "scoff" (had to look in urban dictionary for this one, not sure if it's ok .. simply just don't eat too much too fast:) )

But to be in good shape, just do a little AA (aerobic activity) every day. And eat less. Simple, but effective.

--

P.S. not sure how many of you watch Family Guy but when I read my post I started to laugh - it reminded my one episode .. I just have to say:

..and it's a great way to stay in shape :D
 
drhowarddrfine said:
About seven years ago, I used to work out with my sons and George Turner, a world known body builder. At 54 years old, I was in as good a shape as when I was in high school. But I got bored, other things kept me more interested, and now, here I sit, fat and tired all the time.
Click to expand...

I hear you, man! Twenty years ago I was in much better shape with lifting weights, however, I hurt my back so that avenue for improving my health is gone. For me, motivation is also a key element with my fitness level, that is, it is difficult to overcome inertia. I find that I do feel better when I walk regularly. My problem is I like to snack at night a lot. If I can just keep with my exercise regimen *and* curb my intake of junk food at night I think I may have a shot at losing weight. :)
 
I did a lot of things and I enjoyed all of them. They all included a diet and pushing myself over the limit (I like to exaggerate sometimes to put myself to the test and prove to myself I can do better than other lazzy ass sons'of.... you get the point :P). Starting from cycling to swimming, tennis, krav-maga (someone mentioned taking fighting class?) to climbing (artificial wall) and gym (5 times a week, 90min - protein and all that stuff) I has a plethora to choose from.

Was great and I enjoyed every second of it but now I got a decent job and since I moved on my own (different country) the priorities changed a bit and the weird thing is that, ironically, I'm the one that's the lazzy son'a'va..... (you get the point) that I was so eager and passionate about proving that I'm not. Funny how things sometimes turn out :)).

Truth is, I love cycling and I would really buy a bike but considering I had a few and that I would not buy some cheap ass bike, it would mean quite the investment (around 1k E) not including the clothes, shoes, helmet and gloves. I also have to take care of my job (which I love) and learning more and also spend time with my girl, go shopping, yadayadayada ....

Still, the bike is planned :D.
 
hitest said:
Twenty years ago I was in much better shape with lifting weights, however, I hurt my back so that avenue for improving my health is gone.
Click to expand...

I would argue that that is not necessarily the case. Depending on which type of injury you have, you should be able to find exercises which fit you. I know that a lot of people are scare of weightlifting, but I know of plenty of people who have less pain after they started training.

If I can just keep with my exercise regimen *and* curb my intake of junk food at night I think I may have a shot at losing weight. :)
Click to expand...
Or forget about your weight. Look at the mirror instead. Your weight is a number that has no real significance, but if you are happy with the way you look, or at least with the direction in which you are heading, you will feel better.

@gkontos: weight training is everything but useless. You just have to do it the right way. If all you do are bicep curls then I agree with you. Find some proper exercises and you will change your mind. I also wonder how you will manage to find time to fit in almost 3 hours a day. (2hrs swim + getting there + changing + getting home)

Personally I try to get at least some basic exercise every day: that includes biking or walking when going places. This takes care of all the requirements for maintenance of health. On top of that there is the improvement portion, which involves a mixture of weight training 3-4 times a week, biking 10 hours a week, general conditioning 2 times a week. Obviously it is not possible to fit in all of these with other commitments and required rest, but choose 2 and it works. I feel that once I get started I want to continue - as long as I do something today I will want to exercise tomorrow or the day after.
 
mix_room said:
Or forget about your weight. Look at the mirror instead. Your weight is a number that has no real significance, but if you are happy with the way you look, or at least with the direction in which you are heading, you will feel better.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your post. I will keep at it; I'm looking forward to a long walk today. :)
 
The ironical thing is that for instance where I live right now, I see many people riding bikes but also the same amount of people smoking like chimneys ... funny :)).
 
I saw the video. I actually sat trough the whole video. It's was meh. Of course, that guy with the glasses who was talking about the NEAT concept, that was ridiculously stupid. I mean, it is obvious, what was the point? Of course you'll lose more calories if you move. He forgot to mention however, that you won't get other benefits that you get with strenuous exercise.

Also, the "new" HIIT concept is nothing new. It's been around for a long time. All you need is several minutes of full-out intensity, like the video says. This has been popularized ever since Tabata and his intervals in 1996. But you won't hear about this in a regular gym because they want you to spend three hours in there each day.
 
I tried something new the other day, that is, I interspersed 20 seconds of jogging during my one hour walking session. I found that change to my regimen to be quite invigorating.
 
hitest said:
I would like to improve my health.
What type of exercise regimen do you do to stay healthy?
Click to expand...

I weight train twice weekly (one day of pulling exercises, the other day of pushing exercises), and do cardio thrice weekly (treadmill running and interval training).

If you're willing to slowly work some weights into your regular routine - and stick with it - you'll likely be pleased with the long term results. Muscle burns calories, and well-balanced muscular growth improves posture and has other useful side effects (like increased bone density).

Quick caveats: talk to your doc first to make sure you're OK to crank up the intensity, and work with a trainer for a few sessions. Might as well make good use of your time and effort.
 
anomie said:
I weight train twice weekly (one day of pulling exercises, the other day of pushing exercises), and do cardio thrice weekly (treadmill running and interval training).

If you're willing to slowly work some weights into your regular routine - and stick with it - you'll likely be pleased with the long term results. Muscle burns calories, and well-balanced muscular growth improves posture and has other useful side effects (like increased bone density).

Quick caveats: talk to your doc first to make sure you're OK to crank up the intensity, and work with a trainer for a few sessions. Might as well make good use of your time and effort.
Click to expand...

Twenty years ago I was thoroughly engaged in weight lifting, but, I ruptured my middle ear so I am now unable to lift weights. I have spoken to several specialists and the increased cranial blood pressure associated with lifting is something that I need to avoid. Initially that was a bit upsetting, but, I now really enjoy walking. I think that if I vary my cardiovascular exercise and control my appetite I will see some results. :)
 
hitest said:
the increased cranial blood pressure associated with lifting is something that I need to avoid.
Click to expand...

This sounds quite odd. I can see that some exercises, say overhead weights and heavy squats, might be unsuitable. But avoiding lifting weights in general? Does this mean you have to be careful when getting out of bed in the morning?

Weight training is not a single solution, but I would argue that it can be adjusted to what
you need.

Are you allowed to do push ups? If yes then you probably bench press, just lower the weights. Are you allowed to lift bottles of water into the top cupboard - then you are already doing weights.

In my experience many doctors do not fully understand what you can and cannot do. Why does it take a professional athlete weeks to recover from the same injury where it takes a 'normal' person months. Some one is probably doing something suboptimally. Why would the cranial pressure affect your ears? How many 'stories' of people with knee and back problems, where conventional medicine tells you to avoid weights, have I not heard solved by just that - weight training improves muscles, thus allowing joints to take less stress.

As I have no idea what your particular condition is I don't want to advise you, but I believe that you can do weights. In any case you should be able to do Calisthenics at the very least.
 
As I understand it I was born with a congenital defect in my middle ear, that is, the structure is weaker than for most people. Therefore increased straining from lifting heavy weights can more easily cause a loss in hearing for me. I have a 30% hearing loss in my right ear as a result of my incident. I am okay with this.
You and anomie do raise a good point in that light weights could perhaps be used to increase my metabolism. Thanks for the suggestions. :)
 
I also think about how my geek/computer lifestyle affects my physical fitness. I also wonder how it affects my mental fitness (or if I should really separate the two). Too much screen time messes with my attention span, my motivation and maybe even my tolerance towards other people. To try and minimize these affects, I *try* (often without success --these darn things are addictive) to limit my screen time to do things that improve both my physical and mental health.

This is something I have given more thought to because, up until recently, I was competing in a sport that took about 20 hours a week of high intensity training and gave me (the outward) appearance of being fit. To be honest I didn't always feel very fit. The competitive part of the sport made me ignore my body telling me it was too much. So, now I struggle to find that middle ground.
 
I'm somewhat fit.
According to the normal BMI, I'm overweight.
According to the Army BMI, I'm not.
5'8.5" 170 lbs.
I'm carrying 40 lbs around with me.
Walking about six to eight miles per day.
Thirty-two to thirty-three inch waist.

I have at least a serving of fruit per day. Recently, the servings are four per day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top