<p>toneranger, “sore” is fine. “Pain” is not.</p>
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<p>I dunno. I’ve watched some my iPod nazi’s advanced workouts (more weight stuff). He states that, if you are trying to bulk up your muscles, repeat the exercises until you fall of exhaustion, form be damned. On the other hand, if you are looking to build general athletic fitness and strength, do 8 to 10 reps, perfect form, and stop.</p>
<p>It seems to me that the weightlifting to the point of pain is more of a body building thing. I can’t really imagine how</p>
<p>“8 to 10 reps, perfect form, and stop.”</p>
<p>Yeah, that sound more my speed. With the leg presses, we did two different machines. One we did 15 reps, 3 times with different leg positions. Repeat (yes…45 more). She started out with heavy weights and then brought it down each cycle. We repeated the whole thing again on the next leg press which isolated the upper muscles in the thigh. Then 30 slow squats! </p>
<p>Idad…I think you’re right. I don’t need this level and my body is telling me so. Or maybe some folks like to feel this kind of pain. I don’t. Anything that interferes with my walks ( I HAVE to walk slower right now) is not good!</p>
<p>Wow. I’m impressed that you were able to do all that! No wonder you are sore!</p>
<p>I haven’t done a single exercise focused on one muscle. Everything is a combo of arms and legs or legs and abs or arms and abs. That’s why a lot of the arm stuff is done on the stability ball.</p>
<p>The reasoning is to engage many and large muscles to burn calories and build overall fitness.</p>
<p>I have an injured hamstring. I fear that I am going to have to back off. I also learned that wine helps a lot!</p>
<p>toneranger:</p>
<p>I knew I had seen something specifically on machine leg presses. I couldn’t put my finger on it and then I found it.</p>
<p>Check this out. The concepts he’s addressing are what we are talking about.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.yurielkaim.com/158/very-important-fitness-training-lesson/[/url]”>http://www.yurielkaim.com/158/very-important-fitness-training-lesson/</a></p>
<p>The team he’s talking about in the video is the University Toronto men’s soccer team. Read the comments afterwards. He apparently doesn’t use machines for ANY training exercises (except for cardio interval training). Everything uses body weight and/or real weights.</p>
<p>I don’t know. It sure makes perfect sense to me.</p>
<p>idad…thank you! I watched the video and I agree. The leg presses are a bit crazy. I ALREADY strengthen my legs through yoga, biking and walking. I have a problem with my right knee that gets WORSE when my muscles are tight. Flexibility combined with light strengthening has allowed me to continue walking and hiking and with no pain on stairs. I feel like I’m going in reverse direction!</p>
<p>So, no more leg stuff when I go back. To be fair, we also did significant arm and “core” work…and I feel sore but it’s nothing I’m not used to. So we’ll continue with that. </p>
<p>Idad…thanks for doing some searches on this. Makes me feel like I have a right to be concerned and that I’m not just a wimp!</p>
<p>And MOWC, I agree about the wine!</p>
<p>TR - I have used weights for years. I have rarely been injured, but the one time I injured myself was using a leg press machine. I really hurt my knees, I was inadvertently putting some kind of pressure on them and I was sidelined for a couple of weeks. At the time I was in my early thirties - so I can imagine what it would do now. Once of the things I have learned is that when I add an exercise, I need to limit my reps in the beginning. Even if I am using perfect form, our bodies have their own idiosyncrasies and sometimes we have to make adjustments to how we execute an exercise.</p>
<p>MoWC - ooooh, last year I had a high hamstring pull and it took a long time to recover. The biggest problem was that I was loathe to back of training completely and rest because I was trying to get ready for senior games. I finally wised up and took some time off and it really helped. Hills were the worst. I know how determined you are, but really, follow the guidelines for resting and you will be back on the road sooner.</p>
<p>Hamstring tears are the worst. Mine took a full year to go back to normal, although I was able to do almost everything except deep stretches within a few weeks. You just feel it though. I’ve also injured myself on those weight machines. YOu have to be careful with those things–I think it’s easy to overdo. I still have a twinge on my lower left back from doing those oblique pull things, and that was months ago.</p>
<p>Wow, I was just watching some YouTubes of people doing leg presses and that makes my knees hurt just watching it. The way they snap their knee locked with a full straight leg with that weight? Tone Ranger, no wonder you are aching. Ouch.</p>
<p>I think mine is just a strain and not a pull and definitely not a tear. I’m going to restrict myself to short, painfully slow jogging for a few days. It’s been nagging for a couple of weeks, but just got really bad in the last few days (after a double on the dreadmill on Thursday…)</p>
<p>It’s funny…I’ve never been a big fan of resistance machines. I’ve done a lot of free weights…but have avoided the machines for all of my life. The PT I’m going to has a gym full of machines and takes her clients through. I’ve decided that I hate those leg presses!</p>
<p>You know, I’m just looking for a more toned body, and additional muscle mass to help increase my metabolism. I think adding free weights and some core exercises will do it along with the stuff I’m already doing. I had arms that looked like Michele’s back when I was doing weights on my own. I don’t have the cash to extend this personal trainer anyway! </p>
<p>MOWC, hope your injury heals soon. Frustrating.</p>
<p>toneranger:</p>
<p>My wife’s “thing” is swimming at the gym, but once a week she “uses the machines” and “does weights”, whatever that means. She has been complaining of knee pain. I wonder if she’s hurting herself overdoing it on weight machines? Wouldn’t surprise me.</p>
<p>idad…it’s hard to tell without knowing what she’s doing but it might be that she is aggravating her knee. </p>
<p>I developed pretty bad knee pain about 4 years ago. Worse going up and downstairs. I had to limit hiking with elevation. I also had to stop running. I went to a Orthodpedic doc who diagnosed me with “runners knee” and said it was partly caused by the way I was built and the angle of my hips to my knee. I went through 6 tough weeks of PT. And it was worse. They worked on strengthening my quads and it made them tighter and put me knee MORE out of alingnment.</p>
<p>So I went back to my orthopod and he said “try yoga.” He is a distance runner (he’s in his 60s) and was suffering from hamstring injuries. Yoga keeps them at bay. So I tried it…a gentle version…after about 3 months of twice a week classes, my knee pain was gone. I can’t run anymore ( I’ve tried it and the knee problem comes back) but I can hike and bike and have no pain going upstairs. If I reduce yoga to once a week, I can feel it coming back. So I really have to watch it and make sure I don’t over tighten those muscles again.</p>
<p>One more thing. My friend…the one who gave me this gift has been going to this trainer for over a year. Yesterday, she told me she has knee pain. Hmmm…</p>
<p>TR - I am very, very cautious using any leg press machines. It sounds like we have very similar histories with our knees, build, exercise experiences. </p>
<p>When I went for rehab after I broke my leg and ankle a couple of years ago, the PT wanted me to pull my knees back more and straighten them out more than what I wanted. I finally told him that while he knew physical therapy better than I did, I knew my knees better and I politely declined. I knew from previous workouts with machines that it was far too stressful for my knees. </p>
<p>I have a York bench at home and do leg extensions, but I do not extend fully and I use low weight when I do squats. </p>
<p>My knees have been so much better since I switched to race walking. The way you extend your leg sort of stabilizes the knee before impact. I know you live in PA and I keep thinking I am going to convince you to join the movement! :)</p>
<p>idad- If your wife is swimming any breaststroke, advise her to stop. Bad for knee pain.</p>
<p>I’m sure she does breaststroke. She does like an hour of laps. Alas, if I told her breaststroke were bad for her knees, she’d probably drive to the beach and start breast-stroking across the Atlantic! You know how that goes.</p>
<p>She’s the exercise maven in the family. She’s begged me for years to start exercising and going to the gym with her, but I don’t think it’s something we will share. When, I told her I went out for a mile walk for the first time, she said “That’s nothing, you should be walking at least four miles”. That’s true, I should be, but, probably not the best approach to motivating a new exerciser. I was kinda excited about walking a mile. In fact, walking a mile without being winded was one of the three initial goals I wrote down in my iPod nazi journal.</p>
<p>I am a little surprised that she hasn’t even sat on the new exercise bike.</p>
<p>Maybe you should tell her to do LOTS of breaststroke! :)<br>
Glad you have this group to be supporting. Spouses aren’t always great at that…</p>
<p>idad…1 mile is fine. You have to start somewhere. Some folks considered my initial tries on the bike (outdoors) as pathetic… (5 miles and I’m winded). But I stuck with it and I can go long distances now. Patience. </p>
<p>wip…yes the racewalking would probably be good for me. Right now, I briskly walk with my h…and when I’m on the treadmill, I do what would be an informal type of race walking, as I really do use my arms (and go about 4mph). I’ll check it out online. And if I’m out your way sometime, maybe you could give me a personal demo 
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<p>Anything that would help me get off of this darn weight plateau would be a good thing. I’m giving up the leg presses…although I did have fantasies of them getting rid of those annoying fat pads on the top of my knees ( I believe we called them “elephant knees” in another thread). Actually, I still think I just need to eat less…which will be pretty hard to do. I tracked calories for the past few days and I’m between 1600 and 1800…which I don’t think is too bad for a tall gal like me. Plus I eat really healthy stuff. I’ll try to find some more places to cut…I just don’t want to go hungry!</p>
<p>I found this caloric needs calculator online…thought some of you might be interested.
I plugged in my numbers and my activity and it says I should be in “fat loss” mode. Hah. Maybe it just takes a REAL long time.
[Calorie</a> Calculator - Daily Caloric Needs](<a href=“http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm]Calorie”>Calorie Calculator - Daily Caloric Needs)</p>