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<p>That’s what we do in my TRX class–we do push-ups with feet in the straps. Also do planks this way. It’s tough. </p>
<p>M&K: does using a hand weight for TRX exercises do the same thing as a weighted vest?</p>
<p>Workout today: 2.25 mi. walk in 3 inches of snow early this AM. Then went to do a workout on my own at the gym: squits, lunges, dead lift, farmer’s walk, core work, plank, and push-ups. Signed up for a spinning class tomorrow.</p>
<p>interesteddad, for chest, if using free weights, I generally use an olympic bar inside a lifting cage so if I blow a rep and drop the bar, the cage catches it. I also do DB benches. I know what you mean about the alternating arm/extension movements. When my daughter comes over and wants to crush me, she has me do shoulder DB exercises which are a variation of what you do. While standing, I hold one arm in the fully extended position for the exercise I am doing while the other arm does the reps and then I switch. She has me do standing horizontal presses, side raises and front raises until I cry and then she laughs at me.</p>
<p>Bromfield, I’m not sure what you mean about using a hand weight - how are you using it? The weight vest, obviously, is worn as a vest and has panels of pockets running around it into which you can slide cigar shaped weights. It can be filled with up to 40 pounds and adjusted for each exercise. I just got it and so far have used it for horizontal chest presses and inside grip chest presses, high and low rowing and for regular curls and elbows flared to the side curls. I did 2 sets of each exercise. I had been up to 20 reps per set and had exhausted changes in body angle to increase resistance and still needed more resistance to get a good burn. The vest with 2/3 of the weights in it just trashed me, requiring that I reduce the reps to 16 per set. Should be challenging for quite a while. Just getting in and out of it is a workout!</p>
<p>A stretches and weights day for me.</p>
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<p>I’ve never used my olympic bar for bench presses. With no spotter and no rack, it’s a pretty dangerous exercise. Plus, I’m pretty sure that I’ll never max out on the DBs. It’s a harder exercise (i.e. less weight) than barbell chest presses because you’ve got to stabilize each weight in three planes. At least with the DBs, if I get into trouble, I can always just throw them off to the side.</p>
<p>I stopped doing the front raises and lateral raises. I’m not sure they really add much to the fitness equation that you don’t get from pushing and pulling. More of a body-builder exercise … and one that causes major soreness. I’m lucky that I can do overhead presses with no shoulder issues. A lot of geezers can’t do them without shoulder pain.</p>
<p>The most miserable exercise I’ve ever done was walking lunges with lateral DB raises on every step. Funny, I haven’t put that back in my workouts in a long time! I do walking lunges across the parking lot as part of my warm up now. It amazing how much hip/glute stability is required to do those well.</p>
<p>More Christmas in November. Received an Amazon package today with some cold weather hiking clothes!</p>
<p>The [insulated</a> baseball cap](<a href=“Marmot: Outdoor Clothing & Gear Made for Adventure”>Marmot: Outdoor Clothing & Gear Made for Adventure) is beyond all expectation. Rip stop 100% waterproof outside. Inside is a soft polyester wicking fabric – the entire cap is lined. Earmuffs cover the ears. And an elastic draw cord lets you cinch it down tight, essential when it’s windy. This thing is going to be my go to hat for the winter, no question. It’ll even fit over a light fleece balaclava. I haven’t seen anything else like this. I’m sure that it doesn’t breath very well, but when the temperatures are below 40, that’s not a big problem. Now, if they would just make it in blaze orange!</p>
<p>Then, I got two superlight windshirts. These are among Marmot’s most popular products. Ultralight rip stop nylon, but with a very thin soft wicking liner. Like the material inside the collar of a lot of running jackets, but the entire jacket is lined. So it’s like a combo windshell/tech wicking shirt. Super soft and comfortable. The ripstop shell material is like the inside lining of high end down sleeping bags.</p>
<p>They are sized like shirts, so they fit trim. Can be worn as a top layer over a short sleeve or long sleeve shirt or light fleece on a cool day. Or as a wicking, windproof shirt under a jacket. They weigh something like 8 ounces and stuff into a zip pocket, so easy to throw into a backpack, always available for another layer. They are windproof, but with vented mesh under the arms. Water resistant for a little snow or a little misty rain. </p>
<p>I got [a</a> gray one](<a href=“Marmot: Outdoor Clothing & Gear Made for Adventure”>Marmot: Outdoor Clothing & Gear Made for Adventure) without a hood. This one is covered in silver reflective bits.</p>
<p>Then, to give me a little piece of mind hiking during hunting season, I went with a [retina-burning</a> orange hoodie](<a href=“Marmot: Outdoor Clothing & Gear Made for Adventure”>Marmot: Outdoor Clothing & Gear Made for Adventure). Yikes.</p>
<p>I’m going to give this stuff a whirl sometime in the next few days, I hope.</p>
<p>Finally hit the big 50 lb mark. Guess I will be doing mostly maintainance from here on. Quite a few people including my Mom have asked me to stop losing weight.</p>
<p>IDad–I may get one of those hats for my H who is in NYC frequently! I remember the wind just howling down the skyscraper canyons even on not-very-windy days.</p>
<p>sewhappy–just be careful of your knees in ballet class. Both the jumping and the attempts at “turnout” can be hard on knees that haven’t seen such use in decades. I guess it depends on the teacher and if the class is aimed at “older” adults. ;)</p>
<p>We need to have a fashion show!</p>
<p>Congrats, DadII. That’s really excellent weight loss. Moms always want to fatten us up!</p>
<p>10 mile “race” in the morning- instead of t-shirts we get hooded sweatshirts! I will try for an easy effort as my last long run before Monkey. There is supposedly 1 really bad hill and then an uphill finish. Hope to win the age group. I mainly entered for the sweatshirt.</p>
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<p>Nice! There’s another 5K I’ve been mulling over entering much for the same reason, and also because, again, I really like the cause it benefits. </p>
<p>Have a great morning, MOWC!</p>
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<p>Now that’s party time! Congratulations, DadII… You’ve done something very few people ever manage to do.</p>
<p>I think everyone who has ever lost a lot of weight has gotten the “you should stop losing weight, you’re so skinny” spiel from friends and family. I certainly got it and I am, by no means, skinny. I think it’s just jarring for people who are used to seeing you heavy. From their perspective, you probably do look skinny, particularly when you lose enough weight that your facial features change. In my experience, eating the same way that resulted in the fat loss will eventually lead to a permanent plateau. So unless you are crazy thin for your height and build, the weight loss will automatically stop. At least for guys.</p>
<p>Good luck MOWC! </p>
<p>If I had to run 10 miles to get a hoodie, I’m afraid I would have to adjust to life without hoodies!</p>
<p>I may start a forest fire from the reflected light when I go hiking again tomorrow. In addition to the neon orange hoodie, I also got [a</a> retina-burning yellow rain cover](<a href=“http://cdn1.backcountrygear.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/h/i/hivisraincover.jpg]a”>http://cdn1.backcountrygear.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/h/i/hivisraincover.jpg) to put on my pack during hunting season. I am definitely NOT going to be easy on the eyes.</p>
<p>Ran 2 miles, walked 2 min, ran 1.25 miles, no pain anywhere!</p>
<p>Love that insulated baseball hat, idad. </p>
<p>Swim lesson today. Great instructor. He has me re-learning everything.</p>
<p>Good long run. Temp in the low 40s.</p>
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<p>Awesome XMAS gift for any guy who travels is this [ultralight</a> Marmot 800 fill down jacket](<a href=“http://marmot.com/products/zeus_jacket]ultralight”>http://marmot.com/products/zeus_jacket) that TJ MAXX has on sale for $99. It used to drive me nuts traveling, not wanting to carry a winter coat, but then facing the Boston airport and 20 degree winter weather. Do you wear the winter coat to Miami?</p>
<p>This down jacket stuffs into its own pocket, forming a nice soft pillow about 9 inches by 9 inches by 3 inches. Weighs 15 ounces. So easy to stick in a carry on. It would be awesome on an international flight when it’s always freezing and the airline blankets aren’t that comfy. it’s like your own personal sleeping bag. Or, unstuff it for a super warm jacket the ready. It’s not a full-bore winter blizzard parka, but boy is it a versatile thing. </p>
<p>The great thing about down is that it washes beautifully in a washing machine – ideally a large commercial front loader, but something as small as this jacket could be down in home machine on gentle. Stick it in the drier with a couple of tennis balls and it will reloft for decades.</p>
<p>Idad, that jacket would be perfect for my S who spends every week in airports. I bought him a Northface which is very similar. I think it will be better than slepping his big winter jacket around the airport. Wish I had seen the Marmot before I bought the Northface. But I got it at the outlet and it was a pretty good price.</p>
<p>Walked an hour, been doing an hour of cardio on the days it’s too inclement to go outside. Gun season starts here November 15. Won’t risk being outside even if I had your orange down jacket. Tried that once and had some really ****ed off hunters. Sigh.</p>
<p>North Face, Marmot, same difference. I’m sure your S will love the jacket.</p>
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<p>I’m hiking tomorrow in a large group – 15 or 20 people. Plus, the main deer season doesn’t start until next week. Right now, it’s just archery and muzzleloader guns (whatever the heck that means… :), so the woods aren’t crawling with hunters. I’ll definitely skip next weekend, opening weekend of main deer season, and then play it by ear for a couple weeks after that.</p>
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<p>Fantastic! I hope you meet some great people and have a lot of fun. </p>
<p>Also, I bet dollars to donuts you’re going to see some cool gear you want to check out online afterward. ;)</p>
<p>Thank you MOWC and Idad. I myself did not dream about this much weight loss is possible at my age. </p>
<p>It is actually having some effects on my colleagues. Quite a few have started their own process. The Nurse at work will try to get another round of “biggest loser” going in Jan. I talked her into it because I want to be the coach.</p>
<p>That way, I will have incentives to keep going.</p>
<p>Cannot believe how sore and exhausted I am from the one-hour swim lesson. Aching everywhere. Even my face hurts. Wow. We have a really tremendous coach. He travels the country and is sort of a swimming “horse whisperer”. My friend who shares the lessons with me has connections. This guy told me I swim “ugly” but have extremely good lung capacity and aerobic fitness. Just no form whatsoever.</p>
![http://cdn1.backcountrygear.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/h/i/hivisraincover.jpg]a](http://cdn1.backcountrygear.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/h/i/hivisraincover.jpg%5Da){kind=link}
