<p>The thing I like about these kinds of workout is that they are scalable: from an ol’ fat guy like me to professional athletes, just by going to more advanced variations, adding weights, and picking up the intensity/pace. The template is there and each of us can adjust it to suit our own level of fitness at this point in time. I’ve done the same workout program once, gone back to it a year later, and it’s like a completely different workout.</p>
<p>Longest run on treadmill - 4.5 miles. The first 4 done in exactly 39 minutes then interval the next 0.5. Plus the cool down walk of about 0.25 mile.</p>
<p>Idad, I tried that pushup you posted. All the heavier weights are round so I have to settle on a set of 10 lb weights. I think I need a heavier set of weights.</p>
<p>If all goes well, I might try a 6.2 miles this weekend on treadmill. It will be easy if there is a good game on TV.</p>
<p>CJane, No official 5K in my future; just a personal challenge for this non-runner-but-long-walking mom to see if she can actually do it. I have never really been able to get past the out of breath stage of running. But running, at least in intervals, would be a good way to increase the intensity of my walking outdoors. And it always looks like people running enjoy it :-)</p>
<p>I don’t know who thought it would be a good idea to do clean and jerk, front squat, heavy deadlifts, AND heavy barbell lunges in one workout. My body isn’t liking me so much tonight…</p>
<p>mathmom, try to do your planks with a tablet or a book under you face - I guarantee time will fly. I occasionally surf CC on my iPad when I do planks. :)</p>
<p>Hey, the app I was talking about can be found at pumpone.com</p>
<p>This app, which is really reasonable, is like having a personal trainer with you. Includes demos and hundreds of classes. I personally like the ones by the “pump one” trainer, Declan. </p>
<p>I also like the efit30 YouTube vids BC talks about. Amazing what you can get on the web these days. </p>
<p>Does anyone follow Mark Sisson, in his primal blueprint postings and books? He has a great website too, and a daily “marks daily Apple” email that has a lot of good stuff. </p>
<p>Yesterday was swimming and chi gung, plus meditation. Today, yoga and a 30 min dumbells workout. One thing I really don’t like to do is track my calories exactly, I don’t have the patience. Idad, I know u roast pork loin a lot - do u have a recipe that doesn’t involve a grill? Too cold.</p>
<p>Stay warm everyone if you r in the freezing areas of the U S!</p>
<p>Maybe with extra strong reading glasses it (planks) would work, doesn’t work with my progressives or no glasses at all. And doesn’t really help with side planks. I’m doomed there I think!</p>
<p>The obvious solution – a cat. Haven’t we established planks and side planks are cats’ favorite exercise? They (cats) provide amusement, interference, and distraction.</p>
<p>mathmom, I have the same trouble with planks. I did them for months, and then I just couldn’t make myself do them anymore. Idad posted a video a while back with 5 stability ball core exercises. I do those now instead.</p>
<p>No. I only know two ways to cook pork. Grill it or fry it! Actually, I take that back. My centercut pork roast would cook fine in the oven. It’s not very fancy, just some olive oil rubbed on it, salt, pepper, and thin slices of garlic inserted into “knife pockets” in the top of the roast. I like pork fully cooked, so I’d roast until it’s 160 degrees.</p>
<p>I solved the problem of “too cold” by bar-b-q’ing several pigs worth of pork butts and baby back ribs and putting it in the freezer. So I’ve had good 4th of July worthy bar-b-q every week or two.</p>
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<p>I do read Mark Sisson’s stuff from time to time. In fact, I was listening to a podcast with him pitching his new book yesterday during my workout. I tend to agree with him on nutrition and execise/play, but he rides the “primal lifestyle” horse a little harder than I go for. There’s a quasi-religious undercurrent in the fervor of primal-followers that doesn’t work for me, and probably a good deal of unwarranted romanticism about how wonderful life was your typical caveman. I mean, good lord, they didn’t even have hi-def big screen TV, not to mention streaming Netflix.</p>
<p>My solution with planks is a quick 3 minute circuit. I set up my interval timer to give me 30 seconds followed by 15 seconds of rest. I start with a front plank for 30, roll to a side plank for 30, roll to the other side plank for 30, and finally to front plank for another 30. All with no break except the 15 seconds to roll to the next position (I usually do them either with my feet in the TRX or lifting some legs and arms). Because it’s non-stop, 30 seconds of each position is plenty. And, I don’t have to spend an eternity doing planks. It’s over in 3 minutes.</p>
<p>I read Lustig’s new book this past weekend. I am curious whether anyone else has read it and if so what you think of it. He seems to make a bigger deal about the difference between fructose and other sugars than I expected - I guess I had come to think of all sugars as the same metabolically.</p>
<p>The book did inspire me to become rededicated about exercise. But the past few days I have realized that I can only take 3.1 miles on the treadmill - I think I have conditioned myself to think that after 3.1 I can be done - anything after that is just horribly boring. So I am going to try running (well, really intervals of walking and jogging) outside. I have been following the posts on clothing, and I am wondering if anyone can recommend pants for about 30 degree weather that are not clingy like tights.</p>
<p>You are both right. Fructose is metabolized very differently than sucrose or glucose and is uniquely problematic (only metabolize by the liver and probably the prime driver of insulin resistance). But, all sugar (white sugar, honey, high fructose corn syrup, etc.) is basically half sucrose and half fructose. So, from a practical standpoint, sugar is sugar. The interesting nuance from Lustig’s perspective is that carbs in general (potatoes, rice, grains, etc.) may only become a big problem after chronic fructose over-consumption has caused insulin resistance and/or when they are eaten in processed forms without the fiber.</p>
<p>I thought maybe the most eye-opening tidbit in his book was the reference to sugar levels in popular breakfast cereals. Some of them are more than 50% sugar (by weight):</p>
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<p>Here’s the full list, searchable by name. My favorite, Honey Nut Cheerios, is 32% sugar:</p>
<p>Gotta hand it to the food companies. They did a heck of a con job selling us on the idea that there is something healthy about eating cereal for breakfast. Sheesh. My Honey Nut Cheerios even say “Heart Healthy” right on the box, which is pretty damn cynical marketing given that eating sugar is a direct cause of coronary artery disease (metabolic syndrome, elevated triglycerides…).</p>
<p>I don’t agree with Lustig’s belief that government intervention is the solution. Heck, it seems to me that government intervention (the food guidelines, agriculture subisidies, etc.) is a big factor in causing this mess… Without the government policy, nobody would think that eating 55% to 60% carbs every day is good idea for the waistline. Heck, before the government got involved, the medical/public health community believed that eating a lot of starches like that is what made people fat…</p>
<p>First of all, you must be in pretty good shape to start at 3.1 miles. It took me months to just complete that distance. </p>
<p>I have the same experiences as you do after that 3.1 miles. The brain just says “that is enough, you want to run a 5K and you get 5K”. </p>
<p>Inspired by runners such as BC and MOWC, I have started to do longer runs on treadmill recently. One of this weekends I will try to get to 6.2 miles. I strongly believe my body is capable of running that distance, may be at a slower pace. It is all about mental from here on.</p>
<p>The biggest decision for me is whether to start training for a 1/2 or not.</p>
I occasionally surf CC on my iPad when I do planks. :)</p>
I mean, good lord, they didn’t even have hi-def big screen TV, not to mention streaming Netflix.</p>