<p>Thanks to all of you. Reading your posts has been an inspiration to me. I injured my foot five weeks ago which has forced me to stay off it as much as possible. It’s feeling a whole lot better. So I walked 3 miles at a brisk pace this morning with a friend. No foot pain at all.</p>
<p>I don’t want to be a slave to the scale. I weighed myself this morning and will probably check again in a month. Hopefully I’ll drop a few pounds. I know I’ve probably put on a few over the past five weeks since I had to stay off my feet. :(</p>
<p>Another way to measure is clothes if you don’t want to use the scale. I find the scale to be more precise but I find about a three pound variance either way is possible. When your clothes get loose - it’s a good sign. I should have worn a belt this morning.</p>
<p>^Oh yes! I discovered “middle-age spread” when some of my skirts got too tight and my weight hadn’t changed. I <em>could</em> blame it on the laundry, but I don’t think so.</p>
<p>Clothes may actually be a better gauge. I’ve got a couple of pair of “thermometer” pants – dress pants that were just a little snug when I bought them last spring. Wearable, but just a bit snug in the waist. I tried them on and they fit now. I’m probably the skinniest I’ve been in the clothes department, even though am 2 to 5 pounds above my lowest weight on the scale and about the same as when I bought them last year. </p>
<p>I think the hiking and the single leg squats have added some muscle in my quads/glutes, which shows up on the scale, even though my body fat is probably down a bit.</p>
<p>Ouch. I hope he heals up quickly. I think of all the times over the years that I have slipped on the ice and how easy it is to turn a simple little fall into an injury like that.</p>
<p>I have a male friend who has severe osteoporosis. He’s older now but I think he was diagnosed a long time ago. He is a marathon runner, and his condition is genetic. He had a severe spontaneous femur fracture a few years ago. I hope your nephew heals quickly!</p>
<p>I am in the middle of eating hell. 3 banquet dinners in a row (food not particularly great but it’s what’s available to me…) and lunches out. Weight was done this morning 2.6 pounds from last Monday, though, so that’s good.</p>
<p>I had to run at 5am this morning due to this meeting/trade show situation I have this week. it was cold and dark but sort of peaceful once I got out there.</p>
<p>Blankmind - I tried the maffetone method, bought the book and gave it my best shot. Didn’t see any improvement in speed. It was beneficial in that I increased my long mileage runs with no injury problems</p>
<p>mommusic, I hope your nephew recovers quickly. 30 years old seems shockingly young for osteoporosis. I know soda can leach calcium, but it’s horrible to think it could cause that kind of weakening. I hope they get to the bottom of the cause.</p>
<p>I walked and jogged today, morning and night for a total of about 5 miles. C25K, week 7 day 1, this AM, with one 25 minute running stretch. I did it, but I did not find it particularly enjoyable–my phone shows I was going a little faster, so maybe too fast for me. (But yes, very slow in comparison to some of the paces I’m seeing posted here.) It was cool, low 50’s, thank goodness. I repeat this same workout two more times this week and I hope it will feel easier by the end!</p>
<p>idad, how much muscle weight do you think you can add? If you find an answer that applies to females, please let me know. I’ve read either point of view–that the amount of weight one can add from muscle is insignificant and overrated, OR muscle weighs more than fat, and one can certainly add a few pounds of muscle. I would think that leg muscle weight would definitely become measurable on the home scale at some point. Especially if you can see the muscle definition.</p>
<p>Busy day today - run with sabadog this am, gym this afternoon, went to orientation for sabadog’s new class w/out him (which he did not approve of), then quick trip to the store before the snowpocalypse! I feel really good today. </p>
<p>Today’s numbers: </p>
<p>Calories: 840
Fat: 45 g
Carbs: 73 g
Fiber: 19 g
Protein: 47 g
Sugars: 28 g </p>
<p>No meat today. Cottage cheese, raspberries, roast brussels sprouts, hummus, flax seed/oat bran/whole wheat pitas. And one of those coconut yogurts. But now they are gone!</p>
<p>Whew. That was a workout. Time to change it up. I’ve been doing 12 rep sets, so I’m switching to 6 rep sets, which means heavier weights. And, I’m doing iPod Nazi’s Amazing Abs workouts as the core section – two sets instead of three.</p>
<p>Warmup
Quadruped thoracic rotation
Quadruped hip extension
ValSlide Hip Flexion
Bottom position pushup hold
Band assisted leg lowering
Walking Lunge/Lateral Lunge
Squat to Stand</p>
<p>Agility ladder
2 step forward and back
Icky Shuffle forward
Ali Shuffle lateral
One leg hop</p>
<p>Amazing Abs core (2 sets)
Birddog
Plank
Side Plank
3pt Superman touches
Hip lifts</p>
<p>Power (2 sets)
Plyo jumps to weight bench
Kettlebell swings</p>
<p>Strength (3 sets)
Rear foot elevated split squat (2 x 30 DB)
TRX inverted row
Trap bar deadlift (150 lb)
Alternating overhead press (2 x 30 DB)</p>
<p>I’ll do this same workout all week. Three times. Then change the exercises next week and so forth. The iPod nazi program is 12 weeks.</p>
<p>Monday is a tough day for me schedule-wise but I got four miles in today. Felt a lot better than Saturday and Sunday. For me, doing weights before running is not a good combination.</p>
<p>1,088 calories, 39% carbs. Back to diet mode (I really didn’t have time to be hungry today)</p>
<p>Saw foot Doc today and got the best new. Full ankle motion and no sign of any arthritis. Gave me a 30 day prescription (with two more re-fills) of once-a-day anti-inflammatory med and sent me out. W/o even asking for a return visit in 3 months.</p>
<p>Talk to a runner colleague today and he recommended 4 days a week running with the weekday at least 1/2 of the weekend long runs. In other words, if I want to do a 8 mile this weekend, I should do 4 miles in Tuesday and Thursday. Any thing short would not do me any good, he said. </p>
<p>That make sense to me. instead of shorter runs in Tue/Wed and Thur., I would do the medium runs in Tue. and Thur.</p>
<p>Yeah. It took 1 hour 24 minutes. Although that included some time screwing around with the speakers that I hooked up the Kindle Fire tablet to for the iPod nazi video. I can probably get it down to 75 minutes.</p>
<p>I want to really push these basement workouts hard during mud season over the next couple months. It’s a lousy time of year for outside stuff – cold and wet. So, I’m thinking 12 weeks to focus on getting stronger, or at least keeping what I’ve got (“at my age, if I’m not going backwards, I’m going forwards!”)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not very much. Once you hit the 50s, it’s nearly impossible to put on a lot of muscle. Hormones as you age work against it. Sure, when you go from couch potato to strength training, you make some easy gains. But, I’ve been doing this stuff for three years now. Plus, I really don’t eat to put on a lot of muscle. I would have to crank up the calories.</p>
<p>I was pleased with today’s workout. The 2 x 30 lb DBs is the heaviest I’'ve used before for the rear foot elevated split squat. So, it was good to be able to jump in at that weight on a exercise I haven’t done for a few months.</p>