<p><a href=“http://coachdeanhebert.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2008/03/25/do-long-miles-at-low-heart-rate-build-a-better-engine/[/url]”>http://coachdeanhebert.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2008/03/25/do-long-miles-at-low-heart-rate-build-a-better-engine/</a> </p>
<p>Not saying that low hr is good or bad but the above link gives an alternative view on low hr for those wanting to get faster. Complicated stuff (at least it is for me)</p>
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<p>That’s what I did today. I ended up talking to my watch quite a bit.</p>
<p>Very interesting hike with a friend (6 mile walk) on the edge of one our most polluted, large lakes, Apopka (area of 50 square miles). Its complicated restoration involves pumping water over huge land areas formerly drained and polluted after intense agricultural use; after a natural purification and filtering process the cleaner water flows/is pumped back into the lake. The state is opening hiking trails along the shores which are essentially wide dikes between the lake and the mucky but now naturally vegetated purification areas. We stopped to take a lot of photos of the abundant bird life: herons, anhingas, blackbirds, warblers, eagles, ospreys, terns, vultures, and many more. In spite of many signs warning of their presence, not a single alligator was sighted. Perhaps it was too cold for them to emerge from the mud nests today. Anyway, the scale of this undertaking, the clean-up, is incredible, and it will probably be another century before it’s even close to “clean”. What a mess we humans make.</p>
<p>I’ll add two more miles of walking tonight with H. Aqua–Walking has to be my favorite form of exercise as well. Besides the health benefits including weight maintenance, a distraction from eating, fitness, etc., there’s the added benefit of seeing such amazing sights while you’re doing it 
Always learning.</p>
<p>I haven’t been posting much because not much is new in VeryHappy’s diet/exercise world. However, I gotta put in a plug for New Rules of Lifting for Abs, which idad has been touting for months, if not years. I’ve been reading it on and off for a few months and recently started doing some of those core exercises. What a difference!!! My back! My stomach!! My posture!!! I can’t say enough good things about that book!!!</p>
<p>PlantMom,</p>
<p>Wish I was there in FL on some of the amazing hikes that you take. So much incredible wildlife. That makes walking fun for me. When I’m on vacation in FL, I will sometimes walk 10 miles a day on the beach.</p>
<p>Feel like a slug–I’ve been a nursing a hurt kid since Sunday and haven’t been able to do anything. My adult D (who is an actor, hurt her back rehearsing for a show where she wears a 40 pound costume). D tried a chiropractor who her colleagues recommended, but he didn’t help her. At the point where she couldn’t move and was in lots of pain, she called home. I was able to get her an appointment with a PT who did wonders for my husband last year. He had a pinched nerve in his neck and couldn’t lie down to go to sleep. This woman really helped him using cranio-sacral therapy.</p>
<p>Minor difficulty for D was that the PT is in MA (where we live) and D lives in Philly. After working the logistics on Sunday, D got on a plane for Boston and I took her to the therapist’s office. After 4 sessions, D is better (disk that was rotated is now aligned), but she needs bed rest. She’s going to stay with us for the next four days and then return to Philly on Monday. </p>
<p>I signed up for spin class tomorrow and am crossing my fingers and hoping I can get there. Of course, there’s a snow storm that’s coming in, so I may end up doing the Rachael Cosgrove workout on Utube. Either way, as long as I can do something I know I’ll feel better. I work through my anxieties when I exercise. I come from a long line of gloom and doomers who always assume bad outcomes. When I’m done with a hard workout, I almost always have a positive attitude.</p>
<p>Cholesterol test today. Total 207 (up 20 points) higher LDL but a higher HDL too. Ratio 4 to 1. Still not going back on lipitor yet. Going to get a cornary calcium scan soon.</p>
<p>Long workout today. Outdoor track. Dynamic stretching/warmups. 2mile warmup. 8x100s at 90%. 1x 200, 1x 400. Mile warmdown.</p>
<p>Ended with strength/core/foam roller at club.</p>
<p>4.3 miles (slow after the tennis)</p>
<p>1,823 calories
77 g fat, 90 g carbs, 183 g protein (20% carbs)
12 g fiber, 33 g sugar</p>
<p>Well, a big workout day and a lot of calories. My left knee and both ankles are a little sore. Some of the leg muscles are sore too. Overall not too bad for tennis + running.</p>
<p>Back to the basement. Did the same workout as Monday, except that I swung my new kettlebell (or rather, my new kettlebell swung me!) and I bumped the trap bar deadlifts up to 160 pounds (or my bodyweight). That matches the heaviest I’ve lifted and it’s way easier now.</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 (160 lb)
Alternating overhead press (2 x 30 DB)</p>
<p>This was just an all-around good workout. I tried out the new ridiculously tight Brooks running tights. I don’t know how you ladies wear this stuff out in public, but I must say that it was terrific for working out. I ordered a second pair. $32 plus a $20 e-card.</p>
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<p>Yeah. A long term consistent commitment to core exercises pays insididious dividends. It could be months before you start to notice and then it starts showing up in EVERYTHING you do. And, I’m not sure there’s ever an end point. I’m starting iPod nazi’s core program for the second time and I’m much more solid now than a year ago, even on stuff like planks and side planks.</p>
<p>I think the chapters on core exercises in NROL4ABS are probably the best available. Terrific selection of exercises and I love the progressions so that you can choose easier or harder versions.</p>
<p>Walked again today…4.3 miles and also some exercises with my dumbbells. My glutes and right calf are still a bit sore from this week. Also did a tiny bit of shoveling but was afraid I would hurt my back. I am a chicken! ;)</p>
<p>Meals were good as H is out of town! I had a spinach and baby lettuce salad with chicken breast for dinner. Yum! </p>
<p>Cals 864
Fat 29 g
Carbs 79 g
Fiber 17 g
Protein 85 g
Sugars 7 g</p>
<p>strength day - no running. </p>
<p>45 minutes of various weights and machines for upper body only.</p>
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<p>Hi Blankmind, how long have been running? what training program do you follow? What is the longest run you have done? I would like to pick up a point of two from you about the training. I will ne very happy if I cross the finish line in 2:30 this may.</p>
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<p>207 sounds pretty good. Before I would consider Lipitor, I would want to get this test:</p>
<p>[What</a> is the Particle Test?](<a href=“http://www.theparticletest.com/what-is-test.html]What”>http://www.theparticletest.com/what-is-test.html)</p>
<p>In addition to all the normal LDL, HDL, and Triglyceride measurements, this test counts the number of LDL particles. Proponents of this believe that it is the number of LDL particles slamming into artery walls that correlates with coronary risk, not necessarily the amount of cholesterol carried by those particles. High LDL carried by a small number of big particles is not a high risk situation. Low LDL carried by a big number of small particles is a major risk, and an explanation for how people like Tim Russert can keel over with a massive coronary despite having low LDL (thanks to statins). Large numbers of small deadly LDL particles is another one of those classic metabolic syndrome problems.</p>
<p>Both of the national labs my doctor uses (LabCorp and Quest) list this test, but I have no idea if insurance will cover it as part of my annual physical. I don’t even know how to find out if they will cover it. Or, if my doctor has even heard of it. I’m going to print out a sample test report and ask him next week because I’m tired doing the same old cholesterol test every year that doesn’t tell me much of anything interesting. I can just get it done on my own for $129. </p>
<p>[NMR</a> LipoProfile](<a href=“http://www.healthtestingcenters.com/nmr-lipoprofile.aspx]NMR”>http://www.healthtestingcenters.com/nmr-lipoprofile.aspx)</p>
<p>I get a requisition form to go get the blood drawn at the same LabCorp office my doctor will send me to, only they send me the results. One option is to just order the test and get the lab to draw two blood samples. One for the doc’s tests and one for mine, while I’m there. (Did I say I HATE trying to navigate our health care system? Even if you want to be a value shopper, the system makes it impossible).</p>
<p>Based on my HDL and triglycerides and LDL, I almost certainly have a small number of LDL particles and, I already know mine are the large, fluffy kind. But, if I’m going to get a cholesterol test, I might as well get one that reports everything.</p>
<p>As if heart rate training isn’t enough, the latest twist is something called heart rate variability:</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.omegawave.com/]Omegawave[/url”>http://www.omegawave.com/]Omegawave[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Developed by mad Russian scientists (who else?), this measures how consistent the timing is between your heart beats. is it consistent like a metronome? Or does it vary a bit. You measure it every morning for five minutes, and the computer spits out “heart rate variability charts” that tell you if you are over trained, need to train harder, need to rest, and so forth. </p>
<p>Just between you, me, and the fencepost, I haven’t heart anything from these guys that convinces me they aren’t just making it up as they go, based on three or four obscure scientific studies, but who knows? It’s certainly the rage in pro sports training circles, especially, it seems, European soccer circles.</p>
<p>I’m just glad that I’m an ol’ (formerly) fat guy who is content to exercise, try to do a variety of things, figuring some it will be good for me just based on blind luck, and take it easy for a day or two when my body says, “tired, wore out, need a rest…”</p>
<p>I’ve been known to do kettleball swings at midnight. I just like doing them. :D</p>
<p>I’m skeer’d of my new kettlebell. No midnight swings for me…</p>
<p>I learned quickly that if you don’t do the kettlebell swings correctly, you can throw out your back. But if you do them right, they’re supposed to give you the butt of a Brazilian stripper. So I’m hopeful I can get them right eventually.</p>
<p>I don’t know if that would be a good look for an ol’ (formerly) fat guy! :)</p>
<p>^lol.
Ohiopub, re cholesterol and avoiding Lipitor – I too have been trying to avoid it (already arthritic, worried about statins on that). I have low good hDL that’s too big for uptake, so my issue is ratio. But one thing that lowered my bad cholesterol by about 30 pts to 169 seemed to be doing a shaklee choc shake for lunch. My h. Had about the exact same drop on it (and he uses 2% milk while I use almond milk) and nothing else was different at the time. I had started it because the extra protein seems to sharpen up my mental fog ;)</p>
<p>A second Lipitor-avoidance strategy if you can stand the flush is high bed time doses of niacin – just the pure supplement form that’s cheap, not the new pharma they make from it for about 100 times the cost 
You titrate up gradually to 1500-2000, take an aspirin with it, and go to sleep. If you stay awake, you will fear your on fire. I had looked into it because its the only know method that both increases good HdL and decreases bad. I did this with doc’s blessing, but got out of the habit when I stopped during gallbladder surgery. I didn’t start again, because last time I was checked, my ratio was lower. But it’s my go-to if the doc starts on me again. (Perhaps he now has a note in his file: crackpot warning, do not discuss Lipitor ;))</p>
<p>Idad, thanks for that link. I’m going to ask for that test next time!</p>