<p>try “insanity” for the first time. It is harder than I thought. </p>
<p>One big mistake I made was trying to match the speed of those on the DVD. I could last 45 seconds at the most - many times around 30 seconds. </p>
<p>Instead of a ramp up of HR, this program takes you right to the max and I can’t deal with that. Legs start to cramping.</p>
<p>So I complete the fit test and did about 20 minutes of the second exercise. Then I ran a mile on treadmill to cool down. </p>
<p>Tomorrow I am going to start at a challenging pace to last at least as long as the set time. Especially during the warm up period. I need to get use to stay at max HR for a couple of minutes.</p>
<p>Deb T - I’ve been taping my PT foot the last 4 days and it has seemed to help. Beautiful 75 degrees on track. Ran 100s/200s/400s at around 85% focusing on form/running relaxed/high knee lift. Tried not to focus on the (mind) pain, which made it enjoyable. Only put a watch on a couple intervals, which made it less stressful.</p>
<p>Did 25 minutes on the bike at the gym (is there a more official name for those?), my special calf exercises, some stability ball things and very light leg work. I tried a push up but my shoulder is not ready for that yet.</p>
<p>The problem with Insanity and P90X and similar programs is that they are completely unrealistic in the work to rest ratio of the intervals. Those programs drive your heart rate up to the anaerobic range (not enough oxygen). The burning/cramping legs are a direct result of that. The idea of a properly designed interval training program is to do a burst at that intensity and then recover. A very aggressive interval program would be a 1:1 ratio – 30 seconds of exercise:30 seconds rest. Most people can’t do that and need to do 2:1 (30 seconds exercise:60 seconds rest) or even longer. Of course, it depends on the exercise. Burpees or jumping jacks are more demanding than bicep curls!</p>
<p>To think that you can sustain ultra high heart rates for minutes at a time is unrealistic (and not terribly good for you). The definition of anaerobic is that it’s not sustainable. In a way, it works as an impediment to good exercise because you are so gassed that you can’t really give enough to do good reps.</p>
<p>Try this:</p>
<p>Watch the video to get a sequence of exercises. Then, stop the video and do the sequence of maybe six exercises looking at your watch. Do 30 seconds of exercise and start a new one every minute on the minute. This gives you 30 seconds of rest. So 30:30s for six minutes. Then, take an extra minute of rest and repeat for another set. And so forth.</p>
<p>If 30:30s are too easy, do 40:20s. You can still start each exercise on the minute every minute. If 30:30s are too hard, do 20:40s.</p>
<p>Heading out on a sailboat in the next couple of days. 2 weeks with extremely limited exercise opportunities. Yes, will be swimming/floating in the water, but that doesn’t have the miraculous effect on me that it does on some others… So… just ordered the fake trx – jungle gym?-- and plan to find a way to rig that up on the boat.</p>
<p>Given the fact that the personal trainer will not be standing next to me, making me do stuff and I will be HIGHLY unmotivated-- what are the fewest amount of exercises I could do to get my biggest maintenance bang for the buck?</p>
<p>My main areas of concern are loss of strength because I won’t be squatting or deadlifting. I’d like to address some core stuff without doing anything lengthy and yeah, I guess, I can do push ups and rows… but how do I simulate heavy squats and dls?</p>
<p>CJane, Al Kavadlo has a bodyweight deadlift alternatives video. I know of the existence of the video, but you or iDad will have to evaluate the exercises – how safe, effective, etc.</p>
<p>Wow. That sounds rough. 2 weeks on a sailboat!</p>
<p>I would probably think about the TRX as more of a bodyweight workout device. I absolutely love pushups with feet in the straps, plank, side plank, pushups/knee tucks, mountain climbers, etc.</p>
<p>Here are a few exercises that I think are really good:</p>
<p>Idad, would this ^ be why you’d like equipment on your desert island? And yes, I suppose in my contrived ship wrecking you could find a few improvised props ;)</p>
<p>Cjane, will you be crewing, or relaxing? Either way, have a great time. Great opportunity for some deep water running opOr just some deep relaxation. Maybe if you meditate about exercise, you can convince your body you’re doing it. I’ll let you know if I master that one :)</p>
<p>Re: magnesium, thanks for the links. I “sorta” knew about it, because I’ve been supplementing magnesium for several years after getting off anti inflammatories for the back spasms that go along with facet joint syndrome. It really does make a difference, but now I have a clearer idea of WHY ;)</p>
<p>If any of you with muscle cramps start taking it, be warned more is not necessarily better. Gave a double does to mch when he put out his back once and while his back was quickly better, he didn’t appreciate getting the runs.</p>
<p>I definitely feel the soreness everyday, mostly from my abs to my shoulders.</p>
<p>I think that the knee issues right now are more of a function of going up stairs than running. Basically the knee is getting better slowly. I wear the knee sleeve almost all the time these days. I have four of them which makes it easier to air them out and wash them. I may start taking the elevator in the office.</p>
<p>CJane- have fun. I knew iDad would take care of you with the exercises! AND- I see what you did there with the swimming/floating. :)</p>
<p>My daughter and I (separately) had the same reaction this morning when we went out to run from our respective residences. “Wow. When did I move back to Texas?” It was a record high low- 78 degrees at 5:45am. I thought it was a mistake. It wasn’t. Humid, too. VERY tough. 3.2 miles done. Will do a couple more after work when it is 94 but lower humidity.</p>
<p>Stretch/strength/core. Tried a back bridge just for grins. Oh my. :eek: And to think those, along with cartwheels, were a staple of my childhood.</p>
<p>notric…,
"Try taking some magnesium, in a form that is somewhat absorbable (iow, glycinate or malate, no oxide). Or take a bath with Epsom salt. "
-I have tried to analyze why I stopped cramping for awhile after my 2-weeks vacation in Mexico, where I have been overeating like a hog (still did not loose all weight), but consumed ton of fish and beets. I do not want to consume ton of fish on a regular bassis because of mercury, I already consume more than others. However, I love beets and will try to make a point consuming more. BTW, my blood levels of everything in normal, except for HDL being outside of normal on a higher side, which is not a concern. So, magnesium must be normal. But I decided that maybe normal is not high enough for me. So, I will try to consume more beets. Thanks!</p>
<p>Did some weights yesterday, I do them not as often as I used to. It is almost a joke anymore, I have increased them on every machine so much, it is incredible. Some upper body (the weaker part of my body) are up amazing 15 lbs and I am not sore at all today. I was thinking and concluded that pushing my weight thru the water resistance while swimming and doing it primarily with my upper body muscles is much more beneficial for upper body strenght than weights and I do not see why bones would not benefit from this. However, I will continue checking those weight machines once in a while, passing by them walking from the pool anyway, so why not spending some additional 10 min. I am really impressed with my progress though which has been platoed foe few decades. Cannot walk now, have to wait for cooler days as I hate to walk inside.</p>
<p>Had my 4 week post surgical check up yesterday, so now approved for driving and for getting back in the pool. Going to try water aerobics today, but trying hard not to over do it. I walked more than I usually do yesterday ( 3/4 mile, plus did errands at Lowes and at a costco sized grocery store) & whimpered all night in pain. Not. Fun. </p>
<p>Excited about the jacuzzi!
:D</p>
<p>If you are at all prone to kidney stones, you may want to ease up on the beets.</p>
<p>If I was going to be on a boat for two weeks- I would do a lot of yoga for strength building.</p>
<p>EK: glad your check-up was good. CJane: two weeks of sailing sounds great. I really like the TRX; think you’ll enjoy it too. I try to go to the TRX class at my gym at least once each week. It’s a small group class–only 6 people–so you have to sign up right away because it fills up immediately. Idad: who’s the Vitamin D doctor? Website or book? </p>
<p>Last night, I got muscle spasms in my thigh. Never had that before and it was incredibly painful. I did a difficult spinning class yesterday and don’t know if that was the cause. Any suggestions on how to prevent it from happening again?</p>
<p>Meeting two friends this afternoon to do a 5 mile walk.</p>
opOr just some deep relaxation. Maybe if you meditate about exercise, you can convince your body you’re doing it. I’ll let you know if I master that one :)</p>