<p>I kind of liked the alligator walks, I far prefer to do something where I am moving than planks.</p>
<p>MOWC, for what it’s worth, I have an older Landice that has stood the test of time over the years. Very solid units. Landice was making high quality treadmills before many of the companies today were even born and they’re still around so they must be doing something right.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My trainer has had me do them (calls them crunchies) a couple of different ways, but he thinks the key is to keep the knees above the hips and put pressure on the heels. So for instance, if we’re using his core bench, it has a bar that I rest my feet on, just above my heels, and press down on that bar with my feet/ankles. If we’re using a balance ball, then I just move the balance ball as close to my rear that I can get it, plant the feet on the ball, maybe not necessarily at the top so the knees are just a tad bit higher than the hips , and again, sort of dig the heels into the balance ball. He believes this form helps protect the lower back from a lot of bad form that most people doing crunchies engage in. So yea, my crunchies are done lying on my back, with my legs bent and heels resting on something. For extra work he repositions his core bench so that it’s on an incline, so my head is lower than my hips. We do the same for reverse torso curls on the core bench - my head is higher than my hips - I hang onto the bar where I rest my feet for crunchies with my hands above my head.</p>
<p>I should have added that the way we increase the workout is by increasing the slant of the core bench. When I’m with him, and he has me do crunchies/reverse torso curls, I do 3 sets of 15 reps. As that gets easy, we change the position of the core bench.</p>
<p>One thing worth mentioning, working with weights is a 2 or 3 times a week thing, not a daily thing. I did not know that initially (…in good part why Deborah ended up checking out this thread).</p>
<p>PG, I have to agree with MOWC - there’s no way in the world I could have kept up with your schedule. I was ready to bail yesterday when I saw that ML and abasket had both gotten runs in - no way could I let them get too far ahead of me! 
Now I must get my rear in gear for a run after spending the day shopping. I actually bought pants a size smaller than I did last spring. I tried on some dresses and was pleased to find I have gone from a size 16 in what I would term a “fat” style and brand last January to a size 6 or 8 in J Crew. Didn’t buy any because I’m sure they will go on sale and for some reason, it’s easier to find attractive clothes on sale in smaller sizes! Who would have thunk it?</p>
<p>Deborah T, as a general rule yes, but if a person wants to do more intensive lifting, very often they will do split routines doing different body parts on alternating days over a span of 4-6 days. Depends on your goals and how the lifting fits into other aspects of your fitness routines.</p>
<p>I hear you, MichaelNKat. For the weights, I started out trying two or three arm exercises (one of them I would not recommend), heavier weights than I should have, and doing the same exercises every day. Wanted to help Peacefulmom avoid that mistake!</p>
<p>Did my first indoor ride today on the Wahoo Kickr. For those into cycling who do indoor training during the winter, I think this is going to revolutionize the field of home indoor cycling trainers. No rear tire wear, magnetic computer controlled resistance. Strain gauge true wattage measurement. Controlled by an iPad or iPhone or Android device. Open source software and Bluetooth compatible. Accessories like hr transmitter and cadence sensors sold at Apple Store. Wahoo’s own software is a free download from Apple a Store and third party applications that do things like control the resistance based on actual ride profile and ride videos with attached files are increasing in number and availability. And at a cost that is 1/2 to 2/3 of what else is out there.</p>
<p>Yep, good advice. And unfortunately, if a newcomer doesn’t get good guidance up front, the result is often injury which puts a real crimp in a person’s interest in continuing to exercise.</p>
<p>Deb T:</p>
<p>Thanks for posting those ab links for peacefulmom.</p>
<p>I don’t do sit ups or a crunches and never will. I’m sold on back guru Stuart McGill’s belief that situps are bad, bad news for the lumbar spine. These kinds of risk/benefit calculations are key to exercise for geezers like me.</p>
<p>[Magazine:</a> Core Values - NYTimes.com/Video - YouTube](<a href=“Magazine: Core Values | The New York Times - YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kukmaW9CmSU)</p>
<hr>
<p>Injury time-out for me. I noticed that my wrist was sore yesterday and it was still pretty tender shovelling snow this afternoon. Probably not a great idea to head to the basement and lift heavy things…</p>
<p>5.22 miles on the treadmill this afternoon. It’s snowing today. That puts me at 30.1 miles for the week. I haven’t run that much since December, 2008! It feels great.</p>
<p>Four day a week strength training schedules, alternating upper and lower body emphasis, probably make sense for pro or college sports teams who can put that much time in the weight room. But, for middle-age fitness, I’m not really sold on the necessity (or sustainability) of that much weight lifting. I have found that three days a week is certainly enough for general fitness, leaving two or three days a week for variety, change of pace, conditioning, and fun stuff. </p>
<p>At my age, I start to get sore really quickly with back to back weight lifting days.</p>
<p>Maine- excellent mileage! sabaray- congrats on the pants size! Deborah- as always, good mix of weights/cardio in your week.
Michael- that Wahoo trainer sounds good. It does sound like an improvement on the others.</p>
<p>Went and shopped treadmills. Definitely think the Landice L7 is the way to go (thanks for the feedback, Michael). We liked the Cardio panel, which is an upgrade but not the top one. WildChild got the cheapest panel and my friend got the Cardio panel. It’s going to come in about $4K with set up and tax (and mat). H wants to wait until Feb 1 for the next credit card cycle and then it will take a week or more for it to come in. I guess I’ll survive… Another couple was in there from our same gym. The guy wants a home treadmill. The big advantage for me is going to be for bad weather mornings since it is difficult to get up and get to the gym and then to work. (packing all the work clothes, etc)
They had a nice LifeFitness treadmill, and I love LifeFitness ellipticals (to the extent I like ANY ellipticals), but I think the Landis is better. I am sort of partial to LifeFitness because I know the president of the company (Brunswick owns them) and I tried for years to get him to give my previous company some stuff for the corporate office. He would have done it (he is on the Board), but we didn’t have a place to put it) </p>
<p>Oh- they also had this really cool home gym set up which doesn’t take up much room and had EVERYTHING! It was called Tuff Stuff Six Pack Trainer and was really excellent. $3000 We won’t be getting that anytime soon, but I want it.
<a href=“http://fitnesssolutionsinc.info/equipment/home-gyms/tuff-stuff[/url]”>http://fitnesssolutionsinc.info/equipment/home-gyms/tuff-stuff</a></p>
<p>Yay on the smaller size, sabaray!</p>
<p>Wow, I am trying to keep up with the heart rate and vomax conversation! I will have to retread some of that info.</p>
<p>MOWC, thx for the treadmill rec because I would love one at home also.</p>
<p>PG, I understand the frustration of ‘falling off the wagon’. I have lost weight and gotten into shape many times only to suddenly fall into a bag of chips, stop working out and come out a few months later heavy, depressed and out of shape. For me this lifestyle is about my mental strength much more so than my HR or HRR or VOanything. I love the way I feel after eating a warm piece of apple pie and I don’t seem to be able to stop at one piece without considerable struggle. i know you have it in you to be strong and healthy and I hope you don’t let a few days ‘off’ get you down.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Amen to that. I have to make my choices at the grocery store, because once it’s in the house, I’m eating it. All of it.</p>
<p>I ate an entire bag of Lindt chocolates that belonged to another department at work. I had been told to “help myself” and no one else was eating them… This is a problem.</p>
<p>Sabaray, I am SO impressed by that change in clothing size. That is AMAZING! Especially those j Crew sizes which I think run small!!! </p>
<p>PG, I think MOWC has a good idea in the smaller workout commitments. It would be of good value without such a huge investment of time and energy. And the payoff will still be entirely good for you. </p>
<p>I have had “bouts of doubt” or motivation, but it’s been awhile. Instead though, I can kind of be obsessive about getting workouts in - I’m afraid if I miss more than a scheduled day that ill grow in size overnight!!! Ridiculous, but it’s the mind games we play. Just need those mind games to be of the glass half full variety!!! :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is SO me! 6.2 dull treadmill miles. It is cold! On track for my 100 miles this month, though. The Nike app allows you to set goals for yourself - so I set a goal of running five times a week. So far, so good. </p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement, everyone!</p>
<p>My only exercise today was taking down the tree at last. It involved a lot of trips up and down stairs, but still pretty minimal! I’ll do a few kettleball swings and push ups before bed, to cancel out extra calories from dinner at the new wine bar in town.</p>