<p>He needs to go way up in weight. I haven’t read any fitness trainer who recommends more than 12 to 15 reps. In fact, they all say that, when you can do 12 good reps easily, increase the weight. Conversely, if you can’t do the exercise with good form, stop. The concensus seems to be that, for pure weight training, a weight where you lose form after 8 reps is just about ideal for fitness and fat loss – although bodybuilders may do max weights they can only life once or twice.</p>
<p>I find the eigth rep rule to be a little heavy for these circuit training workouts I do, where I’m doing the exercise for 45 seconds plus dealing with being gassed from short rest between exercises. I try to pick a weight I can handle for 10 to 15 reps.</p>
<p>Walmart has the plain gray iron hex dumbells in 20s, 25s, 30s, and a couple of bigger sizes. Their prices are good – under $1 a pound. If your store doesn’t have them in stock, you can order online and get free shipping to your closest store for pickup. I now have a set of a pair of 10s, a pair of 15s and a pair of 20s. That covers all the weight ranges I need for my circuit workouts. The 10s are my limit for lunge walking with lateral raises and the T-pushups and reverse flies and stuff. The 20s are my limit for presses and a good workout on the one-arm dumbbell swings. I use the 15s for dumbell rows and other exercises where I wouldn’t be able to do more than eight reps with the 20s.</p>
<p>I use the dumbell set to put together a heavier pair beyond that – I’ve got the plates to do a pair of 24 pounders or two 29 pounders or two 34 pounders. If I ever need more than that, I’ll just get more plates. We’ll cross that bridge when I get there. You could theoretically go up to 84 pounds with eight 10 pound plates on each dumbell.</p>
<p>I can’t tell my son what to do unless he believes that he should do it. I’m pretty happy that I can convince him of things (most of the time) in the computer science and engineering world. He could just use the dumbbells in the YMCA but he likes to avoid places where he can catch things and would rather use our stuff at home.</p>
<p>He often works on banging out code for his labs and stops from time to time to do a bunch of reps and then goes back to banging out code.</p>
<p>The point the fitness trainers make about large numbers of reps with light weights is that you are simply training and conditioning your body to be weak. Cosgrove really emphasizes this point for women and their aerobics classes with 3 pound handweights. I think the same logic applies to us ol’ fat guys, too. I’m not trying to be a body builder, but I am making an effort to start bumping up the weights.</p>
<p>Got my six in, no problem. Weight is 203, basically I’ve been bouncing around between 202 and 205 for the last month. I am getting stronger and thinner though but I guess maintaining weight isn’t bad through a stressful month. I suspect that things will continue to be stressful through the end of the year so I think that I will have to downgrade my expectations. Getting stronger and thinner isn’t a bad consolation prize.</p>
<p>I am saying, with some caution, that I think I am starting to see some improvement in my injury. I can do my 1 leg bridge for 2 minutes now (edit-just did 2:15) and before I could only make 30 seconds before the hamstring would cramp. I still have discomfort with many seats, but a lot less than before and when I get up I do not feel crippled. I can touch my toes.
Tomorrow morning before I have to fly out of San Diego I am going to do a long walk- shooting for 2 hours. Not sure I can stand it by myself, but if I have a shot at it, here in San Diego is the place to try it.<br>
This morning I did the stupid elliptical at the (really nice) hotel gym. While I hated to be inside, I wanted to get my heartrate up higher than walking does. I really liked the elliptical I was on- a LifeFitness 95. It was a similar model to what I use at my home gym but different display and slightly different pedals. Also HR sensors on both the moving arm bars and the stationary handles. LifeFitness is a product of Brunswick Corporation and the CEO is a close business associate of mine. Why we can’t get one of those things in our office is beyond me. “We don’t have showers. Where would we put it?”</p>
<p>So, how did the cat enjoy its flight? Did you buy a drink for you or the cat?</p>
<hr>
<p>iPod nazi supersets again today. Phew, these are tough. The hardest one:</p>
<p>**30 seconds: **Step up on on a step with both feet while curling and pressing 2 dumbells, step back down, repeat leading with the other foot. Alternate back and forth.</p>
<p>Immediately:</p>
<p>**30 seconds: **Side bridge position, free arm outstretched to ceiling holding dumbbell. Maintining side bridge, curl the arm and weigth down and under the torso, reaching until the belly-button is facing the floor. Then, twist back bringing the weight and arm back outstretched to ceiling (feels like a tennis backhand motion). Repeat for 30 seconds, then switch sides and go for another 30 seconds.</p>
<p>Immediately:</p>
<p>**30 seconds: **Burpees. Do a pushup, jump feet in towards hands and jump up to standing position and up off the ground. Kick legs back out to pushup position. Do pushup. Jump up. Back down. Repeat for 30 seconds.</p>
<p>Rest for 60 seconds.</p>
<p>Repeat superset </p>
<p>Yeow. It doesn’t sound like much, but it sure gets this ol’ fat guy huffin and puffin. The burpees are just brutal.</p>
<p>The cat did really well. He is a good traveler (thank goodness). I got a free drink on Southwest. I have a ton of drink coupons, but they were in the overhead bin in my computer backpack. It’s usually under the seat, but kitty was there. The flight attendant told me not to worry about it. I think because the flight was so delayed they weren’t very strict about collecting the coupons. I had a glass of wine. Fortunately, the 2nd flight was delayed, too, so I had plenty of time to get all the way through the Denver airport and then back to my gate. I was exhausted by the time I got to San Diego at 2am my time (midnight out here). </p>
<p>You need to lose the “ol’ fat guy” label. I’m not buying it anymore!</p>
<p>A bunch of my online (and local) running friends ran Baystate Marathon last weekend in Lowell. Is that near you (idad) or BCEagle?</p>
<p>Yup. I saw the signs for the race before this week along the Merrimack River. I’ll just say that the weather for it was a lot better than it was last year. We live up in NH so I wasn’t down there but I am aware of the race.</p>
<p>Lowell is probably 30 minutes from here with no traffic. It’s not a much of destination.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m still an ol’ fat guy on the burpees and jumping jacks. Good grief. I did set a new personal record for jumping jacks – 42 seconds before I had to bend over and pant like a dog. I think the burpee is supposed to be a real “athletic” move. Well, maybe someday. Right now, I would have to say that my jump is not exactly “explosive”. My pushup is not too bad, but overall I’m pretty much doggin’ it on the burpees. This mixing weight exercises with full-body cardio exercises in rapid fire sequence is really demanding.</p>
<p>The one-legged hamstring roll-ins on the stability ball were a lot better today. I could actually do them without feeling like a leg cramp.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, I love the pushups with my feet on the stability ball. Pushup, then roll the ball in to the bum. Then roll the ball back out and do another pushup. I can do six of them in 30 seconds. I’m enjoying the plank on the stability ball. 30 seconds is a piece of cake, so I’ve been rolling the ball out forward with my arms and back. That move increases the difficulty immensely. Talk about an ab workout.</p>
<p>All in all, I like where these workouts are taking me, but they are pretty tough for an ol’ fat guy, especially “at my age”…</p>
<p>I lie on my back on the floor, feet on the ball, arms outstretched for stability. Raise my hips off the floor, ideally forming a straight line from the shoulders to the feet, with a solid core. Then, I do two or three hamstring roll-ins with both feet to get my balance. Then, take one leg off the ball, point it towards the ceiling, and roll the ball in and out with the other leg. It’s brutal because that leg has to hold your butt off the ground, stabilize the ball, and roll in and out. It feels exactly like a cramp in the back of the thigh. I’m not thrilled with my form yet (I’m kinda just hangin’ on for dear life), but at least I could do the exercise today and felt like I had some control.</p>
<p>iPod nazi builds it up in a sequence towards phase 3. Phase 1 was two legged hamstring roll ins. Phase 2 was 2-legged roll ins, but take one leg off the ball for a moment after you’ve rolled the ball in towards you bum. So I’ve been doing the one-legged stabilization for several months. But, this new twist massively loads one leg – not from a pure strength standpoint, but from a functional fitness standpoint.</p>
<p>I would strongly urge you to be careful with this one with your injury. It feels just like a hamstring cramp in the back of the leg, which is probably not what you need!</p>
<p>Looking ahead in Phase 3, I see that I’ve got pushups on stabilty ball, but with only one foot on the ball. That’ll be fun.</p>
<p>I DID IT!!! And yes…I am shouting! I did the 5K run/walk this morning and achieved my goal of finishing and not being last. Yay! Both of my D’s and H did it with me along with
D1’s fiance. They all ran ahead but came back for me at the end. I loved that they were proud of me! My time wasn’t great for most people but good for me walking with a gimpy knee, finished right at the 45 minute mark! I will do this again if I can find ones that allow walkers.</p>
<p>Yay for you NorthMinn!!! Doesn’t it feel great everytime you achieve a new goal? Did the weather hold up?</p>
<p>Tried spinning again this morning, with a different teacher. When her opening song was “Time Warp” from Rocky Horror I knew I was in for a good time. Much more upbeat than last week’s class. </p>
<p>Don’t want to open up a can of worms, but did anyone see the article in the New York Times this morning about running shoes? Basically they say fit is more important than cost. Of course, they have $80 shoes in the low cost category…</p>
<p>Congratulations NMINN! 45 minutes sounds pretty good to me. </p>
<p>I’m heading out for a 5K walk to the state park and I certainly won’t do it it in 45 minutes, even if I don’t fall down and sprain my ankle this week.</p>
<p>Don’t leave us in suspense. Get to the important stuff. Tell us about your outfit? :)</p>
<p>Ya gotta love the snootiness of the “woman in the street” views presented in the Times. A Ms. Tannenbaum opines:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Imagine, being **seen **in a Target. Oh my… the humanity! They’d probably take the vapors if they knew I shopped at, OMG, WalMart…</p>
<p>Only in the New York Times could $80 be the “low cost” option in sneakers. Of course, there’s no difference between $80 shoes and $120 shoes. I’ve a got a pair of $19 AVIA’s from Marshall’s they are welcome to test. Those things hurt my feet riding around on the lawnmower.</p>
<p>I just signed up for Weight Watchers online (again) today. I did the program last Nov-Feb and got down to my goal weight. Quit WW and stayed at goal for a few months before the bad habits came back… and the pounds crept back too. I’ve gained back about half of what I lost, even though I’m a runner and exercise a lot. I also eat a lot. ;)</p>
<p>Back on track now! I really think paying for a service helps keep me accountable. I tried just tracking my foods on fitday or whatever, but I wasn’t using it consistently like I did with the WW online.</p>
<p>Anyway, hello to all of you trying to get in shape and/or lose weight.</p>
<p>Hi Oregonianmom! Glad you are trying again! Keeping track online really helps me. I use DailyPlate on Livestrong and check in on this thread to keep me motivated. Everyone here is so very helpful and I have learned so much.</p>
<p>I shopped my D1’s closet and found a brand new Adidas long sleeve tech shirt and a pair of black running type pant made out of some fancy material that I don’t remember what it is called! I also wore a light hooded jacket as it was sprinkling when we started. Shed the jacket and tied it around my waist before the halfway point. Rain never amounted to much. Bought a new pair of New Balance running shoes. The Asics, Saucony and Nike shoes felt too tight for me. Both Ds approved the outfit before I left the house. I just got a new lightweight fleece top delivered from LLBean that someone posted about. Love it for the weight, fit, free delivery and cute little ipod pocket on the sleeve. [Fitness</a> Fleece Quarter-Zip Pullover: Fleece and Sweatshirts at L.L.Bean](<a href=“L.L.Bean: Page Not Available”>L.L.Bean: Page Not Available)</p>
I just got a new lightweight fleece top delivered from LLBean that someone posted about. Love it for the weight, fit, free delivery and cute little ipod pocket on the sleeve. [Fitness</a> Fleece Quarter-Zip Pullover: Fleece and Sweatshirts at L.L.Bean](<a href=“