<p>^^ Frankly, I wouldn’t consider 30 minutes of line dancing (while chatting) very significant exercise. It’s better than sitting on your butt, but don’t fool yourself into thinking it’s much benefit to your health and fitness.</p>
<p>Hmm, here’s a question that I haven’t yet found an answer to: how do I stop/reduce losing circulation during yoga? (This is the worst during sleeping horse and other PASSIVE bent poses, so I don’t think it’s related to overstretching.) In terms of history, I have always been prone to cold hands/feet, and I’ve never successfully donated blood because my veins are deemed “too small.”</p>
<p>Keilexandra, what do you mean by losing circulation? Do you mean you feel faint? It might be due to low blood pressure and coming up suddenly from a bent or lying position. You could pause midway, stop for an extra inhale/exhale, then come all the way up. Also, it tends to get better with time if you continue doing yoga.</p>
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<p>I had similar problems and they got better when I learned to not tense my neck while exercising. It’s also the forward head position that gets you into trouble, from what I’ve heard. Most carpal tunnel, numbness in hands, etc stem from further up.</p>
<p>Welcome, Susan4. I think all exercise is good. Heck, I could have just tapped my toe to line dance music and gotten more exercise than I was getting for many years. I bet I would struggle to keep up with you and your daughter. I know I’d keel over, calling for the defibrulator paddles, in a Zumba class.</p>
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<p>The amount of exercise and the low level of body fat that would be required for most women to look “muscular” is off the charts. The bodybuilder and fitness model women you see with ripped muscles have bodyfat percentages that are simply not achievable without crazy workout and eating (starvation) programs. Even those women can only hold that low body fat for a day or two.</p>
<p>There is almost no risk of building that kind of muscle starting at age 40. In fact, the big battle is that we all start losing muscle at a rapid clip. Beyond getting weaker, the loss of muscle means that we are burning fewer calories and the fat starts piling on. Once we hit 40, we’ve either got to start actively “building muscle” or cutting our calorie intake dramatically.</p>
<p>Bromfeld, the only hand issue I’ve had was when I first started doing T-pushups and pushup-position rows – taking a pushup position with my hands on two dumbbells. That hurt a bit at first. I found a hand position that was a little more comfortable and, basically, my hands adapted to supporting my weight on the grips of the dumbbells in fairly short order. Now, it’s not a problem – I wish I could say the same thing about actually doing the T-pushups!</p>
<p>I have heard of people getting banged up from kettlebells – mostly if they are doing stuff where the thing is flopping around against their wrists and forearms.</p>
<p>I would say to probably limit your workouts a bit and see if the problems improve with time. It may be just a matter of building up some grip strength as opposed to a specific injury. It’s just something you are going to have to judge.</p>
<p>Numb hands can also be caused by pressure on nerves from inflamation up in the shoulders/neck region. You may want to do the [wall</a> slide](<a href=“http://ericcressey.com/exercise-of-the-week-scapular-wall-slides]wall”>http://ericcressey.com/exercise-of-the-week-scapular-wall-slides) as a warmup. It is incredible for loosening tension in the shoulders. The keys are to try to keep your butt, elbows, and hands in contact with the wall. This exercise will make your shoulders feel like a million bucks if they are tight.</p>
<p>I realize that this is not a brilliant insight but it impressed me today that when I eat spicy foods I feel sated fairly quickly. I am not really a fan of spicy foods but we had Indian food for dinner and my chicken was spicier than I usually eat, and I found myself both liking it and feeling like I had had enough even though I hadn’t eaten all that much. And I noticed that my peppercorn ranch dressing is more satisfying that plain ranch dressing.</p>
<p>Speaking of spicy foods, I read somewhere that habanero chilis may increase metabolism. I don’t know if that’s true but I agree with you, Amesie, spicy foods tend to make me feel full more quickly. </p>
<p>I’ve been working out twice a week and walking two days a week. I know idad said that diet is really key in dropping pounds. Sooo, I’m trying to work on my diet. I’ve started with oat bran in the morning, yogurt/fruit mid morning and turkey sandwiches at lunch.</p>
<p>susan4, welcome to the thread!</p>
<p>I want to point you to this Wikipedia article - maybe it will make you rethink your position on weight bearing exercise.</p>
<p>[Sarcopenia</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcopenia]Sarcopenia”>Sarcopenia - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Muscle loss accelerates for females over the age of 35. According to some articles, we lose up to 5% of our muscle every year! So for us, unless we are shoveling dirt or lugging around heavy loads for living, lifting free weights is critical to ***maintain ***our muscles! A couple of years ago, my OB/GYN doc handed me a couple of pamphlets published by the Harvard Medical School: all you need is a couple of dumbbells and ten minutes of your time every other day. The weights should be heavy enough for your arms to feel a little tired after doing 8-10 repetitions of simple curls and lifts. Trust me, you will not look like photoshopped Madonna or a bodybuilder, but your arms will maintain their tone and will not get flabby. :)</p>
<p>I love running, but I love to run as fast as I can. Needless to say, I do not like to run for more than 30 minutes - I get wiped out and bored. :)</p>
<p>lilmom - H and I started using salad plates as our dinner plates to control the portion size. It works!</p>
<p>mousegray - No, not at all; my breathing is fine. But my feet go numb, like when they “fall asleep”–this is why I brought it up, reminded by the discussion above of carpal tunnel–after maybe one minute of sleeping horse and extended hamstring stretch sequences (feet spread, straight over from the waist–one of my favorite poses, and I’m reasonably flexible in the hamstrings after one semester of yoga, but the numbness didn’t go away).</p>
<p>Wrt blood pressure, I’ve never had doctors make comments either way. My mother has borderline-low pressure and my father borderline-high… so genetically, I hopefully average out to normal?</p>
<p>I occasionally get foot cramps, too, which may or may not be related.</p>
<p>Bunsenburner - I like the idea of using salad plates! I’ll try it!</p>
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<p>It is generally rather difficult for women to “bulk up”, even when getting much stronger. Even most men do not “bulk up” very much when they get stronger.</p>
<p>Strength and weight bearing exercises (for both women and men) are useful to resist the age associated decline in muscle strength (sarcopenia) and bone strength (osteoporosis). Sarcopenia and osteoporosis can result in disability and poor quality of life as one gets older. So doing strength and weight bearing exercises as a lifetime habit can reduce the risk of these things happening and/or delay their onset.</p>
<p>You do not need a lot of equipment. You can do a lot of stuff on the floor (e.g. pushups for chest, core exercises, bodyweight squats). Dips (for chest) can be done between two sturdy chairs or tables. For back exercises, you can get a pullup bar that hangs in a doorway. Jugs full of water or sand can function as kettlebells.</p>
<p>Yep. A gallon jug of milk weighs just over 8 pounds.</p>
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<p>I think the first two exercises I would do would be plank and side plank. Strengthening the core is so important to back health and overall fitness.</p>
<p>I think the second exercise I would do would be pushups on the stairs. Start with your hands on the fourth step, feet on the floor. If that’s too easy, move your hands down to the third step. If it’s too hard, do it with the hands on the kitchen counter, body at a 45 degree angle. The goal is to, over time, move the hands from the 4th step to the 3rd step, to the 2nd step, to the floor.</p>
<p>Third exercise I would start with would be a split squat – basically like a lunge, but stationary. Step forward and then lower down with a goal of being able to touch your back knee to the floor - head and shoulders up, weight should be on the heel of the front foot. There are lots of issues with this exercise – burning thighs, lack of ankle flexibility, lack of hip flexibility, lack of muscle strength stabilizing the knee, so it might be a long-term project. Do six reps with one leg forward, then switch and do six with the other leg forward. Starting as an ol’ fat guy, it’s taken me almost a year to really nail this exercise, so don’t expect miracles.</p>
<p>Don’t forget the fourth large muscle group (besides the core, chest, and legs), the back.</p>
<p>The most obvious exercise is the pullup. However, if it is too difficult, consider negative pullups (starting in the “up” position and trying to hold it there and going down as slowly as possible), assisted pullups, and weighted row type of exercises to build up your back muscle strength.</p>
<p>I do planks, but my impression is that having strong abs permits one to do the plank, but doing the plank itself doesn’t create strong abs.</p>
<p>Opinions??</p>
<p>Hi All! Things have been crazy around here. Heading to the gym to work out some kinks and stress and then moving on for the day. My weight plateau is finally over! Yay! But I haven’t been eating much as I have been spending time worrying about my friend, managing our construction project and getting ready for a trip to Mexico. I leave tomorow morning so I am really crazed right now. Work hard everyone! :)</p>
<p>Wow NMinn, you have a lot going on right now. Enjoy your trip. How is your friend doing?</p>
<p>On planks, I think they do build strong abs. Planks (with many variations) are the only ab exercise I do. I really noticed the difference when I wasn’t able to exercise for the last 3 weeks. </p>
<p>susan4, I hate lifting weights!!! But I am convinced that it is a necessary evil if you want to maintain a good quality of life as you age.</p>
<p>I am now to the “bony” level. I fear I’m on the “taking too much Synthroid hope I don’t have a stroke” diet. I go in for blood tests in a few days. I’m sure she’ll adjust my meds downwards and in about a month I’ll be complaining about the 10 pounds I need to lose.</p>
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<p>Somebody should write a book on this topic. Oh wait… they just did! New Rules of Lifting for Abs basically addresses this question. What do the abs (and other core muscles) actually do? What is the point of making them stronger? How would we go about training the core muscles is a way that actually makes us more fit, more athletic, or more able to handle everyday life and prevent back troubles?</p>
<p>This Dr. Stuart McGill guy has really changed the game. His research technique is a computer model of the spine and muscles – basically an on-screen stick figure. He brings people into his lab – pro athletes, people with good backs, people with injured backs – and puts electrodes on them to measure electrical response at various muscle groups. He then uses these impulses to drive the computer model. So, he can take a golfer, have them swing, and see which muscles are firing and how much at each stage of the swing. Same with a baseball pitcher. Or a boxer throwing a punch. Or a basketball player driving off one leg for a layup. What he has discovered (or at least demonstrated scientifically) is that the purpose of the core muscles (the abs and all the other muscles forming a “girdle” around the center of the body) is not to bend and flex the back. Instead, the purpose is to *prevent *rotation, bending, and flexing. The mechanics of a baseball player throwing is force generated by the legs, transmsitted through a stiff, rigid core to the shoulder and arm muscles. A golfer has two spikes of core stiffness: one at the top of the backswing, initiating the downswing from a fully coiled and tensioned core, then the core is relaxed again until just before the moment of impact when it has a strong pulse of stiffness so that the power of the swing is fully transmitted to the ball. The purpose of the core is similar to those springs on a screen door that slam it shut. Force from the arms and legs push against that spring to “open the door” and the springs resist that force. Our golfer’s swing is opening the door against the force of the spring on backswing and then using the anti-rotation strength of that spring to slam the door shut and deliver that stored energy to the ball. World class athletes are world class, in part, because they have developed the skill to precisely time the stiffening pulses of the core to deliver more power and speed at the exact right instant.</p>
<p>Doing crunches can make the abs bigger and more able to bend the spine. The problem is that the abs aren’t really used to bend the spine and most of us need no help in bending the spine – we sit with it bent over all the time anyway. That’s the problem. That’s why our backs hurt. Bending flexes the discs. The discs wear out. Worn out discs start bulging and putting pressure on adjacent nerves, and – OUCH! The spine bends by itself. There nothing holding it straight except for the shealth of muscles in the core that act like guy wires holding up a TV tower. The goal of core training is to build stronger, more balanced guy wires. This protects our backs in every day life and, for athletes, improves performance by allowing them to transmit energy through a stiff core more efficiently.</p>
<p>Doing plank (and side plank and all the more demanding variations) trains the core muscles to be stronger in resisting being and/or rotation.</p>
<p>NM – have a great time in Mexico – you’ve earned some nice, warm weather.</p>
<p>Lilmom – I also find spicy foods more satiating. One of the choices I made this year was to quit using any “fake” foods. No artificial sweetener, no low fat ice cream, no fat free sour cream (the lowfat sour cream tastes fine to me, not that I’m having much sour cream these days.) We’re lucky enough to have both a Penzey’s and a local spice shop open in town, and I’m luxuriating in the fabulous tastes really fresh, high quality spices bring – incredible paprika, chipotle powder, ancho chile powder – and the bushel of New Mexico green chile I bought last fall and packaged in ziplocs is also helping. I’ve also found that a tablespoon or two of tomato paste worked into browning onions really boosts flavor for soups and stews, without being “tomatoey”.</p>