<p>Hah. That’s easy for you to say. I sat down for an hour at dinner and froze up solid, barely able to stand up from the table. Not pain. Just stiffness.</p>
<p>Glad to hear that you are back on track. Honestly, if you just make a commitment for 30 to 45 minutes, three days a week, that’s all you have to do to cover the “move more” part. Exercise doesn’t have to be long and drawn out. I never exercise for more than an hour (well, it was 64 minutes today including warmup). A lot of days, I’m done in 25 minutes and getting a good workout.</p>
<p>Good news! I can straighten up and walk again this morning! I’m still thinkin’ two rest days unless I get serious cabin fever. How many calories does a long Saturday afternoon nap burn?</p>
<p>Are you swinging a kettle bell, hops? How many sets of the exercises listed did you do? </p>
<p>I’m flying off to Florida tonight, but when I get back, my goal is to develop a workout routine for myself at home. I’ve got a dreadmill, kettlebells (2), jump rope, and some light weights (5 lbs). Also have a pilates magic ring (resistance circle). I could definitely do something like the above, but don’t know how many sets I could do. </p>
<p>Going down to see the Red Sox at spring training. My kids/son-in-law have spring break and will all be coming down at different times through the week. Can’t wait for sun and warm weather and to get rid of my down jacket–which I’ve been wearing almost every day for the last 6 weeks!!</p>
<p>I started that little routine with 10 kettlebell swings or four burpees (20 seconds) with 40 seconds of rest. Just do 10 kettlebell swings, rest, and do 4 burpees at the 1 minute mark. So every 60 seconds you are starting 20 seconds of either swings or burpees. </p>
<p>The first time I did it, I went for four minutes (two sets of swings, two sets of burpees), then took an extra minute before going to the next four minute set.</p>
<p>I can do 5 sets of four or 2 sets of eight. It doesn’t take a lot of this kind of stuff to get a very good workout. In the book I’m following, New Rules of Lifting for Abs, Alywn Cosgrove has us starting off with just ten minutes of this stuff.</p>
<p>I started the kettlebell swings with 18 lbs and now use 20 lb. What are you using idad? Trying to figure out if I should increase again. I usually do a set 15, rest for 20 and repeat 4 times. I don’t do burpees…too hard for my knee.</p>
<p>I increased to 30 from 25 pounds a couple weeks ago. I have been doing it with one arm and 30 was a lot. I switched to two arms the other day and 30 was about right. I could see going up to maybe 35, but that’s probably about it. The swing is really more about “power” and “explosiveness” rather than sheer weight I think. I would think that 20 to 25 pounds would be a good solid base for a woman, maybe 30 to 35 pounds for a man. That Dan John’s video has really helped me understand being aggressive with the swing rather than using momentum. That, in turn, makes it very tiring.</p>
<p>60 swings is a lot. There’s soreness quotient!</p>
<p>idad, I did 16 minutes of it the first time today. Then rested for awhile and did another 8 minute set. I had a co-worker making fun of me the whole time saying how easy it was resting every 30 seconds. She never did try it though…</p>
<p>I was a glutton for punishment today. I did the CrossFit “WOD” @95 pounds 3-3-3-3-3-3-3 push press. Then I did the above KB/burpees thing. Then I did 10 sets of 10 hollow rocks, knees to elbows, and L-sits. This was spread out over about 5 hours or so… Oh and I did 18 minutes on the recumbent bike too. It’s a good thing I don’t have to get up until about 10 tomorrow. </p>
<p>I used a 35# dumbbell for my KB swings today. I have ordered a 30# kettlebell, but it hasn’t come in yet.</p>
<p>16 reps in a stretch is pretty impressive. I think that’s more than Alywn Cosgrove asks you to build up to by the end of Phase II in NROL4ABS. I think I could probably do three sets of 8 minutes, but it would kind of defeat the idea of these being “recovery day” cardio sessions for me. As it is, I’m taking two days off this weekend because my body needs a recharge.</p>
<p>I find that the 30:30 intervals are just about right. There’s enough rest that I can continue to do good strong swings and burpees (you know, pushups all the way to the bottom and actually jumping off the floor!), but the rest is short enough that the heart rate steadily builds over eight minutes. By the eigth cycle, I’m seeing heart rates in the low 90% range and only recovering to about 80%. It’s not unpleasant or brutal, though.</p>
<p>If you go shorter on rest (or even no rest), it just becomes continuous exercise, your heart rate pegs and stays there. Your form goes to hell and it becomes a pretty unpleasant experience. I learned a lot doing the Mike Boyle heart-rate monitor intervals on the Airdyne. If you build in adequate recovery in an interval workout, you can go a lot harder in the work segments. I think the go 'til you puke mentality is a weakness in some Crossfitters. I haven’t come across a single veteran trainer who advocates that as a day-in day-out method.</p>
<p>But, hey, the beauty of intervals is that you can adjust the work to rest ratio to suit. Your co-worker could try 60 seconds of kettlebells and 15 seconds of rest. I’ll send her a link to the free Spartacus soundtrack with 60:15 timing and she can knock herself out.</p>
<p>What I was doing was plenty for today. I pulled out a foam mat and set the dumbbell down on it after each set. When I finished with that first set, I moved the dumbbell and laid there for probably 10 minutes. I was spent. </p>
<p>Then I essentially did two CrossFit workouts this afternoon as well but there was lots of rest time during them too. Probably take tomorrow off and then think about another workout on Monday ;)</p>
<p>Many thanks to everyone for recommendations of running sites. I found what looked like a promising race here in my neck of the woods only to find a video on Youtube showing people tripping over miniature dogs! :eek: WA folk seem to be too fond of their canine friends. Arrgh! I do not mind traveling someplace where I do not have to jump over little chihuahuas for an hour!</p>
<p>The sun finally peeked from behing the thick clouds. Encouraged by the extra photons, DH and I ventured out to our favorite Beer Trail, but this time our outing did not involve any beer. I ran for an hour, and DH biked. Since I have not run outdoors in several months, at first my pace felt really sluggish, until I looked at the watch: I was averaging 8:45 min miles, just like during my treadmill runs.</p>
<p>I’m going to lower my exercise expectations, and just try for 3 workouts a week. I have some weights & the blue & black minibands, so I can do a good upper and lower body workout at home. I prefer going to the gym, but it’s easier to fit the workout in around my schedule if I just do it at home. My job is pretty physical, at least it is for someone my age :). I seem to burn plenty of calories, because I have to eat more than I really want in order to keep my weight up. I would really like to run another race, so my new goal is to figure out how to fit a reasonable training schedule into my life.</p>
<p>Three good, solid 30 minute workouts a week is all you really need, especially you include any kind of interval exercise where you are pushing very hard for 10 to 30 seconds, resting for short period, and then repeating the intervals. In studies, people who do just a few minutes of that – literally just five or ten minutes – three times a week (even once a week in some studies) show the same or better cardiovascular benefits as running an hour or more each of those times. When I started as an ol’ fat guy, I never could have walked (let alone jogged) for more than an hour, but I could pedal an exercise bike hard for 10 seconds at a time.</p>
<p>Today is a recovery day for me. I’m sitting at work this afternoon, but have elected to avoid the weights. I’m doing lots of stretching and foam rolling. Will do some more dynamic activities as well, but pretty much taking it easy today. I’m pretty sore from yesterday and trying to work out some kinks. I plan to hit the gym again tomorrow…</p>
<p>Yes. I’m still a little stiff, too. Shoulders and back mostly. I worked all that pretty hard this week with heavier weights on presses, rows, dead lifts, etc.</p>
<p>I have done a few unassisted one-leg squats today, squatting back to an 18 inch foot stool. I’ve done several sets of five on each leg! Pretty exciting stuff for an ol’ (formerly) fat guy. That’s not quite to thighs parallel for me, but it’s getting pretty close. I’ve got the strength to do the single-leg squats. It’s just a matter of convincing my brain that I’m stable on one leg.</p>
<p>10.3 miles for me today. Grey and gloomy and I did NOT want to get out the door. I’m still looking for that pace where I could run all day, but I think I left it back in 2009. My training group did 18 today. I didn’t even go. I’m not even fast enough to run with any of my friends. Have a doc appt this week to talk about the back issues and the lack of strength in hamstring.</p>
<p>Be thankful for the health to go out and run a 10K with your daughter or a 10.3 miles today, regardless of the pace. Mike Boyle, who is also 57, said, “At our age, if you are not getting worse, you are getting better.” Lot of truth in that!</p>