<p>Bromfield:</p>
<p>That’s OK. NMINN and I have blocks and legos and firetrucks and doll houses and all kinds of cool toys down here on the floor. You can play with us! :)</p>
<p>One of the big kids said maybe we could try pulling up on a coffee table or something…</p>
<p>^^Funny how we manage to overcome gravity for a time, but in the end, gravity wins.</p>
<p>Meet you down by the Legos…</p>
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<p>It’s a nearly universal problem, perhaps because we sit so much. We get strong quads (muscle at the front of the thigh) and strong hamstrings (muscle at the back of the thing), but the glutes (big muscles in the butt cheeks) atrophy. It’s causes problems for runners. Problems for pro athletes, like NFL players. Big time problems for women who suffer from what Rachel Cosgrove and others call “glute amnesia”. It’s a serious issue for the lower back because strong glutes enable and control bending at the hips. If you can’t bend or hinge at the hips, then you round your lower back instead (when you have to pick something up off the floor, for example) and – voila! – back injuries. Glutes not firing also impacts the knees for the same reason. Not hinging at the hips properly puts more strain on the knees.</p>
<p>The first step is to actually feel those muscles. I did a lot of glute exercises before I even really understood what “firing the glutes” means. To me, the most direct way to feel it is to lie back in a reclining office chair and then squeeze or contract the outside muscles of the butt cheeks to lift the butt up off the chair. Those are the glutes in action. I finally “got it” when I had the image of [Zuzanna</a> “firing her glutes” doing a sandbag swing](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDAPnajWq-0]Zuzanna”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDAPnajWq-0). Starting at the 2:05 mark and continuing for about 45 seconds are numerous shot of Zuzanna showing clearly what it means to “fire the glutes”. BTW, doing kettle bell swings (or dumbbells or sandbags or a knapsack filled with books) is THE classic glute exercise. All the power comes from “firing the glutes” in this exercise. It’s exactly the same power that Olympic track athletes use in the standing broad jump and the same power that an NFL player uses to explode into a runner to deliver a big hit during a tackle.</p>
<p>Here’s how [iPod nazi teaches glute activation](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCwsuPVZeZo”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCwsuPVZeZo</a>). It’s the fourth exercise. From there, he has you do it with your feet on a stability ball, rollng the ball in and out. And, then doing that with one leg. To me, that felt like a hamstring cramp, which was a dead giveaway that I wasn’t “firing my glutes” or didn’t have any glute strength and was compensating by using the hamstrings instead.</p>
<p>Here’s the infamous [Cook</a> Hip Lift](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4I9F9rIqwM]Cook”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4I9F9rIqwM), another one from Gray Cook. This one is so effective that Mike Boyle uses it in every warmup session in every workout for his college and pro athletes.</p>
<p>The other classic exercise is walking (forward and back or side to side with elastic bands around your thighs or ankles. This is the one that Mike Boyle recommended for my daughter – another that he uses in every warmup in every workout for his athletes. I do them both now as part of my warm up.</p>
<p>[Exercise</a> (Mini) Band Instructional Video](<a href=“http://www.performbetter.com/catalog/matriarch/OnePiecePage.asp_Q_PageID_E_307_A_PageName_E_exercisebandinstrvideo]Exercise”>http://www.performbetter.com/catalog/matriarch/OnePiecePage.asp_Q_PageID_E_307_A_PageName_E_exercisebandinstrvideo)</p>
<p>Beyond all that, the various deadlifts (using a hip hinge to supply the lifting force) are all about activating and strengthening the glutes – as opposed to a squat or a lunge that develops the rest of the leg muscles. One that is killing me is bench pressing just one dumbbell with just the shoulders and head on a stability ball or weight bench. This forces the glutes to hold the body up and provide all the stability. It actually hurts in the glutes the next day after doing this for the first time. Hmmm. That might explain why my glutes are sore today: I did five sets of those dumbbell presses (with two dumbbells) on Monday! I forgot about those.</p>
<p>I know where my glutes are! They’re the dudes that give me grief the next day after an uphill hike if I haven’t done one in a while…</p>
<p>Thanks for the instructional links. I was inspired to get my band out and wear it around my legs while cooking this afternoon. I think it was…effective? :D</p>
<p>Marshall’s (right next to my grocery store) had more of the Nike shorts today, so I picked up another pair of the 7" Essential Shorts in black:</p>
<p>[Nike</a> 7" Essential Swift Short - Men’s - Running - Clothing - Deep Royal](<a href=“Foot Locker”>Foot Locker)</p>
<p>Just plain black running/workout shorts with a liner brief, two hand pockets on the side seams, reflective logos. I’ll probably take back one of the three pair of addidas I bought last fall – same exact thing except only a small ipod zip pocket on the back waistband and more of a woven/mesh type fabric. One pair still has the tags and, for the same price, I think I’d rather have the front pockets for car keys, iPod, etc.</p>
<p>I am exactly in between sizes. Even trying them both on side by side, I don’t have much of preference. The MED are just a tad tight in the bum – not stretched tight but not loose. The LARGE are a bit baggy. I’m opting for the LARGE because 57 year ol’ (formerly) fat guys look kinda stupid in tight shorts and it is abundantly clear that today’s style for workout shorts is baggy.</p>
<p>I’m surprised that you can still return them - I guess Marshall’s is pretty generous.</p>
<p>I set up an account at LiveStrong and was incredibly impressed. I thought that it would be a major pain entering in what you eat and I was amazed at how easy it is to enter what you eat and your workouts. Tracking is excellent and the reporting looks pretty good. I’m going to give it a try for a while to complement my workout spreadsheets. I don’t think that LiveStrong is that useful for tracking my workouts as I have a huge number of exercises that I do and figuring out how to enter them would probably be a pain. The LiveStrong site overall is very well designed.</p>
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<p>When I was cleaning out my closet, I took back some stuff that was three years old. Still had the tags. With a receipt and within 30 days, they credit your card. Without a receipt or over 30 days and they give you store credit on a gift card. Gift card can be used at Marshalls or TJ Maxx – same chain. I pin every receipt to my cork board and I never, ever take a tag off until I actually wear it. I didn’t buy the adiddas shorts until last fall and I was still wearing a bunch of XL shorts, so I only wore two of the three pair. The third pair still has the tags. They don’t care. They’ll stick it on the rack and it’s sell in a day. For anyone losing weight, this is the perfect way to keep “thermometer jeans” in the closet. Just go buy the next smaller size, keep the receipts, and the tags and you’ve got motivation to try them on every week or so. I played that game with 42s, 40s, 38s, and now I’ve returned a bunch of 36s.</p>
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<p>Livestrong is food diary is pretty good. Here’s a tip. Search for the grocery store brands. Like Kroger split chicken breasts or Publix center cut boneless pork loin. A lot of times you’ll get a very specific nutrition count for those instead of what somebody has just entered out of thin air.</p>
<p>Wow. That was hard. Workout B of Phase III.</p>
<p>Insane.</p>
<p>Core:
The Valslide alligator walks are one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. I alligator walked the length of a hallway and collapsed at the end. That is a serious core workout. Then two sets of farmer’s walks – one with one heavy dumbell at the side (50 pounds) and one with two mismatched dumbells at the shouders (35 and 25 pounds).</p>
<p>Power:</p>
<p>Three sets, alternating between a jump squat (jumping off the ground) with a 32 pound barbell) and a medicine ball push pass against a wall.</p>
<p>First Strength set:</p>
<p>Alternating between a reverse lunge with one 30 lb DB held at the shoulder and an incline bench press with two 30 lb DBs. Five sets of each in 10 minutes – one set on the minute every minute.</p>
<p>Second Strength set:</p>
<p>Holy mackeral. A crazy squat – one DB held at the shoulder one at the waist (I used 25 pounders). Squat to full depth, come up a quarter way, back to full depth, and then stand up – that’s one rep. Six reps per set. Akternating with sets of six chinups (band assisted for me). Five sets of each in ten minutes, starting a set every minute on the minute. My legs and shoulders are on fire. I could only manage 4 chin ups in the last two sets.</p>
<p>This is a hard core workout.</p>
<p>Just threw some kettlebells around tonight. Did a few sets of some staggered KB cleans and some box jumps. Just wasn’t very interested in working out, but I knew I needed to do something to blow off a little stress. I worked over 12 hours today and ended up spending probaby 2-3 more at work off the clock.</p>
<p>I ran my 6 miles according to the plan. Phew…</p>
<p>Ran four miles yesterday.</p>
<p>I entered my breakfast information in live strong using my iPad this morning. It actually worked out well. They also have an app which I could use but the web page works well enough so that I think that I will just use that. I am somewhat amazed at all of the brands that they have calorie counts for.</p>
<p>Yeah, the LiveStrong database is good. They even have the really obscure Trader Joe’s stuff.</p>
<p>You can also save your own “recipes”. So, for example, I have my monster “blue cheese salad” saved, exactly the way I make it – 2TBS olive oil, 1 ounce blue cheese, 4 TBS Chatham Garlic and Butter Croutons, etc. – so it pops up on my list when I type “blue cheese salad”. My Ceasar Salad is exactly the same, since the only difference is Parmeggiano Regianno cheese instead of blue cheese. Same calories per ounce. That’s very handy for stuff that you cook on a regular basis. It also works for huge batch stuff like my chili – just enter all the ingredients and how many servings it makes.</p>
<p>The biggest challenge is finding accurate calorie counts for various meats. People have entered some very optimistic nonsense – like 300 calorie 12 ounce rib eye steaks or 190 calorie chicken breasts. But, once you find one and use it a few times, it will pop up first on your list. I get a Kroger Split Chicken Breast that is about 400 calories and I think Publix boneless skinless chicken breasts that appear to be accurate. I’ve found some other brand that seems accurate for boneless center cut pork loin roast, based on raw uncooked weight.</p>
<p>I suspect that I would be a lot lighter now if I had started using the LiveStrong program last year. I’ve used a ton of software applications (and have written a bunch) and most programs are junk so I didn’t bother trying these out when you guys mentioned them last year. I had tried one of the calorie counter sites but data entry was painful and turned me off. The biggest thing about LiveStrong is site performance. It probably helps that I upgraded my home desktop and my laptop.</p>
<p>Information Technology has led to so many improvements in life, especially in the products that we buy - I see the same thing in improving health.</p>
<p>The one squirrely thing that I had to decide on was whether to put down moderately active and not include workout calories or to put down the next level down and then enter my workouts. The latter is more work and their workout entry system was a little clumsy (not surprising as describing workouts is harder than describing food intake) so I’m just going to add in a workout of anything over 500 calories burned (so four-mile runs don’t count).</p>
<p>Their software adds a level of discipline that I can’t muster when life is stressful.</p>
<p>One of the benefits of this thread is to toss out ideas that others may benefit from. I don’t always listen to what others say. At least the first, second, third and twentieth time. But I am frequently looking for an edge.</p>
<p>I bought some ShadyBrook Farm Turkey patties yesterday. They have the calorie counts on the package. It will be harder measuring my wife’s cooking - perhaps I should direct her on what to make so that calorie counting is easier.</p>
<p>IMO, it is best to forget workout calories entirely when the goal is fat loss. Just figure that every calorie you burn working out is a bonus. The problem with adding those calories to you target is that it is, psychologically, giving yourself permission to eat more calories. That’s not really what you want to do if the goal is to shed fat. Plus, in the grand scheme of things, workout calories really aren’t that meaningful. It’s one thing to say that running burns 500 calories, but the net impact is fairly small since you would have burned several hundred calories sitting on the couch watching TV. </p>
<p>I believe that the best approach is to just pick a reasonable overall activity multiplier to estimate your daily calorie burn and forget trying to track workout calories entirely. Don’t even think about them.</p>
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<p>I don’t have the patience to track my intake on LiveStrong permanently, but it is a great educational tool to track for a month. I really got a handle to the point where I just intuitively knew how many calories I was eating. Now, an occasional spot check for week is enough to refocus. I think it’s a terrific diet tool – probably an essential tool for many of us to honestly deal with what we are eating. Can you imagine having to enter a whole cannister of Pringles and look at that number? It really makes you stop and think.</p>
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<p>That’s what I was thinking too but I have a particular problem in tennis as the calories burned in a 1.5 hour tennis workout is typically three times the calories burned on an average day of working out. I will get chills, dizzyness, weak, etc. if I don’t increase calories on a tennis day.</p>
<p>I’m used to tracking a lot of things daily on the computer for work so doing a few more things is pretty easy; even moreso on really fast computers.</p>
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Just catching up on this thread… Are you supposed to stand up with your legs still crossed?</p>
<p>So today was very much a “hate” day at the gym – you know, the whole “love/hate” relationship thing? I felt as if I was slogging through wet cement the entire time. Yuck! Tomorrow can only be better – unless we get socked in with that stupid nor’easter storm they’re talking about. (I’m hoping it’s all a big April Fool’s joke.)</p>
<p>CBB:</p>
<p>Alwyn Cosgrove says that days like that in the gym are the days when you “just have to punch the clock” and do your workout. Not every workout can be like prancing with unicorns in fields of clover under wispy clouds and a rainbow. :)</p>
<p>Sometimes, it’s also a sign of too many workouts and too few recovery days. I used to feel myself getting run down when I would go more than six days in a row or when I was trying to walk too much distance on my in-between days. I’ve kind of learned that, if I’m going to workout five or six days a week, some of those need to be short and sweet. I knew several times over the last month or so of hard NROL4A workouts that I had to take two days off and let the muscles recover.</p>
<p>BC: </p>
<p>You can still eat more on your tennis days. I guess it really doesn’t matter, one way or another. At the end of the day, what you hope to learn is a) how many calories you are consuming and b) what is that calorie intake relative to your maintenance level? If you are losing weight, then you know that calorie intake is a deficit. If you are staying the same, then you know that calorie level is your maintenance. It’s basically a real-world confirmation of the accuracy of the estimates.</p>
<p>I agree that some of the calorie counts for meat are really silly on Livestrong. I use the USDA nutrient database to look up actual values for steaks, fish, etc, then find the listing on Livestrong that comes closest.</p>
<p>My gym got a new chin-up/dip machine, so I’m off the giant rubber bands and on that now. I kinda like it.</p>
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Ha, ha, ha!!! Great image, idad! Let’s see, have I had ANY workouts like that? </p>
<p>I’m (partially) blaming my year-old running shoes, so I’m off to buy a new pair.</p>
<p>There ya go. New running shoes. That’s the ticket!</p>
<p>Whatever it takes. I figure that any trick in the book that can help stay motivated to move more, eat less, and be fit is a good plan. New booties. New Richard Simmons workout shorts. An iPod interval soundtrack. A new workout with interesting stuff to try. It’s all good. :)</p>