<p>I had a South Beach bar once that came with a raffle basket. I thought it tasted so disgusting I spit it out! </p>
<p>Life has gotten in the way of exercising as much as I want to, but I did get myself to the gym today. Weight is remaining steady. Not too bad as I ate way too many cookies when I was at my mother’s house.</p>
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<p>That was my view of the SB bars as well. I’ve tried a couple of different types of protein bars (Atkins, Zone, Luna) and they all taste like cardboard to me. I know they’re convenient when one is in a hurry and can’t stop to get a snack, but I would rather not eat than waste calories on something that tastes so bad.</p>
<p>No workout except for moving furniture. There was one piece that we figured weighed 400 pounds. It was six-feet high by two-and-a-half feet by one-and-a-half feet. I’m not exactly sure what it’s supposed to be used for but it was a challenge for three big guys to move around. For me, the strain was in my arms. Moving furniture can be quite a workout.</p>
<p>If you need a “protein bar” that tastes good and you are not vegetarian, consider a pack of turkey, beef, salmon, buffalo, etc. jerky. Most are protein dense while being low in fat and carbs (read labels and watch out for some flavors that have significant added sugars, though) if you want to maximize protein within a limited calorie budget.</p>
<p>The only bars I’ve liked are Kind Bars, but they’re not on the current list of possibilities. </p>
<p>Justin’s Nut Butter packs (particularly the almond one) are a good quick hit for me – squeeze and eat, and nice flavor; I don’t get hungry quickly thereafter. I have a couple in my purse – while not perfect, it is better than hitting Mickey D’s or Starbucks if I’m out and get hungry.
[Justins</a> Nut Butter - Products - Nut Butters](<a href=“http://www.justinsnutbutter.com/products.php]Justins”>http://www.justinsnutbutter.com/products.php)</p>
<p>My most common bar is the Clif Builder bar but I’m looking for a lower carb replacement. This evening I tried the PowerBar Protein-Plus bar. 290 calories and 23 grams of protein. Unfortunately it has 37 grams of carbs and is low-fat. But it is quite filling.</p>
<p>Luna (Clif) has a new line of protein variants and I like them but they are hard to find. They are pretty small at around 190 calories and 12 grams of protein.</p>
<p>There’s another bar that I found with a lot of protein and it was decent but I didn’t like the hydrolyzed collagen in it that’s used to boost protein.</p>
<p>I would put these in the “passable” category for taste. You’re not going to get the flavor of an ice cream sundae in a protein bar.</p>
<p>The worst-tasting bar I had was a mega met-rx bar. Huge bar that just tasted awful.</p>
<p>Justin’s Nut Butter packs</p>
<p>I love those. they have jars out now too, but they are richer tasting than peanut butter & I was getting tired of them so I gave them to D.
I think i had maple almond & hazelnut chocolate:)</p>
<p>I also like these & they are gluten free!
<a href=“http://www.bumblebar.com/[/url]”>http://www.bumblebar.com/</a></p>
<p>4 rounds in 10 minutes of:
–DB Bench Press (25#) 10 reps
–KB Swings (30#) 10 reps
–Goblet Squats (50#) 10 reps</p>
<p>Finished with 100 KB swings with the 30 pound KB. Got up to 189 BPM as a max for tonight.</p>
<p>That’s a really nice, balanced workout, hops. I bet you were gassed on the fourth set. I find all three of those to be metabolically taxing.</p>
<p>Did not have the desire to test my Viestrus insoles tonght. I put them into my trail shoes, but the weather was so yucky (wet snow and howling wind!), I decided to run my 6 miles on the treadmill. I feel that Superfeet help me a lot. I used my dress shoe inserts in my 3-inch heel boots, and I could feel a huge difference! Awesome find, idad!</p>
<p>1979 calories</p>
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<p>56% fat
27% protein
17% carb</p>
<p>I tried out planks last night. I found some youtube videos from runnersworld which described them. The regular planks were easy but I could not do the side planks for very long so I will add them to my floor work list.</p>
<p>idad, you were wise to cut your workout short. Sometimes stuff just happens. We should all listen to our bodies!</p>
<p>I’m complained a bit about my plantar fasciitis on here from time to time. It is really bothering me and, on the same side, I’ve got some sort of burning pain right behind my ankle bone – I’m thinking tendon or some such is acting up. So I’ve stopped with the treadmill for the time being; that seems to exacerbate it. Even the elliptical bothers it, though, so now I’m using the stationary bike, which I absolutely hate. I feel like it only exercises my legs – and only the quads, at that – while leaving the rest of my body alone. In addition, the damn seat at the gym is not at all comfortable.</p>
<p>Anyone have any ideas to heal me??</p>
<p>BC:</p>
<p>Side planks are really hard. They work the “obliques” or those muscles right under the love handles. I had to start from the knees and then switch to the feet after a couple months. Stuart McGill, the back guy, recommends starting with a series of 10 second holds, with a few seconds of rest in between. I used a little variation on that. I basically treated it almost like a weight lifting exercise: tensing and pushing up when I exhaled, relaxing just a bit when I inhaled. In reality, my midsection was not moving, but I was doing a series of tense and relax the muscles holding me up.</p>
<p>I can testify that a year of side plank really does work. You can actually see my obliques now, which is pretty amazing for an ol’ (formerly) fat guy! I guess you could say that I have “obliques of steel”! :)</p>
<p>Very Happy:</p>
<p>I really had no choice. Any movement was making me just a bit dizzy. I don’t want to be dizzy while I’m jumping around with 60 pounds of dumbbells. I tried one more exercise: stepping sideways up and down onto a step with a 35 lb dumbbell and I could tell right away that I just wasn’t steady. I tried the next one: reverse lunges while rotating sideways pulling a resistance band down and across the body. That made me queasy and I knew it was time to throw in the towel.</p>
<p>It actually continued all evening and again this morning. It’s definitely this little vertigo thing. One of our balance mechanisms are little crystals that roll around in our inner ear. This is a very common vertigo that is caused when those little crystals get stuck in the wrong place or position. I seem to get it a couple of times a year, lasts a few days to varying degrees, and then it goes away. I’m starting to suspect that change of season may trigger it. I had a bout about this same time last year – I couldn’t do a couple of the iPod nazi exercises lying on a stabilty ball and looking up at the ceiling for a week or two. Turkish get up is practically tailor-made to set it off. Moving the head from horizontal to vertical or looking up at the ceiling whle moving are sure-fire triggers and turkish get up is constantly doing both.</p>
<p>Well, the usual things: night splint, stretching, cushioning (both in your shoes and aftermarket insoles). We’ve hashed over these before so if you want more details on any of them, please ask.</p>
<p>If you want to do other exercises, you might give rowing a try. Decent upper-body workout with less of a lower-body workout. No jarring motions. Just start slowly to get your arms and shoulders used to the workout. I’ve used rowing in past bouts with PF.</p>
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<p>I tried the side planks this morning (only did them for five seconds last night after watching the video). Was able to do both sides, 30 seconds each. How long are you supposed to do them?</p>
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<p>I use a machine called the Rotary Torso machine for the obliques and I max out the weight on the machine so there’s a lot of strength but not necessarily a lot of endurance. So it looks like the side plank will be in my list of things to do from time to time (my list of exercises is very, very, very long and spans three spreadsheets). I like it in that it is relatively easy and safe (little balance issues; little fall risk; no heavy weights; close to the floor already; easy to get into position; can do it anywhere). I’m going to send the links to the vids to my wife and daughter so that they can add it to their regular workouts.</p>
<p>BTW, I listen to what others do here but I have a long list of stuff already - I will give something a try if it’s really popular and looks beneficial but I’ll usually have to read about it for six months before getting interested enough to try something new. I like routine.</p>
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<p>The development of a strong and powerful mid section is a priority for many weight trainers. The quest for a 6 pack of abdominal muscles has many trainers crunching their way to abdominal fatigue. Less often worked, but equally important for core torso power, are the side abdominal muscles, the obliques.</p>
<p>Proper development of the obliques is essential for correct bodily proportion and upper body strength, and the rotary torso machine is an excellent machine for increasing the resistance while training the obliques. Every comprehensive gym needs to provide an effective machine for the isolation and development of the obliques.</p>
<p>Golfers particularly will be interested in the training of the obliques as part of a core torso power routine.</p>
<p>The machine is designed for a professional gym, and the heavy gauge steel construction and quality mechanisms will offer years of reliable and durable service in the busiest of professional gyms.</p>
<p>Muscles worked by the rotary torso machine</p>
<p>The rotary torso machine will develop the side abdominal muscles, the obliques. The rectus abdominal muscles, or central abs, will also benefit as secondary muscles during the exercise.</p>
<p>[Gym</a> Equipment Blog Archive Rotary torso machine](<a href=“http://www.thegymequipment.com/rotary-torso-machine-2/]Gym”>http://www.thegymequipment.com/rotary-torso-machine-2/)</p>
<p>VH, it sounds that you might have a case of tendinitis. Ds had it when they were running. The doctor’s suggestions were: aleve, cold packs or ice, no running until it healed, and heel cups in the shoes. If your pain gets worse, you should see a doctor. Hang in there.</p>
<p>I tried the side planks this morning (only did them for five seconds last night after watching the video). Was able to do both sides, 30 seconds each. How long are you supposed to do them?</p>
<p>The iPod nazi program started at 30 seconds in phase I and increased to 45 seconds. *New Rules of Lifting for Abs *calls for 30 to 45 seconds of plain vanilla side plank and then moves into some of the more challenging variations and progressions like lifting the top leg or elevating both feet on a step (or TRX straps) or doing rows with a resistance band or cable machine while doing side plank.</p>
<p>The purpose of both plank and side plank is to increase the ability to **resist **flexing or rotation and, therefore, the ability to stabilize the spine under load. From an athletic standpoint, most movements (throwing a baseball, hitting a tennis ball, driving to the basket, etc.) involve some variation on developing force in the legs/hips that must be transmitted through an instantaneously stiff core to the upper body. Without the ability to pulse the core muscles to a high level of stiffness, much of the force would be dissipated. In tennis, that would leave you having to generate power with the arm, which is not very effective.</p>
<p>The motion in many sports is like coiling a stiff spring and then releasing the stored energy at impact. The sheath of muscles surrounding the core provide the stiffness of the spring. They consist of layers of muscles that work in much the same way as the layers in a sheet of plywood, which is why they are best trained as a unit.</p>
<p>I can do side planks about 1/3 of the time that I can do the regular plank.</p>
<p>I tried the plank and side planks last night. The regular plank felt like it took no effort. I had to exert a little effort on the side planks. I guess I should try the regular one tonight to see what kind of ratio I get.</p>