Diet/Exercise/Health/Wellness Support Thread

Parent Cafe
15421

<p>Yeah. Definitely an inspiration to be the impetus to give the guy 37 years of fitness. I wish someone had inspired me like that 37 years ago!</p>

15422

<p>OK. Here are some quickie photos.</p>

<p>[main</a> workout area](<a href=“http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/homegym1.jpg]main”>http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/homegym1.jpg)</p>

<p>This one shows most of the equipment. Jungle Gym XT straps hanging from the ceiling. Cheapo WalMart rug. Airex exercise mat. Airex pad. Rebook Step. Weight bench. Stabilty ball. </p>

<p>Along the wall are six DBs that can be configured with different weight plates. A rack with pairs of gray prison DBs (a pair each of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30). Three stools from Marshalls that I use to hold whatever DBs I’m using for that set up off the floor as needed. Standing up are a foam roller and some light bars for unweighted overhead squats, etc.</p>

<p>[closeup</a> main workout area](<a href=“http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/homegym2.jpg]closeup”>http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/homegym2.jpg)</p>

<p>A closeup of the weight bench, Reebok step, Airex pad, and assorted gizmos: minibands, ValSlides, ab wheel, GymBoss timer</p>

<p>[barbell</a> alcove](<a href=“http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/homegym4.jpg]barbell”>http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/homegym4.jpg)</p>

<p>A little alcove with the Olympic barbell (configured at 55lbs for hang cleans, jump squats, front squats, etc.) and the trap bar, configured at 140 lbs for trap bar deadlifts.</p>

<p>[chinup</a> area](<a href=“http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/homegym3.jpg]chinup”>http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/homegym3.jpg)</p>

<p>People who built the house framed it in to finish the basement, which is why there is so much stud work. This was framed for a closet under the stairs. I used the doorway to mount a chin up bar and to the left are a row of steel loops for clipping various resistance bands. The right of the doorway is the nail with my workout sheet pinned to the wall so I know what I’m doing.</p>

<p>[url=&lt;a href=“http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/homegym5.jpg]Airdyne[/url”&gt;http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/homegym5.jpg]Airdyne[/url</a>]</p>

<p>And, of course, the Airdyne Torture Machine, which is upstairs in my home office so I can look out the window when I’m gasping for air!</p>

15423

<p>Idad, you’ve got more useful equipment down there than I do in the gym! All you’re missing are some kettlebells…</p>

15424

<p>Very neat and tidy. The milk crate for the ball is very nice. The one in our weight room at the office rolls around too much. Maybe I should suggest a milk crate.</p>

15425

One pair of the adjustable DBs is configured with “kettleplates” which are ten pound weight plates with a wide kettlebell style hand grip. So I can turn one of those into and effective “kettlebell” for swinging, and make it any weight I want. That’s really the only kettlebell specific exercise I do. My turkish getups are so elementary that I’m still using 15 lb DBs. In restrospect, I wish that I had had heavy kettlebells for learning to deadlift, but I’m kind of past that point now with the trap bar setup.

<hr>

I’m really pleased that almost everything I have gets regular use. The ab wheel doesn’t get much, but it was $7 at Marshalls and I throw it into a core set every once in a while. The smaller DBs don’t see a lot of action these days, but they still see some duty on stuff like get ups, T pushups, etc. The Reebok step can be configured at 6, 8, or 10 inches tall, so it’s a good complement to the 16 inch bench. I have a bare concrete wall on the far side of the basement for bouncing a med ball.

15426

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<p>The crate is also a nice height for step-ups. Normally, the med ball sits inside the crate, keeping it from rolling around, with the stability ball on top, keeping it corralled.</p>

<p>Three little stools from Marshalls get every day use. They hold 350 pounds. A pair, placed on either side of the weight bench, is just perfect for making it a lot easier to wrestle DBs into place for bench pressing. Even for swings, or single arm deadlifts, it’s nice to be able to put the DB down on a stool 9 inches off the ground. That last nine inches to the floor is a lot of wear and tear on the back. With three of them, I can set up for just about any two exercises in a given superset and just go back and forth.</p>

15427

<p>Excellent set-up. Giving me pangs of guilt about the exercise room in my house, which I rarely fully utilize. I don’t think you know how remarkable it is that you are able to motivate yourself to work out there all by your lonesome. Very inspiring !</p>

<p>Today’s nutritional numbers.
1 word, okay two words, chicken breasts…</p>

<p>Cals: 1520
Fat: 82 g
Carbs: 19 g
Fiber: 5 g
Protein: 169 g
Sugars: 2 g</p>

15428

<p>CJANE:</p>

<p>Wow. Those are awesome diet numbers today. 19 grams. Robert Atkins would be proud!</p>

<hr>

<p>The key to motivation for home workouts is the piece of paper spiked to the nail with the day’s workout. </p>

<p>[Sample</a> workout sheet from yesterday](<a href=“http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/workout.jpg]Sample”>http://i218.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/albums/cc14/hwc_1000/workout.jpg)</p>

<p>All I have to do is get my ol’ (formerly) fat butt into workout clothes and start with the first item on the warmup list. If I can get that far, then it’s just a matter of working down the list. I do an exercise, walk over to the list, read the next one, and do that one. From there, each section moves quick enough and there’s enough variety that it is pretty much self-sustaining. I pause between sections or supersets to get everything set up for the next two exercises. For example, for the second strength superset, I want a 40 lb dB on one of my stools for the single leg deadlift. Then, I want the Airex pad on the carpet with a stool and a 30 lb DB on either side. Get it set up and just alternate back and forth for three sets. One of the things I’m wrestling with at the gym is that it’s harder to get set up for two exercises like that.</p>

<p>I think I’d really struggle if I just wandered down to the basement and tried to make it up on the fly. I could do it, but – for some strange reason – my brain tends to shut off once I start panting like a dog! :)</p>

<p>Right now, I’ve got three workouts spiked to the wall. I just rotate the back one to the front and do that one. When I get sick of these three after a few weeks, I’ll mix 'em up and print out three new ones. I’ve even got three different warmups now, so that’s not even too boring.</p>

15429

<p>CJ: How do you get all that protein into your diet? I’m working hard on getting more in my diet and finding it difficult. I’m not a huge meat eater and I just don’t like chicken or turkey at all. I do eat fish, eggs, and plain Greek yogurt. Do you use protein powder for smoothies? I have yet to find a protein powder I like. Anyone have recommendations on that?</p>

<p>NM: Hope you find some answers for your back injury.
IDad: Nice gym set up !</p>

15430

<p>Nuts are good for protein. There are also many soy products high in protein.</p>

15431

<p>I love the gym set up. It has everything you need. I didn’t see the cat in the picture, though. Our new house has a lot of space if/when we add an exercise room in the basement. (I’m still enjoying saying “basement” because I have not had one since I left my parents’ house in 1970 for college, since they are rare in both Texas and middle Tennessee. iDad’s set up gives me some good ideas besides the inevitable dreadmill I would want.</p>

15432

<p>I agree on need. When you go into our old Y, you have one room full of weight machines and a smaller area with freeweights, cages, pulley machines, etc. If you go into the fitness room, it looks almost empty but it has most of what you need. iDad’s basement has some equipment that the Y’s room doesn’t have. It has some stuff that iDad doesn’t have but I don’t think that all of it is necessary. Is a 4-foot-high platform really needed - I can’t figure out what you’d do with it - I can’t imagine jumping off of it or climbing onto it.</p>

<p>My basement just has a barbell (standard, not Olympic), three dumbbells (plates), several fixed-weight dumbbells and a bicycle mounted on rollers that hasn’t been used in 15 years. I do depend on the YMCAs and my office gyms for other equipment. There are two offices in the basement, one for me and one for my son along with our entertainment center (seldom used) which doesn’t leave a ton of space for workout equipment.</p>

15433

<p>idad… looks like a great setup! You are an inspiration!</p>

<p>Just back from the spine clinic. Had 3 facet joint injections and 3 trigger point injections. A little numb in parts and a little sore in parts. On the couch with an ice pack for the rest of the day and then back to PT tomorrow. Clinic staff warned H I may be weepy/crabby from meds tonight. He said he may have to work late tonight. :wink: Hope this works and I can get back to working out. I have gained a little too much weight from this hiatus!</p>

15434

<p>My fainting episode motivated me to finally get a physical ( after 5 years):o Considering the health issues of some of my IRL friends,( not to mention those on CC), I have gotten off easy (didn’t find out why I fainted though).
My Dr prescribed a statin to reduce cholesterol- but considering I * already* have muscle pain & weakness from fibromyalgia & arthritis, I am very motivated to reduce it without medication.</p>

<p>Some of the things I came up with to try/increase. Love to hear of others.
Take fish oil ( I had ran out)
Coenzyme Q10
Two cups green tea for every cup of coffee!
Cut out processed & red meat ( no bacon!)
eat more fiber
Aerobic exercise everyday ( I already walk everywhere, but going to step it up)
More soy, less dairy
wine in moderation?</p>

15435

<p>Awww, NMINN. They are really going at with your back, huh? The good news is that six shots should get the inflammation under control and give you some pain relief for physical therapy. Here’s hoping for some rapid progress.</p>

15436

<p>I am currently on Crestor, was on a simvistatin, that didn’t work well…i tried changing my diet and excericise more prior to drugs, to no avail…best of luck</p>

15437

<p>6 grams per day of high-concentration omega3 fish oil pushed my cholesterol down into the 170’s.</p>

<p>CoQ10 can help with the muscle weakness caused by statins, but I don’t believe it will lower cholesterol.</p>

<p>If you are worried about heart health, don’t obsess about cholesterol. I have a picture at home diagramming 14 important factors for heart health, when I get a chance I will type them in.</p>

<p>No bacon? Shoot me now… :D</p>

15438

<p>Diet is huge in my opinion. The more I read, the more I think the vegan diet can be very good for your body. I’m not sure I can cut everything animal out, but I think cutting back dairy & red meat is a huge start. A friend of mine mentioned we are the only species to drink milk past the nursing stage. </p>

<p>Get rid of all processed food. (I’m gluten-free, so that’s pretty much standard). Other things to eliminate or cut back are gluten, sugar and ‘anything white’. The latter would include rice.</p>

15439

<p>Old-fashioned oatmeal for breakfast. I eat lots of crap, but once I started eating oatmeal for breakfast every morning my cholesterol dropped.</p>

15440

<p>I am already gluten free but then how do I cut out rice ? Or do you mean just eat brown rice?</p>