Serious (kind of) fitness advice

Parent Cafe
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<p>I’ve been thinking about the various health threads and issues of fitness and weight that come up. I didn’t want to post this as part of a long thread so … some serious fitness advice.</p>

<p>First, you can become aerobically fit doing most anything, from jogging to ellipticals to some exercise program, but you will generally not be addressing the kind of fitness we need as we get older. I’m speaking as a 57 year old male with a 57 year old spouse - which I realized needs to be clarified as female (how times change). You should do whatever you find interesting to get aerobically fit to whatever level you want. You should understand this has nearly nothing to do with weight; you can be pretty heavy, not really obese but pretty heavy, and be reasonably fit in the aerobic sense. </p>

<p>The main things we need to work on are:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Stronger glutes. I can say this 2 ways. First, all power comes from clenching your butt so the two halves of your body come together. Second and really importantly, if your butt is strong you can almost bounce out of a chair instead of hauling yourself up by your arms. And you can balance much better so you won’t fall. And you can get up much better if you do fall. It all comes from having a strong rear end.</p></li>
<li><p>Stronger back. Most of the work I do - and that trainers do on their own - is about the back, about building the posterior set of muscles from top through to the legs. Think about it: other than the chest presses that many guys love to do, the main weightlifting moves of squat and deadlift are rooted in strong glutes and a strong back. Ever see soldiers march? When your back is strong, you stand erect and the backpack hangs there, even rests on the shelf made by your glutes. Blunt truth: almost no one you see on the street - and I live in Boston where there are tons of people and lots of young ones - has decent back strength and thus decent posture. </p></li>
<li><p>Flexibility. I learned this the hard way. My shoulder froze and because of the pain I restricted a lot of movement. I lived that way for a few years but continued to work out. When I shifted gyms and started to work with a new trainer, I began doing corrective work and that inspired me to free my shoulder. I don’t recommend my method: controlled brute force, including pinning my arm down with a weight as I found the binding spots and worked them free. As I freed my shoulder, I could see how it was hurting the rest of me: the effect carried into my hips, causing my hip flexors to hurt, and it carried into my neck and down my arm into my hand. And the other side suffered from compensating use. I think pilates is great for working on these issues but you have to work at it and deep tissue work can be very difficult and quite painful. </p></li>
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<p>As to advice: find a gym where they have fitness, not just machines and weights. That means a place large enough to have a good exercise space or two or three if you count open areas and rooms. Many gyms are about using this machine then that. Truth is you shouldn’t use any machines at all, just some free weights, a barbell on occasion and basic stretchy bands. I can’t think of a real training place that relies in any way on machines. But you have to get to that point and that means a trainer if you can afford one. I suggest simple 30 minute sessions, not longer, and have the trainer show you a dynamic warm-up routine that you can do on your own so each session is just work. I say 30 minutes for two reasons, cost and the simple fact you don’t need more time if you work hard. </p>

<p>I’m posting this because I know a large number of people my age and older who struggle with physical issues. And a number who try to address them with trainers when the problems have become severe. Most of these problems are about balance, with the rest being flexibility issues in backs and shoulders. </p>

<p>I could suggest exercises - kettle ball swings, kneeling shoulder press, etc. - but really we all need to move weights and stretch bands and nearly all of us should learn how to do this under supervision. BTW, at my gym a fair number of guys do those extreme video workouts. Those are nearly all about aerobic fitness with a bit of flexibility and don’t really address the muscle issues as well as we might hope. </p>

<p>An additional benefit of finding the right gym and a trainer is you learn how to work with weights and those are not only the key to balance and strength but to bone density. I see many women and a number of guys are intimidated by the weights - and sometimes by the people using them - so having a large enough gym and a trainer is again a way to overcome those barriers to do what can really help. (BTW, I know some people work with personal trainers in small facilities. Similar thing, but more cost.)</p>

<p>Anyway, sorry for taking up so much time.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the suggestions. I am not disagreeing with anything you say, but as we get older my advice to people is “something is better than nothing,” and moving is better than not moving.
I work on the 9th floor, and most days I walk up and down multiple times.
I have light weights in the TV room, and if I watch TV I will pick them up and do arm exercise.
I think some people do nothing because they feel like the can’t just walk, they need to run, and they can’t exercise for a few minutes, they need to plan at least an hour…
I do belong to a gym, and I have tried a personal trainer, and i can do all the classes I want for no additional charge but I actually like the machines, and I figure they are better than nothing.</p>

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<p>Here’s my piece of advice. If you only do one thing do squats - you’ll want to be able to use the toilet without help when you are old.</p>

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<p>I hyperextend, so I dont need flexibility except in things like my IT band.
I have a strong back, but my abs need work.
Because my strength dissipated when I wasn’t in the mood to exercise much, I need to build strenght & stamina.
Im slowly building my strength back after my TKR four months ago, but my stamina still needs work too.
Of course I now have a puppy…</p>

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<p>^^^^^^ lol mathmom. So true. Squats are key.</p>

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<p>Yes math mom and dkitty21, but if you are just starting out with squats, DON’T overdo it at the beginning, or you WILL be made aware of exactly what it’s like to not be able to get up and down on the toilet with ease! You won’t have to wait until you’re older.</p>

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<p>My trainer is a strong proponent of corrective work and we have used it as needed. If I ever had to hire another trainer again, one of the first things I would ask is if they believe and/or use corrective exercises. Sadly, many trainers do not believe in using them and just create more problems for people.</p>

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<p>Squats and deadlifts are the best exercises you can do but they need to be part of an overall plan that builds your glute and back strength. </p>

<p>Deadlifts can be harder for people - like me - so I mostly use a trap bar, which if you don’t know is a barbell with an area in the middle so you lift with the weight centered instead of in front of you. </p>

<p>For squats, I really believe most people should work on “goblet squats”. Again, if you don’t know what those are, you hold a weight, usually a dumbbell, in your hands just below your chin like a cup so the weight is vertical and then you squat. It helps with a lot, from back strength to hip flexibility to glutes, etc. And as a form of front squat, you learn to go straight up and down without bending over, which is important. And you don’t need much weight and your upper back gets a workout. A good combination is stretchy bands: hold arms out in front and spread them, ideally with an underhand grip, as wide as you can. </p>

<p>A hard variation is to do the squat, hold at the bottom, come up just past where your butt is flat to the floor, go back down and then up. This holds the stress and you really work your back. Again, not much weight is needed so it’s perfect for women. </p>

<p>As an aside, I see women doing goblet squats but you can immediately tell who has learned from a trainer: those people go down all the way, don’t round the back or lean forward and hold at the bottom properly and then explode up. </p>

<p>I think about these exercises and how they could have saved some of my older relatives from years of misery. If my grandfather had any strength for squatting, he wouldn’t have fallen when getting off the toilet - yep, mathmom! - and the last 9 (!) years of his life would have been better. If my mom had strength, she wouldn’t have laid on the floor for 3 days before the police broke the window.</p>

<p>Lose weight by dieting. Exercise for your health. Lift weight and develop strength not only for you but for your children’s sake.</p>

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<p>I can do many strenuous hikes–7 miles steep uphill. I can do Kettlebell for 40 minutes. I can do elliptical for 45 after 20 minutes of weights. And I never drop a lb. I am F and 63 and have had to decide to exercise for my health not my weight. 5’3 and 132 lbs but am happier at 126. I also make sure to do at least 10 minutes of yoga and stretch.
When I hike 5-7 miles with an elevation gain of 1600 ft and do not lose a drop I do get discouraged. I am very aware and knowledgeable about nutrition and calories, etc.
But I do agree that at some point it becomes health and not looks. I have a 46 year old friend who has so many issues with her body that I do feel fortunate. I suffer from a tennis elbow–my main issue.</p>

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<p>The best health decision I ever made was to start Crossfit.</p>

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<p>PschoDad10- Unfortunately my trainer cringes when anyone mentions Crossfit. While they may offer some useful advice regarding food management, their workout routines can be downright harmful. D2 did it for a while, and I would report back to my trainer what she was doing. And yes, she did get injured doing it; hasn’t done it in over a year now; and she’s in awesome shape.</p>

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<p>I forgot to mention box squats. To pick up on mathmom’s toilet example, this is the simplest and one of the most important things any person can do. It’s essentially almost sitting and then standing; you lower yourself to just about touch a bench or chair and come back up, ideally learning to hold and hover. </p>

<p>I spent a lot of time in hospitals growing up. Sometimes as a patient but mostly following my dad around; he was a radiologist and I’d go in with him every Saturday morning. People pull themselves up and rely on grab bars that break and the fading strength in their hands and arms … and I’d see them in the hospital. The strongest muscles in your body are the ones in your butt and back. We couldn’t walk without them. Training those muscles to work is better for you than relying on arms and hands and things that break off. It pains me to see people lowering themselves into chairs and car seats and pulling themselves up. </p>

<p>A simple resolve: be able to lift yourself off the toilet without using your arms, without grabbing anything. And then get better and better at it so you can lift with only the slightest perceptible weight shift. </p>

<p>I used to argue with my mother - who I think needed depression medication. Please work with a therapist. Please walk on uneven surfaces - studies show that walking over short stretches of uneven ground even if using parallel bars improves balance tremendously. Please work on sitting and standing. She almost died because she couldn’t get off the floor. </p>

<p>I think so much of this is fear. And I was reminded by the rabbi that God’s most common advice is “don’t be afraid”. We’re scared to work on things that will improve us. We’re scared to do the colonoscopy in case they find cancer … and that killed my father-in-law. FDR said the only enemy we have to fear is fear itself … but fear is what keeps us back. Fear of using weights. Fear of asking for a trainer. Fear of trying. Fear that someone will judge us … when in fact nearly everyone in a gym will only be supportive or will go out of there way to not notice.</p>

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Yes and no - different aerobic exercises place different stresses on the heart and lungs as well as on the body. I can use an elliptical all day long because I cannot go fast enough on the thing to really strain my cardio, but I run out of oxygen running before I run out of energy or muscle. You really need to find the aerobic exercise that fits your own capabilities, or you can spend all day without improving what you want to improve.</p>

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Again, yes and no. The basic tools are better, but they are also harder to use correctly. A lot of people doing free weights do them incorrectly, increasing their risk and minimizing their improvement. I usually recommend free weights only to those who have some experience or training or access to someone who does.</p>

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<p>I think the machines can be riskier. The initial going forward motion may be just fine, but you might not be prepared for the machine’s pull going back, and once you’re on there, you’re there for the whole ride.</p>

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<p>Lergnom, thank you for the advice. It makes a lot of sense to me. I share cosmicfish’s problem with cardio machines. I use the treadmill and it is almost impossible for me to get my heart rate up even at the fastest possible walking speed and a very high incline. In terms of weights, I like the machines, but I know that free weights would be better.</p>

<p>My major question: how do you find a good trainer? There are some at the gym I belong to, but I have no idea how good they are.</p>

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<p>For gym cardio, why not consider full body cardio like rowing or swimming if lower body cardio is not enough to increase the training effect on your cardio? Or perhaps just run faster (whether treadmill or outside)?</p>

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<p>I loved crossfit too…I think some of the lessons there (intensity and variety) are so KEY and are exactly the solution to many gym workout fails. But in less than two years I got injured twice and ended up with lots of PT.</p>

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<p>If you are building muscle through exercise, you may be heavy (with muscle) but not unhealthy.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1554060-six-reasons-why-waist-height-ratio-better-way-measure-obesity.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/1554060-six-reasons-why-waist-height-ratio-better-way-measure-obesity.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Great question, NYMomof2. I’ll be interested in seeing the answers as well. There may be a day when I’d like to work with a trainer.</p>

<p>I have no problem getting the blood pumping on a treadmill, lol. None at all. I run, run, run. Intervals definitely do it, but when I get around to doing them again I’m thinking it would probably be better to do them out on a track.</p>

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<p>The problem is with doing any type of routine is, naturally, that the wonderful human body adapts. </p>

<p>I remember back in my old yoga days when I had a teacher who taught me that there are three components to yoga…strength, flexiblity and balance…and instead of working on what you “like” and are good at (“I could put my hands flat to the floor all day long!”)…to really improve you need to work hardest at the things you suck at.</p>