Official Workout/Fitness Thread (Re-born)

[Induveca]

Indu: Why do you need to run? When you run, are you getting muscle soreness or joint pain? I do my cardio (when I do it) mainly on the elliptical or the bike these days because jogging on my knees is baaaaaad. If I'm prepping for a Warrior Dash or something, I'll do treadmill or some street jogging once a week. More than that, and my knees are just killing me. Hmm, I wish Portland had a GM again. With my knees, maybe I could talk them into a max contract.

It's hard to tell (re:pain), but seems more like both honestly. My knees definitely don't enjoy it, but seems like a problem with technique. I'll try a slower shuffling thing tomorrow and see how I feel.

When I'm in Miami I stick to elliptical and swimming......not a fan of the wear and tear from running either.

Problem is in London as soon as the weather became chilly the gyms became intolerably crowded. I'm not into waiting in line for a cardio machine, and 4 people per lane in the pool is something I can't handle.

Nate and dobrojim gave me some solid advice, I'll take it slow get some custom shoes and avoid concrete. I'm just trying to get some cardio in regularly without it becoming a 3 hour mission.

[Nivek]

I sympathize on the crowded gym. I used to belong to a place where the wait for machines was interminable. I canceled as quick as I could get out of the contract. My new place is great. It costs more, but they cap membership so there's almost never a wait for anything.

[dobrojim]

Well I finished the race yesterday - this was the second year of this race
and they modified the original out and back course in order to avoid
runners being in the regional park after dark. So the changes to
last year's 51.x course resulted in the course going to 54 miles.
Given the speed, or lack thereof, of runners at this portion
of the race, that ended up being a considerably extra amount
of time. The race started at 6 am, in the dark, and I didn't finish
until after 6 pm, in the dark. A long day to be sure, but one I
was grateful to have.

edit to add - pix here

http://tinyurl.com/dyroogn

[Induveca]

Dobrojim, congrats........that's absolutely amazing. The dedication to achieve such long distances is commendable......

Check out this article....

http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitnes ... heart.aspx

I've been reading more and more about this, and it applies to very few people but certainly yourself! Just something to keep in mind. Moderation is good in all things, even exercise. Too much stress damages muscles permanently, even the heart! Main issue is, if the heart goes haywire later in life you just don't feel sore or need PT...you get a heart attack.

I of course am a complete hypocrite saying this, as I work out to the point of nearly passing out many many times and have been known to do 2-3 2 hour workout sessions a day when feeling energetic.

Just something we should BOTH keep in mind!

[nate33]

I like Dr Mercola's website. I follow a lot of his advice.

[dobrojim]

I'm disinclined to give Dr Merc my email address even if he says
I can unsubscribe any time later.

[Induveca]

Dobro, you should check out at least that article......it's good advice.

I'm a minority partner of a clinic which deals with some sports rehab back in Miami. No I'm not a doctor (nor play one on television), but I do get some really good advice without the answer always being pharmaceuticals.

I first heard of this through the medical director at his home while working on a business plan over casual conversation (not a professional consultation by any means, just friend to friend). Excessive cardio can be just as bad for your heart as an overworked achilles. Eventually it won't rip in half like an overworked achilles, but there is a difference in permanent scarring/loss in strength through overtraining, vs proper toning etc.

What do I do of course? Ignore it to a point.....but it has stopped me from doing the Arnold Schwarzenegger 3 day workouts for 6 days a week routine I had been doing. I typically hit the gym now 3-4 times a week, and have progressively been cutting back to 90 minute sessions from my former 2-3 hour 2 times a day marathon lifting sessions.

I am only recommending YOU (and from what I've read Nate when he's not injured) keep that article in mind. Running 2-3 miles a day is great, but once you hit 5-10 miles a day 5 days a week over 5-10 years after the age of 30 the benefits to the heart at such a high level become very questionable.

And of course I'll ignore my own advice to a point, as I love working out and will likely do so until I die. I know you'll understand you pass a point where it is no longer exercise, but a hobby/lifestyle you simply can't do without. We're reaching for a high score that isn't defined......sadly we may die trying if studies are correct.

[dobrojim]

FWIW, I typically run 3-4x/week

3 of those runs are 5-6 miles (or less).

1 run is 10 miles or more.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Today I played with other dads in the parents vs kids pee wee football game.

The other dads were mostly in their late 20s to 30s, with a couple around 40. I am a two months shy of 51. One of the dads told me I had a linebacker build and that I look like I can still play. He's about the third or fourth person this week who has told me they don't believe I am over 50.

A couple years back, I remember avoiding playing ball with the other dads, all active-duty soldiers. I was much heavier and didn't want to embarrass or injure myself. Today, I barely broke a sweat and had a great time. My fitness level is leaps and bounds better than it was two or even one year ago. My legs and upper body are a lot stronger.

I now just need to really crack down on my eating habits and have a bit of discipline in order to lose 25-30 pounds. I still don't trust my Achilles at this weight. I also want to lose some to begin rolling in BJJ without a great risk of serious injury. But the good news is even not at the optimal weight I feel pretty good these days.

[Zonkerbl]

I lost ten pounds over the last six weeks... yay!
Thirty more to go... boo!

Just taking it five pounds at a time.

When I was in my twenties, I used to be able to get in shape in a week. But for the longest time I just couldn't get in shape, after working out for months. Just can't figure out how to work out like a forty year old.

Quit the gym entirely and stuck to just biking to and from work. Gained thirty pounds, but I've been gradually ratcheting up the workouts and I think I'm finally starting to wind into shape, to the point that the pounds are starting to melt off again.

I think what it was is, when I was twenty I didn't have to worry about what I ate -- just go play basketball for two hours and lift for an hour every day, no problem. Now it's good if I can get to the gym more than three times a week for an hour. So I have to watch what I eat. It sucks. But I'm starting to get a handle on it. The main thing is cutting down on my alcohol intake. Amazing how many calories are in that -- it's like sucking down chocolate syrup.

[Ed Wood]

Today I played with other dads in the parents vs kids pee wee football game.

The other dads were mostly in their late 20s to 30s, with a couple around 40. I am a two months shy of 51. One of the dads told me I had a linebacker build and that I look like I can still play. He's about the third or fourth person this week who has told me they don't believe I am over 50.

A couple years back, I remember avoiding playing ball with the other dads, all active-duty soldiers. I was much heavier and didn't want to embarrass or injure myself. Today, I barely broke a sweat and had a great time. My fitness level is leaps and bounds better than it was two or even one year ago. My legs and upper body are a lot stronger.

I now just need to really crack down on my eating habits and have a bit of discipline in order to lose 25-30 pounds. I still don't trust my Achilles at this weight. I also want to lose some to begin rolling in BJJ without a great risk of serious injury. But the good news is even not at the optimal weight I feel pretty good these days.

Oh my God, after years of sheepish mumbling about how much of a workout BJJ is someone is actually potentially going to join me in the most noble of sports you would struggle to explain to someone over the age of sixty without including some sort of apology. As for the injury thing so long as you do a decent job of warming up properly and no one involved is either very dumb or not very nice you should be fine, excluding the vagaries of physical exertion. Oh man it is embarrassing how excited I am about this.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Ed, my only worry is the someone dumb part.

At my age, my ego and I have to accept that I can't whip a guy 20-30 years younger than I am. (Of course, thankfully, my faith enables me to react altogether more appropriately and with wisdom these days.) My fear is that somebody training partner may behave in a careless or disrespectful way, and make me angry. I recall years ago, when I was in my early 20s, I did taekwondo for a while. I remember sparring with one of my closest friends. We really went at it to the point that sparring him was worse than fighting in a tournament. He was really good and I didn't like him getting the best of it.

Now, I know my place and I'm not even like that. I just want to learn technique, get fit, build camaraderie, and just enjoy the energy. I also want to know enough to be involved should I let my young sons train. With all the Sandusky types out there, I don't even want to have other adults unsupervised around my kids--especially not dudes who aren't afraid of me. As far as what I do want to be able to do, it is hang with the tougher guys for a little while, any way. Just enough to be respected.

Anyway, Ed, you're right about BJJ. It's a noble sport that I WISH I had learned when I was younger.

[7-Day Dray]

I have a major problem. I have nagging pain in my left hip when I do certain activities like basketball, and it's really limiting me on the court. When I bend and get in a defensive stance, I start experiencing the pain, and I'm not as quick laterally as I normally would be.

This started noticing the pain like a few years ago, and it's only on my left hip, not my right. I do my best to stretch it out, but it always comes back. Does anyone know what is going on, and how I can fix this? And has anyone else experiences this. BTW, I'm only 15.

[Zonkerbl]

Arthritis. J/k.

I used to have tight hamstrings all the time and I would stretch the bejeesus out of them and it didn't help. Turns out it was muscles in my quad tightening up -- if I massage the quads on the opposite side of the hammies the tightness went away!

So you need to go to a sports guy/gal who understands about how problems on one side of your body can cause pain on the other and stuff like that and have him/her suss it out. My chiro was the guy who figured out my hammies.

[dobrojim]

IT band or periformis?

I know a very good physical therapist but in order for most people to afford
to see him they need a referral from their primary or an orthopedic so their
insurance will cover most of it.

He's in Fairfax if that's helpful.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Today I caught a TD and a conversion pass. According to my sons "You look as fast as the other parents, dad." (All active duty soldiers, younger, and not nearly as heavy as I am). The parents beat the kids 10 TDs to 1.

My best plays were on defense. Did a spin move for a sack and had a lot of open field tackles on kids who from the sidelines look fast. This is really encouraging because I'm still way too heavy. At 5'8", 245 or so pounds and 50 years old I am surprised that I am still faster than the 11-13 years olds who have been playing all season. I think as we age we just see the game better.

I wasn't even tired today. I paced myself at times and reminded myself about my Achilles injury and I did not want to get happy out there and get hurt. It's when you really go all out that you get hurt. Did not happen today.

I had SO MUCH FUN!

Parents killed the kids and my sons got to see me catch a ball over my shoulder and take it to the house at 50.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Just wanted to add that to you guys who stayed in shape and compete like jim, for example, many of us were couch potatoes for years. My very insignificant achievement has me effusive simply because it is never too late to get back at it.

[Zonkerbl]

So, in 2009 went from 175 to 161 over the summer, two months ago tipped the scales at 200. Forty pounds in two years! Holy crap. That can't be healthy. Have been torturing myself in the gym and starving myself since then and managed to lose 12 lbs. My stupid sister's husband just recently lost 30 lbs, stupid thirty something razza frazza.

Ugh. Taking it five lbs at a time. If I can ever get back under 160 I could actually run fast enough and jump high enough to play basketball again, that would be fun. Not likely at 41 though. And 5'7". I could play soccer I guess.

[nate33]

Knee update:

My knee is almost completely healed. I've been busting my butt in rehab doing all kinds of crazy knee stability and hamstring strengthening exercises. Right now, I can do one-legged squats on the Bosu ball while holding a 30-lb dumbbell in each hand. Effectively, that's like squatting 290 pounds (while also having to deal with stability and balance). I never squatted much more than 225 pounds before the injury because I was scared to hurt my back so it's pretty cool that I'm stronger now than I was pre-injury.

I'm also working hard at regaining my hamstring strength (they used a portion of my hamstring to graft a new ACL tendon). 6 weeks ago, I could only handle 25 pounds of weight on the hamstring curl machine (my good leg could do 50 pounds). I'm now up to 40 pounds (with my good leg up to 55).

I've been doing sprints on the treadmill holding a 5:00 pace for a quarter mile at a time with short walk breaks in between. And although I'm not yet cleared by the doctor, I've been playing basketball in our Y-League for 3 weeks now (coming off the bench in limited minutes). My lateral quickness is as good as always. My only issue is that I'm still a little weak in the hamstring and I can feel it when I need to explode forward or backwards - but it's getting better. I haven't yet regained full confidence to drive the lane on offense, but I'm close to 100% defensively and with my perimeter game.

As a nice side-effect to the injury, my Achilles tendonitis has cleared up completely and I've also added about 10 pounds of muscle to my frame. (There wasn't much to do in the early days of my injury other than lift weights with my upper body.) I'm now 170 pounds with 32-inch waist. (I'm 5-9.) I can do chin ups with 40 pounds strapped to my back, I can curl 50-lb dumbbells with one hand, and I can do about 25 dips at a time.

I'd be in the best shape of my life except I haven't really tried to regain my long distance conditioning. I mostly stick to runs of about 3 miles, give or take a mile (after which I go and do my leg workout). I'm not in any hurry to go back to endurance training. I kinda like the sprint work and weightlifting. I feel better, look better, and don't have chronic soreness all the time.

[Zonkerbl]

Yes, running is the work of Satan.