Author Topic: Let's talk exercise  (Read 9695 times)

lightbulb

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Let's talk exercise
« on: January 10, 2016, 10:27:09 AM »
Hi,

I have just seen an interesting documentary titled The truth about exercise, see e.g.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xz2fwb_the-truth-about-exercise_lifestyle

A helpful review for those more inclined to reading:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/242498.php

Aside from that some time ago I have stumbled upon the 5BX/XBX plan, thanks to this fine lady: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/dietandfitness/10986432/How-to-look-like-a-Dame-in-just-a-few-minutes.html. This little secret of hers was a summer hit du jour a couple of years ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5BX
https://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~rfburger/5bx-plan.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XBX
https://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~rfburger/xbx-plan.pdf

My 2c:
I like scientific arguments, so HIT seems very relevant. However, I have grown a chronic condition (also due to genes), so embarking on HIT without prior consultation with my physician is probably not wise. Moreover, my colleague is a national amateur cycling champion who trains quite seriously, and he is wary against full throttle cycling without prior longer period of mid-intensity cycling, failure to do so poses a serious risk of leg muscle injuries according tot he colleague.

5BX has been very popular, but has been discontinued due to newer research indicating that some exercises pose a risk of injury. Nevertheless, taking caution in some exercises I have tested it for a few months and was very satisfied, e.g. my shoulder pain which was growing stronger and limiting to me and thus causing me serious concerns, disappeared in couple of weeks. The part I loved mostly is that it cane be taken to business trips because it requires not equipment, just space int he size of your body. After stopping for a couple of weeks due to illness, I did not manage to pick up again :-(

Anyway, the reason I shared this is that I guess 5BX and HIT are both quite effective and most of all very mustachian :-)

Opinions, experiences very welcome.

tobitonic

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2016, 11:09:47 AM »
Our approach with exercise is similar to our approach to eating, and much of our approach to life in general: do what the old and healthy people are doing, or have done for most of their lives, to the best of our abilities.

For exercise, from everything I've read, that means frequent low intensity movement (e.g., housework, walking, gardening, yoga, etc). The key seems to be to have things that keep you moving at a gentle pace for much of the day.

big_slacker

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2016, 11:43:36 AM »
My opinion, based on continuing to be fit and strong into my 40s is that you can't hack or cheat your way to health.

Eat real whole foods, drink water, keep active throughout the day, do a sport you enjoy and get plenty of sleep. It's not hard but you have to live it.

GrowingTheGreen

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2016, 11:45:55 AM »
This is what I'm starting to shift to. I'm only 28, but I feel as though I've been more prone to injury than only 5 years ago. I still have a simple weightlifting program, but it's only 3 days a week. Also do one day a week of 15 mins HIIT on a bike just cause I love the feeling of being winded.

Biggest challenge for me is just changing my mentality from trying to look like a magazine model, to being more conservative and happy with just feeling good and moving.

Our approach with exercise is similar to our approach to eating, and much of our approach to life in general: do what the old and healthy people are doing, or have done for most of their lives, to the best of our abilities.

For exercise, from everything I've read, that means frequent low intensity movement (e.g., housework, walking, gardening, yoga, etc). The key seems to be to have things that keep you moving at a gentle pace for much of the day.

GreenSheep

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2016, 12:12:06 PM »
Yep, the Blue Zones (5 parts of the world with high concentration of people over age 100) people seem to be doing something right. Most of their "exercise" is just part of their lifestyle -- walking to see friends or accomplish errands, doing things by hand instead of relying on machines, etc. That sounds great, and (I think) I'd love to live in a society like that, but unfortunately most Americans don't. We can try to copy that to some extent, but I think it would be very difficult to do it 100%. So most of us still probably need to do some sort of dedicated exercise just for the sake of exercise.

My primary form of exercise is running, which I started doing 10 years ago, before I ever considered being frugal. It happens to be quite Mustachian, though. All you need is a pair of running shoes and some clothes. A phone with earbuds and free podcasts (or audiobooks or whatever) helps me a lot, too. Only allowing myself to listen to my favorite podcasts while running helps with motivation. I wear my running shoes for other things sometimes, and my "running clothes" are mostly just clothes that are too old to wear for anything else, so the "gear" is pretty cheap.

All that being said, I firmly believe that it is impossible to be healthy just by exercising, without considering what you eat. No amount of exercise cancels out a diet of Cheetos and soda. Sure, you might be skinny, but you're not healthy. People always talk about exercising to "make up for" whatever terrible thing they just ate. It's more than calories in vs. calories out. You have to fuel your body with GOOD calories that provide you with all the necessary nutrients.

big_owl

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #5 on: January 10, 2016, 02:16:22 PM »
This is what I'm starting to shift to. I'm only 28, but I feel as though I've been more prone to injury than only 5 years ago. I still have a simple weightlifting program, but it's only 3 days a week. Also do one day a week of 15 mins HIIT on a bike just cause I love the feeling of being winded.

Biggest challenge for me is just changing my mentality from trying to look like a magazine model, to being more conservative and happy with just feeling good and moving.

Our approach with exercise is similar to our approach to eating, and much of our approach to life in general: do what the old and healthy people are doing, or have done for most of their lives, to the best of our abilities.

For exercise, from everything I've read, that means frequent low intensity movement (e.g., housework, walking, gardening, yoga, etc). The key seems to be to have things that keep you moving at a gentle pace for much of the day.

28yo and already put to pasture!?  LOL, yes at 35yo I get what he means, but still thinking you might be a bit premature in that prognosis.  Just this past summer I benched an all time PR which was even more than when I was using dianabol/test back when I was 24yo.  All natural now for over 10 years and only 8lbs shy of the most I ever weighed while using.  It seems like mindset more than anything to me.  Well, I'm sure that as natural test levels drop then things won't be quite like they used to be, but I'd probably wait until at least 60yo before I totally give up on myself and resign my definition of "exercise" to housework or gardening.

Insert blah blah yeah we all have different goals, understood.  But come on, at 28yo we outta be aiming a little higher than aspiring to a 105yo Japanese person.  Of course I mean that in the nicest way possible.

PS - at 28yo your body is still in its prime
PPS - confession - I do yoga every Saturday


BTDretire

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #6 on: January 10, 2016, 03:38:23 PM »
I'll be turning 61 yrs young soon, I was setback by a couple of herniated discs for about 5 years.
Now that I can move without pain I have begun excercising.
I started swiming 4 days a week in April, I have built up so now I swim a minimum 1 mile and
often as much as 2 miles, at the local college. I bought a used bike 3 months ago and try to ride at
least 30 miles a week, but have rode 27 miles on one ride and 20 miles on several. I try to walk 10 to 12 miles a week, I do 25 deep knee bends 4 times during my walks and have some dumb bells that I lift.
 It is rewarding, over the holidays the college was closed and I missed my swims.

btw, I average 20 Blood Pressure measurments from April and 20 from Sept. the excercise dropped my number 9/7 points.



Nickyd£g

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #7 on: January 11, 2016, 06:06:09 AM »
I saw that documentary too!  I'm 43, overweight, but have for the past 6 months or so adopting what older, fit people do, as someone upthread said - walking everywhere, doing Yoga and body weight exercises 3 times a week, swimming.  But 80% of health is diet, so I've been eating real food - mostly fish, chicken, lots of fruit and veg.  Drink plenty of water, sleep 8 hours at least a night, try not to use electronics after 8pm.  It's working for me, slowly but surely.  And I have tried fad diets, HIIT, running (HATED IT!), over the past few years, but my life was still stressful, cluttered, too much red wine and sugar consumed and the result was weight gain, even with exercising like a mad woman 5 times a week.

Reader

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #8 on: January 11, 2016, 06:41:24 AM »
My 2c:
I like scientific arguments, so HIT seems very relevant. However, I have grown a chronic condition (also due to genes), so embarking on HIT without prior consultation with my physician is probably not wise. Moreover, my colleague is a national amateur cycling champion who trains quite seriously, and he is wary against full throttle cycling without prior longer period of mid-intensity cycling, failure to do so poses a serious risk of leg muscle injuries according tot he colleague.
thanks for the interesting links! i now do a variant of the hiit but using bodyweight exercises (pullups, pushups, squats, burpees and crunches / leg lifts). there's no need to rush either. the protocol i use is simply 20 seconds of one exercise followed by 20 seconds of rest. that worked well for me. from the video it sounded like i could increase my fat loss just by investing 3 more minutes a day - i'll probably try running in place or skipping.

soccerluvof4

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #9 on: January 11, 2016, 09:27:32 AM »
MY DW and I basically go to workout on ave 4 x's a week. We try to go every morning once the kids are off to school when life doesnt get in the way. Like today I am exhausted from traveling all weekend so we are planning on going tues-friday. We look at the clock and meet at the area where you can set your things if your not loosing the locker room in 90 minutes. We do completely different things as me 51 and her 47 want to achieve different things and I am limited since i need a double knee replacement i have been putting off for 3 years. So for me it usually works out to 45 minutes of Cardio which could be 30 minutes of Elliptical and 15 mins of rowing and then half hour of light weight high rep weights from free weights to machines. I then stretch out and that burns my 90 minutes. We then go and do all our chores like shopping, post office etc.. For me I try not to allow more than 10 seconds between reps and use my time effectively but no more heavy weights or craziness. Listen to my body and adjust what i do but try to get as well at least 10k steps a day in. The key i feel is to use your time wisely and do alot of different things so you keep going. Dont pressure to have the perfect body but work to try and improve the quality of live through eating right and exercising. I use to be all or nothing and it just doesn't last. I could lose some weight and sure I will over time but not going to again put some unrealistic goals on myself.

hudsoncat

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #10 on: January 11, 2016, 09:46:08 AM »
My opinion, based on continuing to be fit and strong into my 40s is that you can't hack or cheat your way to health.

Eat real whole foods, drink water, keep active throughout the day, do a sport you enjoy and get plenty of sleep. It's not hard but you have to live it.

I think this is so true. DH and I made some lifestyle changes last year about basically eating better food, drinking more water, and working out more. It has been amazing the changes it brought, but we really do live it. We make conscious food choices (not always the best ones, that doughnut this morning was excellent) and make a point to be active everyday (sometimes it's just a walk to keep moving on a rest day between harder workouts). It is amazing how much it does just become an ingrained part of your life.

elaine amj

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #11 on: January 11, 2016, 10:15:30 AM »
Hmmm..I've been looking for some workouts to incorporate into my daily routine and really like what I see of the XBX program. Going to try it out tonight! Hoping to find some nice Youtube videos to follow since i workout best following a video/class.

GreenSheep

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #12 on: January 11, 2016, 10:28:22 AM »
The great thing about truly making it a lifestyle change, rather than an "until I lose this weight" change, is that not only does it become a habit, your tastebuds also literally change. If you stop eating fast food for a few weeks, or stop eating added sugar, or whatever, those things simply don't taste good to you anymore, and you don't want them.

Towards the end of last year, I started being very strict with myself about following the WHO guidelines for sugar (less than 25g added sugar per day for women). For someone like me who likes to have dessert daily, that is not easy. A teaspoon of sugar contains 5g sugar. A tiny cup of anything from Starbucks that isn't black puts you over your limit for the day. A tablespoon of maple syrup in your oatmeal gets you almost to the limit. But it's amazing how much you can change. I now enjoy desserts that are sweetened with dates, and I taste small amounts of sugar in things right away now -- whether that's added sugar or a particularly sweet piece of fruit. And I no longer crave piles of sugar. (And this coming from someone who even liked all that sickeningly sweet grocery store cake icing that no one else would touch!)

jeninco

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #13 on: January 11, 2016, 02:33:57 PM »
Hmm, interesting responses. I'm turning 48 this year, and am quite active by most standards. Until this year I typically scored 14+ miles of incidental bike riding per day (my younger kid was in elementary school 3.5 miles away, so I rode him to school and then rode home, repeat at 3), but now I'm finding I need to remember to get out and walk in the sun for an hour or so each day, or do equivalent biking around town.

However, I don't find that for me that does enough to preserve strength. So 2-3 times per week I do a 12-minute HIIT workout (www.12minuteathlete.com), typically 6 exercises that are done as hard as you can for 30 seconds, with 10 seconds rest, repeat X3. I can't always do the workouts, (or I don't have all the equipment), but it's easy to substitute: today I did squat thrusts (with a cinderblock: not much fancy equipment here) rather than wall balls. I also go to a pilates class once/week, and do a pilates mat routine once/week. That leaves me with a few days for less low-key cardio than just walking for an hour: I'm recovering from an injury that prevents running, but I can hike/almost run uphill for 45 min, or bike, or swim, and I ski patrol at a nordic area, so yesterday I spent 2+ hours out skiing on classic gear and another almost 2 hours skate skiing. Plus, as a present to future me I do pull-ups every other day so that I can continue to do pull-ups every other day and be a bad-ass middle-aged mom!

This all sounds like a lot when I type it out, but, really, an hour a day of walking outside (sometimes even with my husband!) is close to the recommended 10,000 steps, and the other stuff takes either 12 minutes + 4 more minutes for pull-ups, or 25 min - 1 hour for pilates.  On the more-cardio days, maybe an hour to 1.5? I work from home, so I typically get to choose when to start and stop, and I wind up right back at home/work, where I can work for a while until I'm ready for a shower (if necessary). Realistically, 1 - 1.5 hours of moving a day is pretty small, considering that you're awake for 16...

elaine amj

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #14 on: January 12, 2016, 08:58:46 AM »
So I printed out the XBX program and did the first step last night. So far, so good. I like it and the forced incremental nature of it helps me have some easy wins - which is helpful for my motivation. I did have some sore muscles last night, so I am definitely working something out :)

jrhampt

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #15 on: January 12, 2016, 10:37:54 AM »
I'll be turning 61 yrs young soon, I was setback by a couple of herniated discs for about 5 years.
Now that I can move without pain I have begun excercising.

Curious...I have herniated discs, too.  Did you have surgery?  Or did you just learn what to do to avoid irritating them?  I seem to have a flare-up once a year or so, but it's manageable.  I did have to learn to be careful with certain upper body exercises.

big_slacker

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #16 on: January 12, 2016, 10:46:48 AM »
I'll be turning 61 yrs young soon, I was setback by a couple of herniated discs for about 5 years.
Now that I can move without pain I have begun excercising.

Curious...I have herniated discs, too.  Did you have surgery?  Or did you just learn what to do to avoid irritating them?  I seem to have a flare-up once a year or so, but it's manageable.  I did have to learn to be careful with certain upper body exercises.

I have a couple of bulging discs, none have ruptured. I've stopped deadlifting and squats (which sucks) but daily yoga and working around them has kept them feeling good. Even most docs I know say avoid surgery and use it only as a very last resort.

oinkette

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #17 on: January 12, 2016, 11:44:07 AM »
Our approach with exercise is similar to our approach to eating, and much of our approach to life in general: do what the old and healthy people are doing, or have done for most of their lives, to the best of our abilities.

For exercise, from everything I've read, that means frequent low intensity movement (e.g., housework, walking, gardening, yoga, etc). The key seems to be to have things that keep you moving at a gentle pace for much of the day.

Before moving to NYC I used to go to the gym 6 days a week. 3 days weight lifting. 2 days busting my butt on the bike and a spin class on Saturdays. I'd combine this with mostly healthy diet and constant calorie counting.

I found the gyms in NYC to be absurdly priced and decided to hold off joining one when I first moved.  Because I wanted to indulge in all that NYC had to offer gastronomically I didn't particularly watch my diet. But I did get rid of the car before leaving.  So I walked all the time...for everything.

The first  two months of not "dieting" and walking places i would normally drive allowed me to actually lose weight...and my legs and butt have never looked better! I'm a convert.

tobitonic

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #18 on: January 12, 2016, 08:01:33 PM »
Our approach with exercise is similar to our approach to eating, and much of our approach to life in general: do what the old and healthy people are doing, or have done for most of their lives, to the best of our abilities.

For exercise, from everything I've read, that means frequent low intensity movement (e.g., housework, walking, gardening, yoga, etc). The key seems to be to have things that keep you moving at a gentle pace for much of the day.

Before moving to NYC I used to go to the gym 6 days a week. 3 days weight lifting. 2 days busting my butt on the bike and a spin class on Saturdays. I'd combine this with mostly healthy diet and constant calorie counting.

I found the gyms in NYC to be absurdly priced and decided to hold off joining one when I first moved.  Because I wanted to indulge in all that NYC had to offer gastronomically I didn't particularly watch my diet. But I did get rid of the car before leaving.  So I walked all the time...for everything.

The first  two months of not "dieting" and walking places i would normally drive allowed me to actually lose weight...and my legs and butt have never looked better! I'm a convert.

That's awesome! Keep it up.

Apples

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #19 on: January 13, 2016, 07:01:25 AM »
This is what I'm starting to shift to. I'm only 28, but I feel as though I've been more prone to injury than only 5 years ago. I still have a simple weightlifting program, but it's only 3 days a week. Also do one day a week of 15 mins HIIT on a bike just cause I love the feeling of being winded.

Biggest challenge for me is just changing my mentality from trying to look like a magazine model, to being more conservative and happy with just feeling good and moving.

Our approach with exercise is similar to our approach to eating, and much of our approach to life in general: do what the old and healthy people are doing, or have done for most of their lives, to the best of our abilities.

For exercise, from everything I've read, that means frequent low intensity movement (e.g., housework, walking, gardening, yoga, etc). The key seems to be to have things that keep you moving at a gentle pace for much of the day.

I'm an an aerobics class with middle aged to upper-upper-middle-aged women (I wouldn't' call them old).  The class can be altered to fit your intensity, so I always get a good workout, as do they.  There are several with limited mobility.  They can't quite reach their arms straight up, they can't turn quite as far, they have a harder time stepping out into a squat.  They're the ones that didn't exercise regularly for 20 years, and are now getting back into being active.  They gardened and did housework, but over the years stopped reaching quite as far for tools, taking more care to bend over, etc. I think regularly doing some form of exercise, whether yoga or aerobics or whatever, that gets you moving that you don't in day-to-day life helps stave off your general mobility going downhill.  So now at 25, I exercise both for the physical benefits of being in shape (though definitely not very thin or model-ish)  and to remind myself that the ability to easily move through the day is a gift.  Those women  have given me the gratitude of being healthy and moving, and a desire to keep it up in the future when we have kids.

dude

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #20 on: January 13, 2016, 07:51:17 AM »
Good posts!

I'm a very active rock climber, ice climber, snowboarder (including backcountry), and mountaineer.  I train like an animal for these pursuits, because the difference between being marginally fit and super-fit can be the difference between life and death in the mountains.  I trained on my own (i.e., programs of my own making) for most of my life, but about 3-4 years ago I found Mountain Athlete (www.strongswiftdurable.com/mountain-athlete), a gym out of Jackson Hole, WY that trains some of mountain sports' top athletes. I've been doing their training, or my own modified versions of their training, ever since.  Some of the workouts are downright grueling, but they're designed to make you "harder to kill" and mentally tougher (i.e., to push beyond your perceived physical limitations).  The workouts take place at my indoor gym, indoor climbing gym, and outdoors. I've thrown in 1 - 1.5 hour trail runs in addition to these workouts. A recent gym workout:

(1) 4 Rounds
10x Goblet Squats (16kg kettlebell)
10x 24" box jumps
10x push-ups
Instep stretch

(2) 5 rounds
8x Back Squats @ 225lbs
Shoulder Scarecrows (2.5lbs)
Hip Flexor Stretch

(3) 10 rounds
100 Step Ups (18" box) w/ 25lb backpack
45 seconds of Figure Four Ice Axe Traverses on TRX frame

(4) 30-minute run, moderate pace

I train 5-6 days/week. Every 12 weeks or so, I take a full week off to recover.  Specific training/exercises varies according to what season/sport I'm training for.

At nearly 51 years old, I feel as strong, swift and durable as I ever have and continue to make gains in all the sports I engage in. I'm also professionally guiding (part-time) in the rock and ice disciplines, so I consider a robust training program to be essential to having that extra margin of safety when guiding clients in the mountains.

big_owl

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #21 on: January 13, 2016, 08:43:04 AM »
Good posts!

I'm a very active rock climber, ice climber, snowboarder (including backcountry), and mountaineer.  I train like an animal for these pursuits, because the difference between being marginally fit and super-fit can be the difference between life and death in the mountains.  I trained on my own (i.e., programs of my own making) for most of my life, but about 3-4 years ago I found Mountain Athlete (www.strongswiftdurable.com/mountain-athlete), a gym out of Jackson Hole, WY that trains some of mountain sports' top athletes. I've been doing their training, or my own modified versions of their training, ever since.  Some of the workouts are downright grueling, but they're designed to make you "harder to kill" and mentally tougher (i.e., to push beyond your perceived physical limitations).

Sweet, more mountain climbers in the East.  Little owl and I started mountain climbing a couple years ago.  We do lots of winter backpacking in the East so the logical next step seemed to be mountaineering. 

Took the six-day mountaineering course from Alpine Ascents on Mount baker in 2012 and then climbed Rainier with two other students from the class in 2013 and just did Eldorado as our own two-person team in 2014.  We were in bomber shape for 2012, not quite as good of shape in 2013/2014 but had successful pleasant climbs. 

We also take training pretty seriously since it's likely just the two of us and we both need to be in excellent shape and be able to do two-person crevasses rescues.  Lots of ropes set up in our house practicing pulley systems leading up to a climb.

How often do you mountaineer out west?  Due to logistics of living back east we only get one real climb a year, which sucks, but that's life.  I've found mountaineering training to be ok, in addition to our normal bodybuilding workouts we start adding in a lot of stair machine work with weighted packs and also running.  Between that and bodybuilding we seem to get the strength and endurance we need.

We also did a lot of your box jumps, though we nicknamed them "crevasse hops" I think.  We even set up an extension ladder in the garage on blocks to practice traversing crevasses in our crampons.  This came in VERY handy on Rainier. 

big_slacker

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #22 on: January 13, 2016, 10:01:30 AM »
Good posts!

I'm a very active rock climber, ice climber, snowboarder (including backcountry), and mountaineer.  I train like an animal for these pursuits, because the difference between being marginally fit and super-fit can be the difference between life and death in the mountains.  I trained on my own (i.e., programs of my own making) for most of my life, but about 3-4 years ago I found Mountain Athlete (www.strongswiftdurable.com/mountain-athlete), a gym out of Jackson Hole, WY that trains some of mountain sports' top athletes. I've been doing their training, or my own modified versions of their training, ever since.  Some of the workouts are downright grueling, but they're designed to make you "harder to kill" and mentally tougher (i.e., to push beyond your perceived physical limitations).  The workouts take place at my indoor gym, indoor climbing gym, and outdoors. I've thrown in 1 - 1.5 hour trail runs in addition to these workouts. A recent gym workout:

That's awesome! I'm early 40's and also a snowboarder, mountain biker, sometimes trail runnner and general lover of the mountains. I welcomed 40 with a 30 mile ride in tahoe, 3 peaks above 8000 ft with a stash the bike and climb over 10k to freel peak at the midpoint. I love that folks are now thinking on how to maintain performance into their 50's and beyond. I hear really good things about Jackson Hole BTW, hope to get out there to ride sometime!

HawkeyeNFO

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #23 on: January 13, 2016, 10:48:01 AM »
Living in Europe for 6 months, and you can see in the people what the results of diet, exercise, and general lifestyle is.  You just don't see fat people like you do in the states.  People don't go to the gym like they do in the US, but they bike and walk outside, regardless of the weather, to do simple things like go to the store.  Healthy food, like fresh fruit and vegetables seem to be cheaper as well, and perhaps with less chemicals thrown on them.  Very few drive thru restaurants around either.  Hard part for me is all the good cheap wine, beer, and cheese.

Before Christmas, we stopped in at the Ramstein AFB exchange, and it was a good reminder of how unhealthy Americans really are.  And this was at a military base, where presumably people are paid and tested twice a year to stay in shape.  Man, we Americans are pretty fat.

Bottom line is to eat real food, not fake food that comes from a factory, and then get off your butt and move!

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #24 on: January 13, 2016, 10:57:07 AM »
I saw that documentary too!  I'm 43, overweight, but have for the past 6 months or so adopting what older, fit people do, as someone upthread said - walking everywhere, doing Yoga and body weight exercises 3 times a week, swimming.  But 80% of health is diet, so I've been eating real food - mostly fish, chicken, lots of fruit and veg.  Drink plenty of water, sleep 8 hours at least a night, try not to use electronics after 8pm.  It's working for me, slowly but surely.  And I have tried fad diets, HIIT, running (HATED IT!), over the past few years, but my life was still stressful, cluttered, too much red wine and sugar consumed and the result was weight gain, even with exercising like a mad woman 5 times a week.

I think most of health is lifestyle. Can eat healthy, but if continue to have frenetic urban lifestyle of rushing around and stress, and then collapsing in front of tv or computer, not going to be healthy. Personally for myself, exercising regularly has a bigger impact on my overall health and well-being than my diet. When I exercised at a high level, not only did my stress go down my craving for sweets and carbs decreased, I ate more protein and in general ate better. When I am tired and stressed and not exercising, my chocolate and wine intake goes up.  Unfortunately I can't seem to keep up high intensity workouts without a class. But I am going to look over the first post and try to fit in the shorter workouts to get a little more intensity in my activity level.

golden1

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #25 on: January 13, 2016, 12:27:24 PM »
1) Anything that gets you to move is a good thing.  Yes, walking is a great form of exercise. 
2) There is no "bad" exercise as long as you aren't injuring yourself. 
3) Experiment until you find something you actually look forward to doing. 

That's pretty much it. 

Cougar

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #26 on: January 13, 2016, 01:38:41 PM »

 If you guys want to loose weight, it's all what you put in your head, as can be said also for your thoughts, feelings, what advertisements you watch; but I digress.

To loose weight you need to eat under your basic metabolism rate and follow a paleo type diet, meaning no sugars or carbs. follow that for 3 months and you will loose weight. exercise will increase the loss but it's not necessary.

dude

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #27 on: January 14, 2016, 12:54:24 PM »

Sweet, more mountain climbers in the East.  Little owl and I started mountain climbing a couple years ago.  We do lots of winter backpacking in the East so the logical next step seemed to be mountaineering. 

Took the six-day mountaineering course from Alpine Ascents on Mount baker in 2012 and then climbed Rainier with two other students from the class in 2013 and just did Eldorado as our own two-person team in 2014.  We were in bomber shape for 2012, not quite as good of shape in 2013/2014 but had successful pleasant climbs. 

We also take training pretty seriously since it's likely just the two of us and we both need to be in excellent shape and be able to do two-person crevasses rescues.  Lots of ropes set up in our house practicing pulley systems leading up to a climb.

How often do you mountaineer out west?  Due to logistics of living back east we only get one real climb a year, which sucks, but that's life.  I've found mountaineering training to be ok, in addition to our normal bodybuilding workouts we start adding in a lot of stair machine work with weighted packs and also running.  Between that and bodybuilding we seem to get the strength and endurance we need.

We also did a lot of your box jumps, though we nicknamed them "crevasse hops" I think.  We even set up an extension ladder in the garage on blocks to practice traversing crevasses in our crampons.  This came in VERY handy on Rainier.

Hey, big_owl, I get out west 1-2 times/year for both climbing and snowboarding.  I've also done Rainer (3x) and Baker (2x) -- beautiful mountains.  Most trips in the past decade have been alpine rock climbing trips to Wyoming and California.  We have some great little mountains here in New England that, while lacking in stature compared to the mountains out west, more than make up for it with weather and difficulty.  The White Mountains of New Hampshire are a proven training ground for some of the world's best alpinists, including Ed Webster and Freddy Wilkinson, just to name a couple.  Heading out to Yosemite this summer, can't wait.

dude

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #28 on: January 14, 2016, 12:56:19 PM »
Good posts!

I'm a very active rock climber, ice climber, snowboarder (including backcountry), and mountaineer.  I train like an animal for these pursuits, because the difference between being marginally fit and super-fit can be the difference between life and death in the mountains.  I trained on my own (i.e., programs of my own making) for most of my life, but about 3-4 years ago I found Mountain Athlete (www.strongswiftdurable.com/mountain-athlete), a gym out of Jackson Hole, WY that trains some of mountain sports' top athletes. I've been doing their training, or my own modified versions of their training, ever since.  Some of the workouts are downright grueling, but they're designed to make you "harder to kill" and mentally tougher (i.e., to push beyond your perceived physical limitations).  The workouts take place at my indoor gym, indoor climbing gym, and outdoors. I've thrown in 1 - 1.5 hour trail runs in addition to these workouts. A recent gym workout:

That's awesome! I'm early 40's and also a snowboarder, mountain biker, sometimes trail runnner and general lover of the mountains. I welcomed 40 with a 30 mile ride in tahoe, 3 peaks above 8000 ft with a stash the bike and climb over 10k to freel peak at the midpoint. I love that folks are now thinking on how to maintain performance into their 50's and beyond. I hear really good things about Jackson Hole BTW, hope to get out there to ride sometime!

Burly 40th outing, big_slacker!!!  Love it!  Jackson Hole might be my favorite place on earth.  I've been there about a dozen times, in summer and winter.  There's a lifetime of climbing and skiing/riding out there.

Clausen

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #29 on: January 14, 2016, 05:58:17 PM »
I started exercising eating better when I stepped on the scale and was 75 pounds over weight. Through a low carbohydrate / ketosis diet and allot of cycling, I have stayed close to where I would like to be. The only times my weight changes is because of diet. I try to stay in ketosis as much as possible but I need carbs while racing and training.

Conjou

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #30 on: January 14, 2016, 06:35:09 PM »
My opinion, based on continuing to be fit and strong into my 40s is that you can't hack or cheat your way to health.

Eat real whole foods, drink water, keep active throughout the day, do a sport you enjoy and get plenty of sleep. It's not hard but you have to live it.

+1

fitfrugalfab

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Re: Let's talk exercise
« Reply #31 on: January 15, 2016, 06:50:05 AM »
I quit my gym membership and have been doing HIIT workouts at home 3 days a week. I lift weights 2 days a week and walk the other 2.
When I was at the gym I would do cardio 5 days a week and lift 2 days. Even though I was doing interval training at the gym it was nearly as effective as the HIIT workouts are. I'm more toned, in shape and was able to budge those last 5 lbs that I couldn't seem to drop. Also there are an infinite number of HIIT workouts. I get all of mine from youtube or makeup my own using exercise combinations from P90x, insanity and T25. Also, you can change the length of the interval time, total number of reps and total time of your workout to something you are comfortable with.

Bottom line- HIGHLY recommend HIIT workouts.