Anyone want to shape up in 2018? A continuing journey.......

Thoughts_Arrive said:

Does anyone here have a Fitbit? My buddy highly recommends them and the Charge2 is on sale, thinking about getting it.

Thoughts_Arrive said:

oftenreading said:

Thoughts_Arrive said:

Does anyone here have a Fitbit? My buddy highly recommends them and the Charge2 is on sale, thinking about getting it.

Call me paranoid, but I'm not eager to give my personal data away, particularly as it relates to my health and my location. Given data leaks and hacking, I am avoiding this. 

I probably wouldn't be using the GPS. More for calories burned. It's $144, cheaper than the non gps Alta. Hot deal.

oftenreading said:

Thoughts_Arrive said:

oftenreading said:

Thoughts_Arrive said:

Does anyone here have a Fitbit? My buddy highly recommends them and the Charge2 is on sale, thinking about getting it.

Call me paranoid, but I'm not eager to give my personal data away, particularly as it relates to my health and my location. Given data leaks and hacking, I am avoiding this. 

I probably wouldn't be using the GPS. More for calories burned. It's $144, cheaper than the non gps Alta. Hot deal.

Odds are someone is going to be able to get that information at some point. And why do you need to know how many calories you burned? It’s all just an estimate anyway, with a Fitbit; it’s not accurate. Measuring heart rate does have value, especially if you do end up doing a HIIT workout. 

Find an activity you enjoy and will stick with, work out hard, and cut out the junk food. The rest will take care of itself. 

njnancy said:

curmudgeoness said:

Thoughts_Arrive said:

Thanks dude.
How can I do legs and core without a machine?
I only have the dumbells and 28kgs worth of weights.

Legs: (google these for images, etc.)

-- walking lunges (hold dumbbell in each hand)

-- split squats (same)

-- one-legged deadlifts

-- sumo squats with dumbbells

-- side lunges holding weight (start standing feet together, step out to side and bend at hip and knee, kind of like stretching)

-- step-ups

No machines needed for any of those. I just did all of these, actually -- I'm in a hotel with the usual crap exercise facilities. It's not the same as squatting 500 pounds, but it doesn't sound like you're at that point,anyway. :-) (neither am I)

Core -- get a stability ball (also called a Swiss ball). Use it for crunches. You also can do sort of reverse crunches -- get in plank position with shins on the ball, pull feet toward you like a reverse crunch. You also can do pike-ups with the ball, but I'd wait on those, LOL.

Core with dumbbells -- you can do oblique exercises, I do tons of these. Stand, feet together, dumbbell in one hand at your side. Bend sideways as far as you can go, keeping core tight, lift back to upright position. Do 12-20 on one side, then switch sides.

Core with a weight/ plate: hold the weight in your hands as you do crunches, but lift your shoulders straight up off the floor instead of up and forward, holding the weight up in the air over your head when you are in starting position (lying down). Once these no longer feel like you are dying, LOL, have your arms with the weight extended out on the floor above your head when you are lying down (so you are increasing the length of your lever, as it were, making this MUCH harder).

If you are new to core exercises, yes, you WILL be sore for a few days. DOMS is "delayed onset muscle soreness," usually the second day after the activity will be when you are most sore. This will lessen as your body gets used to the new activities.

Please, please, start easy. Lots and lots of "weekend warriors" and formerly sedentary people who forget that they aren't as young as they used to be tear into intense exercise and hurt themselves straight away. Slow and steady will work much better, I promise.

Thank you for all this information. I have always been active but I have been sedentary for the last couple years and I have had birthdays every year, so I need to recognize that I won't 'bounce' back as well as I did when I was younger. 

I am starting with stretching. I was in gymnastics and competitive cheerleading from the 4th grade on through college and the one thing that I can always rely on is stretching exercises. It's a start. 

Core is gonna be a bitch.

rgambs said:

Gym life.

I'm still trucking along, excelling at mediocrity lol
I was going to back off on overall volume, but I never did.  Maybe Nov. 1st.
Sometime in the next week or so I will hit a new all-time low in weight, muscle growth is very slow but steady, same with strength increases...very slow, but I am losing weight so even staying flat in strength through that is a victory.

oftenreading said:

njnancy said:

curmudgeoness said:

Thoughts_Arrive said:

Thanks dude.
How can I do legs and core without a machine?
I only have the dumbells and 28kgs worth of weights.

Legs: (google these for images, etc.)

-- walking lunges (hold dumbbell in each hand)

-- split squats (same)

-- one-legged deadlifts

-- sumo squats with dumbbells

-- side lunges holding weight (start standing feet together, step out to side and bend at hip and knee, kind of like stretching)

-- step-ups

No machines needed for any of those. I just did all of these, actually -- I'm in a hotel with the usual crap exercise facilities. It's not the same as squatting 500 pounds, but it doesn't sound like you're at that point,anyway. :-) (neither am I)

Core -- get a stability ball (also called a Swiss ball). Use it for crunches. You also can do sort of reverse crunches -- get in plank position with shins on the ball, pull feet toward you like a reverse crunch. You also can do pike-ups with the ball, but I'd wait on those, LOL.

Core with dumbbells -- you can do oblique exercises, I do tons of these. Stand, feet together, dumbbell in one hand at your side. Bend sideways as far as you can go, keeping core tight, lift back to upright position. Do 12-20 on one side, then switch sides.

Core with a weight/ plate: hold the weight in your hands as you do crunches, but lift your shoulders straight up off the floor instead of up and forward, holding the weight up in the air over your head when you are in starting position (lying down). Once these no longer feel like you are dying, LOL, have your arms with the weight extended out on the floor above your head when you are lying down (so you are increasing the length of your lever, as it were, making this MUCH harder).

If you are new to core exercises, yes, you WILL be sore for a few days. DOMS is "delayed onset muscle soreness," usually the second day after the activity will be when you are most sore. This will lessen as your body gets used to the new activities.

Please, please, start easy. Lots and lots of "weekend warriors" and formerly sedentary people who forget that they aren't as young as they used to be tear into intense exercise and hurt themselves straight away. Slow and steady will work much better, I promise.

Thank you for all this information. I have always been active but I have been sedentary for the last couple years and I have had birthdays every year, so I need to recognize that I won't 'bounce' back as well as I did when I was younger. 

I am starting with stretching. I was in gymnastics and competitive cheerleading from the 4th grade on through college and the one thing that I can always rely on is stretching exercises. It's a start. 

Core is gonna be a bitch.

You’ve had birthdays every year too? Crap, that’s our problem, then! 

The Juggler said:

rgambs said:

Gym life.

I'm still trucking along, excelling at mediocrity lol
I was going to back off on overall volume, but I never did.  Maybe Nov. 1st.
Sometime in the next week or so I will hit a new all-time low in weight, muscle growth is very slow but steady, same with strength increases...very slow, but I am losing weight so even staying flat in strength through that is a victory.

Wouldn't it be impossible to reach an all-time low in weight? 

curmudgeoness said:

@Thoughts_Arrive there are tons of core exercises that you can do without machines. Some basic equipment, like the stability ball and the Bosu ball, can help, but you can do all kind of core exercises with just a bit of floor space. Google "best core exercises" for more ideas.

Until you are ready to lift heavy, I think you are better off doing bodyweight exercises and work with dumbbells, etc., instead of using machines. You will work stabilizing muscles more, be forced to work on things like balance (important as we get older!). Once you are ready to squat and deadlift heavier weight, you can decide if you want to join a gym or buy yourself a rack and more weights, depending on your situation.