How about a permanent monthly fitness skills thread?

i did art of strength providence dvd 3 times this week and i did trx military workout 2 times. feel pretty good. Gotta love kb training.
 
Jenner 515 said:
Okay I drank the Kool-aid.

After all the posts here and there about Kettle-bell training I found a certified instructor to introduce me to the whole thing.

This morning for the first time I put all the elements together into a full workout.

Double Arm Swings. 3 sets @ 20 reps
Single Arm Swings. 3 sets @ 20 reps
Double and Single Arm presses. 3 sets @ 20 reps
Around the Worlds and Under/Overs. 3 sets @ 30 reps each.

It absolutely-positively kicked my butt.

Great workout, feel better for doing it. But I'm gonna' feel it in the morning.
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excellent :D Soon you'll find out why they are called crack balls :D
 
C_Kyle said:
Oh, Christof, I think we're interested in the same concepts, like simplified running. I'm a moderate overpronator, have a damaged left knee, and am very prone to shin-splints. My feet are narrow heeled, long and wide up to my toes, and short toed. For a long time, I ran with machined plastic orthotics inside overpronator-specific shoes.

I read some crazy internet article about how all the biomechanical problems that people have have only come about since the invention and use of the raised heel athletic shoe, mainly from the eventual shortening of the achilles tendon.

So, with my given problems, I didn't want to just jump into barefoot running; nor do I want to actually run barefoot, except on the beach.

I've switched to a light-cushioned neutral shoe, and replaced the orthotics with Super Feet insoles. They stabilize my narrow heel well, and that's about it.

So far, I have around 300 miles on this set up, and not one instance of shin splints. To further say that I think it's working, I don't do all the 1-1.5 hours of specific stretching for shin splints that I used to do. I warm up on the EFX machine for 30 minutes, then drive to the track, stretch for 2 minutes and run.

The next progression, maybe in 500 miles or so, will be to switch to a minimal shoe, which the variety is minimal.

One thing that I've been doing to help strengthen and elongate my achilles tendon is wearing Converse Chuck Taylor's a lot. I need to buy a pair to wear to the gym while doing all exercises that use leg stabilization, etc.
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It's not actually shin splints that I have an issue with but heel spikes. It's a problem I had at one point that went away when I wore ONLY the Vasque heavy 4 season hikers. I may end up just scrounging and getting two pairs and just dealing with it. But I've been emailing a few of the barefoot running peeps and it may just be a sensible way for me to go. I can always grab a pair of Vibram Five Fingers barefoot shoes or make a pair of old school mocs with a 1/8 inch vibram rubber sole....
 
I've been using the Vibram 5 finger shoes. I really like them for gym time, but haven't done much running in them.

No reason.

Truth be told, I haven't been in the gym in two weeks and feel completely out of shape.
 
A great old timer exercise I don't see used much anymore is dumbell twists for your hands, wrists, and forearms. These can often be weak points even for otherwise fit folks. To do them, sit astraddle a weight bench, then pick up a moderately heavy dumbell in each hand and let them dangle straight down at your sides and under the bench. Then twist your arms to a comfortable maximum in each direction. I do sets of these and alternate by stopping the rotation and then curling the dumbells with both my fingers and hands. Add a few sets to your routine and you'll see rapid results. Also a really good way to cool down or while pausing between heavy sets of whatever.

Another super hand exercise is to slap a couple of sheets of newspaper or other large sheets of paper in the center of a table. Place your hand palm down in the center of the paper, then gather it all up into the smallest wad possible. Wow! These will really make your hands burn. Kid you not and the increase in grip strength is phenomenal. Also, working the hands works much of the forearms. Nuff said.

Someone also mentioned foot problems. Get a length of 4 x 4 inch fence post about two feet long and nail a 2 x 4 cross brace at each end, Put this by a wall, post, weight machine, whatever to brace yourself and stand on it with only your toes on the 4 x 4. Ease down to the max without pain and then up. Up and down to really flex your feet and achilles tendons. I also used this to develop a muscle 'pad' up and down my shins when I was in martial arts. Just flexing my foot up causes this muscle (I still have it) to bulge out and become rigid. Works great for stopping sweeps and front kicks to the shins. The muscle soaks up a lot more impact than the shin bone.... You can also do the foot workout on stairs if you have them.
 
Chief,

Those are all good points. You are correct, grip strength is definitely a weak point with me. It seems to be the deciding factor on how much weight I can use for a given exercise. Also, I do tibialis calf raises, which are similar to what you described with the 4x4. It does indeed develop the tibialis, which is an under developed muscle with a lot of people.


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I've been having sleeping issues the last few weeks and have been pretty tired. So, I've failed in starting my morning cardio routine this morning. It was just too difficult to wake up. I'm still planning on starting sometime this week...maybe, tomorrow morning. We'll see.
 
270.8 was my weight a month ago,the first of Jan. Now my weight is 272.6. The same as it was a week or so ago when last posted. With your encouragement, I didn't panic and quit. As stated before, I live in hotels and move constantly, which messes with any kind of a schedule. This is not to say all is bad or excuses. I didn't think about it before, but I have built myself up to 40 minutes of Cardio, walking for fifteen minutes on a treadmill, 3.5-4.0 mph, then for 20 minutes climb up and down the hotel stairs at a normal pace. So there is a markable improvement despite my weight gain. I am going to add stretching this month, although for the next two weeks I am not sure what my cardio will be. I am at a new hotel and have not seen what is available. I will add some kind of stretches though. At the beggining of the month, I had no food craving, now I am having very strong cravings, mostly for pepperoni and and Cheese. not the pizza, just the Pepperoni and cheese. If I have some, a huge craving for sugar starts. I have been eating exclusively berries and fruit for breakfast, four days a week, Bagels and cream cheese for the other days, lunch is usually a crapshoot, depending on where I am with work. Dinners are better, but are mostly chinese or restaurant soups and sandwiches.
Portions are easy for me to control, unless I have had to skip meals, which happens about three times a week. Still hanging in there though.
 
I'm still tired. I did cardio on the EFX machine for 30 minutes...it said I burnt 430something calores. Who knows how accurate that is?

Then I ran...in the rain. I only ran 2.5 miles.

OK, tomorrow morning, I'm going to try and wake my lethargic, fatass up and do my workout in the morning. That way, after work, I can spend 30-60min doing cardio and core, and call it a night and not be wired all into the night and get no sleep.

I'm pretty much tired of being...tired. I have insomnia issues as it is; but, these last few weeks have been pretty bad. Basically, I'm crashing on Sunday, doing nothing but alternating sleeping positions on the couch. It sucks a big one!

I'm eating a small bowl of cereal and hopefully going to sleep within 1-1.5hrs.

Good night, folks.
 
Bumppo said:
270.8 was my weight a month ago,the first of Jan. Now my weight is 272.6. The same as it was a week or so ago when last posted. With your encouragement, I didn't panic and quit. As stated before, I live in hotels and move constantly, which messes with any kind of a schedule. This is not to say all is bad or excuses. I didn't think about it before, but I have built myself up to 40 minutes of Cardio, walking for fifteen minutes on a treadmill, 3.5-4.0 mph, then for 20 minutes climb up and down the hotel stairs at a normal pace. So there is a markable improvement despite my weight gain. I am going to add stretching this month, although for the next two weeks I am not sure what my cardio will be. I am at a new hotel and have not seen what is available. I will add some kind of stretches though. At the beggining of the month, I had no food craving, now I am having very strong cravings, mostly for pepperoni and and Cheese. not the pizza, just the Pepperoni and cheese. If I have some, a huge craving for sugar starts. I have been eating exclusively berries and fruit for breakfast, four days a week, Bagels and cream cheese for the other days, lunch is usually a crapshoot, depending on where I am with work. Dinners are better, but are mostly chinese or restaurant soups and sandwiches.
Portions are easy for me to control, unless I have had to skip meals, which happens about three times a week. Still hanging in there though.
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I'm not a hardcore Atkins junky, BUT- the original natural foods atkins plan wasn't really that bad. steak and salad! given your situation, a hardline Atkins diet might work for you because it limits you to certain types of real food and gets rid of ALL carb heavy and even carb light snack foods. Limited amounts of cheese are going to be allowed, and a certain amount of salami/pepperoni if you watch the ingredients list.

(Before anyone comes down on the absolute need to carb load, it looks like we aren't talking about a 2 hour gym marathon work til failure weight training schedule here, but a fat loss regimen. Atkins, simply, can work very well for that)

You are probably gaining lean muscle mass and possibly having some water retention involved. I wouldn't worry about it. If you want realy heavy fat loss, I'd suggest adding in some short intervals spaced wherever you can- HEAVY work for 5 minutes. A set of 100 hindu squats is a goot example, or alternating sets of 10 jumping jacks with 10 windmills for a total of 30 sets.

What happens if the fat burning hormones will be released on a more constant basis and you'll have a general lift in metabolism.

One way to do this is to do it right before showering, right after some meeting or whatever, before dinner, and about an hour before bed. Layovers are an excellent time to pop out a few, too.

An easy rule, when you can do it (it's not possible due to the social environment in some jobs) is to break a sweat before eating or drinking anything other than water.
 
koyote said:
I'm not a hardcore Atkins junky, BUT- the original natural foods atkins plan wasn't really that bad. steak and salad! given your situation, a hardline Atkins diet might work for you because it limits you to certain types of real food and gets rid of ALL carb heavy and even carb light snack foods. Limited amounts of cheese are going to be allowed, and a certain amount of salami/pepperoni if you watch the ingredients list.
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And please add the caloeries up!!! Regardless of Atkins's (original) view, you need to calculate calories. A ketogenic diet is not a bad choice, but even for that to work you need stay under maintenance calories. A very positive side in ketogenic diets is that one often starting eating more protein than before. Protein is 1) muscle sparing, 2) keeps hunger in control.

(Before anyone comes down on the absolute need to carb load, it looks like we aren't talking about a 2 hour gym marathon work til failure weight training schedule here, but a fat loss regimen. Atkins, simply, can work very well for that)
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:D No absolute need for carbloading, it's definately not in anyway related to gym marathon work. it is just beneficial for the fat loss :) But how and when it should be done is totally dependent on one's fat percentage and activity.

Really why many fat loss diets fail, is that people are too strict. They don't allow themselves any exceptions or treats. Then one day they crack, eat a whole box of sugary and fatty goodies and consider the diet to be failure and end it right there, and start again loading on the daily pizzas and burgers....

Refeeds, free meals and full diet breaks are all very beneficial for fat loss dieting. For the well-being of the mind and the body. But you need to know how and where to place them.
 
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