General fitness

Fwiffo said:
a week I hope. Otherwise I completely misconstrued what your profession is.

One of your arms is more than both my arms together. People must eat a lot to maintain that.
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Weekly, definitely.

I don’t fret about eating or protein intake. I just try to avoid skipping meals and eating healthy. I’m 180cm and 75kg.
 
Dropbear said:
Weekly, definitely.

I don’t fret about eating or protein intake. I just try to avoid skipping meals and eating healthy. I’m 180cm and 75kg.
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Remind me to stand away from you if anyone takes a photograph or video of you or me.
 
Anyone here ever try Indian gada mace training? I have tried many or most of the moves using sledgehammers, and I haven't been too impressed: There appears to be a very limited number of exercises. Most of them seem undemanding unless a huge number of repetitions are performed, and with those that seem to rely most on leverage, i.e., the most physically demanding, your grip and forearms are likely to give out before other major body parts get tired.

However, I have a neighbor who is very into this form of training, and he is very lean and fit, so I suppose it may have its merits. (On reflection, I suppose any form of vigorous exercise does.) Anyway, I was just wondering if any other forumites have experimented with this form of training.
 
Jan, I've never heard of gada mace - I'll have to do a Google search.

What does the sledgehammer training involve? Do you just do an overarm swing into a tractor tyre? Or are there different angles/moves that you use?
 
^For me, sledgehammer training has been strictly tire bashing (SUV, not tractor in my case). However, I find that this leaves my back quite sore, so I have more or less discontinued it. There are other sledgehammer moves--curls, presses, torso twists, squats, etc. However, they strike me as kind of makeshift--things that can better be performed with conventional free weights or kettlebells. Many of these moves are very similar to the gada moves and may be adapted from them.
 
I had workout for almost 2 years (but just 2 ,3 month workout then skip for another 2 months) and I am planning to comeback after the next 2 months. So what workout should i do to reduce all the fat in those time? I am 1m81 and 78 kg right now and I want to build my upper body
 
PaulJWood said:
I had workout for almost 2 years (but just 2 ,3 month workout then skip for another 2 months) and I am planning to comeback after the next 2 months. So what workout should i do to reduce all the fat in those time? I am 1m81 and 78 kg right now and I want to build my upper body
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Portion control and pushups are the perfect recipe for this. You don’t even need a gym membership. Just follow the program on hundredpushups.com.
 
PaulJWood said:
I had workout for almost 2 years (but just 2 ,3 month workout then skip for another 2 months) and I am planning to comeback after the next 2 months. So what workout should i do to reduce all the fat in those time? I am 1m81 and 78 kg right now and I want to build my upper body
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Starting Strength

https://startingstrength.com/
viaattovannucci said:
Portion control and pushups are the perfect recipe for this. You don’t even need a gym membership. Just follow the program on hundredpushups.com.
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are you on this plan?
 
robertito said:
what are you erg times?. I am on 40-50K a week. trying to get back in shape but it is hard.
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I’m impressed!

I used to row in college, but nowadays I’m lucky to get on the erg three times a week for an hour. I pull around 15k each time if I’m actually in the mood. Nothing too fancy; I’ve lost the drive to care about my times, for better or worse.
 
Actually you are like me. 3 times a week is 45k. I am on 4 days so I average 10k per dia. 15K I havent done it in a long while.
Going slow - R19/20 @ 2.07-2.12. Will go up to 12k but no more. then I will try to come down on the times.
Quite like it.
 
robertito said:
Actually you are like me. 3 times a week is 45k. I am on 4 days so I average 10k per dia. 15K I havent done it in a long while.
Going slow - R19/20 @ 2.07-2.12. Will go up to 12k but no more. then I will try to come down on the times.
Quite like it.
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I usually do once or twice a week, though. I quite like it as well, and that’s why I consider myself lucky if I get on the erg three times per week! I could never imagine I would say this, since I used to despise this machine in my late teens!
 
Could someone please explain an "erg" to me? I gather it is a sort of rowing machine, but the numbers quoted I still don't quite comprehend.

I never was one for exercise machines. My wife bought an elliptical some years back. For a few years I used it quite a bit, but these days my wife mostly uses it for drying clothes. For most of my adult life free weights (and running when I was younger) were my means of exercise. In the past couple of years it has been Indian clubs and kettlebells.
 
Jan Libourel said:
Could someone please explain an "erg" to me? I gather it is a sort of rowing machine, but the numbers quoted I still don't quite comprehend.

I never was one for exercise machines. My wife bought an elliptical some years back. For a few years I used it quite a bit, but these days my wife mostly uses it for drying clothes. For most of my adult life free weights (and running when I was younger) were my means of exercise. In the past couple of years it has been Indian clubs and kettlebells.
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The “erg” is the colloquial term for ergometer, which technically refers to any exercise machine that measures the amount of work performed (I’m embarrassed to have explained this to a classicist, but others are reading, too). Today it is mostly used to refer to any exercise machine that purportedly simulates the experience of rowing a skiff on water—an indoor rower, so to speak.

All it does ultimately is to measure the wattage you generate by pulling on the handle as you slide back and forth on the rail to which your seat is attached. The combination of the flywheel and digital monitor allows the machine to convert your output to an estimate for a 500m split. So robertito robertito above was essentially telling us that he was pulling about 20 times per minute (his seat rate), and, if he were rowing on water, he would be completing 500m intervals every 2 minute or so. There is also a neat (or silly) little mode on the monitor where you can track your virtual boat on a course and even put yourself up to compete against another boat with a preset split for 500m.

I think the modern versions of the erg were initially developed to train beginners and substitute for on-water rowing under inclement weather conditions. Nowadays, it is used for physiological training in a number of sports. In rowing, the scores are useful as a quasi-objective measure of physical fitness and, to a lesser extent, kinaesthetic aptitude for the sport.

I’m such a pedant.
 
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robertito said:
Bradley Wiggins is a cyclist that tried to get into rowing. Unfortunately for him he took the wrong drug and failed miserably in his last try.


https://www.theguardian.com/sport/video/2017/dec/09/bradley-wiggins-rowing-debut-olympics-video
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I was intrigued with all his supposed Mod alliances he's tattooed-up and as an alleged friend of Paul Weller, he was unable to get him to play at the gala event for his charity. Which turns out wasn't much of a charity after all.
 
viaattovannucci said:
The “erg” is the colloquial term for ergometer, which technically refers to any exercise machine that measures the amount of work performed (I’m embarrassed to have explained this to a classicist, but others are reading, too). Today it is mostly used to refer to any exercise machine that purportedly simulates the experience of rowing a skiff on water—an indoor rower, so to speak.

All it does ultimately is to measure the wattage you generate by pulling on the handle as you slide back and forth on the rail to which your seat is attached. The combination of the flywheel and digital monitor allows the machine to convert your output to an estimate for a 500m split. So robertito robertito above was essentially telling us that he was pulling about 20 times per minute (his seat rate), and, if he were rowing on water, he would be completing 500m intervals every 2 minute or so. There is also a neat (or silly) little mode on the monitor where you can track your virtual boat on a course and even put yourself up to compete against another boat with a preset split for 500m.

I think the modern versions of the erg were initially developed to train beginners and substitute for on-water rowing under inclement weather conditions. Nowadays, it is used for physiological training in a number of sports. In rowing, the scores are useful as a quasi-objective measure of physical fitness and, to a lesser extent, kinaesthetic aptitude for the sport.

I’m such a pedant.
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There are also erg bike trainers as well.
 
Battle Ropes? Another piece of offbeat equipment that has become trendy of late is the "battle rope" (or ropes). I have tried them a couple of times at the gym, most recently this afternoon, but I am still undecided about them. They definitely do work your arms and shoulders, but I'm not sure I can accomplish anything more with them than I can with my heaviest (6.5-pounds) Indian clubs. I'm still flirting with the idea of acquiring one, though. Do any of you have any experience with or thoughts about these?
 
I use them sporadicly as a finisher. Either those, the rower or nothing. Usually nothing. But when I do, I like it. 20-30 second on, the same as a break, repeat until beat. Might take a long break, and do a short set before hanging them up.
 
Finally back in the groove on the bike. As in not actively dying.
 
Just received a 40-pound kettlebell today. I had thought I was pretty well done with acquiring kettlebells, having bought six in slightly less than a year between mid-2016 and mid-2017. However, I found the one-pood (36.11-pounds) kettlebell was becoming less challenging for one-handed exercises (clean and press, snatch), yet my 45-pounder was too heavy for more than a couple of reps. Kettlebell doctrine is based on comparative large weight increases (compared to what is possible with free weights) and your body is supposed to be "jolted" into accommodating the heavier weight. However, I found an increase of 25% too much for one-hand exercises. The 40-pounder seems to be a very nice mid-point. In fact, it will be accompanying me on a mile walk in a few minutes. I doubt if I shall be getting any more kettlebells unless I want to do some two-handed work or I want one heavier than my 75-pounder, the latter being most unlikely at my age.

The brand I bought was "Yes for All." It was very reasonably priced. It has been left rougher from casting than my more expensive bells, but the contour of the handle is perfect, just what I wanted, and this is much more important to me.

I really have become a great fan of kettlebells. I'll be 76 in a few weeks. I feel as good as I have in many years, and I have no sense of the imminence of impending mortality. (Which said, I'll probably keel over while out walking with my new kettlebell!)
 
Two day split. Progress

IMG_20180224_115427.webp
 
Trying. Got too fat last year, need to trim down a bit. Also clothes don't fit when bulky.

upper body-lower body-cardio, then repeat.

Only eating 3 small meals a day now.
 
A little less than a year ago I was forced to change my training because of some tendonopathy in my right forearm. On the advice of a sports physician, I abstained from forceful gripping for about a month, and the problem cleared up. Recently, it recurred, and I have been forced to abstain from my usual regimen of Indian clubs and kettlebells. In their place, I have been doing a lot of work with a 10-pound medicine ball that I bought used for $10. It is really amazing how many kick-ass exercises can be performed with this simple, inexpensive piece of equipment. I was musing that there are so many paths to a good standard of fitness --without the need for gym memberships, a costly home gym and whatnot--yet you see so many people in obviously poor shape. I remarked on this to my wife, and she contentiously remarked, "Well, not everyone is like you. Not everyone wants to own a Tosa, for example." Somehow, I should think that wanting to look and feel your best is or should be a universal human impulse (scarcely comparable to wanting to own a giant fighting dog), unless you are precluded by some sort of disability.

My arm seems to be healing up well, so I hope that I can resume being a "swinger" in the near future.
 
Had a helluva good, intense workout yesterday, made more intense by the fact that it was a fairly warm when it took place at noontime. After my usual drills (slightly less than a quarter-hour) with the Indian clubs, I performed 21 sets with the kettlebells (three cycles of seven exercises). I've never done than many before. I used my 62-pounder for Russian swings, goblet squats and upright rows, my 75-pounder for stiff-legged deadlifts and one-armed bent-over rows, and my 36-pounder for the one handed exercises--clean and press and snatch. In hindsight I felt a little chickenshit for not having used my new 40-pounder for these drills. In all, I find the clean and press to be the toughest, most demanding of any of the exercises I perform. I have come to really love the kettlebells. I wish I could have discovered them at a younger age (same with Indian clubs), but both were regarded as antique and obsolescent when I was training hardest (mid-'60s to mid-'80s).
 
^How quickly things can change in a month's time! I have pretty much retired my 62 pounder (except for kettlebell push-ups) and am using my 75-pounder for all the heavier exercises. I use the 40-pounder for cleans & presses and my 45-pounder for snatches. I'm hopeful that before too long I may progress to an 88-pounder for the heaviest exercises. Never dreamed I'd be saying that two years ago.
 
Jan Libourel said:
^How quickly things can change in a month's time! I have pretty much retired my 62 pounder (except for kettlebell push-ups) and am using my 75-pounder for all the heavier exercises. I use the 40-pounder for cleans & presses and my 45-pounder for snatches. I'm hopeful that before too long I may progress to an 88-pounder for the heaviest exercises. Never dreamed I'd be saying that two years ago.
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Pretty sure none of that happens for me until 7.5kg. The rest of the weights you mention I will barely budge it much less move it.
 
Upright Rows? I see a lot of claims on the Net that upright rows are supposed to be a terrible exercise, with a great likelihood of causing injury. I had always thought it was a classic, proven exercise. I have been performing them with dumbbells, barbell or more recently a kettlebell, and they never caused me the slightest discomfort, much less injury. When I was at the top of my game about 40 years ago (alas!), I was using a 120-pound barbell. These days, enfeebled by old age, I am using a 75-pound kettlebell. This is about the same weight I was using with a barbell before I converted to kettlebells a couple of years ago. This is one exercise where I don't see much difference between the barbell and the kettlebell. What's the deal here? How have I been able to dodge the bullet? I am most obviously no Superman!

On another note, I have decided to vary my training by incorporating some more medicine ball exercises. I should be receiving an 18-pounder tomorrow, since the 10-pounder I have doesn't seem too challenging.
 
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Upright rows, performed correctly is one helluve exercise for building traps. But many times, I see people swing their body while lifting the weight and that can potentially cause injure. Also some people have their hands spread too far a part, and that's not smart. I pair shrugs and upright rows, and will have sore shoulder/neck next day.
 
Well, I got the 18-pound medicine ball mentioned above (an Amazon house-brand job--looks very similar to the 10-pound Valero ball I had) this morning. I worked out with it this afternoon. Definitely more challenging than the 10-pounder, which I gave to a neighboring family. It is a useful fitness tool that adds variety to my workout regimen, and I'm glad I bought it. However, I would rate it behind the kettlebells and Indian clubs in terms of utility, to name the three types of "old-timey" fitness equipment I have taken up in recent years.
 
Joined Lifetime Fitness today. Used to be a 24 hour fitness member, but most of the 24 locations have been sold in the midwest.
 
I had a bad attack of golfer's elbow when I was training with the kettlebells last week. I was doing snatches, when suddenly it felt as if someone had stuck a knife in my elbow. I have been treating it with ice and rest and have been trying to train around it. I am using my wife's elliptical machine for a goodly portion of my exercising, doing some very light club swinging, kettlebell and medicine ball moves that don't aggravate the elbow, but so far I have been chary of performing any overhead lifts, which makes my training somewhat incomplete. I am optimistic about making a full recovery in the not too distant. Has anybody else had elbow problems as a consequence of training? I note there are a fair number of gizmos out there purporting to help with these conditions (golfer's, tennis elbow). Are any of them worth it?
 
Jan Libourel said:
I had a bad attack of golfer's elbow when I was training with the kettlebells last week. I was doing snatches, when suddenly it felt as if someone had stuck a knife in my elbow. I have been treating it with ice and rest and have been trying to train around it. I am using my wife's elliptical machine for a goodly portion of my exercising, doing some very light club swinging, kettlebell and medicine ball moves that don't aggravate the elbow, but so far I have been chary of performing any overhead lifts, which makes my training somewhat incomplete. I am optimistic about making a full recovery in the not too distant. Has anybody else had elbow problems as a consequence of training? I note there are a fair number of gizmos out there purporting to help with these conditions (golfer's, tennis elbow). Are any of them worth it?
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Id say no. I dealt with tendinitis in my elbow when powerlifting. Its really just something you need to ice, massage, and stretch. Try avoiding direct action that could aggravate the area for a bit and see how it goes.
 
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