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Author Topic: Preferred Exercises or Fitness Activities the Forum engages in  (Read 20462 times)

Kiero

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Re: Preferred Exercises or Fitness Activities the Forum engages in
« Reply #75 on: October 01, 2022, 10:24:43 AM »
I'm in my early 40s. I'm not overweight (never have been), have no chronic conditions, am not on medication for anything, don't take over the counter painkillers for some chronic injury, my knees and lower back are pain-free.

This apparently makes me a marvel compared to most people my age and even younger, who are already physically broken. How they're going to cope in old age, I don't know.
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oggsmash

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Re: Preferred Exercises or Fitness Activities the Forum engages in
« Reply #76 on: October 02, 2022, 06:55:08 AM »
I'm in my early 40s. I'm not overweight (never have been), have no chronic conditions, am not on medication for anything, don't take over the counter painkillers for some chronic injury, my knees and lower back are pain-free.

This apparently makes me a marvel compared to most people my age and even younger, who are already physically broken. How they're going to cope in old age, I don't know.

  Pretty easy answer, squat rack now or suffer later.

oggsmash

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Re: Preferred Exercises or Fitness Activities the Forum engages in
« Reply #77 on: November 06, 2022, 04:12:02 AM »
My lifting routine is extremely simple, and not a whole lot of volume (I never do more than 9 work sets in the gym on a training day, and there are only 3 training days a week).  Based around a few exercises Barbell Squats, Bench press (this is a recent change from doing inclines, I started with inclines to control the stress on my recovering torn pectoral), Standing press, Dead lift, Power Clean, and chin ups. 

  I have not returned to where I was in my late 20's, but I feel much better overall and my progress has been almost linear for months now as I recover lost strength.  I plan to start back more vigorous martial arts training again (for the past few months I did no kick boxing or grappling to allow my strength training to have all of my body's recovery cycle as I push that a bit) after the new year and my linear progress has leveled off and I modify my lifting around such training. 

   I always think whatever exercise people enjoy is the best exercise (mainly because the ones you enjoy you will do consistently) but as I age I do see a much bigger value in strength training for people getting older (40+) that I certainly did not consider when younger.  So you older folks out there not doing the barbell exercises....do yourself a favor and find someone to teach you what to do to prevent injury and give it a try.   Even 6 months worth of dedicated effort can give you some life changing benefits at advanced age.

Ocule

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Re: Preferred Exercises or Fitness Activities the Forum engages in
« Reply #78 on: November 06, 2022, 03:31:12 PM »
Rock climbing and biking are probably my favorite. Otherwise I prefer free weights or just hard work. Seriously nothing is better for getting in shape than manual labor.
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RandyB

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Re: Preferred Exercises or Fitness Activities the Forum engages in
« Reply #79 on: November 06, 2022, 03:35:09 PM »
My lifting routine is extremely simple, and not a whole lot of volume (I never do more than 9 work sets in the gym on a training day, and there are only 3 training days a week).  Based around a few exercises Barbell Squats, Bench press (this is a recent change from doing inclines, I started with inclines to control the stress on my recovering torn pectoral), Standing press, Dead lift, Power Clean, and chin ups. 

  I have not returned to where I was in my late 20's, but I feel much better overall and my progress has been almost linear for months now as I recover lost strength.  I plan to start back more vigorous martial arts training again (for the past few months I did no kick boxing or grappling to allow my strength training to have all of my body's recovery cycle as I push that a bit) after the new year and my linear progress has leveled off and I modify my lifting around such training. 

   I always think whatever exercise people enjoy is the best exercise (mainly because the ones you enjoy you will do consistently) but as I age I do see a much bigger value in strength training for people getting older (40+) that I certainly did not consider when younger.  So you older folks out there not doing the barbell exercises....do yourself a favor and find someone to teach you what to do to prevent injury and give it a try.   Even 6 months worth of dedicated effort can give you some life changing benefits at advanced age.

50+ here, Can confirm.

Kyle Aaron

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Re: Preferred Exercises or Fitness Activities the Forum engages in
« Reply #80 on: November 07, 2022, 01:18:49 AM »
There are a couple of fun ones I follow on IG. One bloke takes his deadlift bar out to somewhere in the wild and deadlifts away.

https://www.instagram.com/discoverydeadlift/

and there's a woman who believes in simply making movement part of your day, building your house to encourage it, etc.

https://www.instagram.com/nutritiousmovement/

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jeff37923

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Re: Preferred Exercises or Fitness Activities the Forum engages in
« Reply #81 on: November 07, 2022, 05:44:48 AM »
Hey Kyle, or anybody with a sound suggestions.

I'm still working at the chemical plant, but on long product runs I'm not turning heavy valves as often as I thought I would and am stuck at a monitoring station watching a computer screen. I'd like to get back into a healthy shape but don't know what exercises I should incorporate in my daily work routine. We have lots of stairs and ladders that I can climb, but the floors are pre-stressed concrete and I have to wear safety shoes while at work. Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated.
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Zelen

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Re: Preferred Exercises or Fitness Activities the Forum engages in
« Reply #82 on: November 07, 2022, 01:06:02 PM »
Hey Kyle, or anybody with a sound suggestions.

I'm still working at the chemical plant, but on long product runs I'm not turning heavy valves as often as I thought I would and am stuck at a monitoring station watching a computer screen. I'd like to get back into a healthy shape but don't know what exercises I should incorporate in my daily work routine. We have lots of stairs and ladders that I can climb, but the floors are pre-stressed concrete and I have to wear safety shoes while at work. Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated.

I'd start with bodyweight exercises. You can do pushups & squats pretty easily anywhere with no equipment. If you've got anything secure overhead (e.g. ladders) you might be able to do some hanging / pullup exercises as well. A sturdy chair or bench is good for step-up exercises or dips.

oggsmash

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Re: Preferred Exercises or Fitness Activities the Forum engages in
« Reply #83 on: November 08, 2022, 05:08:47 AM »
Hey Kyle, or anybody with a sound suggestions.

I'm still working at the chemical plant, but on long product runs I'm not turning heavy valves as often as I thought I would and am stuck at a monitoring station watching a computer screen. I'd like to get back into a healthy shape but don't know what exercises I should incorporate in my daily work routine. We have lots of stairs and ladders that I can climb, but the floors are pre-stressed concrete and I have to wear safety shoes while at work. Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated.

  My best advice would be to exercise at a gym with supervision.  I say this because the sort that would be the most impactful for you at this point is going to be strength training with a load.  I do think as Zelen suggested the BW exercises are great too, because you can do them and get them done in just minutes.   I suggest going right to overload strength training in a more formal environment for two reasons, when you show up to train that is your only goal and it gets done, two is that you will feel a MUCH bigger difference in overall body function and competence with a small amount of strength training that will probably lead to better energy, mobility, and motivation and you will find yourself making the time to do other physical activities like walking, hiking, biking, etc outside of work.    If my estimate on age is correct you only need 2 days of getting it in to reap great benefits that will spread to everything else you do physically. 

Kyle Aaron

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Re: Preferred Exercises or Fitness Activities the Forum engages in
« Reply #84 on: November 08, 2022, 08:17:33 PM »
I'm with ogg on this. 2 days a week strength training is fine for just about everyone, daily walk for cardiovascular health. You tend to see advice for 3 days a week, and though it's 50% more time it's not 50% better results, more like 20-30% in under-50s, no difference for over-50s (slower recovery, so if they do 3pw they have to go easier, net result same as 2pw hard). The reason the 3pw is advised anyway is because everyone will miss some sessions for whatever reason, if you miss 1 of 3pw it's no problem, if you miss 1 of 2pw then it's a week between sessions, things feel hard, pretty soon you miss that second one, too, and eventually bail. But if you can do 2pw regularly, all good.

It works. Curtis is in IT, in his 40s, an online gamer, and lifts 3pw pretty steadily, just squatted 150kg for some triples. Makes his life better.
« Last Edit: November 08, 2022, 08:27:17 PM by Kyle Aaron »
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Brad

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Re: Preferred Exercises or Fitness Activities the Forum engages in
« Reply #85 on: November 29, 2022, 05:26:22 PM »
I'm with ogg on this. 2 days a week strength training is fine for just about everyone, daily walk for cardiovascular health. You tend to see advice for 3 days a week, and though it's 50% more time it's not 50% better results, more like 20-30% in under-50s, no difference for over-50s (slower recovery, so if they do 3pw they have to go easier, net result same as 2pw hard). The reason the 3pw is advised anyway is because everyone will miss some sessions for whatever reason, if you miss 1 of 3pw it's no problem, if you miss 1 of 2pw then it's a week between sessions, things feel hard, pretty soon you miss that second one, too, and eventually bail. But if you can do 2pw regularly, all good.

It works. Curtis is in IT, in his 40s, an online gamer, and lifts 3pw pretty steadily, just squatted 150kg for some triples. Makes his life better.

When I competitively powerlifted, I did A LOT of volume...back in August I broke my leg running (don't run at 4AM in the dark and hit a pothole, gents), so could only really do upper body for the past couple months. Since it was such a pain in the ass to go to the gym with a dumbass boot, I went much more sporadically, max of four or five days a week, sometimes only two. I noticed a definitive difference between weeks when I was only focusing on primary lifts once or twice vs. lots of volume and accessory work: I got stronger with less. It probably has something to do with close to 30 years of lifting and CNS blah blah blah, but yeah, I'm already closing in on PR ranges at this weight for press and bench. Whenever I get the clear I'm going to start squatting and doing deadlifts again, but for now I use a leg press machine and I doubled the weight in about a month already. Plus as you stated it is far easier to stick to that schedule, especially when you factor in two young kids, FT job, school, whatever.
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Kyle Aaron

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Re: Preferred Exercises or Fitness Activities the Forum engages in
« Reply #86 on: November 29, 2022, 09:22:23 PM »
If someone's been consistent for months or years, doing something different can improve their performance. We know that people who strength train will run better and get injured less often, but it's also true that people with better cardiovascular fitness have fewer injuries in strength training.

If I had my ideal way for my gym, I'd set it up like university. You'd do 12 week terms with a rest week after each. 3 terms would be basic barbell stuff, then the fourth term would be something different. If you were powerlifting (squat, bench, deadlift), you now do weightlifting (snatch, clean & jerk). Or you run. Or do kettlebells. Or play tennis. Whatever. And of course vice versa, the soccer player who spends 12 weeks a year just lifting is going to do themselves some good. You then return to your primary interest better at it, and feeling fresh and still keen on it - rather then grinding away and getting sick of it.

The other thing is that most people who get injured and return to their primary interest actually end up better at it. That's because the injury makes them stop, which gives them a rest to recover other non-injured parts too, but also to reassess what's helping them and what's not.

Whether with formal breaks and changes put in, or forced in because of injury, you return to your primary interest with some insights from the other one.

The same of course applies to gaming. If for example you normally play D&D and then spend a few months playing Traveller, you come back to D&D with some insights, and play D&D better.
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oggsmash

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Re: Preferred Exercises or Fitness Activities the Forum engages in
« Reply #87 on: November 30, 2022, 06:18:08 AM »
I'm with ogg on this. 2 days a week strength training is fine for just about everyone, daily walk for cardiovascular health. You tend to see advice for 3 days a week, and though it's 50% more time it's not 50% better results, more like 20-30% in under-50s, no difference for over-50s (slower recovery, so if they do 3pw they have to go easier, net result same as 2pw hard). The reason the 3pw is advised anyway is because everyone will miss some sessions for whatever reason, if you miss 1 of 3pw it's no problem, if you miss 1 of 2pw then it's a week between sessions, things feel hard, pretty soon you miss that second one, too, and eventually bail. But if you can do 2pw regularly, all good.

It works. Curtis is in IT, in his 40s, an online gamer, and lifts 3pw pretty steadily, just squatted 150kg for some triples. Makes his life better.

When I competitively powerlifted, I did A LOT of volume...back in August I broke my leg running (don't run at 4AM in the dark and hit a pothole, gents), so could only really do upper body for the past couple months. Since it was such a pain in the ass to go to the gym with a dumbass boot, I went much more sporadically, max of four or five days a week, sometimes only two. I noticed a definitive difference between weeks when I was only focusing on primary lifts once or twice vs. lots of volume and accessory work: I got stronger with less. It probably has something to do with close to 30 years of lifting and CNS blah blah blah, but yeah, I'm already closing in on PR ranges at this weight for press and bench. Whenever I get the clear I'm going to start squatting and doing deadlifts again, but for now I use a leg press machine and I doubled the weight in about a month already. Plus as you stated it is far easier to stick to that schedule, especially when you factor in two young kids, FT job, school, whatever.

  it was the same for me when I was competing.  I also am old and almost ALL the programs and articles and information back then about how much volume you needed to progress came from people who were both extremely genetically gifted and juiced to the gills.  I am not so close to PRs yet(and honestly the bench press i dabbled with...but after pec surgery I might just stick to dips and press is my new big upper body compound), but 16 weeks back to squatting and I am getting towards sniffing distance of being as strong as I ever was (well, another 12 percent or so off on squat and deadlift, 10-12 percent seems like a lot at this stage) at age 51.  I have a similar issue that makes it hard to determine how much is simple "muscle memory" and how much more effective less volume is.  I do have the case of my brother who is 49 who has followed the same routine with me for 16 weeks who is right now the strongest he has ever been (he was not insanely strong before, but he has lifted weights on and off for years doing the "bro splits") by a good ways.  I do think there will be a need for more volume if I wanted to create a new baseline, but I think many of the things I lacked focus on as a teen/20's/30's person was the need for more sleep and proper nutrition. 
« Last Edit: November 30, 2022, 06:20:38 AM by oggsmash »

Marchand

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Re: Preferred Exercises or Fitness Activities the Forum engages in
« Reply #88 on: November 30, 2022, 06:33:10 AM »
I lost easy access to a gym for a while and finally started running. Take One ended in an embarrassing amount of backpain. Research suggested I needed to improve core strength. Some planks later, with Take Two, I managed to hit 5k runs.

But I can't say I ever fell in love with running. Now I am back to living in a building with a gym in it, I find the cross-trainer is the easiest thing to fit into my day, especially because I can read while doing it.
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Brad

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Re: Preferred Exercises or Fitness Activities the Forum engages in
« Reply #89 on: November 30, 2022, 07:43:36 AM »
  it was the same for me when I was competing.  I also am old and almost ALL the programs and articles and information back then about how much volume you needed to progress came from people who were both extremely genetically gifted and juiced to the gills.  I am not so close to PRs yet(and honestly the bench press i dabbled with...but after pec surgery I might just stick to dips and press is my new big upper body compound), but 16 weeks back to squatting and I am getting towards sniffing distance of being as strong as I ever was (well, another 12 percent or so off on squat and deadlift, 10-12 percent seems like a lot at this stage) at age 51.  I have a similar issue that makes it hard to determine how much is simple "muscle memory" and how much more effective less volume is.  I do have the case of my brother who is 49 who has followed the same routine with me for 16 weeks who is right now the strongest he has ever been (he was not insanely strong before, but he has lifted weights on and off for years doing the "bro splits") by a good ways.  I do think there will be a need for more volume if I wanted to create a new baseline, but I think many of the things I lacked focus on as a teen/20's/30's person was the need for more sleep and proper nutrition.

What kind of program are you running? I'm 48 now so interested to see other non-young dude routines are effective. Dips/press upper body is super effective in my experience. If you can press your body weight, you're probably going to have near elite levels of upper body strength. One thing I'll say is that whenever I drink, lifts are affected for days...that was never the case 10 years ago.
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