Fitness Goals: Helping Each Other Reach Our Goals

[Preeway]

So yesterday was not quite as good of a day as I wanted but I was still able to get some work in. Got my pushups in and completed my speed training and swing work in the garage. I did not get on the eliptical as I wanted and did only some minimal stretch work. It's clear that trying to exercise during a break is going to be harder since my life has less structure and routine. So todays plan is from 10:00-10:30 I workout. 15 minutes of body weight exercise and 10 minutes on the eliptical. Will report back during the community call. 

[John W Sutch]

Good topic. Have owned a Bowflex for 20 plus years which has worked for me in keeping fit. Presently my wife and I work out 2/3 times per week.  Routine is ten exercises of 15 reps each. We increase the weight when it gets too easy. Circuit includes Bench press, Chest flys, Overhead press, Lat pulldowns, Rowing, Lower back extesions, Biceps curls, Tricep extensions, Trunk twists and Leg extensions. Takes about 20/25 minutes to complete. Just crank up the AC/DC channel on Roku and let it rip. On off days we walk a two mile course that takes about 30 minutes. We also stretch as needed. Found that the Bowflex is easier on the joints than free weights. Live in central Texas so golf can be played year round. Don't work out on days I golf. Play on average three times a week. Am 78 yrs old , 5ft7in tall and weigh 172lbs. Retired Army Officer with a degree in Phys Ed.

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Got a 20 minute interval workout in on the treadmill today. I struggle with steady state cardio as it just gets boring, but is beneficial to still mix in weekly if possible. When I do steady state on the treadmill, I take the incline to 12% at 3.0 - 3.5 mph for speed depending on how my legs are feeling that day. The incline adds a solid challenge and boosts caloric expenditure a bit, which is a plus for lower intensity cardio. 

I have a subscription to Apple+ Fitness that I use for treadmill workouts as I just don't particularly like doing it, but having a coach in my ear the whole time helps distract me from the task at hand, lol. 

TRX workout tomorrow focusing on mobility and strength!

[Preeway]

Just now, Jnoble89 said:

Got a 20 minute interval workout in on the treadmill today. I struggle with steady state cardio as it just gets boring, but is beneficial to still mix in weekly if possible. When I do steady state on the treadmill, I take the incline to 12% at 3.0 - 3.5 mph for speed depending on how my legs are feeling that day. The incline adds a solid challenge and boosts caloric expenditure a bit, which is a plus for lower intensity cardio. 

I have a subscription to Apple+ Fitness that I use for treadmill workouts as I just don't particularly like doing it, but having a coach in my ear the whole time helps distract me from the task at hand, lol. 

TRX workout tomorrow focusing on mobility and strength!

I’d be curious to hear how you use Apple Fitness. I have a couple more months free since I got a new phone but I haven’t seen the point in paying for it after the trial window expires. 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

1 minute ago, Preeway said:

I’d be curious to hear how you use Apple Fitness. I have a couple more months free since I got a new phone but I haven’t seen the point in paying for it after the trial window expires. 

So essentially, we have the Apple One Premier subscription as a family for the added storage, apple music, news, etc.

Fitness is just a bonus but I really like it for the cardio workouts. I primarily use the treadmill ones, but also have used core ones in a pinch when I have 10 or so minutes. I have used the HIIT ones which are pretty good, but don't love them, and am really not a fan of the strength workouts as its just not my preferred style for strength training. They aren't bad, per se, just not for me. I have also tried the Yoga sessions, but I do not have much experience with Yoga and find that to be tough to do on your own with limited experience as you don't have anyone telling you if you're in the right position. 

New workouts are added pretty consistently, which is a nice bonus, and there's a good assortment of categories. You have the ability to set up workout plans where you pick the days of the week you want to train, what activity types you want to perform, how much time per day for workouts and the length of the overall plan. It then curates workouts and puts them together for you based on your selections, which is nice for those who do not do their own programming but maybe cannot afford an in person personal trainer. 

I think it is a solid app and I do find benefit with the cardio workout options. However, I am not sure I would pay for it as a stand alone app if I didn't have the subscription we have. They are definitely workouts I could program for myself if needed.

[Owengeorge13]

These are my workouts from Tuesday and Wednesday.  I’ll post after I do another tonight. 
 

Tuesday was a :CVX workout (boot camp) 30 min, golf forever workout 7 minutes then the rest on a treadmill.  
 

Wednesday was a MMX 30 minute workout then a golf forever 7 minutes workout then treadmill work.  
 

I have 8 workouts left from p90x3.  

[cksurfdude]

On 1/3/2024 at 12:24 PM, Preeway said:

I don't like cardio as a weight loss exercise since I know that it doesn't really serve that purpose well. But I do need to improve my overall cardio fitness

Imho (and disclaimer I am not a certified trainer) cardio fitness is absolutely foundational to one's overall health and vitality.

I like to do a mix of elliptical, air resistance bike (with arms) and have started walking outdoors more often .. goal there is to increase distance and pace over time, plus add in more hills. (I used to like running and cycling but that was like 40 and 50 years ago!)

I also believe that regular cardio can help you reduce weight - not just the calorie deficit idea (which only works if you're careful about *what* and about *how much* you eat) - but consider that as we age our metabolism slows down .. regular cardio may help reduce that rate of loss.

Another habit I've adopted that I believe is really beneficial is to drink (my first) 20oz of water when I get up in the morning (..and dare I say) before coffee. 

At any rate, do a little _something_ almost every day (we older guys do need a day off here and there) and you -will- start to see the benefits accumulate!! 

[Preeway]

100% agree that cardio is good for fitness. Just saying it isn’t a great way to try to lose weight. Or an effective way for they matter. But an absolutely essential component to fitness. 

[Owengeorge13]

Yesterday.

boot camp, treadmill run

[AndysGolfBlog]

Incredibly envious of that amount of sleep! Wish our 8 year old would allow me to sleep this long .

[Owengeorge13]

3 minutes ago, AndysGolfBlog said:

Incredibly envious of that amount of sleep! Wish our 8 year old would allow me to sleep this long .

I have a 2 and 4 year old!  They just climb into bed with us!  My wife works out in the morning, I do the afternoon workout…

Edited January 5 by Owengeorge13

[AndysGolfBlog]

3 hours ago, Owengeorge13 said:

I have a 2 and 4 year old!  They just climb into bed with us!  My wife works out in the morning, I do the afternoon workout…

Haha our 8 year old still does that pretty much every single night when she wakes up. It’ll not last forever, and at least you and the mrs are getting the reps in!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited January 5 by AndysGolfBlog

[RickyBobby_PR]

9 hours ago, Preeway said:

100% agree that cardio is good for fitness. Just saying it isn’t a great way to try to lose weight. Or an effective way for they matter. But an absolutely essential component to fitness. 

But it is. Why do you think bodybuilders in prep do the amount of cardio they do. It’s to create a larger deficit without having to continually reduce calories.

It helps with burning fat. There are differences in how fasted cardio and non fasted cardio work.

I just went thru an 8 week recomp and one of the things my nutritionist asked me was if I was doing may cardio. When I said I do 20 mins post workout and was going to do 30-45 min walks in my rest days she was like good 1) because walking is the best cardio for cortisol reduction and 2) she didn’t have drop my calories as much as the walking would help with the caloric deficit. Calories are energy and when the good is to lose weight you have to have a greater energy expenditure than energy intake. More calories burned than consumed.

One who combines cardio with resistance training will do better at weight loss than just someone doing cardio but cardio is good for weight loss.

[RickyBobby_PR]

9 hours ago, cksurfdude said:

I also believe that regular cardio can help you reduce weight - not just the calorie deficit idea (which only works if you're careful about *what* and about *how much* you eat) - but consider that as we age our metabolism slows down .. regular cardio may help reduce that rate of loss.

We have to be careful about the what we eat? There are some foods that are considered “healthy” that have worse macros than “unhealthy” food. Obviously we want to eat more Whole Foods and less processed foods, but when people get into the health vs unhealthy, clean vs dirty and so on they run into problems. Just like when the topic of cholesterol comes up and people harp on not eating eggs because if they cholesterol or red meat. Moderation is key in anything we do. It’s ok to have “unhealthy” foods while trying to lose weight. For many it helps them stay on track longer because they haven’t restricted themselves to only certain foods then have the cravings for foods they like and then go eat that food. Once they do they end up back in their old habits.

Studies have shown that our metabolism doesn’t slow down til around age 60.

Dr. Layne Norton is a goat in the fitness industry. Here’s an article about metabolism slowing down.

https://biolayne.com/videos/educational/your-metabolism-is-not-slow/

[Preeway]

24 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

But it is. Why do you think bodybuilders in prep do the amount of cardio they do. It’s to create a larger deficit without having to continually reduce calories.

It helps with burning fat. There are differences in how fasted cardio and non fasted cardio work.

I just went thru an 8 week recomp and one of the things my nutritionist asked me was if I was doing may cardio. When I said I do 20 mins post workout and was going to do 30-45 min walks in my rest days she was like good 1) because walking is the best cardio for cortisol reduction and 2) she didn’t have drop my calories as much as the walking would help with the caloric deficit. Calories are energy and when the good is to lose weight you have to have a greater energy expenditure than energy intake. More calories burned than consumed.

One who combines cardio with resistance training will do better at weight loss than just someone doing cardio but cardio is good for weight loss.

I may have poorly phrased what I was thinking as it relates to cardio and weight loss. And I certainly won't portray myself as knowing more than you. But all my homework as it relates to fitness and weight loss has found that cardio is great for CV health and overall fitness. It's also great for burning calories. But the energy spent comes primarily from muscle glycogen stores which is also quickly replenished by the next meal/food intake. I am more than willing to learn more from you on this endeavor as I'm sure much has changed in the ways of knowledge from research since I did most of my deep dives into this foray back in the late 90s while going to school to be a PE teacher and some side work into my efforts to obtain my CSCS designation (which I never finished). My frame of reference for weight loss says to combine resistance/weight training with cardio and a healthy diet. And in this instance, diet simply means the foods you choose to eat on a daily basis, not a short term change or following a trend like keto or South Beach.

[RickyBobby_PR]

23 minutes ago, Preeway said:

I may have poorly phrased what I was thinking as it relates to cardio and weight loss. And I certainly won't portray myself as knowing more than you. But all my homework as it relates to fitness and weight loss has found that cardio is great for CV health and overall fitness. It's also great for burning calories. But the energy spent comes primarily from muscle glycogen stores which is also quickly replenished by the next meal/food intake. I am more than willing to learn more from you on this endeavor as I'm sure much has changed in the ways of knowledge from research since I did most of my deep dives into this foray back in the late 90s while going to school to be a PE teacher and some side work into my efforts to obtain my CSCS designation (which I never finished). My frame of reference for weight loss says to combine resistance/weight training with cardio and a healthy diet. And in this instance, diet simply means the foods you choose to eat on a daily basis, not a short term change or following a trend like keto or South Beach.

Yeah lots of the mentality and thought process from the 90s has been invalidated by research.

Weight loss, maintenance or weight gain really does come down to calories in vs calories out. So the more calories you burn compared to what you take in will create a bigger deficit. Cardio, weight training and the amount of food especially protein and fiber will play a role into the deficit. Protein and to an extent fiber are thermogenic and more so than fat and carbs. 
 

While the glycogen stores will get replenished with your next meal. This is why regardless of what ones current journey is getting the right type of carbs plus protein in after a training session helps replenish the glycogen lost.

What happens is that the calorie expenditure isn’t just about a specific day but day after day. We look at caloric intake over the course of a week. Because sleep, daily activity, type of food eaten in a day can cause the scale to move up or down on a daily basis sometimes can be as much as 2-3lbs. So if we want to lose 1lb a week we need to have a deficit of about 3500 calories (person dependent). All aspects of what we do in a day plays into that. NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) also plays a role. Someone with a sedentary job expends less energy than someone who is on their feet and moving around all day(construction, UPS delivery drivers). 
 

We take all these factors in when determining how many calories are needed for a person to meet whatever their goal is.

We can vary the amount or type of cardio one does to help with the deficit. Rather than increasing calorie deficit thru removing food we can add a day of cardio or increase the amount of time for the current cardio days. Say 20 mins of low intensity steady state we can bump it to 30 mins. Especially if it someone training for strength who is looking to make physique changes without losing too much strength 

[vandyland]

Have had a good post new years workout week so far:

Tuesday - Mobility work, Strength Component was Legs based, then a metcon 
Wednesday - Mobility work, Strength Component was Pull based, then accessory work
Thursday - Active rest day with Mobility work, Total Body Resistance Bands work (slow, controlled movements over high rep ranges), And then a low key circuit of reverse marching planks + handstand holds (against a wall) + single leg b stance RDLs with a light KB. 
Today (Friday) - Aiming for --> Mobility Work, Strength Component with push exercises, then a total body metcon (one core/stability movement + one lower body movement + one pull movement + one push movement) and will probably use a landmine barbell setup. I find the best metcon interval for me is to put in a mandatory 45 sec rest after every cycle. Gives me just enough of a rest to push harder so that I am not slogging through it and sandbagging but not enough rest for me to fully catch my breath. 

[jbern]

A couple of years ago we got a Tonal and it has been incredible for my strength training and overall fitness. I would recommend it to anyone because it takes up very little space and really can do just about any lift you want. It is a little pricey compared to most home-workout systems, but I personally have thought it's been well worth it! Not sponsored, so enough with the advertisement! 

Part of my New Year's resolution is to do Yoga/stretching workouts 2 days per week to help with my flexibility. Last night I did a Tonal Yoga workout called "Yoga for the Core" and I'm feeling incredibly sore (in a good way) from my ankles all the way up to my shoulders. I guess they're pretty liberal in their definition of core! 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Got another Interval workout in on the treadmill yesterday. Was only 20 minutes, but was a speed interval run and covered just under two miles. 

Planning on a total body TRX workout today paired with some stand alone core as well and some hip and spine mobility work. Hoping in the next couple weeks to post some of my favorite mobility exercises for the hips and spine in conjunction with an article I am working on. 

[Owengeorge13]

40 minute upper body/golf.  Treadmill for the rest

[Owengeorge13]

Full body boot camp/golf/treadmill 5k.

going to try and start speed training protocols later.  

[cksurfdude]

On 1/5/2024 at 8:07 AM, RickyBobby_PR said:

Obviously we want to eat more Whole Foods and less processed foods

Yes, absolutely. Everyone has to do what they believe what works best for them .. but for me, that is the essence of it. Made the decision a long time ago to reduce salt, sugar and processed fats intake. Oh and yes I'm over 60. 

 

On 1/5/2024 at 8:50 AM, Preeway said:

My frame of reference for weight loss .. overall health and fitness/vitality .. says to combine resistance/weight training with cardio and a healthy diet. And in this instance, diet simply means the foods you choose to eat on a daily basis, not a short term change or following a trend like keto or South Beach.

Just my take on it (again, not a pro in the fitness industry). And totally agree with you on "diet"!! 

...

Anyway off to do some exercise for the day, which varies from day to day depending on how I'm feeling but generally includes some cardio and some, let's call it, conditioning exercises (yoga and/or isometrics and/or stretchy bands and/or light weights).

[Owengeorge13]

Boot camp, treadmill

[Preeway]

Friday and Saturday weren’t good for me. There’s a bug swirling around the house but I seem to be lucky and only having a mild cold. Today is about body weight exercise, speed stack training, and some elliptical time. 

[hckymeyer]

So my diet is crap, but I'm great with workouts.  I'm currently lifting 2-3 times a week along with The Stack speed training.  Days I don't lift I either ride the peloton bike or do a walk or walk + run on the treadmill.  Every day has some sort of stretching as well.  On my current streak I haven't missed a day since August.  

Pretty much every workout I do is through the Peloton ecosystem.  We only have a bike from them, then a generic treadmill and a bunch of dumbbells for lifting.  

If anyone else is doing Peloton workouts feel free to add me on the app.  My name on there is Golfoton

[Preeway]

19 minutes ago, hckymeyer said:

So my diet is crap, but I'm great with workouts.  I'm currently lifting 2-3 times a week along with The Stack speed training.  Days I don't lift I either ride the peloton bike or do a walk or walk + run on the treadmill.  Every day has some sort of stretching as well.  On my current streak I haven't missed a day since August.  

Pretty much every workout I do is through the Peloton ecosystem.  We only have a bike from them, then a generic treadmill and a bunch of dumbbells for lifting.  

If anyone else is doing Peloton workouts feel free to add me on the app.  My name on there is Golfoton

My diet is also in need of a major overhaul. I have a million excuses for my diet so it’s time to do something about it instead. 

[cksurfdude]

22 hours ago, Preeway said:

My diet is also in need of a major overhaul. I have a million excuses for my diet so it’s time to do something about it instead. 

Nice to see you've made that major commitment!!

A long time ago I decided to reduce salt, sugar, refined sugars / processed foods and the like from my diet (ie. overall general consumption habits as discussed earlier) .. along with a good quality multi vitamin in the mornings .. and it's unquestionably helped.

Good Luck on your new mission!

[Preeway]

Got my body weight exercise in as well as my speed stack session. Diet today started off with avocado toast for breakfast and about to make a sandwich wrap for lunch. I’d like to avoid all fast food in January to be a part of my diet transformation as well. 

[Shrek74]

On 1/4/2024 at 9:35 AM, Preeway said:

So yesterday was not quite as good of a day as I wanted but I was still able to get some work in. Got my pushups in and completed my speed training and swing work in the garage. I did not get on the eliptical as I wanted and did only some minimal stretch work. It's clear that trying to exercise during a break is going to be harder since my life has less structure and routine. So todays plan is from 10:00-10:30 I workout. 15 minutes of body weight exercise and 10 minutes on the eliptical. Will report back during the community call. 

If you find your day isn't as structured as you'd like, try using your calendar on your phone. I use my calendar all the time for anything I want to schedule. From workouts to rotating the mattress to replace furnace filters to taking meds, it all goes in my calendar with the "recurring" section setup as required. It might help, but it's just a thought I had.

[Shrek74]

On 1/7/2024 at 1:26 PM, hckymeyer said:

So my diet is crap, but I'm great with workouts.  I'm currently lifting 2-3 times a week along with The Stack speed training.  Days I don't lift I either ride the peloton bike or do a walk or walk + run on the treadmill.  Every day has some sort of stretching as well.  On my current streak I haven't missed a day since August.  

Pretty much every workout I do is through the Peloton ecosystem.  We only have a bike from them, then a generic treadmill and a bunch of dumbbells for lifting.  

If anyone else is doing Peloton workouts feel free to add me on the app.  My name on there is Golfoton

I started following you on the Peloton App as I'm doing their 60-day trial. I don't have any of their gear and just have my under-desk treadmill at the moment. I'm trying their stretching and meditation stuff at the moment. I'm Shrek74 on the app.