Fitness, excercising, physical training

Started by Captain Maltese, September 30, 2017, 11:57:42 AM

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Captain Maltese

Um. My body seem to require some movement. Or maybe it is my brain, because my body has been the same for a long time now. Either way I am looking to set a few gears in motion again, and I am curious what other Elliquiyers are doing to at least stay in no worse shape than they already are in.

For my part I am trying to find the most basic things to get on with. I should mention that I hate gym studios with a vengeance and consider their memberships to be a trap - although if it works for you, go ahead! So I go with stuff I can do in my own home. Situps were an obvious start. Now I am blowing the dust off my adjustable dumbbells. There's also the stairs, which literally go up and down. In the depths of my storages I have a mat, which will be good for situps and pushups, and there is a lifting bench and a barbell down there too. I will give the jumping rope a pass for now. 

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midnightblack

#1
You can have a lot of fun with the stuff you got there. To be on the safe side, maybe you should first get a general medical check-up if it's been a while since your last one. Get some references on how to do a proper muscle warm-up and stick to it before undergoing any physical exercise. You'll also need a very healthy diet if you want to see results and not just end up exhausted and aching.

If you've good enough room on the floor to stretch yourself down, all you need is some kind of cushion or soft fabric to protect your fists and you can start pumping boxer push-ups which are an excellent work-out for your arms and chest. Once you get good with those you can attempt more exotic versions, like maltese (  :P ) push-ups that also work your back. If you become a beast, maybe you'll start doing tiger bends and come here to brag about them. If you find a place where you can fasten in a really tight and safe manner some kind of bar at a reasonable height, you can attempt pull-ups, which are another great work-out for your arms, chest and back. You can also do pull-ups starting from being stretched on the floor, if you have a really heavy and sturdy table to stretch under and hold on with your arms (just make sure it's heavy enough to keep a rhino in place; you don't want it to fall over you). If you have some sort of bar or support at a low level, to keep your wrists straight, you can hold on to that and perform dips that will work out your triceps.

An excellent work-out for your abs and core is readily available if you have a strong column or pillar in the house. I just use a very heavy nightstand as support and do things called dragon flags. They are a bit tricky to pull off at the start, but are way more efficient that basic sit-ups. If you do want to stick to sit-ups for a while, I'd say to look-up the technique that focuses more on the lateral muscles and keeps your back perfectly safe. When I was practicing martial arts, we used to do those all the time on hard floor surfaces.

Basic squats, or with dumbbells in your arms, are a very good start for working out your legs. Just make sure you research the proper technique so that you don't strain your back or knees. If you're aiming for beast legs, you'll attain perfection when you can perform about 500 hindu squats a day, or so it is said. A moderate amount of running would also serve you very well, if you live in an area where you have the proper conditions to do so.

There's a ton more stuff out on the internet, so just research and build some routines that you like. Have fun!
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Captain Maltese

Good point about the medical checkup. I had one recently though, and there is no reason why a bit of exercising should be harmful to me. While I do have health issues I am not crippled yet. And my diet have steadily improved over the last couple of years; again I agree that is an important part of the path toward better health.

Heh. There is such a thing as Maltese pushups? I did look them up. I think I am sticking with the standard pushups for now.

Obviously you are in pretty good shape already. I am where I have been often enough; not currently doing any exercise but feeling a need to, and engaging in some light routines which I can do every day, slowly amping them up when the current level stops hurting. Over the years I have had several gym memberships where I started out hot and eager for a while, then petered off when the days got rough with other issues and my motivation dwindled away. Which means I have had the chance to learn about warming up, spreading the effort over various muscle groups and so on. The lesson I am leaning on this time is to remember what works for me; short bursts of activity that I can do when the whim takes me. It will take longer to get anywhere noticeable but the important thing, in my case, is to keep doing it. I won't get lean and mean that way but even just situps, if done regularly, means a tighter belt and getting to lift heavier things. And that is progress too. 

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midnightblack

I completely agree with your general philosophy.

Quoteeven just situps, if done regularly, means a tighter belt

They'll certainly develop your abs if you keep doing them. However, if you have fat over your stomach, they won't burn that and your muscle build-up will remain hidden under it. I think that a healthy diet and running regularly (or whatever other cardio work-out you find handy) are the most accessible solutions for burning fat over your entire body, if you happen to have that issue.
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Captain Maltese

Over the years I have had access to, lent, various gym gear - stationary bicycle, treadmill, stationary row boat. All were fierce calorie burners but quickly became coat racks. The stationary bicycle was uncomfortable and unmotivating; I don't even have a normal bicycle because even if I have no car at hand, I would rather walk. The row boat was in a sense very familiar; I have rowed many a small boat in the past. But what used to be a pastoral activity is with this machine accompanied with the squeaks, creaks and bangs of a combined harvester driving over a heap of rocks. And adjustment options were lacking almost entirely. I did the thing twice and that was that. Things did go better with the treadmill; lots of adjustment possibilities and readouts on the electronic front board, and I found myself running longer and longer. Very motivating as such, and I could watch movies while running. But my interest in the thing came and went, came and went, and in the meanwhile the massive equipment was taking quite a lot of room in the living room. I eventually returned it.

I have excellent options for walking and jogging; the beach is just the other side of a forest that starts almost at my doorstep. For now I will be focusing on the lifting and the other small activities though.

Posting status:  25th December: Up To Date 5 of 9 : last month 2, this month 5, total 38 posts for 2023.

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Captain Maltese

Well, why not, since I am already doing similar reviews in another thread. As most will have noticed there is a whole world of 'sports' food out there, from protein bars to drinks to powders for adding to your regular food. The serious sports people out there probably eats this by the bucket on a daily basis; indeed a frightening amount of these products are actually sold in buckets. I was in a big sports store today and there were whole aisles full of this stuff. I brought home a handful of bars and similar just to literally get a taste. I assume these are international products since the samples are all texted in English. I'll review them all as I work my way through them. Price range for them all was between 2 and 3 dollars per unit, and they could probably be bought cheaper in any other country on this planet.

Name: "Raw-Bite"
Type: damn if I can tell. I'll go with energy bar since the protein isn't too big
Taste: Spicy Lime.
Contents: Mostly dates, raisins, cashew nuts, almonds, some lime juice
Size: 50 grams
Total energy: 208 calories
Nutrition: 10 gram fat, 22 grams carbs, 5 grams protein
Opinion: no kidding with the lime taste. I can barely taste what else is in there. I like that the product is entirely made from fruit and nuts, with no added sugar. Definitely the healthiest thing I have eaten today. The limiest thing I have ever consumed that did not involve tequila, but I like it. I may be buying more of these.

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Captain Maltese

#6
Moving on to a different thing. And I use the word 'thing' intentionally.

Name: "Maxim Instant Energy Gel"
Type: Energy gel. Frankly this looks more like a tube of jam.
Taste: Orange.
Contents: Maltodextrin 43%, fructose 20%, water, and the usual etc. In the tongue of humans this means starch and fruit sugar.
Size: 33 grams
Total energy: 88 calories
Nutrition: 0 gram fat, 21 grams carbs, 0 grams protein
You are supposed to take this thing every half hour during training, followed by a couple of mouthfuls of water
Opinion: Brrr. I do understand that downing a bit of sugary liquid while you work out makes sense. All bees will agree. But I would rather have a bottle of mixed juice. Not only lets it retain more of my dignity than sucking a small plastic bag dry, but I get get more fluid and at a fraction of the price. And then we get to the texture of this thing...yuck.

Posting status:  25th December: Up To Date 5 of 9 : last month 2, this month 5, total 38 posts for 2023.

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Captain Maltese

I have noticed that doing my little daily workout routine is so much easier to do first thing after I get out of bed, than in the past when I have had to make a decision during the day that 'now is a good time'. Being too sleepy to notice much how it feels it probably just a bonus. I am cautiously considering adding a third activity to the situps and dumbell lifts. Maybe going up and down the stairs a few times?

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Captain Maltese

I was putting in a few hours of physical work today so it seemed to be a good time to test another bar. This did not go well. 


Name: "Lift"
Type: claims to be a 'carb reduced protein bar'.
Taste: claims to be 'chocolate chip cookie dough'. In your dreams, buddy!
Contents: Even my hand magnifying glass struggled with the ingredients list. But it does seem to have a lot of milk derivates, corn starch and cocoa something. Milk and whey is mentioned on the front in bigger letters.
Size: 50 grams
Total energy: 173 calories
Nutrition: 17 grams protein, 6 gram fat, 8 grams fiber.  3.3 grams 'net carbs' but a total of 9.9 because the net carbs supposedly do not include the 'polyols'; I remain dubious.

Opinion: While the numbers are fine for a protein product, and the picture of the contents look tasty, the actual item is about as edible as a piece of mattress. Let's start with the consistence. It looks, feel, and crumbles like plastic. If the room lightning is so bad that you can't see the disconcertingly shiny surface then maybe it might look like... no. I am not going there. Imagine eating this with closed eyes. First of all you would notice how DENSE this product is. My kindest comparison is stale toffee caramel. As for the taste - remember that mattress I mentioned earlier? Even knowing there is supposed to be cocoa involved, I could find no reminder of it in the taste. But there is taste all right, and it lingers fiercely due to the way this product coats your entire mouth. While protein bars are known to fill you up pretty quick I found myself with a different problem. The thing grows in your mouth like quickly drying concrete. Not only could I not eat it all, I had to give up on swallowing it. This item literally got worse with every bite. I don't care how healthy this product is; I do not willingly eat it again.

Posting status:  25th December: Up To Date 5 of 9 : last month 2, this month 5, total 38 posts for 2023.

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Mathim

I bike my ass off. Great cardio, fun to do, gets you places so it's not like you're not accomplishing something at the same time, cheaper than a car (not safer by any means!)
Considering a permanent retirement from Elliquiy, but you can find me on Blue Moon (under the same username).

Captain Maltese

I checked out another gel product today. Not that I was impressed after the first one, but there was a second sample in the batch of health food I brought home the last time.



Name: "High5 Isogel"
Type: Energy gel. More liquid than the Maxim one.
Taste: Berry.
Contents: Water, glucose, maltodextrin and fructose.
Size: 66 grams (there also seem to be 65 and 60 gram versions)
Total energy: 95 calories
Nutrition: 24 grams carbs and almost nothing else.
Opinion: On the bright side, this product tastes better and is more drinkable than the first one I tested, and you don't need to chase it down with extra water. But it still mean it is a berry drink rather than berry jam. And at 2 and a half dollar for a single mouthful of sweet drink, it's a pretty steep alternative to practically anything you can fill your drinking bottle with. Like... juice?


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Captain Maltese

Okay, I am learning something here. That buying different taste variations of the same product at the same time is not a good idea. Today I tested out another LIFT product, solely for that reason.


Name: "Lift"
Type: carb reduced protein bar.
Taste: 'chocolate almond'. No.
Contents: Milk derivates, corn starch and cocoa something. Milk and whey is mentioned on the front in bigger letters.
Size: 50 grams
Total energy: 173 calories
Nutrition: 17 grams protein, 6 gram fat, 8 grams fiber.  3.3 grams 'net carbs' but a total of 9.9 because the net carbs supposedly do not include the 'polyols'.

Opinion: This product differ from the "chocolate chip cookie dough" only in its color. It still tastes like nothing I want to be reminded of. After the previous one I was more cautious and only took two small nibbles of it. Yep, it is still like chewing on a mattress. The rest of this item goes in the trash. I hate to throw away food, especially when it is this expensive per volume, but this product is only food in the aspect that it is soluble. But so is cardboard.

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Deamonbane

If you're living in Norway, I'd recommend one called Smartmeal by Nutrilet. A favorite is Dark Chocolate. Tough and chewy, tastes good, works as an energy bar for me when paired with coffee. Not sure how it would work as a protein bar. Mostly just a carb, vitamin and fiber rich bar.

I'd also increase my cardio if general health is the idea behind your exercise. Lifting is good for muscle concentration, but cardio-vascular exercise is very important, especially if you are trying to gain muscle mass and/or lose fat.

Due to a bum knee, doc has put me off impact exercises like jogging, mostly consigning me to biking or an elliptical machine when at the gym. They have some skiing and rowing machines at my gym, but they are rather more tough on the knees than I generally like, so just once a week on one of those.

Another trick taught to me by an former coach is rapid alternation in exercises. If you're only doing lifts, switching from one exercise to another with little to no rest in between does put some healthy strain on your muscles. I mostly do three reps of each exercise (preferably focusing on different areas) and then a one-minute rest once finished before starting again on two different exercises.

Due to some... ahem, difficulties with impulse control and chronic laziness, I haven't been as up to speed with my exercising or healthy eating, so I've been playing catch-up these past few months. The important thing is to never treat it as something special, but incorporate them into your weekly schedule, as much a chore (for me anyways) as laundry or dishes, but no less important.
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Captain Maltese

Nutrilett is a brand I remember; their weight loss powder was one of the first of their kind on the market here. I'll look for that on my next shopping.

My dumbells have functioned well so far; tomorrow I will be upping the weight a bit. This week my lifting been mainly done with a chainsaw, which certainly have been heavy enough.

The effort over the last month have shown some results. For one thing I am down a pants size. The situps have increased in speed and numbers too; all of that is again having a positive effect on confidence. And best of all, I am not wearing of the daily exercise.

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Captain Maltese

#14
Strangely the daily pre-breakfast workout is still working out. But I do need to add some light cardio exercise. Running up and down the stairs ten times was worth a try, but it was hard on the knees and didn't get me sweaty. I am not putting another treadmill in my living room and indoor bikes are not for me, but there has to be other options. Jump ropes will leave marks all over my roof. Does anyone happen to know any vigorous dance or move I can do while still half asleep?

Edit: How the simplest answers can elude one. Hornpipe! I shall report on how that works out, later.

Edit 2: Well, I am definitely on to something here. Two minutes of testing on the floor to the piper's tune and I am sweating like a sailor.

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Captain Maltese

Looks like I have found the daily formula that works for me. I have not bought one new item in the process.

First, I found inspiration to do some lumberjack work for a number of days. Didn't last long but that got me on to training at home before breakfast.
I started out with 5 situps per day. Now I am at 25.
I already had a number of dumbbell sets, allowing me to work my way up. Started out with 6 pounds per dumbbell. Now I am at 10. The morning routine is 20 lifts with each hand, 3 times.
The last added component is stationary dancing; 4 minutes of vigorous dancing - well, more like continuous jumps and kicks - is hard enough that I am glad when the music stops.

This stuff may sound rather puny to those doing real fitness training but it works. For one one, I am able to do it on a daily basis. For another, I lost one clothing size. For a third, I have also lost eight pounds. Fourth, I can still increase the dosage on all the the above. Slowly does it.

No point in getting too jubilant though. Now I should look into finding a fourth small activity to add; preferably one that works a different part of the body. Since I follow the morning routine with breakfast I am not messing around with nutrition other than for curiosity's sake.

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Pockets

Alright, so you aren't really interested in going to the gym. I get that, but if you have a friend that goes regularly and has a membership that allows him to bring a friend I would suggest taking advantage of that. For a couple reasons, one you get a workout partner that will help make working out more fun as long as you don't stop and just gab. Second, he's getting the most out of his membership fee and third, you get free access to a gym.

Failing that I would get a Bodybuilding.com account (it's totally free) and their BodySpace app. The great thing about this is that you have an active environment of people who rarely knock you for getting off your duff and getting moving. Most are actively encouraging. The second great thing is with this website and app you can search for exercises by muscle group and the range of equipment you've got. For example, you want to hit shoulders with only body weight and dumbbells because those resistance bands you ordered off of Amazon haven't shown up yet. So you open up the App, select 'Exercise Database', then you can filter based off of Exercise type, Muscles Targetted, and Equipment available. In this example, I chose ALL Exercise types, Shoulders, and Dumbbells. It automatically drops any exercises that don't meet those criteria and I'm left with 41 exercises. I decide I want to do 'Standing Palm-In One Arm Dumbbell raises', so I touch it and it brings me to a place where not only does it give written step by step instructions, but it also has  link to a video that will show you how the video is done.

If you have the desire and the drive, this app will teach you a great deal. But it can only go so far. Which is why I suggest finding a knowledgeable workout partner.
08/02 - New A/A Update

Captain Maltese

Pockets, you may be quite correct that a more directly fitness-oriented forum than Elliquiy could provide more information and motivation. I will check out the Bodybuilding one and maybe a few other alternatives.

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Captain Maltese


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Captain Maltese

So I seem to have gotten into juicing, or whatever you call throwing random fruit into a blender and make it liquid. I am posting this here because I now wonder if there is any health benefit or negative effect to it, beyond the same as eating fruit the normal way. Do the body take the vitamins and carbs in better or worse, or is everything just running faster through the digestive system?

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Nico

From what I have heard about it, I get the impression that it's just another 'Lifestyle-Trend'. One of the many.

People who practice it, say that it 'cleans the body from the inside' and that it is good for the skin. I'm very skeptical about this, though. While I can see it being a good thing for Detox now and then (maybe 1 or two days), I wouldn't do that on a regular basis or leave out food because of. Some people even go as far as only drinking juiced fruit/veggie and quit solid food.

Captain Maltese

Ouch. Yeah, living solely on fruit and vegetables is not for me. And I do wonder how the juicing process affects the fiber amount.

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Captain Maltese

Another three weeks later, and strangely enough the before-breakfast routine is STILL going every day. The payload in all exercises are still increasing slowly and so are the gains in strength, weight loss and belt size reduction.

So now I am looking for something new to add to my toy kit and morning routine. Today I blew 40 bucks at a supermarket and came home with a dumbbell set whose weight plates and locks fits my barbell, a chin bar, and a pair of grip trainers. Pretty good value for the investment, at least in kilos. The barbell will be used for shoulder presses and nothing else for now. The chin bar I am not ready for yet, but I might install it anyway as a motivation device. The grip trainers are a little more puzzling. How do I get any meaningful training with these?

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Captain Maltese

*snerks* I found a whole bunch of fitness infographics. I am posting this one because it came from the left field  ;D


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Captain Maltese

Also I was wrong about the pull-up bar. I might not be ready for chin-ups any time soon, but doing dead hangs while lifting my knees up is doable even for me.


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