Now all I need is my Survivor record...

And I finally got back on the track today and started training again. :)

I had been wanting to do that forever. But I needed to quit smoking first. And to feel sufficiently healthy to even climb back. Something that wouldn't have been possible even just a month ago. 

Looking back, my health had been declining ever since we'd moved in that condo. I wasn't sleeping anymore, back pains woke me up every single night. And I'm starting to think that there may have been an issue w/ moisture and mold. Seriously, I'd never felt that awful in my life. I even reached an unprecedented almost 190 lbs. 

I was starting to believe that turning 40 had hit me pretty hard and I was feeling like I'd just spiral down, way before my time. But I was waiting for an opportunity to kick back, just a tiny opening...

Well, after 2 night here, my back issues were mostly a thing of the past - I still feel a tension at times, but nothing major. That already made a whole difference in my energy level. I started cooking again, something I hadn't felt like doing in, uh, forever. And after a week, I realized that I was actually feeling better than I had in years!

One of the cool things about having a big house for just the two of us is that we have lots of spare space. So we started setting up our own little gym at home (I hate collective sweating). So this week I received my first ever bench (I had been wanting one forever but never had the room) and a cross-trainer - since running outside in the Vegas sun is suicide and I need to be careful w/ my knees, at least for the first few weeks anyway... 

And man it feels good to be back at it!  

I'm liking this place more and more. :)

I'd have a tough time picking between that one and "Burning Heart". ;)

sharke


Exercise will save your life in the long run. I hit 40 recently too and honestly I feel fitter than I was when I was 25, due to a combination of healthy eating, no smoking, (virtually) no drinking, and a regular routine of weight training and interval training. Also just recently I cut out dairy as an experiment and within a week my throat and sinuses, which I've had trouble with for years, cleared up immeasurably (and my ears, which have always felt a little "blocked," are starting to clear up as well). 

To be honest I would definitely stick with the cross trainer as opposed to running. It's way easier on the knees and you can have a damn good workout on them. Look into doing intervals - you can get fitter on 30 minutes a day than you ever will on 2 hours a day of normal exercise. You start doing intervals of 30 seconds maxed out (the absolute limit of your body) followed by a minute of rest, and work your way up to doing a minute of maxed out followed by 30 seconds of rest. I do 2 sets of 20 minutes of this (cross trainer followed by step machine) and by the end, the sweat is pouring off of me and I feel ready to drop. The time I save, I've put into an extended stretching routine, because over the years I've come to realize that a post-workout stretch is as important as the workout itself. I never stretch before the workout, just warm up. 

You release a lot of endorphins during an interval workout. Couple it with some great music and it's almost as good as sex 

I should have known a fellow from NY would know a thing or two about training. ;)

I know what you mean. I first started training when I was 35 after dedicating the biggest part of my life to rock and roll lifestyle. At that point, I was in a shape almost as bad as in recent months. 
I started slowly, w/ weight training. In fact, I didn't even have dumbells or anything - I used an old tombstone, some sort of big cross. lol Once I proved myself that this wasn't just a phase and I could stick to it, I started getting weights and stuff.


At 36, I felt healthier than I had ever felt and by 37, I was in an almost olympic shape. I ran 30 minutes 3 or 4 mornings a week and trained almost every night. I was so addicted that it was hard to take a night off.


At some point, I noticed something - I had always dreamed of touching people and inspiring them w/ my music. But never in my life did I have such an impact on my entourage than when I trained. I guess the fact that I was the last person on earth they would have expected to see training. lol

Even my ex - with whom I still lived at that time - picked up on it. She'd always wanted to lose a bit of weight and she started getting into training regularly. She went on all the way and recently won a female fitness competition back in Quebec. She was into interval training big time, at least for a while and offered to help me put together a training program for myself, something I'll probably do.

Though I think I'd love to do both interval and regular endurance training once in a while. Plus weights - that's my favorite part. I usually did cardio for 15 or 20, weights, push ups and all that fun stuff for 45 minutes or a bit more and another 10 minutes of intense cardio workout at the end. 

sharke


I was told by a trainer that the ideal order is weights and then cardio, although I can't remember why. 

One thing I've learned over the years with weights, especially when you get older, is not to overdo it. It's so easy to get carried away with the idea of growing large muscles and before you know it you're straining yourself by doing 4 rep sets of stupidly heavy weights. In my case, that let to frequent injuries and a chronic case of both tennis elbow and golfer's elbow (especially from doing curls). Now I do a much lighter weight workout and feel so much better for it. I've spoken to older guys 50+ who did the whole bodybuilding thing when they were younger and regret it because of the physical problems they suffer from now. And a younger beefcake I spoke to told me that he knew it was time to stop when he couldn't lift his own baby son without feeling pain, because of the strain he'd put his pecs under by benching stupidly heavy weights. 

Actually I'd love to move away from weights a little and incorporate more chinups, pullups and dips into my routine. They seem like a more natural way to build muscle. 

I've picked up the cardio-weights-cardio thingie in Sylvester Stallone's book. It seemed to work for me. The initial (light) cardio is mainly to kickstart your metabolism, IIRC.


I don't think I have the bone structure to even support massive muscle and I never got much bigger no matter how hard I trained. And since I've always been into chinese martial arts, I'm usually trying to accomplish the opposite, that is, not to build too much mass. So it's usually lighter weights and more reps. 


Plus, I've seen to many muscular folks who were totally unhealthy - they looked bloated and could hardly move. That's the opposite of fitness if you ask me.