Posted on 08/10/2024 6:40:02 PM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
Congratulations.
My body tells me when I have walked enough steps in one day.
I don’t pay much attention to how many steps I’ve taken
Funny my cardiologist says the exact opposite l, recently I had open heart surgery to correct a genetic defect in my aortic valve and to repair an aortic aneurysm, I was already walking a couple of miles per day before the surgery, after the surgery multiple doctors recommended walking as the best exercise for cardiac fitness
Are they trying to "norm" exercise intensity for every body type and every length of stride?
Gonna be good for the hip and knee replacement doctors.
Getting lots more people walking themselves into overuse injury or tears is great biz for medical/surgical
I know lots of people, elderly especially, so foolish to do this.
Not just walking but pickle ball injuries on the rise, golfers, tennis, etc, crazy how foolish people are to over do and not round out their wellness or fun with proper flexibility to have healthy muscle, instead of screaming/torn tendons.
The spirit of addiction is huge in some and they don’t care to address it. Instead they are proud as they recount their surgical repairs for self made injuries.
It’s what they are told to say.
Just sitting in a chair and laughing to the point your body is actively engaged can help your heart.
Or doing certain breathing exercise can elevate heart rate.
The walking craze is just the next phase for all who didn’t catch on to the aerobic, run, or join a gym etc phases of previous decades.
I have had numerous clients who injured themselves by trying to walk so much and yes many times their cardiologist suggested it. And they don’t want to hear common sense of vary exercise, moderate take a week off, stretch or otherwise loosen up.
Most still eat processed foods but think all is well because like good little lemmings they follow doctor talking points.
People are going to do stupid things, thinking once they’ve survived open heart surgery, they are cured and go back to whatever they were doing beforehand, doesn’t mean walking is just a craze.
I told my wife after the surgery, regardless of who you talked to or how much information you’ve read, until you’ve experienced open heart surgery you have no idea what it’s like or how you will react to it. Laughing like coughing after open heart surgery is likely to be painful considering your check has been cut open and has come close to healing completely.
All I can say from personal experience is, walking after open heart surgery was the single best thing I did to improve how I felt and mentally made me feel a lot better.
My heart condition came about from a birth defect I was born with, I had what is known as a Bicuspid Aortic Valve which is genetic, not from poor lifestyle choices.
I am in cardiac rehab at the moment and the first thing they do is have you walk 6 minutes wearing a heart monitor, then check your blood pressure immediately after the 6 minutes, they want to see what the maximum BP and heart rate were, then 10-15 minutes after you’ve rested they take the same readings to see if your heart rate and BP have returned to normal.
.
Not an “oh woe is me” type, but rather a really, REALY pissed off Scots-Irish/German relentlessly looking for a work-around! 🤯
Stay away from Fitbit...it’s a Google affiliated company.
That was me in my late 60s. I watched my diet and ran 30 miles a week.
Then, BOOM! I hit a brick wall with cancer and kidney failure in a matter of a few days.
So much for all that clean living.
I'm back at it, though. At 80, I work full time, eat no-meant/processed food, follow a calorie-restricted diet, and walk 3 to 5 miles every day. So far, so good until God taps me on the shoulder.
My guess is that the three miles is around 8000 steps a day.
The best way to measure is to use an Apple Watch linked to your iPhone. It gives you steps, miles, and many other measurements and is very easy to use.
84 with a whole bunch of klicks...track, football, on foot mailman, military,everything in between, and flat feet to begin with. Had to happen. Many millions in same boat. Makes podiatrists happy!
Muscles burn fat.
No muscle mass, no engine to burn fat.
Progressive strength training
Establish a baseline of your strength in various muscle groups.
Begin with pyramid sets to establish baseline;
Set 1 Low weight, high reps (30+)
Set 2 increase weight [#] to what you can do 15-18 reps [R]
Set 3 increase # to what you can do 7-10R
Set 4 increase # to what you can 5-7R
Set 5 repeat set 4
Take written notes so to remember your numbers, because you need to remember what you did last time. It’s progressive strength training and you want to monitor your progress.
The goal is to increase reps, until they get to high and then you add weight to start again with lower reps.
Rest 90 seconds between sets, by walking, never sitting
Do this routine for three weeks
Rest every other day with a good night’s sleep.
The first cycle, work out three days and rest two. For instance, M,W,F gym, weekend rest, M,W,F gym, S,S rest.
During this time, in one of your weekend days, walk 20 minutes in one direction, then return 20 walk back home.
Recognize over training symptoms...EXTRENE fatigue irritability, restless sleep...then take two days off.
Rotate muscle groups
Day1 Chest/quads
Day2 rest
Day3 Back/hammies
Day4 rest
Day5 Shoulder/forearms
Day6 rest
Day7 Arms/calfs
Day8 rest
Repeat pyramid cycle at LEAST 4-5 times before moving to the next step.
What will result;
~ 3 weeks your clothes will fit better. You may not lose weight on the scale, but actually gain 1-3#, but the clothes are the proof of progress. You’re actually gaining muscle while losing fat. Muscle is more sense than fat. Exchanging goo for gold
~ 7weeks you will begin to see new muscle bumps 👀 as the fat is burning and muscle is growing and being revealed. Now the weight loss really begins.
~ 12 weeks you’ll have developed these new habits
Step two. I call the 4/20 workout.
This will begin muscle confusion and overload the muscles. You will sweat during these gym days and burn >400 kcal each day.
Same rotating days of muscle groups and rest.
Goal is four sets of 15-20 reps.
ONE minute of easy walking around rest between sets.
WRITE down your numbers for reference.
12 is too few, 20 is too many, 15 is ideal. When you can do 20R, add weight and go back to 12R.
Do 4/20 for three to four cycles.
Step three I call 3/8 lifting
You’ll do three to four sets of 6-8 reps
For big muscle groups like chest and squats, four sets. For isolated muscles like biceps, three sets
When you can do sets of 9R, add weight and start over with sets of six reps.
Do this step for two weeks, then go back to the 4/20 routine for one week.
Step 4 reverse pyramids.
These capitalize on your new strength and use it when you’re strongest by going to your personal best/personal record early in the workout.
(Let’s assume, as an example for simple math, your personal record [PR] on a flat bench press is 100#/5r)
Set 1 1/2 of your PR for 10R (1/2 of 100# is 50#)
Set 2 full pr (100#) 5-7r
Set 3 pr minus 10% (90#) 7-9r
Set 4 pr minus 20% (80#) 9-11r
ONE Minute easy walking rest between sets
When your reps get higher than the ranges given, add weight and begin the cycle again. The increased reps will begin to be seen in set 4, then 4&3.
The reverse pyramid days are when you REALLY can see your strength gains!
Fromm here forward, rotate workouts, maybe like this;
4/20
4/20
3/8
Reverse pyramid
4/20
3/8
...just mix it up.
If you don’t take notes, you’ll not remember what you did last time and can’t track progress to see the results and push for those extra reps and weight.
Sleep and rest
Muscles are micro-torn when lifting but repair and grow on rest days. Rest is as important as the gym. COMPLETELY dark, quiet bedroom and maybe melatonin before bed.
Diet; YOU CAN’T OUT WORK A BAD DIET.
PERIOD!
*Know for basal metabolic rate(BMR)..how many calories doess your body need every day, based on age, height, weight,exercise level and goal? There are online tools to calculate this.
*RULE!! —> 3,500 calories = one pound
Burn 3,500 more than you eat, lose one pound.
Eat 3,500 more than you burn, gain one pound.
(Example; three scenarios...
1 if your BMR is 2,000 cal/day and you eat 2,500/ day, that’s 500 excess calories and in 7 short days, you gain one pound. 500*7 = 3,500
2 However, if your BMR is 2000/day, you eat 2,000/day AND burn 500 taxes calories/day, you lose one pound in 7 short days.
3 if your BMR is 2000/day, you eat ONLY 1,800/day AND burn 500 excess calories/day you lose one pound in 5 short days
FEED your muscles. They need protein. LOTS of protein!
There are good protein calculators online for weight training. You need MUCH more than you might think.
Eggs, fish, meat, beans/rice, protein shakes (make them yourself add a raw egg or two...you won’t even taste them) all are good sources.
There are no “cheat days”. Call them feast days and if you’re disciplined you can have a couple each week. You can reward yourself. It’s not a cheat. I had a blueberry pie and ice cream with no guilt last night.
Alcohol is calories and must be factored into diet considerations. Sugar is calories. Fake sugar is toxic asks your body treats it JUST like real sugar.
Summary. Muscles burn fat. More muscle, more ability to burn fat.
If you need help getting started, get a trainer who is in good shape. “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach” the trainer should be “doing”. You shouldn’t need the trainer for more than a couple months to learn form, protect from injury and to learn basic weight lifting exercises.
“Fitnus” has easy to understand,12 (or so) page workout flip charts, which you can buy from Amazon that show exercises for muscle groups.
Three exercises for each muscle group that you’re working each day, plus 2-3 sets of core exercises each gym day. 45-60 minutes of personal challenge and rewarding results in mere weeks.
Today is shoulder day.
Men, progressive strength training, continually pushing your body to be stronger has man-benefits, which I will not elaborate upon in a family friendly forum =)
Best wishes to all
P.s. There are many gym logs available on Amazon, that are pre-formatted to record your sets&reps.
Get one.
Use one.
The deal is that you want to get in the most steps you can without causing damage. And the problem is that at about 12-13,000 steps you start doing damage for many people, especially if you are carrying some extra weight. So, 10,000 is a happy goal that is less than this and more than the 8,000 that is the minimum to get tangible measurable benefits.
I find that I get about 3,500 steps a day without any effort to walk. So, we are talking about 6,500 steps or about 2.5 miles. This is about 1 hour of walking, less if you go at a good clip.
Still, it is all in the doing. I have an Apple Watch and this helps in the gamification of the effort. And I have the O2 sensor which gives you a hint about what is happening with your fitness regardless of whether the numbers are going to be the same as actually going and having your V02 really measured. Still, I am shocked how rapidly this indicator falls off if you reduce your activity from 10,000 steps to 5,000 steps or such for a period. And worse, the reality of how difficult it is to get back to that easy rapid clip once you let go of it for a time.
After being out of town in June, and increasing biking (450 miles in July), I reduced the weights to 2 sets, 1x per week. This seems adequate as I’m still increasing the weights. Eventually I’ll try some of your approach, but I figure consistency in any regimen that doesn’t over do it is the main thing.
FYI, this Mercola article claims 40-60 minutes per week strength training is the sweet spot for longevity.
Dont skip leg day. Everyone wants to skip leg day. Ha Ha.
I walk thirty five minutes a day on my treadmill.
The treadmill says that is a mile.
I try to walk between breakfast and lunch.
When I do, it seems I have more energy in the afternoon and evening.
The rest of the day I’m pretty much sedentary.
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