Weight-training exercises
I must say that the weight-training exercises from Strong Women Stay Young (Revised Edition) tire me out much more than the Nordic does or the walking did. I think it’s because some of the workout (bicep curl, overhead press, upright row) use muscles that don’t get much use otherwise, whereas my leg muscles are reasonably strong. I’m very pleased to have the two-day rest after each session. (Thanks, TYD.) I’m not pushing the weights up too fast: Dr. Nelson gives good guidance on how to determine you’re not trying to do too much.
UPDATE: I no longer get so tired from the weights (1/3/2010). Maybe some strength and endurance are returning.
I do find that doing a low-level activity (biking, walking) afterwards helps reduce soreness. Even though walking won’t really exercise the arms, your will naturally move/swing them as you walk.
TYD
23 December 2009 at 5:53 pm
No soreness so far, but that’s a good tip to keep in mind.
LeisureGuy
23 December 2009 at 6:24 pm
I used to be very fit. Like 4-5 years ago. I could lace up my shoes and run 5 miles, no problem. For a while I even did 100 push ups a day. This was when I was really active in martial arts. One thing I learned about strength training is that you don’t need equipment to do it. Pushups, crunches and squats were all I needed to add to my cardio-type workouts in order to be totally fit. That and a good stretching regimen. Most people omit that, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Sitting on the floor stretching my legs out was in my mind every bit as important as running a few miles or doing a few sets of pushups. Your mileage will of course vary. And I’m not as young as I used to be either, for sure.
Yoga struck me as a good way to be strong and flexible. The few times I ever did it was in the company of a lot of other top martial artists. What struck me most about it was not that it was hard (and it was), but the fact that I was surrounded by hardcore tough guys (and gals) who could knock you out by planting their heel in your temple should you look away at the wrong moment while sparring, but who nevertheless were reduced to a whiny bunch of little girls halfway through the yoga class.
I enjoy reading about your fitness progress. Makes me want to follow suit.
scott
24 December 2009 at 12:15 am
I agree that equipment is not really necessary, but it helps intensify the exercise: more benefit per minute. And the exercises in Strong Women Stay Young are well selected and thoroughly tested. Here’s some info about the author:
LeisureGuy
24 December 2009 at 9:42 am
It does sound like a really good regimen. And I had dumbbells. I’m not against equipment at all. I just think some machines do a bang-up job of isolating a muscle, but in the real world my muscles didn’t usually work that way. Could be my own imaginings, but it seemed to me that if I wanted strong muscles supporting a punch, for example–a pushup which stressed several muscles from my back to my chest to my arms to all the supportive and connective junk in my shoulder–was a lot more beneficial than doing a triceps isolation machine.
This kind of thing was of special interest to me because I wasn’t looking primarily for more powerful techniques through muscle. I could get power through speed and proper technique. What I wanted was freedom from injury as I executed such techniques. I felt that it was important to strengthen all the little supportive/stabilizing muscles for this as opposed to just one large and prominent one. This is why I preferred free weights to machines and no-equpment exercises over equipped ones.
Of course anyone who look at my fitness level today would know that they should seek workout advice elsewhere.
scott
24 December 2009 at 10:08 am
I read somewhere that doing a lot of pushups could adversely affect posture unless you also did corresponding exercises (e.g., lying on the belly and lifting legs and arms (stretched over your head). Don’t know whether it’s true.
I think the best sort of exercise for what you want is Pilates, which originated (I think) as an exercise to help dancers perform better and avoid injury. But it needs lots of special-purpose machines and a qualified instructor, so I’ve never done it. I did get, for this current effort, a DVD on Pilates exercises with an exercise ball. One of my projects today is to watch the DVD and think about how to incorporate that.
LeisureGuy
24 December 2009 at 10:12 am