Heh, yeah, I've got tons of power in my legs but I'm like a T-Rex when it comes to upper body strength. I can also do exactly one pushup very painfully. ;)
Chris has been running on his lunch hour, but he usually goes to the Y in the evenings after work. He's only there for about a half hour, just weights on those days. He alternates: every other day weights, every other day cardio (running), rest on Sunday and he does his long runs on Saturdays.
I will say, from about last September when I really became a slacker with the exercise, I was still losing about a pound a week by just really focusing on my portion sizes and making sure I was taking in lots and lots of protein. I would sometimes just have a granola bar for breakfast, then a salad and a protein shake for lunch (which was a shot of espresso, a pint of skim milk and a scoop of whey powder which has about 28g of protein in it) and then I'd just eat dinner normally. We're pretty healthy eaters for the most part, too, we just tend to overeat because we love food. Most people's diets are full of carbs and lack protein and I found once we shifted that focus, my metabolism responded positively. Chromium supplements help, too, but I'm pretty sporadic about taking those.
So, add in your fencing AND a day of yoga to what you're already doing at the Y and I bet you'll see some major results. And the yoga will help counteract the aches and pains from fencing. :)
I for a while was following the 100- pushups routine (look it up) which had the goal of doing 100 pushups within about 6 weeks of working at it. I made it to week 3 (20-25 at a time) before I lost interest.
And yes... food is just so tasty :P I used to take Cr Picolinate, but haven't in some time. Got tired of pilling myself all the time. 5 a morning is bad enough still... Been trying to cook more soups, lower carbs, but haven't added in much protein. And I do sometimes do yoga (usually Lesley Samson) if Witchcat feels like it. But yeah... should do that more.
I was doing that for a while, too. I found a bunch of android apps that follow the program and start you off based on what you can currently do. Then you do the workouts (there's one for pushups, situps, squats and pullups) with your phone that tells you how many to do in each rep and how many reps and times the break in between for you... basically takes all the thinking out of it. Then you rate the workout, if it was too hard or too easy or just right and it recalculates what your next workout should be. You're supposed to do it every other day so you could probably alternate and do like pushups and squats one day and situps and pullups the next or something. But now I'm doing this, so I'm not doing ANYTHING else workout wise until I'm done. This is plenty, I can already tell after just two days.
That's my problem. I have trouble taking a handful of pills everyday. I know it's good for me, but it's tough to get in the habit. And the more you look into it, the more you feel like you should be taking. So that's why I'm pretty inconsistent.
On the protein, it's hard to get enough, especially if you're doing any strength training. You need quite a lot and it's best to ingest it immediately after a workout. That 30 minutes to an hour following a workout is when you're body most efficiently generates muscle tissue and it's just like a sponge when it comes to soaking up the necessary proteins and carbs to refuel your body. That's why I like the whey protein shakes, but even just a big glass of skim milk or a serving of yogurt or something would do wonders. I know a lot of runners who always drink a pint of low fat chocolate milk after a run.
I have trouble being consistent with the yoga too, even though I know how good it is for me. I just feel so much better, like my body is a machine when I'm doing it regularly. And I tend to have a lot of weakness in my lower back that gets worked out when I do it. But still... if it were easy, everyone would do it, right?
Chris has been running on his lunch hour, but he usually goes to the Y in the evenings after work. He's only there for about a half hour, just weights on those days. He alternates: every other day weights, every other day cardio (running), rest on Sunday and he does his long runs on Saturdays.
I will say, from about last September when I really became a slacker with the exercise, I was still losing about a pound a week by just really focusing on my portion sizes and making sure I was taking in lots and lots of protein. I would sometimes just have a granola bar for breakfast, then a salad and a protein shake for lunch (which was a shot of espresso, a pint of skim milk and a scoop of whey powder which has about 28g of protein in it) and then I'd just eat dinner normally. We're pretty healthy eaters for the most part, too, we just tend to overeat because we love food. Most people's diets are full of carbs and lack protein and I found once we shifted that focus, my metabolism responded positively. Chromium supplements help, too, but I'm pretty sporadic about taking those.
So, add in your fencing AND a day of yoga to what you're already doing at the Y and I bet you'll see some major results. And the yoga will help counteract the aches and pains from fencing. :)
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And yes... food is just so tasty :P I used to take Cr Picolinate, but haven't in some time. Got tired of pilling myself all the time. 5 a morning is bad enough still... Been trying to cook more soups, lower carbs, but haven't added in much protein. And I do sometimes do yoga (usually Lesley Samson) if Witchcat feels like it. But yeah... should do that more.
Reply
That's my problem. I have trouble taking a handful of pills everyday. I know it's good for me, but it's tough to get in the habit. And the more you look into it, the more you feel like you should be taking. So that's why I'm pretty inconsistent.
On the protein, it's hard to get enough, especially if you're doing any strength training. You need quite a lot and it's best to ingest it immediately after a workout. That 30 minutes to an hour following a workout is when you're body most efficiently generates muscle tissue and it's just like a sponge when it comes to soaking up the necessary proteins and carbs to refuel your body. That's why I like the whey protein shakes, but even just a big glass of skim milk or a serving of yogurt or something would do wonders. I know a lot of runners who always drink a pint of low fat chocolate milk after a run.
I have trouble being consistent with the yoga too, even though I know how good it is for me. I just feel so much better, like my body is a machine when I'm doing it regularly. And I tend to have a lot of weakness in my lower back that gets worked out when I do it. But still... if it were easy, everyone would do it, right?
Reply
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