Reverse Training
I think this is going to work out (pun intended) ..... finally.
Historically ... during my teens and entire adult life, I've been 'pro weights' and adverse to aerobic training. Always. My personal reasons were I was more concerned with building muscle than burning it off accidentally. Simple as that. But as I've gotten older, wiser, more aware of ... ummmm... issues .. as we get older, I've changed it up.
Watching something like Crossifit Games has given me an appreciation for carrying adequate muscle yet being in killer all around shape. Watching these men and women competing, and carrying adequate muscle mass, has changed my thinking. Now, I have no plans at this point of 'going down this path", but it reinforces that you can embrace aerobic fitness without withering away.
For me, at this point I've taken a different tact, due to my back issues. First, every work out I focus
on my spine... my back. I hit the Inversion table, and make sure I've truly stretched it out. Hell, I usually get a nice 'pop' down there. Aaaaaahhhhhhhh... Then, some inverted crunches to build up the ab area to support the spine.
Second, hit the aerobic machine(s). My new go to is the Bowflex Max Trainer . I got the upper end M7 model because they had a killer military discount, that I couldn't pass up ordering directly from them. This machine provides Fourteen Minutes of Pure HELL. It's badass. First two times I got on it, I barely completed 25% of it.. I was f'ing dying! I'm still getting my ass kicked on it, on the lower settings. 14 minutes, that's it! Then, I've got several options... the Elliptical being my long time favorite.. truly low impact. Anyways... after knocking that out.. onto the iron.
Historically, the Iron was ALWAYS my first part.. now my third. You can't push max weights if you've expended some of your energy before you get there. My thinking now is... Maximize the focus on keeping my back healthy. Burn calories (ie FAT!) and warm up the body's limbs and joints. Then and only then, hit the weights to maintain/build, muscle mass. So what if can't push the big weights I used to. This was the hardest thing to convince myself of.
So far so good.... reversing what I've done for decades in the order of attack ... took me to this point in my life to embrace it. I think I've finally cracked the code.
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| The Home Gym |
Historically ... during my teens and entire adult life, I've been 'pro weights' and adverse to aerobic training. Always. My personal reasons were I was more concerned with building muscle than burning it off accidentally. Simple as that. But as I've gotten older, wiser, more aware of ... ummmm... issues .. as we get older, I've changed it up.
Watching something like Crossifit Games has given me an appreciation for carrying adequate muscle yet being in killer all around shape. Watching these men and women competing, and carrying adequate muscle mass, has changed my thinking. Now, I have no plans at this point of 'going down this path", but it reinforces that you can embrace aerobic fitness without withering away.
For me, at this point I've taken a different tact, due to my back issues. First, every work out I focus
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| M7 Torture Apparatus |
Historically, the Iron was ALWAYS my first part.. now my third. You can't push max weights if you've expended some of your energy before you get there. My thinking now is... Maximize the focus on keeping my back healthy. Burn calories (ie FAT!) and warm up the body's limbs and joints. Then and only then, hit the weights to maintain/build, muscle mass. So what if can't push the big weights I used to. This was the hardest thing to convince myself of.
So far so good.... reversing what I've done for decades in the order of attack ... took me to this point in my life to embrace it. I think I've finally cracked the code.
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