Going Lighter

If you are like me you have aches and pains that just seem to come with the aging process. I found that lifting heavy all the time was really hard on my body. Especially bench presses and squats, tow of the more important lifts in my routine.

So I bit the bullet and went light!  I dropped the bench press altogether. I went to dumbell flyes, using a weight I could get 15 reps out of. I use the cable rowing machine as a back exercise with pretty light level there too. Also the leg press with only 175-200 lbs on it.

The point of doing the 15 reps is to go slow and still get a good pump out of it. It has been shown that exercising to failure with light weights does as much for muscle as the heavy weights lower reps does.

SO why hurt yourself?  If you are having joint and lower back pain, try this lighter routine and see what it can do for you.
  Oh and don't skip the stretches before and after....a few minutes makes a world of difference.

Resistant Starch is good for you

There is a lot of buzz about RS or resistant starch. These are foods that are digested by the bacteria in your gut and tough for your body to breakdown with regular digestive juices. These starches support the microbes in your gut which help you lower your blood sugar naturally, and increase your energy level.
This is good news. You can eat some higher carb foods and still keep our blood sugar inline.

These foods include- beans, rice- especially cooled rice, potatoes and one of the best forms of RS potato starch. Navy beans are a good form of RS as well as green bananas, lentils, and more.

You can buy potato starch at many food stores. Add a tablespoon or two to your daily diet. It will improve your digestion, though you may get gassy for a little while. Then you get used to it and your regularity will improve.

I do it this way--

Take a cup of plain full fat yogurt. Add two tbs potato starch, a tbs or two of plain cocoa, and some sweetener. I use Stevia.

Mix this well and eat.

Our ancestors ate resistant starch in the form of roots and tubers. Mostly uncooked.

Try to get some into your diet.

A little more Carbs helps

I eat low carb, no wheat no grains. I eat moderate fats and protein as well as a lot of greens.
I sometimes find my energy for late afternoon workouts is waning. Because of my job I workout at 3:30 or 4 pm.

I recently added some beans to my diet in the mid-day. Just a cup or so of homemade black beans usually.
This seems to have solved my problem with lack of energy and my workouts have gotten better and stronger.

Legumes are used by the body differently than many carb rich food. The fiber has a  lot to do with that too.
Basically the enrgy boost is a storng one and the glucose rise is low or minimal. This should be your main concern.
You don't want your blood sugar rising much over the low 100's. So beans seem like a good answer for me. Hope they help you too.

Recipe for Black Beans:
I cook black beans in olive oil with garlic, onion and peppers. Saute a cut up onion, some fresh garlic and sweet or hot peppers in about two tbsp of oil, then add the black beans with the liquid (if canned).  A 1/2 cup of white wine is good to add too. Turn the heat down and let it simmer awhile. Then enjoy.

Get Outside

If you are not getting outside much, you may be working out but missing a lot of the benefits of fresh air and sunshine.
Vitamin D is super important to your health, and the best way to get sufficinet amounts is from sunshine.
Get out and walk, jog if you like, or simply do some stretching and movement while in the out of doors. Try this with bare feet to ground yourself to the earth.

Tai Chi is a wonderful way to loosen up and stay younger, best of all it can be done outside.
Maybe you can find a group to join.

I cant understand him ..but he is over 80!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykJA26CnCi8


80 year old. Training  and eating...he even eats white rice. Which is a surprise to me. Looks great though!

CHANGING IT UP for Success

I sometimes get frustrated at the slow progress I make. I find that at 64, the ability to put on muscle is a tough one to get a handle on. I ame able to maintain my body and keep it strong, but not as strong or muscular as I would like.
I think this is partly due to stagnation with my workouts.
So I am once again changing it up.
I am still goin to do the 30 minute 5 day a week program, split routine.
But I am adding reps and sets.

I did chest , shoulders, triceps routine yesterday with 2 sets of each exercise for as close to 15 reps as I could get. Used 80% of my max one rep weight, and more machines than free weights.
I did vertical chest press/ incline and decline chest press/ dumbell flyes/ free weight bench press.
Seated overhead press/ tricep press down, dips/ shoulder raise on machine.

Will do back and biceps today, same structure.

I do some ab work at every workout, and do the HiiT traiing warm up on elliptical.

Hopefully this will spark some more progress or at least add a bit more muscle to my still small frame.

 tricep press down attachment

New HiiT information

The evidence for short burst training and the benefits it can give is rolling in. Results of a 20 second high intensity burst followed by rest period and then 3 more fast/ slow sequences are really good. Blood tests reveal the lowering of blood sugars after pst- workout meals even days later.

My new warm up is a sequence of 5 by 30 seconds elliptical sets, with a 30 second slow down between. I use a 1 minute warm up at the slow speed, of 3.5 miles per hour. Then a 30 second burst at 10 MPH which is hard to maintain for long. I pump the machine with legs and arms.

My heart rate is in the 130-140 range.

I follow this up with my ab routine;

1 set of leg raises on a parallel bar set. Then a few "L" position holds.
Crunch machine with 50 pounds, followed by 70 lbs, then 80 lbs.
Flex ball set of 25 sit ups.
Side bends with 50 lb dumbells.

This is followed by whatever split I am doing that day, legs, back& biceps, or chest/shoulders/triceps.

This workouot is non stop and takes roughly 30 minutes to get through.

If I am having back pain or low level of energy I may use lighter weights or machines for each exercise. IN any event I do the routine and get it done. Slow reps, good breathing and I listen to motivational pod-casts like Fat Burning Man or Underground Wellness.

It works for me. It could work for you if you eat right ( low carb- no grains and high protein, good fats especially from coconut and some dairy) .