Trying to create a "new normal" with exercise?

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TopHatFox
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Trying to create a "new normal" with exercise?

Post by TopHatFox »

Just like we intend to brush and floss every day, I'm trying to find a "I did this weight-lifting set today, or I did this cardiovascular set today."

I know the bodybuilding community have an "arm day", "leg day", "chest day", "cardio day", etc. Maybe doing something like that would be good?

The goal of all this is to be able to more clearly say: "yeah I did exercise today and in this way, nice", rather than exercising arbitrarily/whenever I feel like it.

Maybe what I'm wanting is to find a plan of one a. weight lifting (i.e. Calisthenics), b. cardiovascular (i.e. going for a run), and c. stretching (i.e. Yoga) sets to choose from and do once a day.

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Also, does any one use the Tabata Interval works in your set of different exercises. Although I learned of it in the ERE book, I don't think I have a strong working knowledge of it yet.

BRUTE
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Re: Trying to create a "new normal" with exercise?

Post by BRUTE »

brute has done this for a while and liked it. for brute, at least, it's much easier to do something for 5 minutes every day than to do it for 30 minutes 3 days a week. simply doing it "basically every day" made it easy. keeping it short and simple helped.

brute created a little program that would tell him every day what to do, i.e. "Wednesday: 2x20 wide push-ups". these exercises rotated daily and there were 5-10 of them. this way, brute never had to think about what or how he was going to train that day.

it worked pretty well for a few months, then brute kind of lost interest in it. maybe that means it wasn't effective.

Solvent
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Re: Trying to create a "new normal" with exercise?

Post by Solvent »

There's not much to tabata, but unfortunately in simplicity hides complexity. I think here is a decent summary.

Work as hard as possible for 20 seconds. Rest for 10. Repeat for four minutes.

The thing is, you've got to be doing an exercise that recruits a significant portion of muscle mass, and that allows you to go really all-out without having to maintain fine control. So many times I've been told to do tabata, and it's been followed up with "and the third set is tabata situps..."

Nope. It's not just any exercise as hard as you can do it. Sure, any exercise can be hard... If you're doing it as fast and as intensely as possible, of course it feels hard. But if it's not recruiting a significant portion of your muscle mass it ain't suitable for tabata. Take it to the worst extreme: would pinky finger extensions fit into the tabata protocol?

You do front squats, or use a spin bike, or a rower. You don't do situps. You don't do star jumps. You don't do shadow boxing. I'm not saying those things won't get you hot and sweaty, but something recruiting your quads, glutes, and hamstrings against resistance is a different league.

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Ego
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Re: Trying to create a "new normal" with exercise?

Post by Ego »

You are smart to think about this now. Any big life change is an opportunity. It is an opportunity to begin a healthy habit. It is also an opportunity for unhealthy habits to sneak into your daily routine.

Since this is your first job out of college, be mindful of the daily habits you are adopting as they could stick for a lifetime. Daily exercise is one such habit. Start the job with the determination that you will make time daily to exercise. Ideally, it will be the same time every day. If not, then MWF is one exercise and TTH another.

Years ago Mrs. Ego started a new job with the intention that she would run at lunch. The controlling CEO tried to undermine her resolve by scheduling meetings, so Mrs. Ego would run at 10am or 3pm. Eventually, they got used to her and began scheduling meetings around her run. It was useful because it got her out of a lot of the office-lunch nonsense.

FBeyer
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Re: Trying to create a "new normal" with exercise?

Post by FBeyer »

Olaz wrote:
Sun Apr 02, 2017 10:39 am
Maybe what I'm wanting is to find a plan of one a. weight lifting (i.e. Calisthenics), b. cardiovascular (i.e. going for a run), and c. stretching (i.e. Yoga) sets to choose from and do once a day.
I'm not certain I quite understand but here goes:

My kettlebell program is determined by volume of work so there is one Serene Saturday one Medium Monday and one Tough Thursday[1]. The day before thursday MUST be a complete rest day physically so those days are always meditation days. Sunday and Tuesday I am allowed to mess about with any kind of fun exercise, so those are yoga days.

Hey presto, I've got something that is foundational for my well being for every single weekday!

I don't know if you're willing to own kettlebells, but I have to stay I am flabbergasted at how many tough-as-shit things you can do with a 16, 20 and a 24 kg bell. All those two KB exercises can be done with asymmetrical weights no problem just remember to switch bells between sets.

When building an exercise program incorporate the following: Push, Pull, Squat, Hinge, and Carry. Get those 5 things down and you should have covered all of the basic movements a human needs.


[1] yes the aliteration helps me remember what day is what type of exercise but it works better in my native tongue...

For reference:
The great thing about this program is that no two days feel alike.

Light day is:
5+5 windmills 24 Kg
5 sets of: 5 controlled high box jumps, 5 2KB front squat (44 Kg) , 5+5 clean and jerk (24 Kg)

Medium:
14 reps 16 kg press
12 reps 20 kg press
10 reps 24 kg press
12 reps 20 kg press
14 reps 16 kg press

5 sets of: 5+5 heavy snatches + 3 pullups

Tough:
5 ladders w. 3 rungs 24 Kg presses (about to bump up the number of rungs but ofc you tailer this to your needs. You should however try to push yourself on heavy days and adjust the volume on the other days accordingly)
250 Swings 24 Kg
Prowler 'till I am about to pass out. (level of exhertion according to ERE book is equal to 9-10 after this)

Scott 2
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Re: Trying to create a "new normal" with exercise?

Post by Scott 2 »

For the duration of your career, I'd encourage adopting class appropriate exercise - CrossFit at a box near work, yoga at a studio, company exercise classes if offered, a running/biking club, obstacle racing fund raisers, Fitbit step challenges, etc. This will probably cost $100-$200 a month.

You get the money back when you use the activities to peer with senior employees and clients. They'll sponsor/mentor you because you are like them. Your career will grow much more readily this way. People hire and promote their friends.

Given that your are likely to deviate from their norms in many ways, it's important to find a way to offer a shared identity. Exercise is one of the cheapest, least destructive options available to you.

Dragline
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Re: Trying to create a "new normal" with exercise?

Post by Dragline »

That is quite a good idea, especially if you are agnostic on the form of exercise. Find out what people at your office like to do and do it with them. OTOH, if you have a lazy office, you'll be SOL on that front.

But yeah, its a good place to start and is very ERE in the lattice-work framework of having activities supporting more than one goal.

OTCW
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Re: Trying to create a "new normal" with exercise?

Post by OTCW »

I do best if I work exercise into my life. Things like yard work, gardening, chopping wood, walking or biking to get somewhere/get something, playing sports, etc.

I don't do well at 'scripted' exercise at all. I've had a laissez-faire relationship with my weight bench for a long time

FBeyer
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Re: Trying to create a "new normal" with exercise?

Post by FBeyer »

OTCW wrote:
Sun Apr 02, 2017 7:22 pm
I've had a laissez-faire relationship with my weight bench for a long time
Barbell exercise seems much more scripted to me compared to callisthenics or kettlebells. Have you tried replacing your scripted and bulky equipment with something less restricting and tried to turn your daily exercise into a playful activity?

It's true in the sense of web of goals that you can incorporate exercise into some other activity, but I don't think there is a lot of daily work that will compare to heavy as F**** deadlift or 10 minutes of non stop kettlebell swings. So my take is to turn exercise into a hobby, rather than as an auxillary thing to fix all the sitting down I do during the day.

Farm_or
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Re: Trying to create a "new normal" with exercise?

Post by Farm_or »

It works for me to have a set routine. When you get over forty, it is easier to maintain and prevent injury with a continuous, dedicated routine. One very important consideration is the duration of your routine. Keep it short enough that you can commit to it.

For me, it's about twenty minutes every morning after breakfast. I have a cheap set of dumbbell and a repertoire of calisthenics. Consistency and variety are key (sounds oxymoronic?).

Work out every day, even if you don't initially feel like it. If you must miss a day, keep it to one day. Once you are dedicated to the routine, you will feel guilty about missing a workout.

7Wannabe5
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Re: Trying to create a "new normal" with exercise?

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

I think this is critical, and I am currently suffering the ill effects of lapsing from this practice. For a good number of years it was my practice to go outside and walk/hike for at least an hour, no matter the weather, at least 6 days/week. This used to be easy for me because at my last 5 residences, I was within a short walk of some wooded trails. Now that I live in a relatively safe urban neighborhood surrounded by not-safe urban neighborhoods, I do not have enough natural beauty or extensive novel urban scene to inspire walking for reasons other than transportation to work, shop or garden-site. I detest indoor calisthenics and my efforts to combine gardening/scavenging work with walking/biking are too varied to feel like "must brush teeth" routine. Water aerobics class was good in the summer but not in the winter. etc. etc. etc.

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