My Fitness Didn't Translate

[flyboy08]

As I said earlier. If you really want to make a change, than a personal trainer and dietitian are the only way to go initially. Once your on the correct path, you can assume these responsibilities on your own.....

 

[Diver0001]

Weight machines are of limited value. Free weights are a far more effective workout. Don't be afraid to try them. I am 51 years old and I can Deadlift 440lbs and bench over 300. I started freewieghts a few years ago and it was the smartest thing I ever did.

I understand that and I do use free weights sometimes, especially when I go to the gym with my son and he's doing it and drags me along. I don't do dead lifts and I don't do bench presses because I actually don't give a flying rats patoot how much I can lift and I don't want to injure myself pretending to be 26 again.

I'm the same age as you are but my goal is probably different. I need to be fit and strong enough to manhandle my gear for technical diving. My choice is to be aerobically fit (hence the running) and "strong enough". Those are my only training goals and the the machines seem to do the job for that. I know they're not optimal and I know they don't give you the best work out (or beach body) but I honestly don't care.

Speaking of beach-body, when I was younger I did 10 years of intensive Kung-fu training. I was flexible, I was fast, I weighed ... let's just say "several" kilograms less than I do now, I had the 6-pack thing going, muscles in places that I can't even find anymore, long hair, long beard (before it was "in") and I had the attention of women. I'm not reaching any level at my age that makes women look twice or even once. Work stress has made my hair fairly grey even at this age so even if my body was tight (which it is not) then no amount of lifting free weights is going get that genie back into the bottle.

It's a hopeless battle against an insurmountable enemy. Believe me I had a MASSIVE mid-life crisis about this. The top point being when I was going through the passport control with a friend of mine in Egypt and the border guard asked her if I was her father. I could have died. She still laughs about it years later.

I've managed to survive that but my goals have become more pedestrian and perhaps more realistic. I just want to be fit and I've given up wondering what people think about how I look. Earlier this week some young woman on the bus offered me her seat. That's the first time that's happend to me and it's the final step in losing any modicum of hope that what kind of weights I lift will make the slightest ******* difference.

R..

 

[RayfromTX]

I took a different approach. In 2010, I was approaching 50 years on the planet and I weighed in at 235 pounds. I had been unhappy about it for quite a few years but it's not the same as giving up cigarettes or alcohol. You have to eat. I just couldn't stop once I started until I was often uncomfortably stuffed.

I met someone on an airplane that told me that the fact that I liked to cook great food was actually a bonus if I wanted to lose weight and the discussion made me commit to losing 60 pounds.

I used myfitnesspal which is a website and an app for my phone. I logged what I ate and counted calories which gave me a line in the sand each day to stop at instead of eating until I was over full. The act of monitoring what I ate taught me to eat more efficiently so I wouldn't end the day hungry by wasting my daily calories on sugary high calorie foods that didn't keep me satisfied for long enough. Over time I learned to eat more and more healthy and the community on the website helped to motivate me as I lost 2 pounds a week until I had lost the 60 pounds and on my 50th birthday I bought a bicycle and have since ridden close to 50,000 miles including touring north America. I can hike and enjoy many physical activities that I had given up on. I couldn't even work in my garden because of my knees. That seems so long ago now. I range between 180 and 185 and still ride regularly. I have given up 8 different medications that I took regularly.

Everybody has their own way of thinking and what works for me may not work for you which is why I see people fail on diets that work for others or with trainers that work for others and my way may not work for my wife. Find what you can get excited about. Discover that rewarding motivation that keeps you getting on the scale to see if you are down one more pound yet or able to lift 5 more or whatever it is you need to be a happier you. Live longer and more hopeful by refusing to surrender to getting older and by refusing to admit that you can't do that fun thing you used to do. I am 20 years younger than I was 6 years ago.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

I don't do dead lifts and I don't do bench presses because I actually don't give a flying rats patoot how much I can lift and I don't want to injure myself pretending to be 26 again.

There is a method to the madness. I am following a program. Deadlifts work every muscle group in the body from the neck down, it is close to a total body exercise. It and Squats hammer your core. Deadlifts strengthens my hams, my hips, my spinal erectors and my traps along with other muscle groups. It, along with Back Squats, Power Cleans, Strict Shoulder Presses and Bench Presses as well as Pull-Ups means I am far less prone to things like shoulder and back injury now. My knees haven't felt this good in years. It is the closet thing to the fountain of youth I have found.

It is far easier to regain my peak cardio when I want to push it. Cardio is conditioning. Strength takes years to build, it is a physically adaptation to the body that makes permanent structural changes. And my cardio still isn't bad, I can still get myself winded.

You don't have to start heavy. Start light and add five pounds a week. Just follow the program and you will make significant gains.

 

[TheFife]

OP here. Fantastic discussion and advice everyone. I have already begun a new workout routine that incorporates weights for the upper body, and yoga for overall strength. My goals are modest and focused around being healthy and able to do the activities I enjoy. I wish everyone else well in their goals to improve or maintain their health and fitness. I think the most important elements are portion control for weight, and finding fitness activities you enjoy (or at least can tolerate).

 

[Trace Malinowski]

Check out my "Divemaster Workout" which targets endurance, speed, and strength through basic exercises. The goal is to be able to meet USLA lifeguard and USCG rescue swimmer testing standards and have the gas in the tank to make a 30 minute rescue in heavy seas.

Running: You cycle through easy 1 - 2 mile distance runs, 250 yard to 2000 yard full out sprints, and a one mile run for time. This targets general aerobic/anaerobic capacity.

Strength: Heavy, low rep, quality form compound lifts twice each week with endurance bodyweight exercises thrown in when you feel like it. Scuba tanks and gear gets easier to lift and carry.

Swimming: Steady state cardio distance swims one day, run - swim - runs on another, and training with scuba fins for improved strength and endurance when kicking with a large surface area on each foot and breathing through the resistance of a snorkel. Obviously, more sport-specific to diving.

Most training sessions only last 20 - 30 minutes. A couple (beach sprints with walk backs and longer distance swims) may take 40 - 50 minutes.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

I forgot to add that even high end athletes might not have a training program that transfers into the water or diving. My girlfriend is a pro figure skater. She is usually on the ice 4 - 5 days each week and in the gym 5 or 6 days per week. When she tried to do a 200 swim for her open water prerequisite testing, she couldn't complete it the first time. She swims crawl well, breaststroke and sidestroke beautifully, and butterfly average. I can't keep up with her in the breaststroke.. But, she hadn't been in the water for months when she tried to swim 200 yards.

In the water with fins on, she is a powerhouse. Many divers have weak leg, ankle and foot muscles. When they flutter kick with fins, the blades tend to move inward toward one another. The diver has to open the legs to keep the blades from touching. In her case, her very strong legs, ankles, and feet are able to maintain fin blade position perfectly and her kicks are easy and strong allowing her to move efficiently.

Standing on one leg really helps strengthen muscles. In her case, she does figure skating , dance and ballet. Others find yoga increases stability. Or, you can keep it simple and just stand on one leg for a few minutes a day. Research as shown a decrease in field sport injuries such as soccer and football injuries when part of the player's conditioning is balance.

My former girlfriend grew up in the water on a sailboat. She works as a stage and production manager, but doesn't follow a routine workout schedule. She's tried P90X, going to the gym, machines, and treadmills on and off. But, she can get in the water after a long absence and swim a 500 easily. When cave diving with me, she could keep a pace that exceeded 50 feet/min. I believe if water taxes you physically that is where you should exercise.

I go for long scuba swims on some days the way people jog. Breathing through a regulator is more demanding (pun intended) than breathing on land. So, using snorkels when training preps us for that. Keep in mind that breathing is key to underwater safety. Breathing is how we control stress and avoid panic.