One more go-round and I’ll leave you alone – that is until I have another question.
I was using a “rough guesstimate” for body fat found on some sports/fitness “expert’s” website. It asks for things like weight, height, frame type, waist size, etc. It never produced anything as accurate as a fraction and always responded with “You are between x% and y%” body fat giving two whole percentage numbers as the range. I always pick the middle.
I’ve used the Healthy Body Calculator® about three or four times now with varying inputs mostly altering the activity time allocation. Sometimes, I am truthful, other times I lied – just to see the outcome. (The copy kept and printed for reference is the one most close to the truth!)
Oh yeah, spot reduction! Aside from the lipo-suckers, I’m well aware of the fallacies regarding the myths and legends of “Exercise your abs with our “Wonder-Ab-Machine” and you too can look like this!” while showing pictures of flawlessly structured models! I hear that the FCC is getting ready to launch a major assault on those infomercials!
Yes on the workouts. I’m also aware of the necessity to “mix things up,” as it were. Break the routines. For example, when I exercise arms, I start with narrow grip ez-curls, followed by narrow-grip reverse curls, followed by normal width and finally wide grip where if the hands were any farther out, they’d be on the plates themselves! But one thing that I have a problem remembering is where to start. “Is today the wide-grip starting point? Or do I skip the arms altogether?” Generally, warm-ups commence with about 15 or 20 reps at about 40% of max. Some people say that’s too light; others say it’s ok.
Interesting about the “sports drink” after the workout. I’ve never given it too much thought before. Guess I’ll start doing that from now on. Thanks.
Unfortunately, the urologist that performed the surgery is no longer in practice. But I suspect that my regular MD might be able to answer or at least dig up the answer for me. We used to work out at the same place up until about two years ago. I think that upon further investigation, I should have questioned the source! Ah well, even knowing you briefly in these two dialogs, I already trust you more than the “other” person!
I’ve tried to take things like apples in the car with me as I drive off up the freeway to the office. But with a stick-shift Jeep, it gets a little bit dicey trying to eat and up/down shift all of the time! I do, on regular occasions, pre-peel an orange and just eat it a slice at a time. And as far as eating more during the day, it is with great willpower that I do not go down to the grill in one of our cafeteria’s and order the biggest, sloppiest double-cheeseburger after the stationary bike ride at lunch!
And finally, I hope that your sentence: “With the workout, you do before work, you are depleting some stored glucose (glycogen) with anaerobic exercise i.e. high-intensity calisthenics for short periods of time.” …does not imply that I should NOT be doing this kind of thing! I kind of like the little pump after just waking up. (And after the first jolt of coffee, of course!) Actually, the routine is something like this: Wake up, go to the can, brush teeth, etc. fix coffee, turn on the tube for the morning weather and miscellaneous news. While the tube is on, get down on the carpeted floor, begin calisthenics. They usually wind up being three or four sets of 25-rep crunches and two or three sets of 15-20-rep pushups. Sometimes fewer reps if I use a couple of assisting devices (shaped like an upside-down U with foam on the grips and t-bars for stability). I use these because they actually give a fuller range of motion. The crunches vary between one set of regulars, one set of reverses and one set where the torso first comes up tilted towards the left, down, then back up towards the right.
Arrgggg! I’m late for my PM workout. Amy will be upset. gotta run. Take great care.
Ah ha. To my knowledge, there isn’t a valid body fat estimator using data points like you describe though you might ask an exercise physiologist. The only estimate of body fat is BMI, which doesn’t work for athletes or weightlifters who have a disproportionate ratio of muscle to fat. If you really want to know your number, make arrangements for exercise physiologist to dunk you underwater or pinch you with skinfold calipers. If your number isn’t that important to you instead set goals of X weight lifted for Y # of reps, aerobic capacity and overall health i.e. blood values during yearly physical.
With regards to photos showing the effect of vitamin supplements or mineral supplements or exercise gadgets, ever heard of airbrushing photographs? Most models real bodies don’t look anything like their re-touched photos.
If you have problems remembering what exercises to start with, assign exercises based on the day of the week i.e. on M you do light arms & torso, Tuesday heavy legs & buttocks, Wed light legs & buttocks, Thursday heavy arms Fri ?. Otherwise, make yourself a spreadsheet chart or ask your exercise partner what routine you are on for today and you remember her routine schedule. Stick to a routine so you rotate all muscle groups. Different weight trainers believe in different routines i.e. whether to start light or not. The one consistent recommendation I have heard is don’t heavyweight lift on successive days and either increase weight or reps, but not both at the same time. You need to spend some valuable time with an exercise physiologist or a certified weight trainer. Get a written, graduated schedule from them to follow.
As to food, try finding something more manageable for your SUV (sports utility vehicle). You can juice fruits and vegetables (minus inedible peels) with all the nutrients in the fresh version. Can you drink from a covered mug or perhaps get one of those beverage packs bikers use with a long straw. Depending on what you are willing to do, it isn’t time-consuming to eat frequently and healthy.
As to the double cheeseburger, well having one a couple times a year won’t kill you, so don’t sweat it. But if you ate it every week, well that is not a good idea. Why not ask your doctor’s clinic, gym or company if they have a sports dietitian you could talk to for meal/snacks/workout suggestions? A well-known sports dietitian is Nancy Clark. Look for her books in bookstores.
My comment about your depleting glycogen with your pre-work exercise was regarding your “light” breakfast. You need more food to start the day which is why I suggested adding food before work.
Keep doing the exercise as a better wake up than coffee. Ever tried decaf coffee? You may find you sleep better with fewer peaks and valleys of mental alertness during the day.
