Couch potato in rehab | FerrariChat

Couch potato in rehab

Discussion in 'Health & Fitness' started by Sandy Eggo, Feb 9, 2010.

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  1. Sandy Eggo

    Sandy Eggo F1 Rookie
    BANNED

    Jun 4, 2009
    3,636
    Encinitas, CA
    Full Name:
    Rick
    Hi All -

    First time in these parts of F-chat. Hit 40 yo recently and decided to try and turn back the clock of 2 decades of eating/drinking whatever I want and being a big ole couch potato.

    Somehow, miraculously, I've never pushed more than about 195 pounds (I'm 6'1" ... maybe 6'2" if I watch my posture).

    So anyhow - I'm about 2 weeks into a new regimen. Decided to get a personal trainer and make myself more accountable. Honestly, I used to despise being in a gym or anywhere near one. Now - I'm in there 5 days / week and truly seem to enjoy it a lot.

    The point of my post is two-fold. 1) To get some feedback on the current regimen. 2) Make myself accountable to some more folks (even if it's a fairly virtual set of folks).

    Monday: Spinning class - 50 minutes.
    Tuesday: Personal trainer led session - 1 hour.
    Wednesday: Light cardio - 30 minutes.
    Thursday: Personal trainer led session - 1 hour (this is a much tougher session than Tuesday).
    Friday: rest.
    Saturday: Kettlebell class - 50 minutes.
    Sunday: rest.

    Also investing in some protein bars (Power Crunch) and drinks (EAS) to aid in the process. Trainer is also advising me on nutrition. Plan is to do this for 3 months and then evolve the regimen as needed.

    Goals - I have a bunch but it boils down to throwing on more muscle (not so much about weight loss).

    My body is responding fast - I can see changes literally daily right now. I'm sure this levels off after a bit but right now its nice to have some positive reinforcement so quickly.

    Any input welcomed. Thanks.
     
  2. Zack

    Zack Formula 3

    Dec 18, 2003
    2,001
    Nicosia, Cyprus/Cali
    Full Name:
    Zacharias
    looks good to me, though you could provide a bit more detail on the exact nature of the workouts. always err on the side of caution, as an injury will set you back far quicker than the slow gains of steady progress.

    best of luck, and keep gauging your progress. you will see when it begins to taper off and you need to amp up the intensity.

    50 minutes of kb is intense, btw. i am impressed. what do you do in that session? what weights are you working with?
     
  3. joba

    joba Formula Junior

    Jul 23, 2009
    662
    NY
    Best of Luck. Just remember its a marathon not a sprint. Zack is right at 40 you want to avoid injury,especially after being sedentary for a while. Most important thing is consistency over a long period. Try not to get physically or mentally burnt out. Its a choice to stay fit for the rest of your life. You did the hard part already ..... you started!
     
  4. Zack

    Zack Formula 3

    Dec 18, 2003
    2,001
    Nicosia, Cyprus/Cali
    Full Name:
    Zacharias
    One thing I do to make fitness fun is team/couple activities. I have bike riding and running partners, and play soccer, volleyball, basketball, etc. Lots of interaction and jokes and somewhat intense activity/competition. It never gets boring. These days, I am running barefoot, and other people's encouragement goes a long way when my feet are burning up!
     
  5. Sandy Eggo

    Sandy Eggo F1 Rookie
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    Jun 4, 2009
    3,636
    Encinitas, CA
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    Rick
    #5 Sandy Eggo, Feb 9, 2010
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2010
    The classes (spinning and kettlebells) are pretty straightforward in terms of their nature/content. My Wednesday cardio is me on my own - trying to use a different machine each time and not make it anything intense. My trainer doesn't want me sore/worn out on Thursday (she wants to inflict that pain herself!).

    The Kettlebells class is interesting - depending on who is leading it, it can either be full on Kettlebells the whole time or a mix of KB and cardio - a bit like interval training. Both instructors tend to mix up the KB exercise routine a bit too...never the same thing twice. I've been floating anywhere from 15-25 lbs on the KB depending on the exercise.

    The nice thing about having a trainer 2x week is that she is watching everything I am doing (even when I'm in a class...she's around) and advising on correct positions, amping up my routines, etc.

    When we're 1:1 it's mainly about strength training. She's constantly inquiring about which muscles I'm feeling it in, if it hurts, etc. The few times I've not done an excercise well or with some pain, she immediately modifies the exercise down to something I can handle (a lot of times it has more to do with position than weight). She's also great at mixing things up (in 1:1 sessions)...never really the same routine. She's just really great - I love how attentive she is. I need that b/c I'm totally clueless in the gym and wrt what my body is telling me.

    Yeah, I am hoping to get back to playing some tennis but right now I am just having a lot of fun being a novice gym rat. My trainer and I really click - we're constantly cracking jokes and she makes the pain 'fun'. Also, I do the Saturday KB class with my wife - so that's nice to have a partner going through the same thing with me.
     
  6. Zack

    Zack Formula 3

    Dec 18, 2003
    2,001
    Nicosia, Cyprus/Cali
    Full Name:
    Zacharias
    What specific exercises do you do with kettlebells? For warmups, I swing them around my torso, faster and faster, changing direction every 10-15 seconds. Then I do:
    swings (3 sets of 60),
    turkish getups, side raises,
    shoulder presses,
    straight arm raises,
    situps,
    squats while holding kb straight up above my head,
    spread legs, place kb by one foot, stand, reach across with opposite hand,straighten up, raise kb to shoulder,
    balance on butt, keep feet straight and move kb from side to side as fast as possible...

    We use tabatha method (30 seconds intense effort, 30 seconds rest, 8 sets) for a lot of these. What exercises do you do?
     
  7. Sandy Eggo

    Sandy Eggo F1 Rookie
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    Jun 4, 2009
    3,636
    Encinitas, CA
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    Rick
    Honestly, I'm still getting used to the whole thing and haven't focused much on what specific movements/excercises we've been doing. I keep quiet, do as I'm told and try to keep up with the hard core women in the class (I'm the only guy). :)

    I'll try to ask this Saturday but her 'playlist' is never the same thing twice. From the sounds of it though, it appears we're doing a lot of the same excercises. They've also thrown in some interesting stuff using Bosu and Stability balls.
     

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