Before and After Pictures! Bust Them Up!!!

what is "crossfit" ?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CrossFit

 

Crossfit, a weight training program, running, dancing whatever.

What matters people is finding something challenging you will stick with. Then when you get bored you move on to something else and then maybe go back or mix it up every day.

 

So true. Although my grandparents passed away when i was young, they were never complaining about pain. They never quit working and moving. Which is so important.

Everytime I see an older person limping around or using one of those get arounds it hurts me to see it.

 

Yes, but that doesn't mean you need to do something as intense as crossfit, does it? I do a lot of sports and exercise too (I am in my early 40s). I certainly don't expect to have the same level of exertion in my 60s and 70s. Carryover sports like tennis and swimming will be fine, and even those will decrease in speed and frequency as I age. I will fight aging the best I can, but I think if you go hard core you will be doing more harm than good.

Keep hurting or over exerting parts of your body and mechanisms, and you will age faster, not slower. Everything has a finite capacity, especially your regenerative abilities; the quicker you use stuff up, the sooner it's gone.

 

Yes, that's why they tell you not to do that unless you are warmed up and can handle the weight.

Even for those who can handle it, I don't recommend it. I don't see too many people doing it every day when they cross into their 50s and 60s.

Be careful. Of course it's a high when you can bust out a solid pace for 6 miles or do a hundred shoulder thrusts with 100 lbs, but long term, you know what drugs do. At least, I hope you do.

 

Well said.

 

Different strokes. I love it and I've seen huge progress in terms of my conditioning and body recomposition while doing it. Regular weight-training just seems mundane in comparison.

I will concede this - there are workouts that make me go WTF. It's not uncommon for me to walk into class, see what the workout is, and walk out. I've done it a number of times. Most of the time, however, the workouts are extremely manageable. Yesterday was the following:

800 meter run
25 squats
25 situps
50 double unders or 200 regular skips
25 situps
25 squats
800 meter run

Nothing crazy about that.

 

Correlation and causality are not the same thing.
Anecdotes don't indicate trends.
Personal experience does not indicate generality.
Exceptions do not indicate the rule.

I don't know why you are getting defensive. Glad you like it. Enjoy.

 

Funny coming from a guy who just said, "I don't see too many people doing it every day when they cross into their 50s and 60s."

 

I don't get it. What's funny?

 

Word of advice....ditch your multivitamin for AOR Ortho-Core. (Relatively) pricey, but probably the only multivitamin on the market worth taking. Centrum and all those 1-a-day cheapo vitamins are not good for you, the Animal Pak/Opti-Men bb'ing vitamins are not much better.

 

Why?

 

The only multivitamin I've ever seen whose ingredients and, just as importantly, dosages, are backed by research.

Look at a Centrum multi......"100%" of your DV of each and every vitamin and mineral. These DV's were set years ago based on outdated studies and represent a minimum requirement, not an ideal one.

Even the more upmarket athlete-oriented multis like those by Universal Nutrition, Optimum Nutritio, etc. use largely arbitrary dosages, just in higher quantities.

They also use the cheapest forms of each vitamin, which often means synthetic, incomplete forms of vitamins that have a poor bioavailability. This is a concept a lot of people are not aware of....not only are there multiple forms of each vitamin, but some vitamins are actually not a single molecule but an array of them.

Example: Vitamin B12. Most multi's will contain Cobalamin, a cheap synthetic form of B12. AOR products use Methylcobalamin, far superior. It is better absorbed by the body and, unlike Cobalamin, does not produce cyanide in the body when broken down like Cobalamin.

Another: Vitamin E. "Vitamin E" is really just is a generic term for tocopherols and tocotrienols. It is not a single nutrient but a whole "family" of them. You very rarely see "Vitamin E" as anything but alpha-tocopherol, which actually lowers the levels of the other E molecules. All eight tocopherols and tocotrienols are present in Ortho-core.

Finally, absorption of certain vitamins and minerals affect the absorption of others. AOR puts a lot of time and research into studying interaction between nutrients to ensure their most effective delivery. It is rare to see another company that even considers it, and thus the ratios between their vitamins and minerals are often arbitrary.

I'm in no way associated with this company, but it's an excellent, highly-respected one for good reason.

 

Not the best quality pictures, but I gained 60 lbs in one year after being diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease (thyroid issues) and could not loose the weight no matter how few calories I took in. I stopped allowing people to take my picture and only at the latest car show did I finally let it happen. Finally I got a trainer who I see 4 times a week and went to a vegan diet. I really need to do more cardio so I can loose that last bit of stubborn fat! I went from size 14 pants being too tight to size 8's being too loose in less than a year. I only started the personal trainer late January so must of the weight has been dropped very recently. I have lost 30lbs but I have gained a lot of muscle so I am sure that number would be better if I did not like lifting so much!

I might not post very often here but I always check this forum and it has helped, thank you for your postings!
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Great results! I know what you mean by not allowing people to take photos too. I'm still the guy behind the lens, but less apprehensive about being in a photo It makes it tough to have a good "before" shot.

So, with the thyroid condition; was it medication that started your journey to control it before the time with the personal trainer?

 

Thank you!

With my thyroid condition my doctor told me I would never be able to loose the weight and would not change my prescription. I was doing Jiu Jitsu ( till some girl bit my arm and ripped out some muscles making it so I could not lift for a while ) first and lost about 10 lbs and the doctor was worried... The medication is helping with the mental side effects but if I take a few days off the gym I start putting weight on quickly. I hear that some people have great results taking Armour, but I have not found a doctor who will prescribe it around here.

 

Congrats Christina!

Never let doctors tell you you can't or won't be able to acheive something.

 

My wife had a thyroidectomy several years ago, and we know how much the thyroid can affect weight and general health. So, my compliments on you exercise program and weight loss. Also, if you've built up muscle and will not get down to your previous weight (before HD), that's no problem at all. Fit and strong beats fit and not so strong any day of the week.

 

Thanks!!

Yeah I just realized today muscle vs. weight thing today, well I knew but it hit me. A lady at the gym asked how much more I want to loose so I said 20 lbs and she looked at me like I was insane! Then I was like oh well maybe not I am just not used to the muscle part of it, lol
Does your wife feel better after the thyroidectomy? My previous doctor suggested a partial removal, but then he retired and I see the nurse practitioner so I need to look for a new doctor anyway

 

Well, my wife had a biopsy that showed some cancer, so she was asked if she wanted partial or entire thyroidectomy, and she chose entire thyroid removal. She's happy as she won't have to worry about the cancer (also had breast cancer surgery five months earlier). Now she has to take synthroid daily (and would have had to even with a partial thyroidectomy), but it is cheap and blood tests make sure the dosage is correct. Naturally, she'd rather not have had to have surgery, but was more than willing to do it to avoid future complications. Also, she developed fibromyalgia (don't know why) and was on a number of medications specifically for that as well as a variety of pain killers. Her weight increased from 128 to 190, and only once she was able to get off most of the fibro specific pills as well as the pain pills was she able to reel in her weight (currently at 142-143 lbs) despite having done 40 to 60 minutes daily on the treadmill and consuming a healthful diet (although perhaps too few calories... eventually down to 800 per day. Now she's able to eat more normal portions (1400-1800), but she continues to eat a healthful diet and continues her treadmill time. So, to answer your question, yes, my wife is glad that she had the surgery (also, a nodule on her thyroid was interfering with her ability to swallow). Her M.D. was Dr. Edwin Kaplan, at U. of Chicago and a world-respected endocrine surgeon, and he was really as good as his reputation as well as a class act. If I were you, I'd find another good endocrinologist and see what his/her advice is as surgery might just be necessary.

 

Just read through this thread...pretty amazing stuff. I find it very inspirational and have been getting back into shape but for last 6 months I've pretty much tread water. Anyhow, here's my story:

- 30 years old
- 189lbs (as of this morning)
- 5'8"
- 32" pants


About 2 years ago I had snuck up to 215lbs. Since I gain mostly in my upper body, my waist line never got huge, but one day I realized I needed to do something when I saw picture of how fat my face had gotten. Unlike a lot of people, I'm generally happy with my my body shape and proportions. For me, I'm looking to drop some weight (my goal is 165) and just tighten everything up...me with 25lbs less fat. This was taken today (sorry about the blur). I think I'll try and upload once a week.
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Just got some more shots. Blue shirt is Nov 09. White shirt is July 2010
Then I was benching about 50# Now 80#. Think I was about 215 then, 205 now
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You're looking a little "gassy" in some of those photos Will.

Just messin' with you of course. Great progress.

I finally started back with cardio again. But my damn left knee is bothering me. It feels really tight behind my knee like it needs to be "popped".

 

LOL, I plan on running but I keep putting it off

Speaking of gassy I'm eating veggies all weekend to drop a few more #s

I heard 1 of the elder bodybuilders said that diet is 80% of the equation