I agree. I can honestly say that I've never wanted to look like any person from the chronic cardio crowd like marathon runners, road cyclists, etc. I can appreciate their efforts and accomplishments, but the end result generates an odd, emaciated look that just doesn't look very healthy and balanced in my opinion.
I've done them on occasion but never felt like they were really accomplishing anything above and beyond standard dumbbell lunges or dumbbell squats.
Excellent article. This subject has been a topic of discussion in this thread, and the piece ties it nicely together.
Looking to get back into the shape I was in my 30's. My approach is going to be very simple: - cut out sweat foods (cookies, cake, etc). - no more eating shortly before bed. - change current daily workout (usually running) to include strength training. - get more sleep. That's it. Started the program on Monday...so far so good! fan27
Good luck. Word to the wise. Rest perionds are as Important as the workouts. Increase your protien intake and increase magnesium supplements. Listen to your body. Push, but be smart about it. Slow and steady progress wins the race
Everyone still at it? The road to full recovery has been enlightening. September was the bottom for me. Just couldn't get it through my thick skull that I had to basically start fresh. I had this thought if I can't do what I want then just bury me. Well, two more trips to the ER during September got my attention and death didn't look so inviting First I just had to rest and do nothing, and I mean nothing. I was seriously fatigued. Second, I had to start eating some real meat and not just rely on protein supplements. Easy and sensible as this sounds I struggled with it, but finally came around. I felt so much better physically and mentally once I did. After a couple weeks I started walking, just walking. Sometimes on the hamster mill, sometimes outside. Couple weeks of that I began to incorporate some weight lifting. Surprisingly, dare I say shockingly, my muscle strength had improved. Now I lift every third day and walk inbetween day. Some walks are brisk, some more casual. Typically I walk 5 to 7 miles and I break that up into two separate walks per day. I do not walk much on the lift day, just walk my dog that day I have gained 15 pounds during the last six weeks per doctors suggestion, but nothing added to my waistline, so I'm guessing it's more muscle mass than not. That's it for now. I hope your journey down this path is a little less eventful than mine, but I did learn a few things about myself. Some good, some bad. Course corrections in process.
Yeah, I'm still at it and I will be starting a fresh new thread in a couple of weeks for 2017 with my revised workout, supplements, diet setup, pictures, etc.
Yo, bro! Good to hear the journey continues. And as with most journeys, course corrections are inevitable. Yes, still at it, "it" being a lifelong thing. You may or may not recall, that I had been experimenting with reduced workout frequency and volume, with only full intensity being a constant. A while back, I had reduced the resistance component from twice a week to 3 times every 2 weeks. After several weeks I noticed no difference except perhaps that I got a bit stronger on individual sets, at least initially. And so, in keeping with some reading that I had been doing, and which I linked to this thread earlier, I then reduced the lifting part to only once a week. Again, no notable difference in strength or body composition after a number of weeks. However, while it was novel at first, after a while it just didn't feel like I was doing enough. And so I resumed two full-body workouts per week a few months ago. Therefore, I don't know what the longer term outcome would have been with the reduced frequency, but in the short term (~2 months) there was no notable difference. Cardio still follows the weights plus an additional day on the weekend. While the cardio principally comprised burst/interval training, I've eased a bit on that to a "modified" burst. So 2 lifting workouts and 3 modified burst cardio workouts. The lifting routine takes just under 45 minutes, while the cardio workouts average only 8 or so minutes. And it feels good, especially when it's over.