Health & Fitness • Page 157

What I really need is a good consistent stretching routine. My flexibility is garbage. People often think I'm joking when I show them how far I can spread my legs. Which sounds weird haha but I mean it in a strictly stretching context! Some people are double jointed and I swear I'm like negative jointed. No joints here. I'm just creaky and stiff

 

I’ve had the same exact routine for 15 straight years:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 5 on 5 full court basketball for 60-90 minutes

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday: a combination between a 6-10 mile bike ride and/or ensuring I get 10,000 steps through several long walks

I haven’t lifted a weight in nearly 20 years.

Eating: I never eat breakfast, just slam coffee all morning which decreases my appetite.

Lunch is a ton of fruit: typically a combination of sugar free apple sauce, peaches, grapes, strawberries, black berries, blueberries and a banana and some type of not too terribly unhealthy snack (gluten free pretzels, wheat thins, baked whole grain gold fish, peanuts) and maybe a cheese stick and slice of Swiss cheese.

Dinner Sunday through Wednesday a combination between grilled chicken, salmon and some other type of seafood. Sometimes just chicken plain, sometimes mixed with white rice.

Thursday-Saturday I’ll tend to eat a bit unhealthier/restaurants (although almost always get salmon at any restaurant).

I just turned 40, and while sore as hell every morning - mainly from the basketball - I feel like I am in pretty good shape. Definitely feel better now than I did at any point of my 20s and early 30s. Didn’t eat nearly as well back then.

 

Monday – Full Body Strength

Workout (3–4 sets per exercise):

• Dumbbell Squats – 8-10 reps
  
  
• Bench Press – 8-10 reps
  
  
• Bent-Over Rows – 10-12 reps
  
  
• Romanian Deadlifts – 8-10 reps
  
  
• Pull-ups – Max reps
  
  
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 10 reps
  
  
• Finisher: 3 rounds of 20 air squats, 15 pushups, 30-sec plank
  

Tuesday – Abs + Biceps/Triceps

Core Circuit (3 rounds):

• Hanging Leg Raises – 12-15 reps
  
  
• Russian Twists – 20 reps (10/side)
  
  
• Plank with Shoulder Taps – 30 sec
  
  
• Bicycles – 20-30 reps
  
  
• Side Plank – 30 sec/side
  

Arms Superset (3 sets per superset):

1. Biceps: Barbell Curl + Hammer Curl – 10-12 reps each
   
   
2. Triceps: Tricep Dips + Dumbbell Kickbacks – 10-12 reps
   

Wednesday – Peloton Ride

• Duration: 30–45 minutes
  
  
• Optional: 5-10 min core work (planks, sit-ups)
  

Thursday – Full Body Strength (Different Emphasis)

Workout (3–4 sets per exercise):

• Deadlifts – 6-8 reps
  
  
• Overhead Press – 8-10 reps
  
  
• Dumbbell Squats – 10 reps
  
  
• Dumbbell Chest Flys – 12 reps
  
  
• Chin-ups – Max reps
  
  
• Dumbbell Lateral Raises – 12-15 reps
  
  
• Finisher: 3 sets of 10 burpees + 10 dumbbell swings
  

Friday – Abs + Biceps/Triceps

Core Circuit (3 rounds):

• Sit-ups – 15 reps
  
  
• V-Ups – 12 reps
  
  
• Slow Negative Mountain Climbers – 10-12 reps
  
  
• Woodchoppers – 12/side
  
  
• Plank Hold – 1 min
  

Arm Focus (3 sets each):

• Biceps: Barbell Curl + Concentration Curl
  
  
• Triceps: Skullcrushers + Overhead Dumbbell Extensions
  

Saturday – Peloton Ride

• Duration: 30–45 minutes
  
  
• Optional: 10 min stretching
  

Sunday – REST & RECOVERY







I do this with a Peloton, dumbbells 5-30 with intervals of 5, resistance bands, and a pull-up bar.

 

Monday-Friday lift

Saturday-Sunday run

 

Alrighty, one week in, I ended up going to the gym every other day.

I was nursing a tiny bit of a calf injury, a result of running hard 4 days in a row 2 weeks ago so I was just being careful with leg stuff/running.

I've focused on upper body each day i've gone, followed by 20 mins on a pretty intense stairmaster sesh also my 3 to 5 miles of walking I do daily.

It's definitely going to be an organic workout routine as I find new things I like to do for upper body each time I'm there. Either this week or next week (i'm moving this weekend idk how chaotic it will be) I'm gonna shoot for going consecutive days and get a lower body workout in.

I feel fucking great though, as i'm packing I came across a bunch of my favorite shirts from when I was younger that I no longer had been able to fit in and now they fit PERFECTLY again and it just makes me feel so good. A few pairs of pants as well. I'm very determined to continue working hard though I don't want to settle, at least another 25 to 30 lbs that I want to shave off.

 

Also, where does everyone stand with supplements? What do you take? What would you recommend?

I don't view supplements as some miracle drug or anything, but I know they can be helpful especially when you're being very health/exercise conscious.


Currently I just started taking creatine a couple weeks ago, i take nitric oxide boosters (has some benefits for own below ) magnesium and a generic multi vitamin.

 

First thing is I'd say to remember that supplements are meant to supplement an otherwise solid diet and lifestyle. So if you're not eating protein and vegetables, drinking lots of water, getting some fermented foods in, sleeping well—then fix those things first.

Otherwise, it's pretty clear that magnesium, creatine, and fish oil all really work. They're all fairly inexpensive and have a minor but noted effect. I take those, plus a multivitamin, and then I often (but not consistently) will take both collagen and biotin, because they tend to help my nails, skin, and hair.

And caffeine. And ibuprofen. And protein shakes.

Every so often I'll try something new, not really notice an effect, and stop worrying about it; but those are the things I stick with.

 

Also way to go with week one, sounds like it's going well!

 

magnesium, fish oil, creatine, caffeine, a supplement for joint health (just a bunch of cartillage, black pepper and glucose for joint health since im old lol), and then protein powder obviously

 

Lmao my bf felt SO bad because he gained 20lb and I thought it was weird but was like wow we just need to eat more mindfully I guess. It wasn't even the gain so much as the rapid gain that felt concerning. Now a few weeks later I went on the scale and it said I gained 20lb too so I knew something was up because I know I have extra weight but if I gained that much I'd be at least a size or two up and my pants fit fine. Today I put a 10lb dumbbell on it and it said it was 30lb so I guess we need to recalibrate it?? So he was having a crisis for no reason and our scale just randomly started adding 20 extra lbs for no reason

 

Scales be assholes like that.

 

I have some caffeine pre-workout, and take a multivitamin and fish oil with breakfast, plus magnesium to help with sleep in the evening.

I’ve tried creatine a few times but haven’t really noticed an effect from it. I’ve also read that some people don’t really respond to it so maybe that’s me.

Also currently taking some beet root extract but not experiencing any effects positive or negative so just going to finish out what I bought and forget that one.

 

Supplements-wise, the only ones I have stuck with are Creatine, Protein, Beet Root Extract (all in a morning smoothie) and Vitamin D because I'm chronically deficient. I've dabbled with other stuff, but just improving my diet overall has done so much more than any supplement.

 

Creatine definitely helped me with soreness at least, I don’t necessarily feel any extra juice with actual lifting though

 

Been dialing up the cardio lately, doing 30 minutes on the stair master every gym session.

did an hour one Friday and I was cooked the next two days tho lol

 

Omg I am like a 5-10 min on the stairmaster max.

I took longer walks over the holiday weekend and loved it. Wish I had time to do that more. One walk I just had my headphones in and caught up on a call with an old friend and the walk felt like nothing but was 2 hours long. Dang job getting in the way of being a semi active human.

 

I grabbed Happy Scale and man, I wish I could sync it with my historic MyFitnessPal weight data

 

Been going pretty steady and hard at the gym the last 3 months. Working out 4 days a week and doing cardio for 2. Eating really clean too throughout the summer and was able to tone up a bit. Up to 45 lbs on hammer curls with 3 sets of 10. Almost 270 on Lat pull downs

Started a new shoulder workout where I use a bench bar and lift it at an angle while in a squat position with 2 45s on the end. Not sure what it’s called but it works the Lats really well.

 

Vitamins, pre workout, creatine, and sometimes amino acids when I’m gased