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Super Ape

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So my wife and I signed us up for a charity walk in October, raising money for juvenile diabetes research (my nephew has type I), which means I need to get started on upping my walking endurance before I can walk about 5K (there's also a run for that length, but I'm NOWHERE near confident enough that I'll be able to do that and not grind my knees into a fine paste).

 

At over 350 pounds, I'm hoping the boost to my tolerance for walking and not getting a.) sore, or b.) gassed, will be step one towards me not being such a fat shlub.

 

Also, I've noticed a problem where I'll wake up and feel like my ribs and back were in a Zangief bearhug for eight hours.  I only don't have this when I prop up all the blankets at the head of the bed and sleep in an elevated position.  Is this weight, the layout of my bed, or what?  Can weight loss or building muscle help with that?

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Celebrated my one year diet anniversary (or as I'm calling it, the never ending quest to get in shape) last Tuesday. Down 55 pounds since...still have 45 to go. Dropped something like ten inches off of my waist too.

 

Also, the DDP Yoga "below the belt" workout is torture. By the last ten minutes, I'm dripping sweat.

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I am looking to start the Couch to 5K tiered running program to build up my cardio.  Seriously thinking about the DDP Yoga for the added workouts and yoga benefits.  Hoping to ward off these mid 30's aches and pains with some serious stretching and such.

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I'm down around 75 lbs since May '12. but haven't really lost anything since April. A new job working odd hours and not going to the gym can make you really lazy, well me at least. I seem to be keeping it off.

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  Can weight loss or building muscle help with that?

 

 

Yes. Absolutely. Lose weight and build muscle and you will almost certainly wake up feeling much, much better. There's bound to be an adjustment period, but if you man up and get through the rough spots it'll get easier and easier to keep eating better and exercising regularly. Your body wants to move,and it wants to get some real nutrition. It will reward you if you give it those things. It will punish you if you do not. 

 

Me in 2006:

 

Posted Image

 

Me in 2008:

 

Posted Image

 

Me in 2011:

 

Posted Image

 

Me, yesterday:

 

Posted Image

 

It comes down to consistent effort over a long period of time, persistently getting back on track every time you fall off... I feel great now, I'm healthy, I'm enjoying my life more than I thought would be possible at my age (47)...

 

It sucks at first, but it gets easier and eventually your body just starts craving exercise and good food... and it's totally worth it. 

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  Can weight loss or building muscle help with that?

 

 

Yes. Absolutely. Lose weight and build muscle and you will almost certainly wake up feeling much, much better. There's bound to be an adjustment period, but if you man up and get through the rough spots it'll get easier and easier to keep eating better and exercising regularly. Your body wants to move,and it wants to get some real nutrition. It will reward you if you give it those things. It will punish you if you do not. 

 

 

Me in 2008:

 

Posted Image

 

Probably could've saved some work if you just let some of the air out of that valve on your left there. :)

 

Also, this.

Posted Image

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DDP Yoga might end up being the best $60 I ever spent.  Only 3 weeks in and started doing the Fat Burner now in place of Energy! and its amazing how much I'm sweating and feel like I've worked out after 25 minutes.  So far, along with a massive change in eating habits (no red meat, lots of vegtibles, more water consumption, and having massive willpower over my hunger fits) I'm down 10 lbs in 3 weeks and took an inch off my waistline.  

 

The weight loss will take a lot of pressure off your joints, but you really need something to strengthen the muscle around the joints that have been grinded down by high weight.  

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I'm down about 25 pounds and am a quarter of the way to my goal of getting under 200 lbs for the first time since before high school.  

 

I've finally started going to the gym a couple times a week and combined with a total change in diet, the pounds are starting to fly off.  The girlfriend is on WeightWatchers, so I've started piggybacking off that for healthy recipes when I got tired of my usual fare so that's also helping a lot.

 

Beer is really the one vice I haven't cut down on much, which could really speed up the process, but I keep reminding myself it's a lifestyle change and not a sprint to a certain weight.  This time I'm trying to do things "right" where I won't gain all the weight back as soon as I let up on the diet.

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Before/After Progress Checking In:

 

Shirtless Man (GRAPHIC) Warning:

Posted Image

 

The left is how I looked until I was 18 (so 2002) / The right is how I've looked for the last couple of years, with some muscle size variance, depending on injury status

 

 

 

Unsolicited Fitness Tip of the Day: The answer to just about all non-surgical wrist/elbow/shoulder problems is grip strength. Strong Grip = Happy Limbs

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I'm not to the point of needing this yet, but does anyone have any recommendation for building ab muscle through exercise?  I'm not out to get ripped, but I'd like to have something to fill out some of the bonus skin I'm going to have left over after dropping all this belly fat.

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Finally jumping back on the new board, and I'm really happy this thread is back.

 

My fitness introduction: I'm a runner, to the tune of about 70-100 miles a week. I really do enjoy that volume, which qualifies me for some pretty severe psychosis, probably. When racing, I prefer half marathons to 50 miles on trail, though I'll race as short as 5K. I've got a marathon next week, and hope to extend my racing past 50 miles later this fall at a 24 hour event or 100 miler. 

I'm not to the point of needing this yet, but does anyone have any recommendation for building ab muscle through exercise?  I'm not out to get ripped, but I'd like to have something to fill out some of the bonus skin I'm going to have left over after dropping all this belly fat.

Anyway, direct ab work is somewhat overrated by most, at least how it's usually configured (CRUNCHES). Squats, deadlifts, sprints, tire flipping, sledge hammering, etc., all work the abs. Anything that requires torsional strength and/or core stability, basically. I'm also somewhat partial to planks, myself. I don't think crunches are awful or anything, just not really an efficient use of time. 

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Guest The Magnificent 7
...and hope to extend my racing past 50 miles later this fall at a 24 hour event or 100 miler. 

 

... just not really an efficient use of time. 

 

 

Just busting your balls here, but talk about incongruity. ;P

 

If you really enjoy it, more power to you.  I would caution you, since this is a health thread and not just fitness, that extreme endurance running can have adverse effects for your long term health.  Give it some thought is all if you plan on making the enduro runs a regular occurrence as opposed to a one time thing.

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Co-sign on the squats and deadlifts. 

I was afraid of something like that.  Our apartment complex doesn't have any free weights and as far as I can tell, the machine we do have (one of those big four-bench things with one set up for leg lifts/leg curls/butterfly, one leg press, one chest press and one with a variety of attachments for pull-down-type exercises) doesn't have any configuration for squats.  Thanks to you and Beech both for the advice; probably when I reach the point of no longer cutting fat and trying to build some muscle back I'll have to finally suck it up and join a real gym.

 

Tomorrow's the six month check-in (I started on 3/9 with twenty minutes on what I thought was an eliptical, but turned out to be a stepper) and it looks like my weight will be right around 222, down from 260-261 (I didn't write down the decimal, dammit.)  Would've been lower, but I came home from Dragoncon having added three back from eating and drinking too much in ATL.  Considering my New Year's Eve goal was 225, I'm still pretty happy with my progress even with the backslide.

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...and hope to extend my racing past 50 miles later this fall at a 24 hour event or 100 miler. 

 

... just not really an efficient use of time. 

 

 

Just busting your balls here, but talk about incongruity. ;P

 

If you really enjoy it, more power to you.  I would caution you, since this is a health thread and not just fitness, that extreme endurance running can have adverse effects for your long term health.  Give it some thought is all if you plan on making the enduro runs a regular occurrence as opposed to a one time thing.

 

No one runs marathons or ultras for health, that's for sure. And it certainly can compromise your long term health, if you attack events that you've not trained adequately for. But there is no evidence whatsoever that it does in 99.9% of cases, and certainly not in fit people without preexisting conditions. Tests of athletes in the days right after an ultra yield an expected amount of damage, but it goes away in a matter of weeks. In cases where long term heart scarring occurs, the athlete in question pushed themselves beyond their fitness, and got injured. It's like any other sport, in that regard. You invite an element of risk, but you can mitigate it, through proper training and an intelligent "game plan". Suffice it to say, my heart is in perfect condition, and my hormone levels are all in optimal ranges, even after having run six marathons/ultras in the last year.

 

Hopefully I don't sound too defensive here. I'm not arguing your point per se. Certainly there are bucket listers who get themselves hurt, or people who exacerbate heart conditions that had not been previously detected. For that reason, I encourage everyone I run with to emphasize a steady progression, and never race above their training. I try and do everything I can to heed that advice myself. 

 

But you are fundamentally right, that if health is your only goal, I'd probably advise maxing out at 30 miles a week or so, and never racing marathons or longer.

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But you are fundamentally right, that if health is your only goal, I'd probably advise maxing out at 30 miles a week or so, and never racing marathons or longer.

 

 

As someone who's fitness goals at present are basically "be not quite as fat," I've always said to myself that a half-marathon would be my running maximum (I wouldn't even sign up for a half at a full marathon event, lest temptation kick in, as I understand that running has a sort of appeal to it not unlike chasing a high.  Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, Beech.), though at Runner's World's annual half, they also do a 5K and 10K that weekend and call running all three of them a "Hat Trick."  That would probably be a higher echelon running goal for me, should I pursue it (though I need to work on losing enough weight that my legs don't disintegrate, first).

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Guest The Magnificent 7

 

 

...and hope to extend my racing past 50 miles later this fall at a 24 hour event or 100 miler. 

 

... just not really an efficient use of time. 

 

 

Just busting your balls here, but talk about incongruity. ;P

 

If you really enjoy it, more power to you.  I would caution you, since this is a health thread and not just fitness, that extreme endurance running can have adverse effects for your long term health.  Give it some thought is all if you plan on making the enduro runs a regular occurrence as opposed to a one time thing.

 

No one runs marathons or ultras for health, that's for sure. And it certainly can compromise your long term health, if you attack events that you've not trained adequately for. But there is no evidence whatsoever that it does in 99.9% of cases, and certainly not in fit people without preexisting conditions. Tests of athletes in the days right after an ultra yield an expected amount of damage, but it goes away in a matter of weeks. In cases where long term heart scarring occurs, the athlete in question pushed themselves beyond their fitness, and got injured. It's like any other sport, in that regard. You invite an element of risk, but you can mitigate it, through proper training and an intelligent "game plan". Suffice it to say, my heart is in perfect condition, and my hormone levels are all in optimal ranges, even after having run six marathons/ultras in the last year.

 

Hopefully I don't sound too defensive here. I'm not arguing your point per se. Certainly there are bucket listers who get themselves hurt, or people who exacerbate heart conditions that had not been previously detected. For that reason, I encourage everyone I run with to emphasize a steady progression, and never race above their training. I try and do everything I can to heed that advice myself. 

 

But you are fundamentally right, that if health is your only goal, I'd probably advise maxing out at 30 miles a week or so, and never racing marathons or longer.

 

 

I'm not going to argue what studies have actually shown, but the evidence is there that over time endurance running increases scarring of the heart, an increase in calcium deposits in arteries, and some other possible effects to the cardiovascular system.  The only prominent cardiologist who disputes this (and who most endurance runners take their cues from in disputing these studies) is an endurance exercise dude himself who doth protest too much.  A bit compromised. 

 

My wife has an MPH from a really good university and we get a ton of journals since her speciality is health and fitness.  I've read the study paper in Heart on this on the shitter.  :)

 

An increased risk does not mean you will be impacted, which is why I sad "can" impact your long term health not "will."  I am glad you are healthy, but facts are facts and science is science. 

 

It's a free country, so do what you want to do. 

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Guest The Magnificent 7

Okay, Jenny McCarthy.

 

Yeah, I'm out of this thread.  Try to start your understanding of science with an episode of Mr. Wizard on youtube, buddy.  You have a long way to go.

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