amanda
Village
Posts: 79
Joined: May 2013
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Post by amanda on Jun 1, 2013 6:51:29 GMT -6
Darin - my exercise instructor says to do push-ups with hands wider than the mat. So there ya go.
I do 2 strength training sessions and 1 core class every week. I also walk a lot and everywhere since I work downtown.
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Post by reddarin on Jun 1, 2013 7:42:50 GMT -6
Darin - my exercise instructor says to do push-ups with hands wider than the mat. So there ya go. I do 2 strength training sessions and 1 core class every week. I also walk a lot and everywhere since I work downtown. That is good to know Amanda. I was thinking poorly of the mfg of the mat for making it too narrow. So it actually could be useful to use as an indicator on where to position your hands consistently.
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RoBiN <3
City
Posts: 418
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Plan: NK 80/15/5
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Post by RoBiN <3 on Jun 5, 2013 13:39:52 GMT -6
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Post by reddarin on Jun 6, 2013 10:34:23 GMT -6
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Post by reddarin on Jun 6, 2013 10:35:11 GMT -6
I've been continuing my every other day exercise. Crunches, curls with a dumbell and pushups
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RoBiN <3
City
Posts: 418
Joined: May 2013
Plan: NK 80/15/5
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Post by RoBiN <3 on Jun 6, 2013 14:37:52 GMT -6
I randomly ended up in a Jazz promo video - woo hoo! You can see me at 1:13. I'm wearing a pink t-shirt and black capris. My pink tee has white writing on it. I have dark hair pulled back. Jazzercise SUPERSTAR hehe
The instructors are all genuinely so wonderful - really glad I found my love for this form of fitness!
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Post by clueless on Jun 6, 2013 16:48:24 GMT -6
Dang girl, you are skinny!!!
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Post by clueless on Jun 6, 2013 16:50:55 GMT -6
LUCKY! Me and my daughter started taking Zumba a year or so ago. We loved the exercise and the Wednesday night instructor. But the owner/ reg instructor was such a B word. She was always standing around complaining and ranting about fat kids and such. We quit.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jun 6, 2013 18:10:13 GMT -6
I randomly ended up in a Jazz promo video - woo hoo! You can see me at 1:13. I'm wearing a pink t-shirt and black capris. My pink tee has white writing on it. I have dark hair pulled back. Jazzercise SUPERSTAR hehe The instructors are all genuinely so wonderful - really glad I found my love for this form of fitness! You look great! I took a Jazzercise class a looong time ago, it was hard work but fun too. We didn't use weights, but this was back in the 80s and strength training for women was not well known.
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RoBiN <3
City
Posts: 418
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Plan: NK 80/15/5
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Post by RoBiN <3 on Jun 7, 2013 3:57:35 GMT -6
Dang girl, you are skinny!!! LoL, thanks! Don't feel that way most days but coming from my super tight 22's I def am much smaller than I used to be, woo hoo! LUCKY! Me and my daughter started taking Zumba a year or so ago. We loved the exercise and the Wednesday night instructor. But the owner/ reg instructor was such a B word. She was always standing around complaining and ranting about fat kids and such. We quit. Oh man, that's the worst! What a B! This place is so positive and they just really seemingly care. I couldn't pay for a few months but the owner knew how much class meant to me and somehow I still kept getting to go without paying which I was super thankful for! They seem like they really care about how you are doing. Def feel lucky! My guy got me the 6 months for my birthday and really hoping this fall I can be one of their sitters. An hour a week with Jazzer's kiddos (usually just a few) and you get to go unlimited all month free. They charge the parent $1 for the hour, not a bad deal! I'm looking forward to it cuz I've seen some babies and I'm like awwwww, I don't want more but like holding them and giving them back to momma LoL... You look great! I took a Jazzercise class a looong time ago, it was hard work but fun too. We didn't use weights, but this was back in the 80s and strength training for women was not well known. Thank you! It's crazy it's been around for such a long time and yeah I love the strength part the most so glad that's changed!
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gretalyn
State
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Stats: 148/132/132
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Post by gretalyn on Jun 7, 2013 9:12:32 GMT -6
I randomly ended up in a Jazz promo video - woo hoo! That is so cool! You look fantastic! Yeah, I am definitely NOT coordinated enough to do Jazzercise. I would be stumbling around and probably falling flat on my face, at best ten steps behind everyone else. I'm very impressed that you do that!
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gretalyn
State
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Post by gretalyn on Jun 7, 2013 9:15:48 GMT -6
I started my pitiful little "introduction to bodyweight exercises" routine that I made up myself using exercises from YAYOG. He divides the exercises into four types: push (think push-ups and movements that are similar), pull (think pull-ups), legs, and core. He also rates each exercise on a scale of 1 to 4 by difficulty. So I got four of those jumbo-sized index cards, and listed all of the level 1 exercises on the front of each card, one card for push, one for pull, etc. So each day, I grab a card and do some of the exercises on it, as much as I can get accomplished in five minutes. Five minutes doesn't sound like much, but I'm trying to start slow, AND I'm really pushing myself to do all that I can do in that five minutes, so it's not like it's nothing. On the back of the card I write the date and which exercises I did and how many reps. At some point, I will increase to six minutes, then seven, etc. Aiming for ten, and then I'll probably hang there for awhile before deciding whether/when to go for more.
Even this little five minute routine got disrupted, though, when I had one of my "attacks" of dizziness, etc. It's not really that I'm so dizzy that I couldn't do the exercise (because it's more of a light-headed, faint feeling and not a room-spinning feeling, so I don't think that I would fall). It's more that when I'm feeling that way, which includes feeling drowsy and woozy, I just lose all my motivation/will/drive to accomplish anything. It's very annoying.
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Post by reddarin on Jun 7, 2013 10:31:22 GMT -6
Do you know what causes that Greta?
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Post by clueless on Jun 7, 2013 11:51:43 GMT -6
Greta, when do you go back to the Dr about those spells? Be careful ((hugs))
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gretalyn
State
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Post by gretalyn on Jun 7, 2013 11:56:00 GMT -6
I had an MRI this week, and should get the results early next week. But the doc who ordered said he thinks it will be perfectly normal, he wanted to do it "just to be sure". He thinks it's an inner ear problem that won't show up on an MRI. I have an appointment with an ENT on the 17th, which I am really hoping will finally result in a diagnosis! This will be the fourth doctor I've seen!
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Post by clueless on Jun 7, 2013 11:57:50 GMT -6
I hope they give you some indication how to get well. That has got to be horrible to deal with all the time.
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gretalyn
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Post by gretalyn on Jun 7, 2013 12:06:39 GMT -6
Thank you so much!
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Post by reddarin on Jun 7, 2013 12:47:40 GMT -6
I like the doc's thinking Greta. Be careful till you get it fixed up. You don't need a head injury to go along with the other stuff.
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gretalyn
State
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Post by gretalyn on Jun 7, 2013 12:54:15 GMT -6
Thank you, Darin, I'll be careful!
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Post by reddarin on Jun 7, 2013 15:29:25 GMT -6
I'm going to try to add wide armed pushups and diamond pushups to my normal pushups.
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gretalyn
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Post by gretalyn on Jun 8, 2013 7:01:32 GMT -6
I'm going to try to add wide armed pushups and diamond pushups to my normal pushups. Cool. "Diamond" means that your hands are really close together? I'm going to be doing modified push-ups for awhile because my upper body is so weak. We have this big metal-framed futon in our living room, so right now I'm doing push-ups off of the back of it, then I'll move to doing them off of the seat part of it, and then I hope I'll be doing them on the floor! Mark Lauren claims that this sort of modification (doing them at an incline) is better than the one that people often do: on the floor but from your knees instead of your toes. He says this way does a better job of developing the core muscles that support the movement. So maybe I'll have better luck with this than I have in the past, when I've always done the knee modification technique.
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Post by reddarin on Jun 8, 2013 8:47:44 GMT -6
Yes, index fingers and thumbs touching for diamond pushups.
Really? Inclined are harder than on the floor, no? I'm interested in your experience with them when you give them a try. I am still struggling to get my on the floor count up to something respectable lol. I did all three types yesterday but very few reps.
I started doing pushups about 4 weeks ago and I really haven't been able to increase my reps. It doesn't bother me much because the ones I do are good (no cheating or bad form) and not super fast like some people do to get more reps in (which I don't think is productive - sort of pencil whipping the numbers type thing).
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gretalyn
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Post by gretalyn on Jun 8, 2013 10:49:22 GMT -6
Yes, index fingers and thumbs touching for diamond pushups. Really? Inclined are harder than on the floor, no? I'm interested in your experience with them when you give them a try. I am still struggling to get my on the floor count up to something respectable lol. I did all three types yesterday but very few reps. I started doing pushups about 4 weeks ago and I really haven't been able to increase my reps. It doesn't bother me much because the ones I do are good (no cheating or bad form) and not super fast like some people do to get more reps in (which I don't think is productive - sort of pencil whipping the numbers type thing). I think diamond push-ups are not in my near future. That sounds really hard! Inclined are harder if you're inclined such that your feet are higher than your head. But inclined as in head higher than feet makes it easier. So that's where I'm starting. Maybe inclined is not the most specific/proper term for that, though? I think that good form is more important than more reps. And the slower you do an exercise, generally speaking the harder it is and the more muscle fibers you recruit. So I agree with your methodology! I think that for some motions, "explosive" reps can be beneficial. There are a number of variations on jump-squats in the book, where you lower yourself into a squatting position, and then leap into the air, that sort of thing. He also does have one variation on a push-up, called a shove-off, which is a fast motion. But generally speaking I think slower is probably better. Less risk of injury.
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Post by reddarin on Jun 8, 2013 11:31:56 GMT -6
Yeah, those suckers are hard. I logged them on my spreadsheet yesterday but they weren't good form so I'll have to work on that.
Maybe 'declined' is the right term? But I get what you are saying. That is interesting that it is better than the bent knee type. I always wondered how beneficial that type could be since it doesn't compare to straight leg for effort. I could understand using them to ramp up to regular pushups though.
Burpees. I saw that yesterday on a no equipment chest building video.
Hey, that guy also used a towel on the floor to do pull-up exercise without a pull-up bar. Does your book show that exercise? I am going to add that to my routine when I find a towel of the right size.
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gretalyn
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Post by gretalyn on Jun 8, 2013 18:04:07 GMT -6
Burpees. I saw that yesterday on a no equipment chest building video. Harder than they look! (At least, to me.) Well, I know there's a level 1 exercise to get you ready for pull-ups, in which you . . . hmm, how do I describe this? You open a door, grab both knobs facing the "edge" of the door, place your feet on either side of the door directly below your hands, then you kind of squat down and lean back, but use your arms to bring you upward/forward. I know that description isn't very good. The book has both better descriptions AND pictures! Anyway, off hand I don't remember one with a towel, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. What are you wrapping the towel around/over? We have a pull-up bar, I'm just not strong enough to use it yet. I believe it's a pretty inexpensive piece of equipment, though, if you're interested in getting one.
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Post by reddarin on Jun 8, 2013 18:30:43 GMT -6
The problem is I don't have anywhere to hang a bar around here. The walls and door jambs wouldn't support any sort of weight. I've considered building my own with some piping though. I'm sure I could find some design plans on the internet.
I'll link the video. He lays on the floor, extends his arms, keeps the towel taunt, arms 2" off the floor, pulls the towel towards him, lifts up his torso slightly so the motion closely mimics a vertical pullup.
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Post by reddarin on Jun 8, 2013 18:33:52 GMT -6
Here it is. The horizontal pull-up starts at about 1:30.
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gretalyn
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Post by gretalyn on Jun 9, 2013 7:28:25 GMT -6
Thanks for posting the video, but for some reason I can't get it to play. I've tried both on my desktop and my iPad and I keep getting an error message.
I googled "stand-alone pull-up bar" but those are pretty pricey. We only have one place in our entire house where my husband felt comfortable installing the pull-up bar, and that's because it's on a wall that he built himself. He does not feel that our doors are strong enough for me to do that modification that is in the book. But I'm not strong enough to do anything approaching a regular pull-up. So I'm not sure what to do!
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Post by reddarin on Jun 9, 2013 9:23:17 GMT -6
gretalyn try right-clicking the video, copy the video url, open a new tab, past it in and hit enter
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Post by reddarin on Jun 9, 2013 9:36:17 GMT -6
Ah, the link is broken. Hang on I'll try to fix it.
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