This is a great comment by Michael Bender on my post of yesterday.
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Hi Richard,
Awesome progress.
I would like to second the previous comment regarding sprinting. Additionally, in keeping with the primal theme, I would like to share some guidelines gleaned from experience and copious reading on functional training. I have used the guidelines for a long time and they have served me well.
1. lift heavy objects from the ground, the deadlift in all of its many and varied forms is the KING of exercises.
2. Press heavy objects overhead. Military press (STANDING, not seated), or handstand pushups are examples.
3. Pullups/rows - there is something very primal about being able to move your bodyweight through space. Ropeclimbing is great. Rows from rings also work.
4. Anything that involves hip extenstion - sprints, squats, deadlifts, kettlebell/dumbell/sandbag swings or snatches, you name it, just do it.
5. Throw heavy objects. This is self explanatory...and just plain fun. I use bags of sand in the back yard.
6. Carry heavy objects. Same as above, but not as much fun. Overhead, or farmer's walk or for a real kick try a slosh-pipe (10ftx6in PVC pipe half filled with water).
7. Heavy, multi-joint movements are the best for developing functional muscle. Isolation exercises are in large part a waste of energy. Biceps and triceps will develop naturally and symetrically from the big pushes and pulls. The heavy, multi-joint movements will take care of the big stuff AND the small stuff.
8. Avoid "mirror muscles". Most guys do a lot of bench presses and arm curls because that is what they can see in the mirror. The mark of an athlete, the ultimate in functional muscle, is a fully developed muscular back, shoulders and hips and tight torso. Man-boobs (from benching) are not natural, or necessary. Neither are big arms dangling from puny shoulders. They have no precedent in nature and they aren't functional.
9. Muscles will adapt to the stresses of exercise very quicly, but tendon and ligaments take much longer. If you are over 40, much, much, much longer. Most injuries occur in the tendons and ligaments. Just because your mind and muscles are willing doesn't mean that you are ready for a big increase in weight or intensity. That is what is meant by "start slowly". These connective tissues can take 6-12 months or more to adapt. Be aware.
10. Anything that moves your body through space incorporates a kinestic awareness that is physically and mentally challenging and is in most cases the preferred movement pattern when compared with weight moving around a stationairy body.
I hope readers find these guidelines helpful.
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We sure do, Michael, and I thank you for taking the time to share them. I would note for the benefit of readers that for most of those exercises, if you don't understand what they are, you can use Google typically to find diagrams and even videos.
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Good stuff! I think Michael and I went to the same school of workout principles. When competing I'm an ultrarunner but I use these exact principles when it comes to training. My long, slow aerobic running is in much heavier doses than the average person due to that being my competitive outlet, but the short high intensity stuff has increased my fitness dramatically. In my opinion anybody that just runs (ie marathon training) is really missing the boat.
Great advice. As a former tree surgeon/arborist I always gravitated towards exercise which had a functional aspect, a (primitive possibly) real-world equivalent. We used to load logs onto the truck, drag brush to the chipper (like dragging a kill), and of course as a climber I imagined how this would be a very useful survival skill to primitive man in terms of chasing food, storing food and escaping danger.
Also I always intuitively understood that the ability to support and move one's body weight is a fundamental starting point of basic fitness. The bench press is possibly the single least important exercise in terms of functional usefulness. Shoulders definitely more important. Sprinters do lots of shoulder but no chest exercises.
Finally to echo Michael's thoughts about movement through space as opposed to weight moving around a stationary object, movements involving the large muscles of several groups develop the core of the body. They integrate movement, strength, and muscular balance.
Awesome advice!
Awesome indeed. Love reading all the eating and fitness tips here.
Hey, something occurs to me. I'd be thrilled to read more about the fitness needs of the older set. I'm in good shape for 55, but believe me the 55 year old body is a very different thing than the 35 year old body. And I'm not even going to mention energy levels. (Energy? What's energy?)
Anyway, some of the challenges include:
1) a body that's no longer very resilient, let alone prone to get bigger or stronger. Aches and creaks and pains that show up for no reason whatsoever are just a fact of daily life. Actual injuries take forever to heal, and then never do. "Progress" in terms of getting in shape seems to be a thing of the past, while "stemming the decay" seems to be about all that's possible.
2) Nonexistent energy levels. I used to hit the gym because I needed to blow off energy in order just to be levelheaded. These days my energy levels aren't excessive, they're insufficient. So I'm more interested in conserving what I've got than blowing it off.
Nonetheless I sure feel better when I make some efforts to move and stretch. Beginning yoga … Gyro … Walks and occasional easy runs … Some weights, but very carefully done … Keeps me happy and calm. But I wouldn't mind making a little actual progress too.
Anybody out there got some good fitness tips for the graybeard set?
I see that bench presses are not recommended. Art DeVany says the same thing. What would be a good substitute for bench presses for chest exorcises?
Thanks
In my opinion and my experience, joint mobility is THE fountain of youth. If you would like me to recomend sources let me know.
Next on the list is strength training. Playing around with weights is not going to do it. You need to up the intensity (over time). Big movements, multijoint, heavy (relatively speaking) workouts will get you where you want to go. You will see and feel results. You won't look like a body-builder. You will look like a better, leaner, stronger version of you.
I saw the most basic workout template on a tee shirt ten years ago and I follow it to this day:
Lift: from the floor.
Press: overhead
Pull: your neck to the bar
Repeat
Anything more is just window dressing.
As a general guideline: increase your training intensity and decrease the duration and frequency. Make it "episodic" as Dr. Devaney says.
Running is work, sprinting is play (it is also safer, has more cardiovascular benefits, takes less time, looks cool, …need I babble on?)
The "conserving" mindset is one of scarcity. You need to change your thinking to that of abundance. The more you give the more you will recieve. The body is a demand system. It will adapt to what you demand of it. Demand energy and activity and you will get it. Demand nothing….and you will get nothing.
I'm glad you answered that, Michael, as I was thinking along the same lines. In my experience, a lack of energy is an effect of too little active intensity, not the other way around — though it seems so because the lack of energy reinforces disdain for high intensity.
Madmax – good question.
Flip over and do a pushup. The difference is in the full-body tension required to complete a pushup. Lying prone, and remaining so, is not a natural movement. Holding your body rigid so that you can press it up has all kinds of applications.
The downside to pushups is that you are only pushing 50-60% of your bodyweight…so make them harder by elevating the feet. Continue to elevate incrementally until you are doing them in a hand-stand position. If you can do five handstand pushups you are a stud, pure and simple….and you will be working your chest (and your lats, back, shoulders, bis, tris and every muscle in your forearms, hands and core for that matter) plenty hard. Check out Steve Maxwell's blog for great instruction on proper form.
Now drop and give me 20 (actually I would prefer that your grind out 5 or 6 really tough ones with your feet raised as high as possible).
That is a big 10-4.
An object in motion tends to remain in motion. An object at rest tends to remain at rest. I am sure that I butchered that one, but it is true nonetheless. I have been a poster boy for both sides of that equation from time to time so consder me to be living proof.
Art De Vany does suggest incline bench presses are okay – he seems to be against the flat bench press. I uase the inclined bench press and would not like to drop it – mainly because it is one of the main compound exercises.
I am 55 too – and agree with Richard and Micheal B – I also believe in not giving in to age – that's one of the main drivers for me with eating and living the EF way. I don't want to end up weak and in a state of genetic deterioration. I want my genes to think I need to stay alive and not to close me down. High intensity training and all the other methods recommended by RN and ADV are keeping me from the downward slipperty slope. And thanks guys for all your grand advcie and inspiration.