Fitness Related
Jan. 13th, 2012 12:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabrinamariSo, John did not disappoint. He performed as promised.
Highlights of the session:
* He taught me how to sling the bar low, over my traps, when doing squats. Greater weight can be carried more comfortably this way. It takes practice, so we started on the Smith Machine instead of the squat rack. I was skeptical, but he was right. It's tricky to learn to balance it unless you start with the support of the Smith.
* He splits the biceps into three parts and works each one separately, I learned a new exercise and will be focusing in tightly on isolation moves and high reps. I've realized that my old approach to hammer curls fails to isolate the muscle sufficiently; his is better.
* We'll be doing high rep, relatively low weight (the relatively is important here). I probably won't go much above 20-25 lbs. for isolation moves. The many, many, reps will kill me, but he is correct in his assessment that I need to cut, not add muscle, so high rep low-weight is perfect.
* We started with four different biceps exercises at three sets each, pyramiding up and back down in weight with each one. I am sure he would not have done this with an exercise-naive client. However, on the last set of the third biceps exercise (my 9th set, people), he smiled and said, "Give me 25!"
To which I smiled and mouthed back "Fuck you," at which point he grinned even more widely. "You do understand that I have the utmost respect for you," I added, politely. "You do understand that I like you very much," he answered, totally unfazed.
* He lies. He pushed me through 12 sets of legs and 12 sets of biceps, urging me along by dangling the carrot of the fast-approaching last set of the last exercise. Then, afterwards, he clapped me on the back in a congratulatory fashion, and tacked on 6 extra sets of abs exercises---all really hard ones, and all new to me. It was awesome. I completely stepped up. This man cannot grind me down.
* One scary thing he said: after fifty, you lose bone mass very steadily. I knew this, but assumed consistent weight training would counteract it. But he says no. He says he loses about 3% a year. I need to follow up on this. Was he quoting generic figures, or does he actually confirm this to be true? If this is true, I and many of the people I know need to get on this, hard.
I have many years of weight training behind me, so my bone mass is probably pretty dense. That is protective, but I'm going to spend the next several years building up even more. I'd like to keep my bone mass, thank you. I will need it in the world. And I have many friends who might want to hold on to theirs, too.
I think I will get great results with him.
Highlights of the session:
* He taught me how to sling the bar low, over my traps, when doing squats. Greater weight can be carried more comfortably this way. It takes practice, so we started on the Smith Machine instead of the squat rack. I was skeptical, but he was right. It's tricky to learn to balance it unless you start with the support of the Smith.
* He splits the biceps into three parts and works each one separately, I learned a new exercise and will be focusing in tightly on isolation moves and high reps. I've realized that my old approach to hammer curls fails to isolate the muscle sufficiently; his is better.
* We'll be doing high rep, relatively low weight (the relatively is important here). I probably won't go much above 20-25 lbs. for isolation moves. The many, many, reps will kill me, but he is correct in his assessment that I need to cut, not add muscle, so high rep low-weight is perfect.
* We started with four different biceps exercises at three sets each, pyramiding up and back down in weight with each one. I am sure he would not have done this with an exercise-naive client. However, on the last set of the third biceps exercise (my 9th set, people), he smiled and said, "Give me 25!"
To which I smiled and mouthed back "Fuck you," at which point he grinned even more widely. "You do understand that I have the utmost respect for you," I added, politely. "You do understand that I like you very much," he answered, totally unfazed.
* He lies. He pushed me through 12 sets of legs and 12 sets of biceps, urging me along by dangling the carrot of the fast-approaching last set of the last exercise. Then, afterwards, he clapped me on the back in a congratulatory fashion, and tacked on 6 extra sets of abs exercises---all really hard ones, and all new to me. It was awesome. I completely stepped up. This man cannot grind me down.
* One scary thing he said: after fifty, you lose bone mass very steadily. I knew this, but assumed consistent weight training would counteract it. But he says no. He says he loses about 3% a year. I need to follow up on this. Was he quoting generic figures, or does he actually confirm this to be true? If this is true, I and many of the people I know need to get on this, hard.
I have many years of weight training behind me, so my bone mass is probably pretty dense. That is protective, but I'm going to spend the next several years building up even more. I'd like to keep my bone mass, thank you. I will need it in the world. And I have many friends who might want to hold on to theirs, too.
I think I will get great results with him.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-01-14 03:03 am (UTC)You're amazing!
no subject
Date: 2012-01-14 02:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-14 03:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-15 04:58 am (UTC)If only everyone had the enthusiasm and energy that you do!
no subject
Date: 2012-01-15 08:51 am (UTC)But yes - go you!
I don't know about the inevitability of loss of bone density. I know that several years ago it was discovered that vegan, vegetarian and omnivore women lost bone density at the same rate, but vegan women built more and faster than the others when put on a weight-bearing exercise regimen; also that a few years ago a study decided that diet and activity levels in childhood affects bone density later, and that your genes are 60-80% responsible for you later bone density. The Mayo Clinic seems to imply that regular weight-bearing exercise does indeed help to build and maintain bone density even if you start post-menopause, even if you have osteoporosis to start with. I seem to recall a study where women with osteoporosis in their 80s and 90s built significant bone density within weeks of starting a weight-bearing exercise regimen, though I'm not sure where I read it, so...
no subject
Date: 2012-01-16 10:30 pm (UTC)I just want to know the exact relationship between bone density loss and the effects of weight training.
This is a cool reminder, however, and gives me hope.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-15 04:06 pm (UTC)I hear you on the bone density thing -- I take after my mother as far as bones and teeth are concerned, and her bones are quite healthy at age 76, but my dad is an osteoporotic mess, so I won't leave anything to chance. I'm seeing my doctor tomorrow to discuss my compromised ankle and what I can do to make it better (and not to damage it further), because I need to be more active and that requires a reliable ankle.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-16 10:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-15 05:19 pm (UTC)You're my hero. I wanna be you when I grow up.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-16 10:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-17 07:13 pm (UTC)One of my goals as I grow personally is to become more like you. I admire your bravery in mastering a skill set far outside the realm of what you were indoctrinated as a child to see as desirable or even acceptable. I would like to emulate that behavior.
In addition, I would like to make friends with my body and become strong and slim like you are.
Better wording?
no subject
Date: 2012-01-17 07:40 pm (UTC)I would like to become as good a parent as you, and allow my artistic side blossom more, just as you and your whole family do.
And I would like to play more and work less, or transform my work into play.
And I seem to be making that happen...
no subject
Date: 2012-01-17 08:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-16 03:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-16 10:32 pm (UTC)