Death, I am a personal trainer. I can say that I would suggest balancing it, with slightly more emphasis on the weight lifting. The cardio that you should be doing that you are over 40 are things that are easy on the joints. Avoid treadmills, go more for the elliptical route. Any other questions feel free to ask me.
as per what i read in your first post death - the article is merely saying that you need to keep your heart healthy above all else, which is true. though weight training is also essential, cardio is the foundation of fitness. weight training will keep your muscles strong for simple functions (or complex), cardio keeps your main organ strong.
Thanks. I have a gym at work but also joined Gold's for the pool. The cardio is all elliptical, stationary bike, and swimming. Both my knees are shot, so I gave up the treadmill long ago.
Speaking of knees, am I doing any damage by doing lower body weightlifting? My left one is surgically repaired, but my right knee has a 22 year old torn ACL, and a torn lateral and medial meniscus. I can lift just fine without pain, but I can't do nearly as much weight as I used to be able to.
Just because you aren't experiencing any pain doesn't mean you are still hurting it...Don't worry about throwing around big weight, leave that to the young guys (myself included) who are damaging their body trying to lift heavy and put alot of pressure on joints. Bottom line is dont worry about how much your lifting. The program I am actually using with my clients now is that of high reps and alot of supersets. It is a program that a pro football team used a few years back--and it is all done without squatting!
The WORST thing you can do is to stop lifting legs altogether. Keep hitting the legs hard. Absolutely NO squats of any type, but utilize the leg extensions (good for building tendon strength) and leg curls (seated and lying). Hit the calves with plenty of reps also. Do the leg press with light weight. Instead of regular presses, do a set of 10 where a rep would look like this: Pump, Pump, Press. Meaning just bring it down all the way, pump it halfway up (half rep only) twice in a row, then the third rep would be a full press. So 2 pumps and 1 full rep = 1 rep. Do 10-12.
Mix it up with different angles such as wide grip and close grip. When doing the leg press, point the toes outward slightly to ensure that stress will be taken off the knees/joints. Dont focus on the heavy weight, but rather on the "burn".
Anything else let me know and I'll try to help. Also just a little tidbit. People say "anything is better than sitting on the couch". Bullshit. Devote 30-45 mintues per day working out hard, working up a nice sweat and lather, then you are making progress.
IMO Protein is crucial to build muscle. However it depends on whats in the formula/on the label. I just switched over to using Gaspari Myofusion--tastes declicious and has a great profile. I would still recommend taking it after the aerobic workout, although it is not as essential as it is when taking it post-weight training.
Try this leg routine tomorrow and let me know what you think...Do everything in succession (1 exercise after another dont stop until u get thru full "set" of all exercises). Probably the simplest leg routine, but works.
Leg Workout:
Pump/Pump/Press on Leg Machine x 10 reps regular stance.
Close stance leg press x 12-15
Leg Extension machine x 15
Leg curl Machine x 15
Calf Raise machine x as many as possible
Take a long 5-8 minute break
Repeat and do 4 total sets of this.
Do one exercise after another, and do not rest until u finish the calf raises THEN you can break. One time through is 1 full set.
Enjoy and drink plenty of fluids. Have a nice drive home as the legs wont want to use the pedals.
I'm on my way to work. I'll do that workout today.
Here is the protein powder that I use: http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/hfit/egg.htm
I appreciate your time. This is quite informative.
Here is the protein powder that I use: http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/hfit/egg.htm
I appreciate your time. This is quite informative.
Good post and I especially agree about caution against squats, but wanted to add a caution against unlimited calf raises. I have run and trained many miles and recovered from calf, hammy, groin, and ankle and achilles injuries in multiples. Though calves have good healing blood flow and are generally indestructible and heal quickly, (groin, hammy, and achilles are death with no happy crackers) unlimited reps invite trouble, not so much in younger legs, but more so in older trainers, especially during the next workout. You can feel the 'black oxygen' limit and that is when to stop if you want to continue a weekly routine. Also wanted to add that couch potato workouts are better than nothing; repeated leg lifts combined into slow yoga stretches are a productive use of widscreen gametimes despite the industry scare tactics against improper warmups and the metabolism of alcohol.
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I'm not Superchuck but I can help you with your upper body workouts. You obviously have four minute speed in chasing down HiPockets with a West Virginia numbnuts cover post ( cover posts are mostly a gang/ site/ political tactic to hide and bury a previous poster's words). My upper body exercise advice is to windmill your arms to stimulate brain blood flow where you can understand that gang-chasing every last unpopular poster away from the RX is short term termite death logic- that eating the joists from your house makes the roof fall down.
