Tuesday, November 5, 2013

"I Started About A Year And A Half Ago"

Inspirational, at a time when I need some inspiration to push away from the computer. 


Just calisthenics using the weight of one's own body.  The way it has been done since ancient Greece.  Google 'calisthenics' for some good instructions.  Military.com Fitness Center also has very good information.

He started about a year and a half ago.  I started this morning.  Pass the Tylenol.

30 comments:

ndspinelli said...

You should watch Rocky for inspiration.

Do you think the regimen made this guy gay, or was he gay prior?

Michael Haz said...

He's Italian, so he was probably born that way.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Fantastic! Good for him and good for you too Mr. Haz.

I can't argue with his results but I'd like to add my own two cents which is that what he's doing is VERY advanced stuff. Doable, with practice, certainly. But still very advanced.

Nobody has to strictly follow his recommendation to take "an hour or two" every day to reclaim your health and fitness.

As an experiment, I started my stopwatch, got up from my desk, dropped my trousers and did 30 air squats. When I sat back down at my desk, I'd spent a grand total of 2 minutes and 5 seconds.

It took longer than that to type out this comment.

BTW, I got my heart rate up to 126 bpm.

It really doesn't take all that much to get back into shape.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

When I started, I couldn't do one pullup. Not one.

Last night I did 12, 10 and 8 and then finished up with bent-over rows, 3 sets of 12.

When did I start? I really don't recall, but maybe a year and a half ago. Maybe a little more.

bagoh20 said...

I've been waiting for them to invent a pill to avoid this, but so far nothing. Yea, it's time to start plan B.

bagoh20 said...

By next summer I want to be so hot that I'll be enticed to touch myself again. The passion has been gone for years.

john said...

I saw Sandra Bullock do that. She makes it look effortless.

Trooper York said...

Well now that you won't be watching football you will have a lot of time on your hands.

deborah said...

As a short female, 5'2", I want to avoid bulking up, so would like to start Pilates (pih LAW teez). It is based on strengthening the core and doing exercises that lengthen the muscles. For example a scissor-type action, rather than squats-type.

basic core

Calypso Facto said...

I saw Sandra Bullock do that. She makes it look effortless.

You saw Sandra touch herself? I know Gravity is all about loneliness and space, but I wasn't aware that type of "final frontier" was explored!

Icepick said...

Eric the Fruit Bat with the inspiration.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

(1) If I can do it, just about anybody can do it.

(2) Trooper, have you started yet? Better late than never. No time like the present, and all that.

(3) Deborah. Do whatever works for you. That said, there's a WHOLE LOT of information on the internet about the myth of a lady "bulking up."

If you can get too muscular from doing squats you are a genetically gifted woman and part of a tiny fraction of the general population.

Squats are unquestionably one of the finest whole-body exercises, if not the finest whole-body exercise. Look it up.

No bodyweight execise is better for a woman. If you eventually get "too bulky" you can always stop but you should have that problem. Seriously.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Here. THIS should get you started.

Icepick said...

Eric, you mean watching that woman do air squats will get me started? Cool!

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

She's got nice teeth.

Michael Haz said...

I have two female friends who started body-weight bases fitness programs.

A 50 year old mother of four began about five years ago. An hour or so every morning except Sunday. She has lost about 40 pounds and is svelte and muscular. She looks 40, at most. Gorgeous.

The second is a friend a the health club. She is in her early 60s and looks 45, tops. Lean and strong, she has pronounced but not bulky muscles. She's petite, maybe a size 0, but started as a size 10.

Apart from their good looks, what is most apparent is their ability to enjoy life like a much younger person would. They hike, bike, run and take on challenges they would not have done five or ten years ago.

For women bodyweight exercise adds muscle, but not bulk.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

To follow up on Mr. Haz's 12:03, I'd like to recount something said by the late, great Jack LaLanne.

He said that your waistline is your lifeline. Getting a fat midsection is not a natural part of getting older. Eat right and get regular exercise and you can have the same waist measurement you had in your twenties.

But more to Michael's point, when you do squats, you strengthen muscle, sure, but you lose more in fat. The end result is a sleeker appearance and you just might end up with the kind of butt that turns heads, if you're lucky.

Jack LaLanne put it this way: He said the bathroom scale is not the final judge. It's body composition that matters because body fat weighs less for volume than muscle (muscle is more dense)and so fat takes up more space on body.

If you take 30 pounds of fat, and you replace it with 30 pounds of muscle, you have made a world of difference but you weigh the exact same thing.

deborah said...

Michael, Eric, thanks, I'm psyched.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Amazing.

Keep us posted Hazman

Darcy said...

Really cool. I need to do much, much more strength training. I just never get there after my run.

I think the race I signed up for in April (running up stairs) will force me to do more than just run.

Good luck, Michael! Always interested in staying strong/getting stronger.

ndspinelli said...

I have had real bad sciatic pain to go w/ my bulging cervical disc pain. I learned yesterday it is not lumbar spine related, which made my year. It still hurts like hell but physical therapy and cortisone should do it. However, while I'm in good cardio shape from walking over 5 miles a day, my core is horseshit. Core training is in the future. I'll never look like this guy, however.

Michael Haz said...

Nick, the cortisone shot is a miracle. I've had two in my back. You'll feel great in a couple of days. And a good physical therapist will give you a plan to get rid of the sciatica without surgery.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Get some 5 and 10lb Kettle bells and one 6 to 8 lb medicine ball - you can use while watching TV at night. You will be surprised how they help your upper body strength.

Michael Haz said...

As an experiment, I started my stopwatch, got up from my desk, dropped my trousers and did 30 air squats

Just curious.....do you work in an office office or a home office?

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Office office.

When my door is closed there are no walk-ins.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

If I'm working from home and feel the need for some physical activity, I'll go down to the basement, usually, or maybe outside, sometimes.

Darcy said...

Nick,
Hope you get some relief soon. I can attest to the effectiveness of core strengthening for disc problems. Physical therapy/core strengthening worked for me and I was sure that I was facing surgery and only tried it as a last resort (the doctor did not think either would help).

bagoh20 said...

Eric, You don't need to drop your drawers every time you get up. Despite what your friends have told you, most activities don't require that.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

When I work out in the basement, it's in my underpants.

How it got in my underpants, I'll never know.

Michael Haz said...

Carrie Underwood does squats.