boomerhealthandfitness.com

Friday:  I knocked out a hike which also counted as my interval training.  I hadn’t gone on a strenuous hike in a few weeks and thought I was up to tackling a local peak, Mission Peak in Fremont, CA.

Mission Peak rises steeply for 2200 feet and there is no easy way to the top.  The official park brochure recommends a five hour round trip for the 5.6 mile hike.  I made it up in two hours.  Once I reached the summit, I spent a little time resting, having a snack and swatting gnats before I started back down.  If it weren’t for the gnats, I probably would have stayed longer.

The descent is almost as bad as the ascent because of the steepness.  It’s really a killer on the legs and I felt some hot spots developing on my feet.  After about another 1.5 hours, I was back at my car in the parking lot, but my legs were toast and I knew they’d be sore later.

When I got home, I iced my feet and didn’t see any blisters.  Yeah!  But my legs were already starting to tell me they were not happy about all the activity.  Boooooo!  I sat in the tub for a while before bed hoping the Epsom salts and baking soda would act as a magic potion.

Saturday:  OMG!!!  My calves were killing me.  They didn’t bother me at ALL on the hike yesterday so this was a total surprise.  Instead I expected my quads and hamstrings to be hurting.  My quads were a little sore and stiff, but manageable and the hammies felt fine. Continue Reading »

How did I miss it? I just found out that October is National Apple Month.  Out of all the absolutely ridiculous holidays and special days, months, whatever (did you know that October 26^th, when I actually started writing this, is/was Mule Day?), why didn’t the apple growers of the good, old USA do a little advertising?  I would have celebrated National Apple Month in style if I had known.  Instead, I munched on my almost daily apple in decidedly uncelebratory fashion.  Damn!

Enjoy the rest of National Apple Month and don’t say no one told you that October 28^th is both Plush Animal Lover’s Day AND National Chocolate Day.  Now that’s a day to look forward to!

From the Duhhhhh Category, being overweight or obese can be detrimental to your hips and knees.  A news release from the American College of Rheumatology reveals some of the findings from a decade long study in Sweden.

“Being overweight, particularly if you have a higher than average body mass index, may increase your risk for developing severe osteoarthritis (OA) in your hips and knees…

In this study, which is the largest and the first that compares the effect of different measures of body mass on the risk of severe OA over time in the knees and hips of both men and women in the same population, investigators also demonstrated that the risk increase of developing severe OA is more strongly related to increased joint loading due to being overweight than to the metabolic changes associated with being overweight or obese (such as, increased CRP and metabolic syndrome).”

The development of OA can lead to knee and hip replacement surgery.  Yet another reason to stay fit and maintain a healthy body weight, but I think we already knew this one.

I’m all for multitasking, but I draw the line at working out WHILE I’m in a meeting.  Others, however, do not appear to share my disillusionment.  The Buffalo News reports on Innovations In Fitness, including a walking conference at the Nativity of Mary School.  The teachers actually participate in their staff meetings while chugging away on ellipticals and treadmills.

I especially like the Healthy Living Support Center that features a Bike Room Movie night where exercisers can watch movies and eat popcorn while pedaling a bike.  While some exercise is better than none, there’s something inherently wrong about eating popcorn while using an exercise bike.

Personally, I don’t want to be distracted during my workout which is why I primarily work out alone at home or run by myself.  The only company I want is music and sometimes not even that.  I don’t want to just go through the motions.  I want to concentrate on what I’m doing.  Multitasking while exercising is an “innovation” I just don’t find that appealing. Continue Reading »

Week Two was another great week!  It’s difficult to believe it’s only week two.  I feel like I’ve been doing this for a month already.  I hope that’s not a bad sign that I’m doing too much and am about to flame out.

Tonight I almost skipped my weight training circuits because I felt worn down.  Not really tired, just out of energy.  I had a cup of coffee, but I don’t think it made much difference.  I made it through the workout ok and felt that it was intense.  I increased the amount of weight I used.  I did bench pushups instead of kneeling pushups.  I just felt that I wasn’t in the game mentally and that all the exercises were harder than they should have been.

I had four really intense workouts the previous four days so I think I’ll take tomorrow off.  Maybe I’ll do some stretching or light yoga, but I’m going to reschedule my intervals for the day after tomorrow.

Now on to my results from last week, Week 2.  Here they are.

Continue Reading »

It’s Weekly Roundup time!!

I’m starting off first with this article from the Boston Globe entitled Baby boomer deaths could fuel funeral industry. As a Boomer, that headline pisses me off.  Funeral directors expect us to be a windfall for their industry.  I know that everyone has to make a living and funeral directors provide a valuable service, but it feels a little ghoulish knowing that they’re waiting for us to die off.  I don’t know about you, but I intend to make them wait as long as I possibly can.  That means eating right, exercising, reducing stress and having fun.  So take that you funeral directors!

On a more positive note, there’s this article from MedicineNet.com, Aerobics Can Reverse Mental Decline in Older Adults.

“As people age, a deterioration of white and gray matter in certain areas of the brain can cause cognitive decline, Kramer explained. He reviewed published research and found that several studies showed that regular moderate exercise that makes a person breathless increases the speed and sharpness of thought, the actual volume of brain tissue, and the way in which the brain functions.

These benefits have been noted in people with Alzheimer’s disease as well as in those with no signs of progressive brain disease, Kramer wrote in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Some studies found that six months of aerobic exercise reversed age-related decline and that older adults’ brains retained plasticity — the capacity to grow and develop. Other studies showed that adults with higher levels of physical fitness had less evidence of deterioration in gray matter (involved in thinking) than less fit peers.”

So if you needed another excuse to get and stay fit, there it is. Continue Reading »

I think I have my table problems resolved for the time being.  Here are the results by day and category for Week 1.  Can I get another big Woo-Hoo?

Week One of my 35 Day Fall Fitness Challenge is over and how did I do?  I did GREAT!!  See for yourself.

Well, you really can’t see because I’m having problems importing my table, but I scored 27 out of 30 points for 90%.  Trust me.  As soon as I can get the table thing figured out I will show you the results.

I don’t know if I’ll continue to score 90%.  The first week of any new endeavor is full of anticipation and commitment.  I was determined to do well last week and I knew I had to at least meet my target score of 80%.  Otherwise, I would have felt pretty stupid about my last post where I laid all this out and whined about possibly falling back into my annual fall/winter workout lethargy.

My 35 Day Challenge definitely motivated me.  I used heavier weights in my weight training circuits.  I did full ‘manly’ pushups for half my reps instead of doing a full set of kneeling pushups.  Ok my range of motion wasn’t great, but I accomplished what I wanted by increasing the intensity and my strength along with it.

I usually have no trouble pushing myself during my interval cardio sessions, but I pushed even harder last week.  I did one sprinting session and two interval workouts on the stationary bike including one killer workout that incorporated the Tabata protocol. Continue Reading »

I’m back after a two week layoff.  The first week was a planned “off”  week.  The second week was unplanned, but the result of a commitment to a side job and a couple of days of feeling a little under the weather.  At least I did manage to get in a weight training session and some hill intervals followed up with a long walk in that time period.  Now I’m back in the routine.

Since fall has arrived with the days getting shorter and the weather getting worse (well, I really don’t have THAT excuse in California….it’s not like I live in the Snowbelt), I decided I needed to embark on a fitness challenge of some type.  That two week layoff had me worried that I could easily slip into my fall/winter workout doldrums.

There are about 80 days until January 1^st and that seemed like a long time frame for a challenge so I decided to do a 35 day challenge.  That works out to be a nice, even five weeks. Continue Reading »

Ok so I missed a couple of Weekly Roundups, but I do have a few things for you this week.

Even if you’re not into gadgets, Sportline recently introduced two new fitness pedometers called Qlip and TraQ that are worth looking at. They’re unique since they do not have to be worn on the hip and they function in multiple positions.

Qlip appears to track the usual pedometer variables like steps taken, distance, duration, and calories burned. TraQ does that and more. It includes a 7 day workout memory recall, the ability to set daily and weekly goals, a stopwatch and pacer, and a real time clock and alarm.

While there are cheaper pedometers on the market, I think these are reasonably priced at under $40 each. The TraQ is only $5 more than the Qlip. With the added functionality, I think that’s a bargain.

Looking for some body weight cardio circuits? Craig Ballantyne has a new YouTube Video.

If you want something a little less strenuous, try this one.

Continue Reading »