Week 6 of the 35 42Day Fall Fitness Challenge (The last week…YAH!)

I should have stopped after Week 5 because I was a little bored with the program this week.  I still met my target, but I had to load up the last day with weight training circuits, interval training and a session of intermittent fasting to do it.  I didn’t get a long walk or hike in because my cranky knee decided to act up again.  It didn’t bother me during weight training circuits (except for the constant and off-putting grinding sound), but it almost made me cut short my interval training yesterday.  Looks like a return trip to the doc is in order.

Week 6 looked like this:

Overall, I’m pleased that I stuck to the program and far exceeded my goals on most weeks.  My average weekly point total was 25.8 or 86%.  My target was 80%.  The purpose of The 35 42 Day Fall Fitness Challenge was to provide motivation during the late fall months when I have a tendency to start feeling very unmotivated to work out.  I really only had one bad week so I’d say it fulfilled its purpose.

An added benefit was that I kicked the Diet Coke habit.  I’ll have one or two per week now, but I’m not drinking them daily.  Prior to the 35 42 Day Fall Fitness Challenge I’d have at least one every day.

I’m disappointed that I only lost a couple of pounds, but that’s offset by the fact that I’m stronger and the interval training has really increased my aerobic and anaerobic fitness levels.  Of course, the main point was just to work out consistently and I’ll give myself an A on that account.

This week will be a mixed bag of weights and interval training.  I’m just going to make it up as a go along.  Next week is a recovery week, but I need to come up with some plan for the weeks after that so I can keep this going and not fall into bad habits again.

If you believe the data from this study (we’ll get to that later), it indicates that men over 50 and women over 60 with normal LDL-cholesterol levels AND elevated C-reactive protein levels who took the very expensive ($3.50 per day) statin drug rosuvastatin (Crestor) minimally reduced their risk of developing heart disease or dying of any cause as compared to those who took placebo.

CRP (C-reactive Protein) is a marker that indicates an increased level of inflammation in the body.  Higher CRP levels are correlated with greater cardiovascular risk.  Want to reduce your CRP levels naturally?  Try a high fiber diet and supplement with magnesium, Vitamin C, and Omega 3 fatty acids.  There are also reports that digestive enzymes, such as Wobenzym, could be useful.

I wasn’t aware of the incestuous relationships rampant in the study, i.e. AztraZeneca, the maker of Crestor (the drug in the study) funded the study and the lead researcher just happens to have a patent on the test for CRP which would be used to determine who would most benefit from taking Crestor.  How conveeeenient!!

Somewhere on the list of the top ten weight loss tips is the standard “eat 5-6 meals a day to increase your metabolism”.  Mike at The IF Life explains why Eating More Meals Does NOT Speed Up Your Metabolism.

I can hear all the nutritionists and trainers around the world yelling at me at once “You’re wrong”…”You’re going to crash your metabolism”…and all the other things you hear so often. But honestly folks, where did this train of thought start? Could it be originally from the bodybuilding magazine and supplement industry (a billion dollar industry!!) that preys on the fear of going into a catabolic state and wasting away muscle….so you need to buy more protein powder, bars, etc. Or could it be from one of the many newer weight loss companies making billions selling prepared or portioned out foods/bars/shakes specifically for eating 5-6x a day? Could it be this is the greatest marketing sales pitch in the diet world today? I think so!

Goji berries, spirulina and coconut oil are included on a list of Ten Superfoods.  Lists such as this can be found all over the internet, but this looks like a good one.  It also includes cacao nibs and any list that contains chocolate, in any form, is ok with me.

What makes a healthy senior citizen? According to a study published in the Journal of Gerontology, it’s not just the usual factors of using alcohol in moderation or refraining from smoking.  Also important are a positive attitude and lower stress levels.  Although it pays to be smart when you’re younger by eating a healthy diet and getting exercise, it’s never too late to start taking steps to improve your health and fitness.

An article on the study can be found at Senior Spectrum.

• Leg Extensions
• Upper Back Row
• Biceps Curl
• Triceps Push Down
• Shoulder Press
• Chest Press
• Leg Press
• Leg Curl

Each patient had their baseline Maximum Usable Strength [MUS], (defined by the authors as the maximum amount of resistance weight the patient was capable of utilizing per apparatus), tested on eight assorted resistance-training machines at the start of the study and every four weeks thereafter {Table 4}. Patients were trained to perform two sets of eight repetitions with seventy five percent [75%] of their MUS. Each repetition was performed to a count of three or four for the concentric and the eccentric phase of muscle activity. The number of repetitions in each set was progressively increased from eight to twelve. When the larger number of repetitions became more easily managed and as improvement in strength permitted, the resistance was gradually increased…….No organized effort was made to improve aerobic exercise ability, balance, flexibility, or the nutritional habits of the patients.

At the end of the 12 week period, the patients had their MUS retested and there was significant improvement as the table below indicates.

Maximum Usable Strength

Average Percentage Improvement for Group over Baseline

An additional positive aspect of this pilot study was the paucity of falls occurring in the study group compared to national data. During the training phase and an 18-month follow-up period there were only 3 falls and no fractures among this frail high-risk senior group even though it is estimated that more than one-third of people over 65 have a fall each year.

That these results were achieved with only two sets of 12 repetitions twice per week is amazing to me.  Granted these were patients who were frail and untrained and some improvement in strength was to be expected, but four sets of 12 repetitions weekly is not all the much.  A patient whose original MUS was 10 pounds on the chest press would be pushing close to 20 pounds after 12 weeks.  That might not seem like much until you consider that the average age of the subjects was 77 years old and all had pronounced muscle weakness at the beginning of the program.

At eighteen months, most of the patients who completed the program have continued to engage in a higher level of physical activity than they did prior to starting the program.

A press release on the study was posted at Market Watch and the study abstract can be found at the Nifty After Fifty web site.

This week I put Week 4 behind me and moved on to Week 5.  I also decided to extend the challenge for another week mainly because I haven’t figured out what to replace it with.

To get right to the results:

I made a couple of changes for the sake of variety, such as dropping one of my intermittent fasts this week.  I had enough points to reach my target goal without doing a second fast and I think it’s a good idea to mix them up by varying their duration and frequency.  I also did a hike that included enough hills that I felt justified including it as an additional interval training session.

It was actually an easy week.  My energy levels and mood were good and, although I had to talk myself into starting a couple of sessions, once I got going I was fine.  I increased the weight on some of my lifts and could tell the difference.  I repeated Tabata dumbbell thrusters as one of my interval training sessions.

I’ll be visiting family for nine days starting November 24^th and intend to use that time as a break from weight training although I plan on walking or doing a couple of interval training sessions.  So I may very well extend the 35 42 Day Fall Fitness Challenge to a total of 49 days.

I’m not sure what I’ll do when I return from vacation.  Maybe I’ll get some kettlebells or maybe I’ll do all bodyweight training.  There are a lot of options and I don’t have a clue at this point.

• Women who increased their activity level by an additional 3,500 steps a day lost 5 pounds during the year.
• Men who added that many steps lost 8½ pounds in a year.
• The exercisers who did the most - 60 minutes, six days a week - decreased their belly fat by 10% to 20%.
• Those same exercisers trimmed 10% to 15% of their overall body fat without losing muscle mass.

The participants were between the ages of 40 to 75 and were not required to follow a diet plan nor given any other exercise advice.  I imagine the addition of weight training and/or interval training would have increased the weight loss.  The reduction of belly fat is encouraging given its nasty effects on the liver and contribution to blood sugar and cholesterol problems.

Here’s a good video that speaks to the limitations of the Body Mass Index (BMI) for determining obesity.  Brad Pilon is the author of Eat Stop Eat which is a great eBook on intermittent fasting (IF).  I have a copy and recommend his book for anyone looking for information on IF or who might be considering it as part of a weight loss or health improvement plan.

Beta-alanine supplementation in elderly men and women may provide physical fitness improvements comparable to changes resulting from moderate endurance training according to a report in MedPage Today.  Beta-alanine is an amino acid which can increase carnosine levels in muscle tissue.  This has implications for increasing exercise endurance, strength and capacity.

The participants received 800mg of beta-alanine three times per day for three months.  At the end of the study they were re-tested for physical working capacity improvement on an exercise bike.  Over two thirds of those supplemented demonstrated significant improvement.

Do I think supplementing with beta-alanine is a substitute for exercise?  No, I don’t.  We know that exercise has additional benefits such as enhancing insulin sensitivity, improving body composition and reducing stress.  But here’s the important point.  Seniors and elderly people who exercise are less prone to falls and more able to live independently.  If supplementing with beta-alanine is able to mimic some of the benefits of exercise for this age group, it could very well be useful for that reason alone.

Pick the Brain has a great article on the power of limiting beliefs (How to Beat the Plague of Limiting Beliefs).  Too often we use self-limiting beliefs that have no basis in fact or are remnants of childhood to prevent us from trying new things or improving our lives.  And, yes, these self-limiting beliefs can even have an impact on our health and fitness.

Have you ever heard someone say they’re too old, too overweight, too out of shape, too tired, too busy to exercise?  How about too addicted to nicotine or sugar to make lifestyle changes that would positively affect them?

Physical limitations are not usually the culprit in making positive changes in our lives.  The limiting factor is that tape that’s playing in your head.  The one that says “I can’t” or “maybe” or “someday”.  There is no someday.  There is only today.

I mentioned in my last post that I had received the results of my latest blood test.  If you’ve read Time to Get Serious, Part 1, you’ll know that back in the summer a routine blood test revealed that my triglycerides, cholesterol and blood glucose were extremely out of whack.  That’s indicative of metabolic syndrome and not a good thing.

My doctor decided to raise my Lipitor from 10mg/day to 20mg and added another medication for my high triglycerides.  My fasting blood sugar was in the low 150’s and, since my blood glucose results had been in the pre-diabetic or impaired range for a couple of years, this was a concern to her.

These results forced me to re-evaluate my diet and exercise and I’ve adhered really well to the revisions I made to both.  I’ve had a couple of slip ups.  Halloween candy for one.  One week where I didn’t meet my exercise goals for another.  Overall, however, I’m pleased with my progress and my ability to stick with the program.

Those efforts have paid off as the results of my October blood test demonstrate.  There was a wholesale improvement across the board.  My cholesterol and triglycerides are now within the normal range even though I never took that additional medication for the triglycerides that the doctor prescribed.  My blood glucose is much better although it’s still registering slightly into the impaired range.

I can’t explain the drop in my HDL especially since I hadn’t been exercising before the July blood draw and I had prior to the October blood draw.  Exercise typically increases HDL levels which is good.  Higher HDL levels are beneficial because HDL transports excess cholesterol out of the bloodstream and into the liver for disposal.

We didn’t test for A1c so I have no idea how much that may have improved.  I suspect it did, but I obviously can’t prove it.  Next time I’ll make sure we get that data, also.

There were only two changes I made in the time between the blood tests.  One was increasing my dosage of Lipitor.  I won’t discount that that played some part in the improvement of my cholesterol levels, but it would have had no effect on my blood sugar.

The other change was dietary.  Namely,

1. No junk.
2. Minimize packaged and processed food.
3. Drastically lower carbs; get most carb calories from vegetables and low glycemic fruits.
4. Increase lean protein and fat.
5. Use targeted fasts to decrease overall caloric load and improve insulin sensitivity.

There is no doubt in my mind that altering my diet had a great deal to do with my improved results.  I’ve exercised in the past with no such improvements.  I’ve been taking the same supplements for years with no impact on cholesterol or blood sugar.

My plan is to maintain the dietary guidelines at least through the next blood test and then consider reducing my Lipitor back to the 10mg/day level.  I need to keep working to reduce my blood glucose into the normal range.  Specifically what additional steps I’ll take to do that, I’m not sure yet.  At least I’ve proven to myself that what I do CAN make a difference and that’s success I can build on.

Week 4 officially sucked.  There’s no other way to put it.  I was grumpy, depressed and cranky most of the week and I still don’t know why.  Work was stressful.  I’m sure that had something to do with it.  I worked very late Friday and missed my interval training because of it.

In addition to the Friday interval training session, I skipped a weight training session on Saturday.  I had the time to do it, I just didn’t have the inclination.

I drank a Diet Coke on four straight days.  I felt hungrier than normal on my intermittent fasting days.  With the mood I was in, I didn’t have much mental reserve to deal with the hunger.  I managed a 21 and an 18 hour fast, but was very tempted to throw in the towel on both of them.

After doing really well with my eating choices for weeks, I fell prey to the temptation of Halloween candy.  Of course, to make matters worse, I beat myself up over it.

Here are the results for the week.  I didn’t meet my goal of 24 points and by the end of the week I didn’t really care if I did.

I’ve had a couple of days to think about things and my perspective today is better than it was last week.  I realize I had three very good weeks to offset one bad week. Maybe I needed to back off some last week.  Maybe I was grumpy because I wasn’t getting enough sleep.  Maybe I just needed a couple of extra days off.

I also found a helpful post on motivation Sunday.  With my motivation lacking and my attitude doing me no favors, I needed something to right the ship.

“Of course there are outside stimulants and things we each react to, but ultimately, the motivation that drives us to do anything comes from within us.

You always have a choice.  A choice in how you react emotionally as well as physically.  You can shy away from new things or embrace them and get excited about learning something new.  That choice is where most people’s motivation stems from.  It is not outside factors, prizes, rewards or punishment that gives us motivation.  Rather, it’s the decision we each make in response to these factors that determines whether or not we are motivated to proceed.“

So my choice Sunday was to get off my self-flagellating butt and go outside for interval training HIIT sprints and end Week Four on a positive note. I did two extra hill sprints and then went for a walk that lasted over an hour along the levees on San Francisco Bay.  The walk helped me clear my head and improved my mood.

The effect of my mood change has already carried over into Week Five’s training.  I expect this week’s results to be much better than those from Week Four.  In addition, my doctor called to tell me that the results from my latest blood work were very good.  That gave me a boost and let me know I’m on the right track with my diet, Halloween candy notwithstanding.  I’m waiting to receive a copy of the results in the mail so I can do a post on them.

Week Four is in the books even if it wasn’t what I had intended.  I need to forget about it and concentrate on getting back on track in Week Five.

We start off today with an interesting post about fat oxidation from Sam at the KC Kettlebell Club .  He reports on several studies that indicate that high intensity interval training (HIIT) is more effective for improving VO2max, fat oxidation and body composition than lower intensity endurance training.  This held true even when the endurance training group burned more calories overall.

“A keystone study in the debate of endurance training (ET) versus high intensity interval training (HIIT) where two groups, one endurance training [ET] group (men and women alike) trained for 20 weeks at 78% heart rate max, the other, a HIIT group (men and women) trained for 15 weeks. It was noted that the ET group burned around twice as many calories as the HIIT group overall. However, the HIIT group had a 9 TIMES greater reduction in adipose tissue (fat) than the ET group.”

I wish he had provided a link to the studies so I could read them directly.  There’s always something interesting and geeky about reading the results straight from the researchers’ report. He has a picture of those cool colored kettlebells on his home page so I’ll forgive him for not including the links.

Speaking of kettlebells, I found a nice site run by personal trainer Lauren Brooks. The self described Kettlebell Queen has demonstration videos you can view at YouTube. Like this one:

I’m starting to get the itch to try kettlebells because I’ve never used them before and I like shiny new things.  Routine in most things in life is comforting to me, but in my workouts I’m the complete opposite.  I have to have variety or I go nuts.

From kettlebells to slosh tubes. I’d never heard of a slosh tube before.  Mark at Mark’s Daily Apple enlightened me with this post.

A slosh tube is a large PVC pipe filled with water and capped on the ends.  Although it’s a decidedly low tech piece of exercise equipment, it looks very effective.

“the beauty of the slosh tube - the slightest imbalance sends the water sloshing to the opposite end of the tube. Weight isn’t just mass/poundage; it’s also based on momentum. Correcting that imbalance, fighting that momentum, is incredibly taxing on your core.”

Mark provides instructions on making your own slosh tube.  Believe me, it’s so simple even I could make one without hurting myself.

Another thing I learned this week:  this is a Tabata Dumbbell Thruster.

The Tabata protocol is 20 seconds of activity followed by 10 seconds of rest for eight rounds.  She makes it look easy (it’s not) AND she’s using 35 pound dumbbells!

I’ve done seated overhead shoulder presses with 20-23 pound dumbbells so I figured I’d have NO problem doing Tabata Dumbbell Thrusters with 8 pound dumbbells and I didn’t.  At least not for the first three rounds.  After that I had to alternate doing the Tabata Dumbbell Thrusters with rounds of air squats which look something like this.  Although, in my case, not as low or as fast.

I love that video just for the music alone!

If Tabata Thrusters seem a little too advanced for you, check out Rene Burton’s senior exercise videos.  Her program, It’s Never Too Late ^TM,  is “dedicated to developing senior health and fitness through strength exercises”.  Designed for people over the age of 55, it is ideal for those who are less active or have not exercised consistently.

I’m thinking of getting a set of the DVDs for my sister who has balance and mobility issues.  I think they would be beneficial for her.  Thanks to the blog Healthy Aging for the head’s up on Rene Burton.

That’s the roundup for this week.  Have a good one!

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.

Luckily, I had a Shiatsu massage scheduled for Saturday morning.  I thought that would help my legs recover, but by Saturday afternoon it was obvious that this would not be the miracle cure.  That’s not because Shiatsu sucks; it’s because my legs were really THAT BAD!

I managed an upper body weight training circuit Saturday evening.  Legs were out of the question.  I didn’t even attempt them and that made the circuits a little less intense.  No intensity points for the workout, but at least I got the session in.  I was determined not to skip it and felt successful that I was able to devise a weight training circuit which minimized lower body involvement while still providing a decent workout.

Sunday:  OMGx2!!!  I practically crawl out of bed and the first 20 steps are torture until my calves loosen up a little.  I have an interval training session scheduled for today and I seriously consider skipping it.  There’s no way I can run hills.  No…way….in….hell!

The more I shuffle around, though, the better my legs feel.  It’s inactivity which makes them seize up and feel very much like concrete blocks, except concrete blocks do not feel pain.  I decide I can at least go for a walk.  Maybe that will work the kinks out.

Before I’m even out the front door, the walk has changed into “maybe I can run”.  By the time I get to the levees where I’m going to do my interval training, I’m trying to figure out a way I can do some “light intervals” as if there is such a thing.  Obviously, I did not learn the lesson from my hike, that lesson being to take it easy sometimes and not push to the end of my limits.

I arrive at the levees and start walking.  After about 5 minutes, my legs are feeling pretty good so I run for two minutes.  Then I walk for a minute.  Hmmm, this isn’t so bad.  I’m not sprinting like I normally do during intervals, but I’m running hard enough that it’s an effort.  With the recovery time half that of the work part of the interval, this could work out ok.

Again, I run 2 minutes/walk 1.  Still not bad.  The legs feel good as long as I’m moving.  Now I’m committed to doing my normal six intervals.  Since I can’t perform them at my usual intensity, maybe I’ll even tack on a few extra ones.   A small voice in my head screams, “Are you an idiot?  You could barely walk when you got out of bed.”

After arguing with the voice during the next couple of intervals, I compromise with it.  Seven intervals will bring me to a total of 20 minutes for the interval training session.  I like round numbers.  I like them very much.  Seven intervals it is!

All of this brings me to the final results for Week 3.  I did very well beating my goal of 24 points again.

I will hike Mission Peak again, but I’ll slow down, take more breaks on the way up AND down, and cut the hike short if I need to.  I didn’t do any of those things Friday because I was totally focused on the summit.  Single-mindedness is not always a good thing.

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.

Courtesy of James Wilson, this is how I prefer to approach exercise.

While Nordic Walking is a great exercise for anyone, it has particular benefits for seniors because it utilizes walking poles which improve balance and posture.  Some older people have issues with balance and may be reluctant to participate in a walking program.  Nordic Walking can remove some of that trepidation while increasing cardiovascular fitness, core and upper body strength, and provide weight bearing activity that reduces the risk of osteoporosis.

I’m not familiar with the Exerstrider poles mentioned in the press release, but they seem reasonably priced compared to others.  I’m seriously considering a pair as my reward for successful completion of my 35 Day Fall Fitness Challenge.

There’s something special about a blog called Cranky Fitness.  The home page is currently decorated with pictures of cupcakes and marshmallows. If you’re so tempted by the pictures that you can’t read some of the witty posts, just repeat after me “sugar is poison”.  That’s it.  Again.  Say it again, “sugar is poison”.  Then read High Intensity Intervals for the Rest of Us or any of the other cranky posts.

And keep repeating “sugar is poison” until next week’s roundup.