A quick check-in on my path to getting healthier.
Winter was a little rough, I didn’t get out to walk like I had been since it was fucking cold all the time and often snowing and/or raining (like today, cold and snow on the ground). Short days, with extended periods of darkness make me lethargic and when I feel that way it is hard to keep from gobbling down everything in sight. I can say with some confidence that I didn’t really gain any weight back but I also didn’t really continue to lose weight and my conditioning suffered.
At the beginning of March we decided to invest in a membership at the local YMCA (local being 25 minutes away) and I have been hitting the weights usually every other day. Mostly I walk the elevated track for 5-10 minutes to get the blood flowing and then workout on the machines for 30-40 minutes and then cool down on the track for 5-10 minutes. I try to get in at least 45 minutes of exercise, today I did a solid hour between walking and lifting.
My biggest challenge is trying to remember that:
a) I am 50 years old, not 20
b) No one cares what setting I am lifting on
In my mind I am still the kid in high school who could bench press double my body weight but that isn’t going to happen now so I try to work more reps at a reasonable weight setting instead of trying to impress people who aren’t paying attention anyway and hurting myself. I am definitely significantly stronger than I was at the beginning of the month but I have a long way to go. I am not worried as much about losing weight at this stage, and more concerned with just getting stronger.
It can be tough to make myself take the time, especially when I spend 50 minutes round-trip driving to workout for the same amount of time, but fortunately my work schedule allows me to commit that time during the day when it tends to be a lot quieter at the Y. I also try to remind myself with this:
I have never regretted making the time to workout but I have often regretted it when I don’t.
Simple as that. Every day you get stronger or weaker, especially in the latter stages of middle-age.
It also helps to see stuff like this:
Who knew that not being a fat lazy fuck was LITERAL FASCISM!
Earlier this month, researchers reported that a network of online “fascist fitness” chat groups on the encrypted platform Telegram are recruiting and radicalizing young men with neo-Nazi and white supremacist extremist ideologies. Initially lured with health tips and strategies for positive physical changes, new recruits are later invited to closed chat groups where far-right content is shared.
Physical fitness has always been central to the far right. In “Mein Kampf,” Hitler fixated on boxing and jujitsu, believing they could help him create an army of millions whose aggressive spirit and impeccably trained bodies, combined with “fanatical love of the fatherland,” would do more for the German nation than any “mediocre” tactical weapons training.
So you can join the far-right where we believe in fitness and health, physical and mental, or you can join the fatty far left and be this:
Wow, fat and insane. Awfully tempting!
Huh, I think I will choose to be as fit as possible and try to avoid dropping dead from being a lard ass with an enlarged heart at 42.
The MSNBC article ended with this:
The realm of online fitness now provides a new and ever-expanding market for reaching and radicalizing young men; and it requires our targeted focus and resources to try and stop the cycle.
I believe that is absolutely true and young White men especially are very open to the ideas of the “far-right”. When you look at the world they are inheriting and the state of most young White boys and men, there is a real opportunity here. The elites offer them a world of being fat and unhealthy, lonely losers who live for porn, weed and video games, cowering in fear of being called names and blamed for things that other people do to themselves. We need to offer them an alternative that is healthy. You feel a lot better after an hour of working out than you do after an hour of playing video games. I am quite confident that if young White men and women would spend more time exercising, their need for anti-depressants would plummet. That is certainly another reason why this scares the Left.
Sure I am not getting in shape just to give the finger to the Left but it is a nice bit of icing on the cake.
More to come.
I have invested in a home gym, treadmill, free weight rack, dumb-bells, kettle bells, universal machine and sometimes all 4 members of the family use it in one day. I am also over 50 and doing more reps is the way to go, whenever I go for max weight, I wind up with a self-inflicted injury, back or shoulder usually. Tried running on the treadmill for a few months but just ended up with knee pain so now walk at a brisk pace with the incline. I'm 5,11 and started my journey 3 years ago at 220 got down to 185 but now seem to be leveled off at 195. No longer eating french fries or drinking any soda, still drink alcohol though.
Of course, if you are a straight white guy who, likes guns, drives a truck with a 454, maybe a tattoo or two you must be racist.
You might check into a weight training system by Rippetoe or Mehdi. They both promote a 5×5 system using barbells with incremental weight. (Basically adding 5 lbs per workout 2 or 3 times a week) for squat benchpress deadlift and overhead press. Only takes about 20-30 minutes. Both of those guys address strength training for "ahem" older guys. I'm 61 and have been using that program for about 7 years. You can peak out on weight at any level you choose which minimizes pain and injury.
Check them out.
Best of luck with the workouts.
I have a couple books by Rippetoe, I want to start doing light workouts with kettlebells on my off days from the gym
The discipline of going makes me more likely to actually do the workout, I put my phone in the locker and don't get distracted, if I am home I tend to park in front of the computer.
Pandemic fitness trends have gone extreme — literally
White supremacists' latest scheme to valorize violence and hypermasculinity has gone digital. Written by (((Cynthia Miller-Idriss))) . . . every single time . . . Stunning and brave – https://www.cynthiamilleridriss.com/
Yes, discipline is key, I have actually found some of my best workouts are on days where I didn't want to get in there.
I agree but isn't it sad we have white people who write books hoping to cause harm and destruction to their own race and country? USA is the most diverse country on the planet, yet the people here are constantly being told we are racists.
I believe if we were less "diverse" we would have fewer accusations of racism.
I am older than you by a decade, Arthur, but I've been in the physique game for 45 years now. As time has passed, I've found what works best for me this late in life, and that boils down to this: compound movements under as much tension as this old body can bear, without risk. I used to swear by the Big Three – bench press, squat and deadlift. In my older, wiser state, I have de-emphasized bench press, due to its murderous damage to the shoulders if not done carefully, and tempered my squat regimen for the sake of old hips and knees. But deadlift? Yeah, you can ride that bad boy right into your 90s. Nothing, but nothing, builds whole-body strength better while minimizing risk. No heavy weight over your head, easy on the knees. I intend to go on deadlifting twice what I weigh until I am a shriveled up old man.
Oh, and invest $11 in an ab wheel. Rollouts can be done literally on your living room floor, and will give you the pretty triceps and delts to complement the abs you never knew you had. No gym membership required.
Cat Pause. Wonder if her real name will go on the triple wide tombstone?
I wonder how many men it took to carry her jumbo casket? Or maybe they just used a skidloader.
I am staying clear of most free weights, there is just too much opportunity for injury. The machines sort of force me to stay in the proper position.
We would do well to ignore the rantings of stupid twats.
Well, if they cremated her, New Zealand could become energy independent.
Too soon?