| Author | Message | ||
     Ratbuell |
OK badwebbers...colder weather is coming (my patio is 54 degrees right now) and I'm getting fatter. And my cardio is fershitski, ever since my accident in '08 (requiring two completely reconstructed legs). I have a treadmill...hurts. A lot. Bolts and rods in the legs and hips don't enjoy running-impact much at all. I have a stationary bicycle, boring and it hurts my ass - because it's boring and I don't use it enough to get butt calluses. So talking to a coworker today, the light bulb came on - when I was in full time PT back in '08...I was rockin' the ellipticals and recumbents. Looking on CL, these things are everywhere from $50 to $800. Any ideas / name brands to go for / avoid? Given my...um...recent exercise regimen, I STRONGLY doubt I'll "wear one out", so I don't need to go top dollar this time around. If I actually use the hell out of this one...I'll get a "good one". I also don't want to spend a ton right now, because so far my discipline...well...it sucks. But...I don't want to have a crap piece of equipment that contributes to my lack of effort, either. Thoughts from fellow Badwebbers? Anyone near Maryland need one of these things out of their basement?  | ||
| Torquehd |
Can't speak for ellipticals, but then again I don't have metal in my legs. I can say, good on you for taking the ambition to do something about the things you want to change in your life. So many people just want to sit on the couch and gripe about the way things are. Too many people hit one roadblock, and instead of finding a way around, they shut down right there, and wait for someone to fix their problems for them. Keep up the correct perspective, and I'm sure you'll achieve what you're after. And if you need some motivation, watch the video in the "this will make you feel good" thread. | ||
| Reducati |
Rat, i have 13 pins and 3 plates in my right hip. I too cant take the pounding as there aint much cartlidge left. i started about 3 years ago, and the way i fight boredom, and keep my cardio up, is 12 minutes eliptical/ 10 on the bike, and 10 on the treadmill...then i repeat once... i do this one next to the other..the time flies, as working out on one machine for 10 min or 12 and then switching, makes it doable/ and non boring. im on the job right now, so i will post up, some name brands that are excellent, and others that sux tomorrow.. I walk with a limp/ pain but after my workout , i feel and walk alot better...at least for a while. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Thank you  I also sustained 2 brain injuries in '08, and spent months in the TBI ward while going through physical (and speech, and cognitive) therapy. My inspiration is, walking into my orthopaedist's office on the 5th anniversary of my accident, and seeing the man cry. Shortly after that, he confided "we figured you'd leave here in a bag...watching you walk back in 5 years later? Wow..." My motivation is walking into the TBI ward later that same day, and watching the staff nutritionist look at me, blink...and fall out of her chair. Right smack onto the floor. She remembered when the PT's would say "do this" and my only reply was "OK, how many?". And she remembered when I would nearly fall over after "walking" five feet. My ambition comes from this x-ray - they took this when they took me out of the helicopter. Today, I walk. Today, I function. Today, I ride. Today...I speak. And think. And solve problems. Today....I hurt, I ache, I feel every step...but I get to TAKE every step. And with every step, I'm thankful Unfortunately...today I also get fat, and slow, and out of breath...and it pisses me off (getting OLD has nothing to do with it..I swear...)   | ||
| Torquehd |
Wow! What a story, rat! What was the mechanism of injury, if you don't mind me asking? Thanks for sharing the picture. Things like that help keep things in perspective - maybe my petty circumstances that I like to complain about aren't so bad, after all. | ||
| Ratbuell |
A motorcycle delivered me to an impact with a cattle fence. The fenceposts were re-purposed telephone poles...nice and solid. I went through a T intersection, was on the road that ended. I suspect brake failure but really have no idea. I couldn't have been going more than 5-10 mph when I hit...if I was, the breaks would have become amputations. I may as well have hit a tree, those poles (I visit the site every year) are stout. | ||
| Whitetrashxb |
i've never spent much time on an elyptical, my usual cardio routine includes the treadmill and rowing machine, but i think i recall reading that because they don't mimick our natural movements in nature, the benefits of the elyptical are limited. In your particular case however it may be a non issue. But have you considered a rowing machine? not sure if the motion would aggravate your hips, but the rowing machine is supposedly an excellent replacement for the treadmill as we get older due to no impact, and the fact that it incorporates more muscles throughout the motion. Your core and back muscles are really engaged when doing it, which is why i love it. just food for thought. Good luck | ||
| Torquehd |
I wouldn't worry about trying to mimic natural motions. The point isn't to run, it's to elevate your heart rate for a duration of time. That's the important part. Cardio benefits your body in a host of ways. It burns calories, helps your body properly regulate hormone levels, it keeps your heart and entire circulatory system in good shape, it lowers the bad cholestorol. People who take up cardio find that they are healthier (of course), have more energy, and are less apt to have depression. What method you use doesn't matter; the important part is elevating your heart rate and holding it there for a duration of time. http://running.about.com/od/howtorun/ht/Calculate- Your-Target-Heart-Rate-Zone.htm Which method you choose can have additional benefits - running improves your leg and ab muscles in ways that an elliptical won't. Rowers are great too, as they incorporate more of your body. You just have to find what works well for you. | ||
| Whitetrashxb |
well, there are plenty of cases of foot, hip, and knee pain associated w/ the use of elypticals, which can at least partially be contributed to the unnatural arcing motion. Its pretty well documented. For someone who has previous lower body injuries, it may be a concern. just sayin' | ||
| Xdigitalx |
If I could afford it I would buy one of these: http://www.bowflexmaxtrainer.com/bowflex-max-train er-us/models.jsp | ||
| Hootowl |
Try walking vs. running. Ultimate low impact cardio is swimming. You've got room for a pool. | ||
| Phelan |
I'll be honest... Cardio is generally a waste of effort in comparison to the much easier, healthier ways to lose weight. Diet is the easiest and hardest way for us to lose weight, but even the best "cutting" diet will do no good unless you tell your body to keep it's muscle tissue instead of catabolicly decomposing it to save energy. Dieting alone will not only not get you the "shape" you want, but it will lower your bet all muscle mass by canabalising your muscles and kill your metabolism, making you gain more weight twice as fast, once you quit dieting, as you did before. The best option is literally heavy, quick failure weight training with few sets, accompanied by a calorie deficit diet, preferably low-carb, high protein. And eat frequent small snacks/meals. This will tell your body that it's ok to not store as much fat, while also telling it to keep your muscle fibers and grow them. You will build your metabolism and drop fat very quickly once you maintain this. I lost 30 LBS in 6 months and could have lost it quicker if I had the knowledge in the beginning that I did half-way through it. 20 of those were lost in less than 2 months and I dropped to an 8% body fat. Check out Marc McManus at musclehak.com. Tons of science and proven info over there, and results from followers in theirs 40s and 50s, etc. | ||
| Teeps |
I have 2 words for you Rat: personal trainer | ||
| Torquehd |
i see what you're saying, whitetrash xb. I'm sure it works for some and not for others. Of course diet is important. But your diet is not going to provide your heart with the workout that it needs. As you get older, maintaining good cholesterol, a healthy weight, and a healthy heart are probably the most important things. An elevated heartrate, maintained for a duration, is the only proven way to affect these things. There is no replacement for cardiovascular exercise. Lifting to failure is a great way to hurt yourself. I'm 30 and have clinical arthritis in my shoulders as a direct result of lifting too heavy, not to mention the other times i've injured other joints and muscles by trying to lift heavy. These days I try to lift moderately. Maintaining muscle mass is important, especially if you still have a good need to be strong (for work, etc). If you don't need extra muscle, you may want to think carefully about trying to put more on. More weight is harder on your body in many ways. Cardio is the key. I'd even say it trumps a careful diet. You can eat virtually anything you want (in moderation), as long as you're using the calories. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
A good session of the horizontal dancing Low impact. Very good cardiovascular exercise. Way more fun than any exercise machine. | ||
| Aesquire |
Important part @ :27 I don't know much about elliptical machines since every time I climb on one at a store it hurts me. The pedals trying to move my legs do not work well with my personal damage. But I HAD to get in a Personal Trainer clip. Here's the real secret to diets. They all work. Some are not too bad on you, some can kill, ( Atkins or other diets that put you in Ketosis ) all can help you lose weight. But. Almost all diets that are not a real change in lifestyle usually have a rebound at the end and you gain it all or more back. Also, most diets have you plateau at about 3 weeks. The body has adapted. So... change diets every 3 weeks. Seriously. Pick ones that sound fun. Make sure you take some supplement to avoid vitamin and protein deficiency, So a protein shake every day plus the bananas or mangoes or pixie sticks that the diet has you on. Then shift gears in 3 weeks, and if you just can't stand Kale and watercress ( the Michelle Obama You Will Obey diet ) then switch early to ribs. ( the Michelle Obama what I really eat Diet ) I was on the "taco bell" diet for a while and lost 1 pound a day... Lunch at Taco bell, one meal deal, small snack at night, to keep the cravings away. Then on Sunday I'd cook and gain 3 pounds over the weekend. Lost more than 15 pounds. Then I got broken and gained 20... Still working on both issues. | ||
| Torquehd |
Most diet programs are horse shit. Especially the ones that cost money. Counting calories, and maintaining the proper ratio of carbs to fat to protien, and basing your numbers on how many calories you burn per day - that is the only science that you need. And it's super simple. Every thing in moderation to include moderation. Eat a variety to get all the necessary micronutrients. Just count the f'ing calories. It's not hard. But trying to stick with a certain diet "label" or stereotype is just asinine (I can't eat it because hippy vegan cavemen who were allergic to gluten didn't eat it... at least that's what the metrosexual "men's" magazine told me). | ||
| Phelan |
PROPER lifting to failure will not be any harder on your joints than walking/running for 1, 2, 3 miles etc. Anerobic excercise done correctly has an aerobic recovery effect and will strengthen your body in all stressed areas much better, faster, and with less strain than aerobic, low-weight excercises. HIIT (high intensity interval training) is a much better, scientifically proven, way of increasing your strength, endurance, and lung capacity and efficiency. Run as fast as you can for 30 seconds, walk 30 sec, and repeat. Do that for 5 minutes and you will have a better, more effective, and stronger cardiovascular workout than walking 10 miles. The only difference is the amount of calories burned, which is a one-time deal in cardio anyway. It only effects calories during the workout. Building muscle mass increases caloric needs, which burns more calories AT REST. Let your body do the work for you the rest of the day and night. It's the only way to sustain weight loss. I love to eat and I eat a lot. So I build as much muscle as I possibly can so that I can maintain a high-intake diet without gaining a lot of fat. I'm 29 and I've been to-failure lifting (keeping my failure point between 8 and 12 reps by adjusting weight as necessary) off and on for 5 years (got married, moved a few times, in and out of the gym) and I have no joint pain at all, I'm not terribly over weight (though I am the biggest I've been because I binged hard on sweets in my last job) and I can lift pretty extreme weights, 2-3 times what I could in the beginning. At my most focused period, I was 162 LBS at 8% body fat with 16.5" arms and a 6 pack. I've been around the block a couple times on this. I'm not trying to sound conceited, as apologize if I do- I'm simply trying to validate what I'm talking about. It works. | ||
| Phelan |
Said most-focused point in my lifting/dieting career (August 2010)  3 1/2 months prior  | ||
| Aesquire |
Torqhd is right, but the counting calories IS a diet all it's own. To clarify... any time you pay more attention to eating you will change your habits ( for good or bad... depending on the attention ) same is true for driving. That's WHY fuel magnets or a "swirly air" gizmo made from cut up beer can ( painted and priced at $35.95 ) "work". You put effort and attention into mileage and drive different. I can tell you I installed a catalytic technobabble thing that will get you 5 more MPG. and you will drive different enough to get 2-3 mpg better. And I don't have to even see your car. It's like the placebo effect... or Stockholm Syndrome, I get those confused.  And Phelan is right. too. Weight training done smart, works. Sit ups do not make your tummy shrink, and they can hurt you. and the sprint walk thing is better than the long run, for some purposes. The trouble many of us have is that the biggest muscles ( outside the skull ) are the legs and when those can't take a treadmill, it's harder work to burn the calories with the arms. duh. for leg injury guys... You have to see what works for you. try different stuff, and be aware that you want to make the muscles in the legs strong so they hold the parts together right. Muscle is the best armor. So try an elliptical, treadmill, recumbent bike, ( sit back, not sit on ) and rowing machine, etc. try and keep it from being a coat rack. most of them become one in 3 months. or was that weeks? | ||
| Torquehd |
Aesquire, you're on it. Interval training is like magic for improving run times. It's like you get greater results for less effort. Muscle is the best armor. Yep. The BEST thing for my arthritis is good maintenance of the muscles surrounding the ball and socket. Now, for rods and pins... that's something I have no experience with. My friend has rods and pins, and has continual problems with pain coming from them. | ||
| Ratbuell |
I don't like the middle age "settling" that's going on, but that is a symptom of my real issue - cardio. Not being able to run has slowed EVERYTHING down. I eat better than the average person. If you find a piece of candy in my house, I'll give you a motorcycle. I keep a pint of ice cream in the freezer but that's as close as it gets. Veggies, whole wheat pasta, red meat, chicken, pork, and for snacks i stick to cheeses, or white corn tortillas. Sodas are coke zero or Pepsi max. Those are far outnumbered by Gatorade and juices and milk. Of course I counter that with a love of good beer and singlemalt whisky - THOSE, you will be able to find in my house!! But not having the cardio level I want...I can't/don't burn the calories. I tire easier. And I get mad at myself for it. So...I'm trying to find a machine that will help me get cardio back...so I'm able to do more "other stuff" that will also help me burn calories. I'm not Adonis. I don't want to BE Adonis. I just want to be healthy and happy and ablebodied, for as many years as possible. But with my legs...I have to be selective with what I try and make my body do. Days like today...just walking hurts like hell (and I typically walk 4 or 5 miles a day just doing my job). My femur is on fire....because the barometer is changing. That's all. Happens all the time, welcome to my world lol. I'm just experimenting, and collecting info, to see what my options are. I also need to go back to my PTs office and get their take on things...but I work so damned much I never have free time. And THAT pisses me off - I swore my health would never take a back seat, yet here I am.... | ||
| Xdigitalx |
I guess you could try and modify your stationary workout bike with an old Uly seat?? Add a nice lcd in front with some dragon footage?? | ||
| Aesquire |
The Machines are a substitute for going out and playing. Of course that is just not as much fun.. so try and find the motion that works for you. Stationary bikes that you sit up on require butt break in, as you have noticed, but the sit back kind are not nearly as bad. If the saddle is replaceable with a real bike saddle, get a Terry. If I had the cash I'd get a rowing machine, and maybe this winter I'll finally make or buy the canoe row rig so I can go get wet.... but to do daily cardio without running outside, you do want a nice coat rack. I mean exercise machine. Best bang for the buck is a real bicycle and riding on real country roads. There is the butt break in problem, and that just takes time. It's also not the answer for a lot of people because of location and time. If you can ride a bike Get a fresh saddle with the groove down the middle. If you haven't ridden in a year, the old ones dead anyway. If you are female, get a Terry saddle designed for your lovely butt. Seriously. They work. The male version is good for men. I also like Vetta saddles. classic suspended leather saddles are for skinny young guys.... and they too can get crippled by them. Avoid. Others also make a saddle that that has that groove down the middle so it does not press on the nerve that controls erections. You can permanently damage that with the wrong saddle, and that means you will never, ever, do the deed without assistance again. I'm serious. Whichever/whatever you get, set it up in front of your entertainment and enjoy. I have my Schwinn Airdyne in the living room, and promise myself I will only fire up the Xbox if I'm peddling. I lie to myself way too much.  | ||
| Thumper74 |
Does anyone have any experience with Crossfit? I'm trying to lose weight, but can't do the gym. It's so boring. Crossfit seems interesting... | ||
| Torquehd |
It's better than nothing. It's not the one size fits all, be great at everything workout that it's sold as. It will make you generically in shape and generically OK at a lot of things. Again... as with heavy lifting... it can be easy to hurt yourself. Crossfit is all about doing a million reps of everything, as fast as you can with little to no rest. It generally stresses quantity over quality. I know several guys who have hurt themselves (including myself) doing those damned kipping pullups that crossfit loves so much. Another thing I don't like about it, is that it often doesn't properly coordinate muscle groups. Like you'll spend a day burning out your biceps and triceps, then turn right around and burn out your triceps again the next day. The one thing that I do like about crossfit is the way the workouts usually include a lot of supersets. Only they do it wrong a lot of the time. Supersets are useful in that they give your muscles more time for recovery between sets. This means you can do more repetitions overall, thus giving your muscles a more thorough workout. And while that particular set of muscles is resting, you superset with a workout that focuses on different (but often related) muscle groups. So you get more workout with less downtime between sets. One last thing on crossfit - it's supposed to be cardio and strength training at the same time. There's research indicating that the two events are better conducted at seperate times. But, you can also find research to support the opposite. You really just have to find what works best for you. These are observations from my experiences over the last ~5 years. Others are sure to tell you otherwise. | ||
| Etennuly |
Joe, have you heard of a "Gazelle"? Tony Little is a weird guy.....I won't watch his infomercials for anything, but I bought one of the better Gazelle doo-dahs that they make. I got it at Sears years ago. I use it mostly for NO impact stretching. I should be using it for cardio too, but the explanations you gave above, and some others that I have come up with, quench those ideas at simply thoughts. Back problems and dirt bike knees brought me to something that I can do cardio and stretching on without having any feet, ankle, knee, leg, or hip impact, and without muscle building. It has swing arc control shocks that can be adjusted as you like for muscle loading, or take them out of the equation to lessen muscle building pain. One of my problems is my legs are at the point of perpetual muscle cramps due to spinal chord scarring. My leg muscles are nearly always contracting to their maximum and need to stretch to relax(for a while anyways). Your feet and legs simply swing and there are upper body hand grips that follow opposing the feet movements where it gets into serious cardio. You can go as easy as you like or work into a smoking body spastic killer routine(I think). I also recommend the Teeter Hang-ups machine for back problem relief. Probably wouldn't work for you, your legs would likely snap off when you hang upside down!  | ||
| Ourdee |
I really like CYBEX exercise bikes. Used to do 20 minutes on an upright and 20 minutes on a recumbent to get 40 minutes of cardio in every day. Trick was to keep my cadence up while choosing a load level that I could get the whole 40 in and still be able to hit it every day. http://www.cybexintl.com/products/exercise-bikes.a spx http://www.cybexintl.com/bikes-770r-recumbent-bike .aspx This is what I was training to ride:  | ||
| Torquehd |
I was trying to remember what function interval training works on - it's your V02 max. This is basically how efficient your body is at delivering the air you breathe to your muscles. This is a huge part of cardio fitness, mainly, how much performance you're able to deliver for a given level of work. This is a good article: http://www.active.com/running/Articles/How-to-Maxi mize-Your-VO2max-Training Makes me want to get back into running intervals. | ||
| Oldog |
Ratt May I suggest if you have noticed that you are tiring easily, and that you do not have as much stamina as you once did consider some serious diagnostics before starting any heavy exercise programs, just for insurance, While I am largely sound, I have a chronic problem that will worsen with time, and did not find it until the issue was noticeable, Age is not a the only factor. blood chemistry, activities etc, good luck, I need to loose about 100 lbs now tried calorie counting and got rid of about 40, was riding stationary bike very day for a while, Mine will require drastic diet and exercise likely under medical supervision. |
