OT: Men's Health thread

Wilk5280 · Post by **Wilk5280** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 12:25 am

Nice on the running MUTTS. I'm at about 30-35 a week range right now, but coming off a partially ruptured Achilles tendon from just about a year ago.

Getting ready to start ramping up on the mileage as I'm really feeling good right now.

I'm a sucker for chocolate as well, but other than that I do well.

Stay away from the Vitamin Waters, gatorades, etc etc etc... especially if you're not too active. Those things are loaded with sugar.

I'll do a 32oz gatorade if I'm coming off a hard long workout in the heat just to get some electrolytes back into my system. Other than that, I'm a one coffee in the morning guy with mainly water the rest of the day. I may treat myself to a diet pepsi once or twice a week at lunch.

Mix up the cardio with some resistance training and like PK mentioned...too many people overlook flexibility. Be sure to stretch well and often.

I'm a firm believer in getting up and doing a few easy exercises pretty much as soon as I get out of the bed, just to get my heart rate up and running as soon as possible. 30 pushups, lunges, some bicycles (ab exercise)... maybe some bends and thrusts. Nothing too strenuous, but like I said..just to get the heart rate going a little bit early in the morning.

SLEEP! I'm terrible about this, but getting enough sleep is something many people overlook as well. You're never going to feel good and energized if you're not getting enough sleep. Who wants to exercise when you feeling droggy and just plain fatigued? Also, your body does most of its recovery during sleep. If you're exercising do not deprive your body of sleep.

F308GTB · Post by **F308GTB** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 4:10 am

PRBoom wrote:I'll do a 32oz gatorade if I'm coming off a hard long workout in the heat just to get some electrolytes back into my system. Other than that, I'm a one coffee in the morning guy with mainly water the rest of the day. I may treat myself to a diet pepsi once or twice a week at lunch.

You could probably do without the Gatorade. At only 30-35 miles/week, that's not a whole lot of exercise time (anywhere from 4-6 hours?).

I bike. A LOT. Typical week is 12-17 hours. I've been averaging 10-12k+ miles/year for the last several years. Some of the things I've learned:

1) American diet is heavy on the salts, and Gatorade and similar don't replenish a whole lot of those
2) Bananas and orange juice have a ton more potassium per serving than Gatorade - have those healthy alternatives instead
3) For workouts under 90 minutes, I typically only have water. For longer or harder workouts I'll use Gatorade just because it's cheaper than soft drinks (I just need calorie replenishment, not the salts; my mid-ride fluid changeout on longer (60+ mile) rides is Coke for the caffeine and sugar). When I get home, I just eat normally. My recovery drinks/foods are natural (milk, real food, water, etc).
4) If really exercising in the heat, and particularly for running, bring fluids with you. In the heart of the summer in hot, humid Houston, I sweat about 6-7 lbs/hour during strenuous exercise (when the THI is over 100 F). On the bike it's easy to replenish. When and if I do run, I always would carry fluids with me to have during the run or go someplace with fountains along the way. You need to stay hydrated during exercise - dehydration spirals out of control. Your heart has to work harder to push thicker blood and try to keep the body cool. A loss of 2-3% body weight in fluids can make performance drop 10% or more.

MUTTS · Post by **MUTTS** » Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:27 pm

Some of my ortho buddies now subscribe to the theory that stretching actually promotes injury and places stress on the joints. I havent made any conclusions in this dept yet.

Its so funny how so many of the patients I see refuse to exercise significantly. They are overweight and consider walking for 15min to be adequate exercise. Never going to happen.

Tony

icvu42 · Post by **icvu42** » Thu May 01, 2008 11:04 am

PRBoom wrote: I'm at about 30-35 a week range right now, but coming off a partially ruptured Achilles tendon from just about a year ago.

Getting ready to start ramping up on the mileage as I'm really feeling good right now.

Boom... what type of schedule did you use to get back up to that range? A year ago I was running about 40 miles a week. Then I developed an an achilles problem, tendonosis, a degenerative condition. Ive been in and out of PT for most of the past year. Finally after a cortisone shot, and 3 months of rest and more PT, I was able to start running again a month ago. Of course, the damn insurance company cancellled my PT coverage as soon as they saw I started running again. My achilles feels about 85-90%. I am running every other day. I started at 2.5 miles a day with a 1/4 mile walk after every 3/4 mile. Now I'm up to a straight 3.5 mile run, but haven't run back to back days yet.

Rick

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Thu May 01, 2008 11:56 am

MUTTS wrote:Some of my ortho buddies now subscribe to the theory that stretching actually promotes injury and places stress on the joints. I havent made any conclusions in this dept yet.

As usual, the jury is hung, but this seems to be the growing consensus.

I make sure I warm up and cool down at the end but don't stretch. Five minutes of cardio to get started, weights, and usually 20-30 minutes of cardio, with five minutes to cool down.

I also split my sets when lifting out so I'm not sitting for two long between sets. I'll do bench, rest for 30 seconds, then leg press, rest for 30 seconds, then back to bench. I take about two minutes between the double set to get a drink and/or wipe off the equipment since I sweat like crazy. Speeds up my exercise time and gets the heart ticking.

You also need to find the right time for you to exercise. Morning is great for some people, but I have always preferred lunchtime to break up my day. Gives me a nice boost of energy through the afternoon. If I can't do that, I like end of day because it does relieve the stress of work and gives me time to unwind.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu May 01, 2008 12:33 pm

Yeah, Brando, I'm not a morning exerciser at all. Not a morning person at all!

I much prefer to exercise mid-day or early evening for the reasons you mentioned. Hell, I've gone for walks or runs near midnight at times!

I'm definitely nocturnal, though.

Take care,
PK

fletcher21 · Post by **fletcher21** » Thu May 01, 2008 1:17 pm

This is just what I was looking for! I'm getting old and I needed to get a new routine to stay healthy and in shape.... I started running, gave up pop and fast food and I stopped eating at least 3 hours before bed.... That is a huge thing to remember... Snacking in front of the tv an hour before you go to bed will do nothing but add to your gut... I managed to lose 35 pounds in 6 months a few summers ago, and I haven't looked back... I used to drool over BK and mcdonalds, and now I can't even look at it since I tell myself that 1 double cheeseburger (my old addiction) is HOURS of hard running and lifting that I'd have to do just to burn it off.... I run 6 days a week, sometimes every day.. I do pushups, situps and lift some weights (nothing too major).. I have a soccer player body, and that's fine by me. I have no desire at all to have 18" arms or be able to bench 500 pounds.. I wanna be lean and healthy... Soon I'm gonna be 30 and then it's all over in terms of my metabolism haha... Pk great call on the rice cakes... Those are awesom! If you're looking for a Gatorade alternative, I'd suggest Powerade Option fitness water (40 calories in a 32oz bottle, as opposed to 200 in a 32oz of Gatorade) I only like the black cherry flavor.. Gatorade G2 is nice also. 100 calories in a 32oz bottle, and the grape is awesome!

I've really started to use my George Foreman grill daily. It's amazing to see all the s*** that comes off of food you cook in it,.. I'd suggest Jennie-O turkey burgers (the ones with seasoning in them) to you guys... The box says they contain 160 calories, 9g of fat and 19g of protein per serving... Prepared on the George Foreman grill, I'd say the fat is in the 4-5g area and they taste AWESOME!

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu May 01, 2008 1:23 pm

Man George Foreman is a genius if he can take fat out of the middle of food!

Fletch...come on man...the fat in the food is the fat in the food. Just because the oil drips out of the bottom of the grill, doesn't mean the fat left. LOL. It just means you didn't add to the fat content.

fletcher21 · Post by **fletcher21** » Thu May 01, 2008 1:32 pm

Eh I dunno man... The grease that pours off of the burgers tells me otherwise... I don't have the means to test it, but I'd be pretty content to say that the Foreman eliminates at least 20% of the fat... And even if it doesn't, 9g of fat for a meal is fine by me

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Thu May 01, 2008 5:06 pm

I wish more companies made it easier to take a longer lunch to exercise and let employees come in earlier or stay later. I started doing that when I worked in downtown Chicago and loved it, but had to give it up when I switched jobs. Now that I'm working at home I'm usually able to work out at lunch at least a couple times a day.

Murph · Post by **Murph** » Sat May 03, 2008 3:29 pm

I never realized how expensive GNC was (even with their gold card) until I started shopping elsewhere for similar products.

Wilk5280 · Post by **Wilk5280** » Sat May 03, 2008 4:20 pm

icvu42 wrote:
PRBoom wrote: I'm at about 30-35 a week range right now, but coming off a partially ruptured Achilles tendon from just about a year ago.

Getting ready to start ramping up on the mileage as I'm really feeling good right now.
Boom... what type of schedule did you use to get back up to that range? A year ago I was running about 40 miles a week. Then I developed an an achilles problem, tendonosis, a degenerative condition. Ive been in and out of PT for most of the past year. Finally after a cortisone shot, and 3 months of rest and more PT, I was able to start running again a month ago. Of course, the damn insurance company cancellled my PT coverage as soon as they saw I started running again. My achilles feels about 85-90%. I am running every other day. I started at 2.5 miles a day with a 1/4 mile walk after every 3/4 mile. Now I'm up to a straight 3.5 mile run, but haven't run back to back days yet.

Rick

I just kind of went off of how I felt. I really started focusing to make sure I stretched a little prior to the run, and certainly more afterward. Like you, I eased into it and then just kind of had to trust that it was healed... if that makes any sense. To this day I'm always worrying that it's going to go again as it's always on my mind while running.

I only went through a partial rupture and that pain was bad enough that I don't want to go through it again.

My best advice is to error on the side of caution. No sense in trying to do too many miles too soon and having to go through it all again.

I've up'd my longest run to 12 miles so far, but I've got a 2 hour run scheduled for next weekend. Looking forward to it as I really need to start up'ing my mileage for Pikes Peak this August.

Good luck with it man

MUTTS · Post by **MUTTS** » Sat May 03, 2008 9:07 pm

In a sort of related note....

Was able to do 15 miles this am in 1:49 even. I believe thats 7:16 pace. Thats my longest run ever. Felt very easy though tonight I'm sore as sh**. I know that lying in bed tonight the legs are going to ache and then of course I wont sleep and I'll be miserable tomorrow.

Sleep is key. With three young kids and intermittent shifts at the hospital, I dont get enough of it. You cant recover from exercise without good sleep.

Also...for those with sore legs.....stay out of the hot tub and instead hit the pool or if you can stand it, an ice bath. Reduces inflammation much quicker.

Tony