Lifting Weights

[KarateKen]

DarthPenguin has a lot of great tips here, and I don't think I could have said it better myself.

However, I do want to offer another way of looking at this. Why do you have to lift weights? What is your goal in lifting weights? There are so many ways to work out and to get healthy. Is this to supplement your martial arts? Weights can certainly help, but it's not a requirement, there are other exercises that you can do! The best way to make exercise and self-improvement a habit is to find something that you enjoy doing. For me, that is riding a bike. I can easily motivate myself to ride a bike, but it's difficult to motivate myself to lift weights.

It is mostly for health reasons and not so much for training. The muscle helps burn fat and store glucose, both are heath benefits. The guy who runs the gym explained to me that with cardio it stops burning the fat as soon as you get off the treadmill, but when you build strength, the muscle will burn the fat 24/7.

[KarateKen]

I look at lifting weights as taking medicine. I do it because I want to be able get myself off the toilet when I'm older. I'm doing it because I want to do TKD into my 70s. I'm doing it because I plan to be independent until the day I die.

Loaded skeletal movement has all kinds of benefits. Increasing the muscle mass of your body is good because the muscle requires a lot of energy from your body. Therefore, those with higher muscle mass tend to have higher resting metabolic rates; the body is burning more at rest in order to keep those muscles up. Increasing muscle mass can also be a boon to those lean towards diabetic issues from being overweight. Muscle mass going up and body fat going down helps out there. Weight training (especially with barbell exercises like the squat and deadlift) also increase bone density, which is exceedingly important as we age.

You mentioned the soreness aspect. It's possible to lift three days a week and not experience a whole lot of soreness. When I started it up seriously, I did squats, and upper body press movement, and then deadlifts, all in the same workout, three days a week. I was sore for about the first week, but after that, I didn't really experience a lot of soreness, and I was still increasing the weight each workout. So you don't have to be in a steady state of soreness to be improving. "No pain, no gain" is a silly and outmoded concept. Now, as one gets stronger and starts pushing his/her limits more and more, then there could be days here and there where some soreness sets in. But by and large, it doesn't have to be that way.

Finding a good barbell coach is tough, too. And good ones will be pricey. Coaches that have the Starting Strength Coach credential (SSC) are very good; they know how to coach the squat, press, bench press, deadlift, and power clean very well, and they know how to program the lifts. There are Starting Strength Gyms popping up in cities all over the place; if you're in the US, there might be one nearby, and you can probably reach out for a coaching session. If you don't have one in your area, many SSCs have online coach options that are very thorough, and they have a good system with parameters set in place for getting the best quality video footage of your lifts so they can evaluate technique. They also have some good software to illustrate the stuff back to you. Again, they are pricey, but they are good at it.

I don't know that I could say that I hate lifting. I've never been as strong as I'd like to be, and the stronger you get, the harder it gets, for sure. I never enjoyed grinding out sets of squats at 380 lbs. But when I finished the set and racked the weight, I felt pretty darn good about myself.

That is a good reason and smart way to look at it. I never thought about how much strength I would need to do daily functions when I'm elderly.

As far as the personal trainers and coaches, also to address DarthPenguin (thanks for the post btw) I had one trainer last year who I liked, she was a BJJ student and personal trainer, but she left and moved away, then the new guy came in and we didn't mesh. I do best working out with others, not so well alone, especially with anything other than cardio. Cardio I can put my music on or listen to the game, and just be moving, but lifting or doing other exercises such as band work, planks, and what not I am much better with others to work with. Not only do they push me more but it makes the workout feel social and more enjoyable, working out alone feels isolating and dull. Tough for me to get motivated when I feel bored and lonely doing something.

[DarthPenguin]

That is a good reason and smart way to look at it. I never thought about how much strength I would need to do daily functions when I'm elderly.

As far as the personal trainers and coaches, also to address DarthPenguin (thanks for the post btw) I had one trainer last year who I liked, she was a BJJ student and personal trainer, but she left and moved away, then the new guy came in and we didn't mesh. I do best working out with others, not so well alone, especially with anything other than cardio. Cardio I can put my music on or listen to the game, and just be moving, but lifting or doing other exercises such as band work, planks, and what not I am much better with others to work with. Not only do they push me more but it makes the workout feel social and more enjoyable, working out alone feels isolating and dull. Tough for me to get motivated when I feel bored and lonely doing something.

Regarding the group thing have you looked into anything like Crossfit boxes? I know that the quality can vary a bit (and i am not entering the discussion here about alleged form issues) but i have friends that prefer to work out with people and they go there and find it works well for them. Plenty of strength work, power work etc but within a supportive group. Also, many gyms run kettlebell classes etc. so might be able to find one of those you could do?

Can't offer too much here as i am totally at the other end of the spectrum to you and much prefer to work out myself! It is one of the reasons i use a home gym: i can make a workout plan, with the exercises and rest times sequenced and follow it exactly - dont have to make sudden adjustments due to equipment availablity in a public facility etc!

[Nidan Melbourne]

DarthPenguin has a lot of great tips here, and I don't think I could have said it better myself.

However, I do want to offer another way of looking at this. Why do you have to lift weights? What is your goal in lifting weights? There are so many ways to work out and to get healthy. Is this to supplement your martial arts? Weights can certainly help, but it's not a requirement, there are other exercises that you can do! The best way to make exercise and self-improvement a habit is to find something that you enjoy doing. For me, that is riding a bike. I can easily motivate myself to ride a bike, but it's difficult to motivate myself to lift weights.

It is mostly for health reasons and not so much for training. The muscle helps burn fat and store glucose, both are heath benefits. The guy who runs the gym explained to me that with cardio it stops burning the fat as soon as you get off the treadmill, but when you build strength, the muscle will burn the fat 24/7.

Not 100% accurate.

When your doing cardio, your heart isn't the only thing working hard; your whole body is working hard.

So your body has to expend energy to repair your muscles, bones (say if your using a Treadmill for instance) from all the impact that your putting them under. Then also further energy has to be expended to perform vital functions to move things around and for it to be expelled in some way out of your body.

Also if your already in the area burning fat, you've already expended the carbs in your body that are available for usage. So until you put more carbs into your body, it will keep using the fat as a source of energy.

With Strength Training; the usage of fats is part of it, as your body consumes carbs also. Since Strength Training places an increased amount of strain on your anatomy it does take more energy to recover. That's why you tend to feel sore for a couple of days post-strength training.

But yes, increased muscle mass and strength training as a whole can burn a lot to recover and to maintain.

Thats why when I work with clients, and if they are wanting to put on muscle mass (which is a good thing). I remind them that anything they put on should be functional and also maintainable for them.

Because I say to all clients regardless of age; is that having a healthy amount of functional muscle and healthy (increased) bone mass is crucial as we get older. So we need to be able to support that for a lot longer than what we are thinking about.

What a lot of people forget is that even if you are older, you don't have to lift a dumbbell or kettlebell. But lifting everyday items around the house is far better than anything else.

[KarateKen]

I decided I had to do it and got back into group fitness. It is more expensive, but I am looking at it as an investment in my health.

The first session was on Monday and even though it dd not feel like I was working that hard, by the end of it I could feel I had pushed myself. Woke up today with sore legs, it is painful to sit down in a chair and stand back up. That is part of getting back into it, the body will adjust as I continue to train more. When I went back for the second session I was asked "how are you feeling" and I joking said "I am ready to quit." I am looking at probably three days a week of group training. I am taking Wednesday off and going back on Thursday. I will keep you posted on how it goes.

[Zaine]

Group training is a great idea! Having peers to motivate you is an awesome way to stick with it.

[DarthPenguin]

Great, hope it goes well

What kind of group classes or do they vary by the session?

[KarateKen]

Great, hope it goes well

What kind of group classes or do they vary by the session?

It varies. There are three kinds, base, built, and burn. So far I have only done base which is the lowest intensity. Kind of like a HIIT class but not as fast moving. We move between stations using dumbbells, kettlebells, rowing machines, doing a plank, etc.

Built is weightlifting, as you would guess, with heavier weights, fewer reps, and longer rest periods.

Burn is cardio and I think a more typical HIIT class with high levels of physical fitness and short rest periods, but I have not tried those yet, just what I have been told.

[DarthPenguin]

Thought i would check in and ask how the routine is going? Hopefully it is all going smoothly and you are seeing some benefits

[KarateKen]

On 9/10/2024 at 1:50 AM, DarthPenguin said:

Thought i would check in and ask how the routine is going? Hopefully it is all going smoothly and you are seeing some benefits

It is coming along.  I am starting to feel like it has become part of my routine, which is good.  I began wearing a heart rate monitor during my workouts this week to track my heart rate and calories burned.  I'm also drinking a protein shake after every workout.