Is Anyone Else Old School?
OldAssDude
Posts: 1,436 Member
About 4 years ago i was obese and pathetically out of shape. I had a pretty serious health scare during pre-screening for a surgery (for diverticulitis). Long story short... COPD & a heart attack at some point in time. I survived the surgery, but was told that if i did not start exercising, lose weight, and quit smoking, that i would not be around much longer.
I was a fitness instructor when i was in the military back in the 1980's, so i had the basic "old school knowledge" of what i needed to do to get back in shape. I used that "old school knowledge", and over the past 4 years i have achieved the following...
When i first started all this, i did do a basic monitoring & logging of my food intake, but only to learn how to eat better. Once i learned that, i stopped logging, because i think of that as a bad habit. I think we should learn how to eat without having to measure and log.
I notice things have changed a lot since the 1980's, but i think the "old school" basics still apply, so here is the "old school way that i did it...
These are some of the "old school" methods that have worked for me, and should work for anyone.
We all have hearts, lungs, muscles, joints, etc..., so unless someone has a certain condition, this should work.
There are really no shortcuts to getting back in shape, and if you think you are doing cardio, yet are hardly breathing heavy, you're not.
I have an "old school" motto...
If you ain't huffing and puffing and sweating, you ain't doing it right.
As far as diet goes, i look at diet as what i eat, not a particular "name" of a certain diet. It is already know that well over 90% of diets fail long term, and that is why i believe that exercise is equally important to maintain a healthy weight. Most people eat too much and don't exercise enough.
Is anyone else "old school"?
I was a fitness instructor when i was in the military back in the 1980's, so i had the basic "old school knowledge" of what i needed to do to get back in shape. I used that "old school knowledge", and over the past 4 years i have achieved the following...
- barely being able to walk a mile at a 3 mph pace, to power walking over 10 miles at a 4+ mph pace.
- barely being able to run for 30 seconds at a slow pace, to being able to run 5 miles at a slow pace.
- resting heart rate was in the high 80's, now it's in the high 50's
- cut my bad cholesterol in half, and more than doubled my good cholesterol.
- all other blood work that used to be a mess is good now.
- lost well over 50 lbs.
- went from a size 40 pants to a size 32 pants.
- have not smoked a cigarette in 2 years (using electronic cigarettes).
- last stress test revealed that not only is my heart strong and healthy now, but it actually healed itself from the heart attack.
When i first started all this, i did do a basic monitoring & logging of my food intake, but only to learn how to eat better. Once i learned that, i stopped logging, because i think of that as a bad habit. I think we should learn how to eat without having to measure and log.
I notice things have changed a lot since the 1980's, but i think the "old school" basics still apply, so here is the "old school way that i did it...
- no pain no gain as long as you don't push the pain to the point of injury.
- do steady state cardio to build your base aerobic fitness level
- do high intensity intervals and try to hit you MHR on the work interval each time, and try to still keep your heart in the cardio zone during the active rest interval.
- use all the heart rate zones and mix it up.
- stay in the cardio zone for at least 30 minutes non stop to get a training effect.
- do at least 1 activity every single day, even if it's a 3 mile recovery walk.
- do enough resistance training to maintain your muscle and more if you want to build muscle.
- push yourself if you are not doing a recovery activity.
- do impact activities properly, because we have evolved for impact, and our joints need impact to stay healthy.
- eat a well balanced healthy diet (all the food groups), and cut down on the junk food (moderation).
- don't starve your body or it will not be able to do all the things listed above.
These are some of the "old school" methods that have worked for me, and should work for anyone.
We all have hearts, lungs, muscles, joints, etc..., so unless someone has a certain condition, this should work.
There are really no shortcuts to getting back in shape, and if you think you are doing cardio, yet are hardly breathing heavy, you're not.
I have an "old school" motto...
If you ain't huffing and puffing and sweating, you ain't doing it right.
As far as diet goes, i look at diet as what i eat, not a particular "name" of a certain diet. It is already know that well over 90% of diets fail long term, and that is why i believe that exercise is equally important to maintain a healthy weight. Most people eat too much and don't exercise enough.
Is anyone else "old school"?
50
Replies
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I hadn’t thought of this being “old school”, just good fundamentals. A lot of what is touted today is still based on this, except all the “woo” and fads. You’ve done a fantastic job!6
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Some of this makes sense, but the idea that we "should" know what to eat and that logging is a bad habit doesn't really make sense to me. Logging is just a tool, a morally neutral tool. It's like saying that we "should" remember all our appointments without using a calendar or that we "should" be able to understand the dimensions of a room because using a measuring tape is a bad habit. If someone doesn't want to log long term, that is understandable. But if someone else finds it to be a useful long term tool, I think that is okay.53
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You're right - in many ways there is absolutely nothing new in weight management...it all comes down to eating and exercising sensibly.
I would add a few caveats in addition to what others have said:
You can be exercising effectively and not breathing hard...cardio is different from things like stretching and some strength exercise. It all depends on what you're working on.
We have learned a lot more about nutrition over the years, so be open to new info. (Granted, it's often stuff like "This food in moderation is actually pretty good for you!" "This artificial component may not be very good for you!")9 -
Your "old school" method is sound. I think it works better for males than for females unless they are obese, and the reason I think this is that most women have fewer calories to play with over all and there is a very fine line for some of us when it comes to maintaining a healthy deficit, so that measuring, weighing food & logging really helps. The second reason I think this is that weight loss for women is also complicated by hormonal variations through the month.
I do agree that activity level is the key to maintenance long term. While you can't out-exercise an unhealthy calorie intake, all it takes to gain 12# a year is to eat about 100 calories over maintenance a day ... keeping activity levels up can help with what I like to call "bracket creep."
That being said, I applaud your commitment to your health!8 -
OldAssDude wrote: »I have an "old school" motto...
If you ain't huffing and puffing and sweating, you ain't doing it right.
When I used to run a lot, before knee surgery, one of my favorite mottos was similar only a little more hardcore:
If you don't crawl through the door, you still have more; give it everything you've got!
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I used to be a no pain no gain kind of guy and then two events changed me. I was doing some overhead shoulder presses and damaged my rotator cuff so that I cannot even throw a piece of gum away overhand. That caused me to stop lifting for awhile and start running. Day one 3 miles, day two my knees were crying. When I slowly built up knees were fine and can run half marathons without knee pain. When I started back on weights I did a week with almost nothing for weight and slowly am adding to it. As I get older (56) I focus on not getting hurt and staying fit.21
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I used to be a no pain no gain kind of guy and then two events changed me. I was doing some overhead shoulder presses and damaged my rotator cuff so that I cannot even throw a piece of gum away overhand. That caused me to stop lifting for awhile and start running. Day one 3 miles, day two my knees were crying. When I slowly built up knees were fine and can run half marathons without knee pain. When I started back on weights I did a week with almost nothing for weight and slowly am adding to it. As I get older (56) I focus on not getting hurt and staying fit.
If you note that I mentioned my motto was before knee surgery, I learned a similar lesson. I was 5655 when I had that surgery done, BTW, so yeah at about that age...
EDIT - Had to come back and correct myself; 55 was the knee operation. I was 56 for the shoulder...1 -
I also outgrew old school--pushing 70 I learned that no pain no gain just leads to too much pain and then really no gain. I was running 3-5 miles at 65, lifting weights feeling great--then a series of injuries ("overuse injuries") were a wake-up call. I still have all my original parts and plan to stay sensibly active for as long as possible,
I will add that I am old school because I still use an old school scale with a big dial instead of a fancy digital one. I did use a HRM when I was running but not test my HR by how much of a conversation I can have while walking.10 -
I'm definitely not a "no pain no gain" kind of guy, and I tell people, especially people who are new to exercise, to go at a moderate intensity. I'm willing to put up with some pain for things I love our benefit from, but I'm choosy about it.
It's a blessing and a curse that I'm not really motivated by exercise, and only a little by fitness for the sake of fitness. I love riding a bike, I love Nordic skiing, I love being outdoors in beautiful places. And I like moving around, staying busy. Put it all together and some degree of fitness is required for me to do the things that make me happy. But I'm willing to hike up the trail instead of run.13 -
I'm not really in the "no pain, no gain" crowd. Having trained for a number of cycling events, it's actually a bad way to train with any kind of great frequency. In the early days, I was pretty balls out with my exercise with both intensity and volume...after being sidelined for weeks and even a few months a couple of times, I decided that it was a silly way to go about things.
I just like being active...I love riding a bike either out on the road exploring my city or out on my CX bike exploring the dirt trails and single tracks of the ABQ bosque. I like downhill skiing in the winter. I like doing some rock climbing and hiking here and there. I'm reasonably fit and healthy, and that's all I really care about.7 -
I'm not in the "no pain, no gain" crowd either. I personally needed a gentle, gradual approach to exercise that pushed me just a tiny bit, but not too much. Learning that I could exercise just to the point of being mildly uncomfortable but exhilarated by it rather than gasping and wanting to die so that I dreaded the thought of ever doing it again was key in keeping me motivated to continue performing.
I'm goal oriented and I constantly set new goals for myself, so I've certainly progressed with my gentle approach and I've avoided injury (key for me since I have psoriatic arthritis).
I guess I'm not old school. I'm also a dedicated food logger. I don't think that using food logging is any less healthy than wearing my glasses. Both of them are tools I need.12 -
"Old school" in terms of exercise selection (barbell/landmine hack squats, sissy squats, dumbbell pullovers, etc.) & mainly using LISS (I'm still very skeptical of HIIT vs. LISS in my particular/individual circumstances at least...). I do some form of cardio EVERY DAY which seems taboo nowadays...heart is quite an important & overlooked muscle that needs training (modern bodybuilders/lifters who are "gainzzz" oriented seriously neglect cardio).
Not "old school" in a sense of beating one's self to a rag doll to achieve results or any sign of being a "good" workout; being able to recover & have progressive overload (more volume, achieving PRs, increasing intensity, etc.) in the long run is very important & a more "new school" aspect of weight training/bodybuilding.
All I'll say about diet is being consistent, compliant, & accountable tracking kcals/adjusting based on goals16 -
Glad to see so many people getting good workouts in, using basic old school methods, and improving their fitness.
I also understand that a lot of people enjoy logging their food. I just meant that it's seems like a bad habit to me personally. I did it until i taught myself how to eat better in my head. This is just a personal preference.
Thank you all for the great replies.8 -
Old school? Nope. I need my "crutch" of daily measuring and logging. I don't "push" myself when exercising because I still have to walk my butt home.10
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I agree with essentially everyone that this isn't "old school" it's just basic. Basic isn't bad, mind you.
The issue with this is that a lot of people don't know when they're reached the threshold into injury. That and, depending on what you're training for, you need lower intensity weeks built into your plan.no pain no gain as long as you don't push the pain to the point of injury.8 -
I don't believe in "no pain, no gain". I'd say "no challenge, no gain".
In my world, being active is and should be fun (among other things, such as energizing and health-promoting).
Pain is not - for psychologically sound people - fun. Challenge is fun. Even a bit of temporary discomfort to hit a goal can be fun, to see what I can accomplish.
But pain? Nope.20 -
I am "old school" - and not intentionally. At age 63 I started taking boxing lessons - and the workouts my Coach gives me are all stuff from my grade school days - jumping jacks, jumping rope, push-ups, squat thrusts (now they are called burpees -LOL) and the like. What's old is new again...1
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You have to define "pain". I know a lot of people, my wife was one of them, that conflate pain with discomfort. Once I got her to move past the idea that any discomfort while lifting was bad, she's made incredible progress. Personally, I have real pain when I lift in my elbows and shoulders. However, I know that it's because of a combination of arthritis and chronic tendinitis and it's either work through that pain or stop lifting completely. I know the levels I expect to experience and I do back off if it exceeds a certain threshold.
You know, getting those last couple of reps on a heavy day is extremely uncomfortable. However, I know I have three reps in the tank and I'm going to get at least two of them out. It "hurts". I think this is where the old school idea of "no pain no gain" comes from and not pushing past sharp excruciating and debilitating agony.OldAssDude wrote: »Glad to see so many people getting good workouts in, using basic old school methods, and improving their fitness.
I also understand that a lot of people enjoy logging their food. I just meant that it's seems like a bad habit to me personally. I did it until i taught myself how to eat better in my head. This is just a personal preference.
Thank you all for the great replies.
I'm not a fan of spinning my wheels... maybe it's because I'm "old school" in that I'm almost 50 years old now and don't have a lot of really productive years left to build the body I want. I dread wasting my efforts and time. If I tried to "guess" if I was in a deficit in a cut and was wrong, I'm wasting valuable time I could be bulking. If I'm trying to bulk and I undershoot my target, I'm spinning my wheels/wasting time or if I severely overshoot my targets I'm adding a lot of fat I didn't need to add and wasting time later cutting it back down. This is the value I personally see in logging. It keeps me sane and on track.
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I don't believe in "no pain, no gain". I'd say "no challenge, no gain".
In my world, being active is and should be fun (among other things, such as energizing and health-promoting).
Pain is not - for psychologically sound people - fun. Challenge is fun. Even a bit of temporary discomfort to hit a goal can be fun, to see what I can accomplish.
But pain? Nope.
Here are some fun quotes from Teton Gravity.
Type I fun is fun the entire time you're doing it. It never sucks, you're never glad it's over, and just want it to keep going on and on.
Eligible activities: Riding powder, riding slush, drinking cocktails on a boat, lift-served or shuttle-assisted mountain biking, really anything lift-served, fly fishing, aprés.
Type II fun sucks the entire time you are doing it, but you are excited to either brag about it at the bar later or look back on it and value it as a character-building episode. People in the Tetons love it for both reasons.
Eligible activities: Mountain running, randonee racing, Tough Mudders, ski mountaineering when all you get to ski is rotten snow and/or ice, hiking the Appalachian or Pacific Crest trails. For Teton locals, see The Grand Teton Picnic, in which participants bike 20 miles, swim 1.3 miles across Jenny Lake, hike 7,000 vertical feet to the top of the Grand Teton... then do the entire thing in reverse.
Ernest Shackleton practically invented Type III fun during his failed 1914 expedition to cross Antartica.
Type III fun is never fun while you're doing it, you often feel your life is threatened, certain doom is usually at hand, and half the time it ends in a harrowing rescue. Afterwards, you swear to never attempt anything similar ever again.
Eligible activities: Failed polar expeditions, Apollo 13, sailing around the world solo, anything described in a Jon Krakauer novel, ....13 -
NorthCascades wrote: »I don't believe in "no pain, no gain". I'd say "no challenge, no gain".
In my world, being active is and should be fun (among other things, such as energizing and health-promoting).
Pain is not - for psychologically sound people - fun. Challenge is fun. Even a bit of temporary discomfort to hit a goal can be fun, to see what I can accomplish.
But pain? Nope.
Here are some fun quotes from Teton Gravity.
Type I fun is fun the entire time you're doing it. It never sucks, you're never glad it's over, and just want it to keep going on and on.
Eligible activities: Riding powder, riding slush, drinking cocktails on a boat, lift-served or shuttle-assisted mountain biking, really anything lift-served, fly fishing, aprés.
Type II fun sucks the entire time you are doing it, but you are excited to either brag about it at the bar later or look back on it and value it as a character-building episode. People in the Tetons love it for both reasons.
Eligible activities: Mountain running, randonee racing, Tough Mudders, ski mountaineering when all you get to ski is rotten snow and/or ice, hiking the Appalachian or Pacific Crest trails. For Teton locals, see The Grand Teton Picnic, in which participants bike 20 miles, swim 1.3 miles across Jenny Lake, hike 7,000 vertical feet to the top of the Grand Teton... then do the entire thing in reverse.
Ernest Shackleton practically invented Type III fun during his failed 1914 expedition to cross Antartica.
Type III fun is never fun while you're doing it, you often feel your life is threatened, certain doom is usually at hand, and half the time it ends in a harrowing rescue. Afterwards, you swear to never attempt anything similar ever again.
Eligible activities: Failed polar expeditions, Apollo 13, sailing around the world solo, anything described in a Jon Krakauer novel, ....
I was holding it together until I got to the Jon Krakauer novel part at the end, now I'm laughing at my desk.3
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