Azdak Member

I am newly retired—as of last October 11. I am still barely into making the transition. I got my first job at age 12 (newspaper route) and have always worked since then. So when people say “you’re lucky to be retired”, it can be a little irritating. I earned this with 54 years of hard work and denying myself a lot of…

You can use it for fun and motivation, but it is not accurate for tracking calories in that type of workout. It will significantly overestimate calorie burn. But recording it also counts it as a workout, so if you are using the watch or health app to track number of workouts or consistency, then it is useful for that.

I’m a big believer in investing in quality equipment. If you are using it that much, it’s worth every penny.

Under 100 is considered ideal, over 160 is considered high. In between is more subjective and will depend your individual context. In your case, a 93 hdl would likely be considered more protective. A cardiologist is likely to be more knowledgeable about lipid issues than an IM doc. The scan is an ultrafast ct scan that is…

:D

Nothing like waking up to a hot, steaming cup of Unintended Irony.

Not to be too serious, but here are the risks involved with shoveling snow (i.e. factors that put more load on the heart): Upright posture Cold temperature High intensity activity Sudden onset of high intensity (change of activity from sedentary to high exertion w/little or no warmup) Higher proportion of upper body/arm…

We had two early sudden snowfalls this week so these are the layers in my back yard: Grass dog poop leaves snow leaves (2) dog poop (2) snow It's like a 7-layer biohazard dip

Depends on how you define “ideal”. The upper limit of body fat that corresponds to a lower health risk is higher that what would be considered “ideal” in terms of appearance or physical performance. For whatever reason, I cannot find a copy of the national norms. When someone wants to know a general “ideal” BF %, I usually…

“Proven results” come from peer-reviewed, published research, not from “I knew a guy” reports.

As this sounds like a short-term, motivational thing, I don’t think it’s a big deal. It certainly won’t hurt your body long term. It’s not inherently beneficial, either, so I would put in down as “neutral”. It’s nothing I would suggest to someone, but people do worse things.

As always, I commend people who have the courage to post pictures. And as I suspected, your issue is too little muscle, not too much weight. Just saying “gain 10 pounds” — well, let’s just say that is an incomplete answer. Having said that, I do think it is time to give your body a “weight loss break” and focus on…

If that is the case, then it is irresponsible for the doc to throw out a specific number and threaten the patient.

The only way to add more resistance to the water tower is to fill it with more water, which is not really practical. Otherwise, you just have to pull harder. But I agree with the above that I’m not sure single leg rowing is the best approach.

Lift your weights. Monitor your calorie intake. Stick to your macros. Wash your fruits and veggies (I’m assuming that’s what you mean by “eat clean”). Your metabolism is not “destroyed”. Be consistent and let the results happen.

You can do RDLs, but I would do them in addition to, rather than as a substitute for the other exercises. The balance characteristics are not the same and the RDL is really more centered in glutes and hamstrings. I forget the details of your injury, but my understanding is that this is primarily training for the peroneal…

I know some of this is just for fun, but, to be clear, the point is not to see hold long you can hold the pose. It’s to challenge your proprioceptors and neural pathways to improve stability in the joint. Once you have done that, longer duration is not necessary. Being able to hold a position for 2 min does not mean you…

Start with one-leg balancing. Then do it with arms outstretched in front of your. Then try it with your eyes closed. Going from a hard floor to a pillow can sometimes be a big jump. You can go in-between by using a folded towel. But the general concept is sound and important for full long-term recovery.

One other note—you might have to modify some movements, but it is likely that you can still lift weights. For me, I could not do a lat Pulldown, for example, but I could do seated cable rows just fine, esp if I modified the grip so that palms were up at a roughly 45 degree angle. Sometimes switching to cables, dumbbells,…

Yes, it lasts for ages. However, there are things you can do—in fact, as I stated before, things you MUST do—in order to heal it. From my research from when I injured myself (as usual, by doing the most mundane and stupid thing imaginable), it became apparent that this is one injury you cannot just rest and wait for it to…

This is the general approach that should work well for most people. For various reasons, one may not want a steady diet of heavy lifting, but you have to routinely cycle through phases of higher stimulus to make continued progress.

The compression strap can work as a preventive/palliative device—I’m not sure how well it works to heal the injury. Tennis elbow is usually not a “rest and recover” type injury. In my experience, it takes active exercise therapy to heal. Obviously, the ideal approach is to see a doctor and do some physical therapy, but I…

“Functional strength” is one of those BS terms that doesn’t really mean anything. But if you are going to train at higher reps, you need to go to failure n your sets. That’s what current research indicates. That can be an issue if you are doing compound free weight exercises since form can be compromised. Right now I would…

For a type 2 diabetic, the single most effective way to increase insulin sensitivity is to decrease body fat. That is more important and effective than meal and exercise timing put together. I think that has to be taken into consideration before you start radically changing your habits.

If you do 70lb kettlebell swings each rosary bead, you might have something.

An orthopedist who specializes in sports medicine knee injuries. You gotta drill down on these things. I looked for months to find an expert in non surgical treatment of Achilles tendinosis—he was excellent. Went back to the same guy for a different foot injury-pretty useless.

This is another way to incorporate “core training” into one’s “regular” routine. However, one thing that people need to realize is that there is a trade off—you won’t get as strong doing this type of exercise. The process of “destabilizing” to make the core work harder lowers the amount of weight you can effectively lift.…

Two of my mom’s brothers went hunting for deer. They shot a good-sized one, with full antlers. They were dragging it through the woods by its hind legs. After a while, Ted said to Stan, “you know it might be easier if we pulled it by the antlers”. So they switched and started pulling the deer by the antlers. After a while…

Most people fall at the two extremes—either doing a lot of focused ab work (often doing below average exercises), or they follow the “compound lifts are all the core work you need” maxim. Neither approach is ideal, IMO. Compound lifts are not a complete “core” workout, although they do help. Again IMO, most focused…

As someone who needs progressive lenses, a pair of Oakley Flak Jackets would set me back over $700. The problem with many performance glasses like Oakley is that you can only get prescription sunglasses through them. At least that was the case a few years ago. So I don’t think you can get them at Costco. You will be…