Phinney weight reached. Now what?

#1

I’m at a weight now that is easy to maintain, so I want to stop weighing myself, and to start building bone and muscle, and to lose more body fat. Dexa scan 6 months ago showed borderline osteopenia. I’d like to get to 22-23% bf. I’m looking for strength, not bulk. I have very little upper body strength.

I’m inconsistent with exercise. I’m not a fan of exercising for exercise’s sake. I like playing, eg tennis, basketball, golf, drums, chasing the grandkids around. I also like to jog once in a while. I realize I may need to add some body weight exercise’s or gym weights to achieve my goal.

I get bored easily.

What do you recommend?

#2

Perhaps a fitness class?

(Adam Kirby) #3

You have to reconcile that strength results are produced by consistency, which won’t work if you get bored easily. You need to do a consistent, progressive strength training plan. What form that takes, bodyweight, barbell, machines, doesn’t matter as much.

#4

“Consistent” is not my middle name, “fun” is. If I combine the two, consistently fun, that would work.

#5

@MelTar I watched a video last week that convinced me to start weight training. Short version: when the guy behind the Nautilus machines was starting out, he was asked to work with older women with osteoporosis, so he had to come up with an approach that would be safe for them. He started them on a protocol of very slow movements on the machines and the results were astonishing (and no injuries). Everyone figured the strength gains were so pronounced because the women had been relatively weak to begin with, but then they did the same protocol with younger fitter folks and it was still astonishing. Weightlifters who like bulk aren’t crazy about it because it doesn’t do much for size but the results in strength, bone health, age markers, energy, etc. are terrific.

Dr. Doug McGuff is likable and knowledgable and I really enjoyed the talk. Also I’ve been reading and researching in health for ages and there were at least 5 moments when I stopped the video to call my husband over because I was so excited. His particular approach (based on the above) is slow and intense and seems to take about 15’ once a week (at the most) but it was also a case for intense resistance work as a powerful health strategy.

Here’s the talk: Doug McGuff Strength Training for Health and Longevity

#6

If you have osteopenia you likely also have sarcopenia. There is only one solution, resistance training. I’m on my parents (neither of them need to lose weight) about this constantly. As Baby Boomers, maintaining muscle mass is crucial to maintaining their independence as they get older.

(Mark Rhodes) #7

Like Madeleine I do Like Doug McGuff, especially Body By Science. I didn’t get the results I wanted in particular after 12 weeks but I did think that most people who do not like lifting would receive all the benefits listed. What I like about the book is that like our forums it is backed by the science and real life experience of thousands of people.

Failing that try Core Performance which focuses on core strength routines that do not require equipment but do elicit a muscle response, not quite the same as lifting but easy to do once you get into a routine. Also in this vein of strength training is yoga. My yogi is in her 60s and my class is mainly women older than me (53 year old male) none of whom can do every pose equally and that is not the goal anyway. The goal is to build strength while connecting the mind to the body through awareness in the movement.

Hope these help MelTar. Glad to see you are happy at your Phinney!

(KCKO, KCFO) #8

Strength and resistance training are indeed what you need. There are tons of youtube videos on doing these at home if a gym is something you would avoid. I find a lot of jessicasmithtv videos to be great when the weather doesn’t allow me to go outside or I don’t want to drive to the fitness center for a class.

I have a set of dumbbells, a resistance band, and a step bench that has a couple of levelers, so I can use it as a bench as well as do step aerobics on it. I also have a good yoga mat for doing yoga at home. I also have a TRX system but I rarely use it, I just pick up the dumbbells and turn on youtube, so much easier to get going.

#9

Actually you don’t have to be really consistent. I heard once that as long as you work the muscle out again within 10 days, you won’t lose gains achieved.

(Mark Rhodes) #10

Oh yes

I forgot all about these. $12 for a decent set. Unlike weights keeps time under tension in both eccentric and decentric motions. Easy to store. If you get these try the round tube kinds with handles. I finish up weights with bands and the wife who despises exercise prefers these to weights and they have shown to be helpful when she uses them consistently.

(Mark Rhodes) #11

Doug McGuff covers this. In fact he is of the opinion that 10 days may be too soon for some. He gives the science to support his position. But the caveat to this is that the muscle must be absolutely fatigued by using all the types of muscle fibers throughout and by the end of the full set of reps

#12

Sounds like his program is similar to the Power of 10 program. I have the Power of 10 book but I haven’t done much more than read it and try it out a few times. I think part of the problem is that it’s difficult for me to believe I only have to do the workout once every 7 days (or whatever the interval is) for it to work. Plus, I feel like I need someone standing next to me saying, “Come on, push push push!” for me to actually exhaust my muscles. I suppose I just need to pull on my big girl bloomers and get to it.