No I completely understand, it must be stressed that a lot of the stuff in there could lead to injury if you don't take care and ensure that you rest if you are struggling to perform the exercise correctly. Problem is, majority of exercises are technically bad for you, crunches and push ups are 2 of my favourite exercises which I perform almost daily, yet I know that I have to be careful as both are bad for your lower back and I carry a slipped vertebrae (sp?) just above my tailbone. It all should be done in moderation as everyone knows and opinions regarding exercise change all the time. I remember when originally starting martial arts when I was a kid that we were encouraged to bounce when stretching, that changed and is now considered bad form which could lead to injury. And now there have been a lot of studies that advise simply warming up (jogging, light exercise etc) before training as stretching cold (most classes I have been to want you to stretch before training begins) can damage your muscles. However, I would like your opinion in greater depth if possible about insanity and what sort of exercises you think I may benefit from as it sounds like you know a lot more than me and I'm always open for advice regarding my health especially as I know dropping the belly fat will help my diabetes and back no end (and probably help my sparring - smaller target lol).
[MENTION=52804]Mauthos[/MENTION] : Considering you've practiced martial arts, you probably have a pretty good idea what kind of punishment your body can take, so you'll probably pull off HIIT type of training pretty well -- I'd recommend it too as an effective fat-burning method. At least where I've trained, the BJJ and boxing workouts have always been the most grueling, as in, my legs actually fold under me when I try to catch a bus after the workout or I have to call in sick the next day because my upper body is so sore I can barely breathe. But that's when one often gets the best results. But again, don't get hurt and then sue me just 'cause I said this, I'm just a practicioner and hold no responsibility over your health and well-being. Good luck!
These are both very valid points, and I have no clue about how to train with such medical issues. I won't even try; that's for a trained doctor to talk about. Besides push-ups and crunches, how are you with regards to pull-ups? That's a fantastic exercise all by itself, and is usually less stressful on the back. This is absolutely correct, but it's hardly new knowledge! My father was doing "dynamic stretching" (warming up joints with some type of light exercise) back in the 70s in the USSR. And I'm sure it was known well before that. I think the problem is that a lot of horrible exercises/approaches simply become accepted exercise even when a lot of people know better. The stretching when cold is one of the most egregious examples. Well, let's start with the obvious; when you're tired/exhausted, your form suffers. And when your form sucks, not only is there limited efficacy to the exercise, but you could be doing a good deal of harm to oneself, and increasing the chance for injury. This is especially true with a lot of the complex, unnatural movements in the workout that I have seen. There is a reason that standard interval training is a lot more balanced than Insanity's program, with shorter exercises relative to the rest period. By the way, a lot of workouts these days have the goal of making someone utterly exhausted to the point of wanting to puke. This is neither difficult to achieve nor effective. Also, I hate how many jumps there are. I would imagine this would especially be an issue for you, since you mention lower back problems. All that said, I am by no means any kind of expert. Read some blogs by personal trainers who work with serious athletes, and seem like they know their shit. Talk to various people. I would definitely do a lot of homework before jumping into Insanity.
It can be pretty strengthening for the back, actually, cos when done right it helps with the core muscles. Which brings me to this: Cos that's true, and that's also why I train to exhaustion (when I do) with things I know I can do without injuring myself. Of course, accidents always happen, which takes me back to the push-ups. My elbows got fucked up in sparring due to hyper-extensions (too much too soon), and now I have to do push-ups very carefully, on some days I can't do them at all (and sorry but my pride won't allow me to do lady push-ups, I'm ridiculous that way). So that's another good reason to get the form right first, then intensify the training. This goes often with running, something many people do, and many people get hurt while doing it, curiously enough. As for the back: -pilates. Might not be too manly, but it's damn good for the back while it can get physically really tough. Exercises with own body weight are great in any case, also common in martial arts, btw, so you probably know a few. -swimming. Calorie destroyer for sure. And you can incorporate interval training in your laps. HIIT isn't a new thing by the way, they just popularized it recently. By the way, I don't know what this Insanity is, but I've noticed that building your own work-out routine has worked better for me instead of going with the latest fad. It requires some research, but planning work-outs is also fun, and at least you get to do stuff you like, say, incorporating martial arts/combat sports cardio with cross-fit or whatever you find enjoyable. Cos that's what exercise should be: fun. If it's all tears and puke and you hate every second of it, it gets kinda pointless. Unfortunately there's also a lot of stupid stuff out there, but with a critical eye even a layman can build a pretty good exercise routine.
Thanks guys, really appreciate you taking the time to give me some help and advise. I purely did insanity as a mate recommended it to me and gave me the dvd's. As you said there are hell of a lot of jumps involved sure enough with my back I found that most of the time I had to adapt the excercise to minimise the jump (for example the jump squats I had to change just to squats). I actually prefer sorting my own regime out as it gives me inspiration for the circuits I put my guys through when teaching but I think I need to shock my body to kick start the fat burning. Strangely enough, now I have some more free time I have started thinking about swimming again, used to love it and now should be able to squeeze in a couple of sessions a week. I love pull ups, but have found that although an effective exercise it does seem to bulk my arms and shoulders, which if they get any bigger I will become a little too muscle bound and my martial arts will suffer. But as of next week I will cut the calories down further, start jogging and hopefully swimming again and continue with my daily push-ups, squats, sit-ups etc. Again thanks for the advise, very much appreciated.
That's exactly what it is. There are several ways to do that, but my favorites are running and swimming, alternating between sprints and medium / low speeds. Then again, you can do several exercises like this, even martial arts (e.g. alternate between 30 seconds of hard sparring and 30 seconds of lighter bag work). As for pull-ups, a couple of things: -I don't think you will bulk up from doing them if you truly are on minus calories, because when you eat less than you expend, your body doesn't have the excess energy required to build muscle. At most you will look a little bigger because of increased circulation that makes your muscles look a bit larger ("pumped"), but it's just fluids, not actual increased muscle mass. As far as I know, gaining weight in the form of muscle while on minus calories, especially if you have any sports / training in your background, is next to impossible from a physiological standpoint, kinda like burning fat while eating more calories than you expend. -Pull-ups are one of the best ways to strengthen your entire back (including inner back muscles), but it's also an exercise that can seriously fuck up your back if you happen to have the right kinds of injuries. I have two degenerated discs in the lower back along with a couple of hernias between the two discs and I have to be really careful about my form while doing pull-ups or I'll end up bed-ridden, sometimes for days with such intense pain that only a combination of prescription opiates and pregabalin provide a bit of relief. To me, the most important thing is to keep your core (inner abs & back muscles) tight and firm while you do the pull-ups slowly enough that you don't start swinging. I usually end up keeping my body at an angle instead of exactly vertical. That being said, I try to do at least one set of pull-ups per every workout. Btw, if you ever try to do one-handed pull-ups, I recommend you use some kind of wrist support, at least in the beginning; I managed to activate an old injury in my left wrist, being a tad too enthusiastic + using less than perfect form.
I know the most recent branch of this thread was in the direction of exercise, but I found this relative blog that simply belonged in the thread. You might need to know the white male privilege issues to get the complete gist. This is what thin privilege looks like You may need a bit more information to get the joke.
Wait, does someone identify themselves as "a transfat"? Is that like a thin person who wants to be faux-fat so as to relate with heavier individuals? Interesting... All this privilege talk is giving me a headache though, so much so, I actually went all rant monkey on this thin privilege check list in my and T.Trian's blog a while ago
It was a parody, I believe related to a currently raging brouhaha over accusations of white male privilege if men don't believe women are sexually harassed by a guy hitting on them (long story that summary probably doesn't do justice to ).
Google 'elevatorgate' and read the antics of the far-left feminist/atheist/skeptic community. It's all 32 flavors of insanity.
Only if the man is on the steps below the woman, because if he is on the step above the woman, he is dehumanizing her and subjugating her to his overt patriarchal oppression.
I say we pass a law saying that all escalators must be completely horizontal and level over their entire length so as to prevent any one person from standing higher than any other. Only then will we have true equality!
Taller persons must also have their legs shortened to make them 5'6", and all sorter people must be equipped with extensions or skeletal implants to elevate them to the same height. See also Harrison Bergeron, by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., for other necessary regulations.
