Hondo Gravel

Unbelievable that surgeons can operated on a heart by traveling up from the leg or groin if I’m not mistaken. I would guess that is much better than having to saw through the chest. Much faster recovery time.

vane171

Isn't it that bike riding is a good aerobic exercise but in terms of exercising muscles, it is mostly leg muscles. It doesn't do that much for the body from the waist up. I am not the type to do any weight lifting, or power anything, with me it is gymnastic sort of exercising. All I need is a mat to soften the floor...

In 1980-85 when the gym aerobic classes was the new thing, before it became a fashion, I was in the gym aerobic class every other day (class was led by an ex prima ballerina but still young since she quite mid career and extremely fit as you can imagine) and also did cross country skiing and biking, not racing but doing it in fairly sporting way. In those day, I happened to have my body fat measured as part of some research into health and fitness and the doctor was surprised that I had no body fat he could measure

Now at 60+ when I mostly do only bike rides of some 15 to 20 miles at fast clip several times a week, it is not anymore like it used to be but there is still the payoff from those days, it definitely is not lost whatever you did to stay fit in your earlier years in life.

Marylander

Yeah, I've had bruised ribs before and that's bad enough, pain-wise. Having your whole chest cavity cut open must take a long time to recover from and hurt like crazy.

I had a kettlebell back in the early 00s. It just didn't do it for me. Looks like they've become pretty mainstream (back then there was only 1 vendor in the USA, dragondoor, or you could order from Russia). The important thing with all of this stuff is finding something you enjoy.

CyclingBK

How are you holding the dumbbells when you squat? I imagine holding 2 dumbells while squatting feels awkward.
Why not just barbell squat with the equivalent weight? You have the cage for safety.
if you prefer a dumbbell, goblet squats could be the way to go. They encourage perfect form. Here:


Also, for deadlifts, you could try Romanian deadlifts with the dumbells or barbell. They focus more on hams, glutes, lower back and you don’t have to go all the way to the floor. Perfect compliment for squats and less redundant quad work.

This video is great, notice she keeps the weight right agains her thighs and shins



Great that you are doing this. Yes, take it slow and keep it sustainable. I’m 52 and strength training for about 4 years now. The benefits are truly amazing.
I’m do 30 minutes every other day. And cycle on the opposite days.

I do about 7 sets for chest/shoulders and 4-5 sets for back 2 days a week.
And 6 sets for legs (squat and Romanian deadlift) one day a week.

Im in the 8-15 reps range per set. Good range that combines strength gains with some good muscle mass gains.

I don’t think strength training burns anywhere near the calories as cycling/cardio measured by time spent on each. I was surprised but this seems to be the consensus. Unless you don’t rest or rest very little between sets. And that kind of turns strength training into cardio and defeats the purpose. If you are trying to gain strength and some muscle mass, I think at least a minute between sets (I rest for 2 full minutes to feel recovered so I can go hard each set to close to failure) is needed.

Hondo Gravel

I’m holding two dumbbells at my sides then squat.

CyclingBK

As you increase weight, that will put a lot of load on your shoulders , forearms, and grip, and limit progress.

Plus, it limits you to a narrow stance and knee path, to prevent the weight from banging against your legs. And you may be working too much just to keep the weight off your sides.

Its not ideal.

Hondo Gravel

Trying various lifts out at the beginning the goblet squat sounds good. Now for some cooler weather this 106 degrees is an energy zapper.

CyclingBK

I did goblet squats for over a year when I got back into it. I loved that they made it so easy to have perfect form and your elbows will guide down perfectly to the insides of your knees/thighs. It makes it much easier to grab the weight to start if you put it up on a bench or box or something.

The issue will be running out of weight as you progress depending on how heavy your dumbells go.

106! Man, guess you could workout at midnight; )

Hondo Gravel

My energy is zapped from too much fun in the 106 degree sun and pushing against river current all day. I guess a low impact workout by default. I like keeping things flexible so I can enjoy other things and not be ruled by a schedule. Weight session on Sunday will give me 3 workouts for week 1. Going to study and try out the goblet squat before I hit the hay.

FiftySix

Indeed. It only got to 100 here, but working on two cars and doing yard work yesterday has me feeling fairly miserable this morning. I hope to do some dumbbells and biking this evening as work kept me away from both all last week.

Hondo Gravel

Weed eating is a full body workout.

Clyde1820

So is prepping and polishing the car's paint. Wash x2, clay bar, wash, polish out deeper scratches and oxidation, polish out those scuffs the first polish made, then polish all of those to a mirror shine, then seal it in with a final coat x2. Plus going over it with a fine-toothed comb to ensure no ugly white stuff's sitting in the crevices. About 6hrs' of work. Thankfully, the clay bar and polishing doesn't need to happen but once in a blue moon. Better result than hiring it out, though, IMO.

A few aches here. A few aches over there. Oh, yeah ... ouch ... and over there as well. Finding muscles I hadn't seen in awhile. I guess that's something.

Thankfully, I'm still able to do workouts, weights, cycling, and polishing the car. Now for the shower+tub project ...

grizzly59

For a change of pace-

rigid, braced, non-rotating pullup bar
rowing machine
TRX straps or DIY equivalent

Nobody sits on the bench in my downstairs workout room hogging the dumbbells and watching youtube on their phones while I wait ... and wait ... and wait

Any exercise is infinitely better than no exercise