I am not seeking advice or suggestions in this blog nor am I prepared to tell you what you need to do.  There are plenty of "experts" in everything on Stracka, and well I'm not one of them. :) LOL.    I am simply writing it to hopefully encourage anyone who is struggling to work out and exercise more.  The only thing it has to do with golf is that during the last four months I have for the first time in many years gotten to the stage that I can play a round of golf in 95+ degree Texas heat and actually think that, with a short break for a burger and some iced tea, I might actually feel up to playing 18 more (instead of going back home and crashing for two hours under the AC).  Another very unexpected benefit was getting rid of nagging lower back pain after a round of golf.

I’m 56, almost 57, 6’0", down to 181.something lbs. (down from 190+).  Relatively good health although I did have high cholesterol for many years and am still taking cholesterol meds.  Those are b.tt nekkid weights, my goal is to be at 175 clothed by August. 

The first step was to decide to eat a bit healthier, without going all “health food store” fanatic about it.  Less pizza, less or no soda’s, not even diet, more fruits, vegetables and salads.  Slightly less portions.  Healthy snacks (less than 100 calories) twice a day only, if that.  I don’t really count calories, but I do shy away from high calorie foods.  The occasional strawberry shortcake or coconut cream pie isn’t gonna kill my program.  Pizza went from once or twice a week to maybe once a month.

Since retiring from the Army some 15 years ago, I have lived a pretty sedentary work and lifestyle, offices, computers and tv in the evenings, with the twice a month or so round of golf.  Getting back into a more healthy and active lifestyle has been rewarding but to be honest about half the time, it’s just plain willpower (and a little bit of shame if I don’t keep up with the wife’s exercise) that I do my workouts.  ((I hated 0530 PT for 20 years in the Army and whoever dreamed up the idea of a 5 or 7 mile "FUN RUN" is a lunatic. :) ))

I started out 3 days a week for a couple of weeks, then bumped it to 5 days, and now at 6 days a week (unless I play golf one of my exercise days, then I may do a 7th day “lighter” workout).  So, enough background.  Here is what I have been doing.

40 ankle rotations on a balance bubble pad to strengthen ankles and loosen up calves. 10 each, Front to back, side to side, clockwise and counterclockwise.

15 minutes of weights and crunches.  Now these aren’t weight lifting weights.  Right now I do 7-10 lb. weights per hand doing these exercises but I started out at 4 lb. weights.  20-30 reps of each of:

Standing Bicep curls;
Standing tricep extension (weights resting on upper back lift straight up);
dumbbell flyes (bent over at waist, feet shoulder width apart. Lift weights to chest, extend arms out (fly) back to chest, down to floor);
Lying tricep extensions;
Bench press;
dumbbell lateral raise (standing);
lateral raise (lying down);
lateral raise (lying down but back of hand to back of hand);
crunches, but with weights on chest, and I do 30 of these; (real bu.t whipping, I hate them)((These are army style crunches, lying down, legs bent at 90 degrees, you do half a situp, you don’t go all the way up to  the knees with your chest and you do not drop your head back to the floor, those would be bent leg situps));

Then.. 40 minutes on the elliptical machine.  I do about 3 minutes to get up to my target heart rate (THR) which is about 65% of my Max Heart Rate (MHR)…((220 minus your age is a recommended Max Heart Rate)).  Then most days I do 30 minutes minimum maintaining my THR of 115; then about 3 minutes of cool down to bring heart rate back to about 100. 

This week I added in two days a week of interval training on the elliptical.  3 minutes to get up to THR of 115.  15-20 minutes of THR.  Then 1 minute full out to reach 90-95% of Max Heart Rate, then 2 minutes of slow down to get back close to THR. Then repeat this until 4 minutes left on my timer (40 minutes total)…4 minutes to try to get back down below 100 on heart rate.

I’m actually at the point where I can honestly say I feel better afterwards, mostly a sense of accomplishment, but also a physically feel better.   I'm a smoker (shame on me) so when I say I feel better afterwards, I really mean it, I'm not gasping for air thinking I'm gonna cough up a lung or something. :)

Here is where I offer one suggestion/advice/encouragement.  (First, and should be obvious, make sure your doctor says you are healthy enough to start a light-moderate exercise routine.)  Try the elliptical, it’s much easier on your knees than treadmill or bike, just start out the first couple of weeks doing elliptical, don’t try to go too fast (remember Max Heart Rate and Target Heart rate formulas), and only do three 20-30 minute sessions a week.  Add length and add in some exercises as you proceed along.  If you are trying to lose weight, a 65% of MHR is the optimum level.  It makes you burn more stored fat.  But be PATIENT.  You aren't going to drop 25 lbs in a month more than likely, and slow steady weight loss is much better than rapid weight loss.  You want to work into that better body by toning and building some of the fat into a little bit of muscle along the way.

My goal overall is to get down to that 175, then go to a 3 day a week workout instead of 5-6 days.  I’m working hard now to build up the stamina and lose the weight, then I want to just maintain that level, not build a bunch of muscle or train to run marathons.   I hope I stick with it.  So far so good.

Hope this blog wasn’t a waste of your reading time.  I just felt the need to share.