Training Your Body

[Panda Tar]

Kudos!

I'm here in thread to prompt you guys to talk about your lifestyle when it comes to physical training. To see if we can talk about the many facets of physical training, advicing through aging, speak about programs, healthy and unhealthy stuff and, mostly, help each other sustaining a lifestyle that might improve your overal welfare. We may come across diet information as well, although that's not something I domain, and just as training routine, diet is also a very particular subject.

So, anyone here has been training? Or interested on the subject that may give it a try? I'm training for over 16 years now and I have been witnessing a lot of ups and downs on many elements, evolving, seasoning, BS and a lot of other situations. I'm here at your disposal.

[Pol]

Wow, I'm ..not training. Being just an office rat.

[Panda Tar]

'Bout time to start, right? RIGHT!? No pressure, though.

But seriously, we are getting old. Exercises such as weight lifting helps a lot aging graciously. And it's way better getting to have that added to your daily life nowadays than later, you know. Plus, you are a parent! Nothing better than being able to keep the pace with your cubs!

[Pol]

I do keep nicely so far. And I'm going to swim less or more regularly. Never been the type to spend half of the day in gym, instead I prefer to be outside, doing real things. Running, swimming, canoeing.

Or was. Having a family shrunk my time.

[Angelspit]

My story:

I used to get involved in seasonal activities, mostly biking and skiing, but I was often finding excuses to stay home instead. Sometimes it was the weather, sometimes it was me feeling tired. It turns out that sometimes, the less things you do, the more tired you get.

Then I started karate a couple of years ago to join my kids in the dojo and gradually went from 1-3 hours of week of training to 4-6. Both of my kids moved on to other sports but I stuck to martial arts and got my 1st dan black belt in Shorin Ryu earlier this year. I find that the group of people I'm training with is crucial to my motivation. I would probably have stopped a long time ago without them, not because I don't like the routines but because you need someone to drag you at times. They often feel like family.

I still struggle to find the best food to provide me with enough energy, I need and I should do some reading about that.

[Panda Tar]

Congratulations, AS! Black Belt requires a lot of discipline. And regarding people dragging your around, that's exactly how it works most of times, even when you don't know it. There's always someone motivating you, either on present form, or somewhere else. Besides, you also want to be good, feeling good and that's the most wonderful thing you can do for those who love you and live with you, because that's simply what they all want too.

That's basically how I live here. I live alone, my family is all spread very far from here, so my friends and people I work are now my family. And that's how it's supposed to be. The more people we have the privilege to embrace, the luckier we are, the richer, the happier.

Regarding food, it depends a lot on your routine and your goals too, on your metabolism. There are a lot of variables. But there are the basic stuff: fuel for energy are fats and carbohydrates. But some people have a hard time dishing out fat when they eat too many carbs. I would suggest you to go looking for some reading on that subject from articles written by Christian Thibaudeau. One that's very easy to master and remember is: the day you don't train, you don't eat carbs, only fats (by fats I mean good fats, oils and stuff), and refrain carbs to fibrous veggies. For sessions such as karate, where you cannot really have much food in your stomach, eating before training might not be the best way. So you may consider taking the dextro-kind of drinks which provides fuel without filling you up. The thing about diet is that you need to experiment some strategies and see which fits your better, even when it needs time to get used to them. And that's the wonderful thing about our body: constant adaptation.

Stay away from bro-science when it comes to diet. And seasonal science as well, such as: "I eat only chicken and sweet potato".

[Kalah]

I was very active both as a football player as a youth and later as a referee until the age of about 28. Injuries (runner's knee) made training more and more difficult and I eventually retired. This means that my main habit of training (running and jogging) is not happening anymore, so I train a lot less than I used to ten years ago. Nowadays I usually train muscles and a bit of ellipse, but it's only about once a week.