5:2 Exercise & Fitness Thread Number 2: Advice and information for those following 5:2 / IF (Intermittent Fasting)

[BigChocFrenzy]

Why Exercise ?

Maintaining a normal bodyweight and taking regular exercise are 2 major areas of life which we can address to improve our health.

Regular exercise helps reduce the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, some cancers, osteoporosis, dementia, depression.

Increasing your % muscle and / or reducing your % body fat lowers the risk of death from all causes LowerRiskMuscle

Regular exercisers gain the greatest benefits over their lifetime and theyj can minimise biological aging, i.e. "Bend the Aging Curve BendAge

Fasted training

i.e. training on FDs, seems to increase the benefits of both training and IF.
Most experienced exercisers soon manage fasted training without loss of performance for session of up to 90 mins.

Hormesis

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"
Hormesis Mattson , BlackSwan and Hormesis is cutting edge science for nutrition and fitness.

Its principles are that alternating between "extremes" of feast and fast (5:2 / IF) or intense training and rest (HIIT), makes the body more resilient.

The intermittent stress of lifting an extreme weight or performing at high speed for a short period pushes the body to overcompensate and prepare for an even greater future challenge HormesisTrain , Hormesis-Edge , and AntiFragile The following recovery period avoids damage from over-stressing.

INEFFICIENT: Low-Medium Intensity Steady state Cardio

Steady state cardio is NOT necessary for fitness and should only be a small part of your weekly cardio, unless it is all you can manage to do.

Walking outdoors is beneficial psychologically, is easy on the knee joints and has some physical benefits.

However, at speeds of 5mph or faster, running will burn more calories per mile than walking Ref

Also low-moderate or steady state exercise tends to increase appetite, whereas intense exercise can suppress appetite for up to 15 hours.

BEST TYPES of Exercise

HIIT cardio and resistance training / weight lifting are recommended to boost the effect of 5:2/IF, to increase weight loss, reduce body fat, retain muscle and maintain TDEE / BMR.

Anyone who is not specialising in a sport at a high level should aim to do both HIIT cardio and lifting / resistance training.

FAST Exercise

Dr Mosely developed a Fast Exercise program to complement his 5:2 WOE FastExercise

He lists many HIIT and strength routines that only take a few minutes, but can make significantly improve metabolism and fat-burning capability FastExercises

HOW to Exercise

The cardio machines and the girlie pink dumbbells that gyms push are NOT adequate to significantly improve fitness or burn fat.

Whether you join a gym or train at home or in the park:

• Train as intensively as your time, health and fitness level allow.
• Do not remain in your comfort zone, or you will not improve.
• You are supposed to drip sweat and pant heavily !

However, a brisk 30 mins daily walk plus 5 mins hoop is better than nothing and if done regularly will bring some health benefits.

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)

HIIT is an exercise strategy which alternates brief intervals of high intensity exercise with less-intense recovery periods.
Examples:

• 20 seconds high intensity + 10 secs recovery
• 60 sec high + 30 sec low etc.

HIIT is very time-efficient, producing the greatest fitness benefit in the least time (the advantage of hormesis).

Scientists have proved that HIIT burns more fat than steady state lower intensity exercise and speeds up the metabolism, which helps burn more calories for up to 48 hrs.

HIIT also improves the insulin metabolism, which is very important for health.

HIIT reduces risk of heart problems more than doing lower intensity SteadyState , pp. 31-34.

HIIT increases both aerobic and anaerobic endurance

HIIT can be applied to cardio: e.g. cycling, running, skipping, jumping, mountain climbs or to bodyweight exercises, e.g. squatting, situps, burpees, pressups

Most gyms offer HIIT classes, e.g. spinning, circuit training, CrossFit, Tabata, Fartlek*(Fartlek = HIIT with irregular intervals)

RESISTANCE Training / LIFTING

Helps retain muscle mass during weight loss and hence to maintain TDEE.
You can lift at home, or in the gym weights area, or in a pump class.

It is best not to train the same muscle groups 2 days in succession, so have rest days, or cardio, or train different muscle groups on different days.
Try to build up to weight training for 30-60 mins twice per week.

Reps = the number of repetitions in a set of a particular lifting exercise
Sets are normally separated by brief rests E.g. you might do 3 sets each of 12 reps all of the same exercise.

WARNING
Do not lift massively heavy barbells, more than bodyweight, unless you are really fit with good technique.
Women who have given birth and / or are aged 40+ have a higher risk of pelvic floor / prolapse injuries when lifting heavy than young non-mums.

Press ups

• By far the best upper body exercise
• Keep attempting one full pressup rather than doing several dozen girlie ones with your knees on the floor.
• Once you can do one pressup, you will soon be able to build up to 5, then 10 etc.
• Tip: keep the abs rigid, so strong abs are as important as strong shoulders & arms
• Hand Release Pressups are good to build up strength for full ones
• Also build up via inclined pressups InclinedPress , see bottom of wiki page
• To increase the number of pushups IncreaseNum

ATG Arse To Grass bodyweight squat

• The best exercise for the large muscle group in bum and thighs.
• Basic principle: It is like having a pee on a public loo - get your bum down low and pointing to the rear, but not actually touching the seat.

-Lean back on your heels, so that weight is on them, not on your toes. -bring your arms forward

• keep your back straight, but angled slightly forward, not vertical.
• Go down as far as you can without knee pain.

Pullups

• Very few women can do full ones, but assisted ones build excellent muscle
• Work the same muscles with the much easier Australian pullup or imverted row InvertedRow

If you have access to dumbbells / barbells, then for maximum effect, work the large muscle groups:
squats bent-over rows (press button "female") Behind neckPress (press button "female") dead lift

To increase Strength Rather than Muscle Mass
Lift as heavy as you can, low reps, with 1 minute rest between sets e.g. 5 sets x 5 reps each, i.e. totalling 25 lifts.

To Build More Muscle
Lift lower (NOT Girlie) weight, do 3 sets x 8-20 reps, i.e. totalling 24-60 lifts.

AVOID OSTEOPOROSIS

To retain bone strength and avoid a painfully disabled old age, start now:
Ideally weight-bearing exercises that load the bone along its length of these types:

Impact exercise E.g. walking, running, jumping, skipping rope, step class, hitting a heavy punch bag.

Lifting: squats, press-ups, bench press, overhead press etc.

Squats are much better for osteoporosis than lunges, also for knees:
The weight in a squat is transmitted down along the spine, through the hip, and down along the bones of the leg, whereas in a lunge, it is transmitted across the shinbone and puts pressure on the knee joint.

Note: Cycling normally does NOT increase bone density, as it does not load bones along their length. Osteo

KETTLEBELLS Kettle
Beginners:
. Two-handed swing
. Sumo Deadlift
. Turkish Getup
. Swing
. Clean and Jerk
. Press

Improve your GRIP STRENGTH GripMen , BodyBuild

CALCULATORS:
Fast Fitness Calculators: 52FastExercise
Estimate your fitness age: FitAge
Estimate Vo2Max iTunes App: Vo2APP
Body Fat Calculator:BF
Healthy Body Fat Percentages at Different Ages: HealthyBF
TDEE with detailed activity times: TDEE

Kettlebells can enable a specific kind of swinging movement that nothing else can. However, dumbbells / barbells are far more versatile and allow far more kinds of lifts, including the main muscle groups, e.g. deadlift, benchpress, bentover row, squats.
I use barbells for my heaviest lifts, dumbbells for the smaller muscle groups and, now gym no 2 has them, a few sets of kettlebells oer week.

Fantastic progress with the Big Girls, B&W
To further increase your strength, I suggest you sometimes do 3 sets of 5-8 reps, at the absolute heaviest weight you can manage, for BGs and / or lifting.

Hi,
Whats a good starting routine? I've got a rowing machine at home, a few weights, a dumbell and a bench. I also have access to a gym but the classes are not convenient due to the kids, so I tend only to use the cardio equipment or pool.
Could I incorporate HIIT with the rowing machine? Any and all advice would be very welcome.
Thank you.

Hi, Whatmess I suggest building up to 2-3 days cardio and 2-3 days strength

Cardio
With cardio equipment, including your rowing machine, or running, you can do Mosely's Fitness Blasts (I posted these Wed 19:21)
These are a very concentrated form of HIIT. which rapidly improve fitness

You can also do 30-60 mins cardio HIIT sessions, to burn cals, like this:
. warm up 4 mins on the apparatus
. for 20-50 mins, pdo intervals of say 3 mins @ 80 -90 % effort, 30 secs low intensity recovery
. few mins cool down

Strength Training
Do shorter sets of 8-15 reps with heavier weights or bodyweight, not long sets at girlie weights.

Bodyweight:
. Big Girl pressups
. Bodyweight deep squats, getting bum down below knees
. Tricep dips on a step, straight legs

Abs:
. Situps hands forward
. Side plank with hip raises
. Plank 3 x 30-45 secs

Dumbbells:
Concentrate on the major muscle groups which determine shape and burn most cals
. Bentover row
. Deadlift
. Bench press wide arms
. Bench press narrow arms
. Triceps on the bench
. Military standing shoulder press
. Lunges, alternate legs
. Deep squats

Some smaller muscle froups:
. Biceps
. Lateral arm raises
. Front arm raises

Thanks BC. That's really useful. Can I ask what PDO is?

A typo, not wearing my reading glasses ! pdo hould be "do"

Hehe. Had me there, even DH with his Crossfit obsession was stumped.

Ok. Im gonna get some dumbells.
When I was a gym bunny I used to do a weekly "bodypump" class. I reckon I can remembe most of the moves. So I just need to work it into my routine.
If I run twice a week and do that twice a week will that be a decent start?

Rowing machines usually take a good few seconds to get up to speed IME (this may apply to any machine that has a substantial flywheel needing to be powered up), so the 3 minute intervals BC suggests will probably work better than trying to do the 20 second blast type of thing.

Amanda - sounds like a good start to me. There's tons of videos on the net if you can't quite remember the form for some things.

As well as quite a few 2.5kg, 5kg and 10kg kettlebells, my local Lidl today had some 10.3kg dumbbells - with 1x 2.5, 2 x 2kg and 4 x 1kg weights.

As you'd expect from Lidl, they were all reasonably priced.

Welcome to all the new exercisers, it is really good to see other people benefiting from the exercise guru BigChoc. Good luck with all your programmes!
I had 10 days off running for tendonitis which really put a spanner in the works for marathon training. I restarted running on Friday and did a 10k race today, without forcing too much and still managed a reasonable time (47m40s, usually I'm around 46). It just goes to show that even with 10 days off training you don't lose that much fitness which was really encouraging as injuries can and do happen especially when you are doing a lot of training. My knee is still a bit sore but much better with the electroshock treatment from the physio. Marathon in Rome in 5 weeks, so I hope I can get back to proper training now.

Glad you are recovered Anglaise That's an excellent 10k time.
Your normal 46 mins puts you around regional level, from this Age-Related Run Calculator , which fits in with the placings you've reported over the last months.

"Muscle memory" normally prevents significant loss of fitness until at least 2 weeks without training. You might even notice renewed energy after the rest.
The next training run or two and you should be back to where you were. Plenty of time to gear up for the Rome Marathon. Sounds a fantastic trip

Good plan, Amanda Let us know how you get on so we can keep pushing

Re HIIT on machines: the recovery portions of the intervals are at a slower speed, not stopping of course. Getting back up to full speed shouldn't take more than 2-3 secs.

Good link BigChoc and yes, regional is about right (I have a very low heart rate, that helps!)
I will definitely be tapering the week before the marathon. A rest has a lot of benefits. I was always scared of tapering too much before but the injury stoppage has proved to me that rest can be beneficial. I was always skeptical before.
Do you have off from the weight training or is it different to aerobic exercise?

Abs Exercises
Choose the exercises & number of reps for your fitness level.

The plank
. If you don't do this yet, start at 2 x 15 secs. Work up to 3 x 45 secs

Side plank with hip raises
. If you can, have keep the side of 1 foot plus 1 forearm on the floor, the free arm straight up in the air, as in picture.
. Easier - free hand on your hip. Easier still - and keep your calf and knee on the floor, instead of bent at the knees.
. Start at 3 sets of 3 and build up to 3 x 20

Leg raises
. Lie flat on your back, with legs bent to 90 degrees.
. Lower your legs one at a time to 1" above the floor (straighten leg if you can) then raise again.
. Start at 3 sets of 3 each leg. Build up to 3 sets of 10.

Classic Situps
. Hands forward ensures you really work your muscles and avoids pulling on the neck
. Alternatively, cross your arms over your chest Video Beginners can use one of those gym cage gadgets to support neck.
. Start at 3 sets of 3 and build up to 3 x 20
. Advanced options:

1. Raise legs to 90 degrees and bring them towards you when you situp (double crunch)
2. Legs nearly flat on the floor
3. One leg bent at 90 degrees, the other held straight 1" above the floor
4. Hold a 5kg weight disc at arms length, so it is horizontal when you lower yourself and vertical when you sit up.
5. Hold a 10-20 kg barbell vertically and keep it there for situps (do NOT move behind your head)

Angled situps
. Lie on your back and rest one ankle on the opposite knee.
. Angled situp so your opposite elbow touches the knee.
. Keep the other hand be in the air by your knee, or alternatively supporting your head - do NOT pull on the neck.
. Build up to 3 sets of 20 each side
. Advanced options:

1. with dumbell
2. Situps with legs rotated 90 degrees to the left, resting on floor. Then repeat set with legs rotated to the right, on floor.
3. Lie on the floor, rotate legs 90 degrees to the left. Raise and lower legs like that, keeping back on the floor. Repeat set with legs on other side
4. Keep legs raised & rotated to the left and do situps (double side crunch) Repeat with legs raised & rotated to the right

Just marking my place at the moment, I'm going to try to attend 2 classes per week as I get so bored in the gym and I need to start somewhere

Classes can be great fun. You are with other people, music and an instructor is showing you exactly what you do.

For those of you who find even an easy sit up difficult - as I did when I first tried an "easy" sit up and failed miserably - then try the following:-

Sit on floor, legs bent, arms forward parallel to the floor and lean backwards, rounding the spine vertebra by vertebra until you find the point your abdo muscles begin to shake; make sure abdominals are pulled in, hold for as long as you can, try counting to 10 slowly, then roll back up to sitting; repeat. In a few weeks, realise how much lower you can get before your abdo muscles kick in; then do Bigchocs proper sit ups.

And remember to !

Good tip, Granny
Those ab support frames in the gym also help newbies.

Pressups Someone asked how far to lower yourself: an upright fist on the floor should ideally touch the middle of your chest, see video
Well-endowed women obv should not compress their boobs too much, for comfort's sake.
In practice, get as low as you can, but don't be fanatical about it.

Okay. Fasting has been going well since June so it's time I upped my exercise and toned up

Before having my daughter I went to the gym and worked out with a great PT. I ran distances up to marathons (slowly). Now I have no money/time for the gym/PT and no time to run more than a couple of miles once a week (if lucky). I am also going to try and do yoga once a week to a YouTube clip. (I used to do yoga all the time)

What I would really like advice on is this: I'd like a little suggested program of exercises I can do at home in a tiny living room with a small child running around that I can do for fifteen minutes every day - eg sit ups/planks. I have had a carpal tunnel op on both wrists but it feels as if the CT is coming back so I am limited as to how much weight I can put on my wrists for any length of time.

Advice and suggestions please!

Trenzalor - well, for the situps part see BC's recent post! Not sure about plank-type things with the CT - and for that reason I don't think I'd recommend the Jillian Michaels dvds, there's lots of planks (and worse, 'table transitions' and 'abs holds' in some of them). Oh, except of course you should be able to do forearm planks (ie forearm flat on the floor) and side planks (again on your forearm). The former is a static hold, the latter you can do static or with dips.

Squats and lunges are the obv things for legs - dynamic or static.

It occurs to me that some of your time perhaps you should do some exercises specifically for helping the CT - a quick google suggests there are some. Did you have physio at all?

Trenzalor My suggestions for your home exercise:

Abs
. See my abs post @ Fri 20-Feb-15 12:32:04
. Definitely do plank and side plank only on your forearms, which activates the abs more anyway (doing them on your hands works the shoulders more)

HIIT cardio
Rope skipping
. Slow skip 1 min to warmup
. Alternate 60 secs skip with 20 secs rest and repeat a few times
. Build up to say 8 intervals of 2 mins each with 20 secs rest.

Sprint intervals outdoors
. Gets the maximum bang for your running time
. Few mins jog to warm up
. 8 intervals, each 30 secs sprint and 20 secs jog
. Continue with normal running if you have time
. Few mins jog to cooldown

Legs and bum
Deep squats,
. As low as possible without hurting knees.
. Work up to 3 sets of 10.

Forward lunges,

. As low as poss for your knees.
. Work up to 2 sets of 12 each side.

Upper body (if wrists allow)
Pressups
. Big Girls (i.e full ones) If you can, or see the OP how to work up to these with inclined pressups on a step or wall and XFit pressups.
. The aim is to keep your body in a straight line, with abs rigid.
. Little girlie pressups, with knees on the floor, don't do much.
. Start with 3 sets of 5, whatever pressups you can do and work up to 3 sets of 10 Big Girls.

Tricep dips on a step.

. The lower the step, the tougher it is. Also tougher is keeping your legs fairly straight, instead of bent at the knees.
. Again, start with 3 sets of 5, but work up to 3 sets of 20

Just wanted to recommend an app called PTinmypocket and The HIIT Mum on Facebook, really excellent.

Ok still lurking over here! No action from me yet but I am feeling under the weather!

Also my neck is really achey do you think yoga will help that?

Tip is our yoga expert. I'll call her on the other thread