5:2 / IF Exercise & Fitness Thread Number 3: Advice and information for those following Intermittent Fasting .... and anyone else too

[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 they can minimise biological aging, i.e. "Bend the Aging Curve BendAge

Recent Research showed that lack of exercise is twice as likely to lead to premature death as being obese (BMI 30 -35)

Body Fat, Exercise & Diet
People who maintain their weight through diet alone without exercise are likely to have major deposits of visceral fat (the more dangerous kind around organs), even if BMI is ok.

They are TOFIs (Thin Outside, Fat Inside)

A MRI study found that:
45 % of women and nearly 60% of men with “healthy” BMI, had excessive levels of visceral fat i.e. clinically overweight

A Can J Card study showed visceral fat can be burned off via exercise, even if weight is unchanged (increased lean mass)

Hormesis

Hormesis, see Mattson , BlackSwan and Stronger is cutting edge science for nutrition & fitness.

Its principles are that alternating between “extremes” - e.g. feast & fast (5:2 / IF) , intense training & 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.

Fasted training

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

TYPES of Exercise

Main types: Aerobic, anaerobic, flexibility.

All exercise will burn fat, the more intense the faster the fat burn

Anaerobic
e.g. HIIT (see below), sprints, strength training
. Shorter training period
. Increases the RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) for up to 48 hrs
. Soon increases fitness
. May help correct insulin metabolism issues & target abs fat.

Aerobic
e.g. walking, running, cycling, swimming
. Longer training period
. May burn more calories during exercise, if it is lasts much longer than HIIT, but burns fewer afterwards
. It is easier to do for the less fit

Flexibility, Stability, Relaxation
e.g. yoga, stretching

The best exercise routine is one you enjoy and is sustainable.

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

HOW to Exercise

If you are a very overweight unfit beginner:
. Check with your GP before starting exercise
. Start by walking 5-10 mins twice per day, gradually increase
. Try walk intervals: alternating 1 min faster pace, 1 min normal
. Build up to a brisk 30 mins daily walk and you will significantly improve your health & fitness
. Swimming is also good, preferably crawl or back stroke for less strain on back & joints.

Everyone Else:
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. But stop immediately if you feel any sharp pain.
• You are supposed to drip sweat and pant heavily !

Efficiency / Intensity: This Study proved that at speeds of 5mph or faster, running will burn more calories per mile than walking

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)

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

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

. Increases both aerobic and anaerobic endurance

. May improve insulin metabolism, very important for health and abs fat.

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

HIIT can be applied to cardio or to bodyweight exercises, at home or gym.
Most gyms offer HIIT classes, e.g. spinning, circuit training, CrossFit, Tabata, Fartlek (=HIIT with irregular intervals)

FAST Exercise

"No time" to exercise ?
Or want to boost fitness & fat-burning metabolism

Dr Mosely developed a FastExerciseProgram to complement his 5:2 WOE
His Fast HIIT and strength routines can significantly improve metabolism & fat-burning capability

Other scientists like Tabata have developed routines now wisely incorporated in training.

HIIT Fitness Blasts

A few mins per day, 3-5 days per week

START with 2 mins warmup then EITHER

Sprint or Rope-skipping intervals
. 1 minute sprinting / skipping @ max effort +90 secs jogging to recover
. Do 5 intervals

OR

Fast Blasts
Choose from:
Running, stationary bike @ low resistance, rope-skipping, burpees, jumping jacks, spotty dog, punching air or bag, step-ups, swimming, squats, lunges, pressups, tricep dips, situps ... or any combination you like.

Choose type of Blast:

4-minute Blast
. 4 mins @ 90% effort

OR "Tabata" = 8 x intervals of 20 secs @ 100% effort + 10 secs recovery @ rest or slow speed
( FreeTimerApp )

OR 2 x20-sec intervals=
. 20-sec @ 100% effort
. 2 mins walk to recover
. 20-sec @ 100% effort

END any HIIT or Fat Blast with a few mins cooldown walk / jog

RESISTANCE Training / LIFTING

Helps retain muscle mass during weight loss and hence to maintain TDEE.
Lift at home / in the gym weights area / 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 lifts
Sets are separated by brief rests
E.g. 3 sets of 12 reps = 36 lifts
Breathing: Inhale before lifting, exhale while lifting. Don't hold your breath.

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
Video

• 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 IncPress , see bottom of wiki page
• To increase the number of pushups IncNum

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
• Squat down as far as you can without knee pain or hunching your back
• Push up from your heels, exhaling.

Pullups

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

If you have access to dumbbells / barbells, then for maximum effect, work the large muscle groups:
Squat BentOverRow (press button "female")
BehindNeckPress (press button "female")
DeadLift

To increase Strength
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 Muscle
Lift lower weight, 3 sets x 8-20 reps, i.e. totalling 24-60 lifts

To Build Endurance
Lift lower (NOT Girlie) weight for 3-5 mins, preferably without pauses

BUM / GLUTES
Squats & lunges are excellent
Also this 2-min bodyweight workout especially for women, targeting the bum:
WorkYourBum

ABS
Choose the exercises & number of reps for your fitness level

The plank
. Start at 2 x 15 secs. Build up to 2 x 45 secs
. Advanced:

1. Use TRX slings, picture 2

Side plank + hip raises
. If you can, keep the side of 1 foot plus 1 forearm on the floor, free arm straight up in the air, picture 3
. Easier - free hand on your hip. Easier still - keep calf & knee on the floor, instead of bent at the knees
. Start at 3 sets of 3. Build up to 3 x 30

Leg raises
. Lie flat on your back, with legs bent to 90 degrees
. Lower the legs one at a time to 1" above the floor (straight leg if you can) then raise again
. Start at 3 sets of 3 each leg. Build up to 3 x 15
. Advanced:

1. Lower both legs at the same time

Situps
. Hands forward to really work abs & avoid pulling the neck
. Alternatively, cross your arms over your chest
. Start at 3 sets of 3. Build up to 3 x 30
. Advanced:

1. Raise legs to 90 degrees & 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 weight disc / dumbbells / barbell above 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:

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

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

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 GRIP STRENGTH GripStrength , GripBuild

RUNNERS

. Sprinting improves fitness
. Regular 5 - 10 km runs burn significant fat, especially fasted

Running illustrates the "J or S-curve" effect, where increasing exercise improves health, up to a certain point, after which health worsens e.g. MayoClinic , RiceUni , JMed :

. Running 20 mins improves immune system

. A run of 90+ mins may weaken the immune system for up to 3 days.
With insufficient recovery periods, the damage is cumulative.
Elite runners have immune systems that handle that strain

. Long races 20k+ may cause micro-tears to the heart muscle in some runners, hence a 2-week recovery period is recommended.

CALCULATORS:
Calories Burned for specific exercises: ExerciseCals
Fitness Calculators: 52FastExercise
Estimate fitness age: FitAge
Estimate Vo2Max iTunes App: Vo2APP
Running Calories burned: RunningCals
Running Standards: Age-RelatedRunCalculator
TDEE 24hr activity times & body fat TDEE-Detail

Hi, Mapless

Talkinpeace is our expert on posture, yoga etc < yoohoo, TIP ! >

For HIIT, I suggest you try the quick Fat Blasts in the OP here - give your knees a break and do the abs and upper body.

e.g. Do Tabata or intervals of 2 mins work / 30 secs recovery with any of these:

• punching air or bag or with 1kg dumbbells
• pressups, or hand release pressups (video in OP)
• tricep dips on a step
• bench press (with heavier dumbells or barbell)
• front deltoids or side raises or biceps with light dumbbells
• situps
• leg raises

Hi there Mapless
Rounded shoulders and posture - yoga is your friend,
One of my teachers is obsessed with a chap called Leslie Kaminoff who is a Yoga anatomist.

Starting point.
Stand barefoot on a firm floor with your feet together
now heel toe one foot out to the side - your feet are now hip width apart.

Stretch your hands down to your side and stick your thumbs out.
Standing tall, rotate your thumbs inward till they point backwards - your shoulders will be rounded and hunched.

Now slowly breathe in and as you do so, rotate your thumbs forwards and up and over, as you lift your arms to shoulder height. Your thumbs should be facing backwards and you'll feel a heck of a stretch across your collar bones.

Keeping your torso exactly as it is, lower your hands to your sides.

Your posture should now be looking pretty good.
Shoulders back and down, spine straight, bum gently tucked in.

Repeat the arm spirals five times
and then try to do it a couple of times a day, every day
your upper back muscles will start to strengthen and thus improve your posture

and then go to a yoga class as they will help you with the main spinal posture work.

The pilates instructor should have been picking up on it,
but this spiral thing is the current hot topic - both in Les Mills and Yoga as well as Pilates.

It might be worth looking online at what there is for upper back on somebody like Kino MacGregor's Youtube

BINGO
THe man himself explaining it

Found you, Big.

Don't be shy. Noone else here is !
When is your 10k ? And do you run atm any distance ?
Anglaise is a brilliant runner, does longer distances, but must have started at shorter ones.

Hi Vincent, welcome to the thread.

I've just had my first complete week of full on exercise in over three months, and it's going rather well.

I'm now up to 4 sets of 15 with my kettlebell exercises, and today I've done 80 press ups (6 sets of 13/14 throughout the day) - might do one more set before bed.

Did my first 'plank' exercise the other day, and did 60 seconds no bother.

My HIIT is 6 sets of running on the spot for 30 seconds at a time with ten second recovery - in 4ft of water in the swimming pool, since my knees are knackered, too! Don't know if that's any use to you, Mapless?

I've been doing this for about 3 weeks, now, after my layoff, and I may have gone in at too high a level.

I really know I've been in a workout after this: my first set is easy; by the second set my thighs feel as if they're on fire for the last 5 seconds; the fourth set my thighs are burning after 15 seconds in; and on my last set the burning sensation starts after 5 seconds!

I average about 220 steps every set - so I total around 1320 steps in less than 4 minutes.

Off to do one more set of press ups (94 for the day), then bed - rest day tomorrow!

I'm loving getting back into the routine!

Have you tried running on the spot, Mapless? It may be that your knees can take that, but aren't up to the extra pressures involved with running or jogging.

Bet your little one would love to join in!

I'm also with you on the slightly rounded shoulders - I have to constantly remind myself to stand tall and pull my shoulders back.

So, thanks, TiP, I'll have a go at that and check out the video. Must admit I've been looking at yoga with interest, recently.

Mapless You can do the strength exercises indoors that I listed, either as HIIT Fat Blast intervals of a few mins, or as slower longer sessions.

Good progress, B&W but be careful not to overdo things - you didn't just have a long layoff; you had an op too.
If you don't already, I recommend a couple of restdays per week without any exercise.

Yesterday I managed 100 press ups in 5 sets in less than 90 minutes!

I know I could go on doing 20 press ups every 15-20 minutes - but I don't want to overdo it.

Now for two days rest. On Tuesday I'll do the 100 in 60 minutes. When I can do them within 20 minutes I'll start doing weighted press ups.

Be nice to be back in my pre-op condition by Christmas!

Now, I think it's time I shared with you guys something I've been mulling over for several weeks.

Someone, can't think where, recently mentioned 1000 press ups in a day. I was idly musing on this with my YMCA mate, saying that it was an achievable goal for sometime in the future. He perked his ears up and said that could be a fundraiser - "78-year-old bloke does 1000 press ups in a day."

So, in the back of my mind, is a target for next year. I'm thinking that if I was to set out to raise money for 2 charities - the YM and the local hospice, St Margaret's, say, both would join in with publicity, etc, and I'd get a fairly wide audience.

The YM has promised me space to carry out the exercise. All I have to do is get into shape.

But there's more. At my peak earlier this year, I managed 50 press ups in one minute. I'm pretty sure I could manage, 30 say, every 5 minutes for several hours. That's 360 in an hour - 1080 in 3 hours. So, if I could keep this up for 6 hours, then 2000 is achievable.

So that's my goal, ATM. But, as with losing weight, the goal can change the nearer you get to it.

Any thoughts, BC? Or anyone else, of course!

Great progress with the pressups, B&W
I sometimes do around 200 during the advanced lifting class, but that's mixed with a lot of barbell work, so I've never found my ultimate limit. Gets too boring !

1000 in a day sounds a very ambitious target, maybe a step too far; I prioritise avoiding injury (for both of us), so I would really recommend little and often, spread over the week, rather than too many reps of the same exercise - risks Stress Repetition Injury.

Doing 10 batches of 100, or 20 batches of 50 would be a huge strain, constantly stressing tired tired muscles and would worry me.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but I wouldn't attempt it myself.

If you want a maximum target, I'd aim for 500 and build up very carefully to 200, 300 etc

Personally, I think it would be a much better target to do as many as you can in, say 5 minutes.
Also, much more of a spectator sport and easy to monitor, even YouTube, rather than something spread over hours.
You could get some others from orgs like U3A, min age 65, who could improve their own fitness, plus raise more funds than you could alone.

My goodness B&W I tried the running on spot for 30 sec on, 10 off.....that is tough (only managed to make it to 29sec each time

Press-up question for you experts. I can now do approx. 10-11 proper press-ups in a row, managed 3 sets of 10 last week. what would be a good target to aim for to keep improving? Just keep upping the numbers or trying to increase speed? My aim is to increase fitness and I still have weight to lose.

?Anyone recommend any HIIT workouts on youtube. I generally need someone to tell me what to do for me to keep going. I randomly use fitness blender or the odd other thing, just looking for anything else. I generally can only do short ones, sometimes 10 or 20 mins, occasionally longer, sometimes I start one and just a bit disappointed...should really bookmark the ones I like best.

That's a good starting base for upper body strength, live

Speed isn't at all important, just good form: your body must be in a straight line from shoulder to heels all the time. Don't stick your bum in the air.
I suggest you build up to 3-4 sets of 15, then 3 sets of 20.

You could vary hand positions for each set: sometimes wide, sometimes tricep press (narrow) or hands together in a diamond.
That places more load on different muscles, so gives good allround upper body strength

Live Rope skipping is very HIIT and you probably can't do more than 2 min bursts to start.
If you like very concentrated HIIT bursts, look at the Fat Blasts in the OP, only a few mins for a session
Go flat out to do them properly, so don't do more than one a day.

You'll be working too hard in those 5 mins to watch YouTube, so just play your fav song or let the Tabata App ping.

Thanks for that, BC. Another avenue to explore.

I've just done 100 in 45 minutes in sets of 20 - and I have to say, after a lay-off of 2 days, I found the first couple of sets really easy! Previously I'd get to 5 and think - well that's a quarter done; then get to 10 and think, '50% of the way there'; then 15 - 75%, etc.

Today I just breezed through them.

That running on the spot, Live, I worked up to that slowly - starting off at 15 secs with 15 secs recovery IIRC. I didn't suddenly go flat out for 6 sets of 30/10!

B&W Try your sets of pressups with 30 sec rest between sets. It's what I often do - increases the intensity

BC, you're the one who's been telling be to be cautious! Perhaps I've been ultra-cautious!

Earlier I did my 5 x 20 press ups in around 10 minutes with no problem. I'll try your 30 second gap on Friday - then next week I'll start with the weighted press ups!

Thanks!

B&W You have a problem with shorter rest breaks - I know you would be sensible about only doing as much as you can fairly comfortably.
I'd definitely be cautious about going for a huge number of pressups, which is extreme loading imo.
Also, keep to your lower weight kettles.

I suggest you start with just one set of the weighted pressups and keep the others just bodyweight, so again build up carefuly

NO problem < arrgh, fingers faster than brain >