According to one of my co-workers, the threshold between “girl” and “guy” weight is 200 lbs. I still remember the time I offhandedly mentioned that I weighed somewhere in the 190’s. His response was, “Dude, that’s girl weight.” To put it into perspective, the man is around my same height (6′4″ - 6′5″) but about twice as broad (his girth all gained from years of heavy-duty weight lifting). He would be disappointed to know that this morning I re-entered the female weight class with the scales tipping in at 198.8 lbs.
Between my re-addiction to running and tentative plans to train for a five day charity bicycle tour (to be held in September), I will probably continue to shed pounds. With fitness as my goal, I have no target weight or clothing size in mind. However, I do want to work some on my upper body in order to stave off that gaunt look I had when I ran all of the time. Does anyone have experience with exercises using your own body weight for resistance (i.e., push-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups, etc.)? I am looking for something that is effective, inexpensive, space saving and emphasizes strength over mass.
In related news, in the mornings I have been running on a track at a nearby church. Every day I see these two older women walking and talking. They are usually there before I begin and are still circling when I leave. This morning there was just one of them, so I managed to strike up a conversation. Ann and Doris are in their early seventies. They walk an hour a day (16:00 min/mi pace by my estimation), five days a week; spring, summer, fall and winter. Both of their husbands have heart trouble, but they remain in excellent health. I admire their dedication, especially when the temperatures drop (the time of the year I usually quit exercising and the worst time because of holidays). In thirty-five years I hope to be as active and disciplined as them.
4 Comments
1) Try out some resistance bands. You can pick them up pretty cheap, and the possibilities are fairly limitless with what you can do with them. Then throw them in a drawer after your workout.
2) Do you mean the walking track at the Nazarene church, or is there another track around here? I’ve been thinking about finding somewhere down here to walk when E’s summer football schedule no longer makes it convenient to use the CCS track.
[quote comment="4182"]2) Do you mean the walking track at the Nazarene church, or is there another track around here?[/quote]
Chattanooga Valley Baptist Church is the track I’ve been using (corner of Nick-A-Jack Rd. and Old Chattanooga Valley Rd. What I like about it versus the Nazarene track are: 1) it’s paved (asphalt), wide (two can walk abreast), 3) it’s long (3/8th of a mile), 4) it’s open (field in the middle instead of trees), 5) it’s lit (i.e., you could run till just past dusk). BTW, I’ve seen Jolee and Joe over there before.
For my money (or Uncle Sams) Nothing beats the strength and endurance training of the good old armed services.
https://atiam.train.army.mil/soldierPortal/atia/adlsc/view/public/9500-1/fm/21-20/toc.htm
Does this mean that you’re doing daily calisthenics?