Thanks for all the encouragement!

[Guest guest]

Thank you for all your kind words. I thought about taking a break, but decided

to dive right

into challenge 2 doing TT and HITT instead of doing the regular weights

approach. I only

have 10 lb dumbells anyway, and figured I would need to start moving up. My

calories

fluctuate between 1600-1800 with my free days being more like 2500 (or more). I

was told

that I should take two weeks and just do maintanence calories to give my system

a break

from dieting, but I am kind of afriad to do that. I know my propensity to go

crazy without the

constraints of a set free day. I like the way I am eating and feel plenty full

on what I get....

Am I setting myself up for my body not wanting to burn calories by not taking

time off the

diet?

Second question.... My hubby really needs to lose a lot of weight, and I had him

try some of

the Turbulance Training stuff with me this morning, and it DID NOT go well. The

planks and

push-ups gave his back fits. He is willing to do a challenge with me, so I

really want to

encourage him, but at this point, the stuff that he would need to do to

strenghthen his back

he can't do without a great deal of pain. Anybody BTDT?

Jodi

[Guest guest]

I used to suffer for years from severe lower back pain (20 Advil a day,

and it still hurt) and I was in a Catch-22 situation for a couple of

years, when every time I tried an exercise to strengthen my back, it

just made it worse.

It took quite a bit of experimentation to get over that hump. My first

suggestion: The pelvic tilt. Lie on back with bent knees then tilt the

pelvis forward just enough for him to feel his abs tightening with maybe

just a little bit of his butt lifted off the ground. Either hold that

position or keep tightening and loosening for reps. I would do these

several times a day when my back started to ache, and the ab tightening

eased the pain.

The next progression would be the butt bridge. Lie on back with bent

knees, then lift the hips into the air. Either hold that position, or

keep going up and down for reps.

If he can do the butt bridge hold or reps for a couple of minutes, then

he can slowly incorporate other ab/lower back exercises. Slowly and

gradually is the key.

No lower torso twisting for a long time! (The rotary torso machine at

most gyms, for example.) That can set him back for a long time. Also

avoid that leg curl machine where you lie on your stomach.

I've been lower back-pain free for about 3 years now, and I can do stuff

that most other people can't. I can hold a back extension for minutes at

a time while holding a 35-pound dumbbell, and I can do crunches on a

decline bench with the same weight.

Naomi

******

> Thank you for all your kind words. I thought about taking a break, but

> decided to dive right

> into challenge 2 doing TT and HITT instead of doing the regular

> weights approach. I only

> have 10 lb dumbells anyway, and figured I would need to start moving

> up. My calories

> fluctuate between 1600-1800 with my free days being more like 2500 (or

> more). I was told

> that I should take two weeks and just do maintanence calories to give

> my system a break

> from dieting, but I am kind of afriad to do that. I know my propensity

> to go crazy without the

> constraints of a set free day. I like the way I am eating and feel

> plenty full on what I get....

> Am I setting myself up for my body not wanting to burn calories by not

> taking time off the

> diet?

>

> Second question.... My hubby really needs to lose a lot of weight, and

> I had him try some of

> the Turbulance Training stuff with me this morning, and it DID NOT go

> well. The planks and

> push-ups gave his back fits. He is willing to do a challenge with me,

> so I really want to

> encourage him, but at this point, the stuff that he would need to do

> to strenghthen his back

> he can't do without a great deal of pain. Anybody BTDT?

>

> Jodi

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

The simple answer is that hopefully you're not treating this like a diet. If

you're not on a diet there's nothing to go off of. Taking a week or two to

splurge and overeat is not helpful. Eating well all the time and enjoying

your treats in moderation definitely isn't going to hurt you or set you up

for failure.

It's more important to take an occasional break from grueling workouts. If

you push yourself to your physical limits on every single workout with no

break, that will eventually catch up with you in the form of injury, illness

and exhaustion. You need to either mix it up with hard, moderate and easy

training days (or weeks or months), or you throw an occasional easy or off

week into an otherwise hardcore routine. Some people do that at the end of a

scheduled challenge. I do it whenever it makes sense, like when I'm sick,

overscheduled or on vacation. Three or four times a year, I take a week and

just chill. I always come back rested, renewed and stronger.

>

> Thank you for all your kind words. I thought about taking a break, but

> decided to dive right

> into challenge 2 doing TT and HITT instead of doing the regular weights

> approach. I only

> have 10 lb dumbells anyway, and figured I would need to start moving

> up. My calories

> fluctuate between 1600-1800 with my free days being more like 2500 (or

> more). I was told

> that I should take two weeks and just do maintanence calories to give my

> system a break

> from dieting, but I am kind of afriad to do that. I know my propensity to

> go crazy without the

> constraints of a set free day. I like the way I am eating and feel plenty

> full on what I get....

> Am I setting myself up for my body not wanting to burn calories by not

> taking time off the

> diet?

>

[Guest guest]

As for back pain, suggest stretching for your husband. And I mean stretching

every single chance he gets. After I herniated a disc, I found yoga-type

stretches done throughout the day were the first thing that helped me on the

road to a strong back. Once I could do back stretches without pain, I moved

onto strengthening exercises.

-Shaun

[Guest guest]

On the subject of taking a break...what does one do after Afterburn? Start

over at week one or keep up with week 16? Move on to TT?

Thanks,

Shaun

[Guest guest]

When you finish Afterburn, there'd be no point in going back to week one.

It wouldn't challenge you anymore. And you'd have to have brain damage or a

death wish to continue week 16 indefinitely. :-)

Finish it and find a new program, maybe Turbulence Training or Afterburn II

or New Rules of Lifting, or Metabolism Advantage. They're all periodized

workouts meant to be done for a specified time frame. You do them for

however many weeks and then you move on to something different. That's not

to say that you can never revisit a favorite program, but maybe in a year or

so, not a week after finishing it the first time. In some cases, like with

New Rules or TT Deluxe, they come with enough variations to keep you busy

for a year or more, or some of the members forums like TT Members provide

you with a new routine every month indefinitely.

In keeping with the motto, " The best workout is the one you've never done

before. " I always move onto something different every few weeks. The

principles stay the same with challenging strength workouts and interval

cardio, but beyond that, I like to shake it all up with totally new

exercises, different set/rep patterns, and different variations of interval

training.

>

> On the subject of taking a break...what does one do after Afterburn? Start

> over at week one or keep up with week 16? Move on to TT?

> Thanks,

> Shaun

>

[Guest guest]

Re: husband--It's going to be embarrassing for him, possibly, but he needs to do

the easiest variation of each exercise to get himself to the point that he can

do the real thing. Kneeling pushups, try plank for 10 sec then work up. Using a

ball against the wall for assisted squats. His muscles are not just weak, his

stabilizers are weak as well. My posture used to be so bad, and my muscles so

weak, that I had trouble sitting up straight cross-legged on the floor for yoga

classes. I got terrible spasms in my back. He's just got to go slow, and

that's probably going to be hard for him if he's like the guys I know. : )

On " taking a break " --I wondered about this after my first challenge. The fact

is that BFL eating is the healthiest eating around (especially informed by

precision nutrition and the more recent research that's been done). Even when

I'm not doing a challenge now, it's the way I eat. Now that I don't have a

mentality of " dieting " or " not dieting " my relationship with food is so much

healthier. Just so long as you're not doing superlow calories, IMHO your body

doesn't really need a break. Working out is different. Every expert I " ve seen

suggests a week off of heavy exercise once in a while. That doesn't mean you

just lie on the couch. It just means moderate workouts to give your body a

chance to catch up. The human body needs at least 5 hours of exercise a week to

function optimally. As far as I'm concerned, this is how the rest of my life is

going to be with regard to nutrition and exercise. : )

Best Regards,

beth

check out my blog at:

http://muttmama.tripod.com/inhabiting/

Thanks for all the encouragement!

Thank you for all your kind words. I thought about taking a break, but decided

to dive right

into challenge 2 doing TT and HITT instead of doing the regular weights

approach. I only

have 10 lb dumbells anyway, and figured I would need to start moving up. My

calories

fluctuate between 1600-1800 with my free days being more like 2500 (or more). I

was told

that I should take two weeks and just do maintanence calories to give my system

a break

from dieting, but I am kind of afriad to do that. I know my propensity to go

crazy without the

constraints of a set free day. I like the way I am eating and feel plenty full

on what I get....

Am I setting myself up for my body not wanting to burn calories by not taking

time off the

diet?

Second question.... My hubby really needs to lose a lot of weight, and I had him

try some of

the Turbulance Training stuff with me this morning, and it DID NOT go well. The

planks and

push-ups gave his back fits. He is willing to do a challenge with me, so I

really want to

encourage him, but at this point, the stuff that he would need to do to

strenghthen his back

he can't do without a great deal of pain. Anybody BTDT?

Jodi