Monday, April 17, 2017

Fitness for old fat sdratsab





I've mentioned before that I've been doing a bit of strength training and some beginner crossfit stuff in addition to hiking. I try to do extended hikes one day, followed by the strength and crossfit with a 2.5 mile walk the next. These are by no means major workouts. They're just my attempt to work getting back into shape into my leisurely schedule.

Today I did bench press and curls and sit-ups, followed by one of the homemade pseudo-crossfit exercises I've developed which is to flip a tractor tire over a bunch of times. Followed by the 2.5 mile walk.

The tire weighs 185 kg or 407 lbs. It's 1.73 meters or 68 inches in diameter.

Using the law of levers I can work out that I'm lifting just over 123 kg or about 272 lbs and the force required to do so is about 213.345 Newton meters. So in a very loose sense I'm lifting 213.345 kg or 470 lbs for each flip.

I do four sets of six flips plus one more flip to make 25. I do it as quickly as I can, which isn't all that quickly, but comes in at about 45 seconds per rep for a total of three minutes, give or take 10-15 seconds.

This is a really good anaerobic workout, at least for an old fat guy. It makes my heart pound like a trip hammer and it takes a good 3-4 minutes to catch my breath.

So on the one hand, I'm pretty strong. Always have been. Any fat guy has to be strong to haul the lard around.

But strong isn't everything, and it's not got a lot to do with fitness.

It's a work in progress. But at least it's in progress.









You really don't realize how fat you are until you see yourself on the video. 


8 comments:

  1. I got a hernia just watching that.

    Don't hurt yourself laddie!

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    Replies
    1. I'm very careful, except when I begin to tire. Geddit?

      I really am being pretty cautious. Thanks Sarge.

      And I hope you were kidding about the hernia, you don't need any more belly bothers.

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  2. That looks kind of narrow for a modern farm tractor, high ground pressure, unless mounted in duals. Is that
    off of a loader?

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    Replies
    1. Maybe just the angle, it looks wider in some shots. How much did you pay for it?
      Looks like a good workout. I would give considerable thought to buying one, for myself, but I live on the top of a hill, and would wind up chasing it down to the junction with the Wisconsin Sounthern!

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    2. It is off of a loader tractor, but it's 1970's vintage. I tore the sidewall out cleaning corrals 15 years ago (got both tires -- that was a bad day) and iirc replacement was about a grand. It is a good anaerobic/burst workout but there's significant risk of injury if you get sloppy with technique.

      Thanks for stopping by! Hope you're feeling better after the little inertia expedition.

      Delete
    3. What was a bright red right calf, is now a pink area about the size of a dollar bill, and a tender horizontal area about the size of my thumb.

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    4. Sounds good! It ain't easy getting olden.

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  3. As the saying goes: " Getting old ain't for sissies."

    Paul L. Quandt

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