from The Process

Posted on by Fit255

Thought i might share some photos from the process of trying to stay fit.
If it is true that taking artistic selfies is somewhat difficult, getting a decent photo while in the midst of an exercise is the next level of challenge!
Nevertheless, I hope what follows might contain enough artistic merit to engage, encouragement to spur along, and some thoughts on simple method to actually get stuck into it…

The plank is increasingly popular for its work on the core. It's not something I've used extensively yet, but it seems clear that a push-up is just a dynamic version of a plank that also engages the triceps… The old push-up has been my basic tool for many years
These simple actions that hold the whole body in tension, balanced by the core, seem pretty fundamental in all fitness and form


The next basic move has to be the pull-up. I like to add a leg raise, aiming to get the legs parallel to the floor as the arms pull the chin to the bar.
This can easily become a cheat, using the momentum of the swinging legs to help raise the body. Avoid the temptation, instead, turn it in your favour by stabilising the movement so there is no swing and you'll work the core even more.

holding it together

Posted on by Fit255

You know the continuing struggle… an aging body, a busy schedule, an aggressive flu season. Any chance of maintaining some kind of fitness seems as a fading dream.
but small things can be an encouragement to keep trying.

Last night I was in the foyer during intermission of the ballet and a stranger asked “so, are you one of the dancers?”.
The performance of Giselle was a regional tour by the young members of the Australian Ballet. At 55 I’m going to take whatever flattery is on offer… thank you to the unknown encourager.

Sometimes a kind word, sometimes it’s an example that can give us hope. So I thought I’d share a few images even as I struggle out of a long desperate winter. Perhaps we can spur each other along the fitness journey…

Iron(ing) man

Posted on by Fit255

i knew I would never keep up a regular posting blog. So if there was anyone out there you will have all turned and wandered off by now… but anyway,

been a while since I’ve been in a regular rhythm for anything lately, which means I have struggled to maintain any fitness regimen, but still trying to do something whenever it’s possible to grab a few minutes. Got me to thinking about that old question “when is a good time to exercise?”

Here’s my favourite for the start of any week… Exercise while ironing your shirts for the week. I find that to include 1 shirt in every superset is about right for a reasonable rest period AND to convince the Lovely One that I am actually being productive while she is doing the real hard yacker of getting the kids to school.

So, if the dream is be an iron man, perhaps the start is to become an “ironing man”.

My usual ironing superset:

  • 8 pull-ups with ab curl
  • 6 inverted rows with 16kg kettlebell
  • 8 lying on back, kettlebell over head to over end of bed then back to over groin.
  • 12 x 2 handed kettlebell swings
  • 1 dress shirt
  • (repeat till you have a shirt for each day of the week)

Welcome

Posted on by Fit255

G’day,

so here’s a mad idea… entering the 55th year and wondering about preserving the man frame for a few more, at least till the kids are too old to need me mobile and the lovely one loses interest… so I thought I might dive into infested waters with the rest of the threatened species.

There’s a danger the whole thing will look pretty narcissistic – it is on the web after all – but hopefully, instead, we might explore the frailty of humanity and the artistic potential of the form it’s packaged in.

We’ll try and keep it ‘safe for workplace’, but I’m not sure why you’re checking  blogs at work, anyway. I can’t guarantee not to offend anyone, so perhaps don’t show it to your kids and then they can’t show it to mine!

If this starts to masquarade as a fitness blog I need to be sure you understand I have no training or qualification in the fitness or health industry. Part of the reason I can contemplate fitness in my 50’s is that I didn’t wear out the body in my teens with anything that looked too much like sport. Looking from this end there is an advantage in being a late bloomer… even if to be reclassified from a ‘weedy kid’ to a ‘hard gainer’ in a politically corrected world. This means that I set out with a fast metabolism and when fat tissue looks like lingering I can usually chase it down the pool or around the block on my bike. The Gurus seem to be saying these days that you can speed up the metabolism… presuming this is true, I reckon it’s worth you pursuing if you aren’t naturally “the runt of the litter”.

Its probably time to post an image so we can critique the subject matter and decide if there is a conversation to be had.

image

So, here’s the man frame as it approaches 54 (entering the 55th year!). We’re not looking at mr universe and not graced with a model dial.

With exhibit ‘A’ we’re introducing a few themes for later on:

  • when are pecs deemed to be manboobs by anyone other than an impertinent teenager?
  • does a flat stomach at 50 constitute a 6pack?
  • is manscaping a vanity, ‘form cheating’, or an artistic preference for photography?
  • speaking of photographic art… can a selfie constitute ‘fine art’?
  • And is there still a place for composition and lighting in iPhonography?
  • why is a man with too much to do already, starting a blog he will probably never have time to continue?
  • “who is man that you are mindful of him, the Son of man that you care for him. You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour…”

hopefully some of these will find expression and debate in the coming posts.