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Today February 2021

pushups are a lot harder than most people realize, at least when done with proper form. you're working with about 70% of your bodyweight there, and that's not a joke at all.

personally, I don't think fingertip pushups do any kind of favor to your hands and wrists. this movement should focus on larger muscles like pecs, delts and triceps, and maybe seratus anterior if you do it right. for proper body tension knees need to be fully extended, and pelvis fully tilted posterior way. then full range of motion needs to be executed, meaning chest touch the ground on each rep, and the extension does not stop at mere full elbow extension, but needs to go all the way into full scapular protraction (this is where seratus anterior kicks in).

if and when one can do 25 of such pushups (probably even 5 will feel challenging at first) only then would I recommend trying to add gimmicks like fingertips etc. just my two yen. stay injury free and active everyone!
 
pushups are a lot harder than most people realize, at least when done with proper form. you're working with about 70% of your bodyweight there, and that's not a joke at all.

personally, I don't think fingertip pushups do any kind of favor to your hands and wrists. this movement should focus on larger muscles like pecs, delts and triceps, and maybe seratus anterior if you do it right. for proper body tension knees need to be fully extended, and pelvis fully tilted posterior way. then full range of motion needs to be executed, meaning chest touch the ground on each rep, and the extension does not stop at mere full elbow extension, but needs to go all the way into full scapular protraction (this is where seratus anterior kicks in).

if and when one can do 25 of such pushups (probably even 5 will feel challenging at first) only then would I recommend trying to add gimmicks like fingertips etc. just my two yen. stay injury free and active everyone!
I saw by your picture that you keep in good shape also.
Karate and Judo was my hobby years ago, but can't practice no longer due to an injury. But I use to do 2 finger pushups, I'm working myself back up to it also now. And I'm just shy a few years away from 70. But I know I can get 25 pushups , that for me isn't an unreasonable goal, 3 finger, I have no idea how many I would want to stop at, but 2 finger, I would go for 5 pushups. Its all about balance and strength I think. And of course working up to it. I can no longer do pushup due to curvature of the spine so that's out of the question. Down to cycling, light jogging, walking and still punching and kicking the air these days.
 
correct pelvis position is very important (in this and other movements) to stabilize and protect your lumbar spine. I see people arching their backs doing pushups all the time, which means they are hanging passively into their joints, rather than having the body awareness and necessary strength to actively support the core. when your posterior perks up and lower back arches, that's anterior pelvic tilt. in the posterior tilt (which is what you want here, and in many other movements) it's the opposite. you can think of it as if trying to aim your navel upward toward your head. in this position, the glutes and abs are activated, and should be held isometrically for the duration of the pushups

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that's correct, seratus anterior inserts right into the rib cage there. it is a very important muscle for scapular stabilization. here's a quick pic in the mirror. was that from your nasty crash several years back? hope you have overcome that by now?

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that's impressive @adventurous cyclist ! it's one thing to maintain a bit of leanness and fitness into my late 30s, but late 60s are a whole new level
Sorry I meant to say " sit ups " and not pushups. Can't do sit ups due to the curvature of the spine. Not really suppose to jump rope either, but I do.

and thanks for the new info

The curvature of the spine gets worse as I near 70 as the doc tells me. But sit ups is a no no, something I was unaware of. My idea weight should be 125 pounds, but currently trying to loose some weight. Carrying too much at my age. Kind of a stocky person at 5'3" . Not tall at all.
 
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yeah in that case you might wanna stick to light cardio like cycling and walking, to get the bodyweight to more manageable levels first. but situps are a waste of time, and bad even for healthy spines. there's much more effective ab targeting movements, and much safer for the spine (as long as you stabilize it properly): crunches, various planks variations etc being all beginner friendly superior alternatives
 
Okay, earlier today was pushups, and I try to do every other day, so I'll be thinking on this and doing them again Monday. I may have some questions then. The diagrams helped.

Sorry for the gross pic--they went in there and took out the upper lobe of my right lung (and a bit of the middle one). Lost about 25% of lung capacity, but it's going on 18 months and all testing since then indicates that they got it all. Cancer, but thru a fluke discovered really early, staged as Ia or Ib, all lymph also negative. As a cyclist, this turned me from an aging sports car into a worn out kei, but overall a great outcome.
 
yeah in that case you might wanna stick to light cardio like cycling and walking, to get the bodyweight to more manageable levels first. but situps are a waste of time, and bad even for healthy spines. there's much more effective ab targeting movements, and much safer for the spine (as long as you stabilize it properly): crunches, various planks variations etc being all beginner friendly superior alternatives
I do a lot of walking , but for jogging, it is a very slow type of jog actually and in short distances too. In the past, the work schedule was up to 9 pm and that really throws out the 6 pm dinner hour. But still we seem to eat at 8:30 pm most days.
 
@jdd now you mention it I remember your posts about this at the time. man, you've been through a lot. glad that was discovered early on an nipped in the bud so to speak.... losing a chunk of your lungs certainly sucks, but it could have been much much worse

@adventurous cyclist jogging... pretty high impact on the joints for what it delivers in terms of cardio? walking, cycling, even swimming, should all be much more forgiving on the joints? you're somewhere down in kyushu inaka right?
 
@jdd now you mention it I remember your posts about this at the time. man, you've been through a lot. glad that was discovered early on an nipped in the bud so to speak.... losing a chunk of your lungs certainly sucks, but it could have been much much worse

@adventurous cyclist jogging... pretty high impact on the joints for what it delivers in terms of cardio? walking, cycling, even swimming, should all be much more forgiving on the joints? you're somewhere down in kyushu inaka right?
I am in Ube, Yamaguchi.
 
My wife was doing some reset thinv from beachbody. I agreed to do it with her to make it easier on her.
I justdid what she said, no questions. The scale reflecred well, but i was super low on energy. So i finally looked into it.

3 days at 900cal a day. Wtf??? I buurn 2000 a day doing nothing.
Today i had a small breakfast befor riding. 2nd climb, my body was feeling jittery. I opted to shut it down and head home.
I will try again tomorrow.

Funny part about her 3 day reset - i wasnt hungry. I was just worn down by late afternoon. The most good out of it will probably be breaking some habits/routines i have fallen into
Due to some health trouble I changed my diet and eating habits from about two weeks ago.
First I cut down my over all food intake for a couple of days and eating/chewing much slower. I lost 3-4kg within a few days only (now 75kg at 187cm). Body fat went down from 13% to 10%. During the whole time my very limited exercise went basically down to zero (commuting by bike though).
I can relate to your feeling of lacking power. On my commute I've been passed by other cyclists a lot and I couldn't even keep up with their speed for the occasional commuting race. This never happened before.
Now that my health issues are gone I'm trying to get my weight back up while keeping the eating/chewing habits (deviding good intake into more small meals every 3h) and a slightly changed diet (keeping inflamatory foods low) in order to avoid that the issues come back. But so far the weight gains are very slow, though I'm eating regular amounts if not a lot.
Another side effect is that dinner time (biggest meal of the day) takes a lot of time now (1-1.5h). Because of the season and the Corona situation I don't mind spending that time at the moment though.
Anyway from tomorrow I'll restart exercising (no structured training just fun). Let's see if there's any power left.
 
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from my experience, and those around me I've seen, anything sudden and drastic tends to usually just lead to a big rebound. otoh, if you can slowly build better habits, internalize them and keep progressively but incrementally getting better at it, that's usually what results in long term changes that stick and become a lifestyle and not just a fad or something. easier typed than done I know
You remember i am the on that lost 20kg this past year, right? I was simply supporting my wife. She has done this before - and last time it was 3 months before gaining the weight back. She's pretty good at taking good care of herself.

That sad, i agree with what you said, however in our case, not applicable.
 
glad to hear it's not applicable to your situation @bloaker , did not mean to imply otherwise. just a general warning not to give in to temptation of trusting in quick fixes that's all. how's your knee BTW? looks like you are already riding (at least commuting)?
 
@luka - I am trying to get back on the bike, but honestly speaking - there is a blurry line between shutting things down because it doesn't feel right and being lazy. I have powered through a couple times and felt fine only to regret it in the morning and I have shut it down only to spend the rest of the day regretting the decision because I feel OK.

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You can see my the end of december where I got hurt...
Near the end of January I was getting on the trainer some, but my knee decided after a week or so, that wasn't a good idea, so I cut back.
Feeling better last week I started to ramp back up, but mid week, my knee was swelling (unrelated to cycling I think).
Yesterday I tired to ride, but due to the lack of calories leading up to it, my body was feeling off, not my knee.

That said - I am planning on moving toward running for a bit. Not because it is better for my knee (more impact), but because I can still walk on days things feel bad vs running. I can take breathers during a run and still be moving, etc. Also - it has been a while, so my knee will keep me from overdoing things.
Everything I do is based on how I feel when I wake up now. My routine is gone as I cannot count on anything a day in advanced. Slapping on my running shoes gives me the option to run/walk at any given time and I can block out time for this. To at least get me into routine again.
 
yeah it is definitely a struggle overcoming injury, especially at our age. plus tendons and ligaments etc take longer to heal than tissues which get more bloodflow to them... one thing I'd consider if I were you, maybe mixed with running, or if running turns out to be to taxing on the knee - is walking backwards. it places just a bit more load on the knees than normal walking, but nowhere near the impact jogging or running would have
 
yeah it is definitely a struggle overcoming injury, especially at our age. plus tendons and ligaments etc take longer to heal than tissues which get more bloodflow to them... one thing I'd consider if I were you, maybe mixed with running, or if running turns out to be to taxing on the knee - is walking backwards. it places just a bit more load on the knees than normal walking, but nowhere near the impact jogging or running would have
While hiking yesterday I was thinking about walking backwards. This would put the effort on the quads when going up hill and EXACTLY what I am doing with most my PT. Yes, I will feel stupid doing it, but if it helps - I am in.

This morning I knocked out 10km of trail riding before the hikers were out in force. The weather is amazing and the trails are perfect. Knowing i am not 100%, I wearing more protective gear than normal (gform, comfy without being too bulky) -so if something goes wrong, I can protect the knee and let my body absorb the blow. I normally ride around 80% effort to make sure I have plenty of error room to stop in case of hikers and I do my best to chill on blind corners.
Since being hurt, I have backed it off to 60% effort - this has made for tons of better vision - I am seeing more "features" on the trail and exploring some new lines that are fun vs fast. This is resulting in lower risk fun that keeps me interested vs going through motions on trails I have memorized.

Between yesterday's short ride, my 3 hours hike with my 2 year old and this mornings ride - I think it is time for a rest!
 
I am not surprised to hear your PT has you similarly loading the quad. walking backwards is nothing to feel stupid about for sure. those who know about human anatomy etc will all agree about the benefits of it. it could be a bit tedious on the trails, because you constantly have to look behind you for foothold, while it's much easier on a paved road, where one can only occasionally look back
 
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