Eighteen months ago I was sedentary. I had developed some mysterious shoulder pain that I was able to cure with a rehab program. Soon after that, the family went bowling for the first time in years. After just three lines (games), my bowling arm got weak and sore. That was a wake-up call for me.
I needed a fitness program with a strength training component.
Assembling a fitness program for yourself is like figuring out your weight loss and management plan. Lots of idiosyncrasies and variables to consider. You have to determine what works for you, sometimes through trial and error. Your plan may not work for your neighbor.
You could always go to a personal trainer who’ll devise a plan for you and supervise implementation. That’s not a bad idea at all, and probably the best choice for someone not familiar with exercise yet serious about long-term health and weight management.
Future posts will address exercise-related issues peculiar to people with diabetes. These are important.
I remember reading somewhere on the ‘net over the last year about “the big five” exercises for strength training (aka resistance training). Turns out there are lots of Big Five lists. Here’s one:
- squats
- deadlifts
- bench press
- overhead press
- chin-ups
- squats
- deadlifts
- bench press
- standing overhead press (same as military press?)
- bent-over barbell row
If you’re not familiar with these, go to YouTube and browse.
In case you’re wondering, I’m not interested, at my age, in growing large muscles. My goal is to be injury resistant and as strong as I can be without spending too much time at it, regardless of muscle size. Size doesn’t necessarily translate directly into strength. My wife, on the other hand, appreciates large arms—think Thor in The Avengers movie.
I’m tempted to put together a program composed of man-makers, Turkish get-ups, High Knee Walk to Spiderman With Hip Lift and Overhead Reach (HKWTSWHLOR?), and treadmill HIIT. I’m saving that for another day, however.
I’ll share my new program tomorrow.
PS: In case the appropriate link above is broken, the shoulder rehab exercises I did were from an online pamphlet from The Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma, probably in the Physical Therapy section.
Paleo Diabetic 