I`ve never heard about the loss of Type II fibers and it`s effect on the rest of body functions...
Recent strides in microbiology/etc. have rewritten the rules for the Healthy Aging stuff, turns out that Resistance Training ("RT") isn`t just "for cosmetics, looking all muscular" after all. Old thinking = "muscles are like a new paintjob on a wearing-out car"; new thinking = "muscles keep that car working right in ways that nothing else can". TypeI (endurance) fibers stay constant through a lifetime but TypeII ones start to die off as early as one`s 20s unless you exercise `em right with RT.
And on the "metabolic rate"/etc., a study at Tufts (the researchers were Rosen and Evans IIRC, but it`s been a while..) showed that the reason for metabolic slowdown is the loss of those TypeII muscle fibers, which can only be maintained by RT. It`s just part of the "humans are programmed to start dying after reproducing", gotta trick the body into thinking you`re still viable and the way to do that is to maintain muscularity. All win IMO- you look good, your body works well.
.. the "Shoulder w`s" I`m doing are basically laying with chest on the ball (like the bird dogs), then holding arms out like a W (think of it looking like a W that`s laying on the floor). Then, squeezing the muscle between my shoulder blades. As it`s been explained to me it`s kinda muscle memory training to promote good posture. (Fight the rolled forward shoulders)
Ah, OK...now I follow! Never mind
Sorry, I just GO OFF when people do RT on an exercise ball, utterly stupid IMO, great way to injure yourself without any chance of a benefit if it doesn`t go sideways since the "transfer related to balance" doesn`t really happen with regard to IRL stuff.
One thing though- when anything`s explained to you (including anything I say), make sure it`s right before you accept it. There`s just *SO* much misinformation out there, [freakin`] incredible. And a lot of it gets perpetuated by people who oughta know better, like Therapists/Trainers/MDs/etc. many of whom haven`t cracked a Med. Journal since forever let alone kept up with all the recent stuff. It can be surprising how what doesn`t sound right can *be* right after all, and/but what sounds perfectly sensible can be utterly wrong.
My wife is *BIG* on the whole shoulders/head aspect of posture (and I need to get better about it
). Not sure what all she`s doing these days, but she does it every morning and she sure did a *lot* of research before figuring out what "it" oughta be. FWIW, she`s not doing any of that on the exercise balls, which she uses for other stuff primarily related to her (fused-spine) back.
Good catch on the stretching beforehand. Yes, would make much more sense to stretch after. I`ve not been going for super deep stretches beforehand, so I`ve not run into any issues. I should make a habit of stretching after once things have gotten some use.
There you go
For warming up, I just do a light version of whatever I`m gonna do. Stretching cold bodyparts is asking for trouble, wait until they`re warmed up to the "loose and limber" point whatever that is for you, generally after exercise not before.
Our mattress is ancient, and has been on the to-do list for a while now...
Buying a new mattress can be incredibly frustrating! Our current one was great...for about a six months. Fortunately the rolled-towel works for me and she`s somehow OK with most any mattress (go figure).
Why the bias against Adult CrossFit? Wasn`t planning on running out to do it as it doesn`t strike me that it would be "my jam", Just curious.
Short version (and hey..if it works for somebody that`s great) : Too endurance-centric with too much loose, fast, ballistic stuff = too hard on the body long-term, too hard to recover from (recovery = overcompensation = the whole point of exercise), and too likely to cause injury while leaving some things unchallenged.
I hate to criticize CF because I like the "just do it as hard as you can" aspect of it, and again, if something works for somebody I`m all for it. But I don`t see how anybody could keep CF up forever without any injuries. I do mean *forever* too, right up into old age with no injuries. Some CF`ers have suffered pretty serious problems, and/but it`s not all that hard to avoid such trouble with sensible conventional training (which takes a lot less time too). Just because something`s hard to do/impressive to witness, that doesn`t mean it`s a good idea. As the saying goes, "don`t confuse motion with progress"
But for *kids*, I think it oughta be great. Seems like basically a more regimented version of what most kids did when I was growing up, back when nobody just sat around unless studying. Kids need to learn coordination and "just how to be active" as young as possible to imprint such stuff into a lifelong commitment to fitness.
