The lockdown has forced me to do what I can. I rotate through the prioritized exercises on generally a couple week to month basis.
Instinctively I started doing more cardio.
It was just time.
Over a month of jumping jacks, burpees here and there, and now fairly regular bike rides.
Everyday I think about running.
Cardio is only going to be catabolic if it’s too much and of the type that doesn’t activate the musculature.
Basically every cardio I do results in a muscle pump somewhere, so I’m good to go.
•Burpees – everywhere.
•Jumping Jacks – calves, upper back
•Biking – quads, upper body pull, calves
I actually get lat pumps walking, and the bike riding I’ve been doing has the feeling of an isometric effect over a few different upper pull muscles.
If I’m going to be this heavy I need more wind. The cardio will either do this, or get me to lose the unnecessary weight slowing me down. Either/or is acceptable to me.
I no longer care about the scale. It’s been around a month since I last was on one. Performance, how you feel, and health are what matter.
It’s now sunny, and cardio is easily done without a shirt. This makes it multiuse ; a muscle pump, wind, and vitamin d + tan.
I bike shirtless more and more often. The amount of staring is great. I’d forgotten that just because looking in the mirror I see a muscular man everyday, doesn’t mean it’s a normal sight for everyone else.
Now starting to bike more regularly, which caused me to start leaning out a bit, the next step was to add in ab work.
For about a week now I’ve been doing situps and either flutter kicks or a 6″ hold daily. Upper and lower abs.
Despite carrying a higher amount of bodyfat I look better from this. My stomach is more flat. My entire upper body shape is better.
Years back at the commercial gym an old timer made a point of giving me some rather simple advice. His advice boiled down to “cardio, always do cardio, as you age always do cardio”.
If you do some strength training, always do cardio, and train abs, it’s impossible to not be in good shape.
On the ab note ; moving “sexily”, and belly dancing…experiment with it. It’s something that could be considered lost knowledge. The practice is a healthful thing. Who cares what it looks like, that’s what privacy is for.
I can slightly do that yoga side to side ab roll, ab control thing.
I’ve been making a point to breath more with my nose since watching this clip last month :