Old, fat, out of shape guys needs advice.

Drac

Sr. Grandmaster
MTS Alumni
Joined
Jul 16, 2004
Messages
22,738
Reaction score
143
Location
Ohio
A very important fact about Tigers Balm..Wash your hands very well BEFORE using the toilet....Trust me on this one...
 

Drac

Sr. Grandmaster
MTS Alumni
Joined
Jul 16, 2004
Messages
22,738
Reaction score
143
Location
Ohio
You might try White Flower Oil too...
 

shesulsa

Columbia Martial Arts Academy
MT Mentor
Lifetime Supporting Member
MTS Alumni
Joined
May 27, 2004
Messages
27,182
Reaction score
486
Location
Not BC, Not DC
A very important fact about Tigers Balm..Wash your hands very well BEFORE using the toilet....Trust me on this one...
That goes for everyone. ;)

Yes I agree
OOOooooh yes.

You might try White Flower Oil too...
Ditto! White Flower Oil is better for firmer tissues, I think, like tendons and where tendons connect to muscle. Remember - a little goes a LONG WAY.
 
OP
L

Lorak

Yellow Belt
Joined
Jan 15, 2008
Messages
36
Reaction score
3
Location
North Carolina
Once again, I thank everyone in this thread for the advice they have given.

Me and my Daughter have our first belt test tonight. She is really excited! Funny seeing her just randomly practicing her kata when she gets bored. I am happy for her and she has just been jabbering for days about the test tonight.

For me.. I honestly am not too worried about belt test. belt test tonight will be really simple, and basically just an exercise. but it will be nice to once again have a bit of color on the Gi. (I am tired of looking like a chef.)

:)
 
OP
L

Lorak

Yellow Belt
Joined
Jan 15, 2008
Messages
36
Reaction score
3
Location
North Carolina
Hate to bump this, but as I said this is kind of my own inspiration/blog/ rambling

Things are going well. I find that I am getting in better shape. Or at least a good enough shape to where I can go through the whole night of training without feeling like I am going to pass out.

Pushing hard to learn the katas for the next belts, and have continued to eat, cardio, and weight train. Down almost 2 pants sizes and just feeling a whole let better in general.

Still getting really tired/out of breath in sparring drills and throwing any kicks higher than belt level (side or roundhouse) kill my hips.

But I am getting there.
 

LuzRD

Black Belt
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
549
Reaction score
2
Location
Kingston Cow Hampster
Lorak bump this thread as often as youd like, it is YOUR thread :wink1: and it can help motivate/teach/inspire others


i think what your doing is great, and sounds like your doing a great job!

eating right, exercise, down almost 2 pant sizes, you must feel like a completely new person! i know that i did a few years back when i kicked myself into shape!! its a beautiful thing

enjoy your training, thank your daughter again, and keep letting us know how your doing
 

Sanchin-J

Orange Belt
Joined
Jan 19, 2008
Messages
78
Reaction score
10
Speaking of needing advice, would anyone recommend taking a preemptive pain pill before class starts? I've been considering taking some aleve or motrin with me to class and popping a few of em due to bad knees and my back issues.

Also, I've noticed now that I'm getting active in the arts again, that my hips are popping and grinding when I stretch or perform certain kicks, I'm wondering if I need to modify my kicks and stretching or if that's a normal occurrence as we get older.
 

Kacey

Sr. Grandmaster
MTS Alumni
Joined
Jan 3, 2006
Messages
16,462
Reaction score
227
Location
Denver, CO
Speaking of needing advice, would anyone recommend taking a preemptive pain pill before class starts? I've been considering taking some aleve or motrin with me to class and popping a few of em due to bad knees and my back issues.

Pain is your friend - it lets you know when to slow down before you injure yourself. I understand the attraction; I have a bad knee and I've contemplated the same - but I'd rather know when it starts to ache, so I don't injure it further; when it starts to hurt, I know to slow down, or it will hurt worse the next day.

Also, I've noticed now that I'm getting active in the arts again, that my hips are popping and grinding when I stretch or perform certain kicks, I'm wondering if I need to modify my kicks and stretching or if that's a normal occurrence as we get older.

Yes, to both - it's a normal occurrence as we get older, and you need to modify your kicks and stretching to accommodate it so you don't injure yourself.
 

7starmarc

Green Belt
Joined
Jan 11, 2008
Messages
178
Reaction score
10
Location
Irvine, Ca
Pain is your friend - it lets you know when to slow down before you injure yourself. I understand the attraction; I have a bad knee and I've contemplated the same - but I'd rather know when it starts to ache, so I don't injure it further; when it starts to hurt, I know to slow down, or it will hurt worse the next day.



Yes, to both - it's a normal occurrence as we get older, and you need to modify your kicks and stretching to accommodate it so you don't injure yourself.

Agreed on both counts. Although I'd add the caveat that it depends on what's going on in your body. I see no problem with easing a little muscle soreness or a slight strain with some Motrin, etc. before a workout.

I have had on and off back pain, and some days that stiffness kicks in. Some Motrin helps loosen me up and feel better, and I know that nothing I'm doing will aggravate the condition (on the contrary, usually helps with the stretching we do in class).

There are other times, however, when ignoring pain will just get you into more trouble. If the problem is chronic or ongoing, I'd get it checked out by your physician before you push through it. Things like arthritis really don't carry that much chance of additional injury from activity, but a moderate to severe sprain, tendonitis, tears, etc. could lead you down a path of injury you'll find hard to recover from.

And you may have to modify some techniques or aspects of your workout. We have some older people in our class who have various issues, and they perform different conditioning exercises at times.

Also, a break from training can be healthy as well. As we age, we don't receover as quickly, so certain aspects of your workouts may need to be adjusted (in terms of frequency of truly demanding things, etc.).

There's a decent book by Sang H. Kim called Martial Arts After 40 that you might want to look at.
 
OP
L

Lorak

Yellow Belt
Joined
Jan 15, 2008
Messages
36
Reaction score
3
Location
North Carolina
Asprin is my friend. But I normally don't take it before training. As I find with the water, breathing, ect. It can give me reflux, (best way to describe it).

But I take it as soon as practice is over, before even getting dressed. That way by the time I get home and get in the hot shower it is working and has really cut down on the soreness the next day.
 

7starmarc

Green Belt
Joined
Jan 11, 2008
Messages
178
Reaction score
10
Location
Irvine, Ca
Oh, one other thing about taking aspirin/Motrin/Aleve/etc. too frequently. These medications can impair platelet activity. This means that if you take them too regularly (daily over a couple weeks or more), you might start noticing increased bruising and longer time to stop bleeding.

I actually had this happen when my back was in one of its worst stretches and had been taking Motrin three times daily for a few weeks. We had a couple days of hard blocking drills and both my arms had large (3 inch+) bruises. Looked nasty, but went away in a bit. I've never had bruising like that from drills before.
 

bellmd

White Belt
Joined
Feb 26, 2008
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
I'm glad you bumped this thread. My son and I are going to start MA lessons and my situation is very similar. I took Tang Soo Do many years ago but now with 15 years of doing "nothing" and a desk job I'm 46 and in bad physical shape. My son is 11yrs old and prodded me to get back into it as he wants to start as well. I'm looking forward to beginning the journey again and sharing it with my son, I hope my mind will be strong enough to help me overcome my bad habits and physical limitations as you have done. Thanks for sharing your experience(s) thus far and I wish you continued success!!
 

USP45CT

Yellow Belt
Joined
Oct 22, 2007
Messages
56
Reaction score
1
Location
Blue Ash, Ohio
My recommendation would be do lunges, squats, and jump rope. Those 3 things are great ways to improve your conditioning and overall strength.
 
OP
L

Lorak

Yellow Belt
Joined
Jan 15, 2008
Messages
36
Reaction score
3
Location
North Carolina
I'm glad you bumped this thread. My son and I are going to start MA lessons and my situation is very similar. I took Tang Soo Do many years ago but now with 15 years of doing "nothing" and a desk job I'm 46 and in bad physical shape. My son is 11yrs old and prodded me to get back into it as he wants to start as well. I'm looking forward to beginning the journey again and sharing it with my son, I hope my mind will be strong enough to help me overcome my bad habits and physical limitations as you have done. Thanks for sharing your experience(s) thus far and I wish you continued success!!

My advice is to just go for it!
My biggest hang up was one of embarrasment. As a lot of the kids in my classes or the kids of my friends. So it was very embarrasing to be out there working as several of my friends and my wifes friends are sitting in audience.

I even brought it up jokingly with several of the Dads (my friends). And surprisingly. They were impressed and actualy offered congrats and words of encourgement. Saying they wish they had to motivation to go out there. Needless to say that made me feel a lot better, even though sometimes it is still a bit strange.
 
OP
L

Lorak

Yellow Belt
Joined
Jan 15, 2008
Messages
36
Reaction score
3
Location
North Carolina
Oh, and just my general update.

Not only am I training in my Daughters class. but staying after for the adults only classes now too.

I am still sticking to my diet (down 17 pounds since first of the year now!) Go me!
And I can tell i have a lot more energy in class.

Worked on grappling last night. Talk about an hour that will kick your butt!

but I made it through, didn't pass out. And am only moderetly sore today. :)
 

bellmd

White Belt
Joined
Feb 26, 2008
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
My advice is to just go for it!
My biggest hang up was one of embarrasment. As a lot of the kids in my classes or the kids of my friends. So it was very embarrasing to be out there working as several of my friends and my wifes friends are sitting in audience.

I even brought it up jokingly with several of the Dads (my friends). And surprisingly. They were impressed and actualy offered congrats and words of encourgement. Saying they wish they had to motivation to go out there. Needless to say that made me feel a lot better, even though sometimes it is still a bit strange.

We had our first lesson last night. Only embarrassment I felt was during the stretching excercises! I was shocked at how poorly my leg stretching went. I guess at age 46 things that haven't been used in decades have tightened up tremendously lol. Great to hear of your progress, keep up the good work!!
 

ktaylor75

Orange Belt
Joined
Nov 18, 2007
Messages
84
Reaction score
5
Speaking of needing advice, would anyone recommend taking a preemptive pain pill before class starts? I've been considering taking some aleve or motrin with me to class and popping a few of em due to bad knees and my back issues.

Also, I've noticed now that I'm getting active in the arts again, that my hips are popping and grinding when I stretch or perform certain kicks, I'm wondering if I need to modify my kicks and stretching or if that's a normal occurrence as we get older.

Due to having really bad arthritis as a side-effect from Lyme disease, I have been in pretty rough shape. Martial arts has definitely helped me gain range of motion in my hips and the ability to stand on my feet for many hours at a time (before martial arts, I was lucky to be able to stand for 10 minutes before my hips and knees gave out). The pain in my right knee persisted and my doc sent me to a rheumatologist. X-rays show a little bit of a problem, but nothing so serious to warrant quitting martial arts, but gave me a prescription for arthritis medicine..Lodine XL...I can take it 3x a day as needed...it is a God-send! Well, anyway, I'm not a doctor, but that is my 2-cents worth.
 
Top