Fitness thread

[Tucker943]

Tree work keeps me in shape, but I don't labor all day. I run a business. I do a lot of climbing, and some laboring, but that doesnt make up my whole work load. I have a ton of truck time, sales time, phone time, repair time, teaching time. If I punched someone else's clock and did manual labor 40 hours a week then that would be great.

I'm not trying to be a dick, but this is a thread about fitness, not tree work. Just because a person does treework, does not mean they should not entertain the idea of running or working out. I climb a lot, but I am efficient and do things the easiest way I can, for reasons of profitability. Sometimes work tires me out and keeps me in shape, but more often I find ways to make my work less demanding on my men and I.

Set aside the gadgets that make our work easier? That's just stupid.

 

[pantheraba]

How do you suppose they contributed? Were they rehab, or a prevention measure?

Could it be that you would have been more likely to a tear without the exercises?

He had an in house massage therapist that did some painfully deep scar tissue break-up, almost to the point of me having to stop him, but after a month, things started getting better. Its been good for the last 10 years, for the most part. I can feel when its acting up. Some PT will give me the tune up that I need.

Look up Cyriax about that type of deep massage...he is credited with making it popular in orthopedic circles...it is also called cross friction massage. Your PT knows what they are doing. Many chronic problems are from injuries that did not heal correctly. Instead of a smooth and properly remodeled tendon/muscle we sometimes get a gnarly scar in the tendon/muscle and get constant microtears in the poorly healed scar tissue...chronic inflammation. Deep cross friction massage breaks down the offending scar tissue and proper rehab (stretching, strengthening, control of inflammation [some inflammation is necessary at first]) can work wonders.

 

[MasterBlaster]

That's a great post, Gary... I need to see one of those fellas.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Sounds about right. I remember it being quite painful, but effective. It was one of those things where they tell you to say 'when'. Felt like he was repositioning my shoulder blade laterally about 3-4", but probably less, in addition to other work. I went for 3-4 weeks, several times per week, maybe 9-12 times overall, IIRC.

 

[cory]

oh and a tore up back, that is the other thing that will get me if I get lazy with my conditioning. One of the simplest ways to make work easy is to be stronger than you need to be.

Ah, so true. What kind of things do you do for your back?

 

[woodworkingboy]

I like to stretch in the shower, the hot water makes it easier to do it seems.

 

[cory]

Tree work is not a workout, or at least it shouldnt be. I try to make my work day as easy and non-exertive as possible.

Same here, but when I get home at the end of a day of treework, I don't feel anything like I do at the end of a day off. Climbing, chipping, raking, hustling, alturnamats, on and off equipment, in and out of trucks...it adds up.

 

[cory]

I like to stretch in the shower, the hot water makes it easier to do it seems.

That's for sure. I try to go low tech in many areas of life, but a hot shower at the end of the day is one thing that would be very hard to do without. Though we were without power for a week from Irene, and I was almost used to the cold showers by the end of it...

 

[pantheraba]

I like to stretch in the shower, the hot water makes it easier to do it seems.

Hahahaha...NOW we are getting somewhere. Truth be told, I often do the same. I use the shower wall to laterally extend the arm and stretch the chest/pectorals...I put my foot up on the hip high soap shelf and stretch the hips and ankles and lower back. The hot water seems to help loosen it all up. I also do a few stretches as I dry off (foot on the sink, lean, etc.)

I got curious and googled this topic...here is a good video that has good info and stretches:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/e3U5ajPnDJ4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Page]

I'm not trying to be a dick,

too late...I was just saying what I do to stay in shape. that statement about giving up things that make work easier was more of a joke. you wanna spend time in a gym? have fun man.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Strong abs make for a healthy back.

 

[Tucker943]

too late...I was just saying what I do to stay in shape. that statement about giving up things that make work easier was more of a joke. you wanna spend time in a gym? have fun man.

You'll get over it. I do want to spend time in a gym. That's what this thread is about. It's not a thread for guys to jump in and shoot it down.

 

[MasterBlaster]

+10

 

[Tucker943]

Dropped 4 lbs in the last 10 days. I've been on an antibiotic "z pack" in the last 5 days which is killing my gym mojo. Todays the last day and that's just fine by me. Now I gotta start focusing on a healthier long term diet. This is going to be tricky.

 

[kevin bingham]

For back its a lot about form. Dead lifts and kettlebells, wall squats... also important to have a strong ass. Jane fonda workouts. Practicing lifting form will go along way to avoid back injury and dead lifting is good for practicing form.

 

[treesmith]

It seems I hurt my back now more than ever. Must be getting old...

 

[forestryworks]

The best way to strengthen your back is to strengthen your abdominal muscles.

Edit: SouthSound beat me to it.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Jane Fonda will always have a fat ass from sitting on that North Vietnamese gun turret during the war...I mean Hanoi Jane.

 

[treesmith]

My abdominal muscles are fairly good I think. Just getting in a hurry and/or lifting stuff I shouldn't be lifting, usually.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Jane Fonda will always have a fat ass from sitting on that North Vietnamese gun turret during the war...I mean Hanoi Jane.

I was gonna say Jay....

 

[branchbuzzer]

Just some thoughts on over-training:

There are lots of variables in how fast a person recovers from workouts and training. The biggest problems I see in people is that, in their enthusiasm, they tend to only look at what they are doing in their training and forget about the other factors in the rest of their life. An intensity of a workout is a relatively easy thing to quantify compared to things like sleep quality, stress, hydration levels, nutrition, other daily physical activities, etc. and that's what usually catches people. They have all the workouts and rest days set-up fairly well, but don't manage the other factors well or pick up on signs of poor recovery.

Some of reading recovery level is really only gained from experience, there's only so much that a coach or trainer can do to help the person get in tune with their body. I noticed older athletes were a bit better at recognizing it, but that they could still make mistakes related to life changes or the gradual reduction in ability we all face as we age.

One thing I used to try and get across is that an extra rest day can be more beneficial than a workout at times. If you are trying to get a training response from your workout, you need to be able to do those workouts at a high level. Thats tough to do when half-tired all the time. People are so afraid of going downhill though, that they have a tough time laying off - it feels wrong to them. But that extra day or two or even three will let them really rip it when they go back to work. Not much de-training occurs in that time frame, and "active rest" ( doing easy exercise as opposed to sitting) helps usually. Sometimes though, the only solution is a few weeks completely off.

It's not always bad to do more than one intense day in a row, but you always have to have an appropriate amount of extra rest afterward. Another thing one can do is do a "power" or strength focused workout one day then a cardio style endurance thing the next, then some rest. You can do little "micro-cycles" like that in many combinations with tapering intensity. I coached and competed at a fairly high level in both cycling and wrestling for a good number of years, and both those sports need a good combination of power and endurance and an ability to recover. Lots of similarities between the two.

 

[kevin bingham]

back injuries can occur form too strong abs relative to back muscles as well. People who only do crunches can over compensate and throw their back out. a strong core is key and the core involves both back and ab muscles, stabilizing muscles. I think the practice of dead lifting with a coach really helps to insure that you approach using your back conscientiously which goes along way to avoid tweaking it.

 

[treesmith]

I do think that's my problem. I used to work my abs a lot. Three hundred sit-ups a night, with an occasional all-out of 500 to 600. At 21, I had a real 6-pack...these days it's in a cooler.

I need to start some dead lifting, along with some other stuff for general health, I suppose.

 

[ClimbingFool]

I do think that's my problem. I used to work my abs a lot. Three hundred sit-ups a night, with an occasional all-out of 500 to 600. At 21, I had a real 6-pack...these days it's in a cooler.

I need to start some dead lifting, along with some other stuff for general health, I suppose.

 

[Tucker943]

I'm running/cycling more than anything. Trying to drop some belly pounds.