14 months' work at the gym and the dinner table
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Or whales.
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Mik - impressive. I do almost all of that but break it out over multiple days. For the past decade or so, I've avoided a 1 rep max lift. Torso twists come as part of my Pilates workouts - but that and deadlifts I have to be careful with - dangerous for me given my back issues.
I did pick up a new piece of equipment - a pec fly machine. I've been using dumbbells for flys- but the machine provides tension over the full range of motion. Here's most of the equipment we have in our gym. Missing photos include a spin bike, preacher curl bench, and rower.

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I have one of these bad boys in the basement.

Actually, despite it's simplicity, it's surprising what a difference it's made to my core. The first time I used it, I was in pain for about 5 days.
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Good recommendation. I'll probably get one once the basement is done. The guys have been working on it the past week and a half.
@kluurs: Yeah, I'm very careful and slow with the lower back and torso twist, anything that torques the spine. I do not do them to near failure, and I wince when I see people doing them too fast. Also I don't max out on shoulders. Seen too many friends need replacements.
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As Peter Attia says ‘all my shoulder work is below the shoulder’. At our age we need to be careful.
I was talking to my shoulder guy once and said ‘I read that something like 80% of men have torn rotator cuffs by their 80th birthday even if they never had an acute injury.’ He said ‘probably more like 100%’. He was exaggerating for effect but I get his point.
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I have a recent accomplishment to brag about.
I recently got my VO2 max into the ‘Above Average’ range on Apple Watch’s estimate. For a typical guy my age with my exercise habits it would be expected I suppose but Im a transplant patient with chronic hemolytic anemia (due to my other obscure genetic enzyme deficiency).
Given that VO2 max is a product of cardiac output and arterial oxygen content and the former is affected by transplant physiology and the latter is capped for me it’s something of a big deal.
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Jon - that's really great. My VO2 has declined precipitously over the past 2 years. It's expected to decline slightly every year - but I've lost about 30% - still good - but not like it was.
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Jon - that's really great. My VO2 has declined precipitously over the past 2 years. It's expected to decline slightly every year - but I've lost about 30% - still good - but not like it was.
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You should just buy an Apple Watch. That way you can keep testing it whenever you want for less than the price of a single professional test. It’s not as accurate as a lab setup obviously but what matters is tracking your progress. It records an estimate every time you do a decent outdoor walk or (so I hear) a run. It doesn’t do an estimate for stationary exercise.
