Doing things to challenge yourself

[fredwiggy]

13 minutes ago, ChumpChange said:

If somebody can't do 20-30 pushups after the age of 50 or 60 then they are on a slippery slope. Yes, to achieve that, resistance exercise needs to be a regular thing and heart health also plays a role. I normally exercise regularly, and rarely do push ups, but when traveling, without access to equipment, I often do 100 per day in sets of 4. It takes me around 15-20 minutes total to complete, with 3-4 minutes in between sets. Hardly a challenge. 

The idea of this thread is to discuss ways for people to challenge themselves.
 

Walking up and down a subway train late at night in Manila hardly seems like a challenge to me either. Anyone can do that. It wouldn't bother me, but nor does it interest me. Some might be fearful, but anyone can still do it. So it's not really a way to see how strong you are. 
 

Then the push up thing. That shouldn't be viewed as a challenge either. That's an issue of health. If you can't do 20-30 pushups then you shouldn't be thinking about challenges. You should be thinking about what you can do now now to make yourself stronger and increase your chances of longevity. It's also not just a question of muscularity, but cardiovascular fitness. If you can't do those push up maybe you need to see a cardiologist and do an exercise stress test to see if you are at risk of a heart attack. 
 

Challenges to me are things like climbing a mountain, jumping into a cold plunge pool, trying to give up a bad habit, trying to be a better person, trying to do something you have always wanted to do, but have always put off. Who knows. It's up to you. But so far I've seen very few real challenges suggested here. 

 

 

Anything you do you haven't yet done before is a challenge. I mentioned physical because they are among the many things that are challenging, especially to those that haven't been physical. If you can't do 10 pushups, then 15 is a challenge, then 20, 30 and so on. I rarely trained in a cardiovascular way, preferring weights and martial arts, but my resting pulse is still 58, and blood pressure is usually 154/60, and blood sugar around 88, because my diet was always very healthy. That's another challenge. eating healthier than you have before. Giving up cigarettes, excessive drinking, drugs. What is a challenge to you is just to you. Everyone is coming from a different place, and there are many challenges you can do, both for health and self esteem. As far as walking down any dark street late at night, in a big city, that's plain stupid, and could cost you your life. It might be a challenge over fear, but there are many cowards worldwide just looking to prey on people walking alone, and even if you're Chuck Norris, you can't fight a gun.

[Gottfrid]

So, what you are doing here, is to try and engage others getting old, in what you think might be a dangerous or challenging action. Do you feel good putting other people in danger?

[ChaiyaTH]

Maybe you should try to do it between 1AM and 6AM, that is usually when <deleted> happens anywhere.

[susanlea]

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

It shouldn't be, and I'm 69 

 

I also only weigh a couple kilos more than when I was 21 yrs old.  Being active and healthy choices helps maintain a fairly healthy strong body.

 

Muscle atrophy ... use it or loose it.   It not rocket science.

How many pullups can you do?

[fredwiggy]

9 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

So, what you are doing here, is to try and engage others getting old, in what you think might be a dangerous or challenging action. Do you feel good putting other people in danger?

This was his question, and it didn't have anything to do with putting anyone in danger..................

Are you a stagnant old man or achieving challenges?

Place yourself into challenges as you get older instead of doing nothing !

 

Please I would love to hear from you guys who climb mountains ,do very long bike rides ,cycle races long distance, etc 

[Gottfrid]

7 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Place yourself into challenges as you get older instead of doing nothing !

Exactly what is this one saying? Think exactly like I posted.

[ChumpChange]

22 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Anything you do you haven't yet done before is a challenge. I mentioned physical because they are among the many things that are challenging, especially to those that haven't been physical. If you can't do 10 pushups, then 15 is a challenge, then 20, 30 and so on. I rarely trained in a cardiovascular way, preferring weights and martial arts, but my resting pulse is still 58, and blood pressure is usually 154/60, and blood sugar around 88, because my diet was always very healthy. That's another challenge. eating healthier than you have before. Giving up cigarettes, excessive drinking, drugs. What is a challenge to you is just to you. Everyone is coming from a different place, and there are many challenges you can do, both for health and self esteem. As far as walking down any dark street late at night, in a big city, that's plain stupid, and could cost you your life. It might be a challenge over fear, but there are many cowards worldwide just looking to prey on people walking alone, and even if you're Chuck Norris, you can't fight a gun.

 

Your list of diagnostics indicators are simply normal for a healthy person who exercises regularly, who isn't obese, who doesn't eat lots of unhealthy processed food, and who doesn't drink or smoke. I'm not going to bother reading off mine, but I assure you that yours are not uncommon. 

 

The things you mention being a challenge are mainly to do with getting into better health. So that should be the challenge. 30 push ups is no big deal for me. And 50 push ups will be no big deal for someone else. But my point is that not being able to do 20-30 push ups might simply be a sign of bad health and not even considered a challenge. There shouldn't be a number on the pushups as the challenge because that number will be different for everyone. The challenge should just be to do what you need to do to get in better health. 

 

Another challenge could be trying to help other people or animals. Trying to give more than you take from this world. Trying to treat people better than you usually do. Try to reduce your damage to the environment. Challenges aren't just about doing things to overcome something physical and/or danger or fear. 

 

Anyway, yes, the subway prowl should be considered just a dumb idea and not a challenge. If it's really dangerous to do that then you could end up dead. So that is not a challenge. And if fear is meant to be the challenge then there are much safer ways to confront fear. Or if you want to know how fast you can run when being chased then go into the ocean and try to get out of the way of an incoming wave, instead of seeing what it's like to be chased by a bunch of desperate hoodlums down a subway car late at night in a shothole like Manila. That's hardly a measure of anything but stupidity. 

[KhunLA]

22 minutes ago, susanlea said:

How many pullups can you do?

Pull up .. can't remember last time I did 'em.   

Have to get back to you that 

[susanlea]

2 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Pull up .. can't remember last time I did 'em.   

Have to get back to you that 

Then you probably can't do any like most people.

[fredwiggy]

16 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

Exactly what is this one saying? Think exactly like I posted.

To challenge yourself to do things you haven't before, to grow. Not to put yourself, like he did, in a possibly dangerous situation just to see if you make it through.

[fredwiggy]

17 minutes ago, ChumpChange said:

 

Your list of diagnostics indicators are simply normal for a healthy person who exercises regularly, who isn't obese, who doesn't eat lots of unhealthy processed food, and who doesn't drink or smoke. I'm not going to bother reading off mine, but I assure you that yours are not uncommon. 

 

The things you mention being a challenge are mainly to do with getting into better health. So that should be the challenge. 30 push ups is no big deal for me. And 50 push ups will be no big deal for someone else. But my point is that not being able to do 20-30 push ups might simply be a sign of bad health and not even considered a challenge. There shouldn't be a number on the pushups as the challenge because that number will be different for everyone. The challenge should just be to do what you need to do to get in better health. 

 

Another challenge could be trying to help other people or animals. Trying to give more than you take from this world. Trying to treat people better than you usually do. Try to reduce your damage to the environment. Challenges aren't just about doing things to overcome something physical and/or danger or fear. 

 

Anyway, yes, the subway prowl should be considered just a dumb idea and not a challenge. If it's really dangerous to do that then you could end up dead. So that is not a challenge. And if fear is meant to be the challenge then there are much safer ways to confront fear. Or if you want to know how fast you can run when being chased then go into the ocean and try to get out of the way of an incoming wave, instead of seeing what it's like to be chased by a bunch of desperate hoodlums down a subway car late at night in a shothole like Manila. That's hardly a measure of anything but stupidity. 

There are many people who will never be able to do 30 pushups but are in excellent health. Most of health involves a good diet plan, and regular exercise. There are millions of walkers out there who have no health problems internally and live long lives. many in the blue zones just keep active and live to over 100. I did mention other things you can do to challenge yourself. many just involve health because they are physical.

[ChumpChange]

10 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Pull up .. can't remember last time I did 'em.   

Have to get back to you that 

If you are in decent physical shape then you can probably do 2-3-4. And if you start to do them regularly, then you should be able to build up to 10 over time. But again, I don't see something like this as a challenge. That would be about setting strength goals. 

[Gottfrid]

8 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

To challenge yourself to do things you haven't before, to grow. Not to put yourself, like he did, in a possibly dangerous situation just to see if you make it through.

But that was included as an option if you read and understand the post.

[susanlea]

5 minutes ago, ChumpChange said:

If you are in decent physical shape then you can probably do 2-3-4. And if you start to do them regularly, then you should be able to build up to 10 over time. But again, I don't see something like this as a challenge. That would be about setting strength goals. 

Show proof that you can do 2,3 or 4 then.

[fredwiggy]

4 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

But that was included as an option if you read and understand the post.

I read and understand all posts thank you. Nowhere did he say for others to do what he did, but to challenge themselves.

[fredwiggy]

7 minutes ago, susanlea said:

Show proof that you can do 2,3 or 4 then.

As many age, they get fatter, which makes it harder for them to pull up their own body weight. If you stay slim, you will lose strength as you age, but will still be able to do pullups if you exercise regularly. I used to be able to do over 20, but lifting very heavy weights over 50 years hurt my rotator cuffs. I can still do pulldowns with around 170 lbs, which is my body weight, sets of 10, but I really don't want to try pullups in the regular manner because they might hurt my shoulder joints.

[susanlea]

1 minute ago, fredwiggy said:

As many age, they get fatter, which makes it harder for them to pull up their own body weight. If you stay slim, you will lose strength as you age, but will still be able to do pullups if you exercise regularly. I used to be able to do over 20, but lifting very heavy weights over 50 years hurt my rotator cuffs. I can still do pulldowns with around 170 lbs, which is my body weight, sets of 10, but I really don't want to try pullups in the regular manner because they might hurt my shoulder joints.

I can do lat pulldowns with bodyweight but can't do 1 pullup as it is harder due to the need to stabilise the body which takes energy. 

[richard_smith237]

10 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

16 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Reading a whole GG opening post... 

 

...   Still not achieved it...     one day..  

 

You might achieve it, if you first challenged yourself to read.

 

I mean...

Speed-Read, of course.

 

Do you recall all those speed-reading scam courses, of yesteryear?

 

Those courses can really mess you up.

Hope you never enrolled in one.

 

(I once enrolled in one, at aged 17, and realized it was a scam from the first class. Fortunately, when they tested us at the end of the course, I intentionally read at half-speed, and thereby got my money back, due to the money-back guarantee that I would double my reading speed.  Not only a scam, but run by idiots, too.)

 

 

Nah.. I read all of that and now fully understand why I automatically switch off a paragraph or two into your opening posts... 

 

That said, I do admire your ability to take a flogging without getting upset - being so thick skinned is something many of us could learn from - so, props to you for that.

 

 

... And with that, I'll play...  

 

Challenging myself... I've done the bungee, skydiving etc... no challenge at all, it would be interesting to have worn a smart watch at the time and see if my heart rate even rose at bit.

 

I try to be better at sports, I've plateaued...  age is catching up and I've spent the past year nursing injuries - the latest one, quite significant sport injury after a 'challenging myself' a little too much and having a massing accident at speed.

 

It is therefor perhaps time to slow down and remember I'm no longer in my 20's and 30's... thus challenging myself from that aspect (dynamic sports) is perhaps coming to an end and the enjoyment of such activities will take on a more pedestrian approach.

 

Mental challenges remain - primarily ensuring I am the rock for my family and the standard of father to my son that my father has been for me - If I am half the father to my son that my father has been to me, I consider that challenge well met, for he set the bar extremely high.

 

Other recent challenges are learning not to worry about the future too much and enjoy the 'now'... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 27 by richard_smith237

[ChumpChange]

3 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

As many age, they get fatter, which makes it harder for them to pull up their own body weight. If you stay slim, you will lose strength as you age, but will still be able to do pullups if you exercise regularly. I used to be able to do over 20, but lifting very heavy weights over 50 years hurt my rotator cuffs. I can still do pulldowns with around 170 lbs, which is my body weight, sets of 10, but I really don't want to try pullups in the regular manner because they might hurt my shoulder joints.

Rotator cuffs are 4 small muscles that are attached to tendons which attach to humerus bone. The tendons often tear from overuse and/or age. Nothing to do with joints though. 
 

Pull-ups also don't really put much pressure on the shoulder joints. The greater risk is tearing a rotator cuff muscle at the tendon and/or injuring tendons in your forearm and around your elbows. 

[Gottfrid]

23 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

I read and understand all posts thank you. Nowhere did he say for others to do what he did, but to challenge themselves.

Depends on how you wish to understand it.

[ChumpChange]

22 minutes ago, susanlea said:

Show proof that you can do 2,3 or 4 then.

You're right, I can't do just 2,3 or 4, but I've tried. I always seem to go to 10 every time, no matter what I do. Any suggestions?

[susanlea]

2 minutes ago, ChumpChange said:

You're right, I can't do just 2,3 or 4, but I've tried. I always seem to go to 10 every time, no matter what I do. Any suggestions?

I doubt you can do any.

[FritsSikkink]

16 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

Push ups is another one 

Anyone here over 60 can do say 25 push ups without stopping ?

150

[susanlea]

2 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

150

Does your chest touch the ground?

[ChumpChange]

5 minutes ago, susanlea said:

I doubt you can do any.

You have a flawed imagination. 

[fredwiggy]

2 minutes ago, ChumpChange said:

Rotator cuffs are 4 small muscles that are attached to tendons which attach to humerus bone. The tendons often tear from overuse and/or age. Nothing to do with joints though. 
 

Pull-ups also don't really put much pressure on the shoulder joints. The greater risk is tearing a rotator cuff muscle at the tendon and/or injuring tendons in your forearm and around your elbows. 

Much of the damage done to rotator cuffs comes from doing lat pulldowns behind the neck. Anything you do to pull puts a strain on the shoulder joints. The rotator cuffs are muscles that support the shoulder joint. The primary joints involved in a pullup are the shoulder and elbow joints, so if you have any damage to the rotator cuffs, like I do, pullups are to be done very carefully if at all.  At the end of the bottom part of a pullup is where the shoulder is under strain, and I always do things in full range of motion. I tore both of mine doing exercises with too heavy weights for too long. I was told by the doctor I shouldn't work out anymore but being in the game , now for 50 years, and this happening when I was around 50, I knew not to listen to him because no one knows your body like you do, and I was into training others for almost 20 years myself, and know that not exercising means atrophy, which means the joints have no stabilization.

[ChumpChange]

2 minutes ago, susanlea said:

Does your chest touch the ground?

Mine doesn't. My large canon touches first and prevents that. 

[fredwiggy]

10 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

Depends on how you wish to understand it.

No, understanding it means just that. Try reading his post again, word for word, and you will see he says nothing about telling others to put themselves in any danger. Is English your natural language? It's mine.

[susanlea]

3 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Much of the damage done to rotator cuffs comes from doing lat pulldowns behind the neck. Anything you do to pull puts a strain on the shoulder joints. The rotator cuffs are muscles that support the shoulder joint. The primary joints involved in a pullup are the shoulder and elbow joints, so if you have any damage to the rotator cuffs, like I do, pullups are to be done very carefully if at all.  At the end of the bottom part of a pullup is where the shoulder is under strain, and I always do things in full range of motion. I tore both of mine doing exercises with too heavy weights for too long. I was told by the doctor I shouldn't work out anymore but being in the game , now for 50 years, and this happening when I was around 50, I knew not to listen to him because no one knows your body like you do, and I was into training others for almost 20 years myself, and know that not exercising means atrophy, which means the joints have no stabilization.

I do the Arnold presses for shoulders. Feel much better. Doing face pulls helps build up shoulder tendons too. Dips with weights can be dangerous too. This exercise can be replicated using cables. A lot of top bodybuilders now recommend cables for rows too as less injury risk. A chest supported one arm cable row is very good.

[In Full Agreement]

On 5/22/2024 at 7:57 PM, simon43 said:

Let me understand this.  You spent the evening strutting up and down the subway train.  The locals must think you're nuts! 🙂

 

 

Maybe the locals are on to something?