I doubt any of us have worked out much since April 21. I know I haven't.

But we need to get it going again! I can say that I still haven't missed a day on the push-ups, so I'm at 13,200 push-ups for this year. Other than that, however, my trips to the gym have been few and far between.

This is because we moved our office 40 miles/1 hour 15 minutes away, so getting home in time to work out is damn near impossible. Boo! But our building just opened a new gym and I'm going to almost certainly join. Now, I'll still be getting home at 9:30 PM but at least it will be because I worked out until 8 PM!

Let's check in. How is it going with your fitness goals for 2016?

Still been bike riding. I listen to Prince's music when I work out. It doesn't make me sad but motivates me instead. Black Sweat is a good song when working out.

kpowers said:

I haven't lost a pound but since November I've lost 7 inches overall (Strange, I know but I'll take it). My stomach is flatter than it's been in too long. I want to lose weight, wear shorts without needing courage and not get lectured about my weight a doctor's appointment this fall. I also want to bring my "A-game" to health and fitness instead of my "D-game".

Fell off my routine for a minute (after the news), but I rebounded on my workouts pretty quickly. Still can't listen to him though

^Looking good!

Is there a thread on Prince's fitness routines? Or diet?

I'd really love a Prince cookbook by his chef, or even the roasted beet recipe he said Prince enjoyed.

RodeoSchro said:

DroneLayer said:

Is there a thread on Prince's fitness routines? Or diet?

I'd really love a Prince cookbook by his chef, or even the roasted beet recipe he said Prince enjoyed.

That would be cool!

I've never seen much about his fitness routine. I do remember a blurb from th e "Purple Rain" days that Prince could bench press his own weight. That's good, no matter if you are little or big.

I remember hearing some words spoken the weekend that he died (because everything shut down that Thursday and you had to take the weekend right then). The Current (Minneapolis radio station) talked about him being a true Minneapolis guy: "He was one of us, riding our bike trails...") so I guess he liked to ride bikes.

I'll bet he had some sweet bicycle pants! Shiny spandex with a padded butt!

DroneLayer said:

Is there a thread on Prince's fitness routines? Or diet?

I'd really love a Prince cookbook by his chef, or even the roasted beet recipe he said Prince enjoyed.

Not that I know of.

He had a bench for bench presses, a long barbell, dumbells etc. and you can see some of that in the pictures and videos from the 1991-92 era.

-

I remember that he was supposedly quite pleased to see some exercise machines at the venue and hotel during the German leg of the Lovesexy tour in Germany. That was in 1988.

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Also keep in mind that Kirk Johnson is a certified personal trainer, and you can see him bench pressing in either the Ryde Divine video or Three Chains of Gold, and Kirk also works at a gym in Chanhassen, so I´d assume that some of his fitness knowledge rubbed off on Prince, too.

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Prince wanted to put many recipes on his old L4OA website but the only recipe that we saw was the one for "Lemon Lightning Broccoli" , which was around 1998.

GirlBrother said:

Me in 2007 vs me in 2016. [img:$uid]http://i.imgur.com/k94APZn.jpg[/img:$uid] It's still a work in progress. Diet changed me more than exercise. I just walk everywhere. I've never jogged or been to a gym.

Looking good ! Now that´s some real progress.

And without going to the gym.

Wow.

But you still smoke, right?

Just asking, not judging.

It was very difficult to get back to the gym after April 21 but I did manage to go there at least two or three times a week, starting two weeks ago.

Counting miles or weights is not really my thing but maybe I should start doing that, at least when I go for a run, which I haven´t done in a long time. But I think I should run more often again.

-

-

I usually go to the gym every second day, minimum three times a week, or if I´m not too busy four times a week. I usually train my arms (triceps, biceps, shoulders) on one day, then let them rest for at least a day or two (depending on how hard I worked them out and how much weight I used), and then I work on my upper back, lower back, chest and a little bit of neck but I hate bench presses and only use machines for my chest, and never use much weight for my chest because it is the one muscle group that grows really , really fast and I look a bit ridiculous when my chest gets too big.

-

The weight I use for training my chest varies very often, and I couldn´t even answer how much weight I use. I understand that some people are very meticulous about the weights they use but as far as chest training is concerned, I just go by instinct and feeling.

-

-

What I do know is that I train my biceps with weights from 25 lbs (dumbells) per arm to 30 lbs per arm, and then switch to barbells starting with 40 lbs to warm up, then 50 lbs, and then continue with 60 or 70 lbs maximum, and the same goes for triceps and shoulders. But I use less when I work on my deltoids, and more when I do military presses.

-

My biggest love right after fitness training (or bodybuilding) is swimming but since I don´t live by the sea I don´t really do it very often, and I don´t like public pools that much.

KoolEaze said:

Sounds good. Especially the low carb but not no carb thing.

Be careful with the sugar though.

And eat an egg every now and then. It´s good for your testosterone.

Be careful with soya. It can seriously mess up your testosterone levels.

Even if you don´t plan on bulking up, testosterone is very important and a decrease can lead to terrible, depression-like mood swings and apathy.

But you look healthy and fine, I think there´s no need to worry about that.

I think I should watch my carb intake. That, sugar and fruits are my vices.

Won´t give up on fruit though.

KoolEaze said:

KoolEaze said:

Prince wanted to put many recipes on his old L4OA website but the only recipe that we saw was the one for "Lemon Lightning Broccoli" , which was around 1998.

Please do tell - how do you make Lemon Lightning Broccoli? I want to eat the foods Prince ate. And that recipe sounds f'in awesome.

Had to take a couple of days off from the gym as I had my wisdom teeth pulled. Went again yesterday and now have a nice soreness in the triceps. I love that feeling. Went again today and it was leg and lower body day. Which is exhausting anyway, but it was also so hot and humid, I must have sweated out my bodyweight in water.

KoolEaze said:

It was very difficult to get back to the gym after April 21 but I did manage to go there at least two or three times a week, starting two weeks ago.

Counting miles or weights is not really my thing but maybe I should start doing that, at least when I go for a run, which I haven´t done in a long time. But I think I should run more often again.

-

-

I usually go to the gym every second day, minimum three times a week, or if I´m not too busy four times a week. I usually train my arms (triceps, biceps, shoulders) on one day, then let them rest for at least a day or two (depending on how hard I worked them out and how much weight I used), and then I work on my upper back, lower back, chest and a little bit of neck but I hate bench presses and only use machines for my chest, and never use much weight for my chest because it is the one muscle group that grows really , really fast and I look a bit ridiculous when my chest gets too big.

-

The weight I use for training my chest varies very often, and I couldn´t even answer how much weight I use. I understand that some people are very meticulous about the weights they use but as far as chest training is concerned, I just go by instinct and feeling.

-

-

What I do know is that I train my biceps with weights from 25 lbs (dumbells) per arm to 30 lbs per arm, and then switch to barbells starting with 40 lbs to warm up, then 50 lbs, and then continue with 60 or 70 lbs maximum, and the same goes for triceps and shoulders. But I use less when I work on my deltoids, and more when I do military presses.

-

My biggest love right after fitness training (or bodybuilding) is swimming but since I don´t live by the sea I don´t really do it very often, and I don´t like public pools that much.

Glad to see you're still hitting it Kool. Check out Layne Norton's youtube fitness/nutrition vids.....great stuff.

When you hit NYC, come do a session with me.

uPtoWnNY said:

KoolEaze said:

It was very difficult to get back to the gym after April 21 but I did manage to go there at least two or three times a week, starting two weeks ago.

Counting miles or weights is not really my thing but maybe I should start doing that, at least when I go for a run, which I haven´t done in a long time. But I think I should run more often again.

-

-

I usually go to the gym every second day, minimum three times a week, or if I´m not too busy four times a week. I usually train my arms (triceps, biceps, shoulders) on one day, then let them rest for at least a day or two (depending on how hard I worked them out and how much weight I used), and then I work on my upper back, lower back, chest and a little bit of neck but I hate bench presses and only use machines for my chest, and never use much weight for my chest because it is the one muscle group that grows really , really fast and I look a bit ridiculous when my chest gets too big.

-

The weight I use for training my chest varies very often, and I couldn´t even answer how much weight I use. I understand that some people are very meticulous about the weights they use but as far as chest training is concerned, I just go by instinct and feeling.

-

-

What I do know is that I train my biceps with weights from 25 lbs (dumbells) per arm to 30 lbs per arm, and then switch to barbells starting with 40 lbs to warm up, then 50 lbs, and then continue with 60 or 70 lbs maximum, and the same goes for triceps and shoulders. But I use less when I work on my deltoids, and more when I do military presses.

-

My biggest love right after fitness training (or bodybuilding) is swimming but since I don´t live by the sea I don´t really do it very often, and I don´t like public pools that much.

Glad to see you're still hitting it Kool. Check out Layne Norton's youtube fitness/nutrition vids.....great stuff.

When you hit NYC, come do a session with me.

I actually learned a lot from Layne Norton, and I find your posts very inspirational. Good to see you back on the org. And yes, I´ll let you know when I´m in NYC and do a session with you.

KoolEaze said:

uPtoWnNY said:

Glad to see you're still hitting it Kool. Check out Layne Norton's youtube fitness/nutrition vids.....great stuff.

When you hit NYC, come do a session with me.

I actually learned a lot from Layne Norton, and I find your posts very inspirational. Good to see you back on the org. And yes, I´ll let you know when I´m in NYC and do a session with you.

Do you know Jeff Cavaliere (Athlean X)? That's who I watch regularly on YouTube.

I've been doing pretty good the past few weeks. I've been getting more than 30 minutes of exercise in for at least 3 days a week. Not all necessarily in the gym, I've been using my morning breaks as 30 minute walking sessions and then hit up the gym for another hour after work. If I can't get to the gym after work, then I take some steps for 30 minutes at home while watching a tv show or catching up on my DVR. I know I need to be utilizing some weight training though. I plan to dust off my kettle bell and get to working on it sometime this week.

I've also changed my diet. I know I'm on the right track when I stop craving McDonald's fries and nachos from Qdoba's. I've been eating a lot of fresh fruits (apples, strawberries, blueberries) and grabbing some fresh vegetables (yellow squash, zucchini, baby carrots) and for quick snacks or sides, I have frozen broccoli that I can quickly steam in the microwave or trail mix. For protein, I eat either Starkist tuna or bake some tilapia. I eat chicken too, but not a whole lot. If I do have to stop and get something quick, I choose a salad from Chick-Fil-A. Their salads tend to be much fresher than say Wendy's or McDonald's salads. So far, it's been working.

I'm up to 15,200 push-ups for the year. But I haven't been to the gym in probably a month, and haven't lifted regularly since February. Not good, but my work schedule/location makes it impossible to go to my regular gym.

We toured the gym that our building opened. It's OK but it doesn't have the kind of bench-press machine I like. Stll, I guess my wife and I will join it but all that really means is more time away from home.

RodeoSchro said:

I'm up to 15,200 push-ups for the year. But I haven't been to the gym in probably a month, and haven't lifted regularly since February. Not good, but my work schedule/location makes it impossible to go to my regular gym.

We toured the gym that our building opened. It's OK but it doesn't have the kind of bench-press machine I like. Stll, I guess my wife and I will join it but all that really means is more time away from home.

15,200 push-ups? For the year?

How so?

You mean you count the push-ups you do in a year? Do you count and write down all the push-ups you do per session?

The weights you are able to benchpress are quite remarkable, I don´t think measly little push-ups have any effect on your fitness.

Unless you are going for strength endurance/stamina rather than pure strength.

KoolEaze said:

RodeoSchro said:

I'm up to 15,200 push-ups for the year. But I haven't been to the gym in probably a month, and haven't lifted regularly since February. Not good, but my work schedule/location makes it impossible to go to my regular gym.

We toured the gym that our building opened. It's OK but it doesn't have the kind of bench-press machine I like. Stll, I guess my wife and I will join it but all that really means is more time away from home.

15,200 push-ups? For the year?

How so?

You mean you count the push-ups you do in a year? Do you count and write down all the push-ups you do per session?

The weights you are able to benchpress are quite remarkable, I don´t think measly little push-ups have any effect on your fitness.

Unless you are going for strength endurance/stamina rather than pure strength.

First, thanks on the bench press! I'm really proud of that.

On the push-ups:

I started doing 100 per day on January 1. Since May 31st was the 152nd day of the year, that means I'd done 152 X 100 = 15,200 push-ups when I made that post. If I keep this up, I'll do 36,600 push-ups in 2016 (Leap Year, baby!).

The push-ups thing has really been great for me. I do them literally first thing in the morning, and it makes my upper body feel pumped pretty much all day long. It's helped my pecs and triceps of course, but I've been surprised at what it's done for my biceps.

The last time I went to the gym, which I guess was in late March/early April, was my first time to the gym in at least a month. But I had been doing the push-ups and was able to bench 306 pounds. So the push-ups don't make me any stronger but they DO keep me from losing strength when I can't get to the gym for long periods of time.

I never was a push-up guy - I only started doing these this winter because I was in a situation where I couldn't get to any gym. I actually started doing the push-ups on December 14th or so, which means I've done about an additional 1,600 push-ups in this streak than what I posted above. But I'm just counting from January 1 now because I want to see if I can make the whole year.

I started doing the push-ups in 3 sets of 33/34. After a few weeks, I ramped it up to 2 sets of 50. But what I've found is really the key is how long you rest between sets. In other words, how quickly you can do the entire 100 push-ups. My best is 3:40 or so but usually I rest a little longer and take 5 - 6 minutes to do them. That's about 1 minute for 50 push-ups with a 3 - 4 minute rest before the second set.