Hello, everyone.
Both my husband and I had gotten sloppy in taking care of our health and are taking steps to address this. My husband is a wonderful, loving and strong man, and an incredible father, but not well schooled in nutrition or exercise. He used to be naturally active through employment and outdoors interests, and be able to eat whatever he liked (I have never had that luxury), however, the naturally occurring exercise opportunities have diminished.
What I am asking you for is any suggestions on a book that addresses pretty straight-forward tips on nutrition and exercise for a man in his late 30's. I know what to do for me, and am doing it, and while I have ideas and suggestions for him, it just sounds like nagging or knowitalism when I talk (it even sounds that way to me), and committing to a gym is just not an option right now. However, he is a voracious reader; a good book would allow him to hopefully have the information he needs in a format he likes and pick and choose what he wants to apply, and do this all at his own pace.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Mary Chant
Men's Health
Moderator: Available
The Harvard Medical School Guides are pretty good and there is one that focuses on men's health:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/BookSe ... 820&itm=12
While I do not have this one, I have their Family Health Guide and if it is any indication then the Men's Health Guide should be informative and useful.
I know nothing about this one, but from the title it sounds useful, plus potentially more reader friendly than the Harvard Guide:
This Is Not Your Father's Body: Fitness, Health and Nutrition for Middle-Aged Men
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookse ... 1938&itm=1[/quote]
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/BookSe ... 820&itm=12
While I do not have this one, I have their Family Health Guide and if it is any indication then the Men's Health Guide should be informative and useful.
I know nothing about this one, but from the title it sounds useful, plus potentially more reader friendly than the Harvard Guide:
This Is Not Your Father's Body: Fitness, Health and Nutrition for Middle-Aged Men
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookse ... 1938&itm=1[/quote]
Glenn
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Mary Chant
- Posts: 92
- Joined: Tue Aug 06, 2002 6:01 am
- Location: Boise, ID, USA
Mary,
I am 35 years old and am in better health and shape than I have EVER been in my life. And that is saying something because I have been involved with sports, earning my living from them, ever since I was a teenager.
But now I am training for the long run. I'm taking care of health first, improving my ability to function in every day life, improving my immune system and drastically reducing my incidence of injury! All this I owe to Circular Strength Training which you can find out about at www.rmaxi.com . It really has changed my health, life and fitness exponentially.
If you decide to check it out, I recommend that your husband start with the Intu-Flow program or Ageless Mobility. Both are DVDs. If you would prefer a book, you could go for The Big Book of Clubbell Training, which explains the system beautifully, but which is weighted more towards the Clubbell wing of the system, which your husband may not with to engage in right away. The two DVDs I recommended don't require the purchase of any extra equipment.
After years of gym memberships, I don't belong to one anymore. I do all my training at home (or on the road). I have found that this also allows me much better balance between family and health.
Hope you check it out. It is certainly worth it.
Cheers,
Adam
I am 35 years old and am in better health and shape than I have EVER been in my life. And that is saying something because I have been involved with sports, earning my living from them, ever since I was a teenager.
But now I am training for the long run. I'm taking care of health first, improving my ability to function in every day life, improving my immune system and drastically reducing my incidence of injury! All this I owe to Circular Strength Training which you can find out about at www.rmaxi.com . It really has changed my health, life and fitness exponentially.
If you decide to check it out, I recommend that your husband start with the Intu-Flow program or Ageless Mobility. Both are DVDs. If you would prefer a book, you could go for The Big Book of Clubbell Training, which explains the system beautifully, but which is weighted more towards the Clubbell wing of the system, which your husband may not with to engage in right away. The two DVDs I recommended don't require the purchase of any extra equipment.
After years of gym memberships, I don't belong to one anymore. I do all my training at home (or on the road). I have found that this also allows me much better balance between family and health.
Hope you check it out. It is certainly worth it.
Cheers,
Adam
One thing I really enjoy to get in shape is downloading military fitness programs. It's demanding, comes in different difficulty levels and best of all it's "manly". Another nice point is that the exercises don't require equipment. You can most likely google up a storm of them.
You might want to skip the whole extreme calorie deprivation business though!
You might want to skip the whole extreme calorie deprivation business though!
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Bill Glasheen
- Posts: 17299
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY
I don't do the circular strength training approach, but understand its principles. If you want to set something up at home that covers lots of bases (strength, coordination, power, calorie burning, core muscle movement, etc.), you could do a whole lot worse. The tools of the trade aren't that expensive or bulky. And it fits in well with other activities which require us to use the body in an efficient manner.
Circular strength training is also easier on the joints than many other forms of exercise - providing you do it correctly.
Scott Sonnen is an occasional contributor to these forums. He's a former grappler in various arts, and has competed on a world class level. He was kind enough to send me a few books and tapes for my perusal. From what I have seen of his material, he's very creative and appears to be in an upper echelon in terms of his understanding of human movement.
- Bill
Circular strength training is also easier on the joints than many other forms of exercise - providing you do it correctly.
Scott Sonnen is an occasional contributor to these forums. He's a former grappler in various arts, and has competed on a world class level. He was kind enough to send me a few books and tapes for my perusal. From what I have seen of his material, he's very creative and appears to be in an upper echelon in terms of his understanding of human movement.
- Bill
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Bill Glasheen
- Posts: 17299
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY
TSDguy wrote:
You might want to skip the whole extreme calorie deprivation business though!
Amen to that!
It isn't about losing out on what you love. It's all about substituting better habits for ones you really don't want or need anyhow. This isn't (or shouldn't be) a cure; it's a way of life. To view it any other way is to set yourself up for failure on day one.
Find new things you enjoy doing. Find new foods you enjoy eating. Have some fun in life.
Bill
My $.02:
Take a look at the thread about what people die of. Plan for not getting those things. The big stuff is accidents and violence and that's what gets the young man. But this is mostly a time to stay well / extend youth into the 40s-60s and plan on avoiding the big killers. Those controllable issues are largely cancer and heart disease.
Heart disease is the simpler of the two:
--stay aerobically fit, and trim
--get your BP checked and treated if high (you can reduce salt and alcohol intake, exercise, and meditate but it only works a little). Ideal seems to be falling everyday and is now at <120/<80
--get your cholesterol checked, diet and exercise again, and it probably doesn't need to be treated. The recommended ideal LDL for a person with established heart disease may be 70 something. <100 used to be the ideal. 130 was when we recommended diet and exercise (isn't that good for everyone?). Most interesting to me was a regression analysis which suggested no cardiac events if the LDL was 50ish. That may be our healthiest goal. Removing carbs and exercising are your best bets for raising an HDL.
--don't get diabetes. if you do, treat it.
--diet: arguable, but generally, based on veggies, plus protein from lean sources like fish, chicken, soy, dairy, eggwhite. Whole grains instead of processed stuff and sugars, and healthy fats (fish, nuts, olive oil, canola are better than others). Avoid saturated fats and transfats whenever possible, which is almost always.
--later, an aspirin a day is advisable.
Cancer is actually tons of separate diseases. It could have been broken down into diseases just as accidents were split apart on that other thread. Each is different.
--lung cancer is the biggest killer. Don't smoke. CT screening MAY help if you do. But don't.
--prostate cancer will occur in MOST men in their 70s and many before. Many will never have symptoms. Some will die young. Don't worry about it. Your man is 30 something and before its an issue all the recommendations will change and we'll know if a PSA actually helps anyone. For now screening starts at 50 unless there's family history.
--colon cancer is the other big one--eat healthy but mostly for other reasons. Screening is at 50 with colonoscopy unless there's a family histroy, but again, by then the science may change. They're learning to check for cancer genes in poop now.
--testicular cancer is an easy one. Its rare and treatable so may not be worth screening for. But palpating oneself in a warm shower is free, harmless and potentially justifiable on other gorunds.
That's mostly it. The key thing for me is never to compare yourself to the average american. He's obese and eats garbage and smokes too much and gets spotty healthcare. I think the biggest step for health for the 30 somethings (like me) in the USA in 2007 is to be 100% responsible for what they eat and not let big business kill them with excess and garbage.
Take a look at the thread about what people die of. Plan for not getting those things. The big stuff is accidents and violence and that's what gets the young man. But this is mostly a time to stay well / extend youth into the 40s-60s and plan on avoiding the big killers. Those controllable issues are largely cancer and heart disease.
Heart disease is the simpler of the two:
--stay aerobically fit, and trim
--get your BP checked and treated if high (you can reduce salt and alcohol intake, exercise, and meditate but it only works a little). Ideal seems to be falling everyday and is now at <120/<80
--get your cholesterol checked, diet and exercise again, and it probably doesn't need to be treated. The recommended ideal LDL for a person with established heart disease may be 70 something. <100 used to be the ideal. 130 was when we recommended diet and exercise (isn't that good for everyone?). Most interesting to me was a regression analysis which suggested no cardiac events if the LDL was 50ish. That may be our healthiest goal. Removing carbs and exercising are your best bets for raising an HDL.
--don't get diabetes. if you do, treat it.
--diet: arguable, but generally, based on veggies, plus protein from lean sources like fish, chicken, soy, dairy, eggwhite. Whole grains instead of processed stuff and sugars, and healthy fats (fish, nuts, olive oil, canola are better than others). Avoid saturated fats and transfats whenever possible, which is almost always.
--later, an aspirin a day is advisable.
Cancer is actually tons of separate diseases. It could have been broken down into diseases just as accidents were split apart on that other thread. Each is different.
--lung cancer is the biggest killer. Don't smoke. CT screening MAY help if you do. But don't.
--prostate cancer will occur in MOST men in their 70s and many before. Many will never have symptoms. Some will die young. Don't worry about it. Your man is 30 something and before its an issue all the recommendations will change and we'll know if a PSA actually helps anyone. For now screening starts at 50 unless there's family history.
--colon cancer is the other big one--eat healthy but mostly for other reasons. Screening is at 50 with colonoscopy unless there's a family histroy, but again, by then the science may change. They're learning to check for cancer genes in poop now.
--testicular cancer is an easy one. Its rare and treatable so may not be worth screening for. But palpating oneself in a warm shower is free, harmless and potentially justifiable on other gorunds.
That's mostly it. The key thing for me is never to compare yourself to the average american. He's obese and eats garbage and smokes too much and gets spotty healthcare. I think the biggest step for health for the 30 somethings (like me) in the USA in 2007 is to be 100% responsible for what they eat and not let big business kill them with excess and garbage.
--Ian
-
Mary Chant
- Posts: 92
- Joined: Tue Aug 06, 2002 6:01 am
- Location: Boise, ID, USA
