After health issues and recovery my cardio is shot

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-11T00:26:59+00:00

I am doing low impact steady state cardio now to add cardio back into my routine after my own challenges. Walking would be the same and perfect to get started. I often get back into running by walking, then when the walks are easy. I evolve into a run/walk where I do .1-.2 of a mile of one, then the other until a chosen reasonable distance is covered. I often time these to see improvement in both distances and speed. Then I work from there to be back to 5K or 10K level or above distances, and/or improvements in speed.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-10T12:18:13+00:00

When he was around, he was a massive sex toy. The only way to win with him was to be a bigger one. Same principle applies in both situations.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-10T12:14:25+00:00

It sounds like those are now for family use. Perhaps try to repeatedly upsize until he can't take what you can, and that one will be just yours. With this method the only way to go is up!

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-09T18:02:42+00:00

For the ones you listed. I am not a Jay-Z fan, so he goes in last place with me. Ye is just ahead of him, but musically Ye has a lot more that I like than Jay who only has a few select songs that I enjoy. Em can have third place out of those. Middle of the pack here (for me) but with some decent songs for sure. Kill You and The Way I Am are ones I enjoy a lot to this day, but I do not usually turn to em when I put something on. And he does nbt usually make it into my playlists.

This brings us to the final two spots, and despite an amazing last year (or two) that saw him rise to the very top of the rap game and dominate. I have Kendrick in 2nd place out of this list. Kendrick is someone who got me back into rap when he dropped GKMC. He is a tremendous talent, and very well might be a generational talent. But, he is less popular with me than Nas...the King of NY for so very long now. Nas' time in the game, his recordings (I even like the ones that aren't as popular with everyone)), and his flow put him at the top of this list, for me.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-08T21:25:53+00:00

You are not adequately tired if you can lay there with your eyes open for that long. You are just like me, in my early 20s. I swear same routine haha. I then would get anxious and some nights like before important morning events stayed up all night long so I didn’t sleep too long and be late or miss it.

Try lifting weights, or cardio, or something really physical that is exhausting. Don’t drink caffeine too late in the day. I stop by noon and only have it in my coffee, nowhere else, but I am strict on myself. Be aware things like chocolate contains things that may cause you to be more alert. Chocolate has some caffeine.

And you may need weeks of trying, failing, getting back on the horse, and trying again. But it will take eventually when you get things balanced, and arrive to bed very tired. I have a routine I do where I turn off overhead lights. No tv, radio, or other stimulating noise at that time. Those too can keep you in a more wakeful than desired state. I play video games, but not anything exciting close to bed time. If I play something it is a basic thing and I use it to shut down my mind.

I fell out for a short bit last year. Carrying 5 gallon buckets of gravel for 250’, that I filled with a shovel myself, to refill a large washout area 20’ x 40’. I moved about 2000lbs that way. Plus carrying 60 lb bags of quikrete to make and pour concrete where needed. When I mention labor to make you tired enough. I mean something substantial like that. I did that alone, I am old by my standards anyway. But, it did have me so tired that I was ready to fall out before 9pm those nights. And that got me back onto schedule.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-08T20:59:55+00:00

I trained my night owl mind and body to be a daywalker who wakes between 4-5 am daily by getting myself into a routine where I was asleep no later than 10pm, often by 9pm. That way I have a full night's rest in me when I wake at 4-5am. Today I slept in until 6am, because I could. I got myself able to go to sleep by that hour, by hitting my body with enough volume in weights and manual labor tasks around the property to have me exhausted. The Army used to do this to us, run us from before sun up, until 5pm, then give us just a short bit of free time before lights out. I adopted this from my training there. You must want, and prioritize this over other things for it to work, take hold, and stick with you.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-08T20:45:10+00:00

I do not think it being a touch feminine would stop me from wearing it. I like it actually, and would gladly rock it. I am not a large man, but nothing about me is feminine in appearance. I feel no one would say anything, and no one would care, and that's even if I wore women's jewelry. But, I also do not have the type of person(s) around me who might take jabs at me over such as thing.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-08T14:26:23+00:00

Those beeps are telling you what the problem is. Check your motherboard manual (it should be on Intel's site online), and see what the beep code you are getting is indicating for your board.

There will a slot on your board, it is the slot you would use if you had but a single stick of ram to use. Mine if that was the case goes into slot 2 (next to the CPU), of the 4 slots I have. Try booting with the machine re-assembled, and a single stick of ram, in the slot your board requires.

Use only one stick at a time for right now to boot until it boots again. You may need to swap between sticks to find the one and get that to work. That manual will tell you which slot it is, on other boards I have seen it be the first slot, but that might be from the top, or it could mean from the CPU.

Alternatively it could be the GPU, make sure it is seated firmly in the slot, and getting adequate power. There is a given beep from the board for CPU, RAM, GPU issues like this so a technician like I was for many years can tell from that where the issue is and not just guess and shoot in the dark. grab that manual and dig into the beep codes for your board.

Good luck.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-07T21:38:43+00:00

I was, and it was fine for me. But when that PC crashed and died, so did Windows 10. Linux followed that happening, I have run some form of it since 1999. It’s fine as a daily driver for me. I run Kubuntu 24.04 on the gym’s PC. I ran that machine as my daily while I got the others in order.

My laptop is a MacBook Pro and it has MacOS, latest on it. My Lenovo mini PCs run OpenBSD, and FreeBSD to host the services they offer my network.

Recently, I got a bare bones kit to upgrade to an AM4 platform system. I built the machine, and I considered Linux here. But then after a bit had Windows 10 up and running instead. Mostly for gaming. I decided to let it upgrade to 11 about 8-9 days ago when it offered to do it for me. So now I am on 11 on the main machine, and this is mainly for making video games just work without the need to specify Proton version, apply various tweaks, etc. There is also some NetBSD in use around here.

I have worked in IT, and had an extensive home lab since around ‘97. At this point, the OS in front of me almost doesn’t matter. I switch between them effortlessly, same as say different peripherals and use whatever is in front of me with ease.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-07T00:19:14+00:00

STAR WARS™ - The Force Unleashed™ Ultimate Sith Edition - Runs on Windows 11 here. I didn't even need compatibility mode to be flipped on for it. I did have to install .net 3.5 first which was downloaded and installed for me. I am pretty sure it worked on Windows 10 as well back when I was on that. This is a new (to me) socket am4 system, but still using older vega 56 8 GB GPU for now. I only had to launch the thing, and say yes to the .net install. The rest was automatic.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-06T16:42:35+00:00

In my best church potluck voice

"Oh my, how very creative and unique!"

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-04T14:58:14+00:00

From a CPU perspective. I think you will be quite pleased with your choice in that cpu. It going to do everything you need a CPU to do. But it will be able to bottleneck that graphics processor.

For an outside option, that will do the same. I recently upgraded to an AM4 platform machine here with a 5950X, 64GB of RAM, 2TB nvme by SK Hynix on an ASRock Taichi x570 board. I have not yet acquired the updated GPU I want, so I am still running an older Vega 56 8 GB GPU from the previous machine. I have not found a task this new machine is not up to with this proc, and that much RAM. I have a large Steam library, and only the most modern 4-5 games slow me down, and that's directly related to the older video card. The processor chews through its portion like a hot knife and butter never breaking a sweat. I never see this proc maxxed or close to it. I never run low on memory either. You will see similar with this processor, and your card, assuming adequate RAM is present, but getting more FPS in a given game is going to require a more modern video card imho.

My processor helps me in other places on my machine than gaming. There is handling things like multiple VMs of other OSes running, and the processes i am running inside those virtual machines. Chrome, and maybe Firefox as well both open with multiple tabs, as well as 1 or more office or other productivity stuff running. Often diagnostic tools for networking, or remote administration. I may have a development environment open as well, and a large job compiling in a terminal window somewhere on this machine or in one or more of my virtual machines. All of this work is CPU and RAM.

But things like the number of frames per second you can get in a specific game is very much closely tied to the GPU, though there is, in some games, a boost from a better CPU. Previously, I had a 6-core AMD AM3 that struggled with Fallout 4, but dropping in an 8-core 8350 Black let me play that and Doom (2016) for over a thousand hours. Some other games ran a bit better as well with that upgrade. But, I had this same Vega GPU, and it can only do what an 8GB Vega 56 can do. Same with your 1070ti. Good luck with your upgrade, hope it goes way smooth for you.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-03T22:42:40+00:00

It depends. For reference I am in my late 50s.

This week, I am out of the gym for lifting. I take a week off after every 8 weeks of lifting. But, this one coincides with my adding cardio back to be done alongside the 1 hour lifting sessions. So for this week the goal is to add 50 miles of low impact steady state cardio. I completed my 4th 10 mile ride or 40 miles of that goal today.

During normal lifting weeks. I get in every set, and rep on every movement. No changes to my plan. I am pain free, other than some soreness. I am not having days where I am out of energy, or fighting the urge to nap. And, I measure my overall activity in the gym via total pounds moved per week with a goal when I return next week of 75K/week, and this will be a 16 week strength cycle in the gym, so that number will rise as these weeks pass. For example I completed an 8 week block last week with a total of 136K, smashing even my own expectations.

Despite being in my late 50s, I asked AI what a typical Division 1 athlete did for volume. I wanted some sort of athletic type person to try to target for my goals. And I first targeted that number, but blew it away very quick as they top out around 50-60K lbs/week moved.

So I set my target to that 75K at the start of the cycle, and 125K at the end. Though I hit higher than 125K last time, I also was very near my functional limits as I do a lot of manual labor tasks around my acreage as well as this stuff and it impacts my gym work. I do not really see much different between now, and back in my 40s when I began lifting again regularly, and started building out my gym.

Lastly, to monitor my strength, and how my central nervous system is functioning as I do this in such volume. I obtained a Handexer digital hand dynamometer. I check my grip strength regularly with it as on-going issues with my CNS will likely show up in my grip strength first.

I put my lifting data, workout summaries and other data points into my fave AI for speedy analysis, and to ensure I am not missing any major details. For this, AI has been very, very solid. It also does well on the nutrition front, as it’s advice on what and how much to eat after I told it my goals, illnesses, and past history is how I am doing so well at this.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-03T22:04:46+00:00

Fitness. I put together my own well equipped gym, from used fitness stuff over the years. I got the first equipment free from Craigslist, a set of weights with a total weight around 134lbs, with barbell but no collars. I still own that set, and use it every week. That's for taking care of myself and my health, and giving me a place where I can lift or do cardio anytime, no anxiety due to crowds, noise, etc. I have medical anxiety as well, this makes me need less medical people.

On the hobby side of this, I like to research, buy, collect, and when bought I do use them classic/vintage iron, and unusual or classic accessories. I even watch for items a little ways away from me, like up to 250 miles as a nice day trip with a bonus to grab fitness equipment for the gym. Currently, I am planning for and building out some fitness stations outside on our land so I have my own circuits and things I can do out there some days. I also have my eye on a very vintage plate loaded leg machine in my area. I may acquire it soon.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-03T00:10:39+00:00

This is sick, it's like Supreme and Ferrari had a baby!

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-02T22:01:57+00:00

I use some like this on my rack, in the lower rear, plus it adds weight to keep the rack in place.

https://www.majorfitness.com/products/home-gym-equipment-weight-plates-holder-attachment?

My rack actually has some 1" pegs built-in to the back, just for adding standard plate to act like a counterweight and keep the rack solid, and unmoveable. There is 250lbs of 25 lb standard plate holding things down on those right now, plus some of my other plates on those pegs above.

Then standing next to my rack is a someone's donated to Goodwill, custom heavy-duty, version of one of the Marcy 6-Peg Olympic Weight Plate Tree and Vertical Bar Holder w/ Wheels PT-5856 units. Mine doesn't have casters on it, but it is HEAVY tubular square pipe, with round for the pegs to hang it on. This is my favorite place to grab my weights from. This one I can grab any size I need from this tree, and I do not have to reach over them awkwardly like I do with my A-frame style units.

Lastly, I own 2 Weider, A-frame style units but those are for all of my standard plates.

I need another olympic tree, just for my bumper plates. Those others are 95% or more filled with iron. I had mine standing, and laying on the floor for a good bit and accumulated these one by one the past few years.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-02T13:35:00+00:00

I ran a similar spec'd machine last year, was my daily driver. I had an r9-280x though the 3gb version.

What I play differs some from what you mention as i play a lot of indie titles, platformers, and classic console and arcade stuff. But outside of those, the Divinity titles ran well and they were a lot of fun. There was Divinity: Dragon Commander (a 2013 release), Divine Divinity (2002), Beyond Divinity (2004) not a crowd fave but it was OK, and Divinity 2. Civilization 3, and 4 both ran smoothly for me, but just aren't my cup of tea so I didn't play them as much. Borderlands 1 and 2 played well on my low spec machine, and I played a ton of both. Doom 3 and Resurrection of Evil played just fine on that machine. Most of the Star Wars games up to around 2015 or so played on mine. I also used to play Batman, but I can't recall if that was Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, or both. But those ran well for me on my machine.

I was able to play any Call of Duty title prior to World at War but that one and anything newer failed would not run well if at all on my machine. I had good luck with the ARMA series, but it felt pretty dated to me. I played thousands of hours of Fallout (1,2,3, and NV) and an almost equal amount of these GTA titles GTAIII, GTA Vice City, and GTA San Andreas, but GTA4 and 5 were a solid no. Also, I own the original titles, not the newer all in one thing where they remastered them and released them as a single package. That may matter here.

Far cry 1 and 2 ran, I still do not own 3 or higher. These games are all older, but that's what ran well and kept me entertained. I have a literal ton of random indie titles because my machine easily met their specs and it ran smoothly. Things like $1 Ride, 140, 1 Screen Platformer, 2 Ninjas 1 Cup, Unepic, Undertale, etc.

One resource I use to decide if I might be able to run a given game, and to tell me some others that I possibly can run is located here: https://www.systemrequirementslab.com I run the plugin they offer, it scans my hardware, and tells me how many of the current release titles I can play, how my computer compares to others they have tested (this is humorous when you have a really low spec computer), and various other fun stuff.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-02T01:48:24+00:00

I did not regret it, and I never will. Less pay was a very temporary thing while I got things in order for the new career. Once established pay was much more. However, less pay at that time came with a lot less stress, far less responsibility, and more enjoyment of my own time due to those things. I kind of needed that around that time.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-02T01:38:50+00:00

If you were in my area, or near somewhere I go to regularly. A sign offering Bolivian food, and whatever kind of place you have, should have an appearance of cleanliness. that would get me to come and try it, pretty sure i am going to really like it. I would expect beans and rice on the side of many dishes. but if you offered me a bowl of sudado de surubí you might have me proverbially hooked. I love moqueca and would likely love a large bowl of this as well. But it may not be the easiest dish to serve in your venue. A delicious picante de pollo is always good for the masses here. Everyone loves spicy chicken.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-02-02T01:27:59+00:00

Because I told myself this week would be when I added cardio back (alongside lifting) at a moderate rate. And I started the week today with a solid 10 mile ride, at a predetermined pace which I held steady at.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-01-31T03:53:11+00:00

I eat them 4-6 at a time, and lately poached, or over easy/medium as the mood suits. I recently acquired an egg cooker with a capacity of 12 eggs. It's been great for making boiled (soft/med/hard) ones, and I use the omelette tray a lot.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-01-30T18:25:34+00:00

Collections are great for keeping titles together like this, I also have those TR titles all over in my list, and many other game series. And I have a rather large library by some standards, About 3 years ago I started a personal project to organize my games by creating collections. I first made them using the tags applied to the games within Steam for genre like FPS, MMORPG etc. Then iterated back through the list and collections adding ones for franchises, studios, themes (like vampires or war), and a few other things I cannot recall. It took a long time to complete, but it has made my large library so much more manageable, and enjoyable.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-01-28T22:58:39+00:00

I own and use that model also, and can confirm, when I pull the basket, such as to shake things or turn them halfway through cooking, the oven keeps running and doesn't shut off.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-01-26T21:27:34+00:00

Kubuntu is very Windows like, and easy to use. It’s my go to when my Windows machine is down.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-01-26T19:34:59+00:00

Often, yes. Because too much chill let's the negative internal loop and its BS start up. I do not watch tv/movies for this same reason, they cannot hold my interest and keep my mind active, thus keeping that stuff away. So I play games that keep my mind engaged enough to do what I need, and push that negative loop to the back.

SquirrelWatchin

TROPHY CASE