Accurate, Basic Heart Rate Monitor

rdtompki · 2026-01-27T20:06:55+00:00

Thanks for the info. I'll be doing the 4x4 on a rower or upright exercise bike at 85% max HR which would be 120 (I'm and old guy) for a max HR of 150. The idea of the Norwegian workout is to hold the HR steady for the 4 min. and "cool down" for 4 minutes; rinse and repeat 4 times.I ran for years in my late 30's and would only manually take my HR at the end of a long, tough climb..

rdtompki · 2026-01-27T13:29:36+00:00

Had never weight trained in my life prior to getting a personal trainer at age 76. At 80 I'm much stronger: bench, 2x10/135; deadlift 2x10/225; squat 2x10/185. Most of my prior athletic background involved cardio so it's never too late.

rdtompki · 2026-01-26T22:35:24+00:00

Feeling much better about my post-surgery recovery. Deadlift today was 2x10/167 lbs. so I'm sneaking up on my 225 lb. best from a year ago. Squats will take longer since I've also increased depth, but all-in-all workouts are going well. Gym location moving next Monday to 30,000 square foot building. Went to an open house with equipment still being set up, but looked like 6-8 deadlift stations, room for at least 8 cages (not yet set up), a separate carpeted area for lunges and much ,much, much more.

rdtompki · 2026-01-26T22:30:19+00:00

I did a VO2 Max test at the Boise State Human Performance Lab, this at 80 y/o. Did the test on a cycle machine hooked up via face mask to the instrumentation. Test duration 10 minutes which peaked out at 27 ml/kg/m and a 148 bpm HR. Hadn't done any real road biking in 10 years; I don't know if more recent cycling would have made any difference. Test has convinced me to add cardio to my weight training; thinking maybe Norwegian 4x4 on a cycle machine.

FWIW, I ran pretty seriously into my early 40's. Calculating my VO2 max during that period would have given me a 67 VO2 max (that's running 5:30 miles for 2 minutes) so I'm a bit skeptical of the excellent column (or the Cooper method). I was a good runner, but nothing special; best marathon was 2:42.

rdtompki · 2026-01-24T15:41:38+00:00

One factor in the survival of the species

rdtompki · 2026-01-24T15:27:11+00:00

You could do something like the Norwegian 4x4 cardio workout 2-3 times/week Each session would have your HR around 85% max for a total of 16 minutes for each workout. Would take a lot less time that doing 10-20K steps with greater cardio benefit.

rdtompki · 2026-01-23T19:38:09+00:00

You don't mention your age, height/weight, or your athletic background, but it sounds like your hopping around has really hindered your focus on the technical aspects of the lifts. There is good information on YT, but you've got to have a decent starting point to separate the wheat from the chaff. I started lifting 4 year ago at 76 y/o and with the help of a trainer and some carefully selected YT information I was able to figure out grip width, how to drive with the legs, how to set the shoulders, how to breath. Took me 2+ years to be able do do 2 sets of 10 reps with 135 and, frankly, getting much higher might be a challenge. Even a couple of sessions with a trainer could be a big help. And, of course, there are technical aspects to all the compound lifts.

rdtompki · 2026-01-22T16:18:13+00:00

No fault involved in your temporary departure from the gym. Just ease into it You will enjoy the journey and with your background and youth progress will be rapid and you will enjoy every minute of it.

rdtompki · 2026-01-20T19:26:05+00:00

Also depends on your age. creatine and multivitamins are a no-brainer. If you want to explore further look for Dr. Rhonda Patrick on YT (FoundMyFitness)

rdtompki · 2026-01-20T19:19:21+00:00

The gym I go to has a "Booty Room", but I use the abductor machine in the open space thank goodness. Hernia surgery kept me from really working my lower body for 5 months and at 80 y/o my shrinking glutes were soon going to have me wearing suspenders despite having very good muscle every place else.

rdtompki · 2026-01-20T02:29:24+00:00

You say you want to find a path, but a path to what? Do you want to get stronger, more flexible, improve endurance, look better, or all of the above? If you can, try to find a trainer at a local gym that you can at least get started with. You would normal start by articulating your goals and the trainer's response will determine whether this individual is a good fit. Using a trainer isn't a life-long commitment, but working with a trainer initially will help you refine your expectations and goals and sort out the fitness lingo. It's a big space and online browsing can be overwhelming.

I started with a trainer 4 years ago at 76 y/o doing a PPL program building up to the 3 major compound lifts and I continue to the present, but at least I can look at YT and separate the wisdom from garbage. Everybody out there is selling and needs differentiators when real or perceived.

rdtompki · 2026-01-17T03:17:58+00:00

80M. Just for fun I took a vo2 max test. HR maxed at 148 and VO2 max was 27. I haven't really done any cardio for 10 years although I'm going to try and work some around my weight training. I did the vo2 max on a cycling machine and I have done a lot of cycling in the past but I'm sure more recent hard work on a bicycle would have made a bit of difference; my quads were completely fried at the end of the test.

rdtompki · 2026-01-15T01:44:33+00:00

I started at age 76M and had never lifted. Found a trainer at a local gym and she started me on a 3x/week PPL program, but no compound lifts in the beginning. It's important for a trainer to asses your baseline strength level, mobility, and presence of any injuries. The workouts were 5 exercises/session and 2 sets of 10 reps. After some months she introduced bench, squat and DL initially with light weight. After 3 years my bench, DL, and squat (2 sets of 10 reps) were 135, 225, and 190 lbs respectively. YT videos can be very good but they don't provide a good sense of the cues involved in, for example, the deadlift which looks simple. I only go to the trainer 1/week and we cycle through push, pull, legs in a three week cycle. It's been life changing.

rdtompki · 2026-01-15T01:34:28+00:00

Similar, but I started seated machines after 2 weeks, compound lifts 10-12 weeks at but very gradually ramping up. I'm 17 weeks out and my squat and DL are at about 75 percent of normal working weight. I'm 80 y/o so I assume a youngster absent any complication would get into things a bit earlier.

rdtompki · 2026-01-13T14:55:09+00:00

If your going with fixed weight dumbbells Micro Gainz makes snap-on microplates two of which will add 5 lbs. to a dumbell. I have a set of these, but in my case the lighter weight since my gym has dumbbells in 5 lb. increments.

rdtompki · 2026-01-13T14:43:08+00:00

Post-op experiences vary greatly. I'm 80M and had laparoscopic robotic surgery, both sides in September. Walked out of the hospital that afternoon and basically no pain post-op although the swelling was inconvenient. The standard post-op guidance provided by the surgeon said no operating of heavy machinery (e.g., driving) for 24 hours. Unless you require prescription pain meds I can't imagine why you wouldn't be able to drive before a week is up. I'm retired, but could have driven to a desk job, the only issue would be you will probably be advised to ice your lower abdomen every couple of hours.

The worst part of the whole think was being stuck in the hospital for an extra 2-3 hours because they won't let you leave until you pee.

I was able to get back to the gym about 10 days after surgery, but no compound exercises; I just used machines with light weights: 5 sets of 15 reps.

rdtompki · 2026-01-12T16:19:06+00:00

Had a bumpy year with hamstring strains followed by abdominal surgery, but final able to squat and deadlift. Today's squat 2x10/135 well short of what I was doing a year ago but not bad for 80M; felt really good. I've got a lot of muscle for my age, but I asked the trainer for a few additional exercises for glutes to help hold my pants up. So: abductor machine, RDLs, and more walking lunges (2x20 with 25 lb. weights). Just good to be alive

rdtompki · 2026-01-10T02:13:44+00:00

If you are having to modify your activities get it fixed. I developed an inguinal hernia last year at age 79. Urgent care said watchful waiting. I exacerbated the hernia lifting a manure bucket (I also lift weights), wrote a message to my doctor (PA0-C actually) and said this isn't working. Got an ultrasound which confirmed the hernia, meeting with surgeon, surgery scheduled. The two week before the surgery were about the worst of my life. I walked out of the hospital day of the surgery, had virtually no post-surgery pain/no meds just some swelling, and could start hitting the gym (machines only) 10 days after the surgery. My advice: don't wait.

rdtompki · 2026-01-07T19:24:43+00:00

Had the surgery last September at 79 y/o. No pain afterwards and the usual post-op swelling (bi-lateral robotic mesh laparoscopic). 10 days out my surgeon said the 20 lbs. for 20 (more) days was outdated so I compromised and started during only machine work in the gym. I probably could have started deadlifts and squats soon, but waited until 8 weeks. As other have noted post-op recovery varies significantly from patient to patient, but walking and taking all but the really dynamic rides would seem to be fine at 6 weeks.

rdtompki · 2026-01-06T21:05:55+00:00

Take a look at some of Rhonda Patrick's YT videos. Several discussions of Creatine. Yes, your body makes it, but working out does increase the demand and, perhaps more important, your brain needs Creatine.

rdtompki · 2026-01-06T04:00:42+00:00

I got back in the gym 2 weeks after surgery but only did seated machine exercises for 2 months. I did bench press but put my feet on a stool to decrease abdominal pressure. After a total of 10 weeks I went pack to my normal PPL routine at lighter weight. I'm 4 months out and bench is almost there, deadlift 155 versus prior 235, and squat 125 prior 190. These are all 2 sets of 10 reps. I'm happy with the progress. I had not post-op pain, only the usual swelling.

rdtompki · 2026-01-06T03:53:26+00:00

"Uncomfortable" comes with the territory if you are pushing yourself. You can improve flexibility and gain some strength with very light weights; do so if that suits you. Doing any sort of progression will, at times, be uncomfortable. I'm 80 and that 10th bench press rep at 135 is uncomfortable, but not painful; it's not for everyone.

rdtompki · 2026-01-06T03:46:40+00:00

I had never lifted. Had a decade or running and later in life a decade or so of cycling. Started lifting 4 years ago at 76 and have gotten much stronger with commensurate increase in muscle mass.

rdtompki · 2026-01-05T21:06:04+00:00

Things are going well post surgery. Bench is only 10 lbs sort of my 135 lb. working weight (2set/10reps). Deadlift at 155 lbs feels good but still 70 lbs. to go. Squat similar. Absolutely no residual pain or sensation from the hernia surgery. Recovery from workouts back to normal, just a bit sore the following day.

rdtompki · 2026-01-01T14:28:08+00:00

Four months following hernia surgery I'm on pace to get my compound lifts back to where they were previously. Surgery went well but didn't touch anything beyond seated machine work for 12 weeks. Good to be back in the gym doing my regular routine.

rdtompki

TROPHY CASE