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[Northern monkey]

Ended up doing no exercise at all, but really tried with my eating crap, cutting out as much sugar as possible and definitely no ready meals
I've stayed injury free and lost a couple of kilos off my waist

Joined a local gym yesterday and I'm gonna take it steady over the winter, looking to build a little maintenance strength really, as opposed to bulking up or owt like that.
Main thing for me is to try and increase mobility as I'm sat driving most of the day,(50k a year!)
So looking to build leg strength but sticking to plenty of reps.

The food thing for me is the most important thing, as I didn't realise how badly I'd been eating,,,way too much processed and too much sugar.

A good you tube film is 'fat sick and nearly dead' ,,,really opened my eyes

[Stuey]

50k, that's a lot of driving! You'll benefit heaps from some mobility work, as would anyone over 30. In the gym stick to 5 reps or less  3-5 sets, this is the optimum strength range and not hypertrophy. Let your heart rate come down between sets.

[gerhard303]

I've tried the Insanity and P90X. Overall, I found them to work but a bit excessive. I think it's really challenging to work out 5-6 times a week at that level of intensity. My knees, hips and back just aren't up to it like they used to be. Interestingly, doing 20 minutes of HIIT (hill sprints, box jumps and variations of burpees) seemed to have been just as effective, although I do an Insanity session when I have the extra time.
That stated, I agree that changing diet is paramount.

[Stuey]

The problem with these programmes or the miss selling/use of them is that they are not meant to be used for a long period of time (including HIIT). People see them advertised and think this how you should train all the time, its not. This type of training draws from the well too many times so using over a sustained period will make you sick and injured. A great analogy is to train most of the time as if you are walking for a park bench i.e. 5 reps or less for 5 sets or less  easy strength, never going near max and occasionally once or twice a year out of season run for a bus bench (Dan John) i.e. HIIT. Also you should have a good strength grounding before doing HIIT to ensure your ligaments and tendons can handle it, otherwise injury occurs. Tailor your training to cricket, in a game how often do you go all out for 20 mins, never....but how often do you use explosive movements then rest? All the time.

[cesare_in]

What really is working for me is doing Yoga for 30 minutes every day. Lot less strenuous than going to a gym and that's what made me wonder how the heck did yoga work faster than anything else.

That's when someone told me that yoga expands your muscles (& therefore burns a lot more fat faster) than working out in a gym with weights (which largely contracts your muscles). Whatever may be the logic, yoga is working for me way faster than anything else did 

[Akewstick]

What really is working for me is doing Yoga for 30 minutes every day. Lot less strenuous than going to a gym and that's what made me wonder how the heck did yoga work faster than anything else.

That's when someone told me that yoga expands your muscles (& therefore burns a lot more fat faster) than working out in a gym with weights (which largely contracts your muscles). Whatever may be the logic, yoga is working for me way faster than anything else did 

And where did you learn how to do yoga? I toyed with this idea but I'm not sure how to start, do you need to go to a class or can I watch a youtube video?

[cesare_in]

I use a couple of references:

1. The book "Light on Yoga" - this has detailed instructions from the basics to advanced, how to co-ordinate your breath with those postures. Really detailed & I just followed their weekly plan.

2. Yoga.com app (use an android, might be available for IOS as well) - Use this as a reference once in a while.

If you are planning to start off with Yoga, highly recommend the book - Light on Yoga, if a personal trainer is out of reach. 

[Stuey]

What really is working for me is doing Yoga for 30 minutes every day. Lot less strenuous than going to a gym and that's what made me wonder how the heck did yoga work faster than anything else.

That's when someone told me that yoga expands your muscles (& therefore burns a lot more fat faster) than working out in a gym with weights (which largely contracts your muscles). Whatever may be the logic, yoga is working for me way faster than anything else did 

It's working because your spending energy moving and supporting your body through different planes daily. I bet your mobility has greatly improved too!
I train with Kettlebells for the same reason, my go to strength exercise I use pretty much daily is the Turkish get up (it take me through all the planes), its great for all over strength  and mobility.

[cesare_in]

Absolutely! my mobility has vastly improved too!

[Stuey]

Absolutely! my mobility has vastly improved too!

Have you noticed this carry over to cricket?

[cesare_in]

Yes, I have. Agility of moving while batting has improved greatly. 

I now easily face quicker bowlers & feel have a lot more time in hand & not hurried through.

But most importantly, I find my feet automatically moving towards the ball.

[Stuey]

Yes, I have. Agility of moving while batting has improved greatly. 

I now easily face quicker bowlers & feel have a lot more time in hand & not hurried through.

But most importantly, I find my feet automatically moving towards the ball.

Great to hear, I've had the same from my TGU's and mobility drills. After beating myself up with barbell, HIIT, Crossfit etc over the years I've come to realise mobility is key, especially from late 20's on when you start to lose it.
No doubt your balance is improved, but I also think training your mind to focus on holding your position in yoga or a TGU (with a weight above your head in my case) certainly helps focusing on the ball.

[gerhard303]

Yoga sounds great for balance and holding posture at the crease. I think I'll pick up the book you've recommended... In a class environment, I reckon the person behind me would feel rather unfortunate!

[Stuey]

The key to @cesare_in_success would be practising daily.

[Johnny]

I've started a Couch to 5k running programme this evening. Feels like a bit of backward step, since I did the same programme around 10 years ago, and going back 5ish years ago I was running in 10 mile races. Still, have to start (again) somewhere.

I've also started (or restarted) with MyFitnessPal. Username JohnnyFirefly if anyone wants to add me.

Determined to get down from my current weight of 17 stone, hopefully somewhere closer to the 14 stone I weighed before I got married 8 years ago.