Like son, like father?
When Ray Hooper, 59, decided to get in better physical shape nine years ago, it was his son, Jamie, who gave him the inspiration.
The two Henry County residents started working out together while Jamie Hooper was living at home as a teen. Over the years, their mutual interest has led them each to collect an impressive array of exercise machines and establish healthier habits.
Before he started lifting weights, Jamie Hooper, now 29, said he was “pretty small and scrawny. I was always infatuated with having larger muscles because I watched He-Man and read comic books.”
So, he began working out at age 14 with “a really cheap set” of weights.
“I used to always pester my dad, ‘Can we buy something new?’ And he would always say, ‘No,’” he said.
Then, Jamie Hooper started powerlifting and won his first competition. The next year, his father came with him to a competition, and he was intrigued to see people of all ages participating.
“He said, ‘This is neat,’” Jamie Hooper said.
After that, Ray Hooper got inspired to start lifting weights in 2000.
“I was not physically fit at the time,” he said. His weight had reached 192 pounds, which was big for his height, he said.
But once he started lifting weights with guidance from his son, he dropped 32 pounds in about six weeks.
“I got him to show me a few things, and I was hooked,” Ray Hooper said.
“Then he said, ‘You know, you do need some new equipment,’” and they began building their collection of weight machines, Jamie Hooper said. It was “a win-win” for both, he said.
“He looks 15 years younger now,” Jamie Hooper said of his father. “We’re not big, hulking, heavy guys. We’re just physically fit.”
Jamie Hooper no longer competes in powerlifting, but he sticks with lifting weights because “there are so many benefits: Increasing muscle tone, preventing osteoporosis. You increase your metabolism all day long.”
But to get into good physical condition, “you’ve got to have a mindset that you want to do this. You have to be dedicated,” Ray Hooper said.
“I’m 59 years old, and I’m getting a little arthritis, but I’m physically fit and have better mobility,” he said. “Hopefully, it’ll prolong my life, too.”
Building good habits
Ray Hooper’s routine involves lifting weights at least five or six days a week. He spends three days working out the upper body, two days on the lower body and then focuses on a specific muscle group another day, with one day of rest.
“If I miss a day (of exercise), it’s like missing a day of lunch — that’s what it feels like,” he said.
His dedication surprised even his son.
“I thought he would quit,” Jamie Hooper said. However, all it took was enough time to get into the habit.
“If you can stick to this for a month, it gets easier,” Jamie Hooper said. “Once you start it, you’ve got to make an effort to find time to do it, even if it’s just 10 to 15 minutes a day.”
“Stick with it long enough that you start seeing results. Then you’ll get motivated,” his father said.
Ray Hooper drives trucks for a living, which makes sticking to a workout routine even more important.
“I sit all day, so I don’t get to exercise, and I need to do this,” he said. Getting active several times a week, he said, whether it is through weight-lifting or other exercise, “keeps your muscles intact and strong as you get older. I’m living proof of that.”
Jamie Hooper’s routine involves lifting weights five days a week, working out between 40 and 90 minutes at a time. He also does martial arts and holds two black belts in two different styles of karate.
“Cardio to me is boring. I like to do martial arts because it’s more interesting,” he said.
Eating right
When he is on the road, Ray Hooper avoids fast food drive-throughs so he does not undo his progress.
“Your diet is part of your exercise routine. If you don’t eat right, it’s not going to benefit you much,” he said.
Instead, he stocks up with peanut butter sandwiches on wheat bread, flaxseed cookies, raw carrots and apples. For supper, he likes vegetarian “chicken” nuggets and only eats meat on the weekends.
Also, he drinks “lots of water” and takes supplements with large amounts of vitamins C, E, and calcium.
Jamie Hooper said he finds it harder to maintain good eating habits because his job as a special education teacher keeps him on the go.
“I try to eat healthy five to six days a week,” but it doesn’t always work out, he said. His wife, Amy, also is a teacher, and “we have very busy lifestyles” where “eating becomes an inconvenience.”
If he ends up eating fast food, Jamie Hooper said he tries “to make the best choice you can with what you have,” choosing more nutritious options from the menu.
Normally, he said he tries to stick to a high-protein, moderate carb diet and have one “cheat day” per week.
“Diet is important, not just for losing weight and exercising, but for how you feel,” Jamie Hooper said. “Bacon tastes great but doesn’t do much for your body.”
Getting started
Ray Hooper said he “learned the hard way” to take small steps when starting a workout routine.
“If you’ve never done it before, you have to start with light weights and work up,” he said.
“You need to start off with a basic routine of three days a week for six to nine weeks, then start specializing a little bit more,” Jamie Hooper said, adding “maybe two pounds a week.”
Using a weight machine is “good for people learning how to do an exercise” and is safer because it “controls the range of motion,” he said, whereas free weights are “more for building larger amounts of muscle mass.”
Jamie Hooper has an array of both machines and free weights in his basement gym, which is plastered with pictures of bodybuilders and weightlifters for inspiration.
However, “a person doesn’t have to go full-out like we did” when it comes to exercise equipment, Ray Hooper said. “You can just have some dumbbells at home.”
To stick with exercising, Jamie Hooper said, “Try new things. Don’t get stuck in the rut of doing the same workout day after day.”
It also helps to “have an objective, a goal to reach,” he said. Some people do better when they work out with a partner, as well.
Their schedules don’t always match up anymore, Jamie Hooper said, but “occasionally, I’ll go over to my parents’ house and work out, just to spend time with my dad.”
His wife also started working out every day, and “we’ve been doing some things together,” Jamie Hooper said.
“She’s reaping the benefits. She’s lost 30 pounds over the past few months,” he said.
“A lot of people think, ‘I don’t have time to do something like this,’” Ray Hooper said. “I used to think that, too. You only need 20 minutes.”
Source - www.martinsvillebulletin.com
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