I love to eat - I really do...and if you don't believe me, take a look at my Fit Day food logs for Nov. 17 - 18! However, if you were to look at most of the meals I eat during the week, you'd probably think I'm more robot than man. In truth, sometimes I too think of myself as a robot...at least 80% of the time that is. The other 20%, I'd consider myself to be similar to Homer Simpson: "a remorseless eating machine" whose "gastronomic capacity knows no bounds"!
In its simplest terms, the 80/20 Rule means to eat 'clean' 80% of the time and to eat 'bad/sinful/forbidden' foods 20% of the time. I'd say this rule applies to most people, most of the time. However, if you have short-term goals (i.e. 2 months or less) or you earn an income from your physique (i.e. models, actors, professional athletes), then this rule might not apply to you. For me, this rule is in effect all the time, regardless of whether I'm losing, maintaining, or gaining weight (the only things I change are portion sizes and calories from fat and/or carbs), although I'm a little less rigid about it if I'm gaining weight!
The 80%:
When I'm eating 'clean', I follow a meal combination scheme similar to one I read about a few years ago by Dr. John Berardi - a nutrition and training consultant to professional and amateur athletes, as well as bodybuilders and fitness contestants. Essentially, the meals are separated into either protein and carbs with little fat (less than 10g fat) or protein and fat with little carbs (less than 20g carbs), depending on when I'm exercising. Generally, I'll eat the protein and carb meals in the 4-6 hours after exercise, although I'll sometimes have one 2 hours before the workout if I'm trying to get some more carbs in that day...the more active I am, the more carbs I'll have on that day. The purpose of the protein and carb meals is to replenish the carbs used during exercise, as well as to provide the protein necessary to repair the muscle tissue. The protein and fat meals are meant to provide energy and protein without causing large insulin spikes, which will signal the body to shut off/slow down the body's fat burning temporarily.
A couple other things to note, I also try to avoid having meals that are high in carbs and fat together. The reason for this is to avoid having high levels of carbs, fat and insulin in the blood, which could lead to a scenario of insulin resistance and a greater uptake of nutrients into fat cells instead of muscle cells - definitely not what we want! The other scenario I try to avoid is having meals that are high in carbs alone because not only will this encourage long-term insulin resistance, but it also results in peaks and valleys of your blood sugar levels which can play around with your mood/energy levels, as well as resulting in overeating. I try to follow the above rules Sunday night until Friday afternoon, with very few aberrations except for big family/friend gatherings...and first dates (I can't let them see the 'crazy' side of me too early!).
The 20%:
Essentially, I let loose Friday night through Sunday afternoon. Booze, desserts, snack foods and fat/carb combos I normally deny myself during the week are all welcome during this time! Of course, I don't just eat these things for 48 hours since I still work out on the weekends and still need to make sure I get in enough of the nutrients my body needs to recover and regenerate before the next workout. Some of you might be thinking: "you're only doing this because you don't want to be disciplined on the weekend!" However, there is actually a purpose to this other than simply convenience. Since I'm in a calorie deficit all week, the spike in calories prevents my body's metabolism from slowing too much to accomodate for the reduction and ultimately having to cut calories to ridiculously low levels. Also, because I'm in a lower carb diet (not low-carb like Atkins but still only between 30-40% of total calories), the extra carbs on the weekends helps to prevent me from not recovering fully once Monday comes around. Lastly, there's the psychological benefit of knowing I'll be able to eat the foods that I love once 5 days have past, making the sacrifices during the week much easier to deal with. Oh yeah, and who the heck wants to be disciplined on the weekends!
Since I've decided to be a little more aggressive with my progress leading up to the holidays (due to the fact I'll let go of the reins a little bit on the days around Christmas and New Year's), I'm actually probably in more of a 90/10 mode right now. I've cut out sweets, desserts, cookies and all the like since Nov. 18th (which is a long time for me!) and won't be indulging in any of the aforementioned items until Dec. 22nd which is the date of my roommate's and my Christmas party. FYI, I have a side bet going right now with one of my clients to make sure we both don't have any sweets, desserts, etc until the 22nd. I was thinking of cutting out alcohol too, but thought that would be too drastic of a calorie reduction - yes, I know I have a problem! I also thought that it's not something I'd end up maintaining after the contest is done, which would likely result in a significant rebound in my weight afterwards...or I might not even make it to the 22nd 'cause I might have killed someone!
That's all for now folks, but coming up next will be my actual meals, as well as a few 'day in the life of' recounts and a one month progress report. Until then, stay fit and have fun (okay, I stole that from Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod from Body Break!).
Peace and love, ladies and gents.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Exercise Routine
The way things are right now, I don't actually have any off days scheduled...that's not to say they don't happen, but they aren't planned for ahead of time, I just take them if my body's feeling too tired or if my schedule won't realistically allow me to work out. Here's the way things normally play out:
Monday: Heavy Back/Biceps
Tuesday: Heavy Chest/Triceps Evening: Cardio
Wednesday: Abs/Lower Back
Thursday: Light Back/Biceps Evening: Cardio
Friday: Light Chest/Triceps
Saturday: Heavy Legs
Sunday: Abs/Cardio
Right now my workouts are mostly straight sets (i.e. do all sets of one exercise before moving to the next exercise). I've actually been doing straight set workouts for about a year and a half, regardless of whether I was trying to put weight on or lean down. My reason for doing things that way has been that I can put more focus on working the muscle instead of making it more demanding on my cardiovascular system. My theory is that working out this way will allow me to build (or maintain, depending on whether I'm gaining or losing weight) my muscle mass better than if I was doing circuits. However, I must say that the difference is probably small, so if I had less time to workout I'd likely end up doing some form of circuit training and wouldn't be too concerned about losing all of my muscle.
On the heavy days, I'm shooting for 4 sets of 8 reps per exercise, giving myself 90 seconds rest between sets. I'll normally switch up rep ranges from time to time, sometimes doing a strength phase where I'll do 5-6 sets of 3-5 reps per exercise, whereas other times I'll do more a classic hypertrophy phase 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps per exercise. During the strength phase, I usually give 2-3 minutes rest between sets; usually only 60 seconds during the hypertrophy phase.
Heavy Back Day: I usually pick 2 rowing exercises and 2 chin/pulldown exercises, along with rear delt, rotator cuff, and mid/low trapezius work for shoulder stability. I also throw in 4 sets of one biceps exercise, which I normally superset (alternate between two exercises, resting after the second one) with my rear delt work.
Heavy Chest Day: I pick 2 pressing exercises (flat, incline, or decline). I only use dumbbells because they're easier on my shoulders than the barbell, although sometimes I'll use the Hammer Strength machines as well. I also do some upper trapezius work (5-6 sets of shrugs), as well as triceps (6 sets), lateral delt (4 sets), and serratus (2-3 sets) exercises.
Leg Day: This is easily the most strenuous workout, but for me, it's also the one I enjoy most. Yup, there's just something about heavy squats and having your eyes and veins bulge (and probably even toes) that's really exhilarating...and makes me feel like I really deserve my cojones (break out your Spanish-English dictionary in case you didn't get that last word)! Since this is my longest and toughest workout, I save it for the weekend so I can fully devote myself to it. I usually do 2-3 hamstring (hip dominant) exercises totaling 8 sets, as well as 8 sets of quad dominant exercises. I also throw in 5-6 sets of calf work, as well as some 'prehab' work for my adductors, hip flexors, VMO and anterior tibialis muscles. I've partially torn both sides of the groin (A.R.T. for that was a lot of fun, by the way!) and I've started running more so the prehab work is very important to me for injury prevention...especially since I've got this contest to win!
Abs/Lower Back: I hate training abs, but they're important - and I love the payoff - so I hit 'em hard twice a week. I usually do 2 hip flexion (i.e. leg raises/reverse crunches) exercises and rollouts for 3 sets of 10-15 reps. I also do 2 different "core stability" exercises (i.e. BOSU work, planks with arm/leg raises, etc) for 10-12 reps. After that, I'll do some oblique work - either side flexion or rotation oriented - for 10-15 reps/side. Depending on whether I've recently done my (or will do) my leg workout, I'll finish up with 3-4 sets of lower back work for 10-15 reps. For all sets, I only give 60 seconds rest between.
Light Back and Chest Days: The structure's pretty much the same as on the other back/chest days, but I only do 3 sets of each exercise for 12 reps. I only give myself 60 seconds rest between sets, but since I don't really approach failure on any set, it's usually more than enough. There are a few reasons for the light workouts, the most important being that they allow for better recovery between heavy workouts, without having too long a layoff and a potential detraining effect. I also use them as "feeder" workouts, meaning I take advantage of the increased blood flow to the muscles during/post-workout to shuttle in the protein and carbs my muscles need to repair - and improve - after the stress imposed on them from exercise.
As I've told many, if not all of, my clients, your muscles don't improve in the gym, that happens outside of the gym (exercise is just the stimulus), which is why I also normally advise against working out the same muscles two days in a row. I will say that if your volume is low enough and you could dedicate your life to just eating, training, and sleeping - like many Olympic weightlifters - you could probably get away with working the same muscles on consecutive days. However, since I don't know too many people who have the time, discipline, and desire to devote themselves the way I just mentioned, I'd say most people would be best served to have at least the one day of rest between workouts.
Cardio: Like abs, I hate doing cardio too. I used to play basketball twice a week, as well as squash and tennis, but it's been harder for me to make time in my schedule - and coordinate schedules with other people so those have become sporadic at best. So, since I like not struggling to breathe while eating - and I also love to take liberties with my diet from time-to-time - I'm doing cardio 2-3 times per week for 20-25 minutes. I usually run on the treadmill, although sometimes I use the stepmill or the bike if my legs aren't feeling up for a run.
The majority of my cardio comes in the form of interval training, although I throw in some steady state work as well (for the same reason as not going for a run). Generally, I prefer interval training because even though you normally burn fewer calories during the workout, your metabolism is boosted for a longer period post-exercise so you burn a lot more afterwards. I think I remember reading that interval training also has more of a protein-sparing effect (i.e. your body is less likely to burn protein for energy during exercise) which is obviously very important because my focus - for myself as well as my clients - is on a reduction in body fat percentage and not just losing weight. Since one of my goals is to run my mile in 5:30 minutes, another benefit of interval training is that it allows me to get my body used to running at that pace in short bursts until my body's actually able to maintain it for the full duration. Lastly, since I really don't like doing cardio, knowing that I'll be changing pace in 2-3 minutes helps to keep things from getting monotonous...and, therefore, keeping me interested in actually doing it!
As you've probably noticed, I'm spending the majority of my time doing resistance training instead of on cardio. Most people seem to think that cardio is the most important thing when you're trying to reduce your body fat percentage. However, my view is that because you want to maintain as much of your muscle mass as possible, resistance training is most important since it actually stimulates protein synthesis (building)as well as protein degradation (breakdown) . Cardio, on the other hand, only stimulates protein degradation, especially if you're doing intense cardio for over an hour. Now before you all decide to stop doing cardio altogether, realize that it is still king in terms of caloric expenditure and it does still offer cardiorespiratory benefits. In fact, if you're like most people (including myself) and you enjoy eating 'forbidden' foods, the extra calories you burn from cardio will allow for a few indulgences on occasion, so keep doing it...unless you prefer to count calories, of course!
That's all of it, although I'm sure I've forgotten things that I had intended to write about. Of course, if I didn't mention something you were hoping to read about drop me a note (or better yet, post a comment so others can benefit as well) and I'll try to post on that later. That's all for now, but keep your eyes peeled for my next post which will go into more detail about my diet...although you can still check out my Fit Day logs by clicking on the link at the very bottom of the page.
Peace and love, ladies and gents.
Monday: Heavy Back/Biceps
Tuesday: Heavy Chest/Triceps Evening: Cardio
Wednesday: Abs/Lower Back
Thursday: Light Back/Biceps Evening: Cardio
Friday: Light Chest/Triceps
Saturday: Heavy Legs
Sunday: Abs/Cardio
Right now my workouts are mostly straight sets (i.e. do all sets of one exercise before moving to the next exercise). I've actually been doing straight set workouts for about a year and a half, regardless of whether I was trying to put weight on or lean down. My reason for doing things that way has been that I can put more focus on working the muscle instead of making it more demanding on my cardiovascular system. My theory is that working out this way will allow me to build (or maintain, depending on whether I'm gaining or losing weight) my muscle mass better than if I was doing circuits. However, I must say that the difference is probably small, so if I had less time to workout I'd likely end up doing some form of circuit training and wouldn't be too concerned about losing all of my muscle.
On the heavy days, I'm shooting for 4 sets of 8 reps per exercise, giving myself 90 seconds rest between sets. I'll normally switch up rep ranges from time to time, sometimes doing a strength phase where I'll do 5-6 sets of 3-5 reps per exercise, whereas other times I'll do more a classic hypertrophy phase 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps per exercise. During the strength phase, I usually give 2-3 minutes rest between sets; usually only 60 seconds during the hypertrophy phase.
Heavy Back Day: I usually pick 2 rowing exercises and 2 chin/pulldown exercises, along with rear delt, rotator cuff, and mid/low trapezius work for shoulder stability. I also throw in 4 sets of one biceps exercise, which I normally superset (alternate between two exercises, resting after the second one) with my rear delt work.
Heavy Chest Day: I pick 2 pressing exercises (flat, incline, or decline). I only use dumbbells because they're easier on my shoulders than the barbell, although sometimes I'll use the Hammer Strength machines as well. I also do some upper trapezius work (5-6 sets of shrugs), as well as triceps (6 sets), lateral delt (4 sets), and serratus (2-3 sets) exercises.
Leg Day: This is easily the most strenuous workout, but for me, it's also the one I enjoy most. Yup, there's just something about heavy squats and having your eyes and veins bulge (and probably even toes) that's really exhilarating...and makes me feel like I really deserve my cojones (break out your Spanish-English dictionary in case you didn't get that last word)! Since this is my longest and toughest workout, I save it for the weekend so I can fully devote myself to it. I usually do 2-3 hamstring (hip dominant) exercises totaling 8 sets, as well as 8 sets of quad dominant exercises. I also throw in 5-6 sets of calf work, as well as some 'prehab' work for my adductors, hip flexors, VMO and anterior tibialis muscles. I've partially torn both sides of the groin (A.R.T. for that was a lot of fun, by the way!) and I've started running more so the prehab work is very important to me for injury prevention...especially since I've got this contest to win!
Abs/Lower Back: I hate training abs, but they're important - and I love the payoff - so I hit 'em hard twice a week. I usually do 2 hip flexion (i.e. leg raises/reverse crunches) exercises and rollouts for 3 sets of 10-15 reps. I also do 2 different "core stability" exercises (i.e. BOSU work, planks with arm/leg raises, etc) for 10-12 reps. After that, I'll do some oblique work - either side flexion or rotation oriented - for 10-15 reps/side. Depending on whether I've recently done my (or will do) my leg workout, I'll finish up with 3-4 sets of lower back work for 10-15 reps. For all sets, I only give 60 seconds rest between.
Light Back and Chest Days: The structure's pretty much the same as on the other back/chest days, but I only do 3 sets of each exercise for 12 reps. I only give myself 60 seconds rest between sets, but since I don't really approach failure on any set, it's usually more than enough. There are a few reasons for the light workouts, the most important being that they allow for better recovery between heavy workouts, without having too long a layoff and a potential detraining effect. I also use them as "feeder" workouts, meaning I take advantage of the increased blood flow to the muscles during/post-workout to shuttle in the protein and carbs my muscles need to repair - and improve - after the stress imposed on them from exercise.
As I've told many, if not all of, my clients, your muscles don't improve in the gym, that happens outside of the gym (exercise is just the stimulus), which is why I also normally advise against working out the same muscles two days in a row. I will say that if your volume is low enough and you could dedicate your life to just eating, training, and sleeping - like many Olympic weightlifters - you could probably get away with working the same muscles on consecutive days. However, since I don't know too many people who have the time, discipline, and desire to devote themselves the way I just mentioned, I'd say most people would be best served to have at least the one day of rest between workouts.
Cardio: Like abs, I hate doing cardio too. I used to play basketball twice a week, as well as squash and tennis, but it's been harder for me to make time in my schedule - and coordinate schedules with other people so those have become sporadic at best. So, since I like not struggling to breathe while eating - and I also love to take liberties with my diet from time-to-time - I'm doing cardio 2-3 times per week for 20-25 minutes. I usually run on the treadmill, although sometimes I use the stepmill or the bike if my legs aren't feeling up for a run.
The majority of my cardio comes in the form of interval training, although I throw in some steady state work as well (for the same reason as not going for a run). Generally, I prefer interval training because even though you normally burn fewer calories during the workout, your metabolism is boosted for a longer period post-exercise so you burn a lot more afterwards. I think I remember reading that interval training also has more of a protein-sparing effect (i.e. your body is less likely to burn protein for energy during exercise) which is obviously very important because my focus - for myself as well as my clients - is on a reduction in body fat percentage and not just losing weight. Since one of my goals is to run my mile in 5:30 minutes, another benefit of interval training is that it allows me to get my body used to running at that pace in short bursts until my body's actually able to maintain it for the full duration. Lastly, since I really don't like doing cardio, knowing that I'll be changing pace in 2-3 minutes helps to keep things from getting monotonous...and, therefore, keeping me interested in actually doing it!
As you've probably noticed, I'm spending the majority of my time doing resistance training instead of on cardio. Most people seem to think that cardio is the most important thing when you're trying to reduce your body fat percentage. However, my view is that because you want to maintain as much of your muscle mass as possible, resistance training is most important since it actually stimulates protein synthesis (building)as well as protein degradation (breakdown) . Cardio, on the other hand, only stimulates protein degradation, especially if you're doing intense cardio for over an hour. Now before you all decide to stop doing cardio altogether, realize that it is still king in terms of caloric expenditure and it does still offer cardiorespiratory benefits. In fact, if you're like most people (including myself) and you enjoy eating 'forbidden' foods, the extra calories you burn from cardio will allow for a few indulgences on occasion, so keep doing it...unless you prefer to count calories, of course!
That's all of it, although I'm sure I've forgotten things that I had intended to write about. Of course, if I didn't mention something you were hoping to read about drop me a note (or better yet, post a comment so others can benefit as well) and I'll try to post on that later. That's all for now, but keep your eyes peeled for my next post which will go into more detail about my diet...although you can still check out my Fit Day logs by clicking on the link at the very bottom of the page.
Peace and love, ladies and gents.
How it All Began
March 29, 2007: That's the date this whole contest is based on - that's the day we're heading to Vegas for the second installation of what will hopefully be an annual occurrence of absolute insanity. Given that our bodies will be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment that weekend: minimal hours of sleep, copious amounts of booze, food, visual stimuli, and adrenaline, the five of us decided we should make our bodies as strong as possible before heading into batttle.
Hence, the contest was born - a five-month long struggle to make ourselves as strong, lean, and fit as possible before throwing it away in three nights! Since most of us had felt like we had been toiling in 'slothdom' for the last little while, it was the perfect motivation to get back on track...plus an extra $400 bucks from our chump competitors for not being able to match up, of course! Upon hearing about our contest, we had one more friend who wanted to enter the fray, which now brought the winner's pot up $500.
The contest was actually born at the end of October, which is when we all did our baseline testing which included: weight, squats, chin-ups or pull-ups, and bench press (barbell or dumbbell). We figured that since in order to win the contest, you had to reach at least your minimum goals, that it wasn't too important for everyone to do the exact same tests. Five of us did our testing here in Toronto, and OJ submitted his results from Vancouver. I know what you're thinking, "how do we know OJ didn't low-ball his results just so he could make it easier to win"? The answer: we don't, but he knows we'll kill him if we find out he cheated and I know the thought of having to deal with another night of Bacardi Limon is enough to keep him on the straight and narrow!
Here are my results: Weight (175 lbs), Chin-Ups (13), Flat Dumbbell Bench (70 x 6 reps), Squats (205 x 8 reps). I also decided to check my 1 mile time, which was 6 minutes.
Next up was to set our goals. Since the contest is five months long, we all agreed that the goals had to be pretty aggressive to make it worthwhile, thus the reason why strength was included as a goal since it prevents us from crash dieting just to lose as much weight as possible...and have our muscle mass and metabolisms go plummeting along with it. We also thought it would be a good idea to set primary goals, as well as "drastic" (or stretch) goals...in case everyone reached their goals, those that reached their drastic goals would move into a tiebreaker.
Here are my primary goals: Weight (165 lbs), Chin-Ups (8 with 25 lbs added resistance), Flat DB Bench (75 x 5 reps), Squats (205 x 12).
My "Stretch" goals: Weight (165 lbs), Chin-Ups (12 with 25 lbs), Flat DB Bench (80 x 5), Squats (225 x 10), 1 mile (5:30 min).
A little explanation about the goals: Since I'm actually going to be losing weight, to actually increase strength is quite ambitious because whenever you lose weight, you lose at least a little bit of muscle. Even if I lose 95% fat over the course of the 5 months - which would be excellent since I'm not exactly 5% body fat and would therefore lower my body fat percentage significantly - I'd still lose 0.5 lbs of lean mass. Also, increasing strength and endurance are not congruent goals either which is why the improved mile time and second-tier strength goals are in the 'stretch' category.
You'll notice the date of this post is Nov. 23rd so there have been almost 4 weeks since we did our testing...I didn't actually think of creating this blog until the 17th (the pics below are from the 18th) so it's not like I was just being lazy. However, I hadn't really started doing cardio or cutting out junk from my diet, therefore part of the reason I'm writing this is to make sure I stay disciplined because my friends, clients and family members will all have access to this, making me accountable to someone other than just myself which we all know can be a great source of motivation. Of course, I've already got all sorts of motivation for this contest: physical well-being, self-improvement, as well as the less noble motivators of pride, money, bragging rights, and vanity!
The other reason I'm blogging this contest is that I figured my clients - or anyone else for that matter - might be interested to see what I do when I'm working towards a goal (i.e. diet, exercise, time management, etc). I'll be posting the link to my Fit Day diet/activity journal below, which includes my last weekend of gluttony until the holidays - more specifically Dec. 16th - to show that I really do love to eat, but that I'm willing to sacrifice my indulgences while working towards my goals. There are a couple of days when I'll stray a bit, including the Adelaide's anniversary party on the 29th and my dad's birthday on Dec. 2, but even those won't be to the extent that I would normally indulge, and it will be back to business as usual the next day.
So there you have it, that's how it all started. The next few posts will go into more detail about what my meals are like, when I eat them, and the reasoning behind them. I'll also talk about how I've got my training structured and the reasoning behind that as well. If you have any questions or suggestions, please post your comments on this site...after all, I haven't had to write much since I finished school in '01 and this is supposed to be as much for you as it is for me!
Hence, the contest was born - a five-month long struggle to make ourselves as strong, lean, and fit as possible before throwing it away in three nights! Since most of us had felt like we had been toiling in 'slothdom' for the last little while, it was the perfect motivation to get back on track...plus an extra $400 bucks from our chump competitors for not being able to match up, of course! Upon hearing about our contest, we had one more friend who wanted to enter the fray, which now brought the winner's pot up $500.
The contest was actually born at the end of October, which is when we all did our baseline testing which included: weight, squats, chin-ups or pull-ups, and bench press (barbell or dumbbell). We figured that since in order to win the contest, you had to reach at least your minimum goals, that it wasn't too important for everyone to do the exact same tests. Five of us did our testing here in Toronto, and OJ submitted his results from Vancouver. I know what you're thinking, "how do we know OJ didn't low-ball his results just so he could make it easier to win"? The answer: we don't, but he knows we'll kill him if we find out he cheated and I know the thought of having to deal with another night of Bacardi Limon is enough to keep him on the straight and narrow!
Here are my results: Weight (175 lbs), Chin-Ups (13), Flat Dumbbell Bench (70 x 6 reps), Squats (205 x 8 reps). I also decided to check my 1 mile time, which was 6 minutes.
Next up was to set our goals. Since the contest is five months long, we all agreed that the goals had to be pretty aggressive to make it worthwhile, thus the reason why strength was included as a goal since it prevents us from crash dieting just to lose as much weight as possible...and have our muscle mass and metabolisms go plummeting along with it. We also thought it would be a good idea to set primary goals, as well as "drastic" (or stretch) goals...in case everyone reached their goals, those that reached their drastic goals would move into a tiebreaker.
Here are my primary goals: Weight (165 lbs), Chin-Ups (8 with 25 lbs added resistance), Flat DB Bench (75 x 5 reps), Squats (205 x 12).
My "Stretch" goals: Weight (165 lbs), Chin-Ups (12 with 25 lbs), Flat DB Bench (80 x 5), Squats (225 x 10), 1 mile (5:30 min).
A little explanation about the goals: Since I'm actually going to be losing weight, to actually increase strength is quite ambitious because whenever you lose weight, you lose at least a little bit of muscle. Even if I lose 95% fat over the course of the 5 months - which would be excellent since I'm not exactly 5% body fat and would therefore lower my body fat percentage significantly - I'd still lose 0.5 lbs of lean mass. Also, increasing strength and endurance are not congruent goals either which is why the improved mile time and second-tier strength goals are in the 'stretch' category.
You'll notice the date of this post is Nov. 23rd so there have been almost 4 weeks since we did our testing...I didn't actually think of creating this blog until the 17th (the pics below are from the 18th) so it's not like I was just being lazy. However, I hadn't really started doing cardio or cutting out junk from my diet, therefore part of the reason I'm writing this is to make sure I stay disciplined because my friends, clients and family members will all have access to this, making me accountable to someone other than just myself which we all know can be a great source of motivation. Of course, I've already got all sorts of motivation for this contest: physical well-being, self-improvement, as well as the less noble motivators of pride, money, bragging rights, and vanity!
The other reason I'm blogging this contest is that I figured my clients - or anyone else for that matter - might be interested to see what I do when I'm working towards a goal (i.e. diet, exercise, time management, etc). I'll be posting the link to my Fit Day diet/activity journal below, which includes my last weekend of gluttony until the holidays - more specifically Dec. 16th - to show that I really do love to eat, but that I'm willing to sacrifice my indulgences while working towards my goals. There are a couple of days when I'll stray a bit, including the Adelaide's anniversary party on the 29th and my dad's birthday on Dec. 2, but even those won't be to the extent that I would normally indulge, and it will be back to business as usual the next day.
So there you have it, that's how it all started. The next few posts will go into more detail about what my meals are like, when I eat them, and the reasoning behind them. I'll also talk about how I've got my training structured and the reasoning behind that as well. If you have any questions or suggestions, please post your comments on this site...after all, I haven't had to write much since I finished school in '01 and this is supposed to be as much for you as it is for me!
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