What I’ve Learned So Far

Bearing this photo in mind, you’ll note that I didn’t call it The Impressive Physique Project.

• What it is: a shirtless photo of myself, every day.
• The point: social reinforcement for my efforts to get myself into killer condition.
• The context: I’m going to turn 40 twenty-two months from now, I’ve never had a six-pack in my life, . . . and I want to achieve the latter before I achieve the former.

Please, no digs in the comments. But if you’re interested to track my progress, you can see the Flickr stream for these photos by clicking here.

~

Related posts:

• It Begins Here, Again.
• Exposed.

~ 

Me, yesterday:

My verdict on my physique & overall fitness: meh.

To give myself credit:

• I’m 38 and, at 5′10″, I’ve kept my weight between 155 and 168 since I filled out as a junior in high school — with the exception of the second half of last year, when I intentionally went 10 pounds above the top end of that range by lifting weights and eating so as to put on more muscle. (You can see the results of that program, such as they were, via this link.)
• I just started a new job with a steep learning curve and a longer commute from home, so my time is more constrained than it was.
• The kids are out of school and out of camp, which again affects the time I have available for working out.
• I’ve been working out a little bit anyway.

To avoid giving excuses:

• So what?

The fact is, I haven’t been making the time to get in the shape I want to be in, whether that means lifting weights, walking in the cool of the morning, prepping healthy lunches in advance, or what have you.

So I’m publicizing my quest to do something better. The point isn’t to complain about where I am — because where I am is okay — but to make myself accountable for achieving something more-than-okay. For those of you who are interested in helping out with this, I’m asking you to help keep me accountable — and to help encourage my progress — via this blog.

I look to many sources of inspiration, but one I came back across this week is Dave Tate, who has been documenting his own progress in reshaping his body on the site for his company, EliteFTS. My outcomes will be very different from Dave’s, since (a) he’s a champion powerlifter, (b) fitness is his livelihood, (c) our physical frames are very different, (d) I’m never going to use nutritional supplements to the degree that he does, and, most importantly (e) my goals are different from his.

What are my goals? That will be the topic of my next fitness post, so stay tuned . . . 

May wasn’t nearly as successful as April for me in terms of exercise, but toward the end of the month I did get into a good groove with this circuit workout:

• Legs A — 3 sets of leg presses (typically 15 x 180#, 15 x 270#, 15 x 360#)
• Chest A — 3 sets of 15 dips
• Back A — 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps on a lat pull machine
  ~
• Legs B — 3 sets of 15 per side box steps @ 24″
• Chest B — 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps dumbbell incline bench press
• Back B — either 3 sets of bent-over dumbbell rows, or just repeat Back A

I do all the “A” sets in rotation, boom-boom-boom, then do all the “B” sets in rotation. When I’m cooking, I can do all of this in less than 25 minutes.

Advantages of this approach:

• There’s a cardio / endurance element to go along with the resistance element. By the time you get a couple of rotations into this, your heart is really pumping.
• By extension, there seems to be a greater fat-burning effect to it — at least if the fit of my waistbands and the image that greets me in the mirror are any indication.
• It doesn’t take long. This is vital, given how hectic my work / life schedule has been lately.
• It doesn’t require planning. I actually enjoy it when I can sit down and futz with workout schedules that accommodate fancy split routines — back and biceps on Tuesday, chest and triceps on Wednesday, legs on Friday, etc. — but the hecticity* just referenced has been keeping me from executing such a fancy routine. Whole-body workouts like this are simple: if you didn’t exercise yesterday, do this routine; if you did this routine yesterday and have time for the gym today, do cardio and core work. Simple.

[* Yes, I did just coin “hecticity.” Please use it with my compliments.]

~

(Image by Eric McGregor.)

Because I keep forgetting to post workouts, here’s a slew of them all at once. You’ll notice that I’ve been busy.

27 March 2010 Read the rest of this entry »

After most of a week of South by Southwest madness, then most of a week of catching up from that madness, I finally got back into the gym this week. I did it with some gusto.

23 March 2010 — power:

• Spin bike & roller to warm up.
• Barbell squats: 10 x 95#, 15 x 115#, 15 x 135#, 15 x 135#
• Pullover machine: 3 x 10 x 50#
• Incline d.b. bench: 3 x 10 x 50#’s
• D.b. bent-over row, per arm: 3 x 8 x 50#

24 March 2010 — flexibility & cardio:

• Spin bike & roller to warm up.
• Bicycle crunches: 2 x 20
• Planks.
• Oblique crunches.
• Elliptical stepper: 25 minutes hill repeats, 280 kCal.
• Runner’s stretches.

25 March 2010 — a “three-ring circuit” workout, alternating legs / chest / back:

• Box jumps @ 24″: 6 x 10
• Bar dips: 2 x 10
• Pushups: 2 x 10, 2 x 20
• Bodyweight rows from bar of Smith machine: 2 x 10
• T-bar rows: 4 x 10 x 45#

(Did the whole thing in 22½ minutes. Tough work.)

26 March 2010 — cardio:

• ARC stepper: 5 mins warmup (42 kCal), 25 mins hill repeats (309 kCal).

~

(Photo by Steven Leggett, used under a BY-NC-SA license.)

Flexibility is not my strong suit, but I’m working on it. Besides that, there’s that certain je ne sais love-handle about my physique that I’m intent on changing. Thus this morning’s workout:

• Brisk walk in the neighborhood, through the park, etc. — 60 minutes, segueing directly to the gym . . .
• Foam roller to loosen muscles.
• Dumbbell rows (per side): 8 x 45# warmup, 3 x 8 x 60#, 3 x 8 x 50#
• EZ-bar curls: 8 x 55#, 8 x 55#, 13+ x 55#
• LOTS of stretching: runner’s thigh stretches (standing, sitting, supine), sun salutations, etc.

How did YOU work out this weekend?

~

(Image by Piez.)

My workout on Thursday was all about lifting weights. Today’s, by contrast, emphasized flexibility work, cardiovascular conditioning, and bodyweight core exercises.

• Spin bike — 5 minutes for warmup.
• Elliptical machine — hill intervals for 25 minutes.
• Foam roller to loosen muscles.
• Plank pushups — 3 x 10.
• Leg-ups on captain’s chair — 3 x 10.
• Rotator-cuff exercises — bands & tiny dumbbells.
• Back hyperextensions — 3 x 10.
• Incline sit-ups — 3 x 10.
• Runner’s stretches.
• Steam room.

How do YOU mix up your workouts to keep them fresh?

Centered on a simple squat routine:

• Spin bike — 5 minutes
• Foam roller.
• Barbell squats — 8 x 95# warmup, then 3 x 20 x 135# work sets
• Incline d.b. bench press: 8 x 45#’s, 8 x 50#’s, 8 x 55#’s, 8 x 60#’s, 5 x 55#’s, 8 x 50#’s
  . . . alternating with . . .
• Bent-over d.b. row (each arm): 8 x 45#, 8 x 50#, 8 x 55#, 8 x 60#, 5 x 55#, 8 x 50#

And there you have it.

~

(Image by Jon Tunnell, used under a CC-No Derivatives license.)

Note: this is not a photo of me. (I don’t have any tattoos.)

‘Member how I got all saucy with my goals at the start of February? Yeah, well . . . not so much. It was another month of not much consistency and too many missed opportunities, although I did get in several weight sessions and a few other workouts.

What do you do in cases like this? You get back up on the horse, that’s what.

Yesterday’s closing-the-month workout:

• Spin bike — 10 minutes easy
• Foam roller.
• Back hyperextensions — 3 x 10
• Leg extension machine — 3 x 10 x 70#
• Incline sit-ups — 3 x 10
• Elliptical machine — 20 mins hill repeats
• Steam room.

This week: more weights, more cardio, more stretching — and more consistency.

So, how are YOUR workouts going?

~

(Photo via CelebMuscle, used under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license.)

Last week’s squat workout seemed to tweak my calves a little bit — not bad, not much, but enough to make me cautious for a few days. (It’s been two and a half years since I tore the medial head of my left gastrocnemius . . . but the memories are fresh.)

Remedy #1 — I took several days off, which fit my life better anyway since the past week at work was hectic.

Remedy #2 — On Friday I got a massage in the spa at my gym. Per my instructions, the masseur ironed out my legs thoroughly. Ow . . . but in a good way.

Remedy #3 — I’m taking yet another day or two off for my legs, drinking lots of water, taking some ibuprofen for inflammation, using the foam roller to keep my calves loose, and doing workouts like this one:

• Warmed up on spin bike — 10 minutes easy.
• Foam roller.
• Incline dumbbell press:
• 10 x 40#’s
• 10 x 45#’s
• 10 x 50#’s
• 10 x 55#’s
• 10 x 50#’s
• 7+ x 45#’s
• 10 x 40#’s

alternating with . . .

• Dumbbell row:
• 10 x 40#
• 10 x 45#
• 10 x 50#
• 10 x 55#
• 10 x 50#
• 10 x 45#

• Steam room.

~(Image by WilsonB, used under a CC-Share Alike license.)