Heading to the gym with a distinct goal for this workout

Good morning!  About to head to the gym, with the goal of doing 5x5 squats with my body weight loaded on the bar.  This will be the first time since September, and the Strongslifts 5x5 workout poundages are starting to get up to where their tough.  But that's the point-increasing stress on muscles=stronger muscles and bones.

Update:  GREAT WORKOUT!  Got all my squats-5x5 with 190# at a body weight of 189!  Then bench press with the right weight (loaded bar wrong last workout) went up easy, and rows were quick and done.  After warm-up sets, was in the gym 35 minutes.  Gotta love streamlined effective workouts!

"Losing weight" or losing fat?

Yesterday we talked about goals, and one reason "losing weight" isn't a good goal from the viewpoint of goal setting.  Now I want to talk about why it is actually possible to gain weight but become more healthy, stronger, and look better!

One problem I saw over and over again in the Navy weight loss program is that overweight and obese sailors would actually gain weight their first few weeks on the program.  They would measure (Taping out, as we called it) at a higher bodyfat.  Many of them had been making changes in their diet, working out daily with our fitness coaches, but at least according to the Navy, falling further out of standards!  "What is going on?", many of us thought.  Well, a couple of things were going on, but the main one was they were already building dense muscle and losing fat out of their neck, a double whammy.  When you first begin doing calisthenics or resistance training, your body quickly adjusts to the stress, and muscles begin to grow.  At the same time, fat will burn off from the places it was deposited last-generally the face, neck and hands/forearms. 

Have you seen this picture before?  Or have you ever seen the 5 pound fat blobs at a doctor's office, a dietician's office or a health fair?  Another "experiment" I would recommend is going to the grocery store and comparing 20% fat ground beef (if you can even find it anymore) with 7% fat, and see how much smaller the 7% packages are for the same weight. 

This is why only weighing yourself or using BMI isn't a good indicator.  Is a 6'/205 pound man  muscular and powerful, or fat?  How about a 5'5"/130 pound woman?  There is no way to tell, and depending on your fitness level and body composition, you may actually find yourself gaining weight but losing fat.  With a healthy perspective, adding the mirror check is critical, and getting periodic body composition tests done also helps.  Remember, we are after losing fat and gaining some muscle (how much is dependent on body type and goals!).  But imagine the change in your body if you replaced 5 pounds of fat with much smaller, denser muscle!  You'd still weigh the same, but what a difference.

Note:  Body image issues are real, and very damaging.  If you have trouble looking in a mirror and seeing the actual image, or have other struggles in this area, please seek professional medical help.  I have seen it destroy friends' physical and emotional health, and these illnesses are growing among men now as well.  I know enough to know I realize diseases like anorexia and bulimia are very insidious, and please please seek more professional help than this blog if you are dealing with them.

Quick update-more later

Notice the links over there to the right?  Why would I put Bike Nashbar and Performance links right next to each other?  Well, for those who are long-time bicyclists you may already know this, but over time there has been a consolidation in the big bicycling shops.  The old funky Bike Nashbar catalogs are long gone, and the same parent company owns Performance and Bike Nashbar.  What's more, for those who are from Southern California, Supergo was bought out by Performance as well.

I have bought clothes and accessories from all three, and can recommend either company.  There is some difference in the gear, but you should be able to find items that meet your needs and your budget.  If you are needing bicycle parts or accessories, I'd appreciate the click through's!

What are your goals?

Goal setting, and the discipline to pursue long-term goals, is a dying art.  As the old saying goes, "If you aim for nothing, you're sure to hit it".  So let's talk about goals for a few minutes.  What are your goals?  Obviously you have some health and fitness goals, or you wouldn't be reading this blog.  So what goals did you set?  Are they something like, "Lose weight and get in shape"?  "Look better at my High School reunion/child's wedding/insert big event here"?  I hate to break it to you, but those aren't goals, or at least well developed ones.  And anyway, as one friend jokes, round is a shape, so if your goal is to "get in shape".....

To be effective a goal must be defined and have two key components, and one recommended, super secret, near fail-safe component.  The two required components are:
Defined and measurable
Time limited

So what does this look like?  Let's start with the old stand-by "lose weight and get in shape".  First we have to define what this means, and what it means to you.  Do you really want to lose weight, or fat?  Do you need to lose a few pounds to look and feel better, or do you need to lose serious weight that is killing you?  And what does get in shape mean to you?  Walk/run a 5K, an Olympic distance triathlon, fit in a certain pair of "skinny jeans"?  All are valid and a better defined and measurable goal might be:

"I will lose 10 pounds of fat and run a 5K in July"
"I will gain strength and muscle while losing fat and squat my bodyweight by August"
"I will complete a century bicycle ride in 2012"

And what is the super secret recommendation to make your goal a success?  Put your goal out there with a high-risk, public commitment!  Find a positive friend, tell them your goal, see if they want to participate with you, but definitely hold you to it.  This has been one of my secrets, and "forcing mechanisms" for a variety of goals over the past years, and I know it will work for you!

Comments?  Or post your goals for us to encourage you!

Who motivates you? In my case, an 85 year old man

Before we discuss some of the practical tips and techniques, I want to talk about motivation and role models, and my personal favorite.  Why do you want to be fit, and get healthy?  Who do you look up to that is strong, vibrant, full of "vim and vigor" and capable of meeting life head on?

My role model and motivator is Caleb from the Old Testament in the Bible.  He was one of the 12 spies who spied out the Promised Land in Numbers 13 (he's named in verse 6) and was the only other one besides Joshua to urge the Children of Israel to go up and conquer the land.  Well, Chapter 14 tells a sad story-and Caleb almost gets killed for being positive and trusting!  Fast forward to Joshua 14, where we catch up with Caleb again.  It's been over 40 years, and Caleb is now in his eighties.  What he says has always challenged me. 

"Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the LORD my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD my God.’ And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said.”
(Joshua 14:6-12 ESV)

I will admit some credit has to be given to God for honoring Caleb's trust in him, but I am also confident Caleb did not spend the 40 years in the desert riding on his donkey and getting fat on all the manna and quail he could eat.  I will bet you he was one of the men training the generations born in the desert for the conquest to come, and maintained his strength and preparedness.  BTW if you don't know, Anakim were giants-Goliath and his brothers were some of the last ones.

Good night-time to get some sleep, tomorrow's lifts will be challenging, but necessary for the giants I am to fight in 40 years!

New-another fitness blog, just what the world needs!

After getting my biker blog up and running, I've started a health and fitness blog.  I do a bit of informal personal training and coaching, and want to capture my ideas and open them up to comment/critique.  After growing up playing a number of different sports and over 20 years of fairly consistent physical training as a Navy Diver/EOD tech, hanging out with near professional level athletes and getting to know many full-time personal trainers, I want to give back and help others achieve optimal health and fitness.

My core value and concept in my personal training is that God created our bodies and this world to work together well.  Often we make fitness and health too complicated.  While I will expand on the concept in later posts, here's one sentence to get you started:  Eat foods as close to how God made them as possible, and use/train your body as close to the full range of motion and capacity God gave you.

Have a great day, and a great workout!