I'm Really Lucky That I Have Super High Metabolism. Oh Wait My Metabolism Is Normal.

It's time to get emotional.

I'm tired of hearing this: "Long Sox, you're lucky you have high metabolism, that's why you can eat donuts and drink beer and not get fat. I am fat and have low metabolism, woe is me!"

Source.

BUUUUULLLLLLLL-oney

I exercise six times a week and burn 1000 calories each time which takes 60-90 minutes of HARD WORK. I do not lift a thing here, lift a thing there, dab my brow, chat up Suzie on the elliptical and spot Ronnie at the bench press. It's lift a lot, sweat a lot, run hard, train like a freak.

For some perspective, an average man burns about 1000 calories running 8 miles. That's 48 miles/week. Hit the road and we'll talk about who's lucky.

Angrily,
LSF

PS: If you're fat, you have high metabolism cause guess what, it takes a lot of energy to move around that spare tire.

Wait a Second. Weren't You Supposed To Have 6 Pack Abs By Now?

By the standards set forth in Article 1 of the New Years' Resolution Proclamation of 2012:

"Resolved: Get 6 pack abs in 4 months.
Plan: First 3 months, lose 15lbs of fat while maintaining muscle through Jiu Jitsu, running, cardio lifting, and yoga. Lose ~622 calories/day (4354/week, 18660/month). Maintain a daily caloric count to stay on track, weigh in weekly. Consult nutrition expert if plateau'ed, expected around ~1 April."

So the results for 1 Apr (plateau date) are in. When the light is just right, I pull the fat down, and flex you can see all 6 abs. So in a way, I did meet it, but I had a natural look in mind.

Big picture, what are the changes that took place?

-Eating Habits Changed: I cook more, eat more produce, and snack more. I don't do anything "less". In fact, I can count the times when I was hungry and didn't eat over the past 3 months.

I better understand when I'm going to be hungry or not. Obviously it's when there is a caloric surplus or deficit, but usually delayed until the day after.

-Exercise Habits Changed: I am in the best cardiovascular shape I have ever been in. I nearly ran a 90 minute half marathon (max training run was 7 miles, once) and a 10 miler in a sub-7 minute pace. If you had asked me on 1 Jan if that was ever going to happen I would have asked you where the rest of your clown posse is because you are insane.

Since adopting the heart rate monitor, I usually push for 1000 calories per workout which takes between 60-90 minutes of pure hustle. I have 100% converted to cardio-lifting circuits to maximize time spent at the gym and burn off flab.

-Appearance Changed: I hover around 156-159 (6-10 lbs less than the baseline) and have a much more athletic apperance. Veins are showing up sometimes on calves and quadriceps, frequently on my biceps, hip flexors (private viewing only), and all over my forearms. Freak status.

My cheek bones look higher and jaw is more defined. Chicks dig it.

Fitted shirts are looking gooooooOOD but pants are not. I suffer from the poopy-pants-effect from having to cinch the belt tighter on the same old pants. I'd go shopping but this weight is coming back in the fall when I'm busy with school. Also, I hate shopping for anything I can't find in a sporting goods store, electronics store, or booze store.

Source

So I reached a point at which I am happy but don't have a stand-alone 6 pack. Alas.

Keep training,
LSF

PS: The dude in the picture spent way more time on that 6 pack than it's worth. They have T-shirts for that.

Cardio Lifting Circuits

I'm supplementing jiu jitsu and running with cardio lifting to increase cardiovascular endurance, increase total body strength, and max out on calorie burn.

What do I mean by cardio lifting? I'm not talking about that class gyms offer, aka Body Pump (which is not bad). But I AM talking about maintaining an elevated heart rate for an extended period of time while conducting full body lifts and cardio circuits.

Advantages:

Burn 1000+ calories in just 14 hours. Source.

+Enormous caloric burn: 1000+ calories over 70min, similar to the burn you get when running, doing jiu jitsu, swimming, or roughly 14 hours of what's going on in this picture.

+Muscle definition: You won't get super muscly with this but you'll get a more shredded, sinewy, fighter type look. Lean and mean.

+Endurance: pushing for 70-90 minutes with a high heart rate translated into success during a 90 minute half marathon despite lack of training by running. My cardio endurance over 90 minutes is as high as it's ever been.

Disadvantages:

-No major increase in muscle mass: If you want muscle mass, high weight low reps is the way to go, that takes patience and focused effort on individual muscle groups.

-Jack of all trades, master of none: Full body exercises prevent focus on any one muscle group.

-Time: 70-90 minutes. You've got a life to live, I get it.

-High Effort: You have to constantly push, if you have juice left at the end of a set, give it another rep. You'll get sweatier than the people around you as you transform into a superior athlete.

-Gear: You need a heart rate monitor (HRM) because you won't have time to manually check your pulse.

Here's the basic pattern I follow:

• Stretch/Foam Roller
• Warm up cardio
• Full body lift
• Cardio, 75-80%
• Weights A and B alternating
• Cardio, 85-95%
• Weights C and D alternating
• Cardio, 70-85% Cool Down

Here's one I've done.

Example:
-Stretch/Foam Roller
-1 Mile Rowing Machine Warmup: 60-70% HR
-Olympic Lift Medley: recover back to 60% HR before beginning the next set.
*Continue this 60% trigger with all other lifts. Once your HR returns down to 60%, start the next set.

-1.5 Mile Run: 70-85%
-Superset dumbell chest press: x12, 8, 6, increase weight each time. Do this on a bench then immediately on a stability ball, so 6 sets altogether.
-Jumping Pull Up: 3 sets x20, I do it on a bar that's about 6-12" above my hands extended vertically. The lower the bar, the easier it is. Get a platform if you're still developing those mad ups.
*Alternate between the chest presses and pull ups to give the muscle groups some time to recover without lowering your heart rate.

If you want to reduce muscle reaction time you
have to Mufasa during your lifts. Pun.

-1.5 Mile Run: 85-95% for advanced athletes, 70-85% for moderate athletes
-Rafikis: sit up on a decline bench with some form of weight in your hands. I use medicine balls or plates and feel like Rafiki from the Lion King.
-Back Extension/Oblique Side Bend: 3 sets, unweighted, 10lbs, 25lbs, decrease reps with more weight

-1 Mile Run: 70-85% Cooldown

Nice work. Grab some water. If you want to make up your own or want me to make one up for you, just send in your goals and I'll be glad to help you out.

Keep lifting,
LSF

PS: I couldn't even begin to think of a good enough caption for the treadmill picture up there.
-This is how you win at treadmill.
-She's not fat, she's efficient.
-"I don't see why people complain, running is just as easy as driving."
-Once you've mastered the Treadmill Sit, try modifying it so you're resting your arm on the backrest. This will better engage your core and condition you for more complex seats like sitting on stools.

How Many Calories Do You Burn in a Day?

My awesome nutrition expert of a cousin was kind enough to enlighten me on the ways of calculating one's basal metabolic rate which, if you've been reading, determines how many calories you burn in a typical day before exercise. Here's what she said:

1) Get your weight in kilograms or... (Your weight in lbs)/2.2 = your weight in kg

2) Get your height in centimeters or... (Your height in inches)/.3937 = your height in cm

3) Gauge your activity level:

4) Choose a formula based on gender:

-For men, 19 years or older:
[662-(9.53 x age)] + Activity Level x [(15.91 x weight in kgs) + (539.6 x height in cm)]

-For women, 19 years or older:
[354-(6.91 x age)] + Activity Level x [(15.91 x weight in kgs) + (539.6 x height in cm)]

5) Plug it in and do the math: 

Por ejemplo (Latino outreach, le gusta?), we'll do mine:

Male, 28 years, 157 lbs (71.4kg), 68 inches (1.73m), very low active (1.08)... working...  the magic number is 2630. Nice. I can eat 2630 worth of calories each day without weight gain or loss AND without additional exercise. Sounds too good to be true. Could it be???

Understanding Nutrition warns that the actual burn rate is somewhere AROUND this number, probably plus or minus 200 calories on any given day. There are several other considerations that we'll go over in future posts.

Plug in your info. Do the math. Crack open an old algebra textbook if you need to. Find out if you're eating near your daily balance. If you're over and want to lose weight, eat less or move more.

Keep training,
LSF


"Activity Level" slide backstory: I got started on making the table above, since crappy ole Blogger doesn't have an "insert table" option, I opted for some MS Office action. Excel was too dull for this action-packed blog so I went to Power Point. It turned into a 10 minute project similar to what every yuppie has done at work. I discovered the slide jockeying and ran with it. A relevant stock picture and Dilbert strip got thrown on top of a tasteful but fun background. The font could be better but so could our use of free time. I'm sure you are as impressed as the execs at corporate.

Bib: Whitney, Ellie and Sharon Rolfes. Understanding Nutrition, 11th Ed. Wadsworth Publishing, 2008.

My Heart Rate Monitor is a Big Fat Phony

The sensor in action.

There's a feature on my RS300X Heart Rate Monitor from Polar that allows you to see how many calories you've burned in a workout. In an effort to recalculate my basal metabolic rate after a 9lbs loss, I decided to be the psycho at the office who wears a heart rate monitor all.... day..... long.

This means readjusting the strap around my chest.
"Is that a bra dude?"
"I'm wearing a heart rate monitor."
"Okaaaay."

This means keeping the sensor wet by faucet to accurately find the heartrate.
"Is that pit sweat or are you lactating?"
"I'm wearing a heart rate monitor to calculate how many calories I burn in an average day. I have to keep it wet for it to work."
"Okaaaaay. Weeeirdooooo."

Not a look you want at the office.

This means keeping the heart sensors moist by licking a finger and moistening sensors when faucets are unavailable.
"Are you licking your thumb and rubbing your nipple?"
"I'm wearing a heart rate monitor to calculate how many calories I burn today to double check my basal metabolic rate. I'm calorie counting to get a six pack. The sensor's not picking up the signal cause it's not wet so I lick my thumb and put the saliva on the sensors."
"First off, you better put those Kellogg's Assorted Fruit Fruity Snacks down if you're going to get a six pack. Second, quick licking your nips in the middle of a meeting. FREEEEAK! You're fired!!"
Well that didn't really happen, but you can imagine what it would be like if it did. It was a telecon anyway.

Oh yeah, and the monitor said I burned 4322 calories that day. I went to the gym for 45 minutes. I trained like a freak but I'm not training for the Olympics, patrolling the mountains of Afghanistan, or swimming the English Channel. The equipment may be faulty. The RS300X is a big fat phony!

Keep training,
LSF


PS: That is one of my all time favorite Family Guy clips. Seth MacF constantly killed it in the first three seasons before Fox killed his show. Season 4 wasn't bad either. Nowadays, you'll probably get the exact same amount of laughs as the good old days, but it's spread across Family Guy, American Dad and the Cleveland Show. Just sucking up 90 minutes of your life for what used to take 30. Every single show jumps the shark at some point. If it hasn't, it'll be back. It's the circle of sitcoms.

PPS: My proof reader/editor is out of town this weekend getting her half marathon on in Miami this weekend so this is a finished product of yours truly alone. I apologize for any the typos.

6 Pack Strategy

Regular readers know that one of this year's projects is getting 6 pack abs. I like to avoid over-thinking things so the strategy is simple. In fact, Mad TV spelled it out in about 120 seconds. The strategy is called "Eat less, move more." Yes, it's just that simple. Let's make like an enzyme and break it down.

Overeating: Never an issue in hunter/gatherer cultures

Calories are a measurement of energy. Energy is delicious because our bodies evolved so that we would want to eat high energy things. All cavemen who did not enjoy eating fatty brontosaurus burgers died off from gathering rather than hunting and couldn't get dates with cavewomen.

Since the dawn of things like agriculture, refrigerators, and Cap'n Crunch, food has become a lot easier to come by. Where fatties were once found attractive because of their ability to survive during famines and presumably collect more resources in prosperous times, they are now seen as unhealthy and unattractive because of the many health issues that arise from overeating.

So yeah the "ELMM" strategy is simple, but it's not. We all know we should eat/drink less and exercise more but it's not easy. There are a number of factors that either keep us from eating healthier things or stops us from eating too many of those healthy things , but there is one that really stands out to me:

Discipline, or the lack thereof, it's easily my biggest fault and I'd wager the biggest problem among overweight people. I say things to myself like "I'll work it off later," or "How often does the Sam Adams Autumn Beer Collection come out?" or "How often does the Sam Adams Winter Beer Collection come out?" or even, "How often does the Harpoon Winter Beer Collection come out?" To combat this I'm doing a few things:

1) Calorie counting: I record everything on an Excel spreadsheet and at the end of the day, week, and month I sum it up. I get the number of calories in each food off the interwebz or Nutrion Facts panel if there are any.

To figure out how many calories I burn, I found my basal metabolic rate (BMR) and got a Polar heart rate monitor which tells me how many calories I shed in a workout based on heart rate, age, gender, and resting heart rate (which was like, 50). I used a few websites to calculate BMR and averaged them to about 2300 daily.

Seeing the math regularly is great motivation to eat the right foods. This also takes discipline but I'm better at doing things than NOT doing things (like not eating scrumptious foods). I can frequently see how close or far I am from my goal. Remember when we talked about setting measurable goals and approaching things rather than avoiding them?

283 calories lost that day, 339 from the mark

2) Grocery shopping: At least, increasing it and changing how I do it. 90% of my shopping is in the produce and deli sections. If the item in question comes in some sort of wrapper, box, or can, it's generally off limits. This also means I'm going out to eat less frequently which means avoiding high calorie meals. I hate going out and getting something healthy with few exceptions. The majority of the restaurants I go to have the permanent smell of beer soaked into the wood of the bar, seats, floor, and people. If you think I'm ordering something that will make my life longer, you're looney tunes.

3) Snacking: Eating snacks throughout the day is recommended to avoid hunger and increase metabolism. It curbs hunger throughout the day so I'm not that hungry going into meals. I'm eating a lot of fruit (10 points to the first person who comments with "You are what you eat.") which is tasty and low calorie. It also helps me avoid sugar cravings as it naturally contains fructose. I don't know why snacking increases metabolism but I guess it keeps the digestive system working throughout the day which means work, which means calories burned.

So that's the plan. I'll keep you updated on progress on another post coming soon. With the personal trainer test out of the way, there will be a lot more time for bestowing my wisdom on the blogosphere.

Keep training,
LSF

6 Pack Abs, Only for Sallies?

It's time to get real about weight loss. I've done a superb job of eating and drinking pretty much whatever I want whenever I want and only and put on flab-weight with a couple of exceptions that lasted about 3 months altogether when I was legit fat. A great aspect of being a man is that people don't care that much about how fat men are unless it's totally out of control.

Anywho, up until this point, I'm so unaccustomed to dieting that when I count calories, I feel like what the former governor of California, Terminator, Detective John Kimble, Mr. Freeze, and Conan the Barbarian would all call a, "girlie man." I am aware of the irony of that statement. The 7 time Mr. Olympia once had a 6 pack of his own, so is it manly? Let's look at some of recent history's more famous 6 packs to gauge whether a chiseled stomach is manly or not:

1) Arnold Schwarzenegger: You've got all of the most important bio facts above.

Ruling: Manly.

2) Tyler Durden: (Spoiler alert) So Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) was Ed Norton's imaginary friend in Fight Club. Norton was bored with life and projected what he wanted to be onto his imaginary friend, Tyler. Tyler summarized by addressing Norton, "All the ways you wish you could be? That's me." To include a shredded 6 pack. Come to think of it though, there were no chicks allowed in Fight Club... not sure if that's manly or not. Probably not. Regardless...

Ruling: Manly.

3) 300: It is a well known historical fact that Sparta raised and trained some of the boldest, most skilled, and all around best fighters in history. It's also a lesser known fact that mentorship among older and younger Spartans often got a little weird. I can speculate all I want as to the manliness of the 300 at Thermopylae but Saturday Night Live has already authoritatively hit it with the stamp of FIERCE!!

Ruling: Not-manly.

4) Madonna: I wouldn't fight her.

Ruling: Manly

5) Robert Downy Jr: Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes, and uhhh, Ian from Weird Science. Read a recent article on him in Men's Fitness. Dude trains like a madman and has Jude Law and Don Cheadle as his sidekicks.

Ruling: Manly

6) Terrell Owens: Former NFL superstar. Prima donna whose "me" attitude hurt entire teams' performances. I think given recent lack of success that there is only one conclusion to draw.

Ruling: Not-manly.

7) MMA Fighters: So you definitely don't make it to the big leagues by eating burgers and ice cream. In any system where being light-weight is important you're not going to see a lot of guts. It's not like being skinny is an advantage, but who would you rather fight: the tubby guy who weighs as much as you or the guy who dropped 20lbs and 2 weight classes to fight you?

Ruling: Manly.

8) Justin Bieber: At this point, culturally aware people understand that yeah, his music is not good but he could show up to your house right now and get a date with your mother, sister, wife, girlfriend, and/or grandma. And you would be okay with it... And Selena Gomez would be okay with it. Sorry. He wins.

Ruling: Manly.

9) Charlton Heston: I thought fer sure I'd find a picture of Moses rocking the 6 pack but NOPE. Back in the day, people didn't bother with the sixer unless they were Mr. Olympia. I think we can all agree that those were manlier times and 6 packs didn't exist on guys that were stranded on planets run by apes, as a slave rower on a Roman ship, or as a pyramid building slave of the Pharoah.

Ruling: Not-manly.

So there you have it. 6 verdicts for manly, 3 for not-manly. Getting 6 pack abs is manly.

-LSF