I am not really into running. In fact, once the lungs start to feel funny and the usual aches starts to come on I feel like I want to stop, walk and quit.
Today was different. Today I set out to prove to myself that I can really do it and go farther than I've ever gone before on any run. The longest I've attempted to run was around 4ish miles and that was on the road I ran on today. At the end of the road is a T-intersection with a stop sign which measures out to be around 3miles or so from where I start (I ran a little bit before I started on my "6" miler so it all adds up to 6 or so). After I approached the 2 mile point I thought well this is as far as I can go why not just stop, turn around, and walk back? At that point I didn't feel pain just the normal discomfort of running but I said what the hell the stop sign is just a few steps away. Then I noticed the stop sign getting closer and closer and I finally went up to touch it and I thought to myself again I could just walk back and it would be so easy.
Something funny happened at this point and my body responded and I turned around to run at the same pace right back to the starting point. I didn't have a water bottle with me (kind of stupid I know) so I was feeling it about now but luckily my body started to compensate with some endorphins. A thought crept up to my mind thinking that the run back will be a lot tougher than the run to get to the stop sign. While this may be true I said to myself that I will simply adjust my pace, slow down a bit, save some energy to compensate. As I was running back I saw the 2mile point and thought well I surpassed myself and now I just have to keep on going.
The experience of 'going home' is quite familiar to me as I've done something like this on the lake last Summer. It was my second time Kayaking during last summer when I said to myself that I will Kayak to the end of the lake and back which turned out to be a 12mile journey that took a good 6-7 hours. The return journey on the Kayak was tough as the Sun was setting and I was dehydrated after exhausting my supply of water but I said to myself that if I don't make it back I might die. The body always has some level of reserve kept for these special moments and the journey back was simply a matter of willpower and the battle was fought in my mind. I overcame my own mind and rowed back to home.
So after thinking about my Kayak journey my run became a lot easier. On my Kayak trip I made a habit of counting my oar strokes and guestimated my distance. On my run I thought well that point up there is only a few steps away so I just need to keep my legs moving and I would get there. The temptation to quit got a lot worse the closer I got to the starting point (quit as in walking) but I thought to myself I already took so many steps why stop now? This is how I made the last part of my trip and pushed through until the very end. Afterwords I did walk a bit so as to not pass out but at that point I already finished and was tempted to keep running!
Lesson of the day: Keep going no matter what. Use previous experiences to motivate and build up confidence and the endurance necessary to go greater distances.
Evening: Leg workout :D
Just kidding! Going to move that to tomorrow morning.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Muscle Fibres (Fibers)
Some are born to sprint (Usain Bolt) while others are born for endurance (Paula Radcliffe). This is because Bolt has a higher percentage of fast twitch fibers as compared to Radcliffe. Normal people are just average and not gifted with the extreme ends of things that are necessary for those particular kind of sports such as Sprinting or Marathon running. For instance I prefer weightlifting over aerobic activities and I'd rather sprint than run a marathon so I suspect I have more fast twitch fibers than slow twitch. The only way to find out in quantitatively is to do a biopsy on each muscle group. This is a bit extreme for most people so a more down to Earth method is just to see which sports and activities you prefer or do various exercises and see which ones suits you best.
In order to develop "big" muscles one needs to exercise both the fast and slow twitch fibers so the muscle can look full and ripped. Weightlifting with heavy low reps triggers the fast twitch while high rep for endurance triggers the slow twitch. This is comparable to sprinting where it is high intensity for short burst vs. Marathon running where it is relatively lower (anaerobic vs aerobic) intensity for longer durations. When muscle size and/or strength stalls one not only needs to consider switching up the routine but also switching up the approach to weight training.
Right now the traditional 5x5,9 8x8, or 5x10 is stalled out for me and I am switching to a HIT program starting next week working out 3 days a week, 1 day rest in-between and 2 days off after the last day (MWF on, Sat, Sun off, etc). In the HIT program I will also cycle between low weight high rep first to not only learn HIT but to trigger the slow twitch muscles. Then I will increase the weight and drop the reps, so on and so forth. This will help me to slowly transition into a heavy HIT program before I swing back into the high rep low weight program for the final week (4 weeks total). Ideally doing this should trigger the slow twitch and then develop the fast twitch muscles and also shock the body as I will be doing HIT.
There is NO way to change the percentage or ratio of muscle fibers for any muscle group in your body. So if you don't have the genetics to be a marathon winner no matter how hard you train you won't win marathons against those who train equally hard but have the genetics. You CAN, however, change the relative volume of fast vs. slow twitch fibers through exercise. This means that if you lift weights all the time the volume (size) of your fast twitch fibers will be larger compared to the relative size of the slow twitch fibers. Good news indeed!
I concluded my second to last workout routine this week before HIT by doing the following:
5x10@65lbs - Stiff legged Good Mornings
5x20@Bodyweight - Situps (1,1,2) (+,hold,-)
5x10@35lbs+bar - T-bar (narrow)
Not too intense, not too easy. :) Just right.
In order to develop "big" muscles one needs to exercise both the fast and slow twitch fibers so the muscle can look full and ripped. Weightlifting with heavy low reps triggers the fast twitch while high rep for endurance triggers the slow twitch. This is comparable to sprinting where it is high intensity for short burst vs. Marathon running where it is relatively lower (anaerobic vs aerobic) intensity for longer durations. When muscle size and/or strength stalls one not only needs to consider switching up the routine but also switching up the approach to weight training.
Right now the traditional 5x5,9 8x8, or 5x10 is stalled out for me and I am switching to a HIT program starting next week working out 3 days a week, 1 day rest in-between and 2 days off after the last day (MWF on, Sat, Sun off, etc). In the HIT program I will also cycle between low weight high rep first to not only learn HIT but to trigger the slow twitch muscles. Then I will increase the weight and drop the reps, so on and so forth. This will help me to slowly transition into a heavy HIT program before I swing back into the high rep low weight program for the final week (4 weeks total). Ideally doing this should trigger the slow twitch and then develop the fast twitch muscles and also shock the body as I will be doing HIT.
There is NO way to change the percentage or ratio of muscle fibers for any muscle group in your body. So if you don't have the genetics to be a marathon winner no matter how hard you train you won't win marathons against those who train equally hard but have the genetics. You CAN, however, change the relative volume of fast vs. slow twitch fibers through exercise. This means that if you lift weights all the time the volume (size) of your fast twitch fibers will be larger compared to the relative size of the slow twitch fibers. Good news indeed!
I concluded my second to last workout routine this week before HIT by doing the following:
5x10@65lbs - Stiff legged Good Mornings
5x20@Bodyweight - Situps (1,1,2) (+,hold,-)
5x10@35lbs+bar - T-bar (narrow)
Not too intense, not too easy. :) Just right.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
High Intensity Training - 1 Month Plateau Buster Trial!
What is HIT (High-Intensity Training)? This is a training method popularized by Mike Mentzer and a few articles on the method can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_intensity_training
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mahler67.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mahler104.htm
http://www.mikementzer.com/hdchap1.html
To summarize this training method:
To be honest I've over-trained, ate too little, rested too little, and my training is starting to come to a grinding halt with the 5x5 volume training (I also did a few strange ones, 6x5, 7x4, etc). Now it is time to investigate this HIT method and experiment with it for at least a month to see what happens. Starting next week I will do HIT for 4 weeks and log my progress and then switch back to a 5x5 combination 3x3 program until I feel like I need another HIT.
Stay tuned!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_intensity_training
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mahler67.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mahler104.htm
http://www.mikementzer.com/hdchap1.html
To summarize this training method:
- Perform only 1 set for exercise to failure (Mahler recommends 3 sets - warm up/confidence builder)
- Exercise 2-3 times a week MAX
To be honest I've over-trained, ate too little, rested too little, and my training is starting to come to a grinding halt with the 5x5 volume training (I also did a few strange ones, 6x5, 7x4, etc). Now it is time to investigate this HIT method and experiment with it for at least a month to see what happens. Starting next week I will do HIT for 4 weeks and log my progress and then switch back to a 5x5 combination 3x3 program until I feel like I need another HIT.
Stay tuned!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
To Count or Not to Count that is not the important question...
First of all, I learned to read the food label today or read it properly. I found out that one scoop of Now Foods Whey Protein Isolate actually contains half of the protein I thought it used to contain. Serving SIZE is 2 scoops and the given nutrition information says 50grams of Protein and I was thinking ONE scoop equals 50grams of protein. BIG mistake... This could be one of the reasons why my mass gains stalled in January until now.
The other thing I thought about was drinking milk or not drinking milk. Dairy is mucous forming but if you do colon cleanses at least once a year and eat a very balanced diet this should not be a problem at all. Last year I dropped Cottage cheese from my diet and I recently banned Yogurt because I dislike promoting the consumption of high fructose corn syrup. Writing this just gave me an idea as I could purchase Honey or Cane Sugar and add that to regular Yogurt as a sweetener myself giving me not only the ability to control the carbohydrate content but the sweetness of the mixture! The joys of writing! Long story short milk has more carbs and less proteins vs. Cottage cheese with the same serving size. Why drink milk? Screw that!
Additionally, I found that Now Food's Whey Protein Isolate sold in the 10lbs version is cheaper than the cheapest and easiest to cook meat available which is Chicken Breasts (Wal-mart).
Summary:
The other thing I thought about was drinking milk or not drinking milk. Dairy is mucous forming but if you do colon cleanses at least once a year and eat a very balanced diet this should not be a problem at all. Last year I dropped Cottage cheese from my diet and I recently banned Yogurt because I dislike promoting the consumption of high fructose corn syrup. Writing this just gave me an idea as I could purchase Honey or Cane Sugar and add that to regular Yogurt as a sweetener myself giving me not only the ability to control the carbohydrate content but the sweetness of the mixture! The joys of writing! Long story short milk has more carbs and less proteins vs. Cottage cheese with the same serving size. Why drink milk? Screw that!
Additionally, I found that Now Food's Whey Protein Isolate sold in the 10lbs version is cheaper than the cheapest and easiest to cook meat available which is Chicken Breasts (Wal-mart).
- Now Foods Whey Isolate: (10lbs) 50grams/$
- Chicken Breasts: 40grams/$
- Now Foods Whey Isolate (5lbs) 40grams/$
Summary:
- Learn to read the food label CAREFULLY so as to not cause any confusions
- Get Now Food's GMP certified Whey Protein Isolate @ 10lbs
- Eat more Chicken (tasty)
- Cottage cheese is KING - back IN the diet along with non-fat PLAIN Yogurt (sweeten with Cane sugar or Honey if necessary)
Thursday, February 11, 2010
On Diet
Recently, and parasitically, I've been eating closer to a "Warrior Diet." This routine basically calls for one binged meal a day which I used to think is the way to eat to really get cut up, lean, and feel a lot of energy. Boy was I wrong! This has been proven to be on countless times and I believe that not all people have the same Genetic makeup as that of the Roman foot soldier. Philosophers think, Soldiers kill, can the two really eat the same things when they do different tasks? I think not.
After reading about the "Bruce Lee diet" which basically says this:
My fatal flaw is eating a late dinner and in LARGE portions as influenced by Warrior diet. My stretching routine and strength training is also negatively influenced by Pavel Tsatsouline. If you watch his training videos you will see what I mean (one arm pushup and he struggles like hell to get up after going down. yeah...) So out with the old and in with the new!
Yesterday I accidently overtrained my midback, lats, abs and subsequently going over my current limit with my calves which left them the sorest item today. I did notice something positive about my eating habit yesterday which I think left me feeling GREAT this morning and that is...
I ate a relatively SMALL dinner (Applebee's Hot Wings - not the healthiest item but small) and had a little bit of protein after my nightly workout and felt FANTASTIC this morning!
The plan from now on in terms of diet is to eat a little bit more during the day and slow down the eating once the Sun goes down. This will consist of:
I am still trying to figure out my body as some are good on high protein low carb diets while others are good on high carb low protein diets but the latter will never result in any form of strength gain and muscle growth.
Since I will be eating more during the day it makes sense to split up the workout routine to twice a day and some in between instead of just once in the evening like I've been doing for the past. The morning workout will be light cardio for warmup and small muscle group. The evening workout will be for a larger muscle group and to really go all out. Theory behind this method is to jump start the day early and keep the metabolism throughout the day so that I am still good to go in the evening and be exhausted afterwords so I can get a good night's sleep. :)
I'll check back in a while to report the results but if it is like anything I've experienced today I will be coming back with some awesome news in a few weeks. :D
After reading about the "Bruce Lee diet" which basically says this:
- Use supplements
- Eat Chinese food (balanced veggies, fruits vs. Western diet of fats and protein)
- Eat frequently
- Don't skip Breakfast*** (I do this a lot)
- Eat a smaller Dinner
- Drink lots of water
- etc
My fatal flaw is eating a late dinner and in LARGE portions as influenced by Warrior diet. My stretching routine and strength training is also negatively influenced by Pavel Tsatsouline. If you watch his training videos you will see what I mean (one arm pushup and he struggles like hell to get up after going down. yeah...) So out with the old and in with the new!
Yesterday I accidently overtrained my midback, lats, abs and subsequently going over my current limit with my calves which left them the sorest item today. I did notice something positive about my eating habit yesterday which I think left me feeling GREAT this morning and that is...
I ate a relatively SMALL dinner (Applebee's Hot Wings - not the healthiest item but small) and had a little bit of protein after my nightly workout and felt FANTASTIC this morning!
The plan from now on in terms of diet is to eat a little bit more during the day and slow down the eating once the Sun goes down. This will consist of:
- A GOOD breakfast (Oatmeal, eggs, etc)
- Hearty Lunch
- Healthy large portion of Afternoon snack
- Small recovery dinner
I am still trying to figure out my body as some are good on high protein low carb diets while others are good on high carb low protein diets but the latter will never result in any form of strength gain and muscle growth.
Since I will be eating more during the day it makes sense to split up the workout routine to twice a day and some in between instead of just once in the evening like I've been doing for the past. The morning workout will be light cardio for warmup and small muscle group. The evening workout will be for a larger muscle group and to really go all out. Theory behind this method is to jump start the day early and keep the metabolism throughout the day so that I am still good to go in the evening and be exhausted afterwords so I can get a good night's sleep. :)
I'll check back in a while to report the results but if it is like anything I've experienced today I will be coming back with some awesome news in a few weeks. :D
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Current Training Routine
I've got one more week on basic exercises before I move onto compound exercises such as Deadlift, Squats, Lunges, Dips, etc etc. The only time I consider using machines is maybe on light days as I do enjoy the opportunity to exercise my stability muscles. Since I will be doing compounds soon the rest phase between each specific type of exercise has to be at least 48 hours if not more depending on the intensity of the previous execution. For instance, I did 5x5 Deadlift today @ 185lbs. I will probably not touch a back/hamstring exercise with that intensity until the following Tuesday at the earliest.
Current body weight, fat %, Set x Rep, Weight per exercise will be logged here as I do them daily.
Current body weight, fat %, Set x Rep, Weight per exercise will be logged here as I do them daily.
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