Days one and two

So you're thinking "Hey Bill! What happened to that fitness blog you wrote about back on the 19th? You didn't make any entries yet!"

Well what happened was I got lazy. Yesterday I changed that though when I went out on a 2.85 mile run by the New Embassy compound. Today I was shopping for training programs and went to Freetrainers.com, where I used to get my old workout schedules. I figured I'd upgrade to the Pro membership since I have been using that site off and on for years and just now figured if I spent the money on it I should use it.

Lo and behold, Pro members get more workout plan choices. I saw one that said "20 minute full body" that reminded me of what my cousin Anita was talking about: High intensity workouts at a short session.

I mentioned this workout to my buddies and they scoffed- "You'll never get huge in 20 minutes, you need 2 hours at least".

But I'm not here to get huge. I'm here to be less huge. I figured if I lose all of this damn chubbiness off my body, then my muscles will show better anyway!

So here's the idea: high intensity cardiovascular activity (read: high heart rate while doing) has been shown scientifically to be better in regards to increasing your VO2 Max (your maximal oxygen consumption) and burning fat than steady-state cardiovascular activity (such as jogging for an hour). Higher intensity anaerobic exercise also increases your excess post-exercise oxygen consumption which in turn boosts your metabolism for up to 24 hours after working out, and is shown in studies to be more effective in reducing fat stores than steady-state long term aerobic training, even though one burns more calories during the actual workout itself when doing long term aerobic training than high intensity short-term training.

My point is this: I'm not doing 20 minute sessions because I'm lazy (well, I am lazy, but that's beyond the point). I'm doing 20 minute sessions because I've heard they actually work (and after hearing Anita extol its virtues after having two kids and being in incredible shape!)

But yeah, because I'm lazy too. I'm just not the gym rat kind of guy. I want to give this short term stuff a try for a few weeks and see if I notice gains (or losses, rather, in my case). I'm still doing resistance exercises so my muscle mass should not decrease (it might increase. At least I hope)

I've done split routines for 3 years on and off in combination with 3-mile runs and other 30 minute cardio sessions and I've witnessed the cycle of A: muscle mass increases a bit and I lose some weight, B: After a month I'm sick of being in the gym for an hour and a half and I start to stop noticing gains, C: I quit the program altogether and go back to being a fatbody.

Hopefully this new workout will be effective, be short enough to make me hate it less, and be more effective in making me leaner. I'm not going to give up on longer running, I'll still do it 1-3 times a week for endurance and all that, but the high intensity stuff is my focus.

My first routine on the free trainers site went like this:

I lay on a mat in the gym, set my watch to "Chrono", and hit start. I immediately do one set of the following with little or no rest in between exercises, with a goal of finishing all of them in 10 minutes:

20 crunches
20 leg raises
20 Dumbbell lunges (HOLY CHRIST- it's more like 40 since you have to do both legs. This is where I started really hurting) @ 35 lbs DBs (dumbbells)
20 Push-ups (I'm really laboring now)
15 Machine Lat pull-downs (done on a Hammerstrength machine since the pulldown was not available) 140 lbs total
15 Standing lateral raises @ 20 lbs DBs
12 Standing curls @ 30 lbs DBs (weight is low due to sheer exhaustion at this stage)
12 Tricep cable pushdowns at 80 lbs (or at least the plate I set it on was "8". I'm assuming they're 10 lbs plates each?)

Phew.... done in 9 minutes. Now it's time to... run?

Yes, I get on the treadmill and try to run a 7:45 minute mile for 10 minutes. Seem slow? Well, I'm exhausted!

But why? You ask. I mean, I only did one set of each exercise, and I wasn't using that much weight- why was I so worn out by then?

The answer is intensity. I did each of these exercises so fast that I didn't stop and rest for 30-60 seconds like the bodybuilders do. I almost literally ran from one part of the gym to the other to get my next set in. Not to mention the 40 frickin DB lunges killed me- that was what got my blood pumping the most. Once my heart rate was raised from that, it didn't take much to keep it up.

To be honest with you, I couldn't even keep up with the running. I stopped after 6 minutes instead of doing my whole 10.

This workout made me feel like I was in horrible shape, but I guarantee you if you do it in the time limit posted and at a decent resistance you'll be winded!

I caught suspicious glances from the "get huge" guys at the gym. "Wasn't that kid in here just 15 minutes ago? He's leaving already?"

Yep. And I think I got a damn good workout in too.

Let's see in a couple weeks if I did or not.

Mission Statement and Blog Purpose

Hello! If you're reading this, then you've stumbled upon my workout blog. This journal was created to track my progress and goals regarding my fitness. Currently I weigh around 206 lbs. This is a good 20 lbs heavier than I was when I left the Marine Corps in 2004, and although I know I've gained muscle mass over the past 4 years, I know most of the added poundage is of the fatty variety.

My goals are to eventually reduce my weight, but mostly my waist size while increasing endurance and build strength. The tale of the tape is as follows:

Measurement taken on Thursday, February 19, 2009. 1630
Weight (in lbs)- 206
Measurements (in inches)
Waist- 36.5
Chest- 42
R Bicep 14.5
L Bicep 14.5