Unleashing The Beast :: FitBob

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!

– Kipling

Randall Mack has an interesting post on the obesity problem in America, here’s an excerpt:

“It starts on the demand-side of the obesity equation. A multigenerational fix is needed as everything from increasing human exercise and the population`s physical activity to education on food choices to reduction in out-of-control consumption are needed to fix the problem. That means long-term behavioral changes. I think the government has given up on an entire generation. Changing behaviors is difficult the older one becomes. So one of the clear foci has become kids, and the encouraging – or demanding – of physical activity and fresher foods in schools rather than sedentary video gaming and McDonalds. It is a revolution that will be led on the demand-side of the equation.”

Full post: http://randallmack.com/japan/americas-obesity-problem/

One of the main differences between lifting and riding is the amount of recovery I need from workouts. As I’ve gotten older, it’s taking a bit longer to recover from hard lifting workouts than it used to. It’s probably too soon to tell, as I’m only two weeks into my new program, but after two days of hard lifting my body is fatigued to the point of demanding a day off. On cycling and other cardio days don’t seem to tax my system nearly as much. When I was cycling a lot in the beginning of the year I had to force myself to take a recovery days. Time will tell…

Sadly, this depicts far too many Americans.

Losing fat really is that simple. All it takes is a bit less eating and a bit more movement. Calories In – Calories Out = Weight Loss or Gain. Burn more than you eat and off come the pounds.

“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”
- Sun Tzu

The Weights Will Never Be Conquered

“I have to stay humble, or I go right back to hell. The minute I think I’ve conquered it, I’ve lost it.”
-Muscular Development

Don’t forget that this holds true outside of the gym too!

The last week’s focus has been on detoxing the bod and getting back in the gym, and it’s been a resounding success. I trained consistently over the week on a 2-on, 1-off schedule focusing on lifting and being sure to include some cardio work as well.

Apart from not getting enough calories yesterday, diet was solid. Lots of protein, complex carbs and good fats. I’m considering building a plugin to track food intake, times, calories, CPF breakdown, etc. and will post my meal logs when I get that resolved.

I’m definitely feeling the effects of training now – a bit sore, greater muscle fullness, and the occasional achy joint. I’m also getting tired at “normal” hours and generally sleeping well now. Last week I had a few nights of near-zero sleep as my metabolism got busy flushing toxins. Thankfully, regular training seems to have reset my sleep cycles and I’m sleeping better than I have in a year.

Over the last seven days I have gone from 197.6 to 202.6 pounds – gaining five pounds of muscle. Some of the gain is surely water weight, but the fit of my pants has stayed the same or improved a bit. My calorie intake has been around 1800/day which, from past experience, seems to be the sweet spot for me to lose fat and not so much muscle. Obviously, this is a less than optimal method of tracking true progress, but since I don’t have a place to get tested right now, I’m relying on the mirror and scale combination to gauge progress.

I’ll be joining a new gym before the end of the year and the plan is to get my body composition tested every week so I can modify training/diet as needed. I also will be firming up my training goals for the next month/quarter/year, at which time “real training” can begin. Right now I’m just getting back in the groove of things…

Week One is Done. On to Week Two!

Recovery is just as important as training and diet when getting in shape. In our hectic world, people are always trying to squeeze more into their lives. If something isn’t working, we are often taught to “Try Harder.”

Not seeing the results you want from your workouts? You may just be doing too much.

The body needs time to heal and rebuild itself, and it can only do this when you are asleep. If you are training hard, eating right, and getting enough sleep and still not making progress towards your goals, then chances are you are overtraining. Take a few days off from working out and let your body catch up.

Incidentally, “Try Softer” applies to things outside of the gym as well. Often, when we find ourselves in difficult situations, we keep pushing in an effort to achieve our desired result. Not only do we fail to make progress, we may effectively make the situation worse. The solution? Try Softer.