30-day Update and Random Thoughts
December 7th, 2010 | 
Author: Sorry for not updating in a while. Just haven’t been able to. But, the good news is that I’m largely done with this semester of grad school, and there’s a new workout music mix coming soon!
So far, my experiment is going well, but as I’m just into the 4th week of the program, I’m just now getting back to my previous maxes in each lift (per program design).
I’ve been eating like a horse — close to 3,500 calories per day. I’m not entirely sure what my average estimated calories burned is, because FitDay seems to be screwing the calculations up. However, I have gained little, if any fat. So, either I’ve been overestimating calories consumed, or somewhat underestimating calories burned. I’m not too worried about it right now, though, as my lifting is right on schedule.
On to the random thoughts:
5. Any piece of exercise equipment that claims to cut the time you have to exercise won’t do what it claims. Shake weights, ab machines, and the like, I’m looking at you. Workouts are supposed to be hard and demanding. Easy shouldn’t be a word that you use regularly when describing your regimen.
4. How anyone can get a workout done while listening to the music they pump through the speakers at regular gyms? I heard a Michael Bolton song in between songs this afternoon. Thank God for iPods.
3. It never ceases to amaze me how many people completely skip their warm-ups and cooldowns. Tip: If you don’t have time for a proper workout and a proper cooldown, you don’t have time to work out. Period.
2. If you want to be good at something, you have to train for it. There’s only so much progress you can make with general fitness preparedness. If you want to be good at football, your workouts must resemble what you’ll be doing on the field. If you want to get good at long distance running, you’re going to have to suck it up and run long distances. Your training should mimic your goals.
1. If you’re not having fun at the gym, you’re doing it wrong. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, and it won’t be the last time: It is imperative that you find something you enjoy when trying to stay fit. If you don’t like running, don’t force yourself to do it. Find something else. If you don’t like lifting weights, do something else. If you don’t like either of those things, find a sport you enjoy. Human beings are genetically programmed to enjoy doing physical activity. You just have to find out what you like.
Have you ever just done a long sprint after a long period of inactivity? I love the endorphine rush it gives. So amazing. I know that it is impossible to capture that kind of euphoria with every workout, but you should at least leave the gym feeling good about what you just did.
-Drew
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The best point is skipping the workout! .. this guy at the gym is aiming at a bodybuilding competition next year but he is ALWAYS getting injured.
He told me he doesn’t understand how I can warm up so dynamically, he gets tired just looking at me. Then he went on to boast how he does 1 practice lift of 20 reps and then starts his workout….. only if he knew what he was really saying he’d be in the gym more rather than at the chiro.
Raymond
I go back and forth on the concept of a warm up and cooldown issue.
I rarely do a set cooldown, although right after my workout, I take the dog for a 30 minute walk which I guess could constitute one.
As for a warm up I’ll do a quick 5 minute dynamic one but, I’m not convinced that it’s really necessary. I guess when looking at it in a real world situation, if I saw a guy running at me with a knife, I don’t think he would be very understanding if I said “hey, can you just give me a few minutes of a slower jog and then we can move into a sprint?” Meaning, when applying what you do in the gym to a real life situation, there isn’t usually time for a warm up (Juan Carlos Santana kind of leads to this as well in some of his training material).
Mike
Those are great points. I especially agree about the music. Forgetting my headphones when going to the gym makes me as angry as if I just got an injury because I know what kind of music I am going to have to listen to while working out.
Raymond – Exactly. The body is pretty resilient, but it needs help!
-Drew
Mike – There have been a lot of studies regarding warm-ups, and it basically boils down to this: It makes a difference in performance and injury prevention. You *can* perform without doing one, but it won’t be maximal. Of course, there’s no need to tire yourself out doing a warm-up, but if you aren’t at least breaking a light sweat by the time you’re ready to do some working sets, your body isn’t really ready for the work. Plus, it primes the nervous system, which helps you lift more. As for the cooldown, it’s not strictly necessary, but it’s great for injury prevention, as there’s really no better time to do stretching and foam rolling. Doesn’t have to be an hour or anything, but the more work you do at that time will help in the future.
Pavel Tsatsouline talked a lot about this concept when relating to military and police personnel. They don’t have time for a warm-up, but because they warmed up and cooled down properly when training, their bodies were more prepared to go when they *didn’t* have time to do it. And it kept the incidence of injury down. Can’t train if you’re too injured to hit the gym!
-Drew
Cam – What, you don’t like doing a max bench press to Spice Girls? I’m shocked!
-Drew
I went to a gym the other day that had the radio playing, I didn’t get why anyone thinks that listening to commercials is somehow motivating??? Warm ups are key, I tend to procrastinate sometimes but I’m glad you brought it up, I’ll make sure to clean that up going forward.
Great point about the warm-up and cool-down. A lot of people disregard the importance of warming up and cooling down. Well said: If you don’t have time for them, then you don’t have time for a workout.
I like points 1 & 2 the most. If you want to get good at something and be successful you have to train with purpose and you need to do it in a way you enjoy. I wanted to get lean so I embarked on a half marathon plan. As the weeks progressed I become a better runner and torched a ton of body fat.
Darren@MorePrimeTime.com