60-Day Update and Random Thoughts
January 2nd, 2011 | 
Author: Still haven’t been able to update the blog as much as I want, what with papers due for grad school and the holiday season. But never fear, the experiment is still going strong.
I haven’t missed any of the lifts on the schedule, even when I felt like I was too tired to be at the gym. So, that’s good. I was out of town for an extended period of time, but found a gym there and was able to stay on schedule. My diet has still been filled with excess empty calories, like pies, cakes and cinnamon rolls. While I was out of town, it was exceptionally difficult to get to 225g of protein per day, so I didn’t quite hit that goal for that time period. But, since I was still able to hit all my lifts, it didn’t negatively affect my lifting.
Fat accumulation has not been as high as the calorie counter says it should be. That tells me I’m still either under-reporting calories eaten, or underestimating calories burned. I still have pretty good ab definition, despite eating nearly 3,500 to 4,500 calories per day. Certainly nothing that a couple of weeks of 1200 calorie days won’t take care of.
That’s all I’ve got for updates, but I promise more articles will be coming soon. That’s not a New Year’s Resolution; it’s just a statement of fact.
*- Speaking of New Year’s Resolutions, I can’t be the only one that both loves and hates them. I love the fact that people want to get in shape, but I hate the fact that I’ve never met anyone that actually followed through with their weight loss or fitness goals simply based on a resolution. It’s one thing to set a goal for the year if you’re already a frequent gym-goer, but it seems to be entirely different if you are perpetually inactive.
*- If you can’t do push-ups, you shouldn’t be benching. If you can’t do a prisoner or body-weight squat, you shouldn’t be trying to squat. Work on flexibility and some core strength and then try to start working on the weights.
*- Beware of misinformation. It comes in many forms. If you aren’t sure about whether or not to take a certain supplement, don’t simply look to internet discussions to get your information. They can be valuable tools to point you in the right direction, but if you want to avoid wasting your time and money, look at the underlying science and accompanying studies. Good science will tell you far more than anecdotal evidence.
-Drew
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look forward to see how it all pans out in your calorie experiment.
- Here is a random thought (based on reading the 4 hour body) some fitness people over estimate how lean they are and become experts.
On the 4 hour body website’s there are pictures to eyeball (compare) photos with different levels of leanness .. most should check that out before they start telling me they are 5% bodyfat when you can’t even see their abs!
Have a good New year!
Raymond
Just curious Drew – what are you in grad school for?
“If you can’t do push-ups, you shouldn’t be benching.”
I’m going to disagree with this. If someone is excessively overweight, say 250 pounds, a bench press (DB or barbell) is going to be more realistic and more of a beginner move than a pushup. From what I’ve read, a pushup involves “lifting” roughly 66% of your bodyweight. So if someone is 250 pounds, that would be like lifting 165 pounds. I wouldn’t expect a beginner to be able to do that on a bench right away (granted, a pushup and bench are different moves). Progression is the key.
Mike
I’m getting my Master’s in Global and International Studies. It sounds a lot more interesting than it actually is.
Mike – While that’s true, there are ways to make push-ups easier, like wall- or knee- push-ups. A lot of the push-up training isn’t just about developing upper body strength, but developing the stabilization needed to perform exercises like the bench press very well.
-Drew
Drew, agreed. With my clients in my bodyweight classes that I teach, i have people do wall and knee pushups all the time. It’s just the way you worded that sentence made it appear as if you were only talking about your normal pushups.