When I started this three years ago, the one simple truth I knew and understood was that when you get stuck, switch things up. Work harder. Change the routine. All the experts say to change the workout every four to six weeks. So, when the holidays were over, I took a hard look at what I was doing and what I looked like.
Contrary to popular belief, I am not obsessed with the number on the scale anymore. Yes, I weigh myself a few times a week, and yes, I’ve put a few pounds back on. I’ve been hovering around 185 for months after getting to a stable 180 and staying there for quite awhile. I have no doubt that my muscles are retaining water because I’ve been pretty religious about exercising four to six days a week. I am more concerned with burning fat, building muscle and looking and feeling better.
One of the problems with this is the amount of information available. Once upon a time, it seemed like only gym teachers and sports coaches had the information necessary to train young people for sports. In my high school, good old-fashioned calisthenics were how we got in shape. From jumping jacks to sit ups, pushups and everything else in-between, paired with suicide sprints on the basketball court – this is how we got in shape as kids. I didn’t play football or wrestle so I don’t know how much strength training there was going on.
To get in shape for cross-country, guess what we did? We ran. We ran 30 miles a week. We ran quarter-mile sprints on the track for passing practice and finishing kicks, but for the most part we just ran. I played baseball and basketball as well. Okay, I rode the bench, but I was on the team.
I have been bookmarking tips, tricks, workout videos and more from Men’s Health and Men’s Fitness like crazy lately. When I got down to my goal weight the question became, “what now?” I decided then I wanted to carve the marshmallow. At 46, and still carrying around about 45 pounds of fat, I want to shred and get lean.
I want to be proud to wear a bathing suit this summer. Don’t worry folks, my Speedo days are long gone, not that there were ever Speedo days. I want to have the best 40-something body in the neighborhood. Hell, I want the 30-somethings to notice.
I already look better in my clothes. I wear men’s medium again (sorry to rehash). But my stomach isn’t flat. It is getting there as I am getting to my point.
More than person has suggested HIIT (high intensity interval training) to me and I have read in many places that this is a great way to burn fat and boost metabolism. After trying one HIIT workout that involved a lot of twisting movements, I almost gave up on incorporating this type of exercise into my routine. This caused me to take another look at www.bodybuilding.com’s Shortcut to Shred program. Six weeks, six days a week with HIIT concepts built in. The creator, Jim Stoppani, calls in “cardio acceleration” but the high intensity interval stuff is built in as between set interstitial intervals. Even though this is the program I was doing when I blew out this disc in my back (I’ll never do another deadlift as long as I live), I decided to give it another try. I have completed the program all the way through exactly once. I was in week three when I got hurt and I started it with the cardio acceleration one other time but only made it a few days. I’ve done the lifts without the cardio acceleration as well.
I am now two weeks in. I start week three tomorrow. Don’t worry, no deadlifts. The pictures don’t lie. Between running more than 65 miles since the first of the year, making adjustments to my eating habits and starting Shortcut to Shred, I am definitely slimming down.
I was asked recently if I am keeping up with my workouts and I had to laugh. My response mentioned weight lifting four to six days a week and running at least three days a week.
Running could be the key to my back pain however. I haven’t been running much lately for a variety of reasons and I have had more decent days than bad days. A stupid head cold came roaring back so I had to skip two nights this past week. I found a HIIT workout that didn’t have any twisting movements in it and I did it as a second session yesterday. My hip is a little sore after 20 minutes of kettlebell swings, goblet squats and shoulder presses. I’d like to trade my distance running for sprint workouts. Some information I found this past week says distance running presents the same issues as indoor machine steady-rate cardio. I run because I like to be outside and I hate machines.
The funny thing about all of this is what the different communities have to say. The weight loss people say eat less and cardio, cardio, cardio. The weight lifting folks say muscle, muscle, muscle, protein, protein, protein. The cross-fit people say, well, the cross-fit people are just plain nuts. I was taught to eat five to six small meals per day. Now I’m reading that three squares a day and a protein recovery shake after the daily workout is sufficient.
All I have managed to figure out is there is way too much information at our fingertips and that everyone is different. Once of the reasons I got out of shape in the first place was I no longer had a sport to train for. I was no longer on a team. As adults, we are left to our own devices and whatever habits we develop along the way. I was blessed with a super fast metabolism for much of my life. I never knew when it was going to slow down and I sure as hell didn’t plan for it. So, my advice to you is never get out shape, learn good eating habits and adjust your caloric intake based on your age and height and weight as you go. I recently learned that I only need about 1,800 calories a day if I don’t exercise. I can get to that by lunch if I’m not careful.
I think I am on a productive path. And if I feel like that perspective has changed, I’ll switch up again. The one thing I can’t seem to shake is that I’m running out of time. Maybe that’s because I keep watching these shows where people lose 100 pounds in a year, train six hours a day and seem to have boundless energy. The bottom line is most of the before and after photos are lies, you’re not going to look like Joe Weider and this shit is hard work. But it’s worth it. And one day, not today, not tomorrow, but one day I’ll like what I see in the mirror.
Just as the Nike+ Running app told me I was at the three-mile point I felt something smack me in the lip. I didn’t see what it was but the pain told me it was probably a bee. Damn that hurt. It didn’t particularly taste good either. I tried to shake it off as I kept waiting for my face to swell up. I’m not allergic to anything and I don’t think I’ve ever been stung by a bee before. I don’t know where the stinger went. It wasn’t stuck in my lip or my face.
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