Healing

I think I have finally arrived at a place where I can confidently say I'm back on track.  I'm still trying to dump the fat I gained over the last three years, but as a starter I went to visit my doctor.  As the result of blood tests my health is improving.
 

As a follow up to my previous blog, I wrote a book on my "home disaster".  It's on Amazon for Kindle and soon to be out in print.

Now that I'm doing better health wise (internal functions), I have been pursuing a "slow path" to getting back into building the muscle in my body. 

During the two year fiasco of my home rebuild, I injured myself several times (cracked shoulder ball, root canal, forearm, shoulder and sciatic nerve).  As a result, I have had to incorporate the use of TEMS/EMS to heal injuries.

I have found that TEMS/EMS is a great way to reduce the pain of injuries as well close the gap on the healing process time line. 
As for the sciatic nerve issues, it took eight months to figure out a remedy.  Geez!  I was faithfully going to a chiropractor and doing all the prescribed stretches I could find on the internet, no results.  out of desperation while limping through Costco, I purchased an Inversion Table.  Upon getting home, in great pain I assembled the unit and got on it.  BOOM!  After 30 seconds upside down, the sciatic nerve pain was gone!  It has not returned in the last 10 months of using the inversion table faithfully. 

However, I am experiencing "nerve worms" from the femoral nerve pack.  The only help for it is touching my toes several times a day to release the pressure in the spine where this nerve bundle leaves the spine.  It works OK, but still have to be faithful to stretch.

I've been rebuilding a truck for my son.  All the standing and kneeling has caused a lot of pain in my legs.  The only thing that seems to help is G2 Gatorade.  I drink 40oz of water with one scoop and the leg muscle pain is not as great by the end of the day. 

So healing is the game in the mid 50's if you are a fat man.  Don't be ashamed of it as it is all part of the process of getting old.  As for lifting weights, I'm much more careful about how much and have stopped thinking I'm a 25 year old child!

Aging and Injury

It has been a very long time.  Due to injuries, I had to back off on my normal routine.  What injury?  First, I cracked the ball on my left shoulder using the Ab Blaster.  Apparently, the shoulder was not designed to carry the full weight of a person horizontally.  I was doing full arm extensions with the entire weight of my body hovering three inches above the floor.  I would like to caution anyone who has shoulder pain, get a MRI.  Xray will not provide the detail needed.  My doctor told me at first to just get used to pain since he saw nothing on the Xray.  I pushed for an MRI and sure enough, clear signs that the ball had split down the center and was bleeding.  BTW, pain of this sort will make a grown man cry, yes I did and it freaked out my wife who has never seen her husband cry.  Scared the kids too.

So after the several months of healing and paranoia of not want to hurt myself again, I switched my routine.  But as life would have it and not being used to a rental house with carpeted stairs, I fell down a flight of stairs, not once but three times over a month.  And then my ankle rolled on the driveway into the planter.  Yes, it was a tough year.

Yet, after moving back into our home, I was helping my son and his friend earn some money by digging holes in the yard for plants.  I fell into a water slough head first and once again landed on my right elbow which whacked my right shoulder and gave me a wonderful sciatic nerve pain in my right leg. While my left shoulder has completely healed, the right shoulder and sciatic nerve issues continue.

The worst part is the disrupted sleep.  Due to the pain, I have been living with 4 good hours of sleep each night with 3 hours of tossing.  And we know how important sleep is to muscle rebuild.

In order to help with my recovery, I have tried all sorts of helps.  I spent a month going to the Chiropractor four times a week with only a slight improvement.  I submitted to a deep tissue massage on my leg which seemed to help a bit but only lasting a couple days.  And after trying all the physician paths and associated Opiate based drugs, I finally found something.  An EMS or TENS unit.

The best relief I have experienced so far is the use of an Electronic Muscle Stimulation (EMS) or Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) unit.  Basically, electrode shock therapy.  Below is an article that gives a good overview of the history of the Russian Mode which has provided the best results.  Since I work in front of a computer all day and on the phone, using the EMS unit is easy.  Hook up the pads before a call and let is work away while you work.

www.electrotherapy.org/modality/russian-stimulation-and-burst-mode-alternating-current-bmac


I know it sounds crazy, but I'm actually not feeling too much pain anymore, at least enough to get back into my routine.  Plus, I believe that the EMS has prepared my muscles to get ready in a smooth fashion which will keep me from injury again.   I HOPE.

I will let you know how things work out.  It has been discouraging fearing injury which has affected motivation.  In the last two weeks, my motivation has returned and I am hopeful I can get back on track.  However, being in my mid 50's, I will try to stop thinking like a 20 year old.  LOL.

Life Changes: Adapt or Lose Ground

Nine days after my last post, my house burned to the ground.  Nov 12, 2012 at 1pm.  All souls were saved, but we did lose 95% of everything along with countless nights of lost sleep.  I apologize for not getting back on the blog for two years, but we lost computers and passwords which provided access to everything, including this blog.
What I have learned over the last two years is insane, I do not wish anyone to have to experience a home fire; it is devastating.   However, I will comment about exercise for fat people like me and my adventures of trying to stay fit.
The trials of moving to a hotel, then to a rental house and then to another rental house and finally back into the home within two years really puts a damper on the exercise dedication.  It suffices to say that my exercise routine took a beating.  While 5% of our stuff survived, most of which was my weights and assorted exercise equipment, moving it four times was a total pain in the rear, literally!   And along the road, I lost muscle but not the weight.
I tried to exercise, really I did!  When we were in the hotel, I jumped on the elliptical machine and barely lasted ten minutes, giving up.  I'm not sure this was due to exhaustion or just no mental backing to get it done.  But I spent more time trying to buy things that were missing like toothpaste, cotton balls, socks, shampoo and a host of other things we take for granted everyday.   I do know that it was a struggle for the next twenty months just to do anything in the way of exercise. 
When we finally moved into the first rental home, I set up my gym in the garage and got back into the routine.  We had no furniture for the first month except for folding chairs and tables, but the gym was ready.   However, I must have been doing something wrong with supplements as I gained a lot of weight fast and very little muscle.  As such, I have sworn off all enhancement power drinks until I lose the fat I have gained.  As I look back, I believe that my workouts were not as intense nor as long in duration which lead to over dosing on carbohydrates.  The carbs turned into fat and I have a long road ahead of me to drop the fat.

Weight Gain

It's been some time since my last blog.  First off, I want to say that my workout has been maintained due to the motivation I have pushing me to continue.  However, I have gained ten pounds!  How frustrating is that?
After many weeks of fretting, I had an epiphany from God last night.  Could my bone density be increasing due to my weight lifting?  Yes, indeed.  There have been studies for the last 50 years that it is true; bone density is increased by weight lifting.  The Mayo Clinic  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/strength-training/HQ01710 provides details on how lifting weights three times a week is a major benefit to overall health and increased bone density.  LiveStrong has some great guidance as well. http://www.livestrong.com/article/452698-exercises-to-increase-bone-density/
One thing I should comment, a couple months ago I changed my routine again.  I decreased my weight and increase the reps to a minimum of 15 and a max of 25.  I have discovered that I have lost some body mass (size), but the muscles must be getting leaner and denser.
On the subject of supplements, I have dropped ForceFactor as it was not providing the results I was expecting.  I started to take a daily Vitamin C routine to avoid getting sick, but I discovered that it can cause an increase of iron absorption into the red blood cells which leads to muscle aches.  So I cut back on Vitamin C. 
I did go have an X-ray performed on my hip to check the status of my 23 year old Acetabular fracture (hip socket break).  I'm glad to say that while there is still evidence of the break, it is not getting worse.  However, the other hip joint which did not break in the accident, there are signs of Inflammatory Arthritis of the Hip.  I have to say that the pain is not severe enough to warrant surgery or shots, so I have a long time before any invasive medical work.  Overall, the doctor said I was doing the correct things to make my hip last a lifetime.
The doctor did say something that I was suprised to hear.  Every time a hip ball is dislocated from the socket, there is a 10% chance of bone death.  I have to say Thank God!  I know for sure that my hip was dislocated well over ten times in the months that followed the accident.  Today, the bones look healthy and my exercise is actually helping.  I was very concerned that performing leg exercises like squats, leg press, and clean press would harm me.  But the doctor was very clear that as long as there are no sudden jerks or pounding as in running, jogging, or jumping, I was fine.  He did say that converting my walking routine to an Elliptical or NordicTrac machine would be better for me due to the smooth action of the machine.  Walking still has some pounding each time the foot hit the ground.
Anyone have advise on a good machine and how it works?

Off Days

Have you ever had an off day, a day where you couldn't get it done?  I just did and it sucked.  I barely got through half my cardio and a quarter of my workout; just plain pooped out.

I could blame it on several factors; lack of good sleep from a new position in my work life, a busy morning with my son's baseball activities, or a new supplement routine using Force Factor's latest stuff: Factor2.  Blame is not the issue I need to focus on right now; continuing on is important.  I can't let this one bad day or a bad week affect my future.  I have to continue on.

I spoke in an earlier blog of the need to have a goal that is outside of yourself for motivation.  This is the time when that external motivation is so important.  Off days can discourage you from continuing on, but the external reasons will help you get past the down time. 

I find it helpful to not let up on my routine, but to get right back into it.  So for now, Sunday is a new day and I will get back into it with the same workout I started today and finish it.  Why?  Because my wife needs a healthy husband to grow old with and my four boys need a active father to guide them through life.

DOMS. Do you have it?

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS.

DOMS is generally defined as the 2nd to 4th day muscle soreness caused by an extreme workout. My experience with DOMS has been more intense than the normal 1st day soreness. With any exercise routine, there is usually a bit of soreness the day-of or day-after as the muscles recover from the tearing caused by the physical strain. However, DOMS is different; at least that is what I have experienced over the last year due to the dramatic change in my routine since my shoulder injury.

Before I begin, I would like to go over a debate I have had with extreme lifters. Some guys tell me that the 2nd to 4th day soreness is actually "atrophy" or muscle wasting away. I never fully agreed with these guys, but had nothing to base my "gut feelings". Hence, I began my search for the reason of my 2nd to 4th day muscle soreness usually followed by an intense workout. Atrophy is not the answer, DOMS is the reason.

In the beginning, it was only with my legs that I would experience this intense short term soreness for several days after a workout. Many times after my "leg day" workout, I would have difficulty walking, sometimes preferring to crawl. This is the reason why I only do legs on Friday or Saturday. I started to ask around if others experienced the same thing and all agreed that legs are killer recovery cycle. The conclusion is that leg and butt muscles are so much larger than other groups, the soreness is much more intense. However, I noticed that I worked my legs differently than other muscle groups.

Prior to my shoulder injury in late 2010, I was content with working with heavy weights and low reps. The only difference I noticed is that I was more intense in my workout with my legs. Intensity for me is how much I squint my eyes and grit my teeth during the lift; for my legs, this was normal, but not the other groups. My routine worked well for me and physical changes were evident, yet I plateaued and decided to change my workout.

I dropped the weight by 10% to 20% on all my routines, but increased the reps to a max of 25 per set and no less than 15. If I could not do 15 reps, I decreased the weight more; if I could achieve more than 25 reps, I increased the weight. However, I leave the weight at a high enough level to where I was really straining to get the last reps out. We are talking about "eyes squeezed shut, teeth grinding, throat grunting, muscle aching" reps. No more "pansy" reps except for the free-weight bench-press for safety reasons (Google "USC football player injured benching") since I don't have a spotter. Being a responsible Trojan, I know better than to do something that could really hurt me. My high school age sons at times will spot me when they are available, but that's only on the weekends.

So the end result of my new routine is PAIN! We are talking about pain that Motrin or Aleve won't remove. The first week of my new routine was miserable, I had a terrible time trying to sleep at night. I visited my Chiropractor and he was able to take care of a horrendous torment in my left trap (trapezius) using electro-stimulation, but it took several weeks. I found that the pain would only go away for several hours after a workout.  Since I work each muscle group once a week, I would experience this pain for days on end. 

DOMS is the end result for those who really want to see dramatic results of their exercise. For me, I have to deal with it. No Pain, No Gain!  Since I have to work at a "real job" like most of us, we have to come up with ways to make our routine work for us. I can't spend all my time in the gym or at the Chiropractor.  What do you do?

Eating for the Holiday

Oh Man!  I ate way too much over Thanksgiving.  I gain ten (10) pounds!  That's crazy, until I read the charts.

Egg Nog 200 (empty) calories for 4 oz - I consumed at least a gallon on my own.
Pumpkin pie - so bad that they don't put information on it; expecting you know what you are getting yourself into.

It's like the motto of Max's Resturant.  "This is a good place for a diet, and a bad place for a diet."  If you are on a diet, don't complain about how tasty the food is; just eat and exercise more later, expecting you are on the road to "Fat-attude).

Big Changes : Sugar Burn Verses Fat Burn

OK, I've been quiet for over four months.  I have been experimenting with a major change in my workout.  I wanted to see if it would work before I said anything. At first, the change completely wiped me out, but now I'm feeling better about it. What's the change?  The process of my workout.

Over the last year, I have been reading that cardio should be done after your weight lifting.  It appears that the initial burn during your first 30 minutes of exercise is all sugar based.  The remainder of the workout is fat based.  The sugar burn is great for lifting as it gives you an added boost to help push through.  Cardio is mindless and can be performed without the sugar burn.

Well, last summer I tried it and I couldn't do it.  Going straight to weights was too much for me and I barely made it through my cardio after, OK, I didn't finish it.  Since last summer, I have been experimenting with this strategy and I think I finally found a good combination.  Cardio for ten minutes, weights for 30-40 minutes and then cardio for 45 minutes.

It appears that I need to get my body going first before I attempt any form of strength training.  So, I start by walking for a half mile, then jump into my weights and finish with the remainder of my cardio.  I have had good success (not great) with this strategy.  I'm still working out some kinks, but overall I'm pleased with my progress.

When I first started this, I was wiped out.  I would do my weights and my muscles fought with me the entire time I went into cardio.  It was brutal.  It still is brutal.  Yet, I have found that if I push though the first mile of cardio after my weights, my step and strength return to finish well.  I'm not sure, but I think that it's after the first mile that I start burning the fat. So what are the results?  I have improved strength, longer endurance and increased definition. 

One thing I should mention is that I recently changed my strength training program as well.  Last month, I have gone to a "max-out" routine.  Max out means that I keep lifting until I can't anymore for one complete circuit.  I don't mean they wimpy "Uh, that was hard" routine.  I'm talking about gritting your teeth, squinting your eyes, and forcing the sweat out of your pores type of lifting.  I allow myself 25 reps per routine.  If I reach 25 reps, I increase the weight.  I no longer go two complete circuits, but the results are looking good.

I will let you know what happens over the next month.  Right now, I am struggling with getting through my leg days.  After working on my legs with weights, I have difficulty walking and doing cardio after a leg workout has been a challenge.

If you try this routine in your own workout, expect to get some form of dizziness, the urge to barf, blurred vision and a deep desire to sleep.  That's what I experienced at first, but things have improved.  After three months, it's only on my legs days that I get these feelings.  I hope this will improved over time.

BMI of Body Builders

In looking for more information about the BMI of bodybuilders, I found a great site: http://www.true-natural-bodybuilding.com/bmi-bodybuilders.html created by Jos TN of True-Natural-Bodybuilding.com.  Jos has done a great deal of work tracking the history of body builders since the 1950's.  I highly recommend that you visit his website for more information.

I would like to point out that Jos charted the BMI of body builders over time and there is an interesting trend.  Take a look and make your own conclusion.

 
Notice the trend?  The BMI of body builders has increased substantially.  Jay Cultler, four time winner of IPBB Mr. Olympia, has a BMI of 40.5 at a weight of 273.  http://www.jaycutler.com/bio.php   Of course, Jay has enormous muscles which account for the weight.  But I thought the trend of all body builders over time was very interesting.  Jos has tracked many of the past competitors to create the chart.

What do you think?



 

BMI & Muscle Verses Fat

Since I started exercising and lifting weights three years ago, I have gained weight.  Yes, gained weight.  After the first six months of exercising, my weight dropped about twenty pounds and hovered for a year.  Then my weight started to climb and has seemed to plateau at an unhappy 300 pounds.  This has concerned me greatly.

I visit my doctor for checkups every three months and a continuing theme of concern is my weight.  He has always told me not to worry about my weight, but to keep doing what I was doing.  His point was that my health was improving even though my weight was increasing.  I pointed out that the BMI (Body Mass Index) puts me in the Obese category.  As shown below, the Average BMI squarely places me into a nasty place showing I should be under 200 pounds.  Not good!

My doctor informed me that the BMI does not take into a number of factors about a person and it is just a swag of the Caucasian section of the US population.  He pointed out that I have a long torso, short legs, and a larger than normal frame.  In addition, it did not take into account all of the measurement.  So I left satisfied with this information.


However, my medical insurance carrier recently started to judge me based upon BMI and gave me a low score.  I'm not sure if it affects my rates, but they must be doing something with it for why would they make me take this test.  As such, I dug further and found a different BMI chart for body builders which is below.

Compared to this new BMI, I am dead-on in all measurements, showing I'm about six pounds over-weight.  My Body Dimensions as of this morning are as follows: Neck 19.5”, Chest 55”, Bicep 21.5”, Forearm 15”, Wrist 8.5” Waist/Belly 48”, Hips 52”, Thigh 31.5”, Knees 17.5”, Calves 18.75”, Ankles 11".  The only areas where I need work is my waist and hips which I have been focusing upon.

In addition, we have to consider that muscle density is 1.06 g/ml and fat density is (about) 0.9 g/ml. Thus, one liter of muscle would weight 1.06 kg and one liter of fat would weight 0.9 kg.  In other words, fat takes up a lot more room than muscle and the BMI does not account for this fact.

So with that all discovered, if you are struggling because your BMI is showing you to be obese, don't worry, keep going and don't stop.   I'm going to contact my medical insurance carrier and set things straight.  And I'm going to continue my exercise and lose that remaining fat.