Track Your Routine

When I'm working out, I track what I'm doing on a post-it note.  It's easy and helps me to remember what to do.  After I'm done with my cardio, I pull one off and stick it to the wall of the garage cabinet.  With a pencil I put down the exercises that I'm supposed to do that day.  Below is an example.

1/18 Cardio 2.64 miles
Press Seat 210/10/10
   Lying 245/8/8  Incline 185/10/10
Curls Standing Bar 110/10/10  DB 55/8/8
   ISO 100/8/8  DB 55/10/10
Military Standing Bar 110/10/10
   Seated 135/10/10
Flys 135/10/10
Ab Blaster 25M/15M

This is a short way of tracking what I'm doing when I workout in a circuit format.  Normally, I find that after the first circuit, I'm so tired that I easily forget where I'm at and what needs to be completed.  In the example above, Press is Bench Press; Seat & Incline are on machine and Lying is Free Weight.  ISO is isolated bar and DB is using dumbbells.  The Ab Blaster ($40) is a killer on the stomach.  I like it as it doesn't hurt my back and it really works the stomach muscles like never before.  No amount of crunches or sit-ups can do what this dog does.  The M on the record is for "mixed" routine in which I focus on one side then the other.

All of this is placed into my excel report for long term tracking.  From there, I can see over the year what I have done, what patterns I develop, and what keeps me from not exercising.

Track Your Routine

One of the best things I have done for my exercise routine is tracking my results.  I created a spreadsheet to track everything exercise I do on a daily basis.  Below is a screen shot of the tracker.  If you want a copy of the spreadsheet, let me know and I will send you a copy in Excel format.

Muscle Soreness

I had a great workout yesterday and I'm really sore.  Being sore is part of exercise.  If you walk, your legs are going to hurt.  If you lift weights, the muscles you worked are going to be sore.  Soreness is from the microtears in the muscle and that is how muscle strength and growth are achieved.  So, don't let the soreness discourage you from exercise; just accept it as part of the plan. 

However, learn the difference between soreness and pain.  Pain is an indication that something is wrong.  Pain will be sharp, soreness is dull.  Listen to your body, it will tell you if whether what you are doing is right or wrong.  If needed, modify your exercise to remove pain.  When I first started walking, I would use the street I live on as a track.  In the beginning, I would get the normal legs aches from walking.  However, after six months, I noticed that my ankles would hurt much more during and after the walk. 

I theorized that the crown of the street was causing me to walk in an uneven manner causing my body to favor one side over the other and my ankles were paying the price.  So I switched up my routine and now walk two laps in one direction and two laps in the other direction and so on.  The pain has gone and I have an added benefits of not having to count my laps, just two this way and two that way. 

My suggestion is that if you are experiencing pain, try to understand what is causing the pain and seek to find a resolution to the pain.  Pain is your body yelling for help.  Soreness is your body saying that was good, but no more for today. 

Carbo Loading

If you sense in your workout that you feel drained, I suggest you test out carbo loading in your routine.  I mean Pasta! Oy!

I hit a wall some time ago and nothing was working for me.  In my routine, I do 35-45 minutes of cardio prior to lifting weights.  I just felt that I had to push through and keep going.  My weight lifting routine is circuit based and by the time I got to my second circuit, I was done.  I really had to push hard to finish my last circuit. 

My lovely wife happened to serve pasta the next night and when I went to workout the following day, Oh my, I had gusto again.  I put two & two together and found out that pasta does help the night before a hard work out.  Check it out and see if it works for you.  But don't over do it, make sure you only carbo load the night prior to a good workout.

Rest

Knowing when to rest is key to exercise.  Remember this, your muscles grow and gain strength only when you are resting.  The exercise time is when the muscles are tearing, so you must rest.

When I first started this adventure, I exercised six (6) days a week.  When Sunday came around, I was done, but come Monday, I got back into it.  I was a mad man, completely gonzo with my new found lack of pain in my hip.  As far as I was concerned, I was given a new lease on life without pain and by golly I was going for it. However, after six months I stopped seeing gains; I plateaued. 

I took a week off to just relax and go on vacation with my family, maybe it was more.  When I returned, the first couple of days were tough, but I noticed that I felt stronger and lighter on my feet.  That's when I started coming to the conclusion of the need for rest.  Now, my schedule is four days of rest from weight lifting each week, but I still work cardio five or six days a week.

Try getting some rest each week from weight training, but keep the cardio up.

Supplements

It’s time to discuss supplements. Are you taking a daily vitamin? You should, but please keep in mind they are only “supplements”, not replacements for proper eating.

Vitamins and other supplements are to provide your body the needed stuff that your body is not getting from what you eat. Let me be clear on something, you can not stuff your body with vitamins and then eat Oreo’s all day and expect to gain any ground on being healthy. There has to be a balance.

During the normal course of any exercise, your muscles will start to ache. A vitamin supplement will help your muscles during the change process. I personally take L-Glutamine to lessen the aching associated with exercise. In addition, you may experience “middle of the night” leg cramps. I was working on my stomach muscles so hard that I would get intense stomach muscle cramps in the middle of the day. Ouch! To overcome these cramps, I started eating two bananas a day and upped my dose of L-Glutamine on the days I work on my stomach. I also take Tonalin CLA which helps in removal of fat, especially around the belly. I’ve lost the top 2 inches of belly fat from my chest down. A small improvement for two years, but encouraging none the less.

In a previous blog, I mentioned my hip injury and associated pain. At the advice of a friend, I started taking Glucosamine/Chondroitin with MSM which is a cartilage rebuilder. What a life saver! After several weeks of taking this stuff, my hip pain disappeared and I was free to start exercising.

These are some of the things you need to consider as you start to make exercise a regular part of your life. Again, remember, you are not going to change overnight; even a year is unrealistic if you are obese. Give yourself time and keep yourself from injury so you can exercise the next day.

Suppliments

Medical

If you are near or over the age of 35, you need to go to the doctor and get a complete physical.  Inform the doctor that you are interested in a baseline physical.  A baseline is a starting point, a place of reference of your health as it stands today.

I know, being a man myself, that men are adverse to seeing doctors.  Please go, it is the best thing you can do, even if you don't trust doctors.  And if you adhere to the philosphy of "ignorance is bliss", in this case, what you don't know can hurt you; especially when you start to exercise.  Going to the doctor is the best thing for you at this time since they can check the overall condition of you internal body functions. 

My doctor is an Internal Medical Doctor and he is great.  On my first visit, I was completely on the defensive and it must have shown.  However, he had me have blood drawn for a full lab checkup and collect a stool sample, yes checking your poop.  The blood work will point out items on how your internal organs are working and your poop for proper bateria, cancer and any excessive bleeding.  Oh yea, you should be aware, this is for guys, you should have a "complete physical" including the old finger up the yahoo!  A vital  part for checking the health of your blow hole.  Believe me that colon cancer is not something you want to have.  Research information on the late President Ronald Regan.

The only reason why I'm am so firm on seeing a doctor is that I had hypertension and didn't even know it.  Hypertension is called the silent killer.  Most people who have it don't know it and then one day BOOM a heart attack.  A heart attack is a major bummer as a portion of your heart dies and it doesn't grow back like a lizard's tail.  Once it's gone, you have just passed the point of no return and your ability to exercise has greatly diminished. 

Granted, nobody likes bad news, but most medical issues like hypertension can be treated.  Once under control with diet and medicine, you will be able to exercise and not be hampered by a ticking time bomb. 
Please call and see the doctor this week.  Don't put it off.  You have taken the first step to better health by choosing to exercise.  Take the next step.

Get back in the game

Stretching

I must confess that if there is one thing I don't like about exercise, it's stretching.  I loath it.  When I was a student of martial arts, I hated the first 30 minutes of each training session at the dojo.  It hurt so much that I would start sweating bullets.  Yet it kept me from serious injury (anything to do with martial arts will lead to injury, lol.)

However, knowing the benefit of proper stretching, I have adapted.  Stretching will help you prepare for your exercise and your day even if you don't exercise.  I make it a habit to put lotion on my legs prior to my cardio workout each day.  This forces me to stretch my legs and back.  As I'm walking around, I will stretch out my arms.  Not really a methodical way of stretching, but it works.

The injuries I have endured over the last two years have been minor compared to some that can put you out for weeks at a time.  A sore shoulder or elbow, a sprained wrist or ankle; these are acceptable.  However a torn tendor or broken bone is an injury that can keep you out of the game for a long time, and may ruin your entire exercise program all together.

The overarching theme of exercise are these:
1. Safety First - Safety of yourself & Safety of others!
2. Technical Accuracy - Do the exercise correctly and you will avoid injury!  Avoid heavy lifting!
3. Exercise Today in such a way that you will be able to exercise tomorrow.  Don't overdo it!
4. Know yourself!  You know your body better than anyone.  Be reserved in your exercise.  We are on the road for a LONG-HAUL operation.

Exercise is something that will be with you for a very long time.  Give yourself ample time to achieve your goals.  It took me just under two years to fix my health problems.  That's great since I gave myself three years!  I acheived my health goal and I'm able to move forward with other goals.

Be patient and start slow.  In six months, you will start to notice positive changes in your body, health, mind, and spirit.

Why Exercise?

I found that there has to be a compelling reason why we need to exercise. The reason has to be outside of ourselves. Reasons like "I want to lose weight", "I want to feel better", "I want to look better", or "I need to for health reasons" are not strong enough. You need to look outside of your position and find a reason that will carry you through your tough days.

For me, my health was deteriorating; High Blood Pressure (Hypertension), High Cholesterol, Weight Gain, Sluggishness, Skin Cancer, Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS), and Sleep Apnea. I was a train wreak waiting to happen. So my reason had to be something that was stronger than my own will.

Now, I believe that all people are comprised of Body, Mind, and Spirit (soul). We are going to be working on the body part, but we have to remember the other two. Our minds have to be challenged and conditioned to keep going; this can be accomplished in a number of ways which we will tackle in a later blog. Our spirit has to be alive and working in order to complete our lives. You can check out http://whatisbibletruth.blogspot.com to help on the spiritual stuff.

My reason for exercise was my relationship to God, my wife and my kids. The Bible tells me that my “body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in me, whom I have from God and I am not my own.” (1 Corinthians 6:19) I am also told that I am here on this earth for a purpose and that God has a plan for my life.

Philippians 1:21-24 states "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.  For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better (for me).  Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you."

I firmly believe that we are all here for a purpose and that nothing is a coincidence.  We are all here for a special reason.  My life here on earth is to FIRST do what God wants me to do.  Well, how do I know what that is?  The Bible tells me what God wants of my life.  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 tells me to "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  SECOND, my life here is to love my wife.  This one is more of a challenge.  Ephesians 5:25 informs me that I am to love my wife just as "Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for it."  That is tough since Jesus died on a cross for the church, but I will try.  THIRD, I am here for my kids.  1 Timothy 5:8 states "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."  LASTLY, I am here for anyone else who may benefit from my existance.  So there you have it,  long and detailed, but it carries me through those days when I don't "feel" like exercising or when the pain is too much to bear.  The above lists the motivation for my exercise, but why do I exercise?
 
I exercise so I can be healthy and more physically fit to fulfill the above items.  If I die early or young because of an unhealthy life, I'm blessed because I go to heaven, but those here on earth are not blessed from God's work in and through my life.  If I'm healthy, I am more ready to do what God wants me to do, I am strengthened to love my wife when I don't "feel" like it, I'm here to help my kids grow up to be productive members of world, and I'm here to bless you.
 
Find your reason why you want to exercise and let me know what it is.

Excercise for a fat man

No offense to anyone who is fat, obese, bulging, muffin top, or just plain enjoyed life via eating and relaxation. 

Now is the time to get back to a somewhat healthy lifestyle.  I'm not talking about looking like the latest Hollywood model, but getting healthy for a better quality of life.

I'm fat myself.  My story starts over 20 years ago when through some stupid actions on my part, I crashed a motorcycle.  When metal meets bone, metal always wins!  The resulting damage to my body left me in a state that was geared toward getting fat.  The footpeg of the motorcycle slammed directly into my right ankle and my left hip took the full brunt of the blow.  The socket of my left hip exploded and my hip ball headed for the sky.  The only thing stopping my hip from going compound in fracture were some baseball shorts that kept everything inside my body.

The first 10 years were horrible after the accident; pain was present everyday.  I'm talking about the kind of pain that forces you to hold your breath.  The doctors informed me that my days of exercising were over; hence the belly began to grow.  I reached 285 pounds for a 6 foot man.  My health detoriated each day.

I tried to start walking every so often, but each time after about three days the pain in my hip would keep me from sleeping at night.  I tried to use Tylenol and Motrin to ease the pain.  Yet, doing normal tasks like going to the bathroom and getting off the seat, bending over to pick up the dropped bar of soap in the shower, or trying to enjoy the love of my wife were unbearable.

This blog is for those men and women who are fat for whatever reason.  Please share your story with me.  My goal for this blog is to help you with how I have started on the road to recovery of a healthly life.  I still have a belly, but my health has improved dramatically.  For two years now, I have been exercising pain free and want to share the routines that have helped me to get healthy.