Evolution of a lifter - III

So, in the last "Lifter" post I was transitioning from bodyweight exercises to using weights.

My new inspiration was The New Rules of Lifting by Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove:

 The authors don't claim any of this is really new, but that a lot of popular training articles and programs have deluded people.  In a nutshell, here are the "new rules" without giving you the actual "new rules" since there are at least 19.

1. Focus on large muscle groups - (ie. chest/shoulders, back, quads, glute/hamstrings) these programs have VERY few curls or tricep exercises.  The theory is that when you do any sort of upper-body press, your triceps HAVE TO work hard.  When you do any pull/chin up or row, your biceps HAVE TO work hard.

2. Focus on exercises that imitate (relatively) "natural" movements: push - pull - squat - bend - lunge etc. 

3. Weights are tools to help achieve fitness goals and machines are relatively ineffective tools.

Use dumbells and barbells and occasionally a cable station or exercise ball.

4. Strength is the foundation of all movement.

5.  You should set a personal record every workout.

6. A workout is as good as the adaptation it forces upon your body.  Incidentally, this is why resistance training is better than "cardio" for fat-loss.  You body adapts to it more slowly and it increases your metabolism WAY more than "cardio." 

7.  Warm-up, but don't stretch, before your workout.

I love these principles and I enjoyed these workouts and made progress, but the workouts were still just a bit too long for a grad student with a wife and a baby whose demands seemed so disproportionate to his size.

The missing piece I needed at the time was a workout system called Escalating Density Training (EDT).  The program is described in basic form in several places online and was published in the book Muscle Logic by this guy, Charles Staley, and boasted, "Cut your workout time in half, with better results." This may be an exaggeration, but it did cut my workout time down. I did get better results and I loved the way this system makes you compete with yourself successfully and have continual progress.

Here's EDT in short.  When I do EDT, I also have the "new rules" in mind.  This seems complex at first because it is counter-intuitive, but when you get into it, it is amazingly simple.

1. Pick the exercises you want to do for your large muscle groups.

2. Put them in "antagonistic pairings" or roughly opposite exercises.  Example are bench/row, lower-body push/upper-body pull.  You will do these exercises back-to-back in what is called a "superset" moving back and forth between them.

3. Each pair, or superset also indicates a 15 minute "personal record" or PR zone.

4. Use your 10 rep max for each exercise (this can vary depending on your goals).

5. Structure your workouts based on these pairs but, you will NOT perform any exercise to failure.  You should always feel like you could perform at least one more rep on all but maybe the last set of a PR Zone.  

6. Start each set doing HALF of your rep max, moving the weight as fast as possible for each rep and moving back and forth between exercises with as little rest as possible between sets.  Decrease reps-per-set and/or increase rest periods as you fatigue.  Aim for around 45 reps per exercise, but the program is self-correcting BECAUSE....

7. If you beat your previous record by 20%, you increase the weight by 5% or 5lbs., whichever is less, and keep going!

NOTE: Even though the weights and reps are not maximal, moving them as fast as possible means you exert maximal FORCE for each rep.  (Ex. You may exert 140lbs of pressure to move a 100lb weight as fast as you can).

Here's what your workouts might look like then:

Monday:

PR Zone 1-

Squat/Pullup

PR Zone 2- 

Bench/Row

Wednesday:

PR Zone 1-

Deadlift - doesn't really need a pair

PR Zone 2-

Lunge/Military Press

Friday - repeat Monday and then repeat Wednesday the next Monday etc.

I've never done this exact workout, but its not bad.  If you did a 3-5 minute warm-up and rested 3-5 minutes between PR Zones, you'd be in and out of the weight-room, or your basement, in around 40 minutes or less.  If you need shorter workouts, do slightly shorter PR Zones.  I think people could make progress with as little as 10 minute zones though you might want to start out doing 6-7 instead of 5 reps.

I'm doing some other things now that mix up a bunch of these principles with some other things I've learned, but these are the basic building blocks.  My pastor recently preached on taking care of ourselves, so maybe this will help someone do that...

My advice to everyone is to do the exercise you enjoy.  Play, run, lift, jump, march, whatever.  But if you DON'T like what you are currently doing, try something else!

I haven't even talked about nutrition, but I have gained 25-30 pounds since I got back into lifting and I don't think my body-fat percentage has increase much at all.  People might ask, "what about cardio-vascular health?" and even though I only run about once a year, I went out and ran 5 miles with a running friend a few weeks ago and felt pretty good!

So, if you're into working out, let me know what you've learned or found helpful!  I'm always trying to learn new things.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask...  

Evolution of a Lifter - II

My friend Bob Gorinski ("So Whattya Think Robert?"- see my links) posted a great blog on weight-training not too long ago.  Bob blogs on life, faith, family and sometimes lifting.  He is a SICK athlete,a thoughtful Christian and a great dad.  He's also a great PT and he blogged about the toll that lifting takes even as he hit an incredible personal best in the squat.  Anyone considering PX90 or whatever it is, should see his review of that program.  

Yes, there is a masochist element to most of us who like exercising whether we are runners or lifters or whatever...  But, I think there are ways to at least maximize our pain to payoff ratio, and one major way to do that is to maximize time.

Once upon a time, I would work out for an hour or more and I know lots of runners and others who exercise for long stretches even though they don't enjoy it because they think they have to in order to reach their goals.  Here's how it went for me...

When I worked out with my dad in the basement we did a few sets of a few exercises (mostly upper-body) with repititions like this - 12, 10, 7, 5.  Not a bad way to go.  When these sets got easier, we added weight.

Somewhere along the way I got Bill Pearl's Getting Stronger which is a great book in its own right with workouts for beginners and up, bodybuilders and every imaginable sport.

The problem with the book is mostly that Pearl is a bodybuilder.  He thinks in terms of individual muscles and individual exercises to target those muscles.  In the end then, the training is less functional and you end up doing a LOT of different exercises in a workout.  

I used to follow programs like this and I would do exercises aimed at "isolating" the muscles I wanted to work.  When you think this way, you have to do a LOT of exercises.  That takes a LOT of time.  You also end up treating all muscles equally.  You spend just as much time on your biceps, which are a very small proportion of your body, as you do on your hamstrings, which are much larger.

I enjoyed these workouts and made some progress, but they just took too long!

Then I entered grad school and had a 2-3 year hiatus from working out.  When I decided I needed to get back into it, I had no equipment and I had no intention of joining a gym.

SO, I go into bodyweight exercises, push-ups, pull-ups, bodyweight squats and crazy variations of all three.  It was really fun and, coming back from a "keyboard-only" workout regimen, I made a lot of progress.  I still like the simplicity of bodyweight workouts.  A person can get incredibly fit without ever picking up a "weight."  One great resource for this kind of thing is this primitively published manual by Ross Enamait.

My only real criticism of this book is that Enamait uses a LOT of equipment in some of his workouts, even if the equipment isn't weights.  But its still a great book, with a ton of great information as well as exercise ideas to get your creative juices flowing.  You really could be "Never Gymless" although I don't know how anybody could go without a good pull-up bar or branch or fire escape or something.

Still, there is something about lifting heavy stuff.  It is hard to chart your progress on raw strength doing bodyweight exercises.  I mean, its awesome when someone can do 100 pushups, but it takes a lot of determination to decide you're going to do 1 arm push-ups and I never got there.  Maybe someday.  Anyway, I cruised craigslist, found a weight set I wanted and made a low-ball offer.  $90 got me 2 Olympic bars, a bench/squat rack set-up and about 380lbs of plates.  I also reclaimed some weights I bought in high school that my dad wasn't using (he's still using a LOT) and he threw in a couple dumbells.  It was time to hit the iron again...

More on that in a future post.

Motorcycle Diary

This weekend I decided to ride the motorcycle down to Norfolk, where Beth and the kids are visiting with Grandma and Grandpa Crabtree. The "bike" gets 50 miles to the gallon, leaves when I want to leave, and (ideally) gets there in 6 hours, so it beat out the bus and train options by around $40-70 and 3-4 hours each way.
I got rained on a bit on the way down but the first 5 hours were cool. Hour six? My butt was killing me. This bike is a single cylinder 650, which means it vibrates quite a bit, and not a big comfy cruising bike in any case.
On the way back I decided to take a slightly different route. It was more "direct" but off the interstate. And it was raining again but about 15 degrees colder.
An hour and a half into my trip the bike started to "stutter" and backfire. Uh-oh.
"Please just let me get to a gas station."
Nope. It got bad enough that I pulled over and turned it off and tried to look the bike over.
Two small pieces of info:
1. I'm not mechanical. I tried reading "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" one time and I thought the writer was jerk.
2. Beth and I are sharing a cell-phone right now and it was her turn.

So, I'm broken down on the side of the road, in intermittent rain, in approximately the middle of nowhere, without a phone. So I pray, "Okay God, let's see how you're going to work this one out."

You know what? People don't stop anymore. I'm sure part of it is the whole "biker" thing, but there's something else. Since "everyone" has a cell phone, a person on the side of the road is probably just waiting for their.... whatever they called for.

I decided that the best case scenario was someone in a truck or pulling an empty trailer who would be willing to take me and my bike to the nearest bike shop, where I would sit all day (and hopefully not into the next day) until they got me fixed up and going.
I wanted to maintain my dignity though so my strategy became sitting sideways on my bike facing the road (12 inches from my boots) and waving casually whenever a likely truck drove by.
After about 30-40 minutes of this, a truck turned around and pulled in behind me and a young guy about 21 years old leaned out and asked if he could give me a ride somewhere.

I told him my situation and he offered to drive me up to the nearest gas station, which was better than the side of the road so...
It turned out he had a friend who worked at a cycle shop and he got his friend on the phone. The shop was closed but his friend said he'd drive out and take a look at the bike saying "We can't just leave you stranded."

After running a a quick errand with my new friend we met back at the bike. His friend was there, fiddled around with it, tightened one screw and it was fixed. I offered to buy them lunch but they turned me down casually, smiled at my gratitude and drove away.

Thanks Luke and Paul!

"For I was a stranger" and you cared for me.

The Nature of Our Beliefs

Beth and I watched 2 movies this weekend. On Friday night we watched Religulous, with comedian Bill Maher. Maher is an atheist, raised Catholic but has a Jewish mother. The goal of the movie is to show how religion (or religious beliefs) are ridiculous and dangerous. I think most religious people would find it (and Maher) very offensive for his language and sexual references but anyone might be offended by Maher's total lack of respect for many people he interviewed.

On Saturday night we watched EXPELLED, with comedian Ben Stein, who is a Jewish theist (I don't know if he is "practicing" or not). The goal of this movie is to show how atheistic Darwinism has squelched free inquiry and operates today from a premise about the origin of life that is unprovable. I think most theists will want to cheer.

Neither movie attempts to be unbiased, but here is one fascinating aspect. Both men relate passionately to the suffering of the Holocaust and each places the primary blame on the other's side. So, Maher says it was a religious atrocity, or at least religious believers were the ones committing the majority of atrocious acts. Stein says that Darwinism was the underlying and driving theoretical basis of the Holocaust.

Both men seem right about the Holocaust which in part confirmed for me, a belief I've had for several years.

Here it is: I believe that most people believe what they WANT to believe.

This statement is circular. I can't even begin to prove it, and it applies equally to the belief I just stated and to me as much as anyone else. We all could cite examples that appear to contradict this, but I believe that the exceptions prove the rule.

SO… let me explain.

1. Most people do not have the time to really pursue the answers to most questions to great depth. This is true even for intellectual people who like to read and even for experts in one field who don’t have time to really become experts in another field.

2. Most people rely for their answers on human authorities who DO have the time to research their questions; "experts" that we come to trust. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, but reading a book by an expert makes us feel like experts, even if the book was only written by someone who read other experts’ books instead of doing their own research.

3. Most of these experts started the same way we do and ultimately came to their conclusions because they already had a position that they had arrived at through the influence of someone who was an expert first; a “professor” so-to-speak.

4. In choosing reliable human authorities, we usually gravitate towards those who confirm what we already believe, unless we are somehow dis-satisfied with our current beliefs, then we gravitate towards those who (like us) might be critical of our current beliefs. That doesn’t mean that the arguments aren’t rational but that we probably start with some sort of commitment (we could say “faith”) before we have our good arguments. Religious dogma or scientific method, it doesn’t matter.

“You cannot criticize any claim to truth except on the basis of a truth that you claim, and with respect to which you suspend criticism.” Lesslie Newbigin

5. There are BRILLIANT people on both sides of most issues: A/theism. Creation/Evolution. Biblical Truth/Historical Criticism. Republican/Democrat. War/Peace. Homosexual Marriage/NO Homosexual Marriage. GrantCitizenship/Deport-&-Build-a-Wall. Jet Li/Bruce Lee. Half-full/Half-empty. Haveyourcake/Eatittoo.

6. Since we can’t really research both sides to the necessary depth, we have to settle down with belief of some expert; probably the one we agreed with at the start. Maybe we forge a half-way-between belief or agnosticism about the issue, but it doesn't really matter.

7. The belief we settle on is the one that is most APPEALING to us, at that point in time and the appeal of the belief is NOT the result of our own cogent reasoning or research.

8.It most likely has to do with perceived self-interest of some kind. In other words, its about what I want deep down. This want might be subconscious, it might be a matter of connection or distance (ie. I want to feel that I am a part of my: family, nation, party, church, social group OR I want to distance myself from these), it might be sexual (I want the belief that allows me the most freedom), or it might be financially motivated. That doesn't mean that the position is irrational. Wanting our view of the world to remain intact, is rational. So is wanting to change our life if it's unpleasant. However, in all of these cases the prime motivator for belief is not a commitment to reason, facts or certainty (which may be over-rated anyway).

9. We may believe that we believe something because of a real experience that we have had, but why did we interpret our experience in such a way that it confirmed or refuted a particular belief? For instance, I believe that the spirit of God can reveal things to people. I have had experiences to confirm my belief in God, but my belief in God preceded the experience and shaped my interpretation. Again, that’s not bad. That’s just the way it is, 99+% of the time; even for experts and scholars and comedians. People may claim to have undeniable experiences, but I wager that undeniability has as much to do with desire as reason. Even in the Bible, people who have direct encounters with God, doubt.

10. Nonetheless, some things are true and others are not. Conversions and paradigm changes do happen, for good or for ill. Some experts and comedians are right. Others are wrong. Therefore, so are we. That’s why we have to be careful! I believe in believing, and reading and even arguing and advocating. But if I’m right, then the crucial question isn’t: “How do I know my belief is right?” but, “How do I know if my wants are right?”

What do you believe? More importantly: What do you want to believe? And most importantly: why?

MEN (MANLY MEN)

I am honored to have a couple essays about experiences of manhood published at the online magazine catapult.  If you're interested in reading them, you can follow the link.  Having someone else think that my writing and/or what I have to say is good enough to be online somewhere other than my own blog is a very validating experience. 

Responsible Citizenship

So after ranting and raving for several posts, you may be wondering why I don't "love it or leave it." This passage from Jeremiah seems to me to contain the most Godly wisdom for any people of faith, wherever we find ourselves.

Jeremiah 29

⁴ This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵ "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. ⁶ Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. ⁷ Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

Seek the peace - the word is "shalom" meaning health and wholeness more than the absence of conflict. One of our conflicts nationally involves different visions of what health and wholeness look like.  Be that as it may, seek the vision of a better world as you see it.  There is no mandate to rule Babylon, but be responsible in it and take some responsibility for it all the same.

Proud to be an American?

"Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you." Philippians 3:17

What is this example and pattern and what does it have to do with our national pride?

The Example

Philippians 2

⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 
 ⁶Who, being in very nature God, 
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 
 ⁷but made himself nothing, 
      taking the very nature of a servant, 
      being made in human likeness. 
 ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, 
      he humbled himself 
      and became obedient to death— 
         even death on a cross! 

Christ is here put forward as the prime example.  If there is a pattern, we should see this example repeated in Paul's own attitude.

The Pattern

Philippians 3

"If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.  ⁷But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ, ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."

So the pattern is one of rejecting status that could reasonably result in pride, disregarding that status.  In Paul's case it is national, tribal, religious and legal status.

The Philippians would have had status as citizens of a prosperous Roman colony, Rome being the greatest empire to date.  They are being asked to follow the example of Christ in the pattern established by Paul.

If we were to follow this example and pattern, what would it look like?  What marks of pride and status would Christians in the U.S. today be asked to regard as rubbish in order to move more fully into our identity in Christ?