Primal Blueprint - Month 1

It’s been a month now since I started experimenting with Mark Sisson’s The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram Your Genes for Effortless Weight Loss, Vibrant Health, and Boundless Energy
and I’m beginning to notice some definite changes.

Cravings

I never realized how much I craved sweets and carbs until I tried to go a few weeks without them.  Wow!  I’ve always though that smokers are weak because they are unable to stop smoking but here I am unable to stop eating candy.  It’s quite literally a compulsion to eat and it’s very difficult to overcome.  Sure, some of you may say, “I can stop eating junk food and chocolate anytime I want.”  Yes, I thought so too but the truth is that it’s a lot harder than you think.

It’s quite clear to me now that my body became addicted to cheap, easy calories in the form of sweets and refined carbohydrates and that addiction proved just as hard to kick as caffeine.  I’m making great progress but it still amazes me how habit forming sugars and carbs are.  No wonder the food industry likes to stuff us full of them, the more we get the more we want.

On The Other Side…

I now realize just how satisfying a good meal can be when you’re not craving carbs.  Here’s my food intake from yesterday.

• Breakfast - A bunch of blueberries and a peach.
• Lunch - Stir fried vegetables with three scrambled eggs.
• Dinner - Chopped salad and a portion of organic beef about the size of a hamburger patty.
• Snacks - A few almonds and figs.

That’s it.  That’s all I ate.  Note that I’m still getting plenty of carbs in the form of fruits and vegetables, I’ve just cut out the junk carbs.  I also haven’t gone insane with the protein intake and converted all my meals to different versions of bacon wrapped steaks.  Instead, I’m eating a nicely balanced diet of fresh ingredients.  End result? I felt great.  Even though this was actually a small amount of calories, I felt amazingly full and had no cravings for more food later on.

Aches and Pains

The aches in my legs have gone away.  I used to have regular pains in my hips and thighs which made it difficult for me to sleep.  Once I stopped jogging, the pains quickly went away and my sleep has never been better (except for last night when my overly rambunctious puppy decided to chase a moth around my bedroom).  At the same time, I’ve actually increased my weight and elliptical workouts so I don’t feel like I’m doing less exercise.  I’m also biking more although I’m still not hiking as much as I would like to.

Problems, Problems, Problems

The only problem I’m experiencing is around food.  I’m still having issues sticking to the Primal Blueprint eating plan for two reasons:

1. It’s not restaurant friendly and a lot of my social life revolves around eating out.
2. I’m not a good cook at home which means most of my meals are variations of stir fries, omelets and salads.

Actually, I suppose this is one problem and not two.  Namely, I severely overestimated my ability to find foods which match my eating plan.  Which is part of the reason I posted my five things to consider before jumping into a new eating plan last week.

I suppose this is what I’ll work on this week, finding new restaurants and new recipes to work on.

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And a big thank you to my friends, you know who you are, who support me even when it’s the middle of the night.

Speed Workout

Like many of you, I often find myself with little time, space or gear for a real workout.  I’m stuck in a hotel room or at home.  It’s night and I don’t want to go out plus it may be cold or raining and I have no desire to go to the gym.  Still, you want to work out, you want to feel like you moved your body.  You want a good resistance workout plus something that will get your heart racing like a set of sprints.  Still, No weights?  No treadmill?  No problem!  Here’s my speed workout for those interested in maximizing their use of time and space.

The Disclaimer

Note - All of these exercises are done as fast as possible.  We’re talking pushing yourself to the max here, no rest in between and no slowing down between sets.  Also, most of these sets (unless a number is specified) are done to break point.  That means you keep doing them until you can’t do a single more rep.

If you have any kind of medical problems, this may not be the workout for you so please consult with a doctor before you try something strenuous like this.

The Workout

• Pushups - Do as many as you can as fast as you can.
• Lunges - Again, as many as you can and fast.  Be careful on this to maintain good form but keep going as fast as possible.
• Sit ups - There are a variety you can do here.  My favorites are the standard ab curls but feel free to substitute your favorite here.

30 second break

• 50 jumping jacks
• 20 dead lifts

60 second break

START OVER!

You’ve just done one “circuit”.  Guess what, now you do another!  Keep doing circuits, each time doing the push ups, lunges and sit ups to the point of failure.  Keep going and don’t let up on the speed.  Each of these circuits will likely take you around 4 to 7 minutes depending on how many reps you can do.  Try to do 5 circuits of the whole thing.  That means 20 to 35 minutes of all out exercise which will get your heart pounding and your muscles aching.  That’s it, that’s all there is to this speed workout.

Details Details

If you look at the exercises, you’ll see that they work out all the major muscle groups from legs to chest and everything in between.  Since you’re doing all these to failure, you’re going to give your muscles a good workout.  At the same time, you’re going to get a kickass cardio workout because you’re going fast.  By the end of the second circuit (or even the first), your heart will be pounding!  Again, don’t over do things and hurt yourself.  I don’t want any 60 in 3 readers getting heart attacks as they workout :)  Know your own limits and stay below them.  However, done right, this workout is a great little combo of resistance and sprints which will leave you exhausted in a good way.

Reader Q&A - How Often Should I Work Out?

This question came from someone who wished to remain unnamed, but it’s definitely an interesting one.  How often should you work out?

The answer depends on your lifestyle.  Are you an active person by nature?  Do you go out to play soccer every Friday afternoon like a good friend of mine?  Do you hike every Sunday morning?  Do you bike to work every day?  All of these things count as physical activity which you are trying to replicate when you work out.

In general, I would recommend that you get a serious resistance workout 3 to 4 times a week.  A resistance workout is something that challenges your muscles.  It could be rock climbing or it could be lifting weights, but it needs to really strain you to the point where your muscles ache and you feel tired, but not out of breath.

I would also recommend a good two or three sessions a week where you challenge your whole body and especially your cardiovascular system.  In other words, exercise which gets you out of breath.  This could be soccer, sprints, fast paced dancing, uphill hiking or anything else that gets your heart rate pumping.

Otherwise, just maintain an active lifestyle with plenty of walking and moving around.

Rage Against The Dying Of The Light!

A few years ago I was hiking with a coworker in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  We were doing a 21 mile trail with lots of uphills.  Here we were, two guys in our youth, filled with life and vigor.  We enjoyed every moment of that day with its incredible views and strenuous walking.  Right in the middle of our hike we encountered a man who seemed way too old to be doing this trail.  We walked with him for a while and shared some hiking stories.  Turns out, this man was 80+ years old.  He was walking the same trail we were, climbing the same uphills we were.  We were on track to finish this trail in 7 hours, he was going to take 9, but he was having the time of his life.

I want to be that man when I grow older, I want to live life to the fullest and never give up.

A Bit Of Poetry

There’s a poem by Dylan Thomas called “Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night”.  It goes something like this:

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

It’s one of my favorites and the last two lines have been an inspiration to me on numerous occasions.  To me, rage against the dying of the light means don’t accept your fate.  Fight on, even when fighting seems pointless.  Even if you know the end is near, even if you know your time is past, keep fighting.  Grab life and don’t let go.  Refuse to accept your fate, refuse to go gently into the good night.

Refuse to accept that you’re too old for exercise, refuse to accept that an 80 year old shouldn’t be hiking the Santa Cruz Mountains, refuse to accept that it’s too late to be healthy, refuse to accept that you’re 40 and you will never look like you did when you were 20, refuse to accept that you’re a mother now and mothers can’t look sexy, refuse to accept that you’re sick or that you’re going to die.  As long as you’re alive, as long as you woke up this morning, then there’s a chance.  You can always turn your life around, just as long as you haven’t given up yet.  Even when everything seems hopeless, even when the end seems near, it’s still worth it to keep fighting.

Think about those words the next time you resign yourself to your fate.  Think how gently you’re going into that good night the next time you sit on the couch and remember your glory days.  Are you raging against the dying of the light or have you become resigned to your fate?  Are you fighting on or have you given up?  Believe me, I know how easy it is to give in, I know how tempting it is to just sit down and stop fighting.

Why?

Why keep going?  Why try to stay young?  Why try to stay in shape?  Why try to be healthy?  I’m not young anymore, why not just accept that?  Why not give in to inertia and entropy?  Why not let things go and go gently into that good night?  I know that feeling, I know how easy it is to give in.  I almost did that myself a few years ago, but I’m here to tell you that there are things worth fighting for.  Life is worth fighting for and your body is the thing that sustains your life.  Take care of it or you’ll find yourself going into that good night a lot earlier than you expected.

So rage against the dying of the light.  Keep fighting even if the end seems near.  That 80 year old man on the trail isn’t going gently into that good night and neither should you.

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Ironically, I first heard Dylan Thomas’ poem in a Rodney Dangerfield movie entitled Back To School.  Odd how we find the classics.  Rest in peace Rodney, I hope you’re getting more respect these days

Great Abs Workout

Disclaimer

• This abs workout is NOT guaranteed to get you six pack abs.
• This abs workout is NOT guaranteed to trim inches off your waistline.
• This abs workout is NOT guaranteed to take two sizes off your jeans within the next week

All of these things have more to do with weight loss than they do with an abs workout.  If you want to lose weight, lose inches and show more muscle definition, you need to lose weight, and that’s all about eating right and being more physically active.

What this workout is designed to do is to strengthen 50% of your core, by which I mean your abdominal muscles.  The other 50% is your back muscles and I’ll deal with those at a later date.

Why?

So if this workout doesn’t give you six pack abs, why do you care?  Well, first of all, that’s a bit misleading.  This workout does help tone the muscles that show up as part of your six pack.  However, they won’t show up until you lose weight, hence the disclaimer above.  More importantly, this workout does strengthen your core, which is a part of your body that you rely on for almost every movement.  Take a moment to really notice what muscles your body uses.

Are you breathing?  Well, you’re using your core muscles.  Walking?  You’re using your core muscles to stabalize your upper body.  Doing push ups?  You’re using your core muscles to keep your body rigid.  Running?  You’re using your core muscles to stay upright and balanced.  There’s almost no complex movement that your body does which does not use the core muscles, which is probably why they’re called your core.  That means that you need to strengthen these muscles or else suffer poor performance in pretty much every thing else you do.

Sounds like an exxageration?  It really isn’t.  Your abs and lower back are your foundation.  They are quite literally the core of every complex movement your body makes.  It all starts right there at the center of your body and you need to pay a bit more attention to it than just doing some crunches.

Let’s Start

Start with the basics.

This is called a V up.  It can be done with an exercise ball, with weights on either legs and / or arms or with just body weight.  Either way, you need good form.  Look at how this woman does her V ups.  She’s really controlled in her motion and takes her time.  She pauses all the way at the top to allow some strain to build and then slowly releases it as she moves back down to the resting position.  Excellent form all the way around.

Work the Sides

We’ve worked the center, now we work the sides with some trunk twists.  Again, check out the form.  This guy is doing them a bit faster than I would recommend but notice how controlled he is.  Also note the slight pause at the end of each movement.  Great way of working out the obliques and staying in that crunched position means your whole abs muscle group is being worked out.

Let’s Get Creative

Why stick with regular crunches when you can do reverse ones?

You can do this one with straight legs too if you want, but it’s slightly easier on the joints to do it this way, with legs folding as you raise them.  I like this one a lot better than regular crunches since it puts less strain on my neck and works out more of my abs.

Yoga Finish

And finally, if you have a bit of time, yoga can be a great way to finish out an abs workout with a bit of stretching.  This video is umm… slightly more artistic than your usual workout videos, but it’s a great example of a yoga abs workout.  Note that this workout can actually be quite challenging if you do it slowly.  Also, this is a great example of amazing form and muscle control.  Even if you’re not interested in the spiritual aspects of yoga, this is a great example of abs in action.

10 New Ab Exercises

I’ve been looking for some new ab exercises for a while now to vary up my weight routine.  Most of my current ab exercises are body weight based and I was hoping to add at least 1 or 2 more dumbbell ones.  I went through a lot of books, magazines and videos before I finally found the following:

If you cannot see the video, the link to it is HERE.

I love the exercises shown here.  They really add a range of motion to my ab exercises that it was lacking before.  Plus I like the use of the exercise balls.  These are great, low impact items that are a great addition to any home gym.

My plan is to try all the exercises shown in this video over the next week or two and pick out the three or four that I like best.  That’s going to be my new ab workout.  If anyone has any feedback or comments on these, please feel free to add it in the comments.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Personal Fitness

Forgive me for the dramatic title, I rewatched Se7en last night.  A very dark and depressing movie, but also a very good one.

However, here they are in no specific order, the seven worst things you can do to yourself when you’re trying to be healthy.

Gluttony

Gluttony is an obvious one, you eat too much.  However, as obvious as it is, it’s still the number 1 problem for most people struggling with their health.  How can this possibly be?  It’s not rocket science after all.  You can figure out how many calories you need to eat per day and you can find out how many calories you’re eating.  If the second number is higher than the first, you’re eating too much.  It’s that simple.

Little tricks to avoid gluttony:

• Drink water - Sodas, coffee and juices are a big source of uncounted calories.  That is, calories you are consuming but forget to include in your calculations.
• Eat vegetables - Your body is concerned with volume.  That is, it wants a certain amount of food per day and it measures this amount in terms of the space it fills, not the calories it has.  Vegetables fill a lot of space with very little calories.  So eat more of them and you’ll feel full without packing in the calories.
• Avoid restaurants - Make or buy your own food so that you know what’s in it.  That’s a good way to avoid all the hidden fat that restaurants will sometimes pack into their food to make it taste better.

Greed

Ahh yes, greed.  I want it all and I want it now.  Guess what, there are no quick solutions to health and fitness, no matter how much money you have to spend.  Liposuction won’t make you healthy and buying that new $2000 home gym won’t either.  Being healthy can be done with no money but it does require a lot of time.  In fact, it requires a life long commitment to living a healthy life.

Tips to avoid greed:

• Reasonable time frame for losing weight is 1 to 2lbs per week.  Any program that promises you more is either unhealthy or lying to you.
• The best gym equipment you can get is a pair of comfortable running / walking shoes and those shouldn’t cost you more than $50 or $60.  If you’re paying more for gear, you’re wasting money.

Sloth

Another obvious one.  If you spend your days sitting on the couch doing nothing, you’re not leading a healthy lifestyle.  Again, this is a no brainer and yet it’s the number 2 problem for most people, right behind gluttony.  Again, it’s fairly simple folks.  Our bodies evolved in a lifestyle that demanded movement.  We walked, hunted and sometimes ran for our lives.  You don’t need to go out and hunt any mammoths but you should get off your ever expanding butt once in a while.

Tips for avoiding sloth:

• Walk often.  Walking is amazing exercise and you should do it as often as you can.  Walk to the store, walk to work, walk for fun.  Walk for 30 minutes or more EVERY DAY.
• Watching TV is probably the worst possible use for your time.  It dulls your brain and ruins your body.  Unless you’re watching PBS while doing jumping jacks and push ups, you should think about turning that idiot tube off and finding something better to do with your time.
• Workout.  Your muscles need a challenge.  They were designed for hunting, you’re using them for typing.  Go find something heavy and lift it multiple times.
• Have fun.  The best workouts are the ones you don’t consider a workout.  Find a hobby that includes a lot of movement and do it often.  That new hobby could be dancing, hiking, biking or horse back riding.  Whatever it is, enjoy it.

Lust

Ooooh, my favorite.   Actually, lust isn’t really a sin when it comes to fitness.  Sex can be a great exercise, especially if you get a bit energetic about it.  For those of you who can achieve this “workout routine”, 20 minutes of wild sex, three times a day is a great way to get your daily exercise!

Tips for lust:

• err… I’m going to stay quiet on this one.  If you really need sex tips, I’m pretty sure you can find them on the internet somewhere…

Vanity

Vanity is both good and bad when it comes to fitness.  Yes, it feels good to look good and being fit can certainly help in the looks department.  In that respect, a little vanity is a good thing because it’s great motivation.  However, vanity can also be a bad thing when we focus too much on our looks and stop thinking about our health.  That’s because modern culture has given us an image of what is beautiful that is not very healthy.  Stick thin models are considered the ideal, which is doing horrible things to our body image and self confidence.

Tips for avoiding the pitfalls of vanity:

• Avoid the magazines.  The pictures they show are unhealthy, not to mention frequently photoshopped.  Want to see a healthy ideal?  Go see dancers perform or go to an amateur sporting event.  Those folks are healthy and they look great.
• If you start adopting unhealthy habits in the name of your looks, please see a professional.  If you’re starving yourself, purging after meal or any other kind of destructive behavior, please seek help.  I am not an expert but as someone who has struggled with some body image issues, I hope you get better and I wish you the very best.
• Keep in mind that low weight does NOT equal good health.  If you’re focusing on weight alone, you’re not focusing on being healthy.

Envy

Ahh envy, my old friend.  We always want what we don’t have and that can be a good thing sometimes, if it’s used as motivation.  For example, when I first started out reshaping my life, I was very envious of those who were in great shape.  Then I realized that being fit was something I could accomplish on my own.  That’s the interesting thing about fitness and health.  Sure, you may not be an Olympic athlete, but you can be really healthy if you try.  You don’t need to be envious of those who are fit, you just need to use them as an example.

Tips for the envy crowd:

• If you’re curious about how someone got so fit, ask them.  Believe me, most gym goers would be flattered if you ask them for advice.
• Remember, fitness isn’t something you buy with money.  That’s a good thing because it means that, with enough time, you can be fit too.   No need to be jealous
• Find a partner to workout with.  Misery may love company but so does success.

Wrath

And finally wrath, my best friend.  Wrath in fitness is less about anger and more about frustration.  You get on the scale and somehow you’ve gained weight instead of lost it.  You walk in the gym and you’re out of breath within seconds.  You work hard but your blood pressure is still too high.  It’s all so frustrating and you’re tempted to just give up and stop trying.  I know, I’ve been there.

Relax, don’t get frustrated and remember the following things:

• Your body didn’t get the way it did in a week nor can you fix it in a day.  It took years to get where you are and it might take years to get better.  Relax and enjoy the journey.  As long as you’re making good progress, you’re ok.
• Again, find a partner.  It’s a great way of reducing the frustration level.
• Try a boxing workout.  Nothing better to get out some anger out than punching a bag for an hour.
• Find something you enjoy.  The best workout isn’t the one designed for maximum muscle gain, it’s the one you like and will keep doing.  Sure, a workout needs to physically challenge you but it should also be enjoyable or else you’re not going to do it.

Summary

Well, it took some doing but I think I’ve taken a bit of biblical trivia, combined it with an excellent movie and twisted it into a fitness article.  What can I say, I’m an artist!

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On Friday, I’ll do the seven cardinal virtues!

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