Current Weight: 213 lbs
Body Fat: 27.5%
Weekly Progress
This week I've maintained an additional loss. The loss is still the motivating factor. I need to want it more.
Week 18: 2 lbs
Week 17: 1 lb
Week 16: 1 lb
Week 15: 0 lbs
Week 14: 0 lbs
Week 13: -1 lb
Week 12: 0 lbs
Week 11: 1 lb
Week 10: 0 lbs
Week 9: 1 lb
Week 8: 0 lbs
Week 7: 2 lbs
Week 6: 1 lb
Week 5: 1 lb
Week 4: 1 lb
Week 3: 0 lbs
Week 2: 6 lbs
Week 1: 6 lbs
Current Weight: 214 lbs
Body Fat: 33.7%
Wednesday Night Taekwando Class
Exercise
Jump Rope: 100 reps
Taekwando: 1 hr
Panther Stretch Push-Ups: 3 x 10 reps
Atlas Push-Ups: 3 x 10 reps
Current Weight: 216 lbs
Body Fat: 39.2%
Monday Night Black Belt Class
Exercise
Jump Rope: 100 reps
Tae Kwan Do: 1.5 hours
Panther Stretch Push-Ups: 3 x 10 reps
Current Weight: 215 lbs
Body Fat: 28.5%
Weekly Progress
This week I've maintained an additional loss. While my motivation should not hinge on the number, it does feel good to see added loss.
Week 17: 1 lb
Week 16: 1 lb
Week 15: 0 lbs
Week 14: 0 lbs
Week 13: -1 lb
Week 12: 0 lbs
Week 11: 1 lb
Week 10: 0 lbs
Week 9: 1 lb
Week 8: 0 lbs
Week 7: 2 lbs
Week 6: 1 lb
Week 5: 1 lb
Week 4: 1 lb
Week 3: 0 lbs
Week 2: 6 lbs
Week 1: 6 lbs
Current Weight: 215 lbs
Body Fat: 30.1%
Wednesday Night Taekwando Class
Exercise
Jump Rope: 100 reps
Tae Kwan Do: 1 hour
Panther Stretch Push-ups: 3 x 10 reps
Atlas Push-ups: 3 x 10 reps
Lierderman Chest Press: 3 x 10 reps
Chest, Abdominal, Tricep DVR: 3 x 10 reps
C'mon At Ya: 3 x 10 reps
Rope Pull: 3 x 10 reps
Current Weight: 216 lbs
Body Fat: 28.5%
Taekwando
I attend Taekwando at Desert Taekwando here in Tucson. I enrolled my children first, about 5 years ago to get them some regular exercise, as well as teach them self-defense. After a year, I started taking class too. It's a pretty good work-out, and it has helped raise their self-esteem. Since reaching their red belt rank about 2 years ago, they also help instruct the children classes, which helps them improve their skills and they get great social interaction with the other kids.
We train in the ITF style of Taekwando, and although the school is not associated with the ITF, we follow General Choi's Taekwando encyclopedia exactly.
Current Weight: 217 lbs
Body Fat: 35.8%
Monday Night Black Belt Class
Exercise
Jump Rope: 100 reps
Tae Kwan Do: 90 minutes
Panther Stretch Push-ups: 3 x 10 reps
Atlas Push-ups: 3 x 10 reps
Lierderman Chest Press: 3 x 10 reps
Chest, Abdominal, Tricep DVR: 3 x 10 reps
Current Weight: 216 lbs
Body Fat: 30.2%
Weekly Progress
Another week, and I've re-lost that 1 pound. This plateau is becoming a discouragement, and I need to turn it into more motivation to work harder.
Exercise
Jump Rope: 100 reps
Taekwando: 1 hour
Panther Stretch Push-Ups: 3 x 10 reps
Atlas Push-Ups: 3 x 10 reps
Lierderman Chest Press: 3 x 10 reps
Chest, Abdominal, and Tricep DVR Contractions: 3 x 10 reps
Week 1: 6 lbs
Week 2: 6 lbs
Week 3: 0 lbs
Week 4: 1 lb
Week 5: 1 lb
Week 6: 1 lb
Week 7: 2 lbs
Week 8: 0 lbs
Week 9: 1 lb
Week 10: 0 lbs
Week 11: 1 lb
Week 12: 0 lbs
Week 13: -1 lb
Week 14: 0 lbs
Week 15: 0 lbs
Week 16: 1 lb
Current Weight: 215 lbs
Body Fat: 30.2%
How Many Sets?
A common question for exercise is how many repetitions and how many sets. 10 and 3 are commonly bandied about numbers, but what is their basis, and is it factual? A single set of strength training exercises can build muscle as effectively as multiple sets. This has been reported in scientific literature for a number of years. But the "tradition" of three sets or more doesn't die easily.
In 1998, an analysis of multiple previous studies compared single-set and multiple-set strength training. Thirty-three out of 35 studies examined showed no significant difference between single sets and multiple sets in regard to strength gains or lean muscle mass increases. Another study found that using a weight sufficient to fatigue the muscle at about 12 repetitions is optimal stimulus for strength gain.
Based on this information, working the major muscle groups two to three times a week — doing a single set of each exercise — with a weight that tires the muscle at 12 repetitions is all most people need to do for an effective strength training program. While this is great news for people who have been spending too much time in the weight room doing three or more sets while working with weights, when doing isometrics, or dynamic tension exercises, 1 set of 12 repetitions is just not going to cut it.
For myself, 3 sets of 10 exercises is a simple enough formula, getting in enough exercise to reach muscle fatigue without taking too much time. If you reach muscle fatigue sooner, then do less repetitions, but for maximum muscle gain, be sure to exercise until you reach muscle fatigue.
With information from The Mayo Clinic.
Current Weight: 216 lbs
Body Fat: 28.4%
Hurt myself in class yesterday, taking a break from exercise until I heal, but still tracking weight.
Current Weight: 217 lbs
Body Fat: 30.2%
Exercise to get smarter
New research is showing that exercise beneficially affects your genes, helps reverse the aging process at a cellular level, gives you more energy, makes you smarter, and may even help you grow so many new brain cells (a process called neurogenesis) that your brain actually gets bigger.
So does improving your nutrition. A diet high in sugar and saturated fat diminishes neurogenesis, whereas other foods increase it, including chocolate (in moderate amounts), tea and blackberries, which contain a substance called epicatechin that improves memory. Small amounts of alcohol increase neurogenesis, whereas larger amounts decrease it.
For more information, check out Dr. Ornish's article at Newsweek.
Exercise
Jump Rope: 100 reps
Tae Kwan Do: 1 hour
Panther Stretch Push-ups: 3 x 10 reps
Atlas Push-ups: 3 x 10 reps
Chest, Abdominal, Tricep DVR: 3 x 10 reps
Lierderman Chest Press: 3 x 10 reps
Rope Pull: 3 x 10 reps
Current Weight: 217
Body Fat: 33.5%
Monday Night Black Belt Class
Every Monday night I attend Black Belt class with my older two children. It's a pretty good workout, we do the usual 50 jumping jacks and 25 push-ups, then we go through every form (poomse). This typically takes 30 minutes. For the remaining hour we focus on the training theme of the week. This week is sparring.
Exercise
Jump Rope: 100 reps
Tae Kwan Do: 90 minutes
Panther Stretch Push-ups: 3 x 10 reps
Atlas Push-ups: 3 x 10 reps
Chest, Abdominal, Tricep DVR: 3 x 10 reps
Lierderman Chest Press: 3 x 10 reps
Current Weight: 217 lbs
Body Fat: 28.4%
Weekly Progress
Another week, no loss, no gain. I'm going to have to push exercising, I've been very lazy. If I want to see a change, I have to make the change.
Exercise
Panther Stretch Push-Ups: 3 x 10 reps
Chest, Abdominal, and Tricep DVR Contractions: 3 x 10 reps
Lierderman Chest Press: 3 x 10 reps
Week 1: 6 lbs
Week 2: 6 lbs
Week 3: 0 lbs
Week 4: 1 lb
Week 5: 1 lb
Week 6: 1 lb
Week 7: 2 lbs
Week 8: 0 lbs
Week 9: 1 lb
Week 10: 0 lbs
Week 11: 1 lb
Week 12: 0 lbs
Week 13: -1 lb
Week 14: 0 lbs
Week 15: 0 lbs
Current Weight: 217 lbs
Body Fat: 28.5%
I'm taking today off due to DOMS (Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness), but will resume tomorrow.
Current Weight: 218 lbs
Body Fat: 29.3%
Motivation Help
I'm still fighting getting motivated. Some days its easy to make the time to do what I want to get done. Other days, I have to fight myself to get out of bed. Having a baby makes it hard to get a good night's sleep, so I wake each morning feeling like I've not gotten any rest and I just want to lay in bed and keep trying to sleep. Today I found this article with some good tips, I just hope I can apply them: Top 20 Motivation Hacks
Just for clarification, my hour of Tae Kwan Do includes class warm-ups which typically consist of at least 50 jumping jacks and 25 knuckle push-ups.
Exercise
10 knuckle push-ups
Current Weight: 217 lbs
Body Fat: 31.4%
Building Up to the Miracle Seven
I'm going to focus my exercising on the workouts in The Miracle Seven for the next few weeks. Last night before Tae Kwan Do I started and am getting familiar with the exercises. The first 3 exercises are simple enough: Panther Stretch Push-Ups, where you don't bend your arms and just move your hips from high to low, Atlas Push-Ups, which are just deep chair push-ups, but are a little easier since your upper body is elevated, and Chest/Abdominal/Tricep DVR contractions.
Tonight, either before or after class I'll work on the other 4 exercises of Workout 1 and post that here.
Exercise
Jump Rope: 100 reps
Tae Kwan Do: 1 hour
Lierderman Chest Press: 3 x 10 reps
C'mon At Ya: 3 x 10 reps
Rope Pull: 3 x 10 reps
Current Weight: 216 lbs
Body Fat: 30.5%
More Exercises
In addition to the 7 Tiger Moves of John McSweeney, The Miracle Seven includes nutritional information and 7 additional workouts, each made up of 7 exercises designed to focus on specific parts of the body. All of the exercises, excluding chin ups, can be done without equipment, and while many are DVR exercises, some are isometric as well.
While thinking about how to better motivate myself to stick to an exercise routine, I discovered that what I would be doing is not just devoting myself to the exercises, but devoting myself to myself; to my health, strength, and general well-being. I'm going to push it and see how far I can go with these exercises.
Exercise
Jump Rope: 100 reps
Tae Kwan Do: 1 hour
Panther Stretch Push-Ups: 3 x 10 reps
Atlas Push-Ups: 3 x 10 reps
CATs: 3 x 10 reps
Current Weight: 217 lbs
Body Fat: 30.5%
The 7 Tiger Moves of John McSweeney
The Miracle Seven from the book of the same name are martial artist John McSweeney's 7 "Tiger Moves." While none are isometric exercises, they are all what John E. Peterson calls "Dynamic Visual Resistance" or DVR exercises. I've started working through them but haven't devoted myself to them yet.
Using exercises like these and isometric exercises are problematic because you have no short term method of measuring your progress. Since you don't see results, it is easy to quit early instead of devoting yourself to them and push for long term gains.
Today I started performing the first of the Tiger Moves. I doubt I'll see even long term gains unless I dedicate myself to them and perform them for the full 3 sets of 10 repetitions the book recommends you start with, but for now it's just a trial to see how to perform the exercises.
Exercise:
Full Range Pectoral Contractions: 10
Shoulder Roll: 10
Wrist Twist: 10
Current Weight: 217 lbs
Body Fat: 30.5%
Weekly Progress
Another week, and no loss. It's hard to look at it positively, however, I am down 18 pounds from the start, and I'm maintaining the loss pretty well. Especially considering that, other than Tae Kwan Do, I've been very lax in exercising.
Week 1: 6 lbs
Week 2: 6 lbs
Week 3: 0 lbs
Week 4: 1 lb
Week 5: 1 lb
Week 6: 1 lb
Week 7: 2 lbs
Week 8: 0 lbs
Week 9: 1 lb
Week 10: 0 lbs
Week 11: 1 lb
Week 12: 0 lbs
Week 13: -1 lb
Week 14: 0 lbs
