Around the new year one of my best buddies from law school, Pat Walsh, sent me an email asking if I was interested in making dramatic changes in my health and appearance. Pat and his wife are both very health conscious and I trust any tips and techniques that they recommend, so I said yes. A few days later I receive a book in the mail entitled "The 4-Hour Body: An uncommon guide to rapid fat-loss, incredible sex, and becoming superhuman."

The book makes many major claims that I was eager to both learn how to accomplish and also ready to disprove them as a bunch of hype. I started reading the book that morning and did not stop for 6 hours! The book is an amazing read and the author, Tim Ferriss (NYTimes Bestselling author of "The 4-Hour Workweek"), backs up all his claims with logical reasoning. How does Michael Phelps eat 12,000 calories in a day? Subtract 3,000 calories for resting metabolic burn off, so we are to believe that he burns 9,000 calories everyday swimming? If that were true he would need to swim the breast stroke at olympic level speeds for 10 hours, non-stop, everyday. Obviously not happening ... I won't ruin it here but he goes on for a chapter about thermol load and how water is 4 times more conductive than air. This is just a tiny glimpse at some well researched and logical approaches to eating better and working out smarter (which actually means working out less than you would think, maybe twice a week).

So, here I am. Starting to incorporate the tips and techniques in the book. One of the first thing the book states is to make sure you graph changes by measurements beyond a weight scale. Obviously if you are gaining muscle some weeks while losing fat, the scale can be misleading and frustrating. The book also recommends posting pics and measurements online and open for others to see, this is to ensure that I stay with things. This is why I created this blog, so that I can keep myself honest and maybe ... just MAYBE ... inspire someone else to take on some of these ideas!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Yesterday's (Tuesday) Workout

Yesterday I started the book's basic muscle gaining workout program. Called OCCAM'S PROTOCOL and uses basic ideas from some of the biggest strength trainers out there today. It utilizes the MED approach, the Minimal Effective Dosage. Apparently it does not take a lot to spur muscles to grow, however, most workouts and lifting programs exceed this minimal effective dosage and actually reverses and hinders muscle gain.
Read the book, it explains in both scientific detail and anecdotal evidence how and why this works.

So yesterday I did Workout A in the program. It is only two lifts, done one set, for 7 reps! This is ridiculous for those who workout regularly. Typically one will do 5+ different lifts three times each (set) and for 10-12 reps each set.

First lift was a closed handed pull down. Obviously used to spark muscle growth in my back and biceps. You are supposed to figure out the proper weight so that on lift 7, you are completely maxed out and you could not do one more even if there was a gun to your head. OH, and the hard part about it ... you have to do the lifts in a 5/5 cadence, which means, 5 seconds up, 5 seconds down. That is a very long time of controlled max-ed out weight. After the first one I realize how this could really be effective.

Second lift was a shoulder press. This would spur shoulder and upper back muscle growth. Again, it kicked my ass and I only lifted the weights 7 times!!

After I was done I had spent an entire 10 minutes at the gym but my muscles were DEAD!

The book does not recommend any cardio to go with these workouts, but he does allow for you to do your favorite recreational activities ... yoga, swimming, football, hiking, dance, etc. So ... I really cherish my time on the elyptical machine with my music blasting, so I did 30 mins on there just for peace of mind.

You guys - I was DEAD afterward. I am supposed to wait two days before Workout B, which again is just two lifts, done in one set, seven times. I am thinking of hitting the gym today for another cardio session and also doing the kettle bell swings he also recommends in the book.
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