Bodyweight Training and Results – Moving on to Phase 4
Over the years, while my weight has been yo-yo’ing up and down, I have tried various scenarios versions of cardio with at times a weight lifting program. However, each and every time I remember never seeing the results that I thought I should have been getting. Part of that of course it that much of those gains I was getting were covered by that layer of fat that I have never been able to get rid of (until I truly discovered calorie restriction). The other reason was that I don’t think I ever really knew how to properly train with weights.
For example, I do not think I was ever going heavy enough to really test my muscles and force them to grow. Sure, it always felt difficult but probably was never enough. In addition, the programs I was putting together were never very scientific nor based on research. In other words, they were not targeted at getting me the results I was looking for. Instead that had me doing the traditional bicep curls, tricep extensions, and other muscle isolation exercises. These types of exercises have never provided me with much of a benefit.
Bodyweight Training and Success
This week I hit a milestone in my training. I successfully completed the first 3 phases of the Turbulence Training Bodyweight Turbulence Training 6-month program. This progressive program has taken me through a series of well-thought out and effective routines using only my own bodyweight, a stability ball, and a medicine ball (although you don’t totally need this). Next week I will be moving on to phase 4 and I can honestly say that I am starting to see some definition in my stomach. In other words, there are abs starting to peek through! I had to read that again as I wrote it because to me it is still unbelievable. I never thought I would ever be able to see abs.
Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of work to do. I still have a layer of fat that I need to get rid of. I also have some lower belly fat that seems to be very stubborn. My strategy for that is to simply continue on with calorie restriction, use Daily Burn to meticulously track my calories, and stick with the bodyweight exercise program and I suspect it will start to disappear. If the past results are any indication then this WILL happen over time. It just takes patience and hard work.
Without trying to be too pushy, if you are willing to work hard and see results then bodyweight training might be the thing that changes it all for you like it did for me.
Reducing My Cardio to See What Happens
I am going to try an experiment over the next month or so. I am going to reduce the cardio I do to see how that impacts my progress towards weight loss and a fit body. I have been reading a number of materials, primarily the Vacation Body Blueprint over at Fitness Black Book, Eat Stop Eat by Brad Pilon, and this podcast over at AdonisLifestyle.
As I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, I have been working on a calorie restriction and find that it has been working well for me. I am not going crazy, just really watching what I am eating. Now I am going to see what impact less cardio is going to have.
The important thing to note is that I am not going to cut out my regular bike commutes to and from work. I am fortunate enough to live in an area (Stavanger, Norway) that allows me to bike 12 kms to work and 12 kms back at the end of the day. What I am going to cut out is the extra sessions I have been doing for HIIT, particularly the session I do on Saturdays.
Another change I am going to make is to make at least two of my commuting sessions HIIT sessions. Instead of just pedalling away at a constant rate as I usually do, I am going to mix it up and really mash the pedals for anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds followed by 90 seconds of my normal cadence. I think this should allow me to get the heart rate a lot higher for short periods of time and hopefully ramp up my fat loss.
The two primary benefits of doing this as I see it is that I have more free time (that extra Saturday session can be tough with a young family) and I will have more rest time for recovery. I will still do my Turbulence Training (which has been unbelievable – I am actually getting bigger biceps) three times per week for resistance training.
I will report back on this in a bout a month and let you know how it works.
Calorie Restriction – It Has Been Working for Me
After all these years of trying to lose weight and going up and down in body fat and fitness levels I find it hard to believe that it took me so long to understand “the” most important rule in weight loss. I have been very focused on my eating over the past two months and the results have been incredible. I now know for sure that it is not all about the biking to work, the running, or other cardio that I used to be so focused on. What has been working has been the calorie restriction that I have instilled in my life.
I track everything I eat 99% of the time in DailyBurn. Not everyday because I travel a lot and it can be hard on the road, but most days. I am very diligent to measure, keep track, and most importantly write down everything I eat so that I know as close as humanly possible about the number of calories that are going into my body. It was a lot of work at first, but over time it has become much easier and I now have routines and even specific meals that I eat to (more on that in another post) keep the calorie tracking as easy as possible. I have found that it is all about routines 99% of the time and the results will come.
Can I show you some of the evidence of the results? Sure. Here are two pictures – one from February 2008 and one from this past weekend (November 7, 2009). As you can see I am proud to show that I am down significantly in weight and my primary focus has been on eating a much lower number of calories.
Don’t get me wrong, the exercise has been important – especially the body weight exercises I have been doing. I have definitely noticed that I am much more muscular than I have ever been. I am in phase 3 of the 6-month Turbulence Training by Craig Ballantyne. This bodyweight-only exercise program has been kicking my ass.
That being said, I spend most of my energy keeping my calories low. I am not a tall guy (5′ 6) and with my current weight of 148 pounds I have found that keeping my caloric intake to about 1200 – 1500 calories has been working to continue to lose weight. The important thing I have learned is that I do not need as much food as I thought I did. I am still putting on muscle with much less food. I also have been eating less carbs, although that has not been the focus of the diet. I do attribute that habit to helping me not feel hungry very often as I strongly believe from personal experience that the more carbs (breads, etc) I eat the hungrier I get.
As I reflect on it, like many others I believe that losing weight was a complex thing of managing proteins, carbs, and fats and then killing myself in the gym. I thought that was the only way to get results. It is much more simple than that – just keep the calories lower and the results will come.
There is a good podcast available now over at the Adonis Lifestyle Blog about how many calories you need if you want to learn more about watching what you eat.
