Pilgrimage To Health

Now we have a better understanding of how and what we should eat; and we have also talked about how to properly exercise for strength. Now we need to talk about aerobic workout.

Most people go into a gym, or get on a bike, or set out to jog and think they need to stay at it for 30, 60, 90 minutes or longer. If a few minutes is good, more minutes is better right? Wrong! It is not so much about the quantity of time spent, but the quality of workout in that time.

Research indicates that not only does high-intensity training burn more fat effectively than low-intensity exercise -- up to 50 percent more efficiently -- it also speeds up your metabolism and keeps it revved up for some time after your workout. So forget about the "calories burned" readout on the stairstepper or stationary bike; with our method of training, the majority of calories will be used up the hour after our workouts, provided we don't eat for one hour after our exercise sessions.

To further enhance the fat-burning effects of these workouts, do them in the morning, in a fasted state (before eating). Scientific studies indicate that fat is burned up much faster -- up to 300 percent faster -- when you exercise in the morning as opposed to doing the same exercise in the afternoon. (By the way, if your primary goal is to lose body fat, consider doing your weight-training workouts in the morning on an empty stomach, too.)

Ok, How Do I Do It?
This workout only requires 20 minutes of aerobic exercise three times per week -- no more, no less.

What you do is select an exercise like walking, jogging, riding a stationary bike, using a treadmill, etc. You can vary your aerobic exercise every session if you want. Just as long as it's the type of aerobic exercise that allows you to increase the intensity in intervals.

Start with a two-minute set-up phase where you perform the activity at about a level 5 intensity. If you haven't been exercising regularly, you could reach level 5 by just walking. However, if you've been doing a lot of exercise, level 5 might be a pretty brisk jog.

Now, after two minutes at a level 5 effort, take it up a notch. When you reach a level 6 effort, keep it there for one minute; then increase the intensity of effort up to level 7 for one minute. Now increase it again to an intensity level 8 for one minute, then up to intensity level 9 for one minute. After a minute at level 9, drop back down to an intensity level 6 again -- a relatively moderate effort.

Now repeat that pattern three times, but on the last cycle (between the eighteenth and nineteenth minutes of the 20-minute workout), don't stop at level 9 -- try to reach a high point -- go for level 10! Then bring it back to a level 5 for one minute and you're done.

By the way, a "high-intensity effort" does not mean an all-out sprint. If you haven't tried to run all-out since you were a kid, you're in for a shock. Don't take off like you're fleeing from a burning building, or you'll burn out well before the twentieth minute.

For some, an intense effort may mean just walking up a hill. If that's the case, don't be at all discouraged. The program is about improving -- moving forward in a positive way, and that's something we all have the capability of doing, if we choose to do it.

That's it...now you know the "rest of the story". I have given you the keys to achieve health for yourself, now it is up to you to use them. I will continue to document my progress and occasionally provide words of encouragement and support. Feel free to comment or ask questions along the way...I'm no personal expert, but I have successfully used this program in the past. It began to transform me in ways I never expected...and this time I expect to follow it through to the end.

I hope you join me on this pilgrimage and together we can become lean, mean, healthy machines!

Your fellow pilgrim,
Larry

Height: 6' 1"
Current Weight: 260 lbs.
Calculated BMI: 34.3 (Obese)


Upper Body Workout (IL = Intensity Level)

Chest
Dumbbell Bench Press
12 reps @ 25 lbs (IL: 5)
10 reps @ 30 lbs (IL: 7)
8 reps @ 30 lbs (IL: 7)
6 reps @ 35 lbs (IL: 9)
12 reps @ 35 lbs (IL: 9)

Dumbbell Flyes
12 reps @ 25 lbs (IL: 10)


Shoulders
Seated Dumbbell Press
12 reps @ 20 lbs (IL: 5)
10 reps @ 25 lbs (IL: 6)
8 reps @ 30 lbs (IL: 8)
6 reps @ 30 lbs (IL: 8)
12 reps @ 35 lbs (IL: 10)

Side Raises
12 reps @ 25 lbs (IL: 10)


Back
Dumbbell Rows
12 reps @ 25 lbs (IL: 5)
10 reps @ 30 lbs (IL: 6)
8 reps @ 35 lbs (IL: 7)
6 reps @ 40 lbs (IL: 8)
12 reps @ 40 lbs (IL: 9)

Dumbbell Pullovers
12 reps @ 30 lbs (IL: 10)


Triceps
Seated Dumbbell Extensions
12 reps @ 20 lbs (IL: 4)
10 reps @ 25 lbs (IL: 5)
8 reps @ 30 lbs (IL: 6)
6 reps @ 35 lbs (IL: 8)
12 reps @ 35 lbs (IL: 9)

Lying Dumbbell Extensions
12 reps @ 30 lbs (IL: 10)


Biceps
Seated Dumbbell Curls
12 reps @ 25 lbs (IL: 5)
10 reps @ 30 lbs (IL: 6)
8 reps @ 35 lbs (IL: 7)
6 reps @ 40 lbs (IL: 8)
12 reps @ 45 lbs (IL: 10)

Hammer Dumbbell Curls
12 reps @ 40 lbs (IL: 10)

You don't need any fancy equipment to get a highly effective workout. In fact, the program I will lay out here, and which I will be following a daily basis, can be done with a simple set of barbells and dumbbells in a home gym or any fitness center. It's not so much about what exercises we do but rather how we do them that matters most. We must perform these exercises intensely to produce rapid results.

The program we'll follow, again from the Body For Life program, uses a tool called the "Intensity Index". This "meter" is used to measure the level of focused energy being put forth and goes from level 1 to level 10.

On the low end -- at level 1 -- you've got the intensity of sitting on the couch watching TV. Level 2 would be standing; level 3 might be walking; level 4 might be carrying a couple bags of groceries in from the car; level 5 might be carrying those groceries up a flight of stairs; and so on, up to level 10, which is an all-out, 100 percent focused effort.

The proper use of the Intensity Index makes the workout experience, by design, self-regulating. And that's why virtually any healthy adult, regardless of prior exercise experience, can begin this program. For example, if you're a beginner and you can bench press 30 pounds for 12 reps, that's your high-intensity effort. Now, someone who's been training for several years might reach a high-intensity effort by bench pressing 185 pounds for 12 reps. The point is, your high point is yours. And as you adapt and grow the program grows with you.

It's very important you become aware of what your high points are. A true high point on this workout, a true level 10 experience, is one where you can honestly tell yourself you gave it every single last ounce of energy you had -- that you tapped into your inner strength.

After you finish your highest intensity set (for that muscle group) and before you write down whether you had a level 8, level 9, or a level 10 experience, you need to answer this question: Could you have done one more rep if someone was standing there, encouraging you to reach even higher - to push yourself further? If your honest answer is, "No Way!" then congratulations! You scored a 10!

You won't reach a high point every time. That would be like Brett Favre expecting to throw a touchdown pass every time he touched the ball. You see, a high point is kind of like a touchdown pass -- it's a challenge, which is why it's a worthwhile goal.

It is important to plan your workout before you step into the "gym". Plan which exercises you're going to do and what weight you're going to use.

Now, if this is your first time working out, or you aren't sure what weight you should use for an exercise, start with a fairly small weight, say 10 pounds and do your first set. If it were really easy (like a level 3 intensity), you wouldn't pick up a heavier set of weights and re-do that set. You just mark down what weight you used and what intensity level it required. Then the next time you work that muscle group you know you can increase the weight. It's a fine tuning process, but you'll get the hang of it, quickly.

Now, for the actual plan. There are two sets of plans to follow -- an Upper Body Workout and a Lower Body Workout. The Upper Body Workout includes the following muscle groups: Chest, Shoulders, Back, Triceps, and Biceps. The Lower Body Workout includes the following muscle groups: Quads, Hamstrings, Calves, and Abs.

For each muscle group you conduct 6 sets and each set requires a different intensity level. Also, in each muscle group you want two different exercises each time. The first 5 sets are one exercise and the 6th set is the other exercise. In between each set take a 1 minute break, except for between the 5th and 6th set don't take a break at all (except for the time it takes to switch positions for the alternate exercise).

The number of reps and the associated intensities are as follows:

Set #1: 12 Reps, Intensity Level 5
Set #2: 10 Reps, Intensity Level 6
Set #3: 8 Reps, Intensity Level 7
Set #4: 6 Reps, Intensity Level 8
Set #5: 12 Reps, Intensity Level 9
Set #6: 12 Reps, Intensity Level 10

Then take a 2 minute break before beginning the next muscle group.

There is a definite prescription to the workout you perform each day of the week. The program consists of a 6-day workout, with the seventh day being a rest day. The first, third and fifth days of the week you do strength training; the second, fourth and sixth days you do cardio training. The strength training is performed in a specific manner also, the first week you do upper body workout on the first and fifth days and lower body on the third day. The next week you switch that, lower body on first and fifth and upper body on the third. This switches back and forth each week.

Today I officially begin my journey and later will post the details of my day. In there you will see a specific plan laid out for my workout, both with what I planned to accomplish and what I actually accomplished (regarding intensity level).

Tomorrow I will give an explanation of how the cardio program works and then later will follow up with my daily progress report detailing what I planned and what I actually accomplished.

Your fellow pilgrim,
Larry

"When you nourish your body with pure energy, you transform from the inside out."

The reason fad diets become so popular is that they take all the guess work out of nutrition. Face it, if we visit a nutritionist they give us a sheet of all the good foods and all the bad foods, then they say how much of each "good" thing we are supposed to eat every day. How do I know how much I'm eating? Sure at home I can use a food scale, or if I go to the local steak house it tells the ounces of each steak -- but other than that I am left to guesswork. Isn't it easier if we go on things like the 3-day diet, the grapefruit diet, or the cabbage soup diet where they tell you exactly what to eat and how much for every meal?

The good news is, it doesn't have to be complicated. Once you discover the right method of feeding your body, you'll never have to relearn it. Quality nutrition is just as important as proper exercise technique (Exercise is the spark. Nutrition is the fuel. Without both, there can be no flame -- no results). To get in shape you have to exercise, to properly exercise you have to eat correctly.

One of the most crucial errors people make when they try to lose fat and improve their health is severely restricting food intake. That doesn't work. To get the best results, you need to work with your body, not against it. When you severely reduce food intake, the body decreases the rate at which it burns fat. You also will begin to lose muscle tissue, feel tired, weak and irritable. Your immune system will suffer. And you'll develop nutrient deficiencies that will cause literally thousands of your body's natural metabolic processes to misfire - this will lead to improper cravings as the body attempts to restore itself.

Even though crash diets cause you to lose body weight, half of the pounds lost come from muscle tissue. Remember, muscle is the body's metabolic furnace; muscle uses energy, even while you're sleeping.

So, how often should you eat? The answer is more often than you do now. To transform your body -- to look better, feel better, and improve your health, you must develop the pattern of feeding your body frequently throughout the day. You should not go more than a few awake hours without eating. Why, you may ask? Eating helps keep the body's "food alarm" in check -- it helps convince your body and mind that there is not a famine around the next corner. Studies show eating often helps accelerate the matabolism, so you burn more calories. And when you graze -- when you eat six nutritious, smaller meals a day -- the food is more efficiently absorbed and processed by your body than the "three squares" most people eat each day.

So, now we know how to eat...what do we eat? Since this pilgrimage includes a serious exercise program we need a very balanced food plan. I hate to sound like a salesman for Body For Life, but it is the roadmap I'm using. In the Body For Life program, they make things real easy. For each of the six meals you pick one serving from the "Protein" category, one serving from the "Carbohydrates" category, and for at least two of the meals choose one serving from the "Vegetables" category. A "serving", or portion size, is roughly the size of the palm of your hand. Here is a recommended list of foods for each of the categories:

PROTEINS: Chicken Breast, Turkey Breast, Lean Ground Turkey, Swordfish, Orange Roughy, Haddock, Salmon, Tuna, Crab, Lobster, Shrimp, Top Round Steak, Top Sirloin Steak, Lean Ground Beef, Buffalo, Lean Ham, Egg Whites or Substitutes, Low-Fat Cottage Cheese

CARBOHYDRATES: Baked Potato, Sweet Potato, Yam, Squash, Pumpkin, Steamed Brown Rice, Steamed Wild Rice, Pasta, Oatmeal, Barley, Beans, Corn, Strawberries, Melon, Apple, Orange, Fat-Free Yogurt, Whole-Wheat Bread

VEGETABLES: Broccoli, Asparagus, Lettus, Carrots, Cauliflower, Green Beans, Green Peppers, Mushrooms, Spinach, Tomato, Peas, Brussels Sprouts, Artichoke, Cabbage, Celery, Zucchini, Cucumber, Onion


A Free Day!!!
Six days a week, you need to follow the eating guidelines. And then, on the seventh day? Forget about them. Eat whatever you want. If you want to have blueberry pancakes with syrup for breakfast or a cinammon roll with coffee or milk, that's fine. If you want a Big Mac or two for lunch, go for it. If you want a thick pizza with everything on it for dinner, be my guest. If you want apple pie and ice cream for dessert, that's okay too!

While this may sound strange, there is actually a physiological reason to purposely overeat once a week -- it may help convince your body that it is not starving. Also, if you step into a program that says, "Ok, no more spaghetti and meatballs, no more pizza, no french fries, no ice cream, no candy, no soda, etc, etc" we often feel one of our perceived rights has been taken away. We then spend the entire time on the "program" thinking about all the things we can't have and often run the risk of sneaking those things. By allowing yourself one day of indulgence a week you counteract that. For one thing, you are not being deprived of the things you love so much, rather you are setting aside a special time to partake. Also, when you are in the other six days and feel a craving for something that is unauthorized you simply remind yourself you can have it on the seventh day. That brings a tremendous amount of freedom.

When should you have your free day, that's up to you. Some set aside every Sunday to eat whatever they want. Other times, you might want to go with the flow, adjusting your day to the circumstances of that week. Let's say you have a special occasion coming up and you know you're going to be eating in a social environment and don't want to worry about the rules. That's fine. Plan ahead and make that your free day for the week.

Again, if you want more information about this method of eating with good advice, suggestions, and explanations check out the Body For Life book.

I hope this information has been helpful. I realize it can be a lot to take in at first, but if we want to have long, healthy, happy life there will be some changes required.

But if we journey this road together, we can keep each other strong and come out the other side better for having taken the journey.

Your fellow pilgrim,
Larry

"There is a world of difference between knowing what to do and actually doing it."

If you ask most people, they know how to exercise and they know how to eat right. What most of these people lack is the ability to apply this knowledge to their own life.

If you are truly going to change yourself, you have to be willing to look inward and be totally honest about how you have lived up this point, how that has affected where you are, and what you will do to change all that. If we want real change it has to begin inside ourselves. Here are some questions to ask yourself ---

Have you made the decision to change? There is a big difference between deciding something and having reasons to actually do it. When you make a decision to change and you know your reasons, you will be able to harness the desire to make something happen.

What are your reasons for making the decision to change? It's one thing to say you want to lose 30 pounds of fat and get in shape; but, it's a whole other thing to have your doctor tell you you'll be dead in a year and never see your children's children if you don't lose 30 pounds immediately.

You will have to look deep inside yourself and find the real reasons why you want to change...those will be the things that push you on to success when you feel like sitting down and quitting.

When you look at yourself, do you honestly like what you see? It's important to really look, since we all "see" ourselves every day. After a while our internal image of ourselves gets out of sync with the reality of what we have become.

Here are a few more questions to help you identify your reasons:
How do you feel deep down inside?
How do you really feel about yourself?
Are you confident, energetic, and strong?
Do you often wonder if you're on the right path?
What are the pros and cons of continuing in the direction you're going?
Woud you like to create a brighter future?

When you can answer these questions, you will have a clear motivation for success.

Here are the steps to success:

• Make the decision to change.
• Identify your reasons to change and write them down.
• Focus on your future vision.
• Dream of what you would like to achieve.
• Transform five of those dreams into goals by giving them a deadline, a way to measure them, and writing them down.
• Identify three unauthorized patterns of action that may hold you back and write them down.
• Identify three new patterns of action that will help you reach your goals and write them down.
• Read what you've written first thing in the morning and again at night each and every day.

We often have many myths about health, fitness, and exercise. Let's separate some of the myths from fact.

Myth: Aerobics is better for shaping up than weight training.
Fact: To transform your physique, you must train with weights.

Myth: Weight training is only for young athletes.
Fact: People of all ages should be weight training.

Myth: Muscles grow while you're working out.
Fact: Muscles grow while you're resting and recuperating.

Myth: A certain number of sets and reps gets the job done.
Fact: High-intensity effort produces the best results.

Myth: You need to drink water only when you are thirsty.
Fact: Your body needs more water than it's telling you.


The questions and myths/facts above come from the excellent training program called, "Body For Life" http://www.bodyforlife.com/ It is an excellent life transforming program that teaches you how to look inside yourself and find the reasons that will drive you to change, as well as laying out a structured program of food and fitness that will transform your body and your life.

This is the basis of the program I will be following which will be documented here in my Pilgrimage. Over the next couple days I will be posting details about how the food and exercise portions of the program work and then beginning Monday I will be documenting my progress through this lifestyle change.

I look forward to the change and the journey. I look forward to hearing from fellow travelers along the road. Let's join together and begin a revolution of health.

Your fellow pilgrim,
Larry

...Begins With A Single Step.

It may sound cliché to say, but there is a lot of truth in it. I have been struggling for over a year now to get my fitness regimen back on track in order to gain control over my body. It is a daunting task as I look at it from this side. There is so much to be accomplished, how can I ever do it? With a single "step" of course. If I never take the steps how can I ever achieve the destination?

So with that in mind I have decided to set out on a personal Pilgrimage to Health. You are welcome, and actually encouraged, to travel with me down this road. You can travel as a casual observer, or as an encourager, or as a fellow pilgrim.

The goal of this journey is not to achieve a target weight or attain a particular amount of muscle mass, rather it is a life altering journey to change habits and decision making processes. The goal is to become a healthy person and let the weight loss and muscle gain follow naturally.

I have unofficially begin the journey yesterday, but the real journey begins Monday, April 24. There is nothing significant about that particular day, but it often helps to have a definitive mark of when/where something starts. Monday is a natural "beginning" point, so I will use it as the "first step" of my journey.

I have a very specific program in mind, one which I followed with great success in the past. My failure came only as a result of allowing life to overrun me and dictacte to me how I would conduct my daily activities. While I am not able to change much of my current situation, I can certainly work within it's confines. So beginning Monday I will take my daily lunch break from work and head to the gym.

Over the next few days I will give more details about the program I will follow so that those who wish to join in will be able to do so. And as I travel the road to health I may modify the program to fit my lifestyle and my needs, but I will make sure to describe the changes so that hopefully others will learn how to live a healthy life, rather than always trying to find the next "miracle diet".

As each day progresses I will give specifics about what I ate for the day and what exercises I performed (including numbers of reps, sets, amount of weight, type of workout, etc, etc). All with the goal of teaching you one way of achieving a healthy lifestyle.

Welcome to the journey - I look forward to walking with you along this path. May we all learn together and get healthy together!!

Your fellow pilgrim,
Larry