Archives for 2008

I strongly believe that this type of planning is the reason some people succeed where others can only try and fail.  At the same time, Yoda once said "Do or do not do, there is no try!"  So why does it seem that people continually "try" to get things done rather than actually "doing" things?  Non-specific planning is the direct cause of this issue. 

I have found that when I write out a plan that says "Do abdominals 4 times a week" I might miss a day here or there, but if I put down a schedule that says "Sunday-Abdominals; Tuesday-Abdominals; Thursday-Abdominals; Saturday-Abdominals" I hit the schedule as listed.  It is the same with nutrition or working out.  When I have a general plan it doesn't work for me, but a very specific plan keeps me on task.  It is as though my brain remembers things better when there are specifics behind the issue.  I have found a similar thing in my time management.  If I use a calendar for events that must happen at a specific time and date, a task list for things that can happen when I have the time to do them and a delegation feature/follow-up system for things I need to assign to other people, life becomes easier to control and manage.

When we approach the topic of nutrition we should give it careful thought.  As we select the foods we are going to eat we should be asking the question "what's in it for me?"  In other words, how is what I'm about to put in my mouth going to help my body?  Will I benefit from eating what I'm about to eat or will I take a step backward?  We should only be eating the things that are going to benefit us (most of the time). 

I am a strong believer in the 90% compliance stance.  I believe that as long as you are compliant to your eating plan 90% of the time you will be doing what is best for your body.  What's interesting about the 90% number is what it means in terms of your meals.  If you eat 6 meals a day like me that means you are eating 42 meals a week.  If you are 90% compliant you will have 4 meals that are not compliant.  That's equal to one every other day.  This is why I do not have a problem with my nutrition any longer.  It used to be a huge issue for me and now it is just another thing that has to happen.

I settled in on the Anabolic Diet methodology (though slightly modified) because it is flexible.  As long as I am completely compliant Monday through Thursday I can eat just about anything I want on the weekends.  For instance, I like pizza.  With the Anabolic Diet methodology I can eat pizza every single week and not be cheating.  In fact, I get to eat alot of things guilt free because by using the Anabolic Diet methodology I've pretty much turned my body into an efficient fat burning machine.  It is a nice feeling to know that I can make it through the week with my nutritional plan.

The Muscle Building Fat Burning Machine Video Podcast – 12/14/2008 – Nutritional Concepts

Obviously everyone starts out with good intentions.  They sincerely plan to complete whatever plan they are currently working.  Along the way the encounter some unexpected circumstances.  Their reaction to this generally causes them to change direction.  There are other reasons that occur as well, but this is the most common one.

Without a doubt I am always a little disappointed when I see this going on.  Everyone wants to use Adam: RTP Blog 2.0 as an example, but they miss a key point.  One reason Adam is so successful is that he sticks to his plans.  You rarely see him change things up midstream in a drastic way.  He remains consistent and gets things done as planned.  To me, this is how it is supposed to be.

I agree that at times during a plan (depending upon the length of the plan) we need to change directions a little.  However, we rarely require such a drastic change that we can no longer complete our original mission.  I see this problem most commonly with our training plans.  We make such a drastic change that we can no longer complete the original plans.  Perhaps we planned to do a 4 day split and somewhere along the line decided we needed more gym time, so we upped it to a 5 day split.  There are many possible combinations of this concept, but I think you get my point.  The plan gets changed to the point that it no longer even resembles the original plan.

I implore all of you to stick to your plans.  Make small changes where needed, but stay the course.  Your body takes time to show evidence of the changes you are putting it through.  If you are continually jumping around from one plan to another you will never get the opportunity to see the changes manifest themselves.  Drastic changes to a pre-made plan are a bad idea.  If you planned to workout 3 days a week, stick to that plan until it is completed.  There is a reason you came up with the plan in the first place.  Give it a chance to work.  Small adjustments can always be made as the plan progresses. Even NASA has to make some flight adjustments to be sure that a spaceship that has traveled a long way stays on target.

I am going to point to Adam: RTP Blog 2.0 as living proof that sticking to a plan works.  I can also point to my M4 and state plainly that sticking to a plan works.  I gained alot of muscle during that mission by sticking to my plan even when it didn't seem to make sense to me.  I trusted the principles and worked them.  You need to do the same.

Video Podcast Update:

You have all voted and the voting was close, but the video podcast topic will be nutrition.  I have been working on that today and will release the video podcast on Sunday and will follow every Sunday thereafter with a new video podcast on a topic my readers choose via online survey.  With that in mind:

Vote for the next video podcast topic here!

Matty's workout log:

Week 1 of the new training plan is in the books for Matty and I.  We have progressed in all of our exercises as was the plan.  I am finally getting used to the deadlifts so early in the workout.  They definitely make the rest of the workout harder, but it is harder in a good way.  Matty managed to get up 160 lbs. x 10 on the deadlifts, matching his personal best on this exercise. 

When a decision is made with emotions we tend to stick to preconceived notions.  The decision is more about feelings than what the facts show.  Everyone holds certain preconceived notions about things.  Those preconceived notions are generally based upon emotions.  For instance, most people believe that the best way to lose weight is to simply cut calories.  They don't want to work hard, so they avoid the gym.  Their preconceived notion that the best way to lose weight is to cut calories takes over.  When faced with the decision to get in shape, they fall back on their preconceived notion that they need to cut calories.  Once they've fallen back on their preconceived notion, most people won't bother to even listen to things that contradict that preconceived notion.  The fact is that emotional decisions are made in order to make us feel better.

When a decision is made with one's intellect it is quite a different story.  Intellectual decisions tend to be well thought out.  These types of decisions involve alot of thought and analysis.  Most of the time they are based upon data that has been collected.  Things have been weighed and examined and a decision has been rendered.  With this type of decision, if something is presented that contradicts the facts as seen so far, that new information is weighed and considered alongside the already collected data.  If a change is needed in the decision it is made.

Which way is the better way to make a decision?  I personally believe in the intellectual method because I feel the best way to make a decision is to consider all the facts.  An emotional decision has an air of uncertainty about it.  It feels like a collapse can happen at any point.  There just isn't a sense of comfort when a decision is made purely on emotions.

Deadlifts hit the entire body.  Thus, when you do them so early in a workout it is sort of a pre-exhaustion technique.  I noticed it especially in my bent over rows, but my pulldowns were amazingly hard today as well.  I will say that it makes it extra intense when you do deadlifts this early in the workout.  At the same time, the intensity level goes way up for the entire workout.  I was winded from the second exercise forward.  It was truly intense.  This leads me to a lesson everyone needs to learn.

We often speak in terms of cardio for fat burning and weight training for muscle building, but this is a thought process that must be set aside.  Weight training can be a great cardio workout if done correctly.  At the same time, it keeps you from losing the muscle you are working so hard to build.  Carlos DeJesus prescribes a weight training circuit as cardio for alot of his clients.  It gets the heart rate way up and really helps to burn fat.  At the same time, if you are capable of pushing yourself extremely hard during your weight training workouts you can get this same cardio benefit.  That's what happens to me during H.I.T. workouts.  My heart rate is racing throughout the workout. I keep the rest periods very short.  In fact, the only rest I get is deloading one exercise and loading up the other exercise. 

Things progressed well today.  We both increased most of our weights/reps throughout the entire workout.  As noted above, we both found that the workout got more intense today.  The combination of working closer to the 80% of our 1RM and the deadlifts right at the start of the workout really kicked our butts.