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Monday, March 24, 2008
Happy Easter
This weekend was a fun weekend.
On Friday we had a very good friend stop by. We weren't expecting it to get cold in the evening but a cold snap came. Fortunately we have a small free-standing fireplace on the deck. My daughter helped gather up twigs and sticks and we have firewood logs from several trees that have been "downed" so we soon had a nice fire going. It was great company and conversation.
Saturday I was supposed to meet my friend and run but his schedule changed so we decided perhaps on Sunday. My family went to Piedmont Park in downtown Atlanta. We picked up sandwiches from a local deli (I had a multi-grain sandwich with beef and provolone cheese) and laid out a picnic. We surprised our daughter with a kite. Unfortunately, the kite we picked out was a stunt kite (didn't realize that) and it decided to do some crazy stunts of its own ... it was hard to control and kept going into death spins that looked quite dangerous.
We decided to exchange the kite for a regular kite. On Sunday, we went back to a different park and had fun getting the kite in the air. The breeze was only intermittent so it was tough but eventually we had it a good 75 feet in the air. It was a fun time.
We were invited at the last minute to join another family at their home for Easter celebration. My daughter was able to help hide the eggs so the younger children could have a hunt. Again, it was a great time with fantastic company. The downside is that I never did get my run in.
My weight did not move that much this week so it is time to start the tweaks. It is fairly obvious to me what needs to change. My splurge meals this weekend spilled over into more than two, so that needs to be tightened up.
The other thing I'll do is add some cardio after my resistance training workouts. I don't add a lot (remember, I've got 10 more weeks to reach my goal). The common mistake people make is adding too much. First, I'm not beating myself up over the weekend because I had fun, did not go overboard, and because I follow my own advice from the article I Can, I Can't. Second, don't suddenly cut my calories to nothing or add a ton of cardio just because one week didn't give me the movement on the scale that I wanted. Instead, its slow adjustments.
This week, I'll simply walk on the treadmill at maximum incline after my workout until I burn around my body weight in calories.
When I started to make these tweaks I realized many people don't know about what I call "The Body Weight Factor" and how easy it is to make small, easy adjustments along the way. So, I wrote another article that you can read by clicking here.
I also have about 95% of the code done for a new gadget to calculate target calories for dropping weight. You basically enter your goal body weight and it comes back with a suggested calorie range along with an example of a zigzag menu for a week. I hope this will prove valuable to others looking to piece together a program.
Now it's time to go hit my workout. I'll share a tip I haven't written an article on related to the workouts that I learned from another strength coach. Sometimes its good to do your weight training workouts in three week cycles. Then you can follow this simple sequence:
First week: this is when you learn the weights and form and the schedule of the workout. Too many people get frustrated struggling with what the initial weight should be or how they will switch between exercises, etc. If you purposefully look at your first workout as the "set up" stage and simply experiment with the weights until you are in the range that works, you won't get frustrated if you don't get a perfect set or take longer than needed.
Second week: after the "experiment" of the first week, you now have a fairly good idea of what to expect and what your target weights should be, so you go to it and really hit it hard knowing you have the schedule and weights down.
Third week: now is your chance to push the limit. You figured out the targets during the first week and had a solid workout at the weights you can handle the second week, so the third week is for increasing weight across the board and having that intense, barely-can finish workout that really pushes the limit.
Then you can repeat with a new exercise strategy. I sometimes do four weeks, with the first two building up and then the last two being those higher intensity workouts.
At any rate, it's time for me to go hit those weights I keep talking about.
Warmly,
.
posted by Jeremy Likness | 5:35 AM
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