The Road to Ultra: January 2008

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Getting it Done Any Which Way

Wow.

What a week.

I've probably been saying that a lot lately. Forgive me if I'm too lazy to browse back through previous entries, but I feel like this has been the week to challenge me.

I've adopted a new trick to make sure my body is not getting exhausted. In a question about How Important is Sleep? I replied with my opinion on the matter. In a nutshell, I believe that alarm clocks are evil and if we were getting the right amount of sleep, we'd all be waking up at the right time every day.

Alas, "true life" has more in store and we can't always have the luxury of sleeping in until our body decides to rouse us out of sleep. I've had a very full schedule so I made a compromise. I need the alarm to wake up but I give my body an option. When it starts buzzing at 5:00am, instead of hitting the snooze, I set it an hour ahead and then rest for a few minutes. If I'm well rested, I am able to then roll out of bed and go hit my workout. If I'm exhausted like this morning, I end up passing out and catching up on some well-needed rest.

It's not the best solution but it works. I'm not forcing myself into exhaustion, but I'm not giving up, either. Since I caught my rest today, it simply means my workouts all shift back a day and I swap my day of rest. I'll end up doing the same workload at the end of it all.

This week was fun because on Monday we had the first meeting for our Body by God program. It was excited to hear Dr. Eric Richards discuss his mission in life and share his vision. I felt such a strong connection and honestly was at the edge of my seat. I truly do miss going out and speaking about health and so it was fun to watch someone gather a group of people eager and determined to make a difference and empower them by sharing his stories and honesty.

Our daughter participated by cooking a soup that was part of the program. All of the soup was taken up and we receive lots of positive comments. She was called out in front of the crowd. She wanted me to stand with her but I let her go ahead. She was nervous at first but then really enjoyed her time and had a great big smile.

We picked up some cracked wheat bread that is delicious. I've been enjoying making over-easy eggs with cracked pepper and a dash of sea salt, then eating those on top of the toasted bread. It's a great way to get started.

My strategy to "hold back" when I was hitting a wall with weight training appears to be working. I had a great workout for my chest and am advancing now in all areas, so I'm looking to hit some personal bests (for this round, remember its been a few years since I was lifting consistently) the next visit.

It's interesting to see the contrast between some people's beliefs. Our chiropractor is a major advocate of functional training. Don't isolate your biceps - instead, perform compound body weight movements that mimic real life. I have always been a fan of that style but have also learned that I believe the isolation movements have their value as well. As one example, I don't believe I'd have as much function in my leg that was operated on had I not performed some isolation movements like leg extensions as part of my recovery.

At any rate, I'm going to be hitting the upper body tomorrow. As long as I consistently increase from workout to workout I'm sticking with the plan I have. Once I hit a wall, then I'll switch to something else ... probably something like a 5x5 matrix (I'll explain when I get there but there's plenty of workout examples on the website.

Thank you for stopping by and participating in our forums and for taking the time to follow this blog. I appreciate everyone and look forward to sharing and growing together this year.

In Him,

posted by Jeremy Likness | 9:43 PM | 0 comments

Monday, January 28, 2008

Body by God

I had a terrific weekend.

My daughter attended a cooking class in downtown Atlanta. She was learning some Indian dishes. The students cooked for 2 hours, then served the parents dinner. We had tandoori chicken, potatoes and cauliflower, lentils, rice, even a fresh-squeezed mango juice. It was delicious.

I also video taped several segments for Lizzie Marie Cuisine. One was for a special soup she made for a meeting this evening.

Our local chiropractor organizes an event based on the book, Body by God. I am always excited to try new programs. I really enjoyed reading what I have so far of this book because it definitely follows my own philosophy of not trying to do everything at once, but easing into it (similar to what I wrote about in I Can, I Can't. While I may still stick to my current exercise routine as the Body by God one starts out slow, I'll be following the nutrition plan and will report on my results as we continue.

I've been consistent with posting my nutrition and training to my online journal. I've also been making some updates to my personal web page, including topics (gasp) not health-related such as SQL 2005 and online marketing.

If you use Google home page, you'll also be able to add a new gadget that will show you a new article on every refresh. Here are the details for the Fitness Tip Gadget.

Until next time,

posted by Jeremy Likness | 7:02 AM | 0 comments

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Good Workouts Gone Bad?

Today was an upper body workout for me.

When I arrived at the little gym in our neighborhood, the bench press, my first exercise, was in use. I'm on a time crunch and it would not have been valuable for me to wait around. So, following the principles I discuss in I Can, I Can't, I adapted. Instead of saying, "Either I'll workout 100%, OR I'll just give up and be frustrated and post to everyone about how annoying it was to wait for equipment" I picked a different exercise and started with that.
More importantly, however, when I finally did bench press (the individual finished his workout, and moved onto other things) I found that my set wasn't going as planned. I had just barely eked out a set starting with 160 pounds last week ... 12 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps, then 12 again, each set a little heavier ... this time, I could barely make it through the first set.

One of the most common Weight Training Questions I receive is, "What happens when I'm not getting stronger every workout?" Now, there are a lot of reasons why you might not be advancing. It may be time to change routines. You might not be getting enough rest or your nutrition may not be adequate. Maybe you're training too high volume (very common) or not taking enough days between workouts.

I have two strategies I find work out well, so I'll share them.

The first thing I do when I'm going backwards, not forwards, is not get frustrated but instead take a step back. If 160 is too heavy, let's continue the set based on starting at 150. This lets me know if I piled the weight on too quickly (usually I train until I hit all of my target reps with good form, then increase the weight ... the next workout I may fall short, but I keep pushing until I hit them, then increase again). I quickly adopted that strategy and continued the next set.

That set fizzled too. I just didn't have it in me. What next?

I see many people train out of compulsion. They're not consistent with hitting the gym and when they do, it's less about a plan to succeed and more about avoiding the guilt of missing the workout. For them, skipping an exercise is unthinkable.

Me?

Look, it was obvious my chest was not ready. This was my second week hitting the weights hard, and it probably did not fully recover. Instead of annihilating it and making things worse, what did I do? I simply moved onto the next exercise.

It's a win, win in my eyes. My chest gets more rest, I get to finish the workout and hit my other sets harder. And, next week, when I hit it again at a lighter weight (150), instead of struggling to force something I'm not ready for, I'll have a great workout and be able to advance with confidence.

Hope this helps as you move forward in your workouts this year.

Here's a little more on All the Rest you need in your training.

posted by Jeremy Likness | 7:12 AM | 0 comments

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

No pain, no gain

The title sounds so cliché, doesn't it?

But many people don't realize that sacrifice and pain is sometimes necessary to reach a goal.

As I began to run farther distances, I learned that there are typically two ways people deal with longer runs. One is by distracting themselves from the run ... listening to music, carrying on conversation, or even daydreaming to get to another place. Others focus on the run itself ... the way their body feels, the ache that comes with the longer distance, and create a connection. Of course a third breed can do both at once.

I started running by distraction, but found that when I focused on the run itself, I began to receive better results. Running for 4 hours is painful for me, but I found if I kept trying to run away from the pain, my runs were a struggle. When I embraced it as part of the process, I began to enjoy the challenge and was able to accomplish more.

It's like that with nutrition and weight training. I noticed that everyone is running to the gym and even taking a stab at eating healthier now that we're in the second week of January. Of course, most of the resolutions have vanished into thin air because many people never truly made The Decision. Those who have, though, commonly ask, "Is it normal to be this sore?"

Whenever you begin a new training program or dramatically change your training, your body is unprepared and often will become much more sore than usual. This is fairly normal, and some people swear it is a sign that you are building muscle and receiving results.

The question really becomes, however, are you going for "Good enough" or are you looking to make a truly, extraordinary change?

If the answer is the latter, then be prepared to put in an extraordinary effort. I always smiled when people would say, "You trained too hard" because I could barely walk ... I'd silently remind myself, "No, I trained well enough." Inevitably the questions would come, "How did you lose so much weight? How do you stay so lean?" I smile and reply, "By training too hard." Some people have that "ah-hah" moment and clicks, others reply, "I could never do that." Which really means, "I don't really want to get in the best shape of my life."

That's fine. But the double standard can get annoying. It comes back to the decision. Don't say you're going to make a difference, and then have a dozen excuses right out of the gate. I work 60 - 80 hours a week building a software company, then sprinkle in another 5 - 10 helping my daughter with Lizzie Marie Cuisine and adding content here. I also spend a few hours every day with my family and of course devote the weekends to my family. I have not been as consistent in the past, which is why this isn't to be condescending ... but I hadn't made a true decision, either. Now that I'm committed, it's up at 5am to train. That's the only way it works. Does that mean I need to get to bed earlier? Of course. Maybe I have to sacrifice some evening beers or an hour of slouching in front of the television system asking to be programmed by someone else's thoughts and beliefs ... but then it's a question of priorities.

Hey, I know the reality. There are some shows I like, so the sacrifice is that I'm a lot more tired when that alarm sounds. If I hadn't made the choice, it would be just another excuse to hit snooze. Otherwise, it's "get up and do it" and don't complain, or else get to sleep earlier.

Not to sound harsh, but too many people want to go through live with their silver spoon and comfortable little cushioned pillow to help them glide along. I'm not saying living healthy should be a chore or "tough" your entire life. Who wants to go through live not enjoying their meals or doing workouts they hate?

But sometimes you have to step into the flames to temper and shape your resolve. Sometimes you have to realize that it takes an extraordinary effort to make an extraordinary change. Some of your know that it takes pushing yourself to the limit and going "beyond" to understand who you really are. How can you remove limits if you don't push the barrier?

So I'm excited this week that I've been sore every day. It was funny because at one point I could barely lift my arm because my chest ached so bad. No, I didn't overdo my training ... I trained just enough. See, I'm not looking for mediocre run-of-the-mill "oh, I've been training for 5 years so I should be in shape but why don't I have the lean, ripped physique I really want" results. I'm looking to build muscle, shed fast, and do it not too fast, not too slow, but right on time. I still have a marathon to run ... and then an ultramarathon ... and my body deserves to do it with less fat and more muscle. So when I'm in the gym, it's all about 110% effort ... some people may think I'm rude when they want to chit-chat and shoot the bull, and I ignore them because I'm focusing every ounce and iota of energy on the next repetition.

Let me ask you this ... what is more of an effort? Some people do it halfway in the gym, "just good enough" and, "Hey, at least I showed up" and then struggle the entire day with the guilt of not getting to where they feel they deserve to be. Others give it 110% ... do you know what that feels like? Imagine coming home after a long day, settling down into a chair, and really ENJOYING your relaxation because you know you earned it ... not just because you "worked hard for the boss" but because you took care of YOU first. How cool would that be?

I earn my rest every morning with my workouts and don't have to feel guilty about not being where I want to be ... because I'm getting there. I'm moving forward. I'm not dwelling on "now" but I'm building "then." Our actions today echo our reality in the future.

So ... it's normal to be sore and if you really want to see an extraordinary change, you'll fight for the right to be sore each and every day. I don't belong to the camp that believes you must be sore to see results ... but I am a firm believer you must give it everything, and then a little more, each and every time to see results. Doing "just enough" is actually moving backward.

So I take that one segment of my day ... less than an hour ... block the rest out, and hit it hard.

If you want to follow my exact workouts and nutrition, I am posting to my 2008 fat loss journal. I'll share my thoughts here and throw the sets, reps, weights, and food items there.

Thanks for listening.

Labels: dedication, pain, training

posted by Jeremy Likness | 7:06 AM | 0 comments

Monday, January 07, 2008

Happy 2008

Happy New Year!

What an exciting year this has been. I know this is a week late, but I'm sure you'll understand. Our family spent the first week of the year in our cabin that is nestled within Georgia's northern mountains. We swam, soaked in the hot tub, lit fires in the freezing weather, visiting small gold rush towns and generally had a great time.

Of course every year we spend this precious time to reflect upon our accomplishments of the previous year and to set goals for the year to come.

Our daughter, Lizzie, was the highlight of the conversation. After launching her website, LizzieMarieCuisine.com, and recording her video series, we were amazed at how quickly interest grew. For her desire to make a difference in the community to help people live better and healthier lives, she was awarded the Del Monte Do Something Good for You! Grant. This has opened many doors, and the funding will be used to purchase supplies in order to provide healthy cooking classes.

Just as children grow older and move out of the house, Lizzie's business has grown and has moved out from under the fold of Golden Summit Inc. As part of the process, we moved her completely to her own website. She was able to organize her content into better categories. Visit her site to watch the videos, read her articles, and learn more about her accomplishments.

The decision to make changes to the website went beyond highlighting Lizzie's content. After careful consideration and reflection, we realized that my own website is more about Lose Fat, Not Faith and should embrace that brand and belief. I recently began making changes to the site to transition it from the Golden Summit Inc umbrella as well.

Of course, these websites have been around for months. We know some links may be broken and unfortunately the search engines take time to reconsider the changes as well. It will be a few weeks before things are back to normal but we're confident you'll agree the new format will be easier to navigate, bookmark, and refer to. We're also excited about focusing more on how faith and our spiritual journey empowered us to become the healthy family we are, and will incorporate more of that into our sites.

You can now access the main website simply by typing LoseFatNotFaith.com into your web browser. All of our articles are grouped under Articles.LoseFatNotFaith.com. The gallery has been moved to Gallery.LoseFatNotFaith.com, the forums are at Forums.LoseFatNotFaith.com, and the bookstore is now at (you guessed it!) Bookstore.LoseFatNotFaith.com. We appreciate your patience as we transition. Please let us know if you encounter any issues as you navigate the new sites. The searches should start working again within a few days.

I also moved my own page and blog to JeremyLikness.com. I'll be making updates there, reformatting it more like a profile with curriculum vitae.

I had a lot to be thankful for. As the 4th employee of a wireless applications company, I helped grow the business to now over 30 employees. I've seen our locations expand from hundreds to thousands and have grown my own department as well (I now have a large team of developers and am not the only one writing code).

In my own, personal journey, I wasn't as focused on the right priorities and made some poor decisions that created more of a struggle to my ultramarathon than I anticipated. It became very clear that my biggest obstacle to running longer distances is weight, so I shifted my focus to shed these extra pounds. Once I'm back down to lower body fat, I'll start building up my distances but now I must focus on the formula I know works for fat loss: intense weight training and high intensity cardio mixed with low intensity sessions (mainly walks on a steeply inclined treadmill).

This year is about reinventing Lose Fat, Not Faith. I'm considering coming out with an expanded edition, including several of my other works, and packaging it as an e-book (and possibly discontinuing the print edition ... would love to hear your feedback on this, as I know some people prefer one over the other). It's about expanding the website, posting more content, sharing more of my faith, but most importantly, restoring balance in my own life so that I can continue to "walk the walk" and not just "talk the talk."

Thank you for joining us on this wonderful journey, and for your continued support. We appreciate you and all you do. We look forward to providing tremendous value this year and always strive to exceed your expectations. Have a blessed, abundant, and successful year.

Yours truly,

Doreen, Lizzie, and Jeremy Likness
The Lizzie Marie Cuisine and Lose Fat, Not Faith Team

posted by Jeremy Likness | 8:11 PM | 1 comments

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The Road to Ultra

Jeremy Likness' journey to an ultramarathon.

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