03/24/10: Part 2 of "The Plan"

Good Morning y'all!

It's Wednesday.  It so does not feel like Wednesday.  I swear I've had three Monday's now this week.  But somehow, with all these Monday's in a row...the weekend is still creeping closer and closer.  Odd week.

So now for Part 2 of "The Plan"

Today it's exercise.  I've alluded to my program previously and even asked if there was interest in what it is.  I've been meaning to blog this for awhile, so here is, for those who are interested, specific details will be at the end.

As I said yesterday, I will be able to swim and soak in the hot tub immediately following surgery.  I don't foresee this happening, unfortunately.  We heated our pool last week for the March Madness open house and then turned the heater off Friday afternoon.  Saturday was a rainy gloomy day with thunderstorms passing over periodically - so no swimming.  And Sunday was cold (for this time of year) and windy, so we knew we wouldn't be swimming Sunday as well.  So the heater is back off.  By the time Saturday was done, our water temp had cooled back into the low-60's.  If these cold fronts continue, it will be mid-May before the pool gets reasonable.  Not too bad...but I am hoping for surgery in April.  So I don't foresee swimming the day after surgery.

If I did, I would be working more on aquarobics.  Something less intense and more easily adaptable to sore port areas.  I say that because proper swim techniques require a lot of use of the abs.  So I don't foresee full on swimming until things are healed.  Doing aquareobics, I could focus on legs and arms while just working on keeping the abs stabilized.  It would give me the benefits of exercise without over-exertion.  It's a thought - but it really depends on what the water temps do.  If the pool can get itself, on it's own, into the 70's, I can see using the heater to bump it up.  But running the heater for extended times is EX...PENNNNN....SIVE!

So we shall see.

My exercise routine will be fully implemented only after I am fully cleared and on solid foods.  If my energy dips, the exercise is going to be too extreme.  I have four weeks after surgery before I am back on solid foods with "freedom" to get in "enough".  I won't be going crazy on anything exercise related until I can sustain it.  I live in flat flat flat country, so walking is really not strenuous.  Aside from the bad foot getting mad about extended trips, walking is easy-peasy for me.  So walking it will be until I am ready to hit the weights...unless the pool is a good temp, which I doubt it will be.

All that to say nothing.  Don't you love reading my blog?  :)

So my much aclaimed (by me, anyway) weight lifting program.

It's a six week cycle.  It goes like this:

• In the first week you lift very very very very light weights and do a zillion and one reps in three sets.  This week will be more of an aerobic workout.  You will not feel a burn but you will get the heart and lungs working.
• In the second week you lift moderate weights and do moderate reps in three sets.  You will be doing an anaerobic and aerobic workout.  You will feel a burn and you will also get the heart and lungs working.
• In the third week you lift crazy heavy weights and do very very very few reps in three sets.  You might not even be able to do three sets as you are trying to lift crazy heavy weights.  You are pushing what you can safely do here.  You will be doing an anaerobic workout.  You will feel the burn only.
• In the fourth week, you repeat what you did the second week.
• In the fifth week, you repeat what you did the first week.
• In the sixth week, you do nothing.  You can walk - but it would be more for enjoyment, not for "working out purposes".  The purpose is to reset your metabolism again.  The purpose is to rest.

I have done this in the past and lost 40 pounds in about two months without changing what I ate.  That was back in the day before I started eating as badly as I was just prior to the "unweightloss" program.  I also did this, in the past, where I did the five week cycle and did not take the sixth week off.  But I wanted to keep the muscle in that case.  If you feel you are bulking up from this, that sixth week is important.  It does let the muscle begin to atrophy a little.

When I do this on the five week cycle, to keep it fresh, I add weight to each starting point.  When I do this on the six week cycle, I can keep my weights the same.

So, let's take an example of bicep curls.  Easy peasy bicep curls for me use about 10 lbs dumbbells.

Week 1 - 8 lbs.  (easier than easy.)  Do 3 sets of 20.
Week 2 - 11 lbs (slightly harder than easy.)  Do 3 sets of 12
Week 3 - 20 lbs (pretty dang hard.)  Do as many as you can.  If it's 3 sets of 4.  Great.  If it's only 4 total.  Great.  You are shooting for being able to do between 4 and 6 reps.  And you want to push what you think you can do here.  You may have to use the rest of your body to get your bicep to curl, too.  That's ok.  PUSH IT.
Week 4 - 11 lbs again.  It will be way easier than it was in week 2.
Week 5 - 8 lbs again.  It will be way too super easy.  But your heart will be working and that's the goal.

If you get to week 5 and immediately start over, then in week 1 (i.e. week 6) you would move to 10 lbs starting.

If you take week 6 off.  Then start the same regimen over exactly.

In the past, I did weightlifting every night of the week and swimming 2-3 times a week.  I limited workouts to Mon-Fri (working out all five days all the time) and while I did workout on weekends, I didn't count them. 

This time around I will weightlift Mon, Weds and Fri and swim on Tues and Thurs.  As I lose weight and start getting more concerned with toning, I may up that to every night of the week.

In the past, working out five days a week with weights, I would do Mon/Weds = lower back and legs, Tues/Thurs = arms, upper back and abs.  And Fri = abs and legs.

I pick about 4-5 different exercises for arms, legs, back, abs, etc.  Arms, for example, might be, wrist extensions, wrist curls, bicep curls, tricep extensions and shoulder lifts.  When I start the program again, I can change that up, as well, to get variety.

And there's the key to this.  Variety.

You plateau because your body gets used to what you do.  If you eat the same foods - or even eat different things but always eat at the exact same time each day - your body gets used to it, anticipates what's next, and waits to chow down on calories until it gets the fresh stuff.  If you do the same workout every day - run 3 miles, you'll see progress...but it will be slow.  This program keeps your body guessing.  If your body doesn't know what's up, it will not try to anticipate and just do what it's gotta do.

Furthermore, this program builds muscle only temporarily.  You will actually only build muscle in week 3.  And if you take week 6 off, you let your body let that muscle go.  So you won't bulk up.  Muscles are at the core of our metabolism of fat, so you want muscle but being girls (most readers, anyway) we tend to not want bulky muscles.  But muscles are good stuff.

This program is so easy to adapt to your personal needs and desires.  If you want to play up your abs and not work your calves, great, do it.  I would never say ignore your thighs though.  The largest muscle in the body is in the thigh and that muscle will do more for your metabolism than any other muscle.  If you want a sexy back - then spend more time on your upper back and shoulders than on your forearms.  Most exercises you can do with free weights will play to a grouping of muscles.  Figure out which group you really want to work with and then do so.  But again, do those groups and the thighs.  Always do the thighs.

Personally, I always go for the thighs, abs, and shoulders.  The rest I change up every time.  But whatever you choose for week one of any given cycle, stick with that for the duration.  Then next time, change it up if you like.

If you have any questions or want good sources for exercises that have great how-to's for technique let me know.

If you are new to weightlifting, then I would advise a trainer to learn good technique.  But you probably only need a few sessions to do that.  And while we have a pretty decent gym at home, you really don't need much to be able to do this all at home.  I used to use an automan for a bench and did everything I wanted with one barbell and two free weight dumbbells.  I had 2 - 2.5lb irons, 4 - 5 lb irons, 4 - 10 lb irons and 4 - 25 lb irons.  I can get just about any weight combo I need just with that and all this cost under $100.  Now...we have a couple of benches, one inclines, one doesn't and a contraption that does some leg or arm/shoulder exercises that are hard to do with free weights alone (like leg curls and lat pulls).  We've also added two olympic style barbells (HEAVY!).  I also use balance balls and various things like that for all my ab work as well as to work on balance.  I have a BOSU ball that I love love love and will do my squats while balancing on that.  I also use medicine balls for ab work to get a little more oomph out of what the abs can do without having to just put an iron on my belly.

Sigh...I can't wait!


***Edited on 3/25/10 to include a comment I shared below in response to multiple comments made to me about the swimming/hot tub soaking statements I made above.  Here is the comment:

I am allowed to swim/soak in the hot tub because my surgeon uses internal stitches with dermabond on the skin. Dermabond is an airtight barrier - no air will even cross that "bond". So the stitches and wounds will be completely dry even though completely submersed. Because of this, I can also take showers from the start.

If you have staples or exposed stitches, you cannot swim or even shower. Pools are really cesspools of bacteria and other little critters we can't see - no matter how clean and chlorinated they are. You CANNOT risk getting those critters and bacteria in the wound. Swimming/hot tub soaking are ONLY options when dermabond is used.

Sorry if there was any confusion.

And the last thing I'll say - it was them at my bariatric center that told me I could swim/soak. If you are curious about YOUR situation - ask YOUR surgeon.