Books for the buff 
Tom Venuto: Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle
Detailed info on healthy nutrition, goal-setting and motivation, the basics of weight-training,
and cardio for fat loss. If you could
have just one volume on getting lean, this is it.
Ian
King, Lou Schuler: Men's Health The Book of Muscle
Terrific guide to weight training for
both sexes. High-quality photos, innovative exercises as well as standard
fare, good background in laymen's language.
Lou Schuler: The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess
Tells women what they need to know about lifting weights: their workouts should be heavy and intense, just like a guy’s.
Barbara
J. Rolls: The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan : Feel Full on Fewer Calories
The science of satiety. This book teaches real-world portion control and how
to make healthful, filling choices.
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This morning I took part in the local Arthritis Foundation chapter’s fundraising walk. For the first mile or so, a light rain was falling, but the temperature hovered around 60, so the rain was pleasant. Those of us who have some form of arthritis were given blue "hero" hats. I must say, I felt a little silly about being designated a "hero" merely because of a medical diagnosis. But what the heck.
All of us blue-hatted ones were asked to give our name and make a comment, if desired. A tiny 29-year-old woman (who looked like a very slightly built 13-year-old) told us what kind of arthritis she had–something pretty awful, in the scheme of things–but remarked that she just keeps going. A very self-possessed, adorable 6-year-old said that she was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis (I think) at age 4. Then there were several of us who’ve been around long enough to have develped osteoarthritis.
Such occasions make me realize that my own rather trivial health concerns are–no pun intended–a walk in the park compared with the problems others must bear.
The National Strength and Conditioning Association just published the latest issue of its Performance Training Journal. As usual, it looks as though there’s quite a bit of good stuff here. The longer I train, the more bored I become with the same-old-same-old generated by muscle magazines, and the more I appreciate information that’s based on research (rather than the desire to sell supplements).
You can download a pdf copy of the issue or view the table of contents online.
Here’s what’s in Volume 4, Number 14:
The Benefits of Strength Training for Endurance Athletes
Do endurance athletes effectively utilize the weight room to best enhance their performance? Intelligent use of the weight room, just like intelligent implementation of a running program, can have a dramatic influence on the success of the competitor. Learn how to add a weight program that will enhance your endurance, not take away from it.
Rest and Recovery: The Forgotten Training Component
The importance of how recovery and rest contribute to growth in performance is an aspect that is often overlooked in creating a successful training regiment. The bottom line is that without proper recovery, your body will not achieve all the potential benefits from training. Acquire knowledge about how to optimize recovery and avoid overtraining.
Mind Games
The Mental Cheat Sheet
The old adage "Your mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy" has some truth to it. The Mental Cheat Sheet is a tool you can use to help you manage your competitive thinking. This column will teach you how to create a mental cheat sheet, help manage your thinking and enhance your performance.
Training Table
Calculating Your Daily Calories
Ever wonder how nutritionists or personal trainers are able to tell you exactly how many calories you need to lose the extra weight you put on over the holidays, or to gain the muscle mass you have been striving for? There are numerous ways to calculate your daily calorie needs. This article will tell you how.
Ounce Of Prevention
Exercise Modifications for Shoulder Instability
Injuries to the shoulder are common in sports. Athletic injuries though can result from repetitive stresses placed upon the shoulder joint. Find out some easy preventative measures that you can take to reduce this injury and maintain a healthy shoulder joint.
Fitness Frontlines
Learn the latest news in the field on the effects of body size and gender on overarm throwing performance, aging affects on weightlifting and powerlifting performance, and if listening to music improves endurance performance.
Action-Reaction
Using a Slant Board for Agility "Triple Extension" Development
This article addresses a simple training tool that is easily overlooked. When used properly, it can help put you in proper positions and help to coordinate your movements. Wondering what the device is? Gain insight into how to utilize a slant board in your workout programs.
Train for the Game
Interval Training to Improve Energy System Development
Experts suggest that interval training is the most appropriate method of training for improved energy system development. Since most sports demand alternating periods of work and rest, this type of training can be highly sport specific and therefore beneficial in improving performance. You can create your own interval-training program based on the specific demands of your sport and the goals you wish to achieve. Read on to learn how to design your own program.
In The Gym
Accommodating Resistance
The idea of accommodating resistance is based around the need to "accommodate" the strong and weak points of any given motion by using such tools such as elastic bands or chains that alter the resistance throughout the movement. Read on to learn more about accommodating resistance, and how it might be able to help you overcome sticking points in your lifts.
Here’s a quick update on my visit yesterday to the neurosurgeon.
No surgery recommended at this time. Woo-hoo!
I may need it someday, he said, and my life will not be "symptom-free." I can hang with that.
Things I can’t do: move refrigerators and couches or help people push off stalled cars. No problem. I’m also not supposed to put any vertical load on my spine, which means bye-bye squats forever. I’m not crying over that one either. Once upon a time I was a pretty decent squatter, but I must admit I always disliked the king of bodybuilding exercises. No shoulder presses–which I definitely will miss.
But when it comes to weights, the beauty part is that we can work around just about any limitation. There are plenty of other shoulder and leg exercises I can do.
In a word, I’m delighted with the no-surgery news.
There are challenges/opportunities in this situation too: I’m spurred to be more creative with my workouts; to try new things (e.g., yoga for pain management); to work harder on abs and back extensors.
So I’m grateful and relieved and feeling gung-ho.
More musings on the news from my x-rays & MRI.
Am I scared of getting worse and worse, of having surgery, of having a surgery that has less than optimal results?
Absolutely.
Like everybody else, I have a fear of ending up with a profound disability.
But here’s the bottom line: I will never give up.
I. Will. Never. Give. Up.
I have a feeling bodypump class is going to be out for a while, as the last time I had a bulging disk I had to eliminate for six months all movements that put a vertical load on my spine. Also, even though we use weeny weights in bodypump, it’s probably better for me not to subject my bulging disc to squats and deadlifts.
No problem. Yes, I’ll miss the class, but as my much-admired, brainy, funny, hardass dad used to say, "Things are tough all over."
Okay–so this is a great opportunity for me to add something new to my repertory. My health club offers aquatic fitness, yoga, and Pilates. I’ll give one of them a try.
I know I can keep lifting weights, as the range of things I can try is virtually unlimited.
I’ll keep doing the elliptical trainer unless the neurosurgeon says that’s a no-no.
I can certainly walk.
I just need to call on the old inner strength–and a little heavenly assistance from dear old dad, who had about the worst spine imaginable yet stayed active and almost never complained about it.
It’s Good Friday, by the way. An excellent opportunity for us to contemplate the mystery of suffering. And, if one is Christian, to unite one’s sufferings with those our Redeemer willingly bore in order to take away the sins of the world.
My plan for today was to post a summary of how I’ve changed in the past 18 months. Then I spoke to the neurosurgeon’s nurse and learned, in brief, the results of the x-rays and MRI performed last week.
It could be worse–I mean, I could have a tumor or something. The results in brief: I have a bulging disc I didn’t have before, though how in the world I injured it, I don’t know. The first injury–to the disc at L5/S1–occurred in 1986 or ‘87, and if I went back to my workout logs, I could pinpoint the day. I was deadlifting without adequate warmup after a deadlifting hiatus of about six months. Don’t try that at home, folks.
The new disc problem was a surprise.
The fact that I’ve got some degenerative stuff going on (another word for osteoarthritis, or "wear and tear") wasn’t a surprise. So that’s number two.
Number three: I’ve also got some narrowing in the lumbar spine (lumbar spinal stenosis). In a word, there’s not as much room for my spinal cord as there should be.
I won’t panic till I hear what the doc says, but surgery may be needed at some point.
I permitted myself four Hershey kisses and a small chocolate heart. Figured a proper pity-party needed a modicum of chocolate.
More later, after I speak with the neurosurgeon on April 1.
Ready for the good news?
On Sept. 15, 2003, I weighed more than ever before–162 pounds, to be shockingly precise. My best guesstimate is that my body composition was about 37 percent fat (gak!), which means I had about 102 pounds of lean body mass (LBM). I was wearing size 14 trousers, and I could no longer squeeze into my size 12 Rider jeans, which have the virtue of running large.
I began a "diet" (Atkins–shudder) and talked my friend Anne into joining Curves with me. Even then Curves seemed awfully wussy for a former bodybuilder, but hey, it was a workout of sorts, and the 30-minute duration appealed to me. About the same time my husband and I began the habit of taking four of our dogs for a 30-minute walk each morning.
By the end of November I’d lost about 10 pounds of fat. By the middle of May I was thoroughly bored with Curves, talked my friend into joining a "real gym," and had lost only about another five pounds.
Along the way, I had punted Atkins. I wasn’t hungry, but I couldn’t sustain even thrice-weekly Curves workouts and daily walks on restricted carbs.
I hadn’t wised up about food yet, however. I still refused to count calories, but I shifted to the South Beach diet.
Last spring was tough, as my father was dying of cancer. My weight stayed pretty much stable throughout the painful process of his death, and I managed to get in the gym about twice a week.
Once I began to emerge from the grief, I started hitting the weights harder and increasing the cardio portion of my workout.
I began 2005 weighing around 145, with a LBM of 109. That means my bodyfat had dropped to about 25 percent. I’d lost 24 pounds of fat and (re)gained 7 pounds of muscle.
By that time my focus had shifted entirely to 1) eating healthy, 2) controlling portion size, and 3) exercising a lot. In late January I started counting calories and doing the zig-zag thing: mild caloric reduction (1,800 to 1,900 kcals daily) for three days, maintenance eating for a day, then back to three days of mild caloric reduction.
Zowie, Batman, did that do the trick. On Jan. 29 I weighed 145; on Feb. 17 I weighed just shy of 140; on March 17 I weighed 135.4 (where I’m currently sitting). My bodyfat is about 19 percent, with my LBM holding steady at 109.
I’m wearing size 8 trousers and size 6 jeans (generous cut, remember?). I have an entire closetful of clothes I bought years ago and can finally wear again. Did I mention that I have tons of energy and feel absolutely terrific (with the exception of the occasional back back-pain day)?
If you want more detail, here’s the routine:
*six days a week, walk dogs 30 minutes
*two to three days a week, work out intensely with weights, 30 to 45 minutes
*two to three days a week, work out intensely on elliptical trainer, 30 to 50 minutes, at 80 to 85 percent of maximum heart rate (calculating max with the 220 minus age formula)
*one day a week, body pump class, 60 minutes
*calorie zig-zag as indicated above, focusing on plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole-grain carbs, low-fat dairy, lean meat, and limited amounts of whatever else I want to eat and can squeeze into my allotted calories for the day.
Jeez, what a lengthy post.
One of the forms I filled out for my doctor’s appointment today asked whether I had experienced weight loss or gain. I explained that I’d lost 20+ pounds over the past 18 months (going from 162 to my current 137) but that it was by design, not accident.
During my visit, the doc asked me, “Which diet did you use to lose the weight?”
That’s one I’ve heard a lot lately, and although there’s a quick, simple answer, hearing the question makes me want to launch into a philosophical discussion. The quick, simple answer is “Healthy food choices, portion control, and lots of exercise.”
Note that those three ingredients are long-term strategies, whereas “going on a diet” is a short-term fix. That’s the substance of the philosophical discussion.
I feel like an evangelist who wants to spread the word: don’t “go on a diet”; learn how to eat, and start moving your body. Read Walter Willett, join a gym, start your meal with a sald, put less on your plate than you used to, stop eating sooner, and learn how to distinguish true hunger from the desire to taste tasty stuff. There. That should hold me for a while.
Saw the neurosurgeon today–the same man who diagnosed my bulging disc between L5 and S1 in 1986 or ‘87–to find out what’s up with my lower-back pain. Some days are great; others not so great. In any case, I’m going for an MRI this afternoon. It’ll be a relief to find out what’s going on.
While I waited, the doctor’s nurse scheduled the MRI at another facility. I heard her ask the MRI person, "What weight can it accommodate?" When she got off the phone, she said, "I wasn’t asking because of your weight." [I'm currently 137.] "I was just curious because some facilities have new larger-sized MRIs that can accommodate people up to 450 pounds."
I said, "I’ll bet that wasn’t the case 20 years ago." She agreed it wasn’t.
On the bright side, my blood pressure is great: 110 over 63. I’ll keep you posted on the MRI results.
Apropos of weighing 450 pounds, here’s an AP story on MSNBC.com about whether adults need–or are likely to attempt–the amount of exercise proposed by the latest federal health guidelines:
90 minutes of exercise a day? Not likely …
Sixty to 90 minutes of exercise? Every day? That’s what the government
now suggests. But experts say most folks won’t consider that and add
that the recommendation for 30 minutes a day is enough for most.
Brilliant concept: "experts" agree that the amount of exercise one requires is partly determined by how much one weighs. The fatter you are, the more you need.
The article includes some intriguing charts showing the dramatic rise in the percentages of Americans who are overweight or obese now and in 1960. I should have copies made for all the people I’ve heard recently suggesting that the obesity epidemic is caused by "genetics." Yes, genetic components play a part. But our genetics haven’t changed in 45 years.
I am late in discovering that March is National Nutrition Month, at least on the calendars of members of the American Dietetic Association.
On its nutrition month page, the ADA offers a variety of info, including the pdf file "Healthy Eating on the Run: A Month of Tips."
Some of the suggestions are a bit obvious (e.g., "Try a side salad instead of fries"), but on the whole, they’re decent tips.
Also: thanks to Kris for posting a link to 45 of the smartest diet tips ever, from MSN.
How cool: the University of Missouri at Columbia is doing some cutting-edge health promotion with its students, via a course that explores the consequences of a sedentary life.
Here’s a description from the AP story posted on MSNBC.com:
The course–apparently one of the first in
the country–will explore how lack of exercise contributes to obesity
and unhealthy aging, marked by heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes,
cancer, muscle wasting, frailty, and dementia. The course also will look
at the consequences for public policy.
Here’s the article: New course helps freshmen beat extra pounds
I like the fact that students will not only pick up useful skills but also learn about the effect of public policy on personal behavior. Addressing the obesity epidemic is going to take a lot more than the current focus on personal responsibility. Yes, that’s essential, but pushing that as the sole solution hasn’t worked. Individuals, schools, community groups, churches, and government can all play a significant part.
I haven’t felt very talkative (should that be blogative?) lately. My apologies.
Workouts are going well, bodyfat is going down, and I feel generally terrific. I keep getting comments about how much “energy” I have–from various sources. So I must be doing something energetic-looking. Fidgeting? Wiggling? Jumping up and down?
The enhanced energy level is making me want to add–though cautiously, very cautiously–more exercise. I’m already occasionally adding an additional day of cardio (the intense kind–not the routine 30 minutes’ walk through the neighborhood with dogs at 5 a.m.), and I’m thinking of adding a fourth weight workout per week. If I do, the number of sets will be ridiculously low: maybe eight to 10. On a typical weights day I’m currently doing only 12 to 14 sets. Not many by volume-training standards.
In the past I’ve slipped into overtraining when I went great guns, but I hope now I’m old enough to figure out what’s happening if I do get excessive.
I’m intrigued by Ian King’s book Get Buffed (yes, silly title but a boatload of information) and his take on the number of sets one should perform. There’s no easy answer, but many factors influence the decision, e.g., one’s age, how active or sedentary one’s job is, how much life stress one has, and how much rest one is getting.
Well, this one has a sedentary desk job, but she has a fair amount of life stress, is no longer a spring chicken, and doesn’t always get as much sleep as she wants. I can do 20+ sets per workout, but within a week or two, my mood is crap and my motivation is gone. When I do a dozen sets per workout, I improve or maintain my strength levels and am eager to get to the gym. That seems to be the magic number for me at this stage of life, with a full-time job, commitments to four separate singing groups, half a dozen dogs, and so on.
The moral of the story is, when you’re losing interest in the gym and think you ought to be doing more, you might need to take a weeklong layoff, then come back to the gym and start doing less.
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