Project Lean in 16 - Part II
By: Mark Young
Last month I announced my very own personal challenge called Project Lean in 16. Now, after spending just over a month on the plan it’s time to assess, troubleshoot, and update on how things are going with the goals I set out to achieve.
Goal #1 - Get ridiculously lean by June 23rd, 2008.
I’d like to report the use of my brand new, cutting edge fat loss system here…but I can’t. Despite the media hype, there really is no magic solution to fat loss. A simple plan followed consistently is the key. This is exactly the approach we used with Sherry, Sue, Paola, and Jeff.
I eat frequently. I eat protein at regular intervals. My carbs come primarily from fruits and vegetables. And when I do eat starches they are usually cleaner options like brown rice and quinoa.
From an exercise standpoint I’ve been steadily getting in 6 hours of exercise per week. My wife and I also make it a point to do something active (i.e, hiking or walking) every Sunday, but I don’t count that as part of my weekly exercise output.
The most difficult thing I’ve encountered so far is that I haven’t been able to run as much as I’d planned (see Goal #2 below) so the intensity of the output has been a little lower than I would have liked. Nonetheless, if I can bump it up I should be able to do laundry on my abs in time for June.
As the months tick away I’ll probably tighten it up and use a few more little tricks, but for now the goal is to just stay the course and bump up the intensity a bit.
Goal #2 - Run 10 kilometers in under 1 hour.
I posted the initial Lean in 16 article on a Friday. On the weekend that followed (the weekend before I was to officially start this challenge) my wife and I went hiking in the snow on the Hamilton Rail Trail. At one point, being the genius that I am, I also decided that doing some sprints up the steep icy underside of a bridge would be a brilliant way to get in some extra exercise.
At the time I didn’t notice anything unusual, but the next day my left Achilles tendon felt like it was going to explode. I tried some stretching initially, but later decided to visit my chiropractor for some Active Release. I figured that getting it treated right away would be the only hope I had of healing up in time to complete my 10K by the end of June.
During the visit my chiropractor discovered that my left calf had a pretty serious knot, but that my right calf was also quite tight and that I’d need to pay some extra attention to stretching that side as well.
My best guess is that a small part of the muscle inside my left calf had been injured during my bridge sprinting activities and that another part of the calf had contracted into a cramp to prevent it from further damage. The only recipe for healing would be to leave it alone for a while and use foam rolling, massage, and stretching to help loosen the cramp.
Long story short, I pretty much laid off the running and resorted to walking and riding the stationary bike up until Monday of last week. All seemed fine until I started to run again and the Achilles got sore for days on both ankles.
Although I’m still trying to get the calves healthy so I can complete this goal, I want to make it clear that I don’t really enjoy running very much. I’m not going to beat up my body to accomplish something I’m not really passionate about in the first place.
Instead, my wife and I decided to purchase some bikes last weekend so I’m going to start riding to get in my cardiovascular activity that way. If the calves aren’t where I need them to be in about a month from now I’ll just revise the goal to a cycling goal instead.
3. 20 consecutive pull-ups.
Not bad. Not great. I’m almost half way there, but I have good days and bad days. Some days I get 8. Other days I get 9. My guess is that this goal might end up being one of the toughest ones.
At this point I’m not totally optimistic that I’ll hit 20, but I should be able to get pretty close. The best part is that my back is developing very well as a result of the frequent pull ups so these will definitely remain a mainstay in my routine.
4. 10 consecutive pistols.
The surprising thing about these is that I don’t have much of an issue with the leg strength at all. I can do over 25 reps easily with support, but as soon as that goes away my butt gets more of a workout from my landings than my legs do. Apparently balance is required for a single legged squat. Go figure.
Normally when you perform a pistol your weight shifts backwards making it difficult not to fall onto your rump. When you have long legs you have more weight out in front which makes it a little easier. Unfortunately, I am not of the long legged variety. After doing some reading it appears that vertically challenged people like myself need to have a significant forward lean to keep some of the body weight forward and prevent the body from toppling backward.
The only problem is that this requires a considerable rounding of the lower back and that is something I just don’t do while training. Flexing the lumbar spine under load (i.e, rounding your back to tie your shoes) is a major no-no so I had to find another way.
My only solution was to get more weight out in front of me while squatting that allowed me to keep a neutral spine. So…I’m revising my goal to do 10 WEIGHTED pistols by the end of the challenge instead of doing them with just my body weight. Holding dumbbells out in front might make the squatting part more difficult, but it should prevent me from falling backwards AND I won’t blow a disk either.
5. Do the front splits
All I have to say about this goal is OUCH! Apparently learning to do the splits at 31 isn’t as easy as I’d hoped. Initially I’d started doing these several times per day, but found that my hip joints were getting pretty sore and that the muscles are actually tightening up to guard against the pain. I’ve found more success with stretching every 2-3 days instead of every day.
Regardless, the front splits may be attainable by June. I’m not making any promises, but it might actually happen.
6. Do “The Flag”
I honestly started out thinking that this might be one of the most difficult goals to achieve. I actually thought it might be impossible but, believe it or not, it appears that it might end up being one of the easiest. I managed to get the bent legged version pretty quickly and I’m now working on doing it with straight legs.
Granted, I’m only able to hold the position for a second or so, but I think I’ll be able to nail this goal pretty easily within the next couple months.
The Wrap Up
All in all, I think it’s going okay so far, but it’s never very exciting in the beginning. The thrill intensifies as the goals appear to be within your grasp.
I can’t wait!
Posted: April 9th, 2008 at 10:11am By: mark