Project Lean in 16 - Part III
By Mark Young
A little while back I began my own personal transformation called Project Lean in 16. If you have no clue what I’m talking about you can check out Part I and Part II to get up to speed.
Without further ado, let’s get to the update.
The last couple days have been a train wreck. I just spent the vast majority of the weekend lying on the couch with a brutal cold and a 102.7 degree fever (that’s 39.3 degrees for you metric folks). Last night I barely slept because I couldn’t stop coughing and my throat feels like I swallowed a fistful of razor blades. Despite that, I’m feeling a bit better today. My voice is as crackly as that of a teenaged boy going through puberty, but at least I can function.
A couple weeks ago I also injured a muscle in my forearm that ended up causing a fair bit of pain when I was training. I first felt it while doing pull ups, but figured it would pass. By the next week when it was time to do pull ups again I discovered it had actually gotten a little worse. Of course, I’m pretty driven (read: stupid) so I did them anyway.
The result was a one way ticket to my chiropractor to get it sorted out the very next day. Of course, he suggested that maybe I shouldn’t have done the exercise when it was still sore. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the keys to my time machine that day so he did some acupuncture, active release, and laser therapy on my arm and it felt great afterward. I haven’t had the opportunity to test it out for pull ups yet, but I think it should be much better now.
Accupuncture shot taken from my camera phone
The bottom line here is that is that the last couple weeks have been difficult for training. The last few days have also been tough nutritionally as well. My stomach has been as volatile as Britney and Kevin’s marriage and I’ve hardly been able to eat once per day without doing a technicolour yawn.
What does all this mean for my goals?
Goal #1 - Get ridiculously lean by June 23rd, 2008.
Depending on how long this cold lasts, the name of this article might end up getting changed to lean in 18…or 20. Most people I’ve seen with this cold are still suffering and they’ve already had it 2 to 3 weeks. I’m not giving up all hope on my deadline, but if I can’t eat and my training is limited it’ll make it pretty damn tough.
Goal #2 - Run 10 kilometers in under 1 hour.
As I mentioned in Part II of this article, running just wasn’t agreeing with me. It killed my calves and I just don’t love running enough to tough it out. Instead my wife and I bought some bikes and I’ve been doing almost all of my cardiovascular training that way.
To be honest, I hadn’t ridden a bike since I was a kid and I had totally forgotten how awesome it is to ride. I personally believe this is one of the BEST purchases I’ve made in a long time. We ride to and from work regularly (over 5 kilometers each way) and usually go for a longer ride on Sundays. Not only am I getting exercise, but I’m actually enjoying it.
Now we didn’t go out and buy several thousand dollar bikes. We bought some inexpensive bikes at Canadian Tire (you can almost hear the moans of the more serious cyclists here), but they’ve been perfect for what we needed them for. If you’re always thinking of a way to get in extra exercise and you hate running like a hamster on a treadmill, I’d highly suggest getting a bike. It has been worth every penny.
That said, I should warn you about a couple things if you choose to heed my advice to get back on two wheels.
- You probably don’t remember this at all as a kid, but I can assure you that your butt will hurt after your first few rides. And by hurt I mean it will feel like you got paddled at some ritual fraternity initiation. I couldn’t believe I didn’t remember this from childhood! However, after a few rides I guess your butt toughens up and you don’t feel it anymore…just be prepared. Ladies, you might also want to consider a seat that is specially designed for women.
- Your legs will BURN! Once again, something your probably won’t remember from your youth; going up hills will set your legs on fire. I would like to tell you that this goes away, but it has yet to disappear for me. The best solution I’ve found is to learn to use my gears properly. This seems to take the edge off.
- Gentlemen, you will look like a nerd. Your wife WILL make you wear a helmet. She’ll also probably insist that you have proper reflectors and front and rear lights on your bike. You’ll also have a bell. Take solace in knowing that she’s making you do this because she loves you. Either that or she’s worried other women might stare at you and she’s doing everything in her power to make sure they know you’re taken.
In any case, I’ve really taken to cycling and I plan to revise my goal to include a ride along the Rail Trail from Hamilton toward Brantford. The whole trail is about 32 kilometers in length so a return trip would be about 64 kilometers. To complete the full distance might be a good goal in itself, but I have no way of knowing until I really get out there and see how far I can go.
I had planned to go out last weekend to see just how far I could ride and, if I could complete the whole thing, how long it would take. Since I was sick this was obviously not an option. However, my aim is to get out as soon as I’m feeling better and do a ride to get a feel for the trail. Once I do that I’ll have a better indication of what I can accomplish and I’ll set a concrete goal from there.
For the record, this is a beautiful place for a walk on a Sunday afternoon.
Goal #3 - 20 consecutive pull-ups.
Despite the forearm pain I felt a few weeks ago, this seems to be going quite well. I mentioned previously that I’m not totally optimistic about hitting 20, but I’m going to give it everything I’ve got. Since most people I’ve met can hardly do a single pull-up I’d be pretty happy with anything close to 20.
Goal #4 - 10 consecutive pistols
In Part II of this series I wrote about how I thought that holding two weights out in front of me would stop me from toppling backwards. Apparently, holding weights in front of me just leads to falling on my butt harder because I can no longer use my hands when I topple backwards.
I’ve done some reading and picked up a few more tricks on how to train for this so hopefully it will get better before my tailbone shatters.
Goal #5 - Do the front splits
I hate this goal. My hips were getting sore again so I left it alone for about a week. I got back at it and I was back to where I started. I mean c’mon…seriously. It’s fair to go backwards a little…but not all the way.
Anyway, talking to my body doesn’t appear to work as it seems not to be easily persuaded. It actually said something about actions speaking louder than words or something like that. It seems I’m going to have to get back at it and stay consistent.
Goal #6 - Do “The Flag”
I am actually most excited about this goal. I thought it was going to be the worst and I think it is going to be one of the best. Not only does it look wicked cool, I can almost hold it now for about 5 seconds. Okay…so I only held it that long once, but at least I’m close.
Besides just looking cool, this movement has been around for years. Here’s an old photo from Muscle Beach California where feats of strength like this were all too common.
This one is going to be AWESOME!
The Conclusion
I’m hoping that by the end of this week I’ll be back to normal and able to eat and train regularly. I’m anxious to get that ride in and set that cycling goal.
Stay Tuned!
Posted: May 21st, 2008 at 11:20am By: mark