After countless books that feature workout plans that I've tried, I like author Brad Schoenfeld. He is concise, gives the science behind the theory and provides workouts to give you the results you want.
This is the second book of his that I have read and tried out. This is a perfect book for someone who wants to start weight training but doesn't have much experience or is coming back to it after time away.
This book was originally published in 2000, it was revised in 2008 and I find all the information in it to still be relevant to the workout world today.
A unique feature of this book is that it comes with a DVD to demonstrate the proper form for most of the exercises it prescribes. This is a great feature, because still photos sometimes do not show enough to do a move properly. Also included in the front of the book is a chart of exercises and it gives the page number it appears in the book, the type of equipment it uses (i.e. body weight, exercise ball, dumbbells) and if the exercise appears on the DVD. Very nice feature and a real time-saver when you are heading to the gym and can't remember the details of an exercise.
The author reminds us in the book that exercise is a science and as such there are certain rules that are finite. He busts through some common myths, such as there is no such thing as spot reducing and anyone who tells you there is is lying to you, and explains why women have a different set of rules for working out due to our hormonal makeup to get the results we desire.
He divides the workouts into three stages to take you from a beginning weight trainee through to advanced. I strongly urge a newbie to take his advice. I did not know the importance of this when I started and of course, living in a world of denial did some biceps curls with more weight than I should've. Two weeks into my gym membership and I discovered I had given myself a hernia in my left abdominal wall. I had to wear an abdominal binder (kind of like an ugly corset) for SIX WEEKS while I worked, lifted anything, exercised, etc. I did and it healed, but my left side is shaped slightly differently than my right now because of it. Do yourself a favor and give yourself the time he suggests to acclimate.
If you are someone that does not have access to gym equipment, he gives at-home options for all workouts.
There are a few special interest sections that address pregnancy, cardio, and maintaining your physique.
The beginning phase, called the Body Conditioning Phase, is meant to be done for 3-6 months and offers a 3-day split giving full routines for each day. A great full-body conditioning workout.
The intermediate phase, called Toning and Shaping, is just that. This phase will last at least 6 months and will build your foundation of muscles and just as the name implies, tone and shape you.
The advanced phase, called Targeted Bodysculping is like a tapas menu of desirable body attributes: Sexy Chest, Hourglass Back, Shapely Shoulders, Beautiful Biceps, Toned Triceps, Defined Quads, Lean Hamstrings and Glutes, Diamond Calves, Six-Pack Abs. Pick your poison and get to work!
This is an all-around great place to get your feet wet with weight training. This book could keep you busy for at least a year.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Courthouse Nutrition Plan - Week Five Summary
Hmm, can it really be a month down already? I'll be honest, I was hoping to have at least 5 of my 10 pounds of fat gone by now. And I'm still the same weight as when I started. Like with anything fitness/weight loss related, I must be extremely patient and trusting in the process. Because it's like erosion. You chip and chip away and nothing. And then one day...something. Progress. A goal being met. Something concrete that makes you wanna celebrate your own awesomeness for being successful at something that's been such a tormenter.
Some of those milestones for me have been:
1. Pointy Elbows
K, I totally get the confusion on your face right now. I didn't even know pointy elbows were something to strive for. I didn't even know I didn't have pointy elbows until one day I found them. I was in the weight room at the gym and my arm was bent and I spotted it in the mirror. What the? Why does my elbow look funny? Then, a closer look revealed a very pointy bone, one I had only read about in A&P textbooks, showing itself all pokey-like through my skin. I wanted to run up to random strangers and show them my discovery. I ran home and tore through some magazines I have and sure enough, lean people have pointy elbows. Who knew?! I waited with baited breath all day until my husband got home. I told him "Look! I have pointy elbows!!" He said "oh yeah, you always did have round elbows". HUH?!?! I did? How have I managed to miss this? A MAJOR victory on the fat-front and I didn't even know to look for it. This discovery made me start really studying the bodies of people, namely fitness-competitor types that I gravitate towards in magazines to start "shopping" for body attributes I want.
2. The Lack of Butt Slapping During Running
One of the major disappointments when I started running was feeling my but shake, rattle and roll every step I took for miles. What a downer. It made me very hyper-aware of what I might look like, hoofing it out on the road for others to see. It made me focus on the size of my butt and what I had ignored in my life and let it become. And how unhappy I was with it in it's current state. Depressing thoughts like that are very counterproductive because what they make me want to do is drop everything and go hole up in the house all depressed-like and watch movies and eat cupcakes. It took a lot of internal dialogue for me to keep running. I tried to just be logical and explain to myself depressed cupcake gorging doesn't take away this butt slapping but to continue running does. So keep running. I had this conversation with myself like a broken record each and every time I ran for months. And one day, more recently than not, I noticed the absence of butt slapping during my run. I even threw my hands back there to feel it in motion to make sure I hadn't just tuned it out. Nope. It was gone. This is a major victory because I am of the firm belief that my butt has it's own metabolism and conveniently ignores any efforts I make to alter it. It's the final thing on the fat front to go and man, it's a doozy.
3. Push-Ups (the real ones)
Last year my goal was to be able to do a push-up, form perfect, from my toes. It seemed so impossible. Today, I did 60 of them. Split up into groups of 10 with a 20-30 second break in between, but still. 60! Form pefect, from my toes. Erosion, baby!
Whatever your personal victories will be, they ARE big and totally worth the wait. So, with the anticipation of more inspiring discoveries, I press on.
Here is my knight in shining armor, the long awaited but heavily anticipated 2,600 Calorie Meal Plan:
Meal 1 - Cottage Cheese, Peanut Butter Toast, Grapes (If you mix the grapes in with the Cottage Cheese and make darn sure you have a grape in every bite, the cottage cheese's rottenness is less noticeable).
Meal 2 - Banana and Yogurt
Meal 3 - Chef Salad - homemade with eggs, chicken, veggies and Light Cheese Fantastico dressing
Granola Bar & THREE plums
Meal 4 - Zone Perfect bar and a peach
Meal 5 - Hummus, veggies, almonds
Meal 6 - Chicken tenders, brown rice, veggies, fruit
Meal 7 - Quesadilla
The main difference is I get 2 afternoon snacks now instead of 1 and all the meals are more robust. All the things on the menu I like immensely this week, so that's in my favor.
Day 1 - Ahhh, to be back on track does feel really good. I was a little hungry after evening snack and I was stunned that after the gargantuan lunch they give me I was more than ready for my first afternoon snack, but I hung in there and that's a step in the right direction.
Day 2 - I swear when you actually stick to the plan, you start leaning out immediately. My abs are incredibly leaner today. I have a sneaking suspicion that underneath this last fat layer, I'm ripped. I could be wrong, but hints of it are starting to show as I continually get leaner and I think there's something awesome brewing beneath the surface. I'd like to find out for sure. I am a Plan Diva today!
I checked in with my NT today, we did my weigh-in and although I only weighed in 1 pound down in a month, we showed it was all fat. She also informed me my fat is getting squishier which means it's breaking up which means that the last month of suffering and thinking I'm faltering has actually yielded some positive progress after all. It's encouraging.
She asked for my commitment to stay on the plan for a whole week. I quickly said yes like it was no big deal. But ouch. Hopefully she doesn't think that was the issue for me. It really was just that I was hungry. She also is having me check back in in one week to get my stats again and see if 2,600 calories is where I need to be or if I need to go back to 2,300 and just increase the frequency of my meals. Double ouch. I'm sure she sees all kinds in the diet program. I know, because I used to be one of them that would cover up reality in denial so heavily that I believed I was really trying hard when I wasn't. And acting like I couldn't lose weight no matter what when really my mind wasn't in it and I wasn't ready to change. I get it. But I need to prove to her that's not where I am with this program. I'm just a hungry girl trying to make it all work.
Day 3 - Still on the plan. I'm determined. It's been good. I would not say I am a rabid cheetah, but at night, I tend to be more of a Savage Beast of Hunger. It's a step less traumatizing and I'm dealing with it fine. Today I noticed the scale moved. Up .2 pounds! Uh oh, I like the calorie plan, please don't make this be too much food! I honestly don't know how I will cope if I can't eat this many calories. I feel so much better.
Day 4 - Ah, the scale moved. I am now sporting a 1.2 pound weight loss from start of program, down 1.4 from yesterday. Thank you thank you thank you. But Houston, we have a problem. Now that my muscles are obviously getting food and not withering away from starvation, I'm experiencing some serious muscle growth. I lifted weights on Day 2 of this week and immediately noticed what I'd only ready about -a bodybuilder's "pump". After my workout, my biceps looked to me like the Incredible Hulk- they were all hard and defined and looked like they had grown instantaneously from the workout. Alarming to experience this for the first time and without intending to. I kept grabbing my arms all day and finding the same thing. Now, two days later, my arms are rocks. And if I flex, I have a serious bicep there now. Seriously?! And today, I did Lats & Pecs and I'm finding more of the same. As much as the instant gratification of musculature feels good, I am going to have to fix my workout routine STAT if I don't want to actually become the Incredible Hulk in the weeks to come. Holy moly. I'm like a chia pet of muscles. I wanna look fit, I don't wanna look like a dude.
Some of those milestones for me have been:
1. Pointy Elbows
K, I totally get the confusion on your face right now. I didn't even know pointy elbows were something to strive for. I didn't even know I didn't have pointy elbows until one day I found them. I was in the weight room at the gym and my arm was bent and I spotted it in the mirror. What the? Why does my elbow look funny? Then, a closer look revealed a very pointy bone, one I had only read about in A&P textbooks, showing itself all pokey-like through my skin. I wanted to run up to random strangers and show them my discovery. I ran home and tore through some magazines I have and sure enough, lean people have pointy elbows. Who knew?! I waited with baited breath all day until my husband got home. I told him "Look! I have pointy elbows!!" He said "oh yeah, you always did have round elbows". HUH?!?! I did? How have I managed to miss this? A MAJOR victory on the fat-front and I didn't even know to look for it. This discovery made me start really studying the bodies of people, namely fitness-competitor types that I gravitate towards in magazines to start "shopping" for body attributes I want.
2. The Lack of Butt Slapping During Running
One of the major disappointments when I started running was feeling my but shake, rattle and roll every step I took for miles. What a downer. It made me very hyper-aware of what I might look like, hoofing it out on the road for others to see. It made me focus on the size of my butt and what I had ignored in my life and let it become. And how unhappy I was with it in it's current state. Depressing thoughts like that are very counterproductive because what they make me want to do is drop everything and go hole up in the house all depressed-like and watch movies and eat cupcakes. It took a lot of internal dialogue for me to keep running. I tried to just be logical and explain to myself depressed cupcake gorging doesn't take away this butt slapping but to continue running does. So keep running. I had this conversation with myself like a broken record each and every time I ran for months. And one day, more recently than not, I noticed the absence of butt slapping during my run. I even threw my hands back there to feel it in motion to make sure I hadn't just tuned it out. Nope. It was gone. This is a major victory because I am of the firm belief that my butt has it's own metabolism and conveniently ignores any efforts I make to alter it. It's the final thing on the fat front to go and man, it's a doozy.
3. Push-Ups (the real ones)
Last year my goal was to be able to do a push-up, form perfect, from my toes. It seemed so impossible. Today, I did 60 of them. Split up into groups of 10 with a 20-30 second break in between, but still. 60! Form pefect, from my toes. Erosion, baby!
Whatever your personal victories will be, they ARE big and totally worth the wait. So, with the anticipation of more inspiring discoveries, I press on.
Here is my knight in shining armor, the long awaited but heavily anticipated 2,600 Calorie Meal Plan:
Meal 1 - Cottage Cheese, Peanut Butter Toast, Grapes (If you mix the grapes in with the Cottage Cheese and make darn sure you have a grape in every bite, the cottage cheese's rottenness is less noticeable).
Meal 2 - Banana and Yogurt
Meal 3 - Chef Salad - homemade with eggs, chicken, veggies and Light Cheese Fantastico dressing
Granola Bar & THREE plums
Meal 4 - Zone Perfect bar and a peach
Meal 5 - Hummus, veggies, almonds
Meal 6 - Chicken tenders, brown rice, veggies, fruit
Meal 7 - Quesadilla
The main difference is I get 2 afternoon snacks now instead of 1 and all the meals are more robust. All the things on the menu I like immensely this week, so that's in my favor.
Day 1 - Ahhh, to be back on track does feel really good. I was a little hungry after evening snack and I was stunned that after the gargantuan lunch they give me I was more than ready for my first afternoon snack, but I hung in there and that's a step in the right direction.
Day 2 - I swear when you actually stick to the plan, you start leaning out immediately. My abs are incredibly leaner today. I have a sneaking suspicion that underneath this last fat layer, I'm ripped. I could be wrong, but hints of it are starting to show as I continually get leaner and I think there's something awesome brewing beneath the surface. I'd like to find out for sure. I am a Plan Diva today!
I checked in with my NT today, we did my weigh-in and although I only weighed in 1 pound down in a month, we showed it was all fat. She also informed me my fat is getting squishier which means it's breaking up which means that the last month of suffering and thinking I'm faltering has actually yielded some positive progress after all. It's encouraging.
She asked for my commitment to stay on the plan for a whole week. I quickly said yes like it was no big deal. But ouch. Hopefully she doesn't think that was the issue for me. It really was just that I was hungry. She also is having me check back in in one week to get my stats again and see if 2,600 calories is where I need to be or if I need to go back to 2,300 and just increase the frequency of my meals. Double ouch. I'm sure she sees all kinds in the diet program. I know, because I used to be one of them that would cover up reality in denial so heavily that I believed I was really trying hard when I wasn't. And acting like I couldn't lose weight no matter what when really my mind wasn't in it and I wasn't ready to change. I get it. But I need to prove to her that's not where I am with this program. I'm just a hungry girl trying to make it all work.
Day 3 - Still on the plan. I'm determined. It's been good. I would not say I am a rabid cheetah, but at night, I tend to be more of a Savage Beast of Hunger. It's a step less traumatizing and I'm dealing with it fine. Today I noticed the scale moved. Up .2 pounds! Uh oh, I like the calorie plan, please don't make this be too much food! I honestly don't know how I will cope if I can't eat this many calories. I feel so much better.
Day 4 - Ah, the scale moved. I am now sporting a 1.2 pound weight loss from start of program, down 1.4 from yesterday. Thank you thank you thank you. But Houston, we have a problem. Now that my muscles are obviously getting food and not withering away from starvation, I'm experiencing some serious muscle growth. I lifted weights on Day 2 of this week and immediately noticed what I'd only ready about -a bodybuilder's "pump". After my workout, my biceps looked to me like the Incredible Hulk- they were all hard and defined and looked like they had grown instantaneously from the workout. Alarming to experience this for the first time and without intending to. I kept grabbing my arms all day and finding the same thing. Now, two days later, my arms are rocks. And if I flex, I have a serious bicep there now. Seriously?! And today, I did Lats & Pecs and I'm finding more of the same. As much as the instant gratification of musculature feels good, I am going to have to fix my workout routine STAT if I don't want to actually become the Incredible Hulk in the weeks to come. Holy moly. I'm like a chia pet of muscles. I wanna look fit, I don't wanna look like a dude.
Courthouse Nutrition Plan - Week Four Summary
Still on 2,300 calories a day. For what it's worth...
Meal Plan:
Meal 1 - Shake of whey protein, berries, banana and milk. I made something similar to this before the plan, which I prefer, but it's okay. The only thing is I feel this is more effective as a post-workout recovery snack and it doesn't give me enough energy on it's own to plow through my vigorous workouts. So...I supplement with a Zone Perfect bar too. So sue me.
Meal 2 - apple and 2 string cheese Tasty but I have a volume problem here, especially coming off of the light-feeling shake.
Meal 3 - Pita with clean chicken salad mixture and some carrots. Tasty recipe but not enough food.
Meal 4 - Clean trail mix recipe and a peach.
Meal 5 - Turkey Meat Loaf burger and Sweet Potato fries and a salad. Tasty and good volume.
Meal 6 - Egg/veggie/feta cheese omelet
The food is good. It's not enough and I will just forego this week's posts with a blanket statement that having to fill in all of the blanks in my hunger is leading to basically no days where I am 100% on the plan and then I end up overeating and eating perhaps the wrong things and it's miserable.
By Tuesday, I started an experiment, because my weight was creeping a pound over where I started and I panicked. I decided that abandoning the plan is not the answer. Instead, I will take 3 days and eat only clean food, but eat whenever I am hungry just to the point that I feel satisfied. My reason was to figure out how many calories are realistic, because I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that I eat 2,300 calories on a "diet" and that I am now living a dual lifestyle as a rabid cheetah in my offtime. I know that in order to request more calories, especially after my bloated weigh-in debacle last week with my NT, I need to have something concrete to back me up. Also, I've heard that excessive exercising, namely cardio, can create insatiable hunger in people and I know that my NT is wondering about that with me and I am too. So I need to find out some things about myself. And at this point, I don't have anything to lose. The downward spiral I've been on isn't taking me toward my goal. And I desperately want to have a version of the Courthouse Nutrition Plan that works for me, that I can stick to and see what it can do for me. But I refuse to starve myself anymore. For anything. I've been on a continual yo-yo diet since I was 13 and the buck stops here. No more starving. I am fit and my food is FUEL. And right now, I'm out of gas, plain and simple.
For three days, I ate when I was hungry a variety of foods all three days, but all clean foods. All 3 days I magically ate 2,850 calories. And for 3 days, I maintained my weight to the ounce. I felt justified and happy as a clam. This means my exercise is not masking my hunger. I'm hungry when I'm hungry and that's that. Also, if I can eat 2,850 and maintain my present situation, requesting more calories shouldn't be an issue, because I exercise on top of all that.
Thursday I emailed my NT with renewed zest. I told her I am a rabid cheetah and explained the findings of my experiment. She said she would increase me to 2,600 calories and that we could go from there. She said she envied my metabolism. If you saw the ridiculous level of fitness and health my NT exudes, you would brush by this comment like it was nothing (with a huge grin on your face) just as I did. Hey, if this chick envies me for any reason whatsoever, it's a victory in life.
I'm looking forward to a fresh start.
Meal Plan:
Meal 1 - Shake of whey protein, berries, banana and milk. I made something similar to this before the plan, which I prefer, but it's okay. The only thing is I feel this is more effective as a post-workout recovery snack and it doesn't give me enough energy on it's own to plow through my vigorous workouts. So...I supplement with a Zone Perfect bar too. So sue me.
Meal 2 - apple and 2 string cheese Tasty but I have a volume problem here, especially coming off of the light-feeling shake.
Meal 3 - Pita with clean chicken salad mixture and some carrots. Tasty recipe but not enough food.
Meal 4 - Clean trail mix recipe and a peach.
Meal 5 - Turkey Meat Loaf burger and Sweet Potato fries and a salad. Tasty and good volume.
Meal 6 - Egg/veggie/feta cheese omelet
The food is good. It's not enough and I will just forego this week's posts with a blanket statement that having to fill in all of the blanks in my hunger is leading to basically no days where I am 100% on the plan and then I end up overeating and eating perhaps the wrong things and it's miserable.
By Tuesday, I started an experiment, because my weight was creeping a pound over where I started and I panicked. I decided that abandoning the plan is not the answer. Instead, I will take 3 days and eat only clean food, but eat whenever I am hungry just to the point that I feel satisfied. My reason was to figure out how many calories are realistic, because I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that I eat 2,300 calories on a "diet" and that I am now living a dual lifestyle as a rabid cheetah in my offtime. I know that in order to request more calories, especially after my bloated weigh-in debacle last week with my NT, I need to have something concrete to back me up. Also, I've heard that excessive exercising, namely cardio, can create insatiable hunger in people and I know that my NT is wondering about that with me and I am too. So I need to find out some things about myself. And at this point, I don't have anything to lose. The downward spiral I've been on isn't taking me toward my goal. And I desperately want to have a version of the Courthouse Nutrition Plan that works for me, that I can stick to and see what it can do for me. But I refuse to starve myself anymore. For anything. I've been on a continual yo-yo diet since I was 13 and the buck stops here. No more starving. I am fit and my food is FUEL. And right now, I'm out of gas, plain and simple.
For three days, I ate when I was hungry a variety of foods all three days, but all clean foods. All 3 days I magically ate 2,850 calories. And for 3 days, I maintained my weight to the ounce. I felt justified and happy as a clam. This means my exercise is not masking my hunger. I'm hungry when I'm hungry and that's that. Also, if I can eat 2,850 and maintain my present situation, requesting more calories shouldn't be an issue, because I exercise on top of all that.
Thursday I emailed my NT with renewed zest. I told her I am a rabid cheetah and explained the findings of my experiment. She said she would increase me to 2,600 calories and that we could go from there. She said she envied my metabolism. If you saw the ridiculous level of fitness and health my NT exudes, you would brush by this comment like it was nothing (with a huge grin on your face) just as I did. Hey, if this chick envies me for any reason whatsoever, it's a victory in life.
I'm looking forward to a fresh start.
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