Progress Check Day 30

So, it's been a little while since I've posted anything on here. My work load picked up dramatically for a little bit so I had to let a few things fall by the wayside.

Today is Day 30 of my training program to prepare for the Bataan Memorial Death March in White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico in March, 2013. Things have been going well with the change in pace that I've instituted. Instead of focusing on explosive movements and quick paced workouts, I've elected to focus on my core and leg strength as well as pick up my running. I still use elements of my old routine for a few different reasons; I've still got a Warrior Dash to compete in coming up next month, I enjoy the fast pace of the training and it helps in muscle confusion.

For professional reasons(I can't keep giving away all of my secrets for free), I am not going to be publishing my workouts on here anymore. I will be sharing them with a select group of people who determine that there is a tremendous value in my program and wish to purchase it. I will, however, continue to share my knowledge and experience with anatomy/physiology, nutrition, supplementing and injury prevention.

Here is my progress so far.

Age: 28
Height: 64.25"
Weight: 153.4
BMI: 26.1
BF%: 9.0

According to the archaic CDC, my body mass index indicates that I am overweight. Anything over 25 is considered overweight for my height. It doesn't matter that I have 14" biceps, or a six pack... It needs to change. But I'm not the one to change it. I state this for a very important reason:

SCALES AND MACHINES DON'T TELL THE WHOLE STORY!!!

One of the biggest problems I have to help my clients overcome is not letting their scale dictate their progress to them. Almost 100% of the people I train(even after I specifically tell them it's going to happen and to ignore it) freak out when they see that after all the sweat and anguish of their new regiment, they haven't lost weight. Or..*GASP* They've put on a pound or two! There are a few things going on at this point:

• Your body is going through some serious neurological changes. Basically, the mind-muscle connection that athletes and active people have, doesn't exist in the overweight and sedentary. Muscle memory takes time just as losing that gut or gaining that mass. I show this by repeating certain exercises on a week to week basis. Toe-Tappers, Box Jumps, Medicine Ball Slams, etc... These exercises take hand-eye coordination, muscle strength and that mind-muscle connection to be performed correctly. That's why the one phrase I've heard from every client I've ever had, is "You make that look so easy". The great thing about this neurological change is that it is very similar to "riding a bike". Once you have become proficient in the movement, it stays with you forever. You may not have the muscular strength to do it well after taking too much time off, but your mind knows exactly what to do and it's only a matter of shaking off the cobwebs.
• Your body isn't quite ready to let go of anything yet. Exercise is stress. Stress produces the hormone Cortisol. Cortisol's primary functions are to increase blood sugar through gluconeogenesis; suppress the immune system; and aid in fat, protein and carbohydrate metabolism. Essentially, stress makes you fat. It would seem then that exercise would make you fat. So why doesn't it? 
• You are building muscle. Muscle takes time to form. Muscle weighs more than fat. So, if you haven't started effectively burning fat yet (because your metabolism hasn't kicked in at a very high rate due to lack of lean muscle tissue) but you are slowly building said lean muscle tissue, then that would be a pretty strong indicator that you might not be seeing those numbers drop as fast as you would like off the scale. But the good news is that eventually, you will have built enough lean tissue to start burning some serious Kcals(Calories burned throughout your day while performing your regular tasks). Your body fat won't stand a chance.

Here are some things to focus on instead:

1. Your pants/dress size
2. Feedback from friends/family/co-workers, etc..
3. Energy levels
4. Increase in weights/times/distances during your workouts
5. Your mood

So, I feel great. My training is coming along wonderfully. I've managed to stay healthy throughout the process and I look forward to these races coming up. I will try to do my next blog on stretches, injury prevention, picking the right training equipment and anything else any of my readers would like me to write about. Thanks for reading!

Randy Tuck
Freakfactoryne@gmail.com
freakfactoryne@groups.facebook.com