Holy Toe Clips Batman!

Went to the club this morning to do some riding. As I was coming up on the bike section I began scanning the bikes for those that still have foot straps. Who are the ignoramuses that remove the foot straps from the bikes! There are only a few bike that still have the foot straps left, but today I was in for a surprise. I discovered two plain, lifefitness recumbent bikes with honest to goodness Shimano foot clips! (they were from the spinning bikes) Excited I was! So I strapped myself into the bike and cranked down the straps. Aahh.. I could feel the relaxing power as I spun up the bike (random setting, level 12, up 2 levels!) The ball of my foot positioned perfectly over axle of the pedal. 90 RPM was a breeze (I did a stint at +110) as I was able to use both the down and up stroke and not have my foot slide all over the place. Please answer me this. Why do people not use the foot straps? I just don't get it. Biking was such a pleasure, I was disappointed when my 30 minutes were up. Maybe it was because I knew I had to go to work ;). 37 minutes, 358 Cals, 45% fat, HR max: 159, HR avg: 126, 19:52 in zone (119-135). Up 3lbs though. Scoundrel and his Ghandi diet (it's a joke son) is losing weight like melting ice.

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Where is your clutter?

I am a slob. My table is stacked with paper, my dishes are stacked in the sink, there’s laundry on the loveseat, books everywhere, my basement is full of books and stuff and other peoples stuff. It’s not pretty. That is one type of clutter.

There is another type of clutter: church groups, bible studies, Council, workout classes, scouts, choir, favorite TV programs, soccer games, bowling. It’s the madness around us, often self inflicted. I’m not saying it’s not important, there just seems to be so much that it’s overwhelming. This type of clutter is its own brand of insanity. This is where your schedule runs you rather than the other way around.

My Dad had a way of dealing with this. He made my brother and I choose one thing: “Sports or band?”, “Sports or scouts?”, “Sports or …?” He wanted to be a part of our activities, but there’s only so much time. I think there’s a lesson in there.

Obviously family is important. Does your schedule enhance your family in some way? Are relationships strengthened? Are the offspring educated and ready for independence, with a high sense of self-esteem to boot? Or are they left in the dust?

How’s your spirit, your energy, your anxiety level? Are you sleeping well, or is that suffering because there aren’t enough hours in the day?

This might be where some people would say goals, ideals and principles can be of some benefit. Chose what’s important; limit what’s important, take control, and focus. That’s not really my point. My point is: “Can you see the forest for the trees?” Can you see the sofa but for the laundry? Can you see your health but for the ten million activities? Are you really enriched? Are you strong? Are you energized?

I think that was part of the reason for my previous post:Your Best

I think health wise there is a purity that comes of youth. But we accumulate stuff, things, activities, (relationships?) that really boil down to clutter.

Maybe it’s time to clean house.

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Was I the best I really were?

Scoundrel has a good post. At what point in my past was I at me best or peak. What Scoundrel means is, when was the time your were at your best physical shape. Weight, Conditioning, Strength. Naturally it would be sometime in our youth. But really? For me, it was the spring of 84 through 85 and then if kinda of tapers off from there. Through the spring and summer of 84 I was working removing flooring and water skiing almost daily. I had a waist of 34 and weight 204. Sorry Scoundrel, no BF count for ya. Diet you say? No breakfast, all meals eating out and unlimited Dew! Have you ever been at a point where you were just plain tired of fast food and just went home and ate nothing? Me. I was probably down from about 220. The job and the water skiing went away in the fall but I picked up a job at UPS loading trucks which kept up the physical activity. I stayed at 215 for most of 85. But it was a great year because that is when I met my cutie! I started playing a lot more racquetball. Lots of tournaments. Fast forward to today. (and by today I mean the last few years) After about a 10-12 year layoff of racquetball I started playing (year 2007)(at 280!) again. about 3 days/week. I'd take my racquetball game today over what I had in the late 80s. Maybe that doesn't say much about my game ;). Last year, Scoundrel, Galan, Lard and myself tested ourselves in the 'Big Pull'. 1 rep maxes the Squat, Dead Lift and Bench Press. I went from 785lbs total to to 910lbs. I have never benched more in my life! Last November I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. I have changed my diet dropped 20lbs and have a regular workout. So was I the best I ever was? Or am I better now?

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What made you the best you ever were?

I was contemplating a time when I was my leanest. It was a time when I was standing all day at my job, biking about three miles every day to and from work, taking karate and sparring twice every day I had off. I was also jumping rope at home during my down time in order to improve my conditioning. On top of all this I was going to night school.

I’m pretty sure my diet was crumby; both from a quantity and a quality perspective. Yes, a part of that time I was working at DQ, but lunch was a cheese burger and a root beer.

Today that would be a recipe for over training. Back then I was a little more resilient. I was also at 8.6% body fat. I’m not interested in getting that lean now, but I was thinking that looking back might show me what works for me…..aside from being young.

For instance, the sparring was very intense, but the jumping rope was steady state. I often jumped for over 40 minutes (hey it was the disco age – good jump rope music). Today there is a lot of debate that HIT is better than steady state, but experience shows me what was working for me…and as Swami will attest the best exercise is the one you will do. I think that jumping rope used to be effective for me because of an initial depletion of ATP stores and then the use of fat as a fuel source. That’s just my opinion, but whatever the reason it was working.

The next step is to focus on the now with the lessons of the past in mind.

But, what I really want to know is when were you at the top of your game? And why do you think it was working for you?

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Announcing Scoundrel’s New Diet and Health Program – 1*

For the price of admission you too can learn the ultimate secret and follow Scoundrel on his quest to 220. It’s insane, I promise you.

1*

(All you gotta do is ask.)

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It's racquetball time again!

It was great to get back on the racquetball court again with all my 6AM Lifetime Fitness racquetball pals, Marvelous Mark, Super Dave, Steve the Greyhound, Arlan the Swift, Jimmy the Mouse, Ralph the Rabbit, Kern the Master, Tom Terrific, Steve the Whippet, Fancy Nancy and Al, Big Dick and Little Dick, Mighty Mike, Big John and all the rest.  It's been since mid-July when my knee wouldn't let me play until the meniscus tear was repaired at the end of August.  Now I just need to find out where I left my racquetball game...

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Let the games begin

Got the official starting point today - 262. I'm spotting Scoundrel 5lbs. but in our 'prime' I had about 25lbs on him. He says 220. My goal was 225 and has been for a couple of years now. Today was my first day on the racquetball court in two months! Recovering from knee surgery about a month ago. More in another post.

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Stuck In The Middle With You

This morning Swami weighed in at 262 and I weighed in at 257. I didn't mean to loose three pounds over the weekend. In fact I tried not to. In fact my one weekend workout involved less sets and reps than I had planned. Sorry Swami.

My goal is still 220. Swami can shoot for 225 if he feels that levels the playing field. I don't care. It's going to take forever. The one thing I feel good about is that this will be a meaty endeavor, not like having a goal of losing three pounds. This one's going to mean something.

The reality of it is just now dawning on me. The problem is - insanity. I believe Einstein is credited with the quote that "Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results." So Swami what are we going to do different? Pritkin, Atkins, Mediterranean, South Beach, Precision Nutrition, Venuto, Metabolic, Warrior Diet, Paleo? Fools and Jokers baby. Everyone's got an angle and something to sell.

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Challenge Accpeted

Thank you Scoundrel for hanging in there with me on this blog. Yes, I accept the Throwdown. My last post was + 8 months ago and I promised you an update on my journey with diabetes. Well..
As I switched my diet way back in November I managed to lose 10lbs in a little over 4 weeks. My next 10lbs loss did happen until April 2010. Since then I've been stuck with my 20lbs loss. I though by now I would be at least 30lbs down if not more, especially with the change in diet. In the mean time, Scoundrel decided the best way to help me was to catch UP to me ;).

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Are we there yet?

I know I promised Ski that I would spot him the rest of the week and the weekend. I have been taking full advantage of that. My week was crummy. I only had one workout. I just feel gross. This morning I got up at 4:30 to put some beer back and stepped on the scale which gave me a little shocker as you can see. I wish I could have put weight on this easy back in High School.

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