I want to share some thoughts on the barrage of information about womens health and fitness out there, in part, I admit, to save this blog from becoming a food and fitness log only.
I trust F's expertise on most everything anatomical and nutritional, but it would be a comfort, a validation, and a joy if information on strength training and macronutrient eating existed at all in the millions of mainstream sources on fitness and dieting. Squatting for Your Spring Break Bod, for instance. Weighing in on Free Weights. In Cosmo. Or on iVillage. Or on a blog written by an articulate, pedestrian working woman, and not a fitness model or strength coach, and not disgraced with credibility-reducing bad stock photography and low-brow man-puns.
I want to read, in short, that my program has been tried and tested by the most bangin' bodies in Hollywood; that Alessandra and Adriana are dead-lifting; that vegetarianism, Pilates, and weekly cheat days are all a farce with regards to looking better naked.
I've not found these things. Every woman aged 22 - 40 can spout off the ten or so dieting tips that ladies' journals monthly repackage, but little to no digestible, accessible, female-friendly information exists on the benefits of lifting heavy weights.
What gives?
I suppose one answer is that strength training simply isn't very accessible - it requires membership to a proper gym, a good deal of fairly inflexible free time, and some real reading, if not customized instruction by a qualified coach. But considering the billion$ women collectively spend on institutionalized dieting, cosmetic surgery, form-flattering underwear and yoga classes, shouldn't this option at least be in the running?
I wish I'd started blogging about the experience earlier, to serve as a ab ova usque ad mala diary to provide some direction and camaraderie for the curious and the aspiring. I want to be able to one tell you, in good faith, that it "worked" - that my body looks and feels different; that there's lasting fat loss and postural corrections; and bone strength, cardio fitness, and energy levels have markedly improved.
So! Maybe one day I will.
Showing posts with label resistance training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resistance training. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Romper, Ho!
Morning, F.
Yestereve was blustery, but I split out of work to procure (in vain) a romper:
A year ago, I didn't think I'd be coveting jumpsuits or lifting barbells, but life, unexpected. It happens.
Anthropologie didn't carry the stock as advertised on its website, so I trudged to the gym and completed a quick light-lift set, followed by an even briefer run:
2x8 Romanian Dead-lifts, alternating with 2x8 Pendlay Rows (just the bar)
2x8 Romanian Dead-lifts, alternating with 2x8 Pendlay Rows (bar + 20 lbs)
4x5 barbell squats, alternating with 4x5 barbell OHP
1x5 low-bar squats @ 65 lbs. Form forward!
3x5 barbell benchpresses
1 mile quick sprint
Abs work (2 x front, left, right planks)
Dinner, late, was a pecky affair. Patchwork fridge contents conspired to supply 3 slices of turkey breast sandwich meat and 1 fried egg on a piece of wheat toast; 1/2 grilled zucchini; a handful of roasted pumpkin seeds; 1 orange; 1 string cheese. Wow, that kinda looks like a lot. Sad face.
Breakfast this morning were an orange and the quotidian morning Muscle Milk.
Yestereve was blustery, but I split out of work to procure (in vain) a romper:
A year ago, I didn't think I'd be coveting jumpsuits or lifting barbells, but life, unexpected. It happens.
Anthropologie didn't carry the stock as advertised on its website, so I trudged to the gym and completed a quick light-lift set, followed by an even briefer run:
2x8 Romanian Dead-lifts, alternating with 2x8 Pendlay Rows (just the bar)
2x8 Romanian Dead-lifts, alternating with 2x8 Pendlay Rows (bar + 20 lbs)
4x5 barbell squats, alternating with 4x5 barbell OHP
1x5 low-bar squats @ 65 lbs. Form forward!
3x5 barbell benchpresses
1 mile quick sprint
Abs work (2 x front, left, right planks)
Dinner, late, was a pecky affair. Patchwork fridge contents conspired to supply 3 slices of turkey breast sandwich meat and 1 fried egg on a piece of wheat toast; 1/2 grilled zucchini; a handful of roasted pumpkin seeds; 1 orange; 1 string cheese. Wow, that kinda looks like a lot. Sad face.
Breakfast this morning were an orange and the quotidian morning Muscle Milk.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Background
I figure that since I've turned on the 'public' setting for this blog, I ought to provide a little background about my training program, which commenced on January 29, 2010, and how it came to be.
An off-the-cuff comment from F this past winter ('you could stand to lose 10 pounds of fat') got me thinking. I was, like I said, offended - I'm accustomed to being met with envy, and not criticism re: my physique. I engaged him about it the following day, and he stuck to his guns about it. We met, and he took me through some general education about nutrition, fitness, and goals:
Nutrition
-Eat more protein. I'm virtually a vegetarian - meat is expensive, labor-intensive, and, I thought, really caloric-dense. I learned that calorie-dense is okay, so long as it's also energy efficient. To this end, I purchased whey protein powder supplements, and started FreshDirecting frozen chicken bulk packs to replace my nightly noodles.
-Eat less starch. This is hard, because I love bread, bagels, donuts, noodles, rice, cake. The best I can recommend on this front is discipline.
-Drink less. I'd been meaning to, anyway, so, done.
Exercise
-Resistance training. F taught me how some power-lifting basics, and put me on a schedule of low-bar squats, bench-pressing, deadlifting, rows, overhead presses, and abdominal work. I like cardio, which I'm permitted to do still (but in moderation). This program resembles a personalized rendition of Mark Rippetoe's painstakingly didactic Starting Strength. I confess that I can't really get through it despite F's egging on, but it's a really, really, really specific treatise / instructional manual on the wonders and mechanics of a few basic lifts.
I think the most salient and lasting piece of advice F gave me on this front was something about the body evolving in order to catch up to what's being demanded of it. Move more weight, and it will get stronger.
It's been fun, because progress comes very quickly for beginners. My current PRs (is there anything more crass than fitness-related acronyms?) look like this, for 3 sets of 5 reps:
Low-bar squat: 110 lbs
Bench press: 70 lbs
Overhead dumbbell press (I can't smoothly handle the bar): 50 lbs
Deadlift: 155 lbs
Pembley Rows: 25 lbs
Per this, I'm only slightly better than 'untrained', which feels a little unsatisfying for the last 7 weeks, but I guess that means I was something pathetically weak prior.
I've got some other, lighter squats, the very ubiquitous Romanian Deadlift, and some more mobility work framing the thrice-weekly regiment (which includes selectively from the above).
An off-the-cuff comment from F this past winter ('you could stand to lose 10 pounds of fat') got me thinking. I was, like I said, offended - I'm accustomed to being met with envy, and not criticism re: my physique. I engaged him about it the following day, and he stuck to his guns about it. We met, and he took me through some general education about nutrition, fitness, and goals:
Nutrition
-Eat more protein. I'm virtually a vegetarian - meat is expensive, labor-intensive, and, I thought, really caloric-dense. I learned that calorie-dense is okay, so long as it's also energy efficient. To this end, I purchased whey protein powder supplements, and started FreshDirecting frozen chicken bulk packs to replace my nightly noodles.
-Eat less starch. This is hard, because I love bread, bagels, donuts, noodles, rice, cake. The best I can recommend on this front is discipline.
-Drink less. I'd been meaning to, anyway, so, done.
Exercise
-Resistance training. F taught me how some power-lifting basics, and put me on a schedule of low-bar squats, bench-pressing, deadlifting, rows, overhead presses, and abdominal work. I like cardio, which I'm permitted to do still (but in moderation). This program resembles a personalized rendition of Mark Rippetoe's painstakingly didactic Starting Strength. I confess that I can't really get through it despite F's egging on, but it's a really, really, really specific treatise / instructional manual on the wonders and mechanics of a few basic lifts.
I think the most salient and lasting piece of advice F gave me on this front was something about the body evolving in order to catch up to what's being demanded of it. Move more weight, and it will get stronger.
It's been fun, because progress comes very quickly for beginners. My current PRs (is there anything more crass than fitness-related acronyms?) look like this, for 3 sets of 5 reps:
Low-bar squat: 110 lbs
Bench press: 70 lbs
Overhead dumbbell press (I can't smoothly handle the bar): 50 lbs
Deadlift: 155 lbs
Pembley Rows: 25 lbs
Per this, I'm only slightly better than 'untrained', which feels a little unsatisfying for the last 7 weeks, but I guess that means I was something pathetically weak prior.
I've got some other, lighter squats, the very ubiquitous Romanian Deadlift, and some more mobility work framing the thrice-weekly regiment (which includes selectively from the above).
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