90 Day In-Home Boot Camp

"A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me, I'm afraid of widths." ~ Steven Wright

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've been walking for 30min sessions during my 1hr lunch break. Since I'm walking around in my work clothes (shirt/tie/dress pants/dress shoes) the last thing I want to do is break a sweat, so I walk just fast enough to hit that fine line between being warm and actually sweating. My main goal was to get in a bit of exercise, where I would otherwise be sitting on my arse. It also gives me an excuse to get out of the office.

I plan on continuing my lunchtime walks, but only as a compliment to my new 90 commitment that I'm starting on Monday.

A few weeks ago I decided that it was time to get back on track and add some/any kind of fitness regiment to my life. I considered a lot of different possibilities from simple walks, to joining a gym near my work. I decided to try and keep is simple, which is the primary reason for my lunchtime walks, but I knew that this was only a start to ease me in to something bigger.... or at least more challenging.

I ruled out going to the gym for a few reasons:

1. It's a heck of a financial commitment.
2. I squandered the previous money I spent on gyms.
3. I don't feel comfortable enough in my own skin to exercise in front of others.
4. The gyms close to my work/home didn't open early enough in the morning to be able to workout before going to work...... +5pm @ a gym is just too busy.

In the end I opted to work out in the comfort of my own home. I scoured the internet looking for a well rounded routine that I could do with minimal equipment investment. I've never tried a DVD workout before, but I figured that this would be easier than trying to put together a training regiment by myself, and would probably once again require less equipment/money.

After a ton of consideration I chose the "Power 90: In-Home Boot Camp" created by Tony Horton (wikipedia link) and sold by a company called www.Beachbody.com

I was originally drawn to his P90X series, but after some thorough research a lot of users recommended purchasing/using his earlier Power 90 series if you where out of shape. I definitely fell into that category, so I chose to go with the Power 90 series for now and possibly progress to the P90X series later.

One of the reasons I chose the Power 90 series is because there seems to be a lot of satisfied users of his programs. I consistently found a lot of good reviews of series. Pretty much the only thing bad anyone had to say about him is that he's a bit annoying, which if that is the case, I'll learn to live with it. The other reason I chose this series is because it seems to be well rounded in it's approach: Fat burning, strengthening the whole body, cardio, building flexibility.

I purchased my Power 90 DVD set new off ebay. It's not as complete as the full series being offered now, but I knew it would meet my needs. It included the following:

• 3 DVD's (2 DVD's devoted to phases 1-4, and another DVD called "Fat Burning Express"
• Power 90 Program Guide & Transformation Tracker
  
• Fat Burner Food Plan
• 6 Day Fat Burning Express (guide: nutrition & explanation of the Express Disc)
• 90 Day Calendar
• Tape Measure

Needless to say I'm excited about starting, but not so excited about waking up an hour earlier to do the workouts. I like the fact that this series is based on a 90 day commitment, which is long enough to see results, but not so far away that there doesn't seem to be an end/goal in sight. The 90 days is also further broken down into 4 phases that you progress through, where your the one who decides it's time to progress to the next phase.

At some point in the future I'll post a review of both the Power 90 series and the resistance bands I purchased.

How To Guide: Exercising to Burn Fat

"Those who think they have no time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness" ~ Edward Stanley

When it comes to how I look & feel, I could care less about how much I weigh. Whether I weigh 240 lbs or 190 lbs, it makes no difference to me; providing that the weight I'm at is at a healthy body fat %........which indicates that the majority of the weight would be in the form of lean muscle mass, bones, water...etc.

As you know, I think that the BMI is crap.... therefore based on the above line of thinking my main focus is really on losing fat and lowering my BF% to a healthy range......but what is a healthy BF% range? This depends on what source you prefer to abide by.

This graph based on NIH/WHO BMI guidelines. As reported by Gallagher et al at NY Obesity Research Center.

~ Tanita

It's not easy finding a clear, concise and agreed upon answer.....trust me, I spent quite awhile Googling an answer. If anyone out there is aware of a reliable, trusted source let me know....as for now I'm going to stick with the above graph as my guideline.

So, based on the above graph, my "healthy" body fat range (34yrs old) is between 8 & 20%. My primary goal is to get out of the obese range. My secondary goal is to move from the "Overfat" range down into the "healthy" range. My final goal is to shoot for a target somewhere around 15% body fat....but realistically I'm not sure if this is too lofty of a goal, or not lofty enough. I should have a better idea as I move from one goal to the next.

Now that I set goals in regards to reducing my BF%, the next question is what is the ideal way to exercise in order to lose the optimal amount of BF? I've done enough reading (magazines, books & online) to know that there are some very good exercise routines, created specifically for this purpose. However, I'm not ready to change my exercise routine....maybe when I've lost another 10-15 lbs. For now I'm content to just keep using my elliptical machine, walk & do some light muscle building exercises.

Up until just recently I still believed that there was an optimum HR (Heart Rate) to exercise at the would put you in what is know as the "fat burning zone". In this zone you burn a higher % of calories from fat. If you exercise too hard your HR rises and takes you above this "fat burning zone" and you end up burning a higher % of calories from stored carbohydrates. This belief is true, but it's flawed. Consider the following:

For example, say a 140-pound woman performs either a fairly easy walk or a high-intensity jog. After 1 hour, she would have burned the following in total and fat calories:

Busting the Fat-Burning Zone Myth Moderate Intensity High Intensity (60-70% max HR) (70-80% max HR) Total calories burned: 192 278 % of fat calories burned: 75% 50% Total fat calories burned: 144 144

As you can see, you would burn just as much fat and significantly more calories by working out at a higher intensity. What's more, high-intensity aerobic exercises kick your metabolism into high gear even after you're done working out.

~ Prevention Magazine

Based on this information it's better for me to exercise at 70-80% of my maximum heart rate. To do that I need to figure out what my HRmax (Heart Rate Maximum) is.

A 2003 study of 43 different formulae for HRmax, concluded that the following formula was the most accurate:
HRmax = 205.8 − (0.685 * age)

- Wikipedia

Using this formula my HRmax is 182 bpm (Beats Per Minute). To exercise at the 70-80% HRmax I need to raise my HR to between 127 - 146 bpm.

Once I've managed to lose another 10-15 lbs I will return to this topic and reanalyze my exercise regimen. Hope this post helps everyone.

Got a cold......should I exercise?

"Nothing in life is static; it either gets better, or it gets worse."
~ Lloyd Dobens

Hopefully in my case it gets better. I'm feeling a bit under the weather today, but it's not bad enough to hold me back. My throat is sore & I'm a bit tired, but that's all. The question is: am I well enough to exercise? Is there any steadfast rule to follow? According to fitness expert Chris Freytag (author of "Shortcuts to Big Weight Loss" and "Move to Lose"):

The rule I like to use is called the "neck check." If your symptoms are all above the neck, like a runny nose or a sore throat, then you're okay to exercise. Of course you should always listen to your body and take the intensity of your workout down a bit if your regular pace feels too strenuous.

... If you're suffering from congestion or low energy, exercise often helps you feel better.

However, if you have any symptoms below the neck, such as body aches, chills, stomach problems or diarrhea, then I advise you to take it easy until you're feeling better. And if you're running a fever, no matter where your symptoms are, put off exercising until your temperature returns to normal.

~ Prevention Magazine

I seldom act on any advice given by a single source.....so I found the following source that shares the same thinking as the above quote:

WebMD - Exercising When Sick: A Good Move?

Now that I have the answer to my question, hopefully I can sweat this cold out.

Gung Ho!

"Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat" ~ Malcom S. Forbes

I shattered my exercising record this morning:

35mins & 458 calories burned!

I can't think of a better way to start my trip. I'm not even bummed that our flight has been delayed by 2.5 hours.