When I signed up, I had some sort of fantasy that the group really wanted to MOVE and get results, that we could go to the gym, even a fitness center, something, but no, the big MOVE event for next month is a walk in the park, literally, well, ok, that is some sort of action, but, unfortunately for me, the ROI is not worth it. What I mean is, I can only walk a very short distance, like maybe 100 yards, before the pain is so intense I have to sit. However, if it is to walk into the gym, then sit on a bench, do an exercise that actually does something besides get your shoes dirty, it would be worth it. Walking or standing are the two things I have to limit, I only can walk so far, total in one day, or I am stuck on the sofa for a day or two! If we were going to the gym, the benefits of that type of exercise, would make up for the pain, I would be getting a Return On my Investment, just walking, all I get is the pain and zero benefit.

I know that most of the folks in my MOVE group are much older than I, but, weight training is good for everyone, walking is about the least valuable of all exercises, if the same amount of effort is applied to weight training, the benefits will far exceed what one gets from a walk, as far as I am concerned, walking is only good for getting from the car to the free weights in the gym. Yes, there is a bit of cardio involved with walking FAST, but your heart gets a workout with weights too.

What is the whole point? Gaining lean weight (muscle), will increase your body’s ability to burn fat, even when you sleep, walking is only good for burning a few calories at that given time, and the muscles used for walking, will get used to that stress very quickly, and unless you start carrying weight, while you walk, you will peek in just a couple of  days. If that is all that the MOVE program is about, it is not worth the gas money to get there.

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This happened to me today, there was this young guy, maybe 20 or so, and in great shape, who was doing a set of bench press, and he had a 35 on each side of the bar, along with 3 of those little bitty things, like 2.5 pounds or something, and he was grunting as if he had 500 lbs on the bar! Luckily, I had already finished my heavy set, before he added the second pair of tiny plates to the bar. I was doing a set of dumbbell pullovers, then the grunting started, and since I had seen what the kid had on the bar, I lost my focus and laughed so hard I almost dropped the 75 lb dumbbell on my head! Thinking that the noise would soon stop, I waited, but, the kid added that third tinker-toy to the bar, and did another set with his massive 130 lb load, while making even louder grunts and groans, the only thing missing was the usual fart that accompanies that much effort, when he finished that set, after all of that noise, I would have thought him to be done, but no, I saw him grab 2 more of those plates, that honestly could be used for key chains, I was sitting there, my towel over my face laughing, I couldn’t take it any more!

I wasn’t the only one, there were two or three others also laughing, one guy, doing dumbbell shoulder presses, dropped his and almost fell off the bench he was sitting on. I couldn’t take it anymore, I didn’t want to embarrass the kid, had I stayed any longer, I would have wet myself laughing! I couldn’t even finish my workout, I had lost my focus, and laughing zaps my strength, so I just called it a day and left.

The moral of the story is simple, if you are a “vocal” person, and train in a setting where others have to hear you, keep it down, anyone can see the weight you have on the bar, and unless it is heavy, keep your little girl sound effects to yourself, it is just rude, funny, but rude.

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Yes, if you are active, work hard, and yet eat the wrong food, and drink too much, you can still be fat, and maybe one of those fad diets can do you some good, at least temporarily, the same goes for the fancy pre packaged meals, but, how do you know what is working? Measure your fat!

The graph above is for me, for about a month, with un-regular measurements, meaning, I did a couple of fat measurements only a couple of days apart, here and there, and it looks like the curve flattens out, when in reality, it doesn’t, so, let’s just use the results for my example.

Over this time period, I lost a total of about 18 lbs of body fat and gained about 11 lbs of lean body weight, for a net loss of 7 pounds. It is recommended that one should lose no more than about 2 pounds a week, but no one ever says anything about the details of fat vs lean weight.

No matter what diet you get on, all they ever talk about is weight, eat this, lose weight. The problem with that is that you can do more harm than good, by simply losing weight and not monitoring what type of weight, fat or lean, is being lost, and this is the most important detail, but all they care about is selling you a book, a membership, or some over-priced food!

So, what works? Yes, exercise, but, not just any exercise, because things like spending hours on a treadmill, will cause you to burn muscle, as well as fat, and that is not good, because muscle is your best friend when it comes to burning fat, so, what do you do? Resistance training, more specifically, weight training, is the answer, but, this too must be done properly, or, it is not much better than running, you must train heavy! No, you don’t have to become a power-lifter, but a man, doing a set of curls with a dumbbell that weighs about the same as a beer, just will not give you the desired results, the effort must hurt!

Before you get crazy, and do something dangerous, by hurt, I mean it must be something beyond what you would normally do, like drinking a beer, we have all heard the term “12 ounce curls”, and personally, I have done sets of 20 or 30 in the past! What I am trying to say is that it requires a bit of “discomfort” to get results, the keyword being, Intensity. Intensity, is what determines whether any exercise does anything, and it must be adjusted to your own level of fitness or health, so, get informed, if you go to a gym, or fitness center, the trainers there should be able to help you, and if you let them know that you want to gain muscle as well as lose fat, by training with weights, they can get you started in the right direction.

Just remember the old K.I.S.S. acronym, which means, Keep It Simple Stupid. If you eat food, as close to the way God made it as possible, meaning, NOT PROCESSED, and without added sugar and so on, and start training with some good ole iron, you can do it!

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I never expected much from the program, after all, it is a government thing, but, at the weigh in, and they saw I had lost weight, I broke it down for them as to the fact that I had lost about 16lbs of fat and gained almost 6 lbs of muscle, something that one would think might make someone ask a question or two as to how, and yes, it was mentioned that I was going to the gym, but that was as far as it went, a wasted opportunity in my opinion.

I had told them the month before that I was going to get the software etc to keep track of fat loss, when I told them the numbers, the doctor for our group said something like “oh yeah, you mentioned that before”, why was there not more attention paid to this? From what I can see, as long as you do not gain weight, everybody is happy!

Somehow I feel that the name MOVE implies some sort of action, but, the highlight of the meeting was how many nuts make up a quarter cup? I have to be honest, the nutrition stuff doesn’t mean a hill of crap if you don’t have any exercise. The nutrition councilor even mentioned that briefly, while explaining an answer to one of the questions in the game we were playing. She told us that there was a lady in a wheelchair that started doing leglifts with a small weight and eventually got out of the chair because of it, but that was about it, again, a missed opportunity to actually teach the group or even maybe motivate someone, but no, it was all about somebody ringing a bell or blowing a whistle to answer the next question. The game itself is not where I have issues, it was actually an ok thing, you can find similar ones here, but, the meeting only lasts an hour, and so did the game, and everyone there participated, it was fun, but, was it productive?

I am usually way too critical about everything, and, in this case I am sure of that, but, as I see it, this MOVE Program is a waste of time. Here is the good news, we don’t have another one until April, something to do with Spring Break and somebody’s kids or something, to be honest, I don’t want to go back, but, I will, because somehow, I need to help. Being fat is not fun, being old and fat is even worse. I missed six years of training because I was in pain, and couldn’t breath, now that I have meds for this, and know that my pain is there forever, whether I train or not, I am sticking with it, the gym has been my life since I was a kid, I need to help others, it keeps me motivated. If you read this, and are a member of the MOVE Program, do as I am going to, Take Charge! Make the Move Program be more like the name implies!

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Anyway, here we are in the present, and today, I just almost had to have a talk with one of the trainers. I have no idea what the exercise is called that he was attempting to teach this little girl, but between the two of them, there was more talking, and flirting, than training going on. What is the problem with that? Well, for one, it ties up the equipment, and another, it makes the trainer look like he has lost control of the trainee. Yes, I said it, control!

When at the gym, it should be all about the training, not flirting. Even though in this case, it was the girl, not the trainer, that was starting the “small talk”, but, his lack of control was obvious. When he would attempt to teach, the girl would dodge the lesson and move on to how she came to the gym 6 days a week or more. To be honest, that girl could go the gym 100 days a week and never get a workout! I’m sorry if I sound too strict, but, by not keeping the girl focussed on training, he was wasting her time, time she is paying for! Being nice is not a good quality for a trainer, a trainer should be tough, and rigid, otherwise it shows a bad example, goofing around, joking, flirting and anything else that distracts you, or anyone else, from the work at hand is just wrong!

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Soon, I will be posting my personal training and FAT-LOSS reports, I am currently waiting on software to do this, and once I have it, I will tell you all about it, how to use it, and why you may need it to get the best results in your battle of the bulge!

For now, the topic is what does Over-Weight mean to you? To me, it means nothing, I am used to not fitting the “standard” height/weight requirements, I am a freak, according to them, and maybe you are too. These standard charts do work out ok as a guideline for most people, but, if you have a “wider” frame, with more muscle than a “normal” person, it may scare the heck out of you!

Below is what the chart says for me, here is the link to the whole chart.

As you can see, there are three columns, one each for small, medium, and large frames, I currently weigh 278.8, that means I am 110.8 pounds over the max for large frames!  Obviously, this chart does not work for me, according to my height, weight and measurements, I currently have 35.28% bodyfat total, which is down from 37.13% two weeks ago, my goal is about 12-15%. Based on the numbers I have, I still need to lose about 20-23% bodyfat, See where the confusion comes in?

In the last two weeks I have lost 3.8 pounds and just under 2% bodyfat (BF), but, I have gone from 104.93lbs (BF) to 98.36lbs (BF), that is a loss of 6.57lbs of fat! At the same time, I have increased my lean weight (LW) from 177.67lbs (LW) to 180.44lbs (LW) for a gain of 2.77lbs (LW).

If I were to stay at this same rate, in twenty weeks, I should lose 38 pounds total weight (TW), 65.7lbs of fat, and gain 27.7lbs (LW), lets do the math and see if this works out right. Subtract 65.7lb from 278.8, then add 27.7lb, that comes to 240.8lbs (TW) and ten times 1.85% (BF) is 18.5% (BF), which would put me at 16.78% (BF), I would be almost to my goal, but, wait a minute, I would still weight 72.8lbs too much, according to the chart!

Can you see my point? I know that the actual numbers over the next 20 weeks will vary from what we used here, but once I can print the reports, it will be easier to show you, who knows, it could be even better!

My point here is to ignore the charts! Measure your bodyfat and track your progress that way. Weight training is better than any aerobic training alone, because you will not gain any lean body weight, you will just lose weight, from both muscle, and fat! Yes, treadmills and such do play a part in getting your heart beating and burning calories, but, if you train properly with weights, you can get there and be stronger in the process. Personally, I would rather stay fat, than be a tiny little guy from running, been there, done that, and yet, never got below 14% body fat! So, get in the gym, move some Iron and watch your body change!

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When you see a workout routine written in sets and reps, the basics are easy, one set is equal to one group of repetitions for one exercise, and the weight used for that set, like this.

Week one – three  Bench Press

1 x 12-15 x 95lb

Sounds pretty simple so far, but what is meant by 12-15 reps? Is it just putting any weight on there, then doing 12-15 repetitions? No! When you write out your routine, you need to know how many reps you can do, MAXIMUM, for that weight. Lets assume that I can do only twelve repetitions of that 95 pounds, in that case, my goal is to do more than my maximum, that is how you get stronger, and you know when to add more weight.

The first week, all I can do is 12 reps, the second week, I should do 13 or 14, the third week I should do 14 or 15, then, for weeks four to six I would add weight, not reps. In the above illustration, 95 pounds, which is the bar, 45 pounds, and two 25 pound plates, for a total of 95 pounds. So, in the second week, I would use two 35 pound plates, for a total of 115 pounds, like this.

Week four – six Bench Press

1×12-15x135lb

Now, why is it I added 20lbs? Simple, if you can do 15 reps of 95, you should be able to do 12 of 115, even if you can only do 11, don’t worry about it, that is your goal, it is not supposed to be easy. As far as I am concerned, those little bitty plates, less than 25lbs, are useless, unless maybe for a keychain or something.

In this example I am using a standard 12-15 reps, this is a general fitness type of set, if you want to do more, for endurance, thats ok, just remember, it is the maximum weight for X repetitions, but in any case, I don’t recommend doing more than 15 if you want to get stronger, and then, I would use 15 as a warm up. A typical Bench Press routine would look something like this.

Week one -three Bench Press

• 1x15x45 (empty bar)
• 1×12-15×95
• 1×10-12×115
• 1×4-10×135

Week four -six Bench Press

• 1x15x45 (empty bar)
• 1×12-15×115
• 1×10-12×135
• 1×4-10×155

Of course you have to know what numbers to plug into this, if all you can bench is the empty bar for a few reps, thats ok, go from there. This is just an example for an average person, in average shape, your specific needs may vary, and as always, make sure you are healthy enough, talk to your doctor before beginning anything new.

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Having this said, there is a difference, a factual one that cannot be denied, no matter what your opinion says, they are different. I am an IronHead, and for me, Free Weights will always make up the biggest part of my training, but, I do use machines for some things, but, what is the difference?

When you are doing a Bench Press with free weights, there are many tiny muscles that are used to stabilize the weight, with a machine, the machine does the stabilizing for you. If you want to throw those rubber-band gizmos into the mix, it is basically the same as any machine, but, it pulls in its own direction, not just that of gravity, which is straight down. That pretty much covers it, but I will get into more detail below.

Free Weights

Take a look at the picture of the Weight Rack, what is wrong with it? Notice how the different sized plates are all mixed up? That is just wrong! That rack is designed for three sizes, and should be so, because those little bitty things are of no use when you train, properly, something I will get into in detail in another article.

When using Free Weight, the first indicator should be the name itself, free weight, no, that is not the price, it simply means that weight is free to go where gravity pulls it. No matter which exercise, if it can be done with Free weights, you will get more out of it, because there are so many more muscles involved, free weights do not isolate a specific muscle, but an entire group of muscles. With free weights, you use different benches for different angles to hit the entire muscle group, not different machines. Do this test, if you are a regular machine lover, just try doing the same weight as the machine, with free weights, you will immediately notice the difference.

The downside to Free Weights is that when you get to the heavier weights, it is good to have a spotter, something not needed with a machine.

Weight Machines

The good side to weight machines, like the one in the picture, is that you can get a full body workout in no time, almost like circuit training, but take a peek at the weight stack, a beginner should be able to max out the machine in just a few months, then what?

Machines come in several types for different purposes, some for home use, which is another advantage over free weights, a machine takes up less space, but, in some cases cost more than a total set-up with Free weights. At the gym, you will see the machines set up in groups, and can be very beneficial for everyone, they do have a purpose. Many people get taught as a beginner on the machines only, and then tend to just stick with them, which is ok, if that is your thing, but, if you want to get strong, Free Weights are a must.

Now, I am going to talk about the biggest joke in the fitness world as far as I’m concerned, but yes, they do have a purpose. The rubber-band gizmos, are fine for those that just want to do something to make them sweat. I don’t care who the “expert” is that they hire to do a commercial, they are useless if you want to gain any mass or strength. These gizmos, will give you a good workout if you have to skip the gym one day, but, even if you buy the expensive ones, that have up to 400lbs of resistance, the movement is unnatural, and does not give you the best bang for your buck, if you really want to train right, and get bigger or stronger, but, they are kinda cute.

Free Weights and Machines, even the rubber-band gizmos, can all give you a workout, it is up to you to decide which is best, For You, look at what your needs are, what your goals are, then decide. Either way, just move something, control your diet, and stay as active as you can. I know that many veterans have limits that prohibit using certain things, for those of you, use what works for you, just keep it fun, never let it become a chore that you dread, because if it is fun, you will stick with it!

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Is your diet in control? If so, what do you want to do? What activity gives you the most pleasure? Ok, I can hear the replies to that one, but yes, even sex can help you, but, make sure you are healthy enough, and that your partner is ok with it. My point is, if you have a favorite activity, do it! For me, it is the gym and heavy iron, even though I have over three decades of training under my belt, I have to start slow, and so do you, otherwise, you may hurt yourself and have to start all over again.

I don’t know what caused you to get out of shape, I know my reasons, and I know how complicated that subject can get, there are just so many variables involved, like injury, illness, financial, marital, the list goes on an on, but what ever the problems were, if you have now made the decision to get fit, good for you, and yes, you can do it!

If you enjoy winter activities like snow boarding or skiing, you don’t want to just go get on a slope and go, just like any activity, you have to start slow, but, for over-all fitness, regardless of your “target”, like skiing , the gym is a great place to start. Again, start slow, and work your way up.

The main point is, once you are motivated and have made that firm, un-movable decision, without any doubt, just get up and do something! For some people, the swimming pool has been reccomended as a starting point, and that is a great place to start, it can help you get stronger and increase your mobility without putting as much stress on old painful injuries, but unless swimming is your thing, it may get old, once you have gotten all you can get from it. What do I mean by that? Let’s use a dumbbell for an example, like in the picture. Do you see that little bitty one on the top right of the rack? That looks like a two pounder, if you were to use that and do curls with it, how long would it be until it felt like you have nothing in your hand? With the dumbbells, you simply move to the next heavier one, then the next and so on. With a swimming pool, once you have overcome the set resistance of walking, treading water or whatever, there is no place to go, but get faster at those activities, yes, playing games and such can be fun, but unless you do it an awful lot, you will plateau, and your progress will seem to stop. No, I am not saying the pool is bad, but I am saying, that is just one tool, add a few more for even better results.

Just don’t let whatever you like get boring, boredom is probably the worst enemy, so keep it fun! If you do that, you will see the results you are looking for! You can do it, one step, one rep, and one bite at a time!

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In today’s fitness crazed world, where everything is bad for you and you can’t eat anything but rabbit food, always remember the basics, where did these new age gurus come from? How old are they and who taught them what they know?

This article is about the Squat, the most loved and hated exercise ever. Why is it hated? It hurts! Why is it loved? It works! In fact, if you only have 10 minutes, three days a week, you can get a full body workout, with just three exercises, the Squat, Bench-Press, and Dead-Lift, all the other exercises only add to what you can get from the basic three.

The squat is the best exercise, period, regardless of what your training goals are, because it uses every muscle in your body, yes, even your eye muscles are involved, when done properly. I found a great article about the squat, at NerdFitness, and that is where I found the image below.

The main Thing that I need to point out, is the eyes, see how the guy in this pic has them fixed on an invisible object, that only he can see? This is very important, once you learn the proper form, by fixing your eyes, you keep your posture and you body’s position straight, if you look around the room, or up and down, your body will do the same, and this can get you hurt.

The positioning and angle of the feet is also important, you can vary the angle of your feet to put more or less emphasis on different parts of your legs, but that is an issue for those that have a lot of experience, for the beginner, or the old and injured like me, keep the feet almost straight, but slightly pointed outward, you’ll see, find the most comfortable for you.

Keep your back straight, remember the eyes, find a point on the wall in front of you and keep your eyes on it, this helps.

What makes the Squat so special? When you have an injury, you tend to favor that, be it an ankle, hip, knee, whatever, and long after this injury is healed up, it still influences your posture, by doing squats, you re-train your body to be straight, and you work every muscle together, all at the same time, thus strengthening your entire body. When you do something that trains your various body parts to work together, even the little muscles that only help stabilize are put to use, this makes your overall conditioning and even your appearance more balanced.

I know, you are saying, “but I have a bad back”, I do too, I cannot stand for more than a few minutes. My problem is basically arthritis, and bone spurs, I have spikes growing out of my spine that start a chain reaction of problems, and walking, or standing make this worse, but, squats make it feel better! Of course, talk to your doctor before doing squats if you have a back problem, but, if they tell you exercise is ok, squats should be number one on your list, it can help you.

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