What Chuck Does

Strong Core

I’m working out 2-3 times a week. Eating regularly trying to gain muscle but truthfully not putting enough effort into it. Pound for pound I’m the strongest I’ve ever been. I would say I’m 90-95% as strong as when I was 175 lbs. I only weigh 146 lbs. now. For a 30 lbs. difference I’ve shattered the notion that I need to weigh a lot to be strong. 

Lately, I’ve been doing pull-ups with a 45lbs. dumbbell in a backpack. I can pull off 3 sets of 5 reps. It’s just general training for my back and also helps me do more bodyweight pull-ups for the 300 challenge.

However with all that being said, it’s mostly an illusion what you see below. My back is probably the strongest part of my upper body, but it’s the lighting that makes the cuts you see below:

My goal is to get back to 100% of the strength I was at when I weighed 175 lbs. If I train with heavier weights regularly like I do with the pullups, I’ll get there pretty quickly… Only problem is I don’t have a bench press at home with 175 lbs. nor do I have access to 135 lbs. for shoulder press. Might have to figure something out.

All 300 Reps

Yesterday Paul and I did all 300 repetitions of the 300 challenge. They include:

25 pullups
50 pushups
50 deadlifts (at 135lbs)
50 box jumps (with 24” box)
50 floor wipers (at 135lbs) 
50 clean and press (with 25 lbs I forgot it was supposed to be 36lbs)
25 pullups 

It took us about an hour. I actually don’t know how long it took because I wasn’t keeping track. But we finished it.

I started feeling sore last night and Paul sent me an email saying, “Dude, good 300, my back aches…”

Today I really feel it, so I sent an email back saying, “Dude. I’m destroyed from the 300 yesterday… mostly back and legs.”

Paul then emails back saying, “OMG, I feel like a psycho gorilla just wailed on my back with a tree…” LOL :)

I’m going to revisit the 300 again, when I’m healed. Gotta get this under 30 minutes. Totally doable.

11 hours 35 minutes of exercise

I have logged 11 hours and 35 minutes of exercise this week.

Unreal.

They breakdown roughly below:

• 3 hours surfing
• 2 hours tennis
• 2 hours weight-lifting
• 2.5 hours golf
• 3 hours volleyball

I’m exhausted and sore all over. Literally. From head to toe.

I Hurt My Back

In the first game of tonight’s volleyball session, I took a pass that sent me into the knee of a teammate. His knee hit the middle of back towards the left side. It’s mostly a muscle pain but on deep inhalations and also while bending over I am in a lot of pain. It got worse as the night went on, obviously I did not sit out after he hit me. I feel like there’s some internal pain like I might have hurt my left kidney although I think it’s a little high for the kidney area. I’ll see what happens but this feels like something that might keep me from walking for at least a few days!

I'm Not Done Yet

I hereby formally resign from the 300-Challenge.

I have decided I’m not done cutting.

I am implementing a new body fat target: sub 10% per scale

I am implementing new strength challenges:

1. 10 x 185 lbs. bench press
2. 25 x bodyweight pullups
3. 10 x 135 lbs. seated shoulder press
4. 10 x 155 lbs. squats x 3 sets

Here’s where I currently stand:

1. 10 x 155 lbs. bench press
2. 20 x bodyweight pullups
3. 10 x 95 lbs. seated shoulder press
4. 10 x 135 lbs. squats x 3 sets

After “letting go” for a week or more, I’ve decided I don’t like the bloated feel much. Nor do I appreciate the double chin nor the extra weight around the waist. I have decided that I have to get sub 10% bodyfat on the scale to be at a comfortably thin starting point to put back weight. Otherwise the double chin and loss of six-pack occurs too quickly.

Tomorrow I get back on track with nutrition and exercise.

Men's Fitness: Get Ripped in 7 Days

Click here to see the original article.

I’m sorry but this is false advertisement at its best. Look. No one is getting ripped in 7 days. I don’t care who you are or what you do, but unless you’re already ripped, you ain’t getting diddly in 7 days.

I’m not saying these exercises aren’t good. In fact they’re great. Some of these are ones that I swear by. But anyone who thinks they can achieve any real results in 7 days, is absolutely delusional.

As much as I should continue ranting on the author for false advertisement, a lot of the blame goes to you and me. As a society, Americans are a nation of “quick fixes”. Everything is “Your way, right away!” (Burger King). All those infomercials are designed specifically to satiate our expectations for overnight results. Viagra, Hydroxycut, Starbucks… fuck them for giving us this shit and and fuck us for subscribing to that shit.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say as Americans we are some of the laziest assholes in the world today. That’s why so many Americans have shit jobs and lead shit lives. People bitch and moan about how much their lives suck but never do anything about it. That’s exactly why they fall for articles such as the one above. Americans are always looking for a “free ride”. To get something for nothing. Well let me tell you, nothing in life is free.

What did you think was gonna happen when you stuffed your face with food for 30 years? You think you can reverse that kind of damage in 7 days? Comon, man up. Grow a pair and commit to making a change. Stick with an actual decision for once in your life. And stop looking for shortcuts!

Cardio Calisthenics Kicked My Ass

I’ve decided to incorporate a set of Cardiovascular Calisthenics into my week. While browsing the web I came across a site called www.iwantsixpackabs.com where the author suggested a certain calisthenic-type resistance training for getting a six-pack.

I tried it. I got my ass kicked.

Here’s what I did:

A1: Slow Pushups
A2: Body Squats

B1: Stationary Lunges
B2: Pullups (substituted with Total Gym pull-backs)

C1: 8-Count Body Builders (see above image)
C2: Plank

A1/A2, B1/B2, and C1/C2 each correspond to a single set, also known as a “super-set”. For example, you would do the A1 exercise and A2 exercise back-to-back without rest. Then you would rest 1 minute and repeat. You do this a total of 3 times. So you wind up doing 3x A1/A2, 3x B1/B2, and 3x C1/C2 all with 1 minute rest in between supersets.

Here are my reps per exercise:

Slow Pushups - 27/20/17
Body Squats - 20/20/20

Stationary Lunges - 15/15/15 (per leg)
Total Gym pull-backs - 15/14/12 (I did pullups the day before)

8-Count Body Builders 12/10/10
Plank - 30/30/30 seconds

The total routine took about 30 minutes. By the time I got to the 8-Count Body Builders, I was dripping in sweat (worked out indoors). The suggested time duration for Plank was 45 seconds but I could only do 30 seconds. By the end of 30 seconds I would collapse on the ground and put my head in my arms gasping for air. Inevitably the 1 minute would go by super fast and I’d start the 8-Count Body Builders again out of breath. I have not worked out with this kind of intensity in a long time. The 1 minute rest in between sets is very difficult to maintain with the level of intensity of these exercises.

At the end of the workout I could see how these exercises could produce massive gains resulting in a nice six-pack. It’s possible that my abs were tired from the day before but yesterday really pushed the limit. The website says to do this workout 3x a week every other day.

Today I’m going to try some HIIT with running… should be interesting.

Affliction - Why Americans Love Yoga

Around here, yoga classes and yoga studios have been popping up like Starbucks over the past decade or so. Many that practice yoga swear by the positive effects and the peace they’ve achieved by routinely doing yoga. While I there are many physical, demographic and cultural reasons for why yoga has become so popular, here are 3 reasons why I think modern day Americans love yoga.

1. Americans Don’t Breathe

It sounds absurd, but most Americans don’t breathe deeply from the bottom of their stomach (or from the lower “dan tien”). As a function of being an anxious and stressed society, Americans takes short and shallow breaths. Shallow breathing (or chest breathing) causes a constriction of the chest and lung tissue over time, decreasing oxygen flow and delivery to your tissues. Deep, rhythmic breathing expands the diaphragm muscle, the cone-shaped muscle under your lungs, expanding the lung’s air pockets, invoking the relaxation response, and massaging the lymphatic system - Source. If Americans learned to breathe deeper throughout the day, they wouldn’t be so intrigued with classes that force people to breathe deeper. The problem with Americans not breathing deeply is primarily a lack of mindfulness of the self and more importantly the body…

2. Americans Don’t Listen to Their Bodies

This sounds ludicrous too, but Americans are so bad at listening to their bodies that Ergonomic injuries represent the fastest growing category of injuries in the United States today. They are now the leading cause of Workers’ Compensation claims, and even unreported cases are accompanied by pain, loss of function, and the potential for permanent disability - Source. Now, if you are even half paying attention to your body, you should quickly realize when you’re putting yourself in a compromised physical position within minutes, much less years! Americans love yoga because yoga exercises forces one to stretch the muscles thus providing a release for pressure and pain. More importantly however, these exercises provide Americans an opportunity to listen to their bodies to find out where their aches and pains exist early. Part of the solution to listening to one’s body lies in cultivating mindfulness…

3. Americans Live at a Frenetic Pace

The average American lives at 100 mph. They try to do too much in too little time. Then they try to make up for “lack of time” by sleeping less. This makes them tired, so they ingest substances (like coffee) to keep themselves awake. But these chemicals are unnatural and have side effects like increased anxiety. So on weekends they turn to substances that make them relaxed (like alcohol). Because their lives are in a constant ebb and flow of ups and downs, highs and lows, they never find balance. And they never stop to question their cycle of imbalance and self-destruction. They never reflect on what they are doing something life-altering happens. Yoga forces Americans to slow down and stop for a minute to reevaluate everything. For that one hour, Americans are forced to reflect on their lives and question the inconsistencies between their espoused values and how they really live. If Americans could cultivate mindfulness and find time throughout the day to perform a little reflection, they would not be so enamored with yoga.

By no means am I attempting to put down yoga. I think yoga is one of the great saviors for American culture and society. I merely suggest that many of the benefits that come with regularly attending yoga class, can be had with a little self awareness, mindfulness, and reflection. You can achieve all the benefits of yoga every hour of every day without having to go to that 7 o’clock class tonight!

Wow. This article is so full of shit that I had to basically repost it from Larry’s blog and rant about it here.

Basically this article boils down to this: Each machine or exercise targeting a specific muscle group by restricting the aid from other muscle groups, is bad for you because it puts pressure on your joints and is unnatural in movement. Alternatively you should perform an exercise that is more natural in movement and allows other muscle groups to “help out”.

And that is exactly why this article is such bullshit.

That’s like saying, “You should never run because running puts extra pressure on your joints and is unnatural in movement when compared to walking. Instead, try walking.” The author misses the entire concept of muscle-specific exercise via dedicated machines or motions. The rationale for these machines/exercises (and their movements) is to improve the performance of that particular muscle group, whether it be strength, flexibility, speed etc. You simply can not achieve the same results when you allow other muscle groups to contribute to the motion. Taking unnecessary movement and “help” out of the equation forces that specific muscle group to work harder thus allowing for greater gains in performance.

Now if the author’s take was that muscle-specific exercises are inefficient per minute time exercised, then that would be a different story. Obviously combination movement exercises, like squats, pushups, and pullups target more muscle groups per repetition than leg press, chest press, and lat pulldown respectively.

I’m not denying these machines put a little more stress on your joints and/or are slightly unnatural, but so is typing or even reading. You think your eyes were made to focus at 1-3 feet constantly for hours at a time? Why don’t we instead just look at landscapes all day? Moron!

Significant Decline in Physical Activity

I’ve noticed that in comparison to my triathlon training, my overall physical activity over the past couple weeks (month) has been significantly less. This should not come as a surprise since triathlon training involves many hours of SBR (swim/bike/run) daily, but what is surprising is the equilibrium that my body has achieved in adjusting to the current level of physical activity which on an overall scale of 1-10 is still a 6 or 7 but on a relative (personal) scale is only a 3 or 4.

I’m no longer seeing any improvement in fat loss nor am I seeing any weight loss period. I’m contemplating decreasing my weight lifting activities in favor of more cardiovascular activities. My friend Tony thinks that if I really want, I can make a big push to drop into the 10-11% body fat range before the wedding. Honestly, I’m hesitant to do that though. I don’t know if it’s an issue with not being that committed to the body transformation, or if it’s an issue with not wanting to drop anymore weight.

Here’s my consideration: I’m getting close to where marginal costs = marginal benefits. And if you remember Economics 101, that’s when a system reaches economic efficiency. In layman’s terms, I don’t know how much more fat I can drop at the cost of losing more muscle. It’s hard for me to have sacrificed as much muscle as I have in order to be this lean. Visibly, I believe that even if I drop another 5 pounds, I will not gain significantly more definition in my abs. Or maybe I’m putting up a psychological barrier on how my body should be.

Maybe I’m resisting because I don’t want to change anymore. Or maybe I’m tired. Maybe I’m giving up. Whatever the reason, I don’t feel like going the whole-nine-yards on this. I am definitely scared that I will lose all the muscle I’ve worked so hard through the years to build.

That being said, I haven’t been this strong since grad school when I first acknowledged my elbow tendinitis. I’m also weightlifting more consistently than ever during the last three years. I’ve proven that I can get stronger while losing weight. I’ve also proven that I don’t need to be 175 lbs. to lift the same amount of weight. Granted my improvements are slow-coming but they are significant and real.

So am I copping out? Flaking at the end of the fight? This is the crux of the whole battle, if I can great through the 150 mark and dip deep into the 140’s while increasing cardio and eating right, I think I can make that last big surge that Tony’s talking about. Stay tuned.