What Chuck Does

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.