Is Sitting Killing Us?

Pretty daunting stuff...

Via: Medical Billing And Coding

Ok, time for the next phase...

While I don't think I have the nutritional side of my transformation locked down, exactly, yesterday reminded me how much work I have to do in the next phase.

My physical conditioning, overall, is probably the worst its been in a few years. To be fair, it was a LOT worse prior to that point, especially before I met Natalie. That said, my core, in particular, needs probably more of an overhaul than my diet did. The good news is I'm not really discouraged by that, because I know I can get results in that area relatively quick. Unfortunately, yesterday slowed that down a bit.

While attempting to mount Freckles for a ride yesterday, her saddle slipped. This was likely due to her being poorly cinched, but regardless I think it torqued my back pretty good. Naturally, I didn't feel it much yesterday at all. This morning was another story. Long story short, both sides of my lower back feel like I've been punched in the kidneys.

So now I have a few days of required R&R to articulate what my physical transformation phase will be like. Its not very complex, and for good reason: it doesn't have to be. So here's my prescription for transformation in the physical conditioning realm:

• Approx 4 hours of yoga per week (broken down into hopefully 2 - 1 hour classes and then a few additional sessions of 30-45 minutes at home). This may increase. Why yoga? Quite simply, gaining muscle has never been a challenge. Loosening muscles has been a lifetime challenge for me. My hips in particular, as it is for a lot of men, are as tight as a vice and have a very hard time maintaining any elasticity. This has a huge impact on my riding. Yoga has the added benefit of being a great source of renewal for my spirit.

• Target of 4-5 days a week of high intensity interval training or HIIT(some call it surge training). Most sessions won't go over 15 minutes, but right now they wouldn't have to. The goal here is twofold. One is to improve my cardio capacity without having to do an hour on a treadmill or eliptical trainer. The other is to target full body exercises that will help strengthen my core. If anyone in interested in what this entails, I can provide a few sample workouts. They are very simple, but very intense, as the name implies.

 Typing this and actually doing it are obviously two different things. If I'm on target, it means I'll be doing 4-6 hours of exercise a week, not counting riding or hiking with the dogs. I'll be honest, I've never exercised at this level before, short of when I was in high school playing football, and that didn't get past my frosh year. But, once my back is healed, that will be the target. I'm hoping I can do some yoga later in the week, but the HIIT will likely be integrated the following week when I know my back is stable.

Once that begins, I may journal my progress a little here, but I hope not to bore people too much.

iLance update...

2.0 is still going well, but my body is still recovering from the fast, it seems. In spite of eating incredibly well, I've actually gained a little bit back. Part of that was expected, as I think my muscles lacked water and glycogen. But I figured over 4 days I might be over it a bit.

I know things will improve some once I get my fitness routine back in gear. I'll share some details on that once I have a few days of it under my belt. Basically it will be a combination of HIIT (high intensity interval training) and yoga (though not at the same time ;) ).

Ultimately I need to pay less attention to the scale and enjoy my new focus. I've conquered some great temptations this week and more importantly, I'm just treating my body right from a nutrition perspective. The weight will follow in due time.