A Much Overdue Update – Addison’s Disease

Click on picture for original source.

Well, a lot has changed since I posted on this blog last.  Initially the change was relatively small.  I moved to blogging through WordPress.org and sought to blow the blog up into something more noteworthy.  All I ended up doing was accidentally losing the followers I had and wasting all the effort I put into all of these WordPress.com posts.  Oh, and I wrote an ebook.  It didn’t sell very well, but I still stand by its content as far as it concerns the majority of people (it’s not good for athletes, but if you want to be healthy and fit with the least amount of time input, it’s likely for you).

So, with that plug out of the way, here come the major changes.

Tyler’s Workout Log – The PHAT Experiment – Day 6 of 28 – Runnin’ and Jumpin’

The heat and humidity this morning was the most oppressive it has ever been for me here in South Florida.  It didn’t change my workout much, but it reminded me of days back in Missouri where I used to go out to the soccer fields near my house and run sprints in the middle of the day with close to 100 degree temperatures and high humidity.  Good times, good times.

Also, the lady I thought took a picture of me last week was out again.  She smoked for about three minutes and went inside.  Once again, she refused to look at me.  Weirdo.  🙂

Guest Post at FT Gets Results

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I wrote a guest post for FT Gets Results today.  Essentially, FT Gets Results is a string of fitness studios.  I’m very particular about who I support, so I spent about an hour scouring through all of the different FT Gets Results websites to see how legitimate they are.  I was pleased to see they actually employ qualified trainers rather than trainers with frivolous “certifications”.  They have a good blog coming along as well, so they’re worth a look.

Here’s the link to the Skinny Fat article I wrote for them.

A New Direction

I sorted through the Top 50 Social Media Fitness Bloggers today.  The plan was to figure out what similarities I could find based on several categories about their education, the length of each writing, their writing frequency, and what type of information they included in the writing.

Photo Credit

Tyler’s Workout Log – The PHAT Experiment – Day 5 of 28 – Heavy Upper-Body

Every single exercise progressed.  Nice.

Tyler’s Workout Log – The PHAT Experiment – Day 4 of 28 – Heavy Legs

Lisa and I went on a long bike ride yesterday to Delray Beach and back.  By long, I mean 9 miles each way.  I’m not absolutely sure why this was hard for me.  We used to do 30-mile bike rides fairly easily.

I think it had something to do with the wind in our faces, the backpack full of glass tupperware on my back, the high heat, the excessive humidity, my uncomfortable seat (if you’re a dude, you know what I mean), and the fact that the backpack straps are positioned in such a way that my hands would go numb after about two miles.

It was hard.  We had fun once at Delray Beach, but the ride back especially was not fun for me.  Lisa had fun, though.  She wasn’t even tired… Cardio freak.  🙂

How to Lift Weights

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For building Muscle Mass:

When you’re trying to build muscle mass, you have to find ways to stabilize your body so that you’re only working a select set of muscles at once.  You can think of this in a bench press exercise where your legs and core are minimally involved because they’re resting on a bench.  Your pushing muscles are the only muscles being stressed to a great extent.

This is the type of exercise you have to do if you want to gain muscle mass.  You have to use exercises where specific muscles are targeted.  Full-body exercises just don’t work as well for muscle growth.

Tyler’s Workout Log – The PHAT Experiment – Day 2 of 28 – Hypertrophy Push

My second volume-based push workout.  Almost everything progressed by 1 rep.  It’s not bad, but it’s not extremely good either.  I’ll certainly take it, though.  I’m curious to see how next week’s goes.

Professor Patton’s FREE Nutrition Resources

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The reasons they’re very likely to be your best resources for nutrition information:

1.  He has been a Registered Dietitian since 1980.

2.  He’s the main nutrition teacher at Fitness Institute International.

3.  He teaches Nutrition classes at Miami Dade College.

Never, Ever Give Up. Arthur’s Inspirational Transformation!

It’s stories like this that keep me going.  I’m often discouraged by the health and fitness field in general.  Somewhere in between trainers with 30-minute online “certifications” (“You only pay if you pass!”) and Dr. Retard telling everyone to take his supplements with no actual evidence to support them, I get disillusioned a lot.  It’s just a hard industry to work in when you’re educated enough to know that most of what is told to the public a beautifully-adorned fiction.

However, people like this are the ones that give me hope.  They’re my own inspiration to “Never, ever give up” in our quest to take the information from the textbooks to the public.  Anyway, I thought this video was very inspiring, and I think you all will as well.

Tyler’s Workout Log – The PHAT Experiment – Day 1 of 28 – Hypertrophy Legs

For the last three weeks, I’ve been refining my own version of Layne Norton‘s PHAT (Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training) lifting methodology.  Essentially, it has you doing two days of heavy (around 5 rep) lifting and then three days of hypertrophy (around 10-15 rep) lifting per week.

My only tweaks were to make it slightly more applicable to real-life movements and put a stronger emphasis on single-legged movements.  Also, I’m not a fan of 15-20 rep sets, so I try not to go over 14.  I’ll do a later write-up explaining this in more detail.

The results from the last three weeks?  0.38lbs of muscle gain and 1.78lbs of fat loss.  At least that’s what the 7-site body fat caliper protocol says.

Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day…

Photo Credit (15 January 2008)

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you won’t be either.

There is a recurring pattern that I find in my life, and it’s that I expect a lot out of myself in a little amount of time.  I know this is the current theme in our culture where we want something, and we want it now.  I take this concept and apply it to myself.  When I’m learning how to draw, if I don’t get it on the first picture, then I figure I’ll never get it.  If I make a mistake at my job (I’m a physical therapy assistant), then I feel like I know nothing about what I do (even though I was the top of my class).  I expect to do everything perfectly the first time and give myself no room for error.  The main thing I forget is that things take time.

Tyler’s Workout Log – Day 27 – Hypertrophy Upper-Body Pulling

It was a good day.  Sadly, I was a little thrown off by the fact that I couldn’t ride my bike today.  The back tire was flat with a small piece of glass in it.  Somehow, I didn’t notice the exact moment when I got the glass stuck in there.  It’s not like I live in a slum or anything, but there are often broken shards of glass on the sidewalks.  I’m just thankful the air pressure held up long enough for me to ride back home from wherever the glass was.

Regardless, I still got in a bunch of sets for the pulling musculature.  🙂

Why You Should Lift Weights

Lifting weights is a source of empowerment.
Photo credit to Larry Lyday.

Weight lifting is NOT just to look good!

That’s one of the biggest myths that float around the American health and fitness scene.  I’ve even heard trainers say it.

Weight lifting is far more about creating long-term enjoyment of life.  It’s a major player in preventing diseases like heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and osteoporosis.  It’s also a massive factor in how long you will be able to maintain your independence as you age.

Lastly, yes.  A strong physique is an attractive physique.  It’s a huge plus, but it’s not the main reason you should be lifting weights.  Your health and fitness are the main reasons you should be lifting.