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.  🙂

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.

Is This Exercise for Women?

Photo Credit

At Fitness Institute, we were taught in our first class that women should exercise just like men.  There’s not much of a gender difference.  A muscle is a muscle.  Since men and women both have to do the same things in real life (walk, push stuff, pull stuff, etc.), they should exercise the same way.

The only reason there’s any question about this is because ignorant marketing companies have pushed stupid products where women are advised to be terrified of lifting any weight over 3lbs.  Apparently, if you pick up that 5lb dumbbell, you will morph into the Hulk.  No woman wants to become a ripped monster with a green skin tone.  There aren’t any matching L’Oreal shades.

Tyler’s Workout Log – Day 6 – A New Experiment & Heavy Legs

For the last two months, I’ve been experimenting with full-body workouts.  I mainly did so because it makes so much sense.  We rarely use the body just one part at a time, so it makes sense to me that working out the whole body at once would be the best way to exercise.  That still sounds rational to me, and someday I’ll probably try it again but have it slightly modified.

But as for now, I’m going back to what I know has worked for me in the past.  In all honesty, I’m fairly irritated at losing muscle mass, so this change is largely the product of frustration.

Tyler’s Workout Log – Day 2 – Power and Strength

Disclaimer:  This is just what I do currently.  I’m not saying everyone should do this.  Also, these are simply progressions of different exercises.  Some people are less advanced than me and some people are more advanced.  Treat yourself accordingly.

I still had a little pain/soreness in my hamstrings today.  Because of that, I made sure to focus on how each exercise made my hamstrings feel.  If anything would have made it hurt worse, I would have stopped.  Thankfully, that didn’t happen.

Look Strong By Being Strong

So far, our articles have typically focused on getting women into the free weights section of the gym.  While those articles are definitely needed, this one is for the Generation Y (16-29) guys who have figured out that they need to lift, but they aren’t getting the results they’re looking for.  The good news is that there is a solution.  The bad news is that it’s hard.

After about ten years of trying every type of workout I could find through books and the internet, I’ve found one major principle that has worked every time I have tested it.  That principle is that if you become strong and powerful, your body will look strong and powerful.  You really don’t have to look much farther than natural bodybuilders, olympic sprinters, and strongman competitors.  They are all very strong individuals, and their bodies merely display that attribute.

The Launch of the Beautifully Built Page

Because of Lisa’s past, one of her greatest passions is the mission of “Beautifully Built”.  While she enjoys helping all kinds of people, this project is probably the nearest to her heart.

It’s significant enough to us that it will have its own tab at the top of our website from now on.  The following is the beginning of “Beautifully Built”:
(or you can see the actual page here: Beautifully Built Page)

 

What being Beautifully Built is all about…

Beautifully Built is just for women.  It’s about redefining what beautiful means, what beauty looks like, and how beauty acts. Beautifully Built is not just about being beautiful on the outside, which is a skewed idea in this world anyway, but it is about being beautiful on the inside. It is about having confidence in yourself, being comfortable with who you are, what you believe, and what your abilities are.  It is about building strength in your mind and soul. It is also about building a strong body, where you can feel comfortable in your skin.

I believe that building strength on the outside helps you build strength on the inside.  In the past I personally dealt with an eating disorder and even as I was gaining weight and getting better, I still felt weak and had no confidence in myself.  As I began to lift weights and build a stronger body, which also helped me get healthier, I began to carry myself a little differently.  I was walking taller and felt like I could voice my opinion. I felt as though my thoughts actually mattered and that I actually mattered. My confidence began to grow.

Even though I have accomplished a lot of hard things academically, I never felt like they added up to anything, but weight lifting has given me something I can’t seem to explain.  That is what I want to pass on to other women.  I want to redefine what being beautiful is and what it means to feel beautiful. I want this to be a place where women can come together to share struggles and build each other up.  I want it to be a place of truth and unity. I want to give women confidence, I want them to feel powerful and strong, inside and out.

March

12 – Lisa’s Article for “What’s Tha Word?”
8 – A Husband’s View on Feminine Strength
4 – A Final Farewell to Pink Dumbbells: A Guide for Strength and Functional Training for Women

February

24 – Cheerleader
21 – How To Get a Fast Metabolism – Part 2
16 – Losing Weight: The Scale Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story
13 – And I Was Running
2 – Benefits of Strength Training for Women

 

A Critique of US Navy Seal Fitness Testing

Please understand that my intention is not to discredit the Navy Seals or claim their ignorance.  These are simply my own musings as I’ve started looking at the subject of military combat training because of talking with my friend John Ryan of http://www.stratconusa.com/.  I’m using the Navy Seals as an example mainly because they seem to be the most prominent branch of the military to the public (the Navy Seals taking out Osama, the movie “Act of Valor”, etc.)

I’ve been researching their workouts and brainstorming on how to make them better.  I’m not going to say that the system is bad, but I am going to propose some ideas on how to make it better.

My first point of contention is it seems that initially they’re often so focused on passing the Seal Fitness Test (SFT) that they don’t take the time to understand exactly what needs to be trained for military personnel in combat.

Essentially, the Seal Fitness Test is:

500 yard swim in less than 12 minutes and 30 seconds
Two minutes to do at least 42 push ups
Two minutes to do at least 52 sit ups
Do at least 8 pull ups before giving up
Run 1.5 miles in less than 11 minutes and 30 seconds

Well, it’s a decent way to distinguish a fit person from an unfit person, but it’s certainly no predictor of who will survive a battle.

You’re Never Too Old to Be a Power Athlete

Apparently, power training is for everyone…. including 65 to 84 year-olds.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18245765

In the study, they trained older adults with power (high speed) training or with strength (high resistance) training.  The results after 24 weeks were that the power-trained adults out-performed the strength-trained adults.  While strength training helped, power training won out.

So, this study leads us to believe that some level of power/speed training is beneficial for anyone and everyone.  Just lower the weight some and do the exercise at as fast of a speed as you safely can.  Focus on speed rather than using higher weights.

This isn’t to negate the efficacy of strength training.  Other studies done on athletes have shown that doing both strength and power training together is what leads to the best results.  However, it is short-sighted to only do strength training or to only do power training unless there is some sort of injury that you need to protect.