It's time to take the first steps in your transformation into a 'better than average' you! Don't worry if you don't have your body fat calipers, vitamins or comfortable/quality clothing yet - hopefully they're on their way to you, but for now, we're just easing into some simple changes.
As we start getting further into our program and begin making changes to both our diets and activities, you'll notice some partially standardized items showing up in the subsequent posts. For example, we're going to look at the following:
1) The first steps we'll be taking
2) What these first steps consist of
3) What we should be feeling from a physical perspective
4) What state of mind or mental response we may have with respect to the changes we're making
** This time around, we'll be focusing on items 1 and 2 in PART 1 of this post and PART 2 will cover items 3 and 4. Futures posts on the topic won't necessarily cover as many minute details as we need to in the beginning and therefore won't need to be broken down into two segments as often.
Along the way we'll also touch on additional points the folks who want to be very aggressive with their program should be considering. We'll also consistently refer back to the 'why's' associated with our changes. Sometimes it's not always clear why we're doing some of the things we do but my goal is to bring clarity in that area every step of the way. When a change is implemented, we'll touch upon why it's made so you can have a better understanding of how this change will positively impact your outcome.
To begin with, I would like to briefly explain a term you've seen already and will see an awful lot more of in the future: A BETTER THAN AVERAGE YOU
When I use this term, I'm referring to not only a 'better you' with respect to where you are now, but a 'better you' that's better than the average folks in our society. Obesity and weight problems abound and our goal is to transcend that and transform our bodies to a point where we stand out in a crowd. You don't have to be the biggest and strongest or the thinnest and fittest by any means, however you do want to be noticed for your efforts! Lets face it - image and appearance drives so much in society today. Pick up any magazine or turn on any television show and look for your 'average' everyday folks - they're few and far between! Whether we like it or not, think it's fair or not, or agree with it, how we look has a major impact on our daily lives. The great thing is, as you begin to get in shape and transform yourself you begin to not only look better but feel better as well. It's a win-win situation.
So, when I use the term 'better than average you' I'm thinking of a you who stands out in the crowd, has a 'beach ready' body and looks like they've taken time to invest in their health and well being. Sound fair?
The First Steps
These first steps are going to be easy ones. If you've never attempted any sort of exercise before then you may experience a bit of a learning curve but I promise you'll catch on quick. If you're very experienced, this may seem remedial but remember, we're going to look at the 'why' behind it. As I'm sure you can tell, our first steps involve adding some activity to our daily routines.
There will be NO changes to diet at the moment! Feel free to continue eating exactly how you have been. We'll briefly discuss some nutritional changes you can make if you feel like it (and look at what the aggressively focused group should be considering) but for now, let's keep it simple.
Before we look at the activity/exercises we'll be doing, I want to outline the timeframe in which this step should take place. The ideal starting time for this would be Sunday October 18th - this coming Sunday. This works out perfectly to give us two complete weeks to get acclimated with these exercises. My recommendation for days to do these workouts would be as follows:
- Sunday 10/18
- Wednesday 10/21
- Friday 10/23
- Sunday 10/25
- Tuesday 10/27
- Thursday 10/29
- Saturday 10/31
This may look like a lot at the moment, but we're only anticipating 10-15 minutes per workout - maybe a little longer depending on your present condition. All told, this is less than 2 hours time over a span of 14 days.
The Exercises
We're going to look at three primary exercises to start with:
1) A leg based movement
2) A pushing movement
3) A pulling movement
These three movements will essentially impact every major muscle group in the body as well as call upon ancillary muscles to assist. The goal is to get your heart rate up a bit, get used to doing some activity or get re-acclimated to an exercise routine again. As you'll see below, all of these movements can be performed at home within very little space. No gym membership required to get started!
If you've been sedentary for some time and/or are new to any kind of exercise, I recommend the following (recommendations for more experienced folks included in bold italics in descriptions below):
Leg Movement = squat with bodyweight only
Pushing Movement = push up with knees as the pivot point
Pulling Movement = rowing style movement using a door handle (execution details to follow)
While the primary focus of this site isn't how to perform exercises properly (there is SO much information readily available on proper exercise form) we will touch upon how to complete some of these early movements and especially those that may not be typical.
Bodyweight Squat
This is a very easy movement to perform however it does take a little practice.
I like to start in a standing position with feet shoulder width apart and with my arms crossing my chest so my hands are on the front of the opposite shoulder.
As you 'sit' back, your elbows should naturally begin to rise (hands remain on your shoulders) as your body begins to balance itself. **If you are having trouble with balance, it is OK to put your hands out straight in front of you (palms down)**
Your back should feel very slightly arched (you do not want to round your back during this movement) and the bottom of your chin should remain basically parallel to the floor. I like to keep my eyes fixed on a stationary point at approximately head/eye level so my head and neck stay in a decent position.
Continue the sitting motion until the tops of your thighs are approximately parallel to the floor - this will feel like you are squatted down very low and will take time to develop the appropriate balance to stay comfortably in this position.
Reversing the movement and pushing up from the bottom feels as though you're driving upward from the very front of the balls of your feet. It's not quite a centered feel, but a little back from center. Again, proper balance will come in time and this will feel normal.
A key point to keep in mind while performing this exercise (and any type of squatting movement for that matter) is to insure that your knees do not travel forward beyond your toes. When this happens, the ligament that crosses over the top of your knee becomes unduly stressed and can cause injury. Repeatedly using bad form will surely cause you problems in the future. Please take your time to learn the necessary balance to perform this movement appropriately.
For those who are already experienced with exercising and/or are currently working out on a consistent basis, please substitute a Smith Machine squat for this movement. If a Smith Machine is not available to you but free weights are, plan on doing a light weight dumbbell or barbell squat.
Kneeling Pushup
A 'Kneeling' Pushup is simply a pushup where your knees are the pivot point instead of your toes as is the case with a standard pushup. Due to the shorter span and lesser amount of total bodyweight suspended above the ground, the movement is much easier.
For those who are already experienced with exercising and/or are currently working out on a consistent basis, please substitute a standard pushup for this movement.
Door Handle Row
This movement will most likely be new to you. It's not difficult to perform but it does take some concentration to perform correctly. The neat thing is that you only need a sturdy door to make it work!
The starting position should have you holding the door handle with both arms outstretched (but slight bent or contracted), your toes up against the bottom edge of the door and your body in a 'sitting' position.
You should be able to feel your back doing the majority of the pulling with your arms/biceps doing a much smaller amount of work.
For those who are already experienced with exercising and/or are currently working out on a consistent basis, please substitute an underhanded (palms facing you) pullup for this movement.
How Much, How Many and For How Long?
To start, we're going to base a lot of the movements on feel. That is, how much effort you feel you're putting into the movement. We're going to plan on these very first workouts for those with little experience being 10-15 minutes long. We're not trying to kill ourselves by pushing too hard or overdoing it. We're just getting the body (slowly) used to getting active again. At this stage of the game we don't necessarily have to track what we're doing, but absolutely feel free to do so. It will be fun to look back 6 months from now (in awe!) to see how far you've come!
Start with your leg/squat movement. The first set should consist of a number of repetitions in the 8 - 12 range. If that's too much right now, keep it to a number that's 2 - 3 repetitions less than you think you could do in total.
Take a brief moment to catch your breath if necessary. If you're very out of breath, take your time. If it takes longer than 15 minutes to get through this, that's OK.
Next, move on to your push up movement. The first set should consist of a number of repetitions that is 2 - 3 less than you think you can do in total. If you can do more than 20 total, keep this first set to 15 - 18. We're just working on warming up.
Catch your breath again as needed.
Next, move on to your pulling movement. Those using the Door Handle Row will not be as taxed after their set of repetitions as those doing actual pullups. When doing the Door Handle Row, stick to the 8 - 12 range for repetitions. Again, if it's too hard, back off a bit. Those doing pullups should complete 2 - 3 repetitions less than what they think they can do in total.
Catch your breath again as needed and start over with the leg/squat movement.
This time around, you want to cycle through each movement again just as we did above but doing enough repetitions so you feel like you can't do many more without pushing yourself pretty hard to do another one or two repetitions. You most likely won't hit a point where you just can't do another rep (plus, that's not the goal right now) but if you start getting to the point where you're doing 20+ repetitions, you can stop there. What you don't want to do is put yourself in a position where you're struggling with all your might to finish the final rep. Definitely stop short of that point.
After you cycle through all the movements, come back around once more and start a third set with the leg/squat movement again and do a mirror image of what you just did that second time around. You may not be able to do as many reps because you should be tiring at this point, but as long as the feel is the same you'll be accomplishing what you need to.
That's it!
This should be all wrapped up in that 10 - 15 minute time frame (or longer if you need it).
PART 2 will cover the following:
- How will I feel during all of this?
- What kind of state of mind should I expect?
- Some early dietary considerations
- A brief look at water intake Sphere: Related Content
