Moments of Clarity

Navy Seal Leadership Training. Gimme all you got!!!

Would you be willing to train hard just so you could live through a Navy Seal inspired leadership training bootcamp?  (Authors note:  If you train all the time you'd be ready on a moments notice)

This program is about $5500 and pushes the attendees beyond the brink of exhaustion.

“You’re beyond tired,” says Mr. Wrocherinsky, who recently turned 49. “You’re accessing areas of your brain that you’ve never done before. But the amazing thing is, I had more energy than I ever had.”

If you're in some form of athletic training, this article is your best friend

Image via WikipediaIf you're training and have some goals like "maintaining muscle mass and losing fat" or if you're specifically training for a triathlon or marathon, you need to read this article.  It's called Nutrition Issues In Underperforming Athletes.

After coming off about 48 hours of feeling like some removed my internal batteries due to carb depletion, I'd say "underperforming" is an UNDERstatement.  In my case I knew what was happening because I've been through it before.  This time it was MY FAULT entirely.  I'd been "guessing" on some carb portions (and guessing way low subconsciously) and skipping some meals here and there (too busy...yeah right).  Net result, I crashed.  At about 2k calories for 5 of 7 days of the week...I cannot afford to skip meals or go low on carbs.  I'm in a pretty substantial caloric deficit right now so a loss of even 300 cals for more than a day or so can make things go haywire with my 3 lifting/5 cardio sessions/week regimen.

Read this article.  Study it.  Time your nutrients.  Listen to your body.  Eat the right things at the right times and you'll feel like a million bucks.  If you aren't doing any training, this way of eating just may give you inspiration.

Now, after a great arm/shoulder workout...I'm off to eat the RIGHT amount of carbs, protein, and fat.   

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Body Transformation - week 3 summary

The last 48 hours have been pretty rough.  I think I've been inadvertently (subconsciously?) skimping on carbs during the last week or so.  That has left me feeling "cold and tired".  Match that with the weather change that finally happened here in Iowa, and I've been exhausted.  This happened to me about every 2 weeks during triathlon training until I got back into the rhythm of eating more...of the right carbs...at the right time.

As a PS to the video, I did go out with friends last night to the High Life Lounge and between 6-11 had 3 light beers and a chicken sandwich.  Not ideal...but considering the bacon wrapped tater tots, pizza burgers, fried chicken gizzards, and "velvet elvis" cheese  dip that went around, this was a major victory for me.  I kept my eyes on the goal of 6% bodyfat by April. 

As always, thanks to Ryan Irwin at Nutrisport - Full Potential Training for guiding my journey and encouraging me to go beyond what I think is possible.

New Waukee YMCA plans and description online

There's been talk for a long time about a new and massive Waukee YMCA on Hickman near Warrior Lane.  Here are the plans!

Waukee YMCA New Plans

6 Month Training Camp - Week 1 Summary

Hi folks.  Here's a video recap of week 1.  I had to live through an ISU football tailgating day eating clean while everyone else gorged on the good stuff.  That was tough.  It's not that I'll NEVER have the stuff again, but we're making a big push early on here to cut fat and maintain muscle.  That puts me on a roughly 2k calorie a day set up, about 50% protein 30% carbs and 20% good fats.  The toughest part is eating 6x per day and getting ENOUGH protein in. 

I'll keep after it.

Get sleep and don't eat late to get lean

There's a great article over at Trifuel by Al Lyman highlighting some research on how your HGH levels vary if you eat less than 3 hours before going to sleep.  The piece also discusses how 7-8 or MORE hours of sleep per night are required to maximize your release of HGH (Human Growth Hormone).  The bottom line it seems is that maximum recovery and synthesis turning what you eat (if it's good) into lean mass vs. fat is best when you get enough rest and don't have a huge bowl of ice cream before bed.  Shocker right :)

What happens when we sleep? In short, as much as 90% or more of all [hGH] is released in 5 short pulses during deep stage REM sleep.(4) (It's also released after exercise). Getting adequate sleep is one of those things that many of us routinely give lip service to, but rarely take action on. If you regularly short-change yourself in the sleep department, your secretion of [hGH] will be less than optimal, and the benefits of maximal [hGH] release will be minimal at best.

This is GREAT stuff and backed up studies.  This could be one of the "duh" moments for you...but in my case...I usually eat my last meal of slow digesting/low fat casein protein (like cottage cheese) at about 9:30PM.  I'm going to chat with Ryan over at Nutrisport - Full Potential Training about this today.  Does eating a small healthy slow digesting protein rich (low fat, minimal carb) cheat me from achieving maximum fat loss?  Or is it just blood sugar spiking "fast carb rich" meals that would make a measurable difference in this area?

I'll let you know after my workout today when I speak with him.

New Physical Journey Begins October 1

Let's call this the "off season".  Since the HyVee Triathlon on June 22 of this year, I've been on a bit of a hiatus from training.  I did a pretty intense month of weight training in August but didn't really have a goal other than "stay active".  I did the swim leg of a Sprint tri late in September but those 10 minutes felt more like the 30 I did in my Olympic distance effort in June (3x the distance).  Food has been a free for all which is nice but now does get old after a while.

So I've dialed in the following truths that I believe will help me maintain even more the rest of my life.

1. At this point in life with a busy family schedule, kids activities, and business...I must have a longer term goal to focus on to maintain traction.  Without something to shoot for down the road, I just can't keep the intensity required to "keep training and eating right" because when things get stressful or work load gets intense...exercise and diet are the FIRST things that I can find excuses for.
2. Scheduling workouts and leveraging a personal trainer close to my home is essential for me.  Without the scheduled accountability and ability to consistently review/tweak/discuss my progress...I get a little bored. 
3. I do need to follow more strict food guidelines, i.e. meal plans, to take the thought out of what my daily intake will be.  The "hummm what shall I make for lunch now" approach works when the fridge is fully loaded with the right stuff.  But that inattention to having the right stuff in abundance leads to "substitutes" and larger portions for me. 

The New Journey
I've embarked on a 6 month journey with my personal trainer and nutritional guidance counselor Ryan Irwin with Nutrisport - Full Potential Training.  Our goal is a total and well documented transformation.  I'm going to take a picture every week for 24 weeks with the same lighting, clothing, and camera angle.  I'll also be documenting the entire process on this blog  (There's just no time to mess with another separate one so if you aren't interested, ignore posts in the fitness category for now) using video from my iChat camera and my new Flip camera.  I'm doing this high exposure approach because this analysis will help me focus on this as a "project" that I'd like to become a FULL lifestyle adjustment.  I've made huge strides and accomplished more physically than I could ever have imagined for myself...but I know there's more for me out there.

After 6 months, I'm going to make a video that uses footage and images from the whole process.  We'll wrap up 6 months into a piece of art.  Sound fun?  It does to me because it takes the "task" out of the process and makes it a fun project.

So if you're interested in this kind of thing, I'll be maintaining exercise logs and sharing my progress right here so subscribe today.  Today I'm going shopping for my fuel and mentally gearing up for what lies ahead.

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