A change in years always brings about a wave of resolutions. A change in decade has many people even more focused on change. And many people resolve to increase their exercise and improve their diet. But most people fall short. It’s very easy to slip out of an exercise routine when “real life” makes it inconvenient to work out. One reason so many fail in their fitness goals, at any time of year, is lack of accountability. That’s one purpose hiring a personal trainer serves; you feel compelled to satisfy the trainer’s demands or you simply don’t want to waste money. But we all know someone (even ourselves) who has wasted money on a trainer or gym membership. So money alone isn’t motivating enough for most people.
That’s why we, the Rampant Discourse staff, are proclaiming our intention to increase our physical fitness in 2020. Starting on Monday, January 6th and continuing for 90 days (13 weeks), we are committing to eating better and being more physically active. We will each outline our goals and action plans. We will hold each other accountable with check-ins and challenges. The hope is that with this out in the open for all to see, it will be harder to avoid the shame of not meeting our goals by following our plans.
Paul
For those who don’t know me, I’m a male in his mid-to-late 30s. I work a 9-5 office job, am married, and have two young daughters. All of these things keep me rather busy, leaving precious little time for exercising or staying in shape. I’ve never really considered myself to be a super fit person, although I do think I do a decent job of staying active. During the Spring and Summer I play basketball a few times a month, and I recently resumed Tae Kwon Do classes after a long hiatus in order to get my 2nd degree black belt. I’ll occasionally do P90x or P90x3 for a few weeks before inevitably giving up, and I have a variety of heavy objects that I sometimes lift in various ways.
Recently, I’ve been trying to move more towards a type of regret minimization framework in terms of how I live my life. One thing I know I’ll regret is if I go through my life never having really pushed myself to get into the best shape possible. Now that I’m getting closer to 40 years of age, I know that it’s really getting to the point where it is now or never.
The Goal: The easy answer is that I want it all. I want to cut body fat while increasing muscle mass. I want to look like the love child of Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth. If I had to choose one metric to focus on, though, it would be reducing my body fat. Even previously, when I considered myself to be in decent shape, I always had a bit of a gut that refused to disappear. I want to be able to obtain photographic evidence that yes, I do actually have ab muscles.
The Plan: My plan is to have dedicated 30+ minute workouts at least 4 times a week. The workouts will be a mixture of Tae Kwon Do classes, P90x, P90x3, and maybe some custom weight-lifting exercises designed by me. The exercise will be complemented with a 16/8 intermittent fasting plan during the week where I only eat during an 8 hour window each day and fast for the other 16 hours. The hope is that by only eating between 12 pm and 8 pm, I can better avoid fast food breakfasts (a particular weakness of mine) and late night beers and wines. Additionally, I will be attempting to eat healthier when I do eat by preparing more meals at home and tracking my caloric intake and macros (protein, fat, carbs) with the MyFitnessPal app.
Starting Metrics
- Weight – 188 lbs
- Body Fat – 19.3
- Muscle Mass – 37.4
- Max bench press – 200 lbs
Travis
I turned 39 years old in 2019. That means I’m just past the mid-point of my United States male life expectancy. As my body starts to show its age and I make more noises as I move, it’s time to get physical.
In my late 20s I was much better than I am now about hitting the gym and being active. Having access to a small gym at my apartment complex gave me the opportunity to ride a stationary bike pretty much every weekday and make use of a four station weight rack. I played basketball once or twice every week. I also ran an eight minute mile once or twice a week. I even improved my diet by actually starting to consume vegetables (I swear I was basically a carnivore through college).
When I turned 30 I moved out of my apartment to a townhouse in a new state. That meant I no longer had access to that same gym. Gone were my regular basketball games, mostly due to distance from my friends who played. I did manage sporadic runs on the trails around my house, but never with enough consistency to matter. I started walking more at work, either across our wide office campus or up and down stairs.
Then I had kids. While I don’t explicitly do any exercise regime with them, they definitely keep me active. Surely playing baseball, soccer, and football works various muscle groups and builds some cardio. Carrying around young children, I convinced myself, was enough arm and back workout for me. Running around a playground like a Ninja Warrior course has to count for something, right?
Obviously I’m not meeting any of the general guidelines for the amount of physical activity I should be performing. So what do I plan to do to increase my fitness level?
I’ve never followed a strict exercise plan, like Paul’s P90X or Tae Kwon Do classes. I ascribe more to the Jeet Kune Do philosophy to “absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is essentially your own.” My own personal “style of no style”, if you will.
Bruce Lee Exercises
Given my proclivity for all things Bruce Lee, it should come as no surprise that one of my recent exercise inspirations is the series of exercises being published in the Bruce Lee Official Collector’s Edition magazines.
Abs: Sit-ups, Leg raises, Dragon Flag, Seated oblique twists, Frog kicks
Arms: Dumbbell French press, Push-ups, Two-hand (barbell) curl, Dumbbell circle, Reverse (barbell) curl
Back: Bent-over barbell row, Deadlift, Pull-up, Punching with dumbbells, One-arm low pulley row, Hyperextension
Legs: Step-ups, Walking lunges, Dumbbell deadlifts, Calf raises, Wall sits
Since these exercises are designed to hit specific areas, I’ll try to take measurements to show any changes:
- Left arm: 13″
- Right arm: 13″
- Chest: 35″
- Waist: 34.5″
- Hips: 41″
- Left thigh: 25″
- Right thigh: 25″
- Left calf: 16″
- Right calf: 16″
- Left ankle: 9.5″
- Right ankle: 9.5″
As my wife noted after helping me, I have pretty symmetrical measurements. I guess that’s a good thing since I always assumed my right side would be bigger since I’m so right-side dominant.
DDP Yoga
Diamond Dallas Page, aka DDP, was a professional wrestler, most notably in WCW and WWE during the Monday Night Wars. At one point he hurt his back so bad the doctors told him he might not walk let alone wrestle. Undeterred, DDP developed a yoga routine to heal his back without the need of strenuous weights. He mixed in elements of other training to develop his own style. As stated on their web site, “DDP Yoga combines the very best of yoga, old-school calisthenics, sports rehabilitation therapy and dynamic resistance to create one of the most effective fitness plans in existence today.” And following in the Jeet Kune Do philosophy to “absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, DDP Yoga is “rooted in adaptability and “making it your own.””
At the core of DDP Yoga are a set of moves he calls the Diamond Dozen. The DVD set I bought several years ago has them on a poster and the first lesson on the first DVD goes over each move. Then there are various routines built around those core moves, each routine being progressively more difficult. Sadly, I’ve never progressed past the first routine. I did go through the second one a few times, but always reverted to the first one. I now go through a reduced set of that routine at least three mornings a week. But I feel like I am shortchanging myself by skipping some of the routine and just repeating the same basic routine.
The Plan
I don’t have any specific metrics to work on so I don’t have any specific number goals like Paul. What I want to do is put everything together and be consistent with what I’m doing while increasing the intensity to improve my results. Improvement means being able to complete a routine without breaking form or simply breaking down.
I will return to my DDP Yoga DVDs and work my way through the routines. I will follow the 13 week workout schedule and finally got those moves and routines I’ve neglected for years.
I will implement each of the Bruce Lee workout routines: abs, arms, back, and legs. I should do one of these each rest day in the DDP Yoga schedule. I will have to start at lower intensity and number of reps, and might even have to skip an exercise or two within a routine at first. But eventually I want to perform the full routine for each area.
I will ensure I get up for a 10-15 minute walk at least 3 times per workday. This isn’t always feasible based on work demands but I will do everything in my power to get it done.
With regards to my eating habits, I will continue to eat salad with lunch at least twice a week. I will try returning to my breakfast inspired by Mr. Money Mustache, which involves eating mixed nuts with dark chocolate (at least 85%) and drinking a bastardized version of Bulletproof coffee (I use regular coconut oil and skip the butter). I already rarely drink soda and limit my alcohol intake.
Andrew
Last year, around this time, my wife and I took a genetic screening via 23-and-me. My results came back with this unsurprising tidbit. “Predisposed to weigh more than average.”
This all seems spot on. I sleep like a rock, I have no problems with milk or dairy products, and I tend to have slow-twitch muscle mass. I’ve also historically struggled with my weight. In 8th grade I weighed 150 lbs, and was definitely on the fat side, particularly since I’ve always been short. By my high-school graduation, four adolescent years later, I’d dropped 15 pounds (135 lbs graduation weight) despite putting on muscle and growing in height. In large part, this fat reduction was due to an extensive exercise program throughout my high school years. The most prominent part was running cross country (XC) races.
Now, my tests and personal experience also indicate that my muscle mass isn’t ideal for XC, but being outside my comfort zone and sticking with it did me a ton of good.
College came and so did the “freshman 15.” Then graduation and work hit me. Then marriage did too. It’s been a slow, but steady, climb in weight ever since I graduated from high school to the point where I’m tipping the scales at a moderately dangerous 195 lbs or so. My frame can’t realistically handle this much fat. With family medical histories that lean towards Type-II diabetes and high blood pressure, the weight and fat have to come off.
The Goal: So, clearly the goal is fat reduction for the long term. Weight reduction is a bonus, but I’d rather lose inches from the gut than lbs if there’s a trade off to be made. If I finish at 180 but have transformed fat into muscle it’s a win–for my health, and for my physique. Given that over time I’ve continued to add muscle mass, I think a return to 135 is both unreasonable, unlikely and probably unhealthy. I’d like to shoot for 150-160, but will take any significant and long-term weight reduction.
The Plan: Running was what got the weight off in high school, but whenever I’ve returned to that game plan, it hasn’t worked. I realized that the reason why is that though XC races are solitary efforts, the training is a group event. I was never able to take a day off when I wasn’t supposed to, and chasing everyone in front of me–they were always in front of me–kept me running long past where I would have stopped on my own. Working out in isolation seems ideal, particularly with my busy life, but if this is going to work, it will be because of the group accountability.
That said, accountability doesn’t do anything by itself. My XC training regimen was running 4x weekly (M/T/H/F) with a minimum of 3 miles per session. I’ll keep the podcasts going for that, and some longer runs where I can, and add in some weights to get my core and upper body strength up as well.
And They’re Off!
So there you have it. Our plans and goals are public knowledge now. Hold us accountable! We’ll check back in semi-regular intervals to see how everyone is progressing. Let us know if you have any new year’s resolutions of your own and be sure to pester us with questions on how things are going to help keep us accountable. Thanks in advance for your support!
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