I am not happy that calorie counting matters, but it really does. Like many of my peers, I could stand to lose a few pounds. In my teens and twenties, it was fairly easy to lose weight – just increase my physical activity and, presto, the weight would come off without any diet modification.
Sad to say, those days are over. Even with 4 to 5 rigorous, 90 minute workouts a week, those excess pounds are very slow to come off.
Nutrition experts as well as physicians with whom I have discussed this are fairly blunt – you have to count calories.
What does this mean, in a practical sense? In my case, I need about 2,750 calories a day to maintain my weight. A vigorous workout burns around 800 calories, so I can consume around 3,500 calories a day and not gain any weight. A pound is equal to 3,500 calories. Assuming that 2 days a week, I consume 3,500 calories, I need to limit myself to 2800 calories a day for 5 days a week to drop a pound a week.
I can't eat too few – or my body will go into starvation mode.
Recently, I started counting calories. I made some surprising discoveries.
- I enjoy popcorn and I use a Whirley-pop 6 quart popper that uses 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels and 3 to 4 tbsp of oil – 6 quarts = 1,536 calories
- I enjoy French bread and butter or Smart Balance – my portion costs me between 1,200 and 1,500 calories
- Pizza – 3 slices of cheese pizza – 500 calories
- chicken breast (8 oz.) – 450 calories
- rice (flavored) – my portion around 800 calories
In my case, portion size is the problem, as is speed of eating. I am using the About.com Calorie Count online service to track what I eat – we'll see how it goes.
Filed under Calorie burning, Diet by 
Over the past couple of months, my workout partner and I have re-integrated kettlebell workouts into our weekly routine at the Perimeter L.A. Fitness. We bring out kettlebells on Tuesdays and Fridays and go through our set of exercises three times. The entire routine takes about an hour.
Recently some of the regulars at the gym have been asking questions and one gentlemen has joined us in our kettlebell workout. He is able to get through about 1/2 to 2/3 of each set but he keeps coming back so that is a good sign. I'll go into more detail about our routine in a future post.
I suspect that you could perform different kettlebell exercises each day and find something different to do every day of the week. In our case, we have to deal with the issue of schlepping the kettlebells from the car, as our L.A. Fitness does not have a full set. Interestingly, however, about six months after workout partner Michael and I used our kettlebells for the first time, a couple of the personal trainers there purchased four or five bells and started using them occasionally. Right now, there is one 16kb bell, the rest are very light weights – most of the trainer clients are women who do not run through a very intense workout. We use 16kb and 12kb bells and it is nice to have one available to use in addition to what we bring.
In the mornings at L.A. Fitness at least, most of the regulars are in their 40's and 50's and I doubt that too many of these folks would be able to handle an intense kettlebell workout. On the other hand, swinging a 2kb kettlebell is not going to do much. For us, at this time, two days a week is about right. I think it is better to run through a solid kettlebell workout once or twice a week, as opposed to a peripheral use of the weights once every two to four weeks.
As I will discuss in a future post, many of our kettlebell day exercises are focused on core strength and now that we are consistent, I am really starting to see some good results. Not quite ready for photos (although I have several very solid "before" photos!).
Filed under General information by
In our on-going effort to create an effective and interesting workout plan, workout partner Michael and I have arrived at the following:
Monday:
- 15 minutes of work on the elliptical machine
- medicine ball twist – 2x up and down length of basketball court
- medicine ball squat – ball at small of back – 10 reps
- boxing workout – five or six 1 minute "rounds" hitting hand pads or heavy bag
- tricep pulldowns – 3 sets
- BOSU balance workout – 3 sets
- exercise bike warm down and protein drink
Tuesday:
- 15 minutes of work on elliptical machine to warm up
- medicine ball twist – 2x up and down length of basketball court
- medicine ball squat – ball at small of back – 10 reps
- boxing workout – five or six 1 minute "rounds" hitting hand pads or heavy bag
- kettlebell exercises – swings, lifts, balance ball
- exercise bike warm down and protein drink
Wednesday:
- 15 minutes of work on elliptical machine to warm up
- medicine ball twist – 2x up and down length of basketball court
- medicine ball squat – ball at small of back – 10 reps
- various stretching exercises
- leg press exercises
- exercise bike warm down and protein drink
Thursday:
- 15 minutes of work on elliptical machine to warm up
- medicine ball twist – 2x up and down length of basketball court
- medicine ball squat – ball at small of back – 10 reps
- boxing workout – five or six 1 minute "rounds" hitting hand pads or heavy bag
- bench press exercises
- exercise bike warm down and protein drink
Friday:
- 15 minutes of work on elliptical machine to warm up
- medicine ball twist – 2x up and down length of basketball court
- medicine ball squat – ball at small of back – 10 reps
- boxing workout – five or six 1 minute "rounds" hitting hand pads or heavy bag
- tricep pulldown routine + leg work
- exercise bike warm down and protein drink
Filed under Sample exercises, Strength training by
Over the past few months, my workout partner and I have been increasing the amount of weight we are lifting, specifically when doing bench presses. We have been alternating between a traditional bench press with a barbell, a reverse incline bench press and unstabilized bench and shoulder presses using kettlebells or their dumbbell equivalents.
About 2 months ago, I changed my vitamin and mineral routine to take my minerals (including the pills with trace minerals) at night instead of in the morning. About a month after doing so I began noticing some irregularities in my heartbeat and fluttering in my chest.
The chest fluttering was not painful nor did I have any shortness of breath – but it was noticeable enough that I called my doctor. After I told him about my symptoms and that I had been working out with heavy weights he reassured me that my issue was likely not cardiac in nature and he suggested that I may be experiencing a potassium deficiency.
At his suggestion I ate a bannana prior to working out and a bannana in the afternoon and immediately my heartbeat returned to normal and I have had no issues since.
Now, obviously not ever instance of chest pain or fluttering heartbeat is benign and if you have any questions you should seek medical attention. In my case, however, it appears that a minor potassium deficiency was at the root of my experience. This also explains why a number of long distance runners I know carry a bannana with them in their workout bags.
Our bodies don't need a lot of potassium or trace minerals, but take them away and strange things happen.
Filed under General information by
There are many possible weight lifting exercises that you can do to improve your strength and increase your muscle tone. As a rule, I prefer free weights over machine exercises because machines limit you to one plan of motion. By contrast, free weights force you to use stabilizing muscles which tends to improve tone.
Further, there is a bit of a fear factor with free weights – you know that if you drop them you could embarass yourself, hurt yourself or your workout partner. In my experience, you are much more attuned to your limits when you use free weights.
I find that I get a lot out of decline bench workouts. A decline bench is like a regular weight bench except that the head of the bench sits at a 45 degree angle – in other words, your head and arms are inclined below your feet. For me, this type of workout fits my body type and I feel that it puts less stress on my shoulder joints.
At some point, I will do my own video, but for now, here is an example of a decline bench exercise that is done effectively. You can use a barbell, dumbbells, or kettlebells with a decline bench.
You can find other examples of decline bench exercises on YouTube although many of them feature blaring music and gym rats who are lifting 400 lbs. You don't need a lot of weight – lift what you can do comfortably and handle 10 to 15 reps for 3 sets before you move up in weight.
Filed under Muscle mass, Sample exercises, Strength training by
