My belief is that fitness involves far more than a
shredded six pack, or the ability to run a marathon (although I would take both
at this point). In my opinion, fitness involves both the physical & the
mental, & is a life style of actively seeking positive inputs through diet,
exercise, recovery, & mindfulness, while limiting the negative inputs.
In this post I am going to review the 3 most
discussed pillars of fitness which are diet, exercise, & recovery, & tomorrow will
dive into the fourth pillar that is mindfulness.
Diet
As with many
things in my life, I subscribe to the Tim Ferris method, which is the ‘slow
carb’ method. Under the 'slow carb' method, I consume primarily fats
& proteins, & get the vast majority of my carbs in the form of vegetables. The
types of food that I avoid are sweets, processed foods, breads, pastas,
potatoes, & rice. Diet is going to be a recurring topic on this blog as I try to hone in on the method that works best for me.
Second, Dr. Rhonda Patrick has turned me onto the
idea of intermittent fasting. What this means is that I eat my meals in
an 8-hour window, waiting 16 hours from the time I have dinner until my first
meal the next day. In a future post I will discuss the benefits of IF, but
if you are too curious to wait, Dr. Rhonda Patrick is the authority on the figure,
simply Google her name + intermittent fasting, & get out a note pad!
Exercise
For the past 10
years I have followed my own hack-version of Mark Rippetoe’s ‘Starting Strength’ program,
primarily focusing on heavy compound lifts, & generally abandoning cardio. For
the next 100 days, it is going to be all about cardio, plyometrics, & bodyweight exercises.
For my cardio, I am going to focus on High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), which entails short periods
of intense, near-maximum output activity, followed by low-intensity rest periods. Again, a blog
post to follow on this process, but for a seminar on HIIT, check out Tim
Ferriss’ podcast with Martin Gibala (episode 217) who is a University professor
& the authority on HIIT. I will also balance this out with some longer runs
as this Canadian winter relents & allows me outdoors again!
For plyometrics, again I am going to be focusing on explosive movements in
short-rest circuits that will help me conquer the obstacles without taxing my
cardiovascular system to the point of failure.
With the
bodyweight exercises, there will be a lot of pull-ups, push-ups, dips & core
exercises. I will also mix in squats, deadlifts, rows, & some other compound
movements to ensure I still go into the race strong, but I am going to go far
away from the ‘max-out’ or ‘1RM’ (1-rep max) mentality that has ruled my
exercise career to this point.
Recovery
One of the biggest
aspects of taking on this new exercise program will be listening to my body & ensuring I am recovering after my workouts. My plan is to get in 5 workouts per week, but this is subject to change based on how my body feels.
A huge factor in
recovery that we all know, but mostly ignore, is the aspect of sleep. Although
it will be challenging for me, 6 hours is the absolute minimum, with a goal of
7.5 per night on weeknights, & more on weekends.
A second factor is
going to be stretching & rolling. In order to keep my muscles from
tightening, & to ensure I can have a great workout the next day, a regular
stretching routine will be very important on this journey.
A third factor is
making sure I get in the sauna for at least 20 minutes after every workout. I
had always written off the sauna as a useless hot room meant for naked old men, but after reading the research of
Dr. Rhonda Patrick, & the testimonial of NHL-legend Chris Pronger, I am sold
on the recovery benefits of the sauna.
Finally, the more
eccentric – ice cold showers. Every shower I take is ice cold. The research on
this one is still out – but if you want to wake up in a hurry, try a 5-minute
ice cold shower either immediately after a sauna session, or immediately upon
waking – it will change your life!
Summary
As I mentioned a few times throughout this post, each
of these tenants can, & will, be discussed at great length in future posts,
however the idea was to provide an idea of my general strategy over the next 99
days to make sure I am ready for my Spartan Race on June 24th!
This
list is by no-means exhaustive, or inflexible. In-fact – it is exactly the
opposite. My hope is that as I continue to research exercise & nutrition, my
ideas, & the efficiency of my diet & exercise routine will improve greatly, leading to better results on the course.
Until tomorrow,
100 Day Spartan
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