Month: February 2019

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
–Albert Einstein

“Well-centered fitness” is about progress—call it kaizen. I often connect my Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social growth to exercise science—overload (in order for a body system to adapt—to grow—it must be stressed to a level greater than that to which it is accustomed), specificity (the body system makes specific adaptations to imposed demands), and reversibility (the adaptive response is quickly lost when the training stimulus is removed—i.e., “use it or lose it”). Einstein captures it well. In life, “keep moving”. Victor Kiam famously said, “Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward.”

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
–Confucius

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

I wrote the other day about “going heavy”. Reading this, some might have images of thick-necked powerlifters with knee-wraps and lifting belts pushing weights that make the bar bend. Sure, this is “heavy”, but heavy is relative. Most of us will never come close to the weights these folks are pushing or pulling. Indeed, our “heavy” will pale by comparison.

“Heavy”, or, more specifically, intensity is related to one’s maximal lift—how much one can lift in proper form for one-repetition maximum (1-RM). Given the risk of injury lifting maximal weights—especially the older we get—it is sometimes better to just estimate the 1-RM based upon submaximal lifts (e.g., 5-RM) or an estimate based on experience (e.g., someone bench presses 185 lb for 10 repetitions and feels he or she could two more repetitions; this would calculate to a 1-RM of approximately 264 lb¹). Calculators, like the one cited below¹ are an easy way to estimate maximums.

The intensities used in lifting are based off of the 1-RM.  These can be determined objectively (as a percentage of the 1-RM) or subjectively (the perception of difficulty). Examples²:

50-70% = “light”

70-80% = “moderate”

80-85% = “moderate-heavy”

85-90% = “heavy”

90-95% = “submaximal”

95-100% = “maximal”

Repetitions are driven by the goal. Muscle hypertrophy (size) is often driven by volume (i.e., weight x repetitions x sets)—generally 60-75% maximum for sets of 6-12 repetitions. Muscle strength is driven by increased intensity—generally 70-90% maximum for sets of 3-6 repetitions. Note that the best stimulus will be the highest intensity “working sets”, but the higher intensities and volumes will require more effective recovery strategies. (Working sets will be the sets performed at the above prescribed intensities—excluding warm-up sets). “Lower intensity” does not necessarily mean easier. A set of 3 repetitions at 85% can actually be easier than a set of 10 at 70%. Thus, lifting “heavy” is more about lifting “hard” than lifting “big”.

Lifting heavy is targeting weights and volumes that are between the “maximum recoverable volume (MRV)” and “minimum effective volume (MEV)”³. These are the effective training intensities and volumes. Lifting lighter loads will tend to be ineffective and lead to loss of strength and muscle mass (be below the “maintenance volume”³) despite the intended effort.

“Heavy” if relative. For the older beginner, the bar itself (45 lb) may be “heavy”.  This is okay, as long as the exerciser is overloading the muscle—doing more than that to which the muscle is accustomed to doing.

There are a number of great beginner weight lifting programs. Presently, I am benefiting from Jim Wendler’s 5-3-1 Program. This is based off of percentages of the 90% 1-RM. Others—particularly the true beginner might prefer something like a 5 x 5 program that progresses sets of 5 repetitions. After a couple of warm-up sets, the lifter does 5 sets of 5 repetitions (of, for example the “basic 5” exercises). Starting at a comfortable weight that can be performed in proper form, the weight can be progressed in small increments (e.g., 5-10 lb) each workout. One suggestion⁴ is three day a week A (squat, bench, barbell row)/ B (squat, overhead press, deadlift) alternation. Starting at with the empty bar (45 lb) on the squat and increasing by 5 lb each workout, one will be squatting 100 lb is only a month. Eventually, the gains will slow, but the progress will initially be quick and safe. As “heavy” gets heavier, more complex progressions can be practiced.

Heavy need not cause injury. Injury results from poor technique and progression. If the excuse for not lifting heavy is “I have bad knees” or “I have a bad back”. I would respond: “Why do you have bad knees?” or “Why do you have a bad back?” Fix the problem and don’t make the same mistakes going forward. Exercise should not cause injury!! Injuries won’t fix themselves. “Stronger” requires “heavy” lifting.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

¹https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/other7.htm

²Greg Everett, Olympic Weightlifting, 3^rd ed.

³Mike Israetel & James Hoffmann, How Much Should I Train?

⁴https://stronglifts.com/5×5/#gref

“It’s 2019…get rid of Algebra 2 in high schools and replace it with Finance Fundamentals. Teach kids about careers (not just college), salaries, credit, budgeting, money management, taking out a loan, buying a house, filing their taxes.”

The above was a social media post I saw recently. Let me just start by saying: “True. Kids should learn ‘about careers…, salaries, credit, budgeting, money management, taking out a loan, buying a house, filing their taxes’.” In my humble opinion, this should be learned before high school! Algebra 2, however, in foundational—not the pinnacle of mathematics.

No great scientist, engineer…, plumber, or carpenter ever succeeded without Algebra. Mathematics is a language of logic. It is a gateway to discovery. “Solve for x” is not a phrase that is intended to break young people. It is a statement for life. If we cave to the misguided thought that people “don’t use Algebra” we will falter as a society.

I teach exercise physiology. In one unit, we do metabolic calculations—i.e., calculate oxygen consumption when performing exercise running or walking on a treadmill, using a leg or arm ergometer (“stationary bike”), and stepping. There are five equations (walking, running, leg ergometry, arm ergometry, and stepping) that I provide for the students. After converting body weight from pounds to kilograms (we gave up somewhere along the timeline on converting to the metric system in the US) and miles per hour to meters per minute, all the student has to do is plug the numbers into the equation and calculate. (Basic Algebra.) Many students struggle with this. When asked to do more “complicated math” like solve for the setting on the leg ergometer, given an oxygen consumption, more students struggle. Ask them to calculate how many calories are expended, they are nearly all overwhelmed.

These are bright kids. None of them is incapable of doing these problems. Nevertheless, they nearly all struggle. Why? Because, somewhere along the line, someone told them that “Math is hard.” or “You can’t do Math.” Pure nonsense. It is this same poor teaching that robs them of critical thinking skills and causes them to learn to the test.

A very big part of learning is the struggle. A wise friend once shared that “You never really know something until you struggle to learn it.” I agree. My students hate that I agree, but the learn.

Education should not be about making success easy for the students. Great educators present the struggle and help the student find his or her path through it.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.”

—Marie Curie

Life isn’t easy for a reason. The struggles make us stronger. The more we face and persevere, the more grow, the more confidence we develop. We must use our gifts, and our gifts are forged in the crucible of life.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

“The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart.”

—Proverbs 17:3 (NIV)

As we get older—and we are all getting older—our tendency is to shift away from lifting weights toward more and more cardio. The rationale seems to be that cardio burns fat. Unfortunately, cardio does little to spare muscle. Indeed, it might even accelerate muscle loss. Certainly, the endless cycles of (hypocaloric) “dieting” are not good for aging muscle. As such, weight lifting should be a continued component of one’s regular exercise program as one ages.

When I speak of lifting weights, however, I am not referring to high repetitions using small weights with little progression. I am talking “go big or go home” (sort of). I am talking progressive overload and moderate-to-low repetitions (below the traditional 8-12). Why not try to grow stronger as we age? At the very least, try hold on to muscle mass for as long as we can.

I am speaking here to the average exerciser and not so much to the aging powerlifter. If one is already “lifting big”, it may not do the body well to keep aggressively pushing growth. I am talking to those of us who have let ourselves go or never lifted really big weights.

Lifting heavy makes one stronger. It builds muscle (albeit at a much slower rate) as we age.

It is never too late to start lifting weights. Learn how before you start, but start.

Lifting heavy is not dangerous—if done correctly. Injury happens from doing lifts in poor form and with too much weight. Overload is doing more than that to which the body is accustomed. It is not doing more than what the body is capable of doing. Chances are, however, that we are doing much less than we are capable. Challenge yourself. Get stronger. Challenge the ageist perception that aging leads to inevitable frailty. Lift. Lift heavy.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

Every time I have climbed in the BodPod to have my body composition measured, I have been disappointed. It has not always been because I was fatter. More often, it is because there has been no appreciable gain in lean (i.e., muscle) weight to reflect my efforts in the weight room. Sure, I might have lost fat, but I want to do more than maintain muscle.

I have pretty much given up on restrictive dieting. I have determined, instead, to grow into my fat. It may sound at first that I am making a joke, but I mean it. Body composition is the measurement of fat weight relative to total body weight (i.e., “percent body fat”). There are two ways to improve body composition. Obviously, one can “diet” (i.e., consume a hypocaloric diet) and lose fat (often muscle, as well as fat). Alternatively, one can gain muscle (maintaining current pounds of fat). In other words, one can train for muscle hypertrophy, consume a reasonable intake of healthy calories (moderately hypercaloric), and gain muscle.  This is along the lines of “recomping” (recomposition—losing fat and gaining muscle). Muscle is not easily gained while losing fat (quite possibly, not possible) so maintain fat and lifting to gain muscle may be the best approach for some of us hard-gainers.

I like food. I like an occasional beer. These don’t always support my desire for a leaner body composition. So, gaining the right kind of weight suits me. I don’t particularly desire a coveted set of “six-pack abs”. I want to look fit, though. I want a healthy body composition. So, I try to eat smart and train smarter.

Those of us over 50 tend to consider exercise for our health. We do cardio religiously and watch what we eat. Over time, this leads to a progressive loss of muscle mass. This loss in muscle mass (nearly fifty percent of our muscle mass from 25 to 80 years) is compounded by a lack of resistance/weight training.

We should be doing some heavy lifting. It doesn’t take a lot of time to maintain heart function. Thus, a bit more time should be dedicated to lifting weights.

The result of lifting weights may more pounds on the scale.  So, what? It is just a number. The results in the mirror, and in overall physical performance will mean more than a reported “weight loss”.

For many, the scale doesn’t change much as we age. It may feel good to say we weigh what we did in high school, but “skinny fat” is still “fat”. Body weight is just a number without the understanding of its composition. Take someone who weighs 200 lb and is 20% body fat. If he loses 20 lb (all fat), he now weighs 180 lb and is now 11% fat—but “starved” to get there.  If he gains 20 lb of muscle (not change in body fat), he will weigh 220 lb and be 18% body fat. The change doesn’t appear to be so significant, but 20 lb of muscle will look much better and he got to eat! Realistically, one might see more of balance between fat loss and muscle gain resulting in little change on the scale. (For example, remaining 200 lb at 11% body requires a loss of 18 lb fat and a gain of 18 lb of muscle. Conversely, gaining 18 lb of fat and losing 18 lb of muscle bumps the body composition up to a whopping 29%!) Minimally, we want to me maintaining more muscle and gaining minimal fat.

Ignore the scale (to some extent) and focus home how you look. Be less concerned about fat and focus more on lean muscle. The scale will be what it will be.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

I like to say that in the sport of wrestling there are three levels of competition: team v. team, wrestler v. wrestler, and wrestler v. self. The wrestler v. self competition is largely the struggle to make weight, but also includes the inner struggle to remain motivated and not be discouraged by losses.

My son’s 8^th grade wrestling season is coming to a close. Looking at wins and losses, it has not been a successful season for him. Looking at the bigger picture, though, I believe it to be his most successful season to date. It is certainly a season that makes me proud.

He didn’t play football this year. Instead, he enrolled in the “preseason” for his club team. A month or so in, he began to struggle with motivation. He wouldn’t speak up, but I could tell he was struggling.  After failing to “push” him to be motivated, I decided to allow him space to “let his soul speak” (something I am working on doing with myself and others). I offered him the opportunity to take a break from club. He wanted to, and he also asked to start lifting weights. He ended up skipping the club’s tournament and wrestling only in an early season takedown tournament. (He did not have anyone in his weight class and age group, so he pumped up to high school—which turned out to be a big mistake.) He opted to just wrestle middle school meets this year. The club is a great club with the best coaches in the state, but he was feeling too much pressure to compete. I knew that any more pushing would lose him from the sport.

Middle school season was a string of defeats. He lost every match until his final three. In my opinion, he could have won a few of these, but, for the first time in his years of wrestling, he never pouted or cried. He accepted defeat and looked at each as an opportunity to learn. He was smiling. It warmed my heart to see him enjoying himself—even in defeat.

In his final meet of the season, he had to wrestle up. The boys in his round-robin group were all 20 pounds or so heavier. He won them all—three straight pins. He wrestled better than I have ever seen him wrestle. He was calculated, aggressive, and smart. He had begun this season to take chances on the mat—sometimes resulting in defeat—but this day his head was screwed on tight in all the right places. He wrestled like a wrestler. Most importantly, he had fun! He seems to have recaptured the passion.

This season, he might have gone 3-12, but he went 15-0 against himself. That is a successful season!

We are often our own worst opponent. However, if we just give ourselves the space, we can easily defeat self.

In life, as in wrestling, there are no losers.  There are only winners and learners.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow!

Carpe momento!

My middle sister is an elementary teacher in Putnam County, WV. The County’s schools were recently ranked as the top for graduation rates in the state. Congratulations!

I come from a family of teachers: two aunts, two cousins, a nephew, and a sister-in-law, as well as my sister in West Virginia (my oldest sister also teaches GED classes in Maryland). I teach college.

One thing I have learned is that great education is more than graduation rates and test scores. Moreover, great teachers are more than graduation rates and test scores. The success of a school and its teachers are not graduation rates and test scores. The value of a great teacher is not seen often until the next generation of students. A high school (a college) diploma is little more than a piece of paper if it does not come with the immeasurable skills that cannot (are not) tested on a standardized test.

The valuable teacher is the teacher who teaches his or her students to think critically, to challenge ideas and concepts, and to be creative. Personal–and national–growth and success come when the educated can not only recite facts but can create new knowledge and progress ideas.

Teaching is hard. Teaching well is harder. There is, however, no more important profession.

Education should be a seed of discovery and not measured by the degree to which a student matches established “standard”. Success in education is the unlocking of each child’s potential—the degree to which the system brings out the (extra)ordinary in every child.

God bless our teachers and the work they do!

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!

“If a thing seems to you worth working for at all, if it appears to you of moment enough to challenge any effort, then put into what you do all the enthusiasm of which you are capable, regardless of criticism.”
–Orison Swett Marden

Orison Swett Marden (founder of SUCCESS magazine) wrote at the end of the 19^th century, but his words are just as relevant in the 21^st. I turn to him often for inspiration.

A favorite verse in the bible is: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10, NIV). Another way of saying this is “leave it all in this room”—something I try to remind myself each day.

Part of our morning growth preparation should include the self-talk and the plan to be (extra)ordinary each day. Plan it and “put into what you do all the enthusiasm of which you are capable”.

Be your best today; be better tomorrow.

Carpe momento!