Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Break it down.

 So, how does this work?

The methods I'm implementing in my quest for less fat, greater strength and vigor, and a generally improved state of wellness are centered around the daily habits of "No-S" eating and "Shovelglove" exercising, in addition to some daily walking, or "Rangering".  I encourage you to go to the source by clicking on the links to Reinhard's webpages for more information.  In a nutshell, though, here's how this whole thing breaks down...

[Note:  Talk to your doctor if you have any medical concerns or pre-existing conditions which may contraindicate your application any of the diet or exercise information contained in this blog.]

The No-S Diet

No snacks, no sweets, no seconds, except--sometimes--on days that start with "S" (Saturdays, Sundays, and special occasions).  This means that, Monday through Friday (known as "No-S" or "N" days), I eat three meals a day, one plate or bowl each, without going back for seconds; I do not eat snacks between meals; and I do not eat sweets.  I do my best to make my meals relatively strong, lean, and clean, with an emphasis on whole, natural foods--vegetables, meat, fruit, nuts, dairy, and a little grain--but sometimes it's pizza, or a burger and fries.  As long as I adhere to the No-S guidelines, it's cool.

I make sure to drink plenty of water, and limit my coffee intake to 2 or 3 cups per day.  I've never really been much of a soda drinker, but yes, soda and sugary fruit juices count as sweets, and should be reserved for "S" days.

When the weekend, a holiday, or a birthday arrives ("S" days), I cut myself a little slack, and may sensibly indulge in some dessert, a snack, and/or a second helping of something particularly savory.

That's it.  That's the diet.  No counting calories.  No measuring or weighing portions.  No calculating macronutrient ratios.  All you have to count are plates:  1, 2, 3.  The rest will work itself out.

Shovelglove

Wrap an old sweater around the head of a sledgehammer.  This will help prevent damage to yourself, your property, and any inattentive bystanders.  You now have a shovelglove.  If desired, cover with duct tape (but not too tightly, or you'll defeat the purpose of the sweater padding).

Set a timer for 14 minutes.  Spend that time using your shovelglove to mimic real world working movements, such as shoveling, chopping wood, churning butter, pounding posts, stoking a furnace, scratching your back, etc.  Stop when the timer goes off.  Do this Monday through Friday, and take the weekends, holidays, and birthdays off.

Because I already owned a 16-pound sledgehammer, and because I've already built up a pretty solid foundation of strength over a lifetime of physical labor, weight training, and calisthenics, this is the weight I've started with.  However, let me emphasize that--even at what seems to be a relatively small weight--this level of resistance has proven to be quite challenging!  In fact, I am planning to obtain a second, lighter sledgehammer (10- or 12-pounds) at some point in the near future, and to alternate between heavier and lighter sessions.  For the average adult male, I would recommend starting with an 8-pound hammer, and for women, a 6-pounder.  Allow plenty of time (a year or so) to build up to a greater amount of weight, or just carry on with what you're using indefinitely.  If you hurt yourself by using too much weight--or if you make the sessions absolutely suck--you're not going to stick with it anyhow.

Trust me, doing it the way I've described is enough.  My sessions with "Hellboy," as I've named my shovelglove, have felt good, but have also been quite humbling.  I grew up on a (hobby) farm, and am no stranger to shoveling, wood splitting, and many of the other movements imitated while shovelgloving, but this is one heck of a great workout.  It is amazing how effectively this seemingly small weight can work a person out, when almost all of it is leveraged at the far end of a stick.  Although I started out by repeating movements 21 times to each side, I've found that repetitions in the 7- or 14-range work better for me with this level of resistance, and allow me to cycle through my list of movements more effectively.  Make no mistake, I am huffing, puffing, and sweating like crazy by the time my 14 minutes are up.

A typical session for me includes the following movements, each performed 7 to 14 times to each side, and repeating the cycle until my 14 minutes are up...

Shoveling
Churning butter
Pounding fence posts
Paddling a canoe
Stoking a furnace (or spearing a dragon)
Chopping a tree
Scratching my back
Hailing my comrades (sort of a one-handed curl, then thrusting overhead)

There are countless other movements which can be integrated or substituted into this list.  In order to make these most effective, it really helps to engage the imagination and visualize yourself actually performing the activity.

In addition to shovelglove, I also walk ("Ranger") at least 30 minutes per day and do a bit of stretching. 

That's it.  That's the exercise plan.

You don't need to follow a complicated or unsatisfying diet in order to lose weight.  You don't need to buy expensive equipment, shell out big bucks for a gym membership, or sacrifice hours of each day in order to work out.  In fact, I submit that, in the long run, you will be far more likely to achieve your goals of eating healthily and exercising effectively if you keep things simple, as described above.

That's good news, right?  So get to it!  Thanks for reading, and please feel free to comment below to let me know how it goes for ya!.

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