Shugart's Phoenix Theory

This is a great read.

Phoenix Theory: The Psychology of Physical Rebirth
by Chris Shugart

Change of Plans - Fat Loss

I belong to a training website - I call it my online locker room - called Training Anarchy. I recently posted my goals for the end of the year up there. They were:

1. 15% body fat or less;
2. bench = bodyweight;
3. squat = 1.5 x bodyweight; and
4. dead = 2 x bodyweight.

For posting this, I got chewed on a good bit, with the general tone of the response being, "You've been talking about your fat loss goals for months, and what have you accomplished? Shut up, and do something about it." First, I was pissed, and I think I even got defensive, although I tried not to. But, I'd raised my bench press a ridiculous amount in the past few months - who are these guys to give me grief?

But, of course, they were right. I kept saying that fat loss was my primary goal, but even if I ate right for a few weeks or otherwise talked the fat-loss talk, I was chasing strength goals, albeit not with my whole heart. (Otherwise, I'd have been eating even more.)

I think my aversion to fat loss comes from the very beginning of when I started lifting. I lifted for one reason, and one reason only - performance on the football field. I didn't do curls, because I was a quarterback, damn it. I lifted functionally, and it paid off. I didn't care if some of my friends had six-packs or large arms. I could squat a lot (with terrible form, but I didn't know better and either did my coaches), and my chest, shoulders, and triceps were strong enough that I could effortlessly throw a football 40 yards on a line with a quick, compact motion. I could run over most linebackers in the conference running the option (although I was still slow as dirt).

Anyway, to me, function always meant strength. I am now starting to realize that needs to change, and for two reasons. The first is that I need to live a long time. I have boys to support and future grandchildren to play catch with. From what I've read, there's no better way to increase the odds I'll miss all of that than to carry a spare tire around my middle.

Second, my job requires, in a sense, a bodybuilder's mentality. No, I'm not taking steroids and wearing flip-flops to the gym, but a big part of my job is what a jury thinks of me when they see me stand up in front of them in a suit, and I want them to think I'm James Bond with a beard. Right, now, they might thing I'm James Bond undercover in a fat suit, but that does not have the same effect.

Both of those things say I need to change my mentality and ht fat loss first. Do I need 8% body fat and a rippling six-pack? No way. Heck, my wife wouldn't even like me if I were that skinny. But, I do need to get to a healthy body fat % first. From there, I'll build the rest of my strength. I'm guessing that's about 15%, but we'll see when I get there.

How will I do it? I'm starting this first, which is Waterbury's 10 x 3 for Fat Loss. We'll see how it goes, and then I'll evolve from there.

Current Status: Strength

Here is my current status on the five primary lifts.

1. Squat - Last work set, 185 lbs., 3 x 5. Calculated 1RM of 216 lbs.
2. Bench - Last work set, 230 lbs., 3 x 5. Calculated 1RM of 268 lbs.
3. Press - Last work set, 130 lbs., 3 x 5. This was a reset. My 5RM when I stalled out was 140 lbs., for a calculated 1RM of 163 lbs.
4. Clean - Last work set, 125 lbs., 5 x 3. Calculated 1RM of 137 lbs.
5. Deadlift - Last work set, 305 lbs., 1 x 5. Calculated 1RM of 356 lbs.
   

Getting Started

Hopefully, this is my only post about "getting started," but somehow, I doubt that it will be. After all, I've fallen off my various wagons - diet, exercise, spiritual - many times in the past. One of the things that I need to make a guiding principle here is that every time I fall off, I need to get right back on. So, forgive me if this is not my last "getting started" post. Don't forgive me if I fall off, yet fail to make a new "getting started" post.

This seems a particularly good time to start over.

First, I was in a trial until late March. During that time, I had no time to work out, and my diet was terrible. If there was a good thing about it, I felt like my diet was terrible. I could feel it throughout my body. I felt sluggish, loose, weak. My brain and my digestive track weren't functioning correctly, or at least not optimally. I was taking poor care of my body, and for once, I heard my body telling me that.

Since then, I went back to lifting pretty consistently, although the other work like HIIT was fairly inconsistent. Still, I made great strength gains, particularly on the bench press (my last work sets were 230 lbs. at 3 sets of 5 reps). Still, my diet was good but not great. I had a lot of great days, would fall of the wagon for one meal, and then write off the rest of the day. It was not good.

Then, I hurt my shoulder. Thankfully, it isn't the joint. In fact, I am pretty certain that it is an inflamed tendon of the pectoralis major. This is good because rest, heat, and ice have, I think, healed it. I'll know a bit on Monday.

So, here's the plan. Sunday, I'm back to eating good. Good means lots of protein, lots of fruit, lots of veggies, and as much as possible "clean." I won't be perfect, and I can accept that, but that standard I will hold myself to is this: "When a good, clean choice is available, I will make it over a worse, less-clean alternative." That should be a good start.

I'll also be back to lifting. I'll be doing bare-bones Starting Strength, meaning no accessories (chins or dips) this week, just to give the pec a little more rest. Instead of bench press, I'll do lighter dumbbell presses to add some stabilization work. My squats, press, cleans, and deads will be the same. Hopefully, my pec will feel good enough after two sessions with the dumbbells to do a real bench session the next week, and keep going from there. If so, I'll be adding accessories.

I'm also going to renew my focus on interval work, either on the elliptical or maybe on a track. We'll see, but I need to get that sort of work in.

I'll be trying to post here more often, more of a journal than a workout log (although I'll post status reports, too.)

For now, I have four goals for the end of the 2009. They are:

1. body fat at 15% or below, per my Tanita scale;
2. bench press my body weight;
3. squat 1.5 x my body weight; and
   
4. deadlift 2 x my body weight.

I'll need to explore how realistic they are, but I think the answer is, fairly. Number 1 needs to happen. I've already met number 2. Number 3 is a ways off, but can get there if I work pretty hard at it. Number 4 is also a ways off, but doable.