I started my morning with another session with Ian. Today’s workout was a little less aerobically intense yet the variations of the maneuvers that Ian had me do are difficult, and require quite a bit of concentration.
What is nice about how Ian trains is that he works on progressive development, meaning he will start with a simple motion then add a layer with each new set. For example we did more lunges today then I have this entire year. He had me start with a simple lunge taking steps forward, and then lunging in reverse. Then the next go around he had me raise my hands above my shoulders while I lunged, it seemed easy enough.
He took it a step further by having me hold a foam roller above my head while I lunged, if I were to just hold it above my head it would be easy, Ian had me try and squeeze the roller between my hands which put stress on my chest and shoulders. At this point the lunges started to suck.
The next step from here was to lunge holding a 5 lb weight above my head with one hand. This lunge required me to engage my core, and fight to keep my balance. But he wasn’t done yet, the next progression was the addition of a second dumbbell. With the dumbbell which wasn’t above my head I had do a bicep curl while I lunged. “This sucks" started to become my mantra. I even told him he should call his workouts "This sucks".
It would have been nice had this been the end, but Ian had still another addition to this move. I had to lunge, bicep curl, and do a shoulder press with the arm which was held above my head. To make matters worse, or to add insult to injury on the final set of lunges he had me do a lunge, bicep curl, shoulder press, and rotate my torso to one side engaging my core especially my abs.
I don’t want to give the wrong impression we did not do all these lunges at the same time they were mixed in-between other exercises, it’s just an example of how he builds on each level of exercise. What I do like is that as the difficulty of the maneuver increases your mind focuses less on the weight, or the pain but purely concentrates on performing the move correctly.
We have two more sessions scheduled next week Tuesday and Thursday. I think over time I am going to enjoy the efficiency of his workouts, and the fact that he is actually concerned about proper muscular development.
One of the reasons I stopped training with Zap was that he told me open time while doing squats that even if I didn’t do it right the muscles would develop around the legs, and eventually I could do a full lunge. My contention to him at the time was that I would rather go lower in weight and get a full correct lunge building towards the heavier weights. After talking with Ian the first day I knew I was right, in fact he sent me a three paragraph e-mail after our first session telling me what areas I have to correct and work on to build the body I want.
An excerpt from his e-mail:
“Your squat and deadlift while reasonably in-tact both indicate severe lack of glute/hamstring development. This is typical in folks that have lots of mass up front as you typically lean back while you walk to balance resulting in shortening of the PKC muscles (posterior kinetic chain — the muscles on the back side of your body.)”
Talk about finding what I’ve been looking for underneath my nose, holy shit. The best part about what we have done so far is that he is like me in that he can compartmentalize the professional part with our friendship. I’m looking forward to see the progress I will make with him over time. In the long term arc of my physical development I think this period with Ian will proove to be a period of exponential development, as I learn how to do things efficiently, effectivley, and develop a way to keep it intense everytime at the gym.
Intensity is what makes the changes. I think that's why I loved Sam's workouts so much, the ability to spend an entire hour at a high intensity is what helped me make the emotional changes which I live with today. It's with these changes I find out who I am.
I had a chance today to go to a Farmers Market near my parent’s home. It’s apparently one of the busier suburban farmers markets. I was really happy to find two farmers who breed grass fed beef. I bought quite a bit of beef for a Sunday dinner I am preparing for my family. What’s amazing is that both of these farms are less than an hour away, in fact one of them is in a town which is now part of the Suburbs, imagine that the farm lasted so long that the population just moved in around them.
There is a farmers market in DC which I am thinking about going to, more to find out the names of local organic farmers, so I can source food when I need it.
I did have one very stressful moment today. An employee, who I have worked hard to groom into a larger management position, brought me to my wits end. This guy has lots of potential but can’t get out of his own way. He just doesn’t know when to shut up, and just say okay I got it taken care of, which is what any boss wants to hear. Not a bunch of bullshit excuses and justifications about not making mistakes, who cares what the circumstances are, even if I am wrong, just fucking tell me you got it covered and let me move on with the rest of my day. I don’t know what to do with this kid anymore, half the time I want to give him a hug, and the other half of the time I want to shake him. BTW in case any ambulance chaser wants to use this material, I have no intention of doing physical harm to the unsaid person.
If not for this moment of temporary insanity I have had a good week. Good workouts, good eating habits, and I finally got some grass fed beef.
Tomorrow morning I have a 6 AM session with Ali, and I am going to try and do high intensity cardio on the treadmill. I think I will start with a mile, then some sprints, and then a mile to finish. My goal will be to do a high intensity workout and keep the entire session 45 minutes or less.
I am hoping when I step on the scale Sunday that I have broken 305 lbs. Based on my current rate of weight loss I know next week the third week in the cycle I will almost assuredly stay the same weight which I find myself on Sunday, so if I can be a stone’s throw away from 300 I will have a fantastic week.
In losing myself physically, I am finding myself emotionally. This evolution of my life is moving at a rate which never seems to be fast enough, yet when I take a breath to reflect on where I have come I can’t believe it. It’s not quite 3 months, and I’m almost down 70 lbs. After being on the warm track for the last 2 months I’m ready to get to the starting blocks…300 lbs.