Let's get the ball rolling

Introducing the Mike 3.0 Project:

     I turned 29 last week. For a variety of reasons – some more legitimate than others – I’ve not been spending as much time in the gym as I would like the past few months. I’ve also put on a few pounds of fat; it’s unclear whether that’s been from inactivity, poor dietary choices, or a slowing metabolism. But I’m recovered enough from the medical reasons to take a fresh lease on my exercise. I’m also reasonably bright, and have read a decent amount about exercise and nutrition over the past few years to have the idea that I can make some positive changes.

     I’m currently on physical build 2.0 in my life. Build 1.0 lasted from about when I first have memories to roughly 24-25, when I was best described as “emaciated famine victim.” I then put on about 20 pounds of muscle (which is utterly ridiculous when you see how little I have to show for it now; I was insanely thin) in about 2 years…and then hit a plateau. Now, after being relatively inactive for several months – and not taking my exercise or diet as seriously as I should have for several years – I’m ready to take the next year to see what I can make of myself.

     I want to up this to build 3.0. I’m giving myself a year to do this; that way, excuses like “This week isn’t normal because I’ve got a friend’s birthday party” can’t enter into the system. If those things come up often enough over a year to matter, then they are normal, and I need to deal with them.

     I have some performance goals in mind. For example, I want to be able to run a 5k in under 25 minutes (which I know is slow, but I do have asthma, so that will mean something to me). I want to be able to do a single mile in under 6 minutes, consistently – I’ve only ever done that once. I want to improvement my flexibility so that I can touch my toes without bending my knees. I want to get my posture such that my default, natural resting state is proper, not hunched over. But those are pretty boring. Let’s look at the appearance ones now.

This is me at the start of this project:



For those who want numbers:

Height: 6 foot
Weight: 158 pounds
Waist: 30.75 inches
Wrist: 6.5 inches
Chest: 36 inches
Rear: 36 inches
Shoulders: 43.5 inches
Bicep: 13 inches
Thigh: 21.75 inches
Calf: 14.25 inches
Forearm: 10.5 inches

The sport where I match the build most closely at the moment is probably long distance running.

     My ideal build: diver. Toned, visible muscle, lean, balance between upper and lower body development, no vascularization. I’m thinking that a weight of 165 and a body fat of roughly 9-10% is the target; we’ll see (assuming I get there), how much it needs to be adjusted. Divers are also hot, in my opinion. Much hotter than I am. Now. But that doesn’t mean that it will always have to be so.

     I have no idea what that will translate to for the other measurements. Anyone who thinks that they can come up with what that will mean for any of the standard body dimensions guys measure, leave a comment. I’ll be happy for the input.

The current game plan:
1) Make an appointment with a personal trainer. This will let me get my current fitness level evaluated, including a caliper-based measurement of what body fat I’m starting with. My home scale claims 11.4%, but it’s based on electrical impedance, and I would not be surprised to find out that I’m really more like 14%. Also, I will get his/her expertise on judging my form when executing certain exercises. I’ve found I need to modify some from the standard advice (eg I can’t keep my weight on my heels when squatting without falling over. I assume it’s better to shift some weight to my toes than to change the angle of my torso, but I’m not actually sure of that.); and there are a few exercises I would like to do but want to be coached on how to do the correctly so I don’t hurt myself (eg: deadlifts). Finally, I can get him/her to help me design an exercise routine that meets both my performance-based goals (such as achieving a respectable 5k time and improving my hamstring flexibility so that I can touch my toes) and my appearance based ones, while taking into account my particular strengths and weaknesses.
2) Record my food consumption. I’ve said before that the only way to know how to properly change your diet is to know what you’re already consuming.
3) Meet with a nutritionist. One of the advantages of being a student at a giant university is the number of available resources. I’m betting I can find a nutritionist who can help me figure out what’s best for me in a realistic, long-term-sustainable way of altering what I eat to meet my goals.
4) Read and summarize standard advice. I live in an area with a great library system. I can go through both books (such as Fitness for Dummies) and magazines (such as Men’s Health), both for exercise and for nutrition, and see what advice is consistent and what is contradictory. I plan on looking at some of the major internet resources too, such as RealJock and the Well Blog at the NY Times. I will also make an effort to examine the major lifestyle diets out there – things people claim to be able to sustain for a year, not just a couple of weeks – and see what in them makes sense.

The questions for you:
1) How much detail do I tell the trainer? I’ve never had an in-person personal trainer session in my life. And, realistically, I will not be able to afford one on a consistent basis. I will be purchasing a package deal of a handful of sessions, which I feel will give me enough time to be evaluated, have my form checked, and get some workouts designed. Obviously, (s)he’ll need to know my long-term performance goals and the time-frame I’m looking at to achieve them, how often I can work out and for how long at a stretch, etc. Do I also include appearance goals? If so, do I bring a picture of the kind of body I want?
2) How realistic do you think this project is?
3) Is there any particular book/exercise plan/diet plan/internet resource you suggest I should look at? I won’t take anything as gospel just because someone on the internet suggested it, but some of you have had results under specific plans, and others might be curious enough about something to want a summary of it, but not yet curious enough to go through the hassle of reading the primary source yourself.