90-Day Transformation Challenge
Hello Everyone and welcome to my 90 Day Transformation.
For exercise, I am not going to do anything drastic or using any gimmicks or infomercial exercise equipment. I will primarily follow CrossFit methodology and do the WOD from CrossFit Kitchener where I am a member.
Workout equipment is primarily a combination of barbells and a pull up bar. The other tools that are occasionally used are plyo boxes, kettlebells, dumbbells, skipping rope and a manila rope for climbing.
I am following The Zone guidelines in regards to serving sizes and protein requirements. I am eliminating the majority of starches and refined sugar from my diet. If anyone is interested, then go and buy [Enter] The Zone by Barry Sears. Click here for a link to the book at chapters.indigo.ca.
As of yesterday (July 10, 2010) I am starting a 90 day challenge to myself to get back into shape. I will be tracking overall weight, circumference of my waist and body fat percentage every few weeks, along with progress on a specific workout (I put some in a hat and drew Fran).
For the past year or so I have picked up smoking again (a habit that I held from the age of 14 until 22, then on and off since). It didn’t affect me as much until I stopped exercising and being active, and once again leading a sedentary lifestyle.
For the past number of months, I found myself eating only 2 meals a day, and lots of snacks and sweets in between. My overall bodyweight has had increased by about 15 pounds, and my body’s composition has definitely changed for the worse. I will be posting pictures to show progress and to show where I started from.
I have officially quit smoking and started eating properly again. I will provide updates on what I’m eating in the blog and nutrition section.
I think this will differ from other ‘transformations’ in 2 regards: body composition (as in body fat %) is NOT the be all end all, and I am not a bodybuilder (so I will not train like one). Don’t get me wrong, as I am not against bodybuilding per se, but I believe that the average persons’ time training is better spent on intense compound/functional moves rather than isolation. I will elaborate more in the coming months.
For my benchmark workout, I will be attempting Fran every 3-4 weeks and see what kind of improvements are being made.
Note: I was recently told by a friend who viewed the site that I look like a serial killer. I apologize, I was just hungry.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
I am at a bodyweight of 207.8 lbs and slightly over 5′ 11″ (94.6 kg and 181 cm). My waist at my bellybutton is 38.5 inches and body fat is 20% (according to my Accu-Measure calipers).
This means my lean body mass (LBM) is 166.24 and body fat is 41.56 lbs.
Fran time: 14:31. I did it with a 45 pound empty bar and full pull ups. Pull ups were very hard and thrusters were very tiring and rough on my wrists. Definitely not used to holding a barbell in the ‘rack’.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Now I am at a bodyweight of 201.2 lbs (91.4 kg) with a waist of 37 inches and body fat is 18%. I am using the same scale, measuring tape and body fat calipers.
This means in 3 weeks (day 21) I have lost 6.6 lbs total which is a combination of muscle, fat and water.
My LBM is 165 lbs and fat is 36.24 and is a loss of 1.26 lbs of muscle and around 5 pounds of water and fat.
Fran time: 12:26. I went heavier this time to 65 lbs and full pull ups. Getting better at thrusters. A bit less wrist pain – I also started using some athletic tape on my wrists to help.
Sunday August 22, 2010
Here I am at a bodyweight of 196.4 lbs (89.3 kg) with a waist of 36 inches and body fat is 16%.
This means in 6 weeks (day 43) I have lost 11.4 lbs total.
My LBM is 165 lbs and fat is 31.4 lbs.
Fran time: 7:18. Again I decided to go with 65 lbs. Wrist pain is minimal, but I did tear my hands a bit on the pull ups.
Note: This was done at the CrossFit certification in Toronto at the CrossFit Colosseum, so I had plenty of encouragement via yelling at me (in a good way). Big thanks to Paul McIntyre for hosting the cert and being a gracious host.
Saturday September 11, 2010
Here I am at a bodyweight of 192.1 lbs (87.3 kg) with a waist of 34.5 inches and body fat is 14%.
This means in 9 weeks (day 63) I have lost 15.7 lbs total.
My LBM is 165.2 lbs and fat is 26.9 lbs.
Fran time: 9:36. I went to full Rx and did 95# thrusters and pull ups. Had some wrist issues and definitely took longer on the thrusters than the pull ups.