Tag Archives: method

Day 316: The ease of doing nothing

Day 308 - front

Day 316 – front

  • Weight: 140.0 lbs.
  • No workout today; next: Workout C, July 15
  • Total inches: 125.9
  • Protein: 133g (1g over target)
  • Calories: 2,127

Each day, I wake up raring to do one thing.

Nothing.

I can be a lazy sack, and if not for the Tiger Mom voice in my head, I would be sprawled on the couch, eating chips and watching television every damn day.

Not working, not writing, not making calls, not going to meetings, not working out.

Nothing is very easy to accomplish and is often a part of our routines.

Doing something appears difficult and not worth the effort. Doing nothing is familiar.

Doing something can appear even more difficult when bombarded with choices. Experts, friends and family all have suggestions on the very best ways to get fit.

They’re all wrong. And more important, they’re all right.

My way of bulking up isn’t the best way. It may not even be the best way for me, though I’ve made changes throughout the past 300 days. But it has worked, and for me, that has kept me going. Even when I don’t want to work out at 11 p.m.

But you can get fit. It will probably not be easy at first, but change can be difficult. That’s why I enjoyed reading and using “The 4-Hour Body” [Amazon |iTunes aff. links], because it gives readers ways to combat backsliding:

  • public accountability,
  • metrics,
  • minimal changes,
  • scheduling.

Arnold Schwarzenegger commented on a Reddit Fitness thread on Friday, emphasizing that he wanted more people to start exercising, no matter which method they picked:

“Do me a favor. Try to focus more on expanding the fitness community as a whole than protecting your little corner of it.”

My inspiration has come from peers who went out and did their thing, even if each one had a completely different approach.

Inspire me: Do something.
Day 315 - side

Day 315 – side

Day 119: An involuntary precision

Day 119 - front

  • Weight: 133.6 lbs.
  • Workout C: 15 minutes, 15 seconds; next: Workout C, Dec. 24
  • Total inches: 122.1
  • Protein: 128 g (2 g over target)
  • Calories: 2,310

I sometimes still surprise myself.

What has surprised me the most, 4 months in on Project Bulk, is my meticulousness around all aspects of this project. I know what I’ve spent, to the penny. I weigh myself first thing each morning, then wrap the tape measure around various limbs.

I calculate and recalculate what to eat to hit my calorie targets. If I’m bothered by any one aspect, it’s that my form on lifting and curls isn’t great. I bet if I were in front of a wall mirror, I could pinpoint where I need to improve my movement.

Such precision probably isn’t needed to accomplish my simple goal of gaining muscle. It’s just part of who I am. It’s what I do in blogging, in training, in measuring, in project work. It gives me clearer direction in what’s working and what isn’t.

I can be bigger. I don’t think I can ever be less precise.

Day 119 - side

Day 18: The skinny

Day 18

  • Weight: 124.6 lbs.
  • No workout today
  • Total inches: 117.1
  • Protein: 139 g (21 g over target)
  • Calories: 2,625

Mike has known me a long time and has been guardedly supportive of this crazy scheme.

“You could stand to add a few pounds,” he says.

I have to remind him that my body fat percentage is already too high. I’m glad I checked, because before Aug. 30, I had no idea.

This is one of the minor annoyances of being skinny: People tell you how you should actually be; they tease thinking it is harmless. (I can only imagine the real pain that overweight people endure day in and day out.)

For me, this is about only one goal: gaining muscle. I’ve never made a concerted effort before, so I’d like to see if this approach works. It might take more than 30 days. It might take 60 days, or 365 days, or 5 years. Who knows?

He had, at one point, even suggested anabolic steroids. To me, that is no more of a solution to me than liposuction or implants or any other artificial shortcut. I simply won’t do it. I want to be healthier, not just more muscular. Muscles will improve my body fat percentage. Working out will improve my strength and stamina.

It is weird to try to explain that my experiment involves only two actions: eating and working out (three, if you count tracking numbers). It is even weirder in a state such as Alabama, one of the fattest states in America. Just today, a new report said that 62.6 percent of adults here would be obese by 2030, double that of 2011.

That breaks my heart. As a champion of local food, real food and balance in life, I want to see me and others live longer, healthier lives.

So gaining 10 pounds of fat within 30 days would be far from triumph for me. How is that so difficult to grasp?