"The Sweet Science"

After photographing all the MMA fighters in Vegas, I've felt inspired to get in shape. So for the past 5 weeks I've been experimenting with a new health regimen. It's a work in progress but its been fun researching different health magazines / websites / blogs. etc. to try and tailor something that makes sense for me.




The most important thing I've learned so far about getting into shape is that you have put in work (i.e. work hard and work daily). You need to dedicate yourself to a way of life. This doesn't mean that you're supposed to live in a gym, on the contrary, the time you spend not working out is when your body repairs itself and grows stronger.

A proper diet is intergral. Sometimes people associate the word "diet" with "eating less", but really the only way to get your body to modify itself is to train your metabolism to burn more calories and also provide yourself with the resources to build muscle, so its actually very important to eat a lot and eat often.

While targeted excercises are great for isolating specific parts of your body, its important to work out your body as a whole (i.e. play sports). This helps you work a variety of muscles in unison in order to gain natural strength, and it has the added benifit giving you a more properly proportioned physique.

After considering a variety of potential sports, I've decided that the most fun thing to do is boxing. It just feels really good to punch something. Though I'm not so sure about getting hit yet, but it'd probably be really funny to show up to a photography set with a black eye. hahaha.

I also went in for a check up to make sure if there was anything I should know before starting a new health routine. I'm happy to report that he gave me a clean bill of health, saying I'm in good shape, with normal blood pressure, weight for my age / height and also that I'm free of STDs (phew! hehe). The doc did say that I have abnormally high stress levels though, but it doesn't stem from anything physiological. He said that the cause is psychological and suggested that I work on things to relax more like: excercise, hobbies and meditation. I hope I'll be less stressed out after I work harder on improving my health.

Anyways, here is my "Health Plan". As I said its still a work in progress, so if anyone has any tips or suggestions, let me know! Thanks!


EATING:
6 medium sized meals per day.

8 a.m.: Breakfast*: --- Large meal. Slow burning Carbs, "Good" fat, High Protein
11 a.m.: snack --- Fruit, Veggie or Granola
1 p.m.: Lunch --- Meat, Veggies, Low Carbs, High Protein
4 p.m.: snack --- Fruit or Veggie
6 p.m.: Dinner --- Light meal, Low carbs
8 p.m.: snack --- Fruit or Veggie

* Eating a large meal early in the morning helps train your body to increase it's metabolism, and also provides you fuel for the rest of day.


GENERAL DIET:
Heavy on meat (particularly chicken and beef)
Occasional Eggs
Heavy on Veggies
Daily Fresh fruits
Medium amount of carbs

No Dairy
No Coffee
No Soda
No Smoking
No Drugs
No Processed Carbohydrates
No "Junk Food"
Low Wheat
Low Soy
Limited "Social Drinking" (I don't really drink much anyway)

Drink Green Tea in the morning (No Caffiene after 12pm)
Drink Juices high in anti-oxidents
Drink Lots and Lots of Water


DAILY VITAMINS + MINERALS SUPPLEMENTS:
Multi-Vitamins
Glucosamine
Chondroitin
Fish Oils
Ginko Biloba
Dairy Free Protein Supplement
Coral based Calcium Extracts
Folic Acid
Vitamin B-12
Ginseng Extract
L-Glutamine
Probiotics
Zinc

EXCERCISE:
I excercise the instant I wake up and right before I sleep. Ideally I want to excercise twice a day. I limit the length of each work out because I don't want it to get in the way of my normal daily activites and work. I also think that excercising for hours is kind of boring. So I try to keep each session down to 25-30 minutes tops.

I sometimes just do one "Super Set" of an excercise, and just go until "Failure", or in other words go until I can't maintain the proper form anymore. Its a lot more intense, and it also helps me from getting too bored. hehe. Otherwise, I'll do multiple sets just to have more variety.

The main goal is to just keep my heart rate and adrenaline up, so that I can use that energy to get an extra 5 reps or lift an extra 5 lbs. The more work you accomplish, the more your body will be forced to grow and get stronger.


DAILY WORK OUT:
Push Ups: 25 x 4
Sit Ups: 100 x 4
"The Plank": 1 minute set x 2

EDIT (7-17-2007):
I've just learned that doing excessive amounts of sit ups is not that good way to achieve definition It's better to do lower reps, and with more resistance in order to build larger muscle. I'm not sure how much I should be doing just now. I will experiment with slower sit ups with a larger range of motion.


WEIGHT TRAINING:
I've seperated weight training into 3 seperate routines which I alternate every two days. With 1 day off in between. Ideally at least 3-4 times a weeks.

I don't get concerned with lifting a great amount of weight, and would rather just do my best to maintain proper form. And I either do "Super Sets" or multiple reps alternatively.

A - Lower Body
Squat: 3 x 5
Calf lifts: 5 x 5
Cable Pull-Throughs: 2 x 8
Slant Board Full Range Situps: 36 x 3

B - Back + Chest
Cable Rows: 2 x 8
Inverted Twist Rows: 2 x 6
Bench Press: 2 x 6
Slant Board Full Range Situps: 36 x 3

C - Arms + Shoulders
Dips: 2 x 6
Overhead Tricep Extension: 2x6
Bicep Curls: 2 x 6
Shoulder Press: 3 x 8
Front Raise: 3 x 8
Slant Board Full Range Situps: 36 x 3


EDIT: 7-30-2007
Since I've started training as a boxer. I changed my routune a bit. I take more days off, because boxing is very demanding, and tends to make me sore for a good 24-48 hours. My general routine in the boxing gym is:

10 minutes stretching
30 minutes running
60 minutes boxing (heavy bag, speed bag, sparring, etc)
15 minutes calisthenics
30 minutes weight lifting
30 minutes walking

4 times a week