Portable Workout I

I thought I'd share with you a workout that I do when I'm either short on time or away from the home gym. No equipment is necessary, however, if I'm at home, I do the sit-ups on the decline bench at the 1st or 2nd notch and a weight on my chest.

This is real simple stuff and, although I'm not yet a certified personal trainer (I'm working on it), I can truly say that it is an effective workout. The workout consists of 4 exercises done in a cycle with anywhere from 3 to 5 cycles in a session. This particular workout focuses on the abdominals. Often, what I do is 3 cycles of the 3 abs exercises and in between each exercise do 15-20 pushups so I end up with 9 sets of pushups.

The exercises are:

1. Sit-ups. I do the standard old-school sit-ups and, as I said previously, with a decline bench and a weight on my chest if possible. I usually strive for 20 per set or cycle. Crunches can be subbed in as well.


2. Plank. For those who don't know, a plank is done by lying face down and holding yourself up by the forearms/elbows and your toes. Your elbows should be shoulder width apart and slightly forward. Your body should form a straight line from heel to shoulder by way of the buttocks and abs. To complete the exercise, all you have to do is hold the position. Anywhere from 30-60 seconds and beyond is enough time for this exercise to be effective. You should focus on your abs and, as they say, squeeze your gut like you're getting ready to take a punch. You will feel the burn in your stomach and lower back.


3. Leg lift. Lying on your back on a flat surface, lift your legs up straight and together about 6-8 inches. Once again, hold the position for 30-60 seconds with your head lifted as if going into a crunch. Once again, you will feel the burn in your stomach and lower back. Try lifting your legs to different heights for a different feel.


4. Push-up. The travellin' man's standard. This is always a great exercise for the whole upper body. Don't cheat yourself by not lowering your body far enough. Your chest should be close to touching the floor at the lowest point. Anywhere from 15 to 30 push-ups per set is good.

There are many variations of the exercises you can incorporate. Try doing the plank with your feet raised on a chair, bench or bed. Try the plank with your hands on the ground in front of you and your body in a raised push-up position (remembering to keep your body in a straight line). Try doing the leg lift at different heights. Try the push-up with your feet raised.

Don't rest between exercises for the greatest benefit. This should only take you 15-20 minutes to complete and you'll be feeling pretty good about yourself.

Challenge Update - Weight Loss Goal Achieved!

On July 7, 2009, I tipped the scales at 175 pounds. As I stated in my post on June 7, 2009, I would drop 10 lbs. from 185. As a result of not only losing the 10 lbs, but also as a result of consistently doing the things I needed to do to achieve this goal, I feel great physically, I feel great mentally and I look fantastic!

In my original post, I stated 10 things that would help me to achieve this goal. I utilized all these ten 'tools', however some carried much more value than others.

• I refrained from sugar drinks. I believe this is one of the biggest problems with society today. Carbonated drinks are nothing but poison (just read the label! You need a degree in chemistry to understand what you're drinking.) and one of the major causes of obesity, cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
• No eating between dinner and bedtime. This one is huge for me because if I decide to have a 'deserved' salad after working out, running and playing hockey - it awakens a monster within that cannot be controlled without several trips to the kitchen! Besides, I'm able to stay awake longer without the full stomach and it is much easier to get up in the morning when you have something immediate to look forward to (breakfast!).
• EXERCISE!!! Running, working out and 3 weekly nights of hockey - It's gotta help! Throw in a bit of cycling and a new focus on the abs for good measure.
• Commitment. By putting my goals on this blog and pretending that a huge crowd is reading it actually got me through some days where I felt like breaking down and sitting in front of the TV all night with a bag of chips and a jar of salsa.
• Portion control. Yes, being a vegan means being able to eat a little more than a omnivore, but it still does you no good to stuff yourself. It makes you feel like shit and takes away from the time you could be exercising. Instead of two plate loads of food, I reduced my intake down to one moderate plate or bowl.

That's it. That's all it takes. It can be argued day and night whether my addiction to green tea helped as well, but the above five items were what powered me through. It wasn't too long ago that I was hopelessly stuck at 207 lbs. I almost believed that that was just the way it went when you aged and I would have to live with it and start getting my collection of daily pills from my doctor. So, if I can do it, anyone can do it. I'm now 32 lbs. lighter than I was in 2005. I could still stand to lose maybe 5 more pounds, but I'm pretty much where I want to be and believe me, I'm going to keep it that way.

Boyne Provincial Park / Bruce Trail - a 5-hour hike

I took a week off to recover from the Mississauga ½ Marathon. The half was Sunday, May 10, 2009. I finished and was able to walk the 8km back to my car, but I fought with cramping in both calf muscles and a little soreness in my right hamstring. I had been training pretty hard for the past 3-4 months and had run a 30k and the half within 6 weeks. With the week after May 10 ending with the Victoria Day long weekend and no race in sight for about 3 weeks, it was the perfect time to put the running shoes away and put the beer drinking hat on!

Unfortunately, there was still work to deal with from Monday to Friday and, of course, Wednesday night featured the duo of Ultimate Frisbee and late night pickup hockey. So, it wasn’t totally a week off…

This morning, with the whole day ahead of me to myself, I felt like easing back into things and welcoming spring back to the trails. I headed up to Boyne Valley Provincial Park, which is a tract of land just North of the intersection of Hwy 10 and Hwy 89. For those that aren’t one of the 40,000 or so that live in Dufferin County, Ontario, that intersection is about 20km north of the town of Orangeville, Ontario, where I happen to live.

Boyne is an unmanned park with no comfort facilities. That alone is a feature because it keeps the weekend crowds from Toronto away. Since the Bruce Trail runs through the middle of it, obviously it’s a fair bit hilly due to the good old Niagara Escarpment. You can follow the Bruce for quite a distance before the single track gives up to country roads – today, I walked close to 2 hours from where I parked along the side of the road, just north of Primrose (10&89), before having to turn around because I ran into civilization.

There are a few different side loop trails that help add on the mileage while staying within the park. For the most part, the trails were in good condition. There were still a few muddy sections and not all the fallen trees had been cleared yet. The temperature was a cool 4 or 5 degrees when I started out but rose to the low teens near the end. The sun shone the whole time and the air was clear enough that the CN Tower could be seen from the highest point in the park (called ‘the pinnacle’).

My fuel for the hike? I started out the day with a mix of fresh vegetables sautéed in olive oil with marinated artichoke hearts mixed in. Along the trail, I drank from my 800ml bottle of water and snacked on a ‘Special K’ bar – kind of like a granola bar but make with ‘Special K’, I guess – on sale at Price Chopper this week!

This was the unofficial first event of the unofficial series of events taking place this summer, involving only me and known by only me (and you). The name that sticks in my head is the ‘Because I Can’ series. I want to bike the rail trails from Cambridge, ON to Hamilton, ON and back which would constitute a 160km ride or a century ride (100mi). I also want to walk from home to Bellfountain via as many trails as I can and back – this would be about a 40-50 km walk depending on the route. Those are the only two unofficial events that I’ve thought of so far, but the training alone for those two events will keep me pretty intense along with the more boring legitimate events that I may enter.

As I end this post, I am getting ready for an intimate hour alone with the weights. So, yes, it is very possible to put in a 5 hour hike (25-30km) and do weight training on the same day on a vegan diet! In fact, I also mowed the lawn as well, which can be a bigger chore than the other two combined!

Spare the animals. Save yourself.