How I Get Back In Shape
By LawrenceThere are so many people asking about my exercise regime after my last post about my New Year’s Resolution I guess I should simply post it to my blog. I am no fitness expert and my plan is created to deal with my specific situation. It can be a good example but if you want to get in shape, you need to adapt it to your needs.
My Physical Problems
It started many years ago when my lower back at the bottom of the spine was badly injured due to lifting very heavy things. During the slow healing process, it was damaged again in an accident. Since then every time I have to handle heavy things I will suffer for days after.
I was a very active person. It was quite depressing back then for me. Luckily, I can do rigorous exercises that do not involve using my back. It worked out fine for me for a long time.
Past few years as I cannot keep up with my exercise regime, weight gain in the belly area slowly putting stress on my spine and in turn making it more difficult to exercise. The downward spiral cannot be stopped because I do not have time (for real) to take care of myself.
My Plan
As I have time for myself now, I concentrate on the fact that the downward spiral must be stopped. But I am not fit enough to do the more rigorous exercises anymore, so I researched for the most effective ways to get rid of my belly fat. I know once it started to shrink, the dead load on my back would be reduced and in turn making it easier for me to do more types of exercises.
Interesting enough, I find the combination of three things has been the most effective way for me.
I dropped like 4 inches on my waist, more than 15 pounds of weight while building my overall body back to a level I can call fit. All it took is just a few months. It works and it takes very little time to do as well.
Following are the three things I am doing.
High Intensity Training
The way I do my exercise is called high intensity training. It can be burpee one day and then squats with pull ups the other. It does not matter. The key is to do them so fast that my heart rate going all the way to my limit within minutes of doing these exercises. Pumping the heart rate to the extreme exercise zone and keep it there for a few minutes is the key to make the exercise producing the effect I need.
In the beginning I can only go for a few minutes and I had to stop. I increase the exercise duration slowly as my tolerance of the very high heart rate increases. It is not necessary to go beyond 10 to 15 minutes a day and results will show.
Simple and efficient. Most important of all, takes almost no time.
Warning: If you have heart problems, this type of exercise can be dangerous. Consult your doctor first.
Low Carbohydrate Diet
Of course I have to eat less and eat healthy.
Cutting out pasta, bread and other forms of carbohydrate makes it easier to lose fat. It is not that I do not eat them at all. I just choose to eat them occasionally.
Making healthier choice in what I eat does not mean I would eat organic food only. I am not a die hard fan of organic food. I am just an average guy who still need my burger fix from time to time. The most important thing is just avoiding junk food, that’s all.
Interval Fasting
I now eat within an 10 hour time span each day for all my meals and will avoid food until 14 hours later after dinner. It was suggested by my friend smilingsynic that interval fasting, the act of avoiding food each day over 12 hours or more, has very good health benefit. There are researches supporting this too. So I am pretty much doing this but I get to the point now I can keep myself off from food longer than 12 hours now.
Summary
No magic formula, just a simple combination of 3 easy to do things and I am much better now. I am a middle age man and I have no ambition to build a buffed body. I just want to stay fit so that I can stay active for a long time.
