I completed my second week of the 20-Squat program this morning, doing 20 reps of 220#. I make it to 15 just fine, but the last five are killer! Apparently, my strength is increasing, as I have been able to complete the routine at ever-increasing weights.
One thing I have noticed is that my veins are becoming more prominent, even when I'm not pumped from a workout. I snapped a couple pics right before bedtime last night of the veinage in my arms. I had done absolutely no lifting, or exercise of any kind all day yesterday.
That change, and my appetite has been noticeably increasing. I guess that's to be expected, but it requires a little higher level of discipline to resist the bad snacking. Grrrrr.
It's Time To Change It Up My First Impressions Of 'Breathing Squats'
After many months of the same lifting routine, I's time to switch things up a little. While Occam's Protocol has been a really good lifting regimen, I think I am at a plateau with it. I have seen good results in the muscle tone, strength, and vascular response it has helped to achieve - and all with just two 45-minute weight training sessions per week.
So to find something that will give as good, or better results on a tight schedule (I'm giving a 1hr time limit) is a tall order. It must also be challenging, build strength, muscle tone, and enhance vascular response (i.e.: poping veins - admittedly, which is purely vane!).
June/2012
Then recently, I heard a friend talking about a lifting routine he was doing called "Breathing Squats" involving, among other things, doing 20-repetition sets of (free weight) squats, and progressively increasing the weight each workout for six weeks. For a long time squats have been a part of my workout regimen. As much as I value my cardio time (racquetball and running) I believe there are great benefits to weight training, and especially squats.
From multiple sources, the information I have read credits weight-bearing exercises for increased bone health, overall strength, elevated metabolism, and increased hormonal response (especially important to us older guys for muscle growth and other areas of performance - wink, wink). The benefits are many, but let's face it, doing squats, especially 20 in a row, sucks! I think that's why most people shy away from them.
As I researched this 'breathing squats' program, it seemed to meet all the criteria I was looking for. Most of the information talked about a 3x/week workout plan, but there was one I found which was adapted to two per week. Perfect. I won't bore you with the program details, you can Google those for yourself. (Or click here: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/irontamer5.htm)
I'm now starting my second full week on the new plan, and it is definitely challenging! By the end of the sixth week I am supposed to be able to squat 20 reps of my old 5-rep max weight, which is 275#. We'll see, but I'm already up 10 pounds from where I started. Today, by the time I hit the 15th rep with 215# I could hardly catch my breath, hence "breathing squats". I barely eeked out the last 5 repetitions, with several gasping breaths in between. I can't wait for Friday's 220#!
Measuring Results (A New Tool)
For the last several months my goal has been to stay at the same weight, but to lose 5 pounds of body fat, while gaining 5 pounds of muscle. According to my calculations using a body fat caliper (see earlier posts) I have gained the muscle, but losing the fat has been a bit more of a challenge. I've become a little sloppy with my eating plan, and my snacking weakness is having it's effect.
Recently, I started wondering what else I could use to track this, something that would give a little quicker feedback for my efforts. Tracking total body fat percentage is good, but it takes a while to see measurable results, as my experience has been that seeing a noticeable change in the numbers is more of a monthly thing, at best. I needed a way to get a little extra motivation and encouragement seeing results more frequently than once a month.
So I reasoned that since my ultimate goal is a lean belly, why not just use the caliper to measure my belly fat at more frequent intervals? And, glory be! It worked. Measuring my belly fat at the navel as often as weekly, I've been able to see the results of my good (and bad) eating behavior.
All I do is use the caliper to measure, in milometers, the skin fold at my navel, and voila! I have a way to track performance weekly. It's cool to see the numbers go up or down, and know that they correspond pretty well with how well I stuck to my eating regimen. (As of 3/18/16 my belly fat skin fold is at 10mm, and was as low as 8mm last summer.)
I completed my second week of the 20-Squat program this morning, doing 20 reps of 220#. I make it to 15 just fine, but the last five are killer! Apparently, my strength is increasing, as I have been able to complete the routine at ever-increasing weights.
