Beyond Body Opus - Exploring the Limits of Slackness

 

Exploring the Limits of Slackness

When Dan talks about “exploring the limits of slackness,” the phrase speaks to putting in the minimum effort required to complete a given task.  When Dan talks about exploring the limits of slackness, I hear him telling me to take the time and effort to strip a task (in this case, a cyclic ketogenic diet, such as Body Opus) down to the bare minimum.  If you want to follow this routine for an extended time, it makes sense to have an aerodynamic sensibility about Body Opus.  High speed, low drag.

On our quest to explore the limits of slackness, I will share my thoughts and experiences on what to let go in order to follow Body Opus for the long run. 

First, if you follow what Dan has laid out in the book, it will be hard to go wrong.  The work he put into the book pays off when you follow the plan.  That said I see many of the things Dan has you do amounts to misdirection to keep your mind off the lack of carbohydrates.  Carbohydrate cravings will be your biggest hurdle during your first few cycles.  Testing for ketones, planning the meals, taking the caliper measurements and getting the workouts done means time not thinking about carbohydrates.

As you progress and shed your “training wheels” (Dan’s term, not mine), you will learn to streamline your routine and focus on the long haul.  My experience was the carbohydrate cravings diminish (not disappear) over successive cycles.  During a typical week, by the time Thursday rolls around, my appetite for carbs or any other food, for that matter, is greatly diminished.  

Testing, testing, testing

In terms of ketone testing, once you have a few cycles under your belt, you can cut down on your ketone testing.  The biggest part is being consistent with your nutrition and paying attention to what your ketone levels are throughout the week.  Testing throughout the day adds little, unless you have a nutritional misstep during the day.  At that point, ketone testing is the first step in damage control.  I test once a day, usually first thing in the morning.  Lately, my ketone levels run like this through the week:

Monday           Trace to Small ketones

Tuesday           Small ketones

Wednesday     Small to Moderate ketones

Thursday         Moderate to Large ketones

Friday              Moderate ketones

Lately, since I carb up until bedtime on Sunday (as opposed to 6:00PM as Body Opus recommends) I may not test at all on Monday.

Decisions Instead of Excuses

Follow the plan, or do not follow the plan.  When you decide not to work out on a given day, make the decision and move on.  As an adult, you have the right to make a decision.   Make decisions rather than excuses.  Say you don’t feel like working out today.  Fine, make the call and say, “I’m not going to work out today.” Boom, done.  Decision made.  Now you are free to get on with your day.  Should you revisit why you did not want to work out?  Do you need to get turn over in your mind that decision?  I say no, what is the point?  Do you need to get back on track tomorrow? Yes.  Do you need to agonize over not working out today? NO.  Why beat yourself up over it?  Does that have any benefit?

Keep in mind this does NOT apply just to workouts.  If you are in this for the long haul, you cannot let short-term struggles sabotage the long game.

 Here's an unlikely source of a good hack to help you achieve long term goals.  CLICK HERE!

To All My New Gym Friends - Beyond Body Opus 13 January 2015

To All My New Gym Friends

I stopped by L.A. Fitness for a workout.  WOW!  The place was packed cheek by jowl with people slogging out their New Year’s resolutions to “get in shape.”  

One bench, two machines and two dumbbells, no waiting.

Thanks to Charles Staley and Escalating Density Training, I was able to get my workout done in 35 minutes.  That was two 15-minute sessions:

SESSION 1

Exercise 1A – Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

Exercise 1B – Dumbbell Row

SESSION 2

Exercise 2A – Glute/Ham Machine – Left Leg

Exercise 2B – Glute/Ham Machine – Right Leg

The new members are easy to pick out.  They are the ones wandering from machine to machine with a dazed look.  I’m sure the staff is working overtime giving new member a quick orientation, but most of newcomers don’t seem to have much of a plan.  The lack of a clear plan means by the time Valentine’s Day comes around, the regulars will have the gym all to themselves.

So, hang tough new members.  Here are some thoughts on making past Valentine’s Day:

1.   Be more specific with your goals – What does “get in shape” mean for you?  Everyone has a specific number of pounds they want to lose and while that is a goal, are there better, measurable goals?  What about running a 5K or biking a century?  With goals like that, any training toward those goals will come with fat loss.

2.   Record, measure, and repeat - When I was a personal trainer, I told my clients, “If it’s not written down, it didn’t happen.”  I gave each client his or her own training log and checked it every session.  Keeping track of your workouts documents what you are doing, so you know what works and if something is not working, you have a place to start troubleshooting.  I have logbooks that go back almost 20 years and they are a great resource.  

3.   Small steps – I saw many people going all out, even though this is probably the first time they’ve seen the inside of a gym in a while.  The key to “getting in shape” is to commit to the long haul.  Ideally, you are going to be at this a while, so ease into it.  Build up to workouts that are more strenuous.  Doing too much too soon is the fast track to injury.  If you are injured, you will not be training at all.

4.   Invest in yourself – Whether you hire a personal trainer for a few sessions to get started, or do some research on your own, having a plan when you get to gym makes you more efficient so you spend more time working out and less time wondering what to do.  That said; understand most personal trainers are trying to get you to commit to multiple sessions over an extended period.  Get the minimum number of sessions you need to get you going on a basic program.  A good trainer will do this for you. To be really "outside the box," why not get certified yourself?  A good certification gives you the knowledge to build pans for yourself, and access to a great side business.

5.   Disconnect – Smart devices are a part of our lives, but if you are serious about achieving your fitness goals, in the gym, it helps to be in the here and now.  How much thought and/or intensity can you put into a workout if you are chatting on the phone, texting or monitoring that app to see the next calorie is says you have burned?  Unless I will be listening to music during a workout, I leave my phone in the car.  Gym Time is My Time and checking in at the front desk is symbolic of checking out of the stress of the outside world.  If you believe as I do, the body is a temple, when you are in the gym, church is in session.  Leave the rest of the world at the door.

Enjoy the next few months of your membership.  I would say, “If you’re lucky,” but luck has nothing to do with it.  If you establish realistic measurable goals, develop a plan and stay focused on it, maybe I will see you in time for bathing suit season. 

Stay strong.

Bonus Depletion Workout

Bonus Depletion Workout

Here is a bonus workout I use as a depletion workout.  I call this “Round Up From The Ground Up.”  I first put this routine together to strengthen my kettlebell snatch.  Perform all six exercises as a giant set, moving from one exercise to the next with no break.  You can save some time by using the same kettlebell for all six exercises.  Bonus points for not putting the kettlebell down during the set.

Exercise                             Reps

1.  Kettlebell Swing                 8

2.  Goblet Squat                      8

3.  Kettlebell Clean                  8 per side

4.  Kettlebell Military Press      8 per side

5.  Kettlebell Snatch                8 per side

6.  Kettlebell Row                    8 per side

That is one giant set.  Perform as many sets as you can while maintaining form.  Move quickly from one exercise to the next.  Use your instincts for rest between sets, keeping in mind rest between sets will expand over successive sets.

Stay strong!

 

Beyond Body Opus - The Depletion Workout – Two Hours, Really?

The Depletion Workout – Two Hours, Really?

The depletion workout can be a deciding factor for many considering Body Opus.  While Dan is vague about sets, reps and even exercises, he was adamant the depletion workout would take up a lot of time in order to be effective.  

Dan writes the goal of the depletion workout is to, “…deplete muscle glycogen, not to make Hamlet-length monologues into the ralphing pail.”  You deplete muscle glycogen to increase your store of glucose to glycogen converting enzymes before you replenish your glycogen stores, or “carb-up.”  Carbing up is a trick bodybuilders stole from endurance athletes.  Endurance athletes did it to extend the amount of time they could compete without “hitting the wall.”  We do it in Body Opus to supercompensate muscle glycogen levels and cause what Dan describes as, “…kinetic anabolic expansion.”

On page 315 Dan states he was unable to, “…finish Friday’s whole body depletion workout in less than two hours…”  during my first attempts at Body Opus, I stuck to that mindset and my depletion workouts clocked in around two hours.  Over the three years I have been doing Body Opus, several things have changed my view and approach to the depletion workout.

Sustainability – Since I plan to do Body Opus over the long term, does carving a two-hour chunk out of my life every week make for something I can do over the long term?  For me the answer is no.  I needed to deplete glycogen, but are there ways that are more efficient?

Goals – The depletion workout and the weekend feeding schedule laid out in the book are aimed at bodybuilders preparing for a contest.  An athlete would do Body Opus over successive weeks leading up to the contest.  I am not competing, so when I come out of the recomposition over the weekend, I’m looking at another week of Body Opus.  My rationale is that I can still deplete, still carb up without being as stringent as the plan in the book.

Workouts – Dan left the actual exercises vague so readers could plug in exercises that worked for them.  The circuit recommendation was innovative for its time; however, myriad exercise protocols emerged since Body Opus.  Of particular note are Charles Staley’s Escalating Density Training (EDT), and Kenneth Jay’s Viking Warrior Conditioning.  More on these later.

In revamping the depletion workout, I used Dan’s dictum of “exploring the limits of slackness” in my approach.  I asked myself, “What exercise protocols can I use to do the most depletion in the shortest amount of time?”

Charles Staley’s Escalating Density Training is a system that pairs antagonistic exercises (exercises that work opposite muscle groups, such as bench press and row) for a 15-minute session.  Charles recommends using a weight that allows you to do 10 reps, but not 12.  In the example of bench press and rows, you would do eight reps of bench press (Exercise A1), then immediately do eight reps of barbell (or dumbbell) rows (Exercise A2).  EDT is about fatigue management, and as Dan says on page 313, the depletion workout is a fatigue training session.  

The goal of the EDT session is to complete as many sets (A1 followed by A2) within 15 minutes.  As you get fatigued, rather than increase your rest between sets, think about decreasing the reps per set.  Charles suggests performing triples (3 reps), doubles (2 reps) and even singles to keep cranking out the reps up to the 15-minute mark.  

EDT is a completely self-regulating system.  When it comes to popular bodybuilding routines (“4 sets of 12,” “8 sets of 8,” “10 sets of 10,” etc.) I am always left with the question of whether I actually accomplished anything.  Another question is “how much do I increase the weight by?” 

With EDT, the goal is to increase the volume of each workout.  Volume, for EDT purposes, is defined by rXw, where r=repetitions and w=weight.  If the total number of reps for bench press is 100 and the weight used is 135 lbs, then the volume is 13,500.  My goal for the next workout would be to perform more repetitions and increase that volume.  Since the time (15 minutes) does not change, performing more repetitions means you are performing more work.  Increased volume over successive sessions confirms you are progressing.

Charles also devised a novel weigh to determine not only when to increase your weight within EDT, but by how much.  When you have increased your volume by 20%, you may increase the weight by 5% or 5 pounds, whichever is less.  Charles’ book “Muscle Logic” lays it all out.  What I like about EDT is the fact that each session is 15 minutes, and you probably need a countdown times like the Gymboss to get strict about that.  

With the 15-minute sessions, you could string two or three together for an intense depletion workout.  I usually work from larger muscles (chest/back) down to smaller muscles (bicep/triceps). “Muscle Logic” has a great section of possible A1/A2 combinations, as well as tips on getting the most out of EDT.  When I used EDT for my depletion workout, I would perform four sessions, two upper body and two lower body pairings.  While that clocks in at an hour of training, once you factor in rest between sessions and equipment set up, most workouts took about 90 minutes.

When I was pressed for time, I would pare it down to three sessions and if I did not tarry, could knock out a depletion workout in an hour.  For the shortened depletion, I would perform two upper body sessions and one (heavy) lower body session.  Instead of the depletion workout being an unknown black whole of time on Friday, EDT imparts a level of precision on that workout.  In addition to strength training, the continuous nature of each session, combined with the fatigue management challenges imparts an aerobic training aspect to the session.

Kenneth Jay’s “Viking Warrior Conditioning” takes precision to another level.  Where EDT sets the length of the session at 15 minutes, Viking Warrior Conditioning gives you 15 seconds to perform a specified number of reps, followed by 15 seconds of rest that equals one set.  Rinse and repeat.  Did I mention there is only ONE exercise for this protocol?  That’s right, kettlebell snatch.  The ultimate goal is to perform 80 sets, which will take you exactly 40 minutes.

With Viking Warrior, Kenneth Jay singled out the kettlebell snatch as an exercise that addresses not only overall strength, but when using his 15-second work/15 second rest protocol, has specific cardiovascular impact.  “The Dane of Pain” as he is known, claims Viking Warrior Conditioning will positively influence ejection fraction.  

I used Viking Warrior Conditioning for my workouts during the week, so using it for my depletion workout was a logical progression.  I like that it is scalable.  If I only have 30 minutes to work out, I know my goal is 60 sets (at 15:15 you’ll do two sets per minute).  The snatch is a whole-body exercise that engages the core.  Of course, Kenneth gives you the complete testing routine that shows how many reps per set for the 15:15 protocol.  

When training for an upcoming 5k, I can fold in treadmill runs with the Viking Warrior Conditioning by doing 10 sets of snatches using the 15:15 protocol, then following that with 10 minutes (or one mile) on the treadmill.  After four sessions of these, I am depleted. 

So, that’s my story on the depletion workout.  I think I have found an alternative to Dan’s recommended two-hour depletion workouts, but your results may vary.  I had specific reasons for the choices I made and you’ll have to factor in your own situation in making decisions about the depletion workout.  

EDT and Viking Warrior Conditioning are great tools to make workouts more efficient.  For me, time is a factor.  I don’t have the time to spend two hours in the gym, or even working out at home.  I also like the precision of both systems, as well as the ability to see and chart gains.  If I ever get to a point where I really want a pumped “after” picture, I probably will revert to the two-hour depletion workout and a variation of the feeding schedule, but only for a weekend.

Stay strong!