So Joe... » Fitness

Body-Solid PowerLift Weight Bench

Joe — Fri, 05 May 2006 06:00:28 +0000

I recently purchased a Body-Solid PowerLift FID46 Flat/Incline/Decline Weight Bench. I chose this bench because it is very sturdy, and the bench can easily adjust to an incline or decline position. The picture shows the bench with light grey pads, mine looks the same, but the pads are black instead of light grey.

I’ve included some pictures below that show the bench during assembly and after it’s finished. Click any picture to see a larger version.

The package weighs 125lbs, so you may want some help getting it to your destination, though I was able to move it myself by ‘walking’ the box along the ground to the room I assembled it in. The bench comes with excellent instructions, maybe the best I’ve seen. The book not only includes instructions broken down into steps with illustrations and written directions, but also has sections on nutrition, exercises, and even log sheets for your workouts. The hardware is packaged together for each step, and each piece is labeled as to it’s name, and quantity, so it’s very difficult to screw up.

Though the instructions are very good, the bench has a lot of parts, and you really have to pay close attention to both the pictures and written descriptions they give you to be sure you assemble it correctly. I ran into a couple problems assembling mine. The first, which was minor was that I couldn’t get all four screws into the seat back. I was able to solve that problem by using a file to file the holes in the frame slightly larger, so the bolt had a bit more room to catch onto the bolt in the seat back.

The second problem was a bit more serious. I was unable to slide the leg attachment onto the bench. The post that slides onto the bench was hitting the edge of the seat padding, and could not be pushed all the way down. I found a solution, but it required power tools. I put a metal cutting blade in my jig saw, and cut slots on each side of the holes that the seat attaches to. I then pounded the tabs between the two cuts into the frame, which results in an elongated hole for the bolts that attach to the seat. I then put the bolts through into the seat, and slide the seat to a position where I could get the leg attachment on and off. See the pictures below which show the cuts I made, and the tab bent in.

Note that after using the bench a few times, I noticed that their was a much easier solution to this, and in fact it’s probably not a fault with the bench at all. If you put the bench in an incline position, it opens up enough space to slide the leg attachment on and off without hitting the seat. I’m still glad I made the adjustment so I don’t have to worry about that, but if you don’t have tools and don’t want to spend the time to alter your bench, it’s not actually necessary.

The only other problem I had with the bench was that part of the chrome was peeling off the Olympic adaptor on the leg attachment. Not a big deal, you can’t really even tell (at least not yet).

I’ve been using the bench for a bit now and I really like it. It’s very sturdy and comfortable, and adjusts easily. Though it’s a heavy bench, it has wheels on one end that make it easier to move around. I found that you can even stand it on end to take up less floor space when not in use. This bench is even sturdy enough that I’ve been using it for hyperextensions. I adjust the seat back to about 45 degrees, then kneel against it with my feet at the base of the seat back, and then use my weight belt to strap around my calves and the seat back to hold me on the bench. I position the bench so that I can use my power rack to aid me in raising up or down if I need the help. With it’s wide and long base, the bench doesn’t budge even though I’m cantilevered a few feet off the end of the bench. Might not work for someone much taller than me (I’m about 5’9″), but for me, it’s working great! Overall, dispite the few problems I had, I would strongly recommend this bench to anyone looking for a sturdy, flexible weight bench.

Powerline Power Rack PPR-200

Joe — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 06:00:12 +0000

I recently purchased a Powerline Power Rack PPR-200. If you’re not familiar with what a power rack is, it’s basically a metal rack that holds a weight bar, and provides safety catches that allow someone to lift heavy weights without a spotter. Should you not be able to lift the weight for that last rep, you can set the weight down on the safety bars, and be able to safely crawl out from under the weight. The PowerLine PPR-200 is reasonably priced, easy to adjust, and has a ‘lat’ option. It is very similar to the RockSolid PKR-127, as well as a number of other racks. It appears that the main difference between racks is the size of the tubing used, and if it is bolted or welded together. The PPR-200 uses 2″ tubing, and is bolted together. More expensive racks use 2.5″ or 3″ tubing, and are welded. For my needs, being a beginner, the PPR-200 is more than strong enough for my needs. If I should get to the point where I’m moving close to 1000lbs around, I’ll be happy to buy a stronger setup!

The main rack (without the optional lat attachment) comes in three boxes (note that the weights and barbell are not included, nor is a bench):

21kg (46lbs)
22kg (48.5lbs)
19kg (42lbs)

The instructions, which I’ve included here, are almost non-existent. Their’s a page showing all the pieces, and an exploded diagram of the rack, but that’s it. I’ll describe here how I put mine together, and the few gotchas I ran into. The nuts and bolts are 3/4″, I used a 3/4″ socket, and a 3/4″ open end wrench (you’ll need a wrench to hold the bolt as you tighten the nut). Open the bag of hardware and separate them according to size. Though the bolts all look the same, their are three different lengths that need to be used in three different places. Despite what the parts list shows, their are 8 of the longest bolts, not 4.

Note that some pictures are included within the text below, but all pictures are available at the bottom, click a picture to get a bigger view.

I started by putting together the two sides of the rack. The main vertical pieces appear at first glance to not have a specific top or bottom, but they do. Notice in the pictures that the bolt holes on one end are parallel with the larger 1″ holes, while on the other end, they are perpendicular. The perpendicular holes are the bottom side, this will align the large holes on the two vertical supports so the support bar can pass through them. I had the first two vertical pieces upside down the first time, but luckily I noticed before I got much further. Bolt the two vertical pieces to the bottom piece using the 70mm long bolts (middle size). Don’t tighten the bolts right away, just get them enough that the structure won’t fall apart, this makes it easier to align all the holes as you assemble with other pieces.

Next, I attached the two top side pieces to the top back with the two shortest bolts. I then attached the two sides to the top with 70mm bolts. Be sure that you arrange the sides properly so the longer legs of the side are towards the back of the rack, which is also where the top back piece is. Then, with the longer 75mm bolts, attach the bottom back piece and the top front ‘chin-up’ bar, and you’re ready to stand the rack up.

It’s a little awkward to stand up, but I was able to slowly lift and slide the rack until it was vertical. Go around and tighten all of the bolts, be sure not to miss any, remember, this rack is going to be holding hundreds of pounds over your head! Attach the black end-caps at the top back corners, and slide the plastic feet onto the four corners of the base. My kit included four extra plastic pieces that look like they were intended to be some kind of feet. They aren’t listed on the parts list, and aren’t as tall as the regular feet, so they don’t touch the ground if you attach them on the bottom. They do snap on to the 2″ frame at any location, I just don’t know what they would be used for, so they are waiting in the box. Let me know if you know what they are for!

Once the rack is together, slide the long poles through the holes in the frame, and use the small pins to hold them securely in place. One of my poles had a little extra metal in the hole the pin goes through, so I had to use a small round file to clean it up, allowing the pin to slide through easily. Slide the shorter support pieces into place and use pins to hold them in place as well. I used a label maker to mark the holes that I want to use for bench presses and squats so I’m not having to count holes all the time. You could also use a label maker or a marker to number the holes.

I ended up getting the lat attachment as well a few days later. The instructions are just as bad (I’ve attached them here). It comes in two boxes:

21kg (46lbs)
4.5kg (10lbs)

The kit does include a long pull down bar, perfect for lat pull-downs, and also includes a shorter straight bar to attach on the bottom, which could be used for bicep curls, rows, etc. The carriage that slides up and down, and holds the weights, is designed to hold weights with a 1″ hole. It can still hold Olympic style weights (as the product picture above shows), but since I already had some weights with 1″ holes from an old beginners weight set, I use them instead.

Besides adding labels for the frequently used positions of the support pins, I’ve already made some small modifications to my rack to add functionality. I added some stick on hooks to hold the weight bar clamps. Since I don’t have a machine for calf raises, I tried leaning against the back of the rack with the barbell on my shoulders, which works fine, but quickly started scratching the paint off of the rack. I used some aluminum sheet that I had laying around, and bent it around the rack pieces, affixing it with double-face tape. Now at least the rack isn’t taking the abuse. I also made some spacers to attach to the barbell so I wouldn’t lean to much to the left or right when doing calf raises. They are simply a piece of PVC cut in half with pipe insulating sleeve taped to the inside, and duct-tape and Velcro used to hold the two halves together, and allow quick attachment/detachment to the barbell. Not fancy, but works great!

I’ve used the rack a number of times now, and so far I am very happy with it. It’s very sturdy and durable, looks great, and functions well. The only change to the design that I’d make is to have the safety bars chrome or stainless steel instead of painted. When you push them through the holes in the rack, unless you are perfectly straight when guiding it through, it scrapes on the sides of the holes, and some of the black paint scrapes off. Not a big deal, but chrome or stainless would be more durable, though it would probably raise the price, which is probably why they didn’t do it. All in all, I can definitely recommend this product to anyone looking for a power rack.

Measurements

Joe — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 15:12:40 +0000

I doubt this page is of much interest to anyone, it’s primarily for me to keep track of my progress, but maybe it can be an inspiration to someone, at least based on my results so far at the writing of this.

Date	Weight	Body Fat	Belly	Neck	Bicep	Forearm	Chest	Thigh	Calf	Wrist
06/04/06	154	17/12	33.5	15	14.5	11.5	40	21.75	14.	6.75
05/28/06	153.5	16/12	33.25	15	14.5	11.25	40	21.25	14	6.75
05/21/06	153	17/13	33	15	14.5	11.25	39.5	21.5	14	6.75
05/14/06	155.5	18/13	33.5	15	14.25	11.25	39.5	21.5	14	6.75
05/07/06	153	17/13	33	15	14.25	11.25	39.75	21.5	14.25	6.75
04/30/06	152	16/13	33	15	14.25	11.25	39.5	21.25	14.25	6.75
04/23/06	151.5	16/13	33	15	14	11.25	39.5	21.25	14.25	6.75
04/16/06	151	17/13	33.5	15	14	11.25	39.5	21	14.25	6.75
04/09/06	150.5	16/14	33	15	14	11	39.5	20.75	14.25	6.75
04/02/06	148.5	15/13	33	15	14	11	39.25	20	14.25	6.75
03/26/06	150.5	16/15	33.25	15	14	11	39	20.5	14.25	6.75
03/19/06	152	17/16	34	15	14	11	39.5	21	14.25	6.75
03/12/06	155.5	17/18	35	15	14	11	39.5	21	14.25	6.75
03/05/06	158	19/19	35.75	Note that weight is listed in pounds. When Body Fat shows two measurements, they are (scale/caliper). All measurements are rounded down to the nearest quarter inch. The belly measurement is taken at ‘belly button level’. Wrist measurement is taken for possible use in calculating body fat. Starting 4/2/06, all measurements will be taken ‘cold’ and ‘flexed’.
02/26/06	161	20/20	36.25
02/19/06	161.5	20/20	36.75
02/12/06	164	21/20	37.25
02/05/06	164	21	37.25
01/29/06	167	23	38.5
01/22/06	168.5	23	38
01/15/06	166.5	23	38.5	<–When I actually started to do something
12/10/06	170	24	39	<– When I decided I needed to do something

Weekly Fitness Pictures

Joe — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 00:42:39 +0000

I was originally inspired to push my workout goals by this website. He takes pictures every week, and it’s amazing to see his transformation since he started. I wish I would have kept pictures from the start of my weight loss, but I didn’t. I’m going to start now, to at least track the improvements in my muscle development. Click on the picture to the left to see the gallery where I’ll store them, it’s mostly for me to keep track of how I’m improving, but if others are inspired by them, as I was by John Stone’s site, then that would be great. Oh, by the way, the pictures are of me just in underwear or shorts, so it’s not for the squeamish!

Fitness/Nutrition Calculator

Joe — Sun, 02 Apr 2006 18:33:20 +0000

I’ve created an Excel spreadsheet to help me figure out how many calories I need, how they should be distributed through the day, and how much should be carbs, protein and fat. You can download it and try it yourself.

The cells in yellow should be changed to match your conditions and goals, simply type in your info, and press enter. Weight and body fat are pretty obvious ones. If you don’t know your body fat, you can get an estimate here. Activity Factor is used to calculate the base amount of calories you burn each day beyond those just used to keep you alive. Here’s a simple chart to help you choose:

1.200 = sedentary (little or no exercise)
1.375 = lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week)
1.550 = moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week)
1.725 = very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week)
1.900 = extra active (very hard exercise/sports and physical job)

Lower down you’ll see ‘Additional’, which is special activities that you do each day that you want to add (for instance, I add 564 calories for my 30 minutes of rowing, and 45 minutes of walking each day). Note that you could include these activites in your ‘Activity Factor’ by choosing a higher factor, this just offers another way to add those activities you do each day.

To the right of the times for each meal you should enter what percentage of your daily calories you wish to devote to that meal. If you want less than 6 meals, set the meals you don’t want to 0%. Be sure the total of the six cells equals 100%!

Above the Carbs, Protein and Fat you should enter what percentage of your calories should be from each of those types. Again, be sure the total of these three equals 100%!

With all of this info entered, you’ll then see a breakdown of how many grams of carbs, protein and fat you should eat at each meal to maintain the weight that you entered. If you enter a weight that is higher or lower than your current weight, eating the suggested amounts should eventually get you to that weight.

When Should I Eat?

Joe — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 18:30:27 +0000

Now that I’ve calculated how many calories and what type of calories I should be eating each day, I need to know when to eat them. I’ve been doing the ’6 meals a day’ thing for a bit now and it seems to work fine (keeps my metabolism going), so I’ll continue on that path. Now, I just need to divide up the calories into those 6 meals. After looking around at different plans and rationals, here’s how I’ve decided to spread my calories out:

Breakfast (approx 7:30am) 25%
Breakfast is a much more important meal than I’ve given it credit for in the past. Now that I’m doing cardio when I get up, and eating breakfast, I feel much more energized throughout the day. I’m going to dedicate 25% of the calories to this meal to help lay a good foundation for the day, and to take advantage of the fact that I have full access to my kitchen, and can be more creative with the meal.
Morning Snack (approx 10:15am) 10%
The goal of the snack is to maintain consistent blood-sugar levels, and to feed the muscles as they continue to grow.
Lunch (approx 1:00pm) 20%
Lunch is important to provide that extra energy boost to make it through the afternoon. Generally being at work for this meal, I don’t have as many options.
Afternoon Snack (approx 3:45pm) 10%
The goal of the snack is to maintain consistent blood-sugar levels, and to feed the muscles as they continue to grow.
Dinner (approx 6:30pm) 25%
Dinner is my ‘enjoyment’ meal of the day. Here’s where I hope to spend a little extra time making something that’s not only healthy, but enjoyable to eat. On days I workout, this will likely be the meal after the workout, which is also important for getting the right mix of nutients to the recuperating muscles.
Evening Snack (approx 9:15pm) 10%
The goal of the snack is to maintain consistent blood-sugar levels, and to feed the muscles as they continue to grow.

So, now I know how many calories I need, I know when I need them, and how much of each kind of calorie I need for each meal. Now I can look at what kinds of meals I can have, stay tuned!

How Much Should I Eat Now?

Joe — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 04:23:11 +0000

Based on my current measurements of 150.5lbs and 15.5% body fat, I have a bit more than 23lbs of body fat. That means my Lean Body Mass (LBM) is 127lbs. ((LBM is everything in your body except for fat, including bone, tissue, muscle, organs, blood, etc)) Based on that, my Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) ((The minimum level of energy required to sustain the body’s vital functions in the waking state.)) is 1619, (370 + (21.6 * LBM) / 2.2).

To then include calories burned for typical daily activites, aka ‘Activity Factor’, I multiply this by 1.4 which is typical for light to moderate activity. So, my calories burned through basic activity is 647. Throw in 30 minutes of rowing (300), and add the 45 minute walk at 4 mph (264) and it goes to 2830.

I’ve been averaging 1581 calories per day, which is 1249 calories shy of what I need to maintain weight. That would be 8743 calories per week. It takes 3500 calories to burn one pound of fat, so my 8743 would result in 2.5lbs of fat loss per week. I’ve been losing an average of about 2lbs a week (sometimes higher, sometimes lower), so my estimated calorie count is at least within the ballpark.

Wow, I’m gonna be adding over 1000 calories to my daily diet just to stop loosing weight. How to do it? Well, what I eat is going to be important if I want to continue losing body fat and gaining muscle. This means increasing protein notably, and from what I’ve seen, a 40:40:20 breakdown should work well for my goals. This means 40% carbs, 40% protein, and 20% fat. Knowing this, I can calculate the number of grams I’ll need of each. Carbs and Protein have 4 calories per gram, and fat has 9 calories per gram. So, doing the math, I get the following:

Carbs: 1132 calories, 283 grams
Protein: 1132 calories, 283 grams
Fat: 566 calories, 63 grams

So, starting on Sunday, I’m going to switch to this new plan. Note that none of this factors in the weight training. I’m going to first try these levels, while still training with weights, and see how it goes. After a few weeks, I can make adjustments as necessary depending on what happens to body fat and LBM. Now that I know how much I need to eat, stay tuned to see when and what I’m going to eat.

Nearly There

Joe — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 16:15:39 +0000

Well, it’s Sunday, time to take my measurements. Here’s the results:

Weight: 150.5lbs (down 1.5lbs)
Body Fat: 15.5% (scale=16, caliper=15, down 1%)
Belly: 33.25″ (down .75″)

Not bad, I’m almost there. If you remember from my original goal, I wanted to get to 150lbs, 15% body fat, and 32″ belly by June 1. I’m pretty suprised, not only that I’ll hit that almost two months early, but that those three different, and not strictly related numbers, have all come so equally close to my goal at the same time. Damn I’m good!

Now that I’ve figured out the formula to loosing body fat, which is actually pretty simple if you are willing to do the work, I need to change things, and it will probably become more difficult. I’m gonna stay with the current plan for one more week, which should easily hit my target weight and body fat, and come within .5″ of my belly goal. Then I’m going to change things up to try and gain muscle, and loose body fat. Weight lose will likely stop decreasing for a short time, and then go up slowly as the muscle mass replaces the body fat (muscle weighs more than fat). This is going to be difficult, since I’ll be eating more calories to promote growth, yet trying not to have any of that go to fat.

I’m going to try and do weight training three times this week (as long as the muscles feel like they’re ready for it). I’ll try to balance getting enough workout in, while still allowing enough opportunity for muscle growth. Stay tuned, things should get interesting!

2/22/06

Joe — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 17:52:00 +0000

I’m staying on pace, up at 6:30, interval row today, breakfast, and out the door. Drank a gallon again yesterday, it’s getting easier as I get used to it, and I still visit the bathroom frequently, but I think it’s getting a little less frequent than a week ago. I tried the yogurt with 1tbsp of Flax seed ground up into it yesterday. Was a raspberry yogurt, you couldn’t really taste the Flax, it was just the texture that was changed, as it made the yogurt a bit more ‘gritty’, but no reason not to keep on it. I was at Sendik’s yesterday using a gift certificate someone got me for Christmas, and I noticed they had Flax seed there, so I bought a pound and I’ll keep using it. I also got a bunch of whole-wheat pasta, which is supposed to be better than the ‘enriched bleached flour’ that is used in the normal pasta I’ve been using. Costs much more, but it’s kinda like free money, so I’ll give it a try and see if it’s worth it.

I had decided to do a weight routine last night when I got home, and I had recently ‘procured’ a DVD called ‘Tom Holland – Total Body Workout’, so I figured I’d give it a try. It’s about 40 minutes long, and basically combines aerobic, crunches, lunges, and work with dumbells. You don’t stop at all, it’s a solid push through, and man, was I exausted when I was done. I didn’t think I’d be able to move today, but I’m not bad, I guess all that stretching and winding down that is incorporated into the program really does help. I’ll probably try to work one of those in a couple/few times a week to get things started before I venture off into a more standard weight lifting routine.

Afterwards I had the salmon with some sauce on it (it’s a vegetable dip I bought with sour cream mixed with a spice, kinda like a taco dip almost). I baked it for 20 minutes, then broiled it for a couple to brown the top. Warmed up some broccoli with it, and buttered a piece of bread, damn that was a good meal. Costs a little more than most of the meals I eat at home, but nice to treat yourself now and then, and it was still low in calories and high in nutrients.

Metabolism

Joe — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 18:24:00 +0000

Research shows that high intensity training for shorter periods of time is more effective at burning fat than low intensity, long duration training, and the higher the intensity of the cardio, the greater the fat loss.

Did you know that for every pound of lean muscle you gain, you will burn an extra 50 calories per day? Contrary to this, as you lose weight, your metabolism also slows down. Recent studies have shown that when you lose 10f your bodyweight, your metabolism drops by about 15which means that its gets harder to lose more weight, while losing weight.

Here’s a list of some of the factors affecting metabolism in order of greatest impact to least:

muscle tissue (you already know why this is on the top of the list)
meal frequency (the longer you go between meals the more your metabolism slows down to conserve energy)
activity level (important but doesn’t make any difference if you don’t match your eating to your expenditure)
food choices (ex. low-fat diets tend to result in poor hormone production which leads to a slower metabolism)
hydration (over 70f bodily functions take place in water not enough water causes all your systems to slow down and unnecessary stress)
genetics (some people have higher metabolisms than others you can’t change genetics but you can still win the battle!)
hormone production and function (think you have a slow thyroid? it’s not likely before you go blame it on the thyroid first stabilize your blood sugar and throw in some progressive exercise 2-3 times each week)
stress (stress also can slow metabolism by placing extra stress and strain on numerous systems. plus, many people tend to overeat when “stressed out”)

The major cause of a slowing metabolism is three fold…

You lose muscle due to the lack of physical stress
your body cannibalizes muscle when it needs energy but you won’t supply any because you are “dieting” and skipping meals
Your activity levels tend to decrease as you get older