Theo Moore

Been working on my body fat and weight for 11 months now. I ended up with about 77 pounds of weight lost, but I've hit a serious plateau. My muscle strength ceased to really improve and my weight was steady (course this was during the holidays, so I suppose that's a good thing compared to what most people's weight does). I still feel great in a cardio-vascular way, and hockey is going great (the physical part...if only I could learn to skate and such). I feel like I do a good job keeping up with kids half my age.

I hear you asking what is the trouble.

Basically, I don't have the size I want or expect for the strength I have. The lack of improvement has been kinda discouraging also. It's been tougher to go since nothing seems to change, you see?

I spoke to my trainer at the gym about nutrition and how to shake things up. Where previously I was mostly on the machines and broke up my workout into upper/lower body at 12 reps per set, we are now going to try 3 groups with 8 reps per set. More weight, of course. 2 of the three groups will get worked out only once a week, with one getting a double does rotated. Off days, I will continue to get serious aerobic, but will focus more on the heart rate than effort level (run on level 10 instead of 20 like I have been doing, 25 minutes versus 50). Also, no aerobic on days I play hockey...with very, very little aerobic workout on any day I work my legs. He feels that I've over-trained in some aspects while not really concentrating my workout on specific parts. I've been doing this for a couple days, and I confess I am more sore than I've been in a long time. He commented that I should have shook up my routine months ago, and I need to be using "big boy weights" (free weights versus machines) as I am no longer a beginner. As an added benefit, the free weights allow me to miss the NYRST (New Years Resolution Short Timers) as few of them will use the free weights.

Nutritionally, I simply *have* to increase my caloric intake. I cannot begin to tell you how much I am scared to do this. He says I cannot build muscle mass on 1500 a day. I also have to increase my protein intake from about 100 grams to 200+ grams a day to support the kind of abuse I will be putting my muscles through. I sat down and worked out a diet that gets me most of what he wants me to have, but I am still going to have to tweak it as it 11 grams short on fiber (I am getting too old to short on fiber). It's pretty rigid, but allows for a lot creativity with fruits and vegetables at dinner time. The rest of the day during work it is simpler to just eat what my diet says to eat.

Anyway, that's where I am. I am in training, in effect, for some of the cross-county obstacle races for next year. I did the SC Marine Corps Mud Run this past year, and hope to do as many of these events as I possibly can in the coming year.

I've come a long way from the fat man I was, wot? :-)