In early 2008, I had 5 health goals.
- Stop Getting Sick from Colds – Every year I was spending more and more days sick. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired.
- End Back Pain – Do alignment exercises and stretch to strengthen core and increase flexibility.
- Cold Weather Exposure – Become more comfortable with cold weather and trigger a fat loss response.
- Build Muscle and Strength – The never-ending journey. 😉
- Fat Loss – Going into the year I didn’t believe I could get leaner without losing muscle, which would have conflicted with #4.
Grade card time. How did I do?
- Stop Getting Sick from Colds A+ : My thesis of loading up on superfoods, especially those with antimicrobial, antiviral and antiparasitic properties has worked wonders. I NO LONGER GET COLDS. Despite being surrounded by sickness, my immune system fought off everything.
- End Back Pain D : In the last year, I did more stretching and alignment exercises that any other time in my life. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough or it was poorly executed.
- Cold Weather Exposure A+ : Wearing a short-sleeve shirt down to the mid-30s and a polar bear swim earns me an A+. I love the freedom of not being affected by cold weather. Note this is Seattle cold weather, not Ohio cold weather. 😉
- Build Muscle and Strength B : This wasn’t a ground breaking year at the gym, but I did set some new personal records. My pull-ups went from 5 to 20 and I am now using a weighted belt for both dips and pull-ups.
- Fat Loss A- : This was totally unexpected. By loading up on superfoods to prevent colds, I got a lot leaner. Then I discovered Intermittent Fasting. I did not spent a single minute on cardio or interval training.
Overall it was a very good year. I’m going to declare victory against Colds and Cold Weather. Here are my 2009 Health Goals.
- End Back Pain (Core, Alignment, Flexibility) – I’ll do a post just on this item later, but let me say this it priority #1 this year.
- Build Muscle and Strength – I’m a dude. This will be on my list until my last breath. I do intend on doing a 100 pound weighted pull-up for 3 reps.
- Fat Loss – Although I’m happy with where I am at, I stumbled on some information Sunday morning that I believe will result in additional fat loss this year. Let me just say that a new experiment has begun.
How about you? Do you have any health goals this year?
dhammy
Apr 27, 2009 — 12:02 pm
Unfortunately, I think 2 and 4 (from last years list) are two goals that often are inversely proportional in terms of their success. That’s always been the case for me and it appears that it’s the case for you as well. I’m not saying the two goals are mutually exclusive. But for an ectomorph they might be…
MAS
Apr 27, 2009 — 2:26 pm
Good point dhammy. Maybe it the case that I need to take a step back on the strength quest in order to shore up the core. Once balance is restored, then *perhaps* greater strength gains are possible.
Glass half full. 😉
Justin
Apr 27, 2009 — 9:38 pm
What do you mean by alignment exercises?
Preventing injury through dynamic (moving) alignment is something that can’t be “done” as an exercise, at least not to good effect. Movement re-education systems such as Feldenkrais or Alexander Technique use exercises (not so much in the latter) to develop healthy, comfortable movement patterning that is more efficient and less injury prone, but the real work is attending to what you’re doing and how you’re feeling all the time. This is contrary to the mentality promoted by and typical to exercise in which one would count reps, weight, etc.
MAS
Apr 27, 2009 — 9:49 pm
I’ve had success realigning my shoulders with exercises by Peter Egoscue.
Justin
Apr 28, 2009 — 8:18 am
So how does it work? Or, is it?
MAS
Apr 28, 2009 — 9:18 am
He has a few books on Amazon and his own website at Egoscue.com.
My left shoulder was higher than my right. Both were rounded slightly forward and I had neck pain. Probably as a result of too much time on the computer during the dot-com days. I did a few of his exercises including arm circles and my shoulders now have perfect alignment.
Hip alignment is not as easy to self-diagnose as shoulders. I may or may not have proper alignment. One of the things for me to do is crack those books open again.