Reading just another glimpse at Tim Ferris again got me thinking – this time about exercise and fitness. I have been working out a lot recently but this is no exception to most of my life since the age of 15. I’ve never strayed to far from the gym. My biggest problem has always been weight. I’m 5’8”. When I was 16, I weighed 242 of little strength and a lot of fat. I got to 248 within the last year. When I was 21, I got all the way down to 183 – this is me super skinny. At 23, I was in the best shape of my life, hovering between 205 and 210 but lifting a ton of weight.
For example, I could do stuff like barbell curl 65 lbs 3 sets of 8 and bench press 265 lbs 3 sets of 8. I’ve never pushed my legs to the same extent because I’ve never had the full confidence in them to try a major lift like squats with a lot of weight. Same with my back. I pulled my back out majorly when I was about 19. My stupid ass friend (I say stupid ass for this instance) was having me spot him on 300 lbs and asked for a lift off. I lifted off and he didn’t. I’m not sure what I did, but that fcked my back up. Periodically, my back will still pull out for weight it really shouldn’t.
Present day, I’m getting into decent shape. I workout often with two of my friends from law school. I probably now weigh around 228 lbs. I’ve lost a nice 14-15 lb chunk of weight recently. Although my curls and bench press aren’t where they were, they’re climbing the mountain and are getting back to a high point. This process would have been further along had I not screwed up my rotator cuff (self-diagnosed) and had to lay off for about a month. By the way, your rotator cuff is extremely important. I realized how much I took it for granted until it was injured.
My new injury is my knees are hurting. This is not me complaining about it, it’s just true. I walk with a limp after I run or play basketball, so now I’ve cut back on any running (whether on grass or treadmill) and am sticking to low impact, simulated machine running and walking (I think walking is awesome and am nearly addicted to it).
To tie Ferris back in now, he’s got all sorts of awesome claims on his website whether it be gaining 34 lbs of muscle in 28 days or how to add 110 lbs to your lift. I say claims because for the first time ever, I doubted him after reading the 34 lbs of muscle. Not that I don’t love the “impossible is possible” way of thinking but averaging over a pound of muscle a day for 28 day period is incredible. His pictures speak some truth though. There’s no doubt he underwent a transformation. You know what, put a gun to my head and I’m going to say I believe Ferris. He’s an incredible individual and has proven his veracity over and over again.
Anyways, the point isn’t whether he only gained 25 or 28 lbs of muscle. The point is he reads up on the successes and comes up with his own way of thinking. Then he conjures unconventional means of accomplishing great feats. PS here’s the 34 lbs of muscle in 28 days blog post to read for yourself.
Following those footsteps, I’ve decided to devise a similar workout scheme that completely ditches 99% of the conventional wisdom out there. I like the idea that less is more. Correction, I love the idea and so I’m creating a completely divergent workout from what I’m accustomed to. It will be high intensity, brief, and I will only lift 3 times a week, mixing up my lifts on each day using the 5×5 method.
Workout 1:
20 minutes fat burning cardio
Bench Press 225 lbs, 5×5
Barbell Military Press 105 lbs, 5×5
Dumbell Tricep Extension 35 lbs, 5×5
Workout 2:
20 minutes fat burning cardio
Dumbell Curls 45 lbs, 5×5
Deadlifts 135 lbs, 5×5
Lat Pulldowns 130 lbs 5×5
Workout 3
*To be determined
3 is to be determined because that’s my legs and right now my knees are vulnerable and I want to take it easy on them. I’ll come up with something and add it in here later.
Combine all of the above with walking 20 – 45 minutes a day.
One reason for all of this fitness stuff is because I believe fitness success breeds mental clarity that can improve my entrepreneurial mind. Exercise acts as a tremendous natural stimulant for the body and brain. After rest and exercise, I have a stronger focus and drive towards success. I reach a natural high and I feel like I’m primed for peak potential. Another way of saying this is I give my brain the best chance to succeed with it’s ideas.
Beyond the mind, exercise is a reflection for you. People are attracted to you because they see in no uncertain terms, that you have a great body and mind. Your physique and appearance speak of vibrance and vitality. Your physical success can have a strong correlation to financial success if you have the right (entrepreneur) mind. Obviously it’s not an exact correlation, but I think the ties are strong nevertheless.
