Genetics, Part 1: Chicken Legs

Whatcha gonna do? Maybe it's not as bad as the illustration above, LOL, but I learned about six months ago that I am stuck, genetically speaking, with what I call "chicken legs". Thanks, Mom and Dad!

When I first started working out with Dr. Darden, he did a "visual evaluation" of me. To see what my weak points and strong points are.
It seems that God gave me "high" calf muscles. Hopefully this quick sketch shows how this refers to the length of the muscle, the muscle belly, and the insertion points. In layman's terms, no matter how "big" or strong my calves get, they will always be "high" with a lot of distance between the bottom of the muscle and my ankle. As opposed to this:
This sketch shows longer calf muscles. Built up properly, this leg will look pretty big. Mine, not so much. Unless I go in for calf implants.... and I'm not gonna EVER do that... I will be stuck with "chicken legs". Oh well. Chicken legs are tasty. I'll just make them the best chicken legs I can!

You live long enough, you hopefully stop worrying about the things you can't change. The lesson about genetics? Make the most of what you have, and don't fret about what you don't have. Identify your strong points ( I was told that for me it's chest and arms), and your weak points ( for me, calves and lack of abs). Work on both of them, maximizing your potential. That's important... YOUR potential.

Be the best YOU that you can be.

Give a guy a shovel....

Good friend and trainer Dr. Ellington Darden told me a story awhile back. I believe it was Arthur Jones, the Nautilus inventor, and Ellington's old boss, who told it to him. Basically, it goes something like this:

Let's say you walk up on a guy feverishly digging a hole with his hands. You ask him what he's doing, and he replies that he's digging a well. It just so happens that you have a shiny new shovel in your hand, so you offer to let him borrow it. He says, suprisingly to you, that he's never seen a shovel before. He's so excited, and lauds your praises as he begins to do three, four times the amount of work with the shovel that he was doing with just his hands. Satisfied that you've helped someone, you walk off feeling very good about the situation. A few days later, you come back to check on the guy's progress. Your shovel is tossed to the side, and he's back to using his hands to dig. When you ask him what's up, why did he toss the shovel, he answers " I just decided to go back to using my hands... I was used to them. I wasn't used to the shovel".

At least that's the way I remember the story. Basically, the moral that Jones was getting across is that people like to continue doing what they know, even when it's wrong and not producing results, rather than changing their ways and trying something new and better. It's the rare person who can stop what they're doing and do something new. We don't like change.

I've had a lot of opportunities in the past few months to see this story play out in my own life. Look, I'm certainly no expert on HIT training, and I have a ways to go before I'm where I want to be, but I've had countless people ask me how I've lost so much fat, how I've put on the muscle I have in such a short amount of time. When I explain HIT methods to them... about working out harder, working out shorter, working out less, no cardio, resting more, drinking a gallon of water each day, and eating smaller meals 5-6 times per day, you can see their eyes glaze over. Then, the very person that's been complaining to me how they can't make progress anymore with their workout or diet routines, starts telling me how great their split routine, heavy on the cardio, 3-5 days a week workouts are.

Huh? Oh well, Darden told me this would happen.

Sister Blog

My family and I eat out so often, I thought I'd start a restaurant review blog as well. If you're interested, give it a visit. Hope you find it useful!
http://keelaneats.blogspot.com/

On the Book Shelf: Body By Science

I read a lot. Religion, conspiracies, comic books, cartooning, and fitness books fill my rather substantial amount of book shelves. My trainer, Ellington Darden, had this book on his shelf recently and I borrowed it over a weekend. I couldn't put it down! It's been a long time since I've borrowed a book I then decided I HAD to own, but MY copy of "Body By Science" came in from Amazon just this week.

This is truly a manual for the science of building muscle. Over the past six months, since I've been with Dr. Darden, I have taken a crash course on the correct way to build muscle, burn fat, and work out the High Intensity Training ( HIT) way. "Body By Science", and Darden's many books, have made an incredible impact on me.

I think, for me, "Body By Science" really hit home because it helped explain further some concepts that Darden has been talking to me about for months. First, with HIT, it's all about brief, intense exercise with proper rest and diet. Then there's how that training affects different people, depending on their age, sex, and genetics.

In particular, it helped me understand fast muscle fibers. Darden has said for awhile that I have more of this type, but I didn't understand exactly what that meant, or what it meant for my training. After "Body By Science", I do. Suffice it to say, fast twitch muscles fibers exhibit a lot of strength, and can grow bigger than slower twitch fibers. However, they also tire quicker, get more sore, and take longer to heal. This is exactly the reason I am now continuing to make gains ( five pounds of muscle in three weeks) while on a "one workout every two weeks" schedule.


Think of "Body By Science" as a handbook for getting your body in shape. It's not a shallow read... believe me, some of the scientic jargon in it takes a while to understand. But go grab a copy, and you won't be sorry!

Neckline Slimmer: REALLY?

Being a cartoonist, I like to stay up late and work when the phones aren't ringing here in the studio, and then watch a bit of TV or read before bed. The problem with watching TV? Weird infomercials late at night. A popular one right now is the "neckline slimmer". I don't know if you've seen it, but it runs where I live all night long.

Supposedly, with this little device you can take years from your face, firming your jawline, etc. Now I don't want to be skeptical, but.... REALLY? Come on!

If anyone has used one of these and HAS had the desired results, feel free to let me know.


REALLY????

In the Fridge... : GREEK YOGURT

Man, I love this stuff! I discovered Greek Yogurt about a year ago, and was blown away by it.
My favorite brand is FAGE, pictured here. I like the "Total" and the "0 %" varieties. In a cup serving ( 2 cups per container) of the " 0%", which I currently have in the fridge, there's:

Calories- 120
Fat- 0g
Carbs- 9 g
Protein- 20 WHOMPING grams!

I've had protein mixes and protein bars that don't have as good a breakdown as this! With a consistency that's somewhere between sour cream and cool whip, plus all the live active cultures of good yogurt, this stuff is awesome. Try it!

Right at Ten Percent....

These pix were taken May 1st. By the calipers, I am realllll close to 10% body fat here.
The plan at this point became to raise my calories in order to put on some mass. Also, creatine loading. As you can see if you look closely, my genetic predisposition to store fat right in the lower front of my abs continues to foil my attempts at a six pack. Grrr......