Workout #1: Get off your butt
One of the things that I have noticed about my own weight gain problems is that my whole life is working against me. I mean it is not like I have a “real” job with “real” work. I mean when was the last time you saw a fat farmer or rancher. All the ones that I know are rail thin and so wiry strong that you could break a bat over them and they wouldn’t notice.They can pack away the food too. They all eat bacon and eggs for breakfast, a whole side of beef for dinner and they still couldn’t gain weight to save their lives. Their whole existence is burning calories. That is “real” work to me.
As for me I sit on my but and stare at a computer screen all day. Now, don’t get me wrong, what I do is worthwhile – but its not really work:) Not in the way described above.
Now, despite the fact that I do not need that much food to survive each day, I still feel like eating like the farmer. If I could have bacon each morning I’d do it. If I could eat 3-4 eggs each morning – fried in the bacon grease – I’d do that too. Add some biscuits and country gravy and I’d be in heaven – literally. I’d be flat out dead if I ate that every morning. But that does not change that fact that I crave it. I guess that is what being born and raised in farm country will do to you. I’m just a rural Illinois farm boy I guess.
So to counter act my reality I have to come up with some creative ways to keep the blood flowing throughout the day. Intensity will still be the key. Always has and always will be.
In a previous post I talked about intensity. It has been shown that if you will work out intensely for shorter periods that your body’s metabolism will stay elevated for several hours after the actual work out. Here is a downloadable document of a great article on the subject Download Now.
Now I like that. Less work – more calories burned.
So here is a basic workout that just about anyone can do with great effect.
First, you’ll need a space of about 100 yards that you can run on.
Second, you’ll need a timer on your computer or watch to remind you to get off your butt
That is it.
I have a park outside my back yard. It has a soccer field that is marked off. Now, at the beginning of the day, before taking a shower I often get out and do 10 wind sprints. I sprint down the long side of the field. Then I walk the short side, then run the long side back. Even walking slow this will only take about 10 minutes. I usually do 2 laps around the field as a warm up and then I do the sprinting. And then 2 laps to cool down.
10 minutes of running will only burn off a few hundred calories at the time BUT according to the research your metabolism will then stay elevated and burn off even more calories after you have stopped running. By comparison if you ran slowly for an hour you would burn more calories during the initial workout, but as soon as you stopped you’re metabolism would drop right back to normal.
Now to keep my heart going through out the day I will do push-ups. There are several different types of push-ups that can be done – that will be part of a different post – but the bottom line is to do about 75%Â of your total capacity every hour so your body gets a hit of adrenalin and keeps the metabolism up higher.
Can you see where this is going?
Most of the work that the farmer does is just long and slow. It is not intense per se, but they are going at it all day. But since I do not have that option in my job I can add shorter intense workouts throughout the day that will help keep the metabolism revved up. Now, I might not be able to consume eggs and bacon for breakfast every morning. But you can bet I will be doing it at least once a week!
In a future post I’m going to talk about the rest of my weekday workouts. This style of workout has some really good strengths. But is also has weaknesses. The main on being just the total number of calories burned is lower than you may need it to be in order to lose weight. So high intensity for as long as you can go it where the best possible result will be (reference).
And I’m still losing weight.
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Comments
Thanks for the post! I have a few comments. First, mental work is just as hard as physical work, you're just exercising your mind instead of your body. Second, is it possible to put a laptop on a treadmill? I've read about some offices that have this kind of equipment and workers have lost up to 20 pounds walking slowly while using their computers. I don't know if there is a home version of that. Third, eggs, bacon, and meat for dinner comply with the protein diet. Leave out the biscuits and these dudes may be doing everything right without even knowing it!
This is never and ever heared workout done by him, i am going to do it… succeed on it…. i advise you too try it and succeed in your life….
I just agree to the point. Farmer burns more calories than a computer engineer, Being a software professional with a fat built I did intense exercise and aerobics everyday to lose my weight. But i realized the fact that rather than exercise alone, diet+exercise gives u good results. I personally experienced it. So best wishes for all who targets weight loss. Keep exercising 
I have also heard recently that the more intense your workouts are, the more weight loss you will achieve. I have the problem where exercise is just boring. I have so much to do, and so much that I would rather do. That being said, with the new year came my resolution to be healthier. I started a new program, that is only 20 mintues long. You esentially march a mile, but it is broken up with bouts of weight lifting, toning, and other things. It is actually pretty fun I think and before I know it the 20 minutes are up. I now do it once in the morning and once in the evening. I lost 10 pounds in the first two weeks and was amazed.