Exercise Progress Update - April 2013 Edition

After returning from my trip home to the U.S. I decided to design and execute my own fitness routine. I wanted to keep it as simple as possible so I went with a full body routine following an  ABAB pattern (I've been doing this Monday, Wednesday, Friday). I've been tinkering it some throughout the month and I can't say that it is quite where I want it but overall I'm happy with it. Each workout consists of 5 pushing, 5 pulling, and 5 lower body exercises. I also have added in 2 to 3 sets of core work and 1 set of bridge work during every workout both of which I have been liberally borrowing from Convict Conditioning (which I may review here at some point).

Workout A

Pull - chin ups x 2, v pull ups, and close grip pull ups x 2

Push - pike press x 3 (I've been trying to work my way higher up the wall instead of just using a chair to put my feet on), diamond push ups x 2 (I was originally doing 1 set of diamond push ups and 1 set of wide grip push ups but I found that the wide grip push ups were not challenging enough)

Lower Body - pistol squats x 3, wall squats x 2 held for as long as possible

Core work - flat knee raises x 3

Bridge work - straight bridges x 1


Workout B

Pull - pull up x 2, wide grip pull ups x 2, close grip chin ups x 1

Push - dive bomber push ups x 3, military push ups x 2 (I originally had 1 set of incline push ups instead of 2 sets of military push ups but soon found the incline push ups weren't challenging enough)

Lower Body - 1 leg lunges x 3,  1 leg wall squats x 2 held as long as possible (I've tried other exercises here such as the body weight deadlift but haven't found an exercise I really like)


Core work - flat knee raises x 3

Bridge work - straight bridges x 1

On Tuesday and Saturday I have been doing modified Insanity workouts. I generally redo the first half of the video instead of the floor work with the push ups, ski abs, and burpees because I am already doing pushing exercises on other days. Thursday is consists of either yoga or stretching. When I do yoga I tend to try different routines I find on the internet or go back to yoga videos I already own like the P90X Yoga video. 

Overall I am happy with my current routine but I definitely feel there is room for improvement with it. As exercises become more simple I'm swapping them out for more challenging ones. I've also been thinking about moving all of the lower body work to the cardio days. I want to avoid overtraining and keep my workouts as focused as possible. For now the lower body work is staying put though. Later this week I'm off to Milan and will most likely be taking a week off from exercise but, I will be getting in plenty of walking!

Beer Review April 2013 St. Pauli Edition: Astra Urtyp and Elbperle Pilsner

You may be wondering why there is a beer review on a blog dedicated to fitness, diet, and health. I've loved beer and trying new brews for a long time and if I'm going to expend some of my precious daily calories on beer I want to make sure that it is worth it. I've nobly decided to share my experiences with you so you can make an informed decision about your precious calories. I don't have a refined set of beer tasting skills so, I won't be going on about bouquet and mouth feel. I may make a formal rating system at some point but for now I'll just go with my gut. Just because I like to exercise doesn't mean I have to stop liking beer!

It's a very special month here in beer review land because, we are giving you two reviews for the price of one. I had so much fun at the Luftgitarrenwettbewerb (Air Guitar Competition) in St. Pauli (the red light district here in Hamburg) that I decided to attempt to share some of that great time with you.

First up we have the Astra Urtyp which is an extremely popular beer here in Hamburg. If you are a fan of the local St. Pauli football team (by which I mean soccer) then you proudly and obnoxiously drink and swear by this brew. This is proof to me that many locals have taken one to many soccer balls to the head because this beer although passable is nothing to be proud of. It pours with that classic light golden beer color and a decent head. The flavor seems to consist of a little bit of malt and a little bit of hops and a whole mouthful of meh. This beer isn't bad it is just boring overall. People will always exclaim about how it must be amazing for a beer lover such as myself to be in Germany (and at times it is) but I often have to dourly explain that a large portion of German beer is cheaply made and boring and most of the good and especially the rare brews are difficult to find (especially here in the north). If you find yourself terrorizing the red light district sometime in Hamburg then by all means grab one of these because you may not have any other choice!

Coming in at 4.9% alcohol with 147 calories for a 12 oz serving isn't to bad. I'm guessing this combined with all the walking is how most Germans keep their beer guts manageable.

Overall: 4/10

This beer is so boring that my camera lost interest focusing!

Up next we have the Elbperle from Colbitzer Heidebrauerei. I'd never heard of the beer or the brewery but, I was feeling very local and native so I wanted to be adventurous and give it a try despite my sinking feeling that it was a bad idea. 

There is a pretty decent 24 hour kiosk/store on the Reeperbahn a couple shops down from the Burger King and Davidstraße which has a decent selection of single cold bottles (which aren't for sale 24 hours a day I believe). The bottles are more expensive than they would be in a grocery store but you can get a cold beer cheaper than a takeaway/imbiss or a bar and drink it on the street. I really enjoy being able to drink beer on the street here and walk around. But anyways we were going to walk around for a bit so I decided to grab a road beer and the Elbperle caught my eye mainly because I'd never seen or heard of it and I wanted to try something new. 

This wasn't a total mistake because I'd rather know then not know but this beer was pretty vile. The flavor was kind of bitter and grassy and generally kind of gross. It had all the aspects I don't like about a Pilsner. It actually tasted like it could be a little off as there was something not quite right and artificial in the flavor. I drank this straight from the bottle and finished it and I won't be going back. 

I could include the calorie information but quite frankly you should never drink this beer so I don't think it is necessary!

Overall: 2/10 

My Fitness Pal App Review

I've dieted on and off over the years and like most people I've found it difficult. One of the main struggles with being on a diet is needing to count calories. Most people (myself included) can not look at a box, plate, or utensil full of food and accurately know how many calories it contains. One of the rare health benefits of prepackaged food is that calorie and nutrition information is contained on the side but, even then it can be difficult to tell what half a box is. Maybe after awhile you have the hang of what most of your frequent foods are going to give you calorie wise but at that point you would still need to log them. One way to avoid all of this headache and get your diet on track is with a diet app like My Fitness Pal.

The main benefit of this app is that it is a quick easy to use tool which can track calories and nutritional information. Just input your current weight and how much weight you want to lose or gain and it will tell you how many daily calories to eat. From there one just needs to start actually tracking their food intake. At first this seems like it will be very time consuming but, the app already has "over 1 million foods" in their database. The barcode scanner or search function often quickly bring results to your finger tips. If the food you're eating isn't included it can quickly be added. The app also has the ability to store recipes and meals if you have frequently eaten items you want to track without having to reenter all the individual items. I've found this as well as the ability to copy meals to other days useful (this can only be done for meals at the same time such as breakfast to breakfast). One problem that you may encounter with food items already in the database is that they may have incomplete or incorrect nutritional or caloric information. If this happens you just need to create a new food with a slightly different name. The more you use the app the easier it becomes because most of us eat similar foods day to day and week to week. Calorie and nutrition tracking is the strong point and focus of this app and it shows.

There are many other useful categories of diet and fitness information that can be tracked such as weight and body measurements. I really enjoy being able to input my weight over time and see it displayed on a graph. The one drawback is that it will only show up to the last three months. For most people dieting is a long process with many ups and downs and three months of information will not do it justice (unless you want to forget your holiday binge!). Sometimes more important then knowing your weight is knowing your measurements and My Fitness Pal allows you to track your neck, waist, and hip measurements for three months as well. I'm surprised and disappointed that chest isn't included in the measurements as well. It would also help to include other areas of the body such as upper arm and leg measurements to give a full picture of progress. I'm definitely glad that the app includes the ability to track some of your measurements but there is room for improvement.

I think one possible pitfall of the app is the tracking of calories burned from cardiovascular activity directly through the app. It can be interesting and some quick positive reinforcement to see that I burned 580 calories from water jogging  for 60 minutes but, there is a strong tendency to overestimate energy expenditure. I've found a much better plan for dieting is to set your daily calorie limit and don't subtract calories for exercise. People tend not only to overestimate energy expenditure but also to eat more after exercising from thinking that they just blasted through two jelly filled donuts (calories taken from first search result from the app!). There is a common feeling that calories out are safe to reward as calories in and therefore 580 burned at water jogging allows two 290 calorie jelly filled donuts ... it is all supply and demand right? The app allows you to set your activity level from sedentary to very active and I feel like this is a good basis, even if you are rigorously and consistently exercising, to base your daily caloric needs on instead of subtracting calories burned from exercise.

One aspect of the app that I haven't explored that people may like is the social networking feature found under the friends tab. It allows you to connect with other My Fitness Pal users and keep each other motivated and offer support. I've often read that it is easier and more effective to diet with a friend and since you can keep in touch with people all over the world using the app this will be even easier. I don't think I will use this feature of the app but, I do see its appeal.

Overall My Fitness Pal is a great tool to help guide your diet. Tracking information is quick and simple which takes away one of the more previously daunting and important aspects of anyone's diet. The app could use a few more features and I hope that they will improve their product with future releases. Ultimately the app is only as good as the information you put in and take away from it but at this point I would consider My Fitness Pal an essential tool for the modern dieter.

Rating: 8/10

P90X Review

I think everyone has heard about P90X but just in case you haven't

"P90X^® is a complete 90-day home fitness system designed to get you in the best shape of your life. Created by trainer Tony Horton, the program includes 12 intense workouts that use resistance and body-weight training, cardio, plyometrics, ab work, martial arts and yoga, along with a nutrition plan, fitness guide and workout calendar."


Wow .... Best shape of your life ... well I say - Bring it! That is a lofty claim and I'll discuss some my likes and dislikes of the program.

For the bare minimum to do the program you'll need a set of resistance bands with a door attachment.  Although not required I'd highly recommend investing in a pull up bar if you want the best results from the program. Pull ups are one of the two most effective resistance exercises for the back (rows are the other) and the resistance bands can't simulate the difficulty of the pull up. Most of the people on the dvds are using free weights and if you have an extensive set of dumbbells that will help your results with the resistance workouts. Most of the people on the dvd use push up bars but you could use a pair of hexagon dumbbells for a little extra depth. Definitely the most important thing you can buy is a pull up bar though.

Before I start with the review of the program it is important to address that the price is restrictive. At 120 dollars for many people this will be a serious investment.  Adding in the cost of resistance bands, push up bars, and a pull up bar will up the cost (just imagine if you bought a whole range of dumbbells!). Despite the high cost of the program if you hate going to the gym it will give you workouts you can do from home. I should mention that if you try and do any of the cardio routines in an apartment and your downstairs neighbors are home they will not be impressed.

The program is designed and led by the affable and slightly annoying Tony Horton. He is likable but after 90 days his jokes will become increasingly less funny. Every workout has three other people doing the routine and they show how to do different modifications of the exercises. This is helpful and makes it possible to get more out of the routines.

The program consists of 12 workouts one of which is the shorter Ab Ripper X. The other 11 workouts can be broken down into 5 resistance workouts, 3 cardio, 1 yoga, 1 active recovery stretching, and Core Synergistics which is a mix of resistance, cardio, and core work. Most of the workouts are very intense and can continue to be challenging but a couple fall short compared to the others.

The Chest and Back workout is made of mostly classic push and pull exercises consisting of variations on push ups, pull ups, and rows. This workout can continue to be challenging for most people and is a great upper body routine. This is one of my favorite workouts from the program. Back and Biceps and Chest, Shoulder, and Triceps are also challenging upper body workouts but, I do feel that there is just too much arm work. If you are concerned with the size and definition of your arms the isolation exercises performed are not going to help much. The best way to transform the arms are through heavy compound movements  such as bench press, row, and pull up variations. I'm not saying to completely avoid arm work on these days but, I don't think you need to do twelve sets of bicep curls.

This emphasis on arm work comes to a peak in the Shoulders and Arms video. I do feel that shoulders need plenty of work but as I mentioned before there is no need to work the arms as much as they are. This video feels like a waste to me and at a few seconds short of a full hour you'll be dedicating plenty of time on it. Also if like most people you don't have dumbbells at home the resistance bands just aren't going to cut it. If you were going to skip any of the resistance videos this would definitely be the one.

Legs and back is done in every week except for the recovery ones. This is one of the more challenging routines but it gets repetitive doing it so often. All of the back exercises are variations of pull ups. The legs are more of the focus in this routine. I think the biggest drawback of the video is that the leg exercises use mainly body weight since people are capable of putting on more muscle in the lower than the upper body with progressively heavier resistance. Only a few of the exercises use dumbbells and those can't be done with resistance bands. Despite the drawbacks this can be one of the more intense videos if you push yourself.

Many people's least favorite video of the program is Yoga X. From most complaints I've heard it is the length of the video people dislike and at an hour and a half I can understand that. If I'm in a hurry I will skip the balance postures and just do the first half of the video and then come back for some of the stretches and cool down at the end. This video will take many people out of their fitness comfort zone if they haven't done yoga and that is a good thing. Yoga is challenging for strength, balance, and endurance and it will help you improve in all of these areas. After the length of the video my main complaint would be that since the routine is done every week and three times on the recovery weeks it can become repetitive. Overall though it is a great routine and a very important part of the program.

Even the name of the Plyocide routine sounds intimidating and if you haven't done plyometrics before your joints and lungs should be afraid. This is by far the most intense of the cardio videos and it can definitely get the heart pounding. If you aren't able to do the exercises on the video and need to modify them you can still get a good workout but it won't be nearly the same. I've gotten much better at many of the moves but sometimes it does leave my joints aching. I do enjoy this video but I feel that it could do a better job of truly getting into the HIIT zone. If you can't perform this video there is also the option to do Cardio X.

Cardio X is a lighter version of plyometrics mixed with the martial arts moves of Kenpo X. If you are run down but still want to do some cardio then this is a good option. Also if you aren't feeling up to the other cardio routines this is an alternative workout. If you haven't done much cardio and are looking to build up your endurance this is also a good place to start. After a certain point of training this video won't be effective but it does serve its purpose to bridge the gap to the more difficult cardio routines.

Kenpo X is a martial arts and kickboxing themed cardio video. This video is done every week and is the last workout most weeks. Its timing as the last workout is good because it still gets you moving around but is low impact and not too strenuous. This can become a problem because as your endurance and athletic ability increases this video becomes less challenging. I personally don't enjoy the routine as I feel a bit silly jabbing and kicking at my imaginary air opponent and even though it keeps my heart rate up and steady it is difficult to really push my heart rate to its limit. I also don't like the warm up at the beginning and often feel my body isn't ready to go directly into some of the stretches. Despite my personal dislike of the video it does serve its purpose in the program and I do think many people would enjoy it.

If you are looking for a routine for active recovery or to do on the seventh day of your workout week then you have X Stretch. This isn't a workout but it can help to improve your future workouts by focusing on static and ballistic stretching. Often people over train and this video can help to prevent that by taking time to heal the body. If you want to burn calories this video won't help but it can assist in reaching your fitness goals.

In between the different phases you'll finding yourself doing the a full body workout called Core Synergistics. Even though this is a full body workout there isn't much emphasis on the back but since the back is trained so heavily on other weeks this can be a good break. This routine features many moves not found in the other workouts so it can be challenging. Despite being challenging I don't find this video very engaging. It at times just feels like all the exercises that didn't get fit into the other routines are mashed into this one. Although I don't care for this workout I do feel the weekly workout before the next phase where this routine is located is well timed and a productive change of pace.

I'm not sure if many people enjoy doing core or ab work and I don't think that Ab Ripper X is going to win over many devotes. Working the core is important but this video is fifteen minutes and done after the resistance routines which makes it difficult for me to find the motivation to do it. I'll sometimes go back later in the day but I rarely want to work abs after exercising for an hour and I feel that the extra fifteen minutes pushes many people past the amount of time they want to or can afford to work out. The video is challenging physically but even more challenging to actually find time to do.

Overall P90X is a challenging dvd workout program. If you are in decent shape and not sure what to do next then this is a great option. If you have a long term fitness plan though I'm not sure if this is the best direction to take. The program claims that you'll be in the best shape of your life after 90 days. I've been much stronger than this in the past and had better cardiovascular endurance but at separate times. So overall I am in the best shape of my life but, I know I am capable of accomplishing more then this program can give me. The best aspects one can take away from this program are to add pull ups, HIIT cardio, and yoga into your fitness routine. I can't give a blanket endorsement of P90X but for certain individuals it is just what you are looking for. 

Article Review: "Happy April Fools' Day: 12 'Health' Foods Fooling Us All"

While the premise of Happy April Fools' Day: 12 'Health' Foods Fooling Us All from the The Huffington Post is definitely on point and I'm all for articles pointing out unhealthy foods that masquerade as healthy options it falls short in focusing on processed food options. I definitely agree with the article that all of the options presented are touted as healthy and that all can have drawbacks or are just plain awful food choices. If made at home these foods would be perceived as a healthy but showing unhealthy mass produced items from giant corporate chains won't fool us all.

I thought the article would be fairly informative since it starts out with granola. I do enjoy granola occasionally but you definitely need to read the label and check the serving size and ingredients. It is very easy to over indulge in calorie dense foods and granola is a perfect example of this. You can definitely find healthy granolas but you will most likely want to avoid most store bought options and try and make it at home.

All of the drink options presented: vitamin water, sports drinks, and smoothies/pureed fruit snacks are definitely healthy living landmines. If you are extremely physically active then grabbing a sports drink makes sense but very few people are depleting their body to the point where this will ever be a regular necessity. If you need more vitamins than you get in your diet it is better to turn to a supplement then to grab a vitamin water. I like an occasional homemade smoothie but any store bought option will contain more calories than some of your daily meals. More and more people have difficulty maintaining a healthy weight and one of the best options is to restrict or eliminate liquid calories. Fresh squeezed juice can be okay to drink but pureed fruit snacks are just another calorie adding problem. These options were some of the better "health foods" called out by the article.

I was a little surprised that cold cuts and muffins were included in this. Do people actually think these are health foods? I feel these items were thrown in there as filler and take away from the article much like the inclusion of items from Burger King, Starbucks, and McDonald's. Yes a turkey burger, oatmeal, or egg white wrap could all be very healthy if prepared in your home or from certain restaurants but I think it is a bit odd to include them here. I do understand pointing out that seemingly healthier options on a fast food menu are far from healthy but health food and fast food are not concepts that share space in my mind. I did find the  inclusion of Kind Bars interesting and thoughtful though. I'm not very familiar with them but I do generally with any company that makes bars reading the labels is extremely important.

The best slides from the article aren't food items but the words "natural" and "gluten free". I've been fooled before by the natural label and I think it is deceiving for many people. So many unhealthy things are natural and there is no guideline for labeling a product as such. Anymore it might actually be good advice to avoid any product touting itself as natural. The article points specifically to gluten free sweets but I would go as far as to include any product that includes gluten. People who have gluten allergies have been greatly helped by this influx of products but it doesn't make sense to spend hard earned money to avoid gluten if you don't have an allergy. One can make a case for avoiding breads and other calorie dense items containing gluten but if you are planning on eating a dessert there is no reason feel that gluten free is healthier if you don't have a gluten allergy. Being gluten free won't mean it is low in calories or sugar and it isn't an indicator that it is healthy.

I definitely liked the premise of this article but wished it would have excluded the processed and fast foods from the list. I know knowledge on healthy food various widely person to person but many people are already aware of the short comings of these kinds of foods. The article definitely did a good job pointing out that some trendy health buzz words are products of advertising and not of nutrition information. I hope you enjoyed my review and I look forward to your comments.