Day END: Evolution Complete

SPOILER ALERT:  I have a third leg now.

This is it.  It's finished.  The Evolution Program is complete.....But, is a evolution ever really over?

As far as progress goes, I definitely felt functional improvement.  Doing all those core and total body work outs were so elegantly practical.  I can see and feel the stability in my posture and my hips in my every day. All my movements feel all the more safe and solid.  This is especially great progress that I hope to maintain throughout my entire life.
All in all, I'm very happy I applied to this program.  It really helped me continue to prioritize my overal health and fitness when it's so easy to just work, eat, sleep.  I had an opportunity to learn to break from the typical workout mold of one muscle group at a time, and from focusing on repetitive muscle movements that have very little application in everyday life.

I absolutely plan on continuing working out at the same pace I have been.  I'd also like to continue working with a trainer.  It really makes every workout session that much more high-yield.  I also plan to continue trying out different forms and theories in workouts.  Having spent this time with kettlebells and total body work has really inspired me to keep trying different variations of strength and resistance training.

I've made such great progress with only short spurts of time in the middle of my packed schedule that I'm very motivated to keep it going.  If anything, this experience really proved to me that regardless of your schedule getting a great workout (not just a decent workout), in fact, can be done without interfering with work and personal life... On the contrary, it really enhances every other aspect of your life.  It really is a win-win-win situation.

Long term, I'll continue training--improving functional capacity, core strength, and learning new ways to train.  


Thanks to Tyler, Felicia, and the rest of the Fitcorp for making this Evolution possible!

Day 90: Home Stretch?

Why do you mock me, cameraman? WHY?!

The last big stretch is coming up for the Evolution Program.  Will be meeting with Tyler for training and getting some final nutrition recommendations before heading into this home stretch.  It feels like a home stretch, though it definitely isn't the end of my continuing evolution.  Have gone through a great deal so far and am looking forward to the final reflection and see what's changed overall--both physical and mental.

Intern year is still going strong, but so am I.

Day 73: Pilgrim's Progress

I fill my bag with snack bars, too!

Last day of another week of nights.... and what better way to cap it off than with an intense training session with Tyler?  


Did some really great new stabilization workouts today that involve just about every muscle AT EXACTLY THE SAME TIME.  Great challenge!  Also had a chance to do some freeweight basics which was a fantastic way to switch things up and rekindle some nostalgia for my previous workout routines.  


All in all, having had such a bizarre schedule for the last several weeks, it was cemented in my head just how important it is to have a trainer with a relatively flexible schedule...especially when you know that your work schedule makes about as much sense as going the wrong way down a two-way street.

Day 67: The Nocturnist

Creepy?  Or just fortuitously peaceful?

I start back on nights this weekend, and while it put my most active hours during the times that most people are asleep it really opens up the opportunity to do things during the day before and after my shift... mostly because it's during regular business hours.  What that means:  I get to work out more regularly during the week AND have more opportunities to train with Tyler.  The last week of night shifts I was able to sandwich a shift with workouts.  I may try and do that this time to maximize the number of times I get to work out and really gain the maximum benefit from my sleep during the day.  If anything, it'll help make sure that my sleep during the day is just that much more restful.  Looking forward to it!

Day 61: Conserving Willpower

Great article summarizing a lot of important principles and studies related to decision-making, self-control, and willpower:

MAGAZINE

Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?

By JOHN TIERNEY

Published: August 17, 2011

The very act of making decisions depletes our ability to make them well. So how do we navigate a world of endless choice?

Day 54: Sticking To It

Now that I'm going to be heading to a new medical floor soon, my schedule will be shifting once again. It'll definitely require some more time of adjustment in order to figure out the best time to head to the gym. Despite the crazy schedule, though, I've still been able to go at least 3 times a week to the gym for about 30 minutes at least. Still keeping it up! I'd have to say that probably the most difficult thing about working approx. a 16-hour shift 6 out 7 days of the week does make it quite the challenge to balance everything, particularly taking care of general life things like cooking, cleaning, and laundry. I'm excited for this next schedule, which will hopefully provide more opportunities to keep the Evolution going strong!

Day 48: Double time!

Just finished my week of working nights (9pm to 10am... and beyond at times).  Was fortunately able to make it to the gym a few times in between sleep.  Had one interesting day where I went to the gym before my shift, and went to the gym again at the end of my shift.  A day had gone by since I had worked out with Tyler, but since I had done the night shift it really felt like I had just sandwiched a day with gym-time.  Things are still progressing smoothly and I'm looking forward to continuing the Evolution process.  Had a chance to meet with Amy Boyce, the nutritionist for Fitcorp, and we did a quick trip to Trader Joe's and worked on finding things that were quick to prepare and carry that were healthy and fit within my overall fitness goals and my crazy schedule.  Speaking of...just another month of crazy schedule before two weeks of reasonable human schedule.  Looking forward to it!

-Sent from Joel via email to Fitcorp 

Day 42: Working Double-Time

To say I'm busy is an understatement. Everyday is the equivalent of two workdays in one, leading to each week feeling like two weeks! Long hours can definitely put you in the fast lane to losing track of time! Either way, still going strong. During first of the busy weeks was able to go to the gym three times (one of which was a training session with Tyler). Not bad considering is was a 90+ hr work week! Next I start up the night shift. Let's see how things hold up when I also need to sleep during the day and work at night!

-Sent from Joel via email to Fitcorp

Day 25: The Real Challenge

The intensity of intern year has begun and finding the time to train and workout has (as expected) become the real challenge. The main things that have been really helpful toward keeping it up so far have been to:

1) Adapt.

Having 30-minute workouts that have the same level of intensity of longer workouts, but condensed into 30 minutes, helps make squeezing in a workout all the more doable--especially when you factor in any kind of commute to and from the gym. Making workouts and training sessions that are more of a "total body" workout helps even more. This way you don't ever neglect any muscle groups. It makes an even bigger difference when you never know when you'll have to cancel a workout/training session.

2) Prioritize.

Know your values and make sure that your time and effort (and money!) reflect them. In order to make sure that my health, career, and quality of life are all balanced appropriately I need to make sure to schedule in the things that matter into my week. If I schedule in work and meetings because I find them to be important investments of my time, then it makes sense to also schedule time at the gym and time for sleep. Working my schedule so I can hard-book the time I need to work out with as much time in advance as possible can sometimes be like a Sudoku puzzle from hell, but saves a lot of headache and schedule shuffling later on. I also like to make sure that I have at least 7 hours of sleep every day, so I schedule that in and keep it just sacred as an important business meeting or work shift. Sleeping much less than 7 hours, for most people (genetically speaking), makes workouts and training sessions almost a waste of effort (with collateral damage of wasting time and money), since you need to give your body time to recover, rebuild, and recuperate. This allows your body to be in a better place than it was before your workout/training. This all happens at the microscopic level... slowly building up day after day toward being macroscopically noticeable.

3) Focus.

Do whatever it takes to make sure that you'll commit and follow-through with your plans to workout/train. Focus on what motivates you. Write it down on a piece of paper and keep it in your wallet or pocket. Set it as your phone or computer's desktop image if you need to! Build up as many "will power points" as you can whenever you have a chance. Some studies have shown that we all wake up in our day with a set amount of "will power points" and we expense them throughout the day--from having the motivation to get up out of bed and brush your teeth to having the will power to go to the gym at the end of a long day. While some say that physiologically you're better off going to the gym in the late afternoon and early evenings due to fluctuations of your cortisol levels, if there's a motivation wall in the way of getting you to the gym at the end of the work day, then make a point of getting a membership at a gym that opens up early enough that you have time to workout/train before work... before you've used up too many of your "will power points." If something in your life is taking up way too much of your brain's attentional capacity and distracting you from your priorities, consider taking the time to work those distractions out. If those distractions will take a bit of time before you can resolve them, it may be worth working on cognitively muting them long enough to focus on your daily priorities so they don't get in the way of your social and physiologic functioning.

Overall, the current hospital service I'm on has a schedule where I frequently finish around the time that Tyler isn't available to train; however, I've still been able to make it to the gym at the end of every other day for the most part given my schedule's constraints. I reliably go to the gym on my day's off, too. The next service I work on combines day shifts and night shifts... while some might find it less than ideal, it's actually pretty great to have night shifts. It allows for a few hours before and after work that occur during regular working hours when the sun is still up and people are still out. This will make it much easier to schedule time with Tyler. In terms of rest or mind/body days, I find that incorporating mindfulness techniques into the average work-day (regardless of how hectic it is) it actually helps increase the efficiency and efficacy of work overall and really makes the stressful things of the heavy work days a lot less stressful. It's also been really really great to have co-workers and teammates who value your time and work with you to make sure that everyone gets out of work when they're supposed to. Covering each other's backs is so incredibly valuable.

Day 14: Rapid-fire Step-up

Things picked up a bit today with this two-cycle routine:

Monster-walking

Swings with Red KB

10 reps.

Reverse lunge with slider and twist with yellow KB

10 reps each side.

Farmers walk with red KBs racked on forearms

30 sec.

Agility Rings

30 sec

Swings with Red KB

10 reps.

Bridge Hamstring Curls

10 reps.

Deadlift and press overhead with red KB

10 reps.

Push-ups on balance ball

10 reps.

Pistol squat with yellow KB

10 reps.

Plank hand taps with 3 second hold

10 reps.

Russian twist and press with yellow KB

10 reps.

At the end of the day we measured... dun dun DUN... BODY FAT. We used the calipers, which definitely look like Medieval instruments of torture...

We did some measurements and after cross-referencing with some charts I came out to a baseline of 5-6% body fat, which puts me in the "Athletic" category. The next category from there is the 2-4% "Superior" category.

Guess which category we're shootin' for...

Day 13: Birthday + Rest Day

I'm pretty sure that's the sound I make when I eat birthday cake, too.

Day 12: THE BELLS!

The theme for today's training session was all kettlebells... Russian Kettlebells... the KBs... We did two cycles of:

Monster-walking

Swings with Green Kettlebell

12 reps. This instructional video essentially covers how to do it... but I really chose this video because the soundtrack and voice combo is pretty awesome.

Overhead Press with Yellow Kettlebell

10 reps each side.

Swings with Green Kettlebell

12 reps.

Strife

12 reps.

Swings with Green Kettlebell

12 reps.

Row with Green Kettlebell

12 reps each side.

Swings with Green Kettlebell

12 reps.

Lungeback with Green Kettlebell

10 reps each leg.

Swings with Green Kettlebell

12 reps.

Burpees

10 reps. These are a lot of fun when you really focus on doing it all in one continuous motion.

Day 11: Rest Day

Can often be more complicated to do than it looks...

Day 10: Military-style

Did Military-style routine again, and really pushed to get one more rep in good form. Aahh the feeling of Evolution...

Day 9: TRX = FUN

TRX straps today! These are always great. They let you really focus on your core (all the important stabilizers!) and using your own weight as resistance. It's probably one of the better solutions for gymnastics rings when they're not available. We did two cycles of:

Stork

10 reps each side. While holding TRX straps, lean forward with one arm extending and contralateral hip extended (leg straight, toes pointed). Finish a rep by coming back into the center with your back upright.

Side Lunges

12 reps each side. Holding straps, do side lunges while keeping toes parallel and back upright.

Skaters

10 reps each side. Holding straps, do a backwards lunge (feel free to add a little skater flair to full extension of that hip).

Push-ups

10 reps. Facing away from anchor point, focusing on peak contraction at the top to really get those pecs.

Hanging Rows

10 reps. Facing anchor point, pull toward anchor point with both hands.

Tricep Extensions

10 reps. Facing away from anchor point.

Power Pulls

10 reps each side. Facing anchor point, pull toward one hand at a time. Remember, the more parallel you are with the ground the more challenging the move.

Bicep Curls

10 reps each side. Facing perpendicular from anchor point while keeping the arm that isn't curling at 90-degrees from your body (you'll look like a leaning T at full extension).

Plank

30 sec.

Saws

10-12 reps each side. Similar to plank sawing, but with two hands and your body is what moves back and forth.

Lateral Swings

30 sec. While in plank position, swing legs in TRX straps together to each side focusing on obliques and going from one side to the next in one continuous motion.

Day 8: The "Just Right" Intensity

Another day of working out with Tyler. Today's intensity felt just right. The best part is that it was only a half hour. It completely flies in the face of my usual workouts which have been an hour to two hours. This is definitely turning out to be a great system for folks with limited time.

Monster-walking

Unilateral Box Step-up + Overhead Press

10 reps each side.

Racked Squats

10 reps, squat with two yellow kettlebells racked on forearms.

Lateral lunge with Kettlebells

12 reps, side lunge with kettlebell in each hand (back straight, head up, feet parallel).

Plank contralateral arm-leg raise

10 reps, hold for 3 seconds each side.

TRX Standing Bicep Curl

10 reps each arm.

Plank Sawing

10 reps, each arm. While in plank position, with a kettlebell on a slider (mmm...) make a sawing motion forward and backward.

Strife

10 reps.

Plank Lateral Toe-taps

20 reps. While in plank, leg extended, toe- tap each side almost at the level of your waist.

Repeat this cycle for a total of two sets.

Day 7: Cardio

Bonus points: Making the treadmill a total body workout.

Cardio to help melt off the Fourth of July victuals... I typically go for a treadmill,7 though with high caution for the degree of impact on hips and knees. Ran about 30 minutes at just a high enough speed for sustained elevation in heart rate. The nice thing about cardio is that you can vary and adjust it to meet whatever you need. If you're looking for a combination of workout for cardiovascular system + burning off some excess calories and/or jump-starting your metabolism, I find the most effective method (based off of anecdotal and physiologic data) is to simply find a rate that will keep that heart rate up (you can be more specific about how high the ideal rate, though it'll depend greatly on your baseline health) to the point where you know you're doing work, but you can also do that cardiovascular work for about 30 minutes or greater (factoring in for some warm-up and cool-down). If you're not used to doing cardio, 30 minutes can feel like a lot... but, if you think about it, it's about the length of one television show... great time to catch up on all that trashy television gold you've missed out on during the week and still aren't able to indulge in online.

Day 6: Happy Fourth + Rest Day

Good timing for a rest day... time to celebrate Independence Day and recognize everyone who serves this country in uniform and their families for everything they do for our nation.

Day 5: Training Session

The sessions are slowly heating up as Tyler and I get into a good groove. I definitely felt soreness all over (upper body, lower body, abs, gluts, etc.) two days out from the last session--ahh, the feeling of Evolution. These sessions are closer to an intense 30 minutes of condensed total body workouts. That they're about 30 minutes is an added bonus as it'll make scheduling that much easier whenever intern year takes a higher demand on my time. Today's session was 3 cycles of the following:

Monster-walking

2 sets.

Gremlin-walking

FOCUS: gluts, hip flexors

2 sets, while still wearing the resistance band from monster-walking, walk forward keeping your butt low and your chest up (just like when monster-walking) and then walk in reverse for the same distance to complete a set. Walking about 20 feet (...mon erreur... 6.096 mètres) in each direction is about right.

HINT: Never EVER feed after midnight. EVER.

Kettlebell squat with overhead lift

1 set.

Dead-lift

FOCUS: gluts, hams

1 set, remaining focused on standing with legs more than shoulder with apart, legs straight, lean your butt back as you lower your torso pick up the kettlebell with both hands, and then lift your torso back up. The majority of the work being done is from your gluts and ham moving your pelvis forward as your torso raises.

Izzy the Injury-free Iguanodon says:

"When not doing dead-lifts, pick up heavy weights by bending at the knees, not at the waist............... !!!!! "

Plank-walking

1 set x 6 reps, from plank position walk your hands forward about 6 baby-steps and then 6 baby-steps in reverse while keeping the core strong and hips neutral. Really focus as it's really easy to sway the hips from side to side (save that for salsa night).

"UR DOIN IT RONG!"

Farmer-walking

30 sec.

Elevated push-up

FOCUS: superior pecs, shoulders, core

Set 1 - 15 reps; Set 2 - 12 reps; Set 3 - 10 reps. In military/standard push-up position, place your feet up on a box. Make sure to keep your core and gluts strong so you don't sag.

Sag /sag/ (n): see figure above. Not to be confused with SAAG.

Kneeling unilateral row

FOCUS: gluts, lats

1 set each side, kneel (checking your hip alignment) with head high and back straight and do rows with the cable tower.

Farmer-walking

30 sec.

Balance ball free-weight chest press

FOCUS: pecs, biceps, triceps, gluts, core

1 set, 25 lbs, with your shoulder blades on the balance ball, feet more than shoulder-width apart, and hips parallel to the floor, do standard dumbbell chest press. Really focus on keep your hips parallel with the ground and work on stability all the way up and all the way down in one, smooth continuous motion.

Agility rings

FOCUS: calves, quads, hams, core

30 secs, set up two rings greater than shoulder width apart on the floor. Starting with both feet to one side of the rings, step with your most medial foot into the ring furthest away, step with the other foot into the other ring, and then step with that first foot to the other side of both rings. Only one foot can be on the ground at any given time. Go for speed without falling over for 30 seconds.

At the end of the session, Tyler and I sat down to go over what the schedule would be like over the next week, plus planning when to do some skin-fold measurements and weights so we can track progress. As I walked out, I glanced at a whiteboard near the entrance out of the corner of my eye and something looked familiar....

Sounds like something I would say..... wait a minute.....

Day 4: Yoga

This definitely happened today.

Made my way to the Mind-Body room by snaking though the back of Fitcorp's administrative offices just in time for some yoga as part of a pseudo-rest day. It was nice and quiet because of the holiday weekend, which fortunately meant there'd be more space and individual attention in the class (almost like another personal training session!). Debbera was the instructor and I was pleasantly surprised with how thorough and deliberate she was throughout the class. She took the time to really set the mood in the beginning of the class, gave solid feedback, and was so good about making sure that everyone was exactly where they needed to be. This was one of the first yoga classes I've done that as many props, too. Nothing too unusual (i.e., bolsters, straps, yoga blocks, and chairs), but well incorporated throughout. With this mind-body day done, I'm definitely ready for my training session with Tyler tomorrow.

Seriously.

Day 3: Military-style

You're up, Nana!

Today was my first day of the Evolution working out solo. Tyler did, however, send me a great recipe for the workout. It's a straightforward recipe that focuses on weightless moves:

Pull-ups:

Standard grip - 30 sec.

Wide grip - 30 sec.

Reverse grip - 30 sec.

Cardio:

Treadmill jog - 400 meters

Push-ups:

Strife - 10 reps

Military - 30 sec.

Wide grip - 30 sec.

I did 3 sets of this entire cycle while trying to minimize the amount of down-time between breaks (i.e., only resting long enough to gather up enough oxygenated blood flow into muscles in order to complete the move without compromising the integrity of the form). The intensity was just about right, and it also gave me a chance to work on one of my challenge areas: pull-ups. It's an area that I'm actually very motivated to improve upon... it somehow just seems like a rather practical and functional skill to have....

"You just need one rep, Tom... C'mon, I'm even spotting you."

Day 2: Rest Day

Today's the rest day (so soon!)--just have to make sure I get at least seven hours of sleep to get some good muscle recovery going. Zzzzz....

Day 1: The Workouts Begin

If you remember your sixth grade prom as horridly vivid as I do, you might also remember how awkward that first dance was. This first workout was not like that, but it could've been. Tyler was great about easing into the workout, fully aware that I may or may not be familiar with the moves. It also helped to give him a better idea of how I workout, how often and which muscle groups I recruit if I begin to get tired, understanding what the right weights were for different moves, and even help establish a common vocabulary between the two of us.

For this workout, we did two cycles of moves that incorporated a lot of core muscles and integrated total body. Below are the exercises that comprised a single cycle (DISCLAIMER: these may or may not be the official names... but they also may or may not be far superior to their forgettable originals... why can't we just name exercises names like Bob... or Sandy... Snoopy?):

Monster-walking
FOCUS: gluts (especially gluteus medius), core
2 sets of walking from side to side with a resistance band around the area just above the ankles. It's a lot like walking around your room with your pants around your ankles, which I think may actually be a practical skill in life... Hey, you never know when an earthquake will strike!

Also monster walking.

Kettlebell squat with overhead lift

FOCUS: quads, gluts, superior pecs, delts, triceps, biceps, core

1 set of squats while holding a kettlebell up against your chest (elbows in! chicken dancing is for weddings, sixth grade proms... any formal occasion really) followed by an overhead lift at the top of the squat. If you're falling backwards because of balance, that's okay since it means that your focusing on the right form and trying to go as deep as possible with your squat.

Unilateral box step-up

FOCUS: quads, gluts, hams, core

1 set each side (1 + 1 = deux), step up on a platform/box with one leg at a time. Keep the movement smooth and controlled all the way up and all the way down to get the most of out of the move (think "Black Swan" with a little less florid psychosis). Also, make sure not to just let yourself drop on the way down, since at that point you'd be putting a higher degree of impact on your hips and working out the gravity muscles all up in your imaginary mind.

Kneeling unilateral overhead press

FOCUS: lats, triceps, biceps, core

1 set each side, kneel (make sure that both legs are parallel and aligned in this position) with a kettlebell in one hand in a "racked" position in front of your chest, pivot arm out, raise overhead, and bring back to start in reverse order. That is, hold the kettlebell so the top of the handle is in your palm and the bell is leaning on the back of your forearm. The key to this is making sure that you remain completely balanced, that your wrist is completely straight throughout the whole motion. Keep your balance as you rotate our arm laterally (not too far out or you'll injure your shoulder and/or fall over... which ever fate decide for you first). Raise the kettlebell overhead in a smooth, controlled motion. Err on the side of moving too slow rather than too fast while making sure that you feel the work being down by your muscles and not your joints. Pain in joints = No bueno.

Nice rack.

Bridge hamstring curl

FOCUS: gluts, hams, core (notice the core theme yet?)

1 set, raise into half-bridge position with feet on balance ball and curl ball towards your body while keeping a solid bridge.

Mind the gap.

Plank combo

FOCUS: total core (especially abs)

30 seconds in standard/missionary plank position, 30 seconds in side bridge on left, 30 seconds in side bridge on right.

Showing others your handle and your spout is good form.

Push-up strife

FOCUS: pecs, biceps, triceps, core

1 set, standard/missionary push-up position with one hand on a (stable) kettlebell on the ground. Push-up, walk hands toward opposite side so the other hand can lay on top of the kettlebell, push-up again.... lather, rinse, repeat.

Farmer-walking

FOCUS: quads, gluts, hamstrings, lats, wrist flexors, core

Walk one lap around the room (approximately 30 seconds at moderate speed) with a kettlebell in each hand (kind of like a farmhand!). Make sure to keep back straight (imagine like you're trying to tuck your shoulder blades into your back pockes) and core tight... breathe, too!

The boundary between "farmer walking" and "monster walking" can be a very thin line...

Snoopy

FOCUS: core (specifically serratus anterior, transversus abdominis, and obliques)
1 set for each side. Start by standing about four shoulder-widths away from a cable tower, and (parallel to the tower so your shoulder is facing it) bring the cable to your chest with both hands, extend your arms out, and now rotate your upper body (only with your upper body--no hips) away and towards the tower. The range of motion is about 90 degrees from your center... kind of like you're slicing a tall pillar of butter....that's about as thick as the trunk of a tree... so... you're slicing a butter-tree...)

Repeat all of these so you do a total of two cycles. Finish by doing some simple dynamic stretch--just enough to increase blood flow through your muscles without causing non-exercise induced muscle tearing. Feel free to use the long styrofoam roller to massage calves and quads by placing your weight on it as you roll back and forth (more details on stretching and massage later).

Overall, it was a great workout in terms of learning some variations on moves and starting to get a feel for working with Tyler. Maybe one day I'll be Tyler's "that guy"...

That guy.

My First Training Session

I just met my trainer for the Evolution program: Tyler.

As part of the team, his role will be to get me to push my limits as far as possible--without getting injured.

Gratuitous Fitcorp website shot of Tyler.

(yeah, that guy on the bench is not me... but I bet his triceps could crush a large walnut)

Todays's session was important, though it really wasn't a workout. I'd say the theme was "Laying the Foundation"... or "Things That Don't Make you Sweat." We started out by getting to know each other a little more, establishing some rapport. We went through a trainer worksheet that walked through previous experience with exercise, anticipated challenges, and short and long term goals for the program. When he asked for my workout history, I pretty much gave the full history.

My workout history? Hmmm... where would I start? Oh yes.... I was a fat kid. A very fat kid.

I used to be able to do this.

No, really.

It wasn't until I was about thirteen where I finally grew into my weight and began to realize that in all the P.E. classes I dreaded I was actually pretty good at running. While most of the kids would tire out quickly, I had enough discipline to pace myself--having the extra energy stores probably helped, too. Overall, I didn't really workout with any semblance of regularity until medical school. After my third year of medical school, I did research in Iowa for a year, but at the end of that year I got caught in kind of... sort of... an accident... It was only after a year of intense physical therapy that I even dared to enter the gym again. At that point I was extremely lucky to become friends with my workout-buddy, Jake (I'm pretty sure he's been working out ever since he was in the womb), that helped get me from barely being able to do a single push-up to being able to do 30 in a row without breaking a sweat.

Hey, it's Jake! Hi Jake!

I worked out with Jake for about 3 months and had some really phenomenal results. I then had to do a fair amount of travelling the rest of the year, so I continued to workout solo, and was able to keep my workouts pretty regular until my recent move to Boston. Now I'm ready to add another milestone in that history.

When we chatted about anticipated challenges, it really boiled down to one thing: INTERN YEAR. Fortunately, I've grown to make it a priority to weigh any and all intellectual and professional endeavors no greater than health and fitness goals. I used to treat my body like it was just a form of transportation for my brain to get from meeting to meeting, but I've learned to appreciate it for so much more and am committed to making sure that both my body and brain always learning and developing together. There's a lot of technical scientific reasons, but there really is a fascinating and powerful synergy between the two.

As far as short and long term objectives go for the program, I figured we'd make some specific ones once we start actually working out, but, in general, it would be a progression of increasing overall body strength and, especially, core strength.

After our trainer pow-wow, we did some functional movement assessments. We did some small tests to see what the range of motion was for different parts of my body and what baseline functional strength we were working with. Turned out I was in good enough shape to start an intense workout program. There were only two small asymmetries in range of motion and flexibility between my right and left shoulder by a little bit and between my right and left hip again by a little bit. Throughout the program we'll see if we can even those out, though it really won't be the focus of our sessions.

At the end of the session, we scheduled for the first real workout session. We've begun to lay a great foundation, and once that's done we'll be ready to build something incredible.

I Won... Evolution?!

Looks like Darwin must have decided to shake his evolution stick at me, because apparently I won a chance to do a full-on Fitcorp Evolution!

Darwin is likely going to get a kick out of watching me go through this experience.... Why? Because I'm a resident physician... wait, it gets better....... I'm also an intern.

What does that mean? Interns are historically the medical team's work-horses... neigh.....nay... pack-mules. Our schedules are usually so demanding that regulations had to be put in place to limit the number of hours we worked per week down to no more than 80. Just this past year the number of hours we would work in one overnight shift went from 30+ to a max of 16 hrs. Needless to say, historically, interns usually don't have the luxury to have enough time to go to the gym and eat healthy on top of finding time to sleep more than a few hours. Add a constant flow of stress hormones being pumped into your system into the mix and it's really no surprise that interns often expect that they'll get out of shape and put on some pounds. Will I be able to resist the pattern?... We'll find out soon enough.

Either way, I'm ready to dive into this whole experience head first and see how far I can push evolution...

Here are the conditions for a Fitcorp Evolution:

1. Focus: 3 personal training sessions per week.
2. Discipline: 3 nutrition consults spread throughout the Evolution.
3. Time: 3 months of full Fitcorp access, so the Evolution starts tomorrow and technically runs up through September.
4. Guts.

Here's a diagrammatic representation of these conditions for Evolution...

Now, with the technicalities out of the way, let's see who wins this battle...