Image is everything

“A society improves its welfare through investment.” Keyes




To start, this post has nothing to do with the above quote. I just came across the quote. Back to topic. I spent a great deal of my life being overweight. I mean in the neighborhood of 30 lbs overweight. This is something you just can’t hide. Regular people treat you poorly. Overweight people treat you poorly. You get paid less at work. You get passed over for jobs and promotions. The bottom line is that it effects your lifestyle and future in negative ways. The key is that you can do something about it.



You might be thinking this is just some weight loss post, it is not. There is a plethora of articles on calories-in < calories-out; EPOC, and interval cardio weight loss training. You can read how to restrict caloric intake and rev up you metabolism. What this process does in effect is change your metabolism from a fuel-efficient vehicle to a Hummer. You would then restrict your calorie intake, so the body needs to burn fat reserves. What I want to do is to take this the next level. This is increasing lean muscle mass.



When I first started losing weight, I remember reading a book on how to dress to look thinner. In this book there was a picture of a weight bench with a dumbbell placed on it. The book inferred that through colour, cut, and pattern you could look 15 lbs thinner, don’t expect miracles. Here is the bomb. To effect an image that will take you somewhere, to the next level; you have to gain lean muscle mass. Gaining lean muscle and definition is hard. It is almost harder than losing weight. The positive effects are enormous: more money, better lifestyle, and attracting better looking women. I am not talking professional bodybuilder physique here. I think taking things to that level maybe detrimental (I have no proof of that.) This is to the extent I see negative reactions to body builders. I am talking about an athletic body build. I am going to place a few posts over the next months on techniques I came across to help build lean muscle mass. Till then cheers.

Airline Fees

I found this poster at www.billshrink.com. It's great to see those hidden airline fees.

Recession Gets Worse

If you haven't had your hours cut, then congrats! Else, welcome to the new trend of cutting hours to the point that you have to quit to survive. Like you, I pay unemployment insurance, but unless I am laid off I can't use it. Cutting hours is a quick way for employers to get rid of employees without paying unemployment in most states. I my state you can get cut back beyond 20 hours for three weeks before unemployment cuts in.

It' s Coming in October

The LAnd of the Lost movie is Coming. Set the date!

Exercise and Goals

I had a big argument with someone over the amount of time I spend working out. First, It’s my time to spend and not theirs. Second, It’s my money and not theirs. As long as I get done what needs done; it’s none of their business. It is true that I am more into exercise beyond the health level. Though, I am not an athlete, but I am trying to go for a high lean muscle mass (BMI).
That goal takes time! I do honestly believe that the better you look, the easier life is for you. This has been proven to me time and again. As far as I am concerned, “Image is everything” is of the ranking equivalent to the Law of Gravity. Understand, I was far from a member of the “sport” cast in high school. I, as they say, showed up for gym and got my “C.” It has been a hard road to where I am now.
One thing I do like about exercise is that I can see results, for example: Everyone reading this has been on a job search. You probably sent out hundreds of resumes and applications. The problem is that you may have zero to show for it at the end of the day. It happens. But with exercise; it’s different. If I run a mile or do a hundred press-ups, then I expect and see a results. Dump effort in and results are a guaranteed yield. How many things have that promise! Just follow the SMART formula and you can set goals and see progress:
A) Specific: Be specific what you want to accomplish. I want to fit into X dress for the Christmas party.
B) Measurable: I want to lose X inches, nothing amorphous.
C) Action Oriented: I must exercise 4x a week for 12 weeks to achieve goal X.
D) Realistic: I can’t lose 40 pounds in a month, but 10 pounds weight loss is realistic.
E) Timed: I have 12 weeks to accomplish what I set out to do. I have to hit X benchmark by week six to be progressing.

Cheers

Quick and Effective Exercise

Like most people, I have difficulty finding time to work out. This is especially true of Cardio. Strength exercise such as Push-ups, Crunches, Dips, and Lunges etc. can be done in most apartments. But Cardio presents a problem. If the weather is damn cold or you don’t have a safe neighborhood to go outside and jog in what are you going to do? There is a simple solution using a basic exercise that can be done at low cost in most apartments. Skipping rope. Stop! Look at the data before you disregard it.
It turns out that jumping or skipping rope is a good exercise: 10 minutes of skipping rope at a 120 RPM burns 750 calories. 10 minutes of skipping rope is equal to running 1 mile in 12 minutes; cycling 2 miles in 6 minutes; and jogging 30 minutes. Skipping Rope ranks with jogging, rowing, and stair climbing as a “hard exercise.”
I would start with Olympian Buddy Lee’s book. His book presents a 4-stage development program geared to athletes for anaerobic development off of an aerobic base. His means to anaerobic development for athletes is the “super compression principle,” --the body recovers from anaerobic exercise bursts, jumping rope, in a way that allows future exercise at a higher level of efficiency for longer duration, i.e., developing fast twitch muscle fibers. Below is a table from Buddy’s Book, to aid anyone who may have the same Cardio questions I had:

Bounce Step Table
RPS*RPM*Fitness Level *% MHR *Rope Measurement
2-2.3 *120-140 *Warm up *60-70 *Standard
2.3-2.7 *140-160*Low Aerobic *70-75*Standard
2.7-3 *160-180* High Aerobic* 75-80 *Standard
3-3.3 *180-200 *Anaerobic Low* 85-90 *Chest
3.3-3.7* 200-220* Anaerobic High* 90-95 *Chest
3.7+ *220+ *VO2 Max *95-100 *Rib Cage

Power Jump Table:

RPS* RPM *Fitness Level* % MHR *Rope Measurement
1-1.2 *60-70* Low Aerobic *70-76 *Standard
1.2-1.3 *70-80* High Aerobic *75-80* Standard
1.3-1.7* 80-100* Low Anaerobic *85-90* Chest
1.7-2* 100-120 *Anaerobic High* 90-95 *Chest
2+ *120+* VO2 Max *95-100 *Rib Cage

RPS= Revolutions Per Second
RPM= Revolutions Per Minute
MHR=Max Heart Rate
(very sorry the tables do not import corrrectly from MS Word)
Tables From: Buddy Lee, “Jump Rope Training”, Human Kinetics Publishing, ISBN-13:978-0-7360-4151-5 (post’s author has no claim to works)
Yours Etc
Screwtape

Attorney Survival Skills

After reading EndofEsq.com column on Rainmaking, I thought about qualities that long-term lawyers who are not rainmakers possess. What I mean is a Lawyer who has stayed in this industry, going firm to firm, as a staff attorney, associate, or non-asset partner making a living via this career. With the legal market as saturated, as it is; what qualities do we see that can help us survive the short time we are in this industry:
a) Flexibility: The ability to change specialty. The ability to go from Associate to Doc Reviewer and not cry. The ability not to take this field too seriously.

b) Assertiveness: The ability to push! The ability to ask for what you are worth. Trying to undersell yourself leaves you with a perception of having a “low value” in employer’s eyes.

c) Tenacity: Constant fight to get what you need and want.

d) Optimism: This is tricky! To paraphrase Admiral SCOWCROFT: The POWs who were Optimists were weeded out fast. Unbridled Optimists hope, continue hoping, and furventively believe the best will happen sometimes against all reason. When the worst happens, they are let down; it’s like being hit by an anvil. An unbridled optimism can not deal with the fact things don’t always work.

e) Intelligence (Brains + Common Sense): If you don’t get it; get it.

f) Distancing Ability: The ability to step back and see the situation as if you are not a part of it.

g) Group Conscience: The ability to see what the group sees as true, apart from what the reality is.

h) Go with the flow Assimilation: (enough said).

i) Finding Meaning in Life: There is life outside of work.

j) Courage: The ability to get up every morning and do it all again.

Yours Etc
Screwtape