NOTE: This LabRat will be published weekly at the end of the week and labeled by week. There is not enough day to day difference to require me taking up room here.
I was 7 weeks post-partum at the beginning of week one (picture below from the past week), have hiked twice, walked a bunch and rode a bike once in the interim. I was going to do nothing, but that would have driven me totally batty. I feel the most out of shape I have in a long time. The picture may not show it, but I have lost muscle strength and cardiovascular ability. Hiking was a chore. I must assume I have traded it for fat.
So, below is my BCA. This will also show you what BCA means to our company, though yours will be prettier and have an explanation of how to apply the details. I have also included the texts I am using as a jumping off point.
1. BCA: DO NOT use my numbers. They are very different from most as I run a 5 meal/day athletic program for a ridiculously fast metabolism plus breastfeeding. All of these things get taken into account in your personalized one. You get one full page with the numbers and what they mean (even more than I put here), and a second page of what you need ot do with them to support your goals.
132.5 # (10# heavier than at conception)
11% body fat (5-6% more than at conception)
117.9# lean muscle mass
2287.5 Total Calories per day
86.4g Carb per meal
5.5g Fat per meal
15.6g Protein per meal
2: Texts: TRX - Military Fitness Guide (c) 2007 and The Complete Book of Core Training (c) 2006 First Ed. As I have said, these are my jumping off point. I will complete the first week using the texts verbatim and let you know how it goes. After that, I will borrow from them, but create my own plan that adds in cardio and focuses on items I think are important. You may be asking one of two questions now: (a) Why not just follow them? (b) Why wait for cardio?
(a) Published plans are great tools to start with. However, the same rule for why each of our plans is different for our clients applies: Each of us is different. So while the are many assets out there to aid in our planning, the plan is going to be tailored to meet my changing needs. The only reason I am not tailoring it from day one is to get an idea (in a week) of how the average person would do if they used these un-tailored for the full time. I will provide my recommendations so that, in case you don't want to pay us to train you, you have something that is more useful than the plans alone.
(b) I want to have an accurate assessment of my basic muscular strength at the beginning and end of the week to help with "(a)" above. If it weren't for this, I wouldn't skip it. This is important to me as it will help my recommendations. (And, I have done some little cardio bouts as listed, so have an idea of their general impact.)
To Fitness!
-Crystal
