10,000 steps a day. How many are you doing? In my continuing journey towards self improvement I decided to try walking more as well as include calisthenics into my daily workout routine. I also discovered that my phone has a built in pedometer which subsequently led to my discovery that it had been tracking my footsteps since 2018!
I have a tendency to gain and lose weight or rather expand and contract is a better description. Let me further explain, as an athlete I look to optimize strength and speed; however, building muscle requires consuming calories and speed comes from being lean and strong. I gain muscle fast, but when I want to lean down a bit, I tend to lose muscle just as quickly.
My closet has two sets of clothes, one for when I am "beefy" and another for when I am "lean". Once I made enough money in the workforce, I used to wear expensive suits. The problem I discovered was that these suits could only be altered so many times before they became unwearable. I had to pick a body size for the future and so I chose to be lean with as much muscle as my frame could support. I trained hard, and ate clean, until boom! I made it!
I enjoyed being in the best shape of my life for what seemed like a few years. Some days I was "firmer" than others, but I didn't want to make a career out of watching every little thing I ate. I decided to keep a calendar on the wall and simply track my weight daily. This works for the most part, but I learned to take body measurements like my tailor in order to track specific muscle sizes such as my thighs, biceps, or chest. I noticed these numbers changed often despite not noticing each day in the mirror. I only took measurements once a quarter.
When a person resolves to diet and exercise the body goes through re-composition. Since muscle is more dense and weighs more than fat, a beginner might not notice weight changes, but still see physical improvement as muscle is built.
The last time my body leaned down was a few years ago when I was remodeling one of the condos and didn't even have time for the gym. I checked my phone for data showing how many steps I was doing during those months. To my surprise I was clearing over 10k daily for several months which directly supports that walking and body movement definitely leads to weight loss!
2,000 steps is about 1 mile. Walking is something our ancestors used to do every day for at least 5 miles. Only since we've had cars our whole lives we've forgotten our old ways.
This time I have been walking 10k daily for the past 3 months, in addition to calisthenics and body weight training. I have noticed some interesting results...
Strength increases as fat is burned and replaced with muscles. Lean is definitely the goal, but this time I wish to preserve muscle.
I listen to audio books, say prayers, or simply hear nature on my daily walks. It's easiest to break it into three 3,333 step walks. I knock out the morning walk and calisthenics routine when I take Tyson out for his wake-up walk. Then in the middle of the day I usually take a walk to the grocery store which is a nice place to cool off during the summer heat and gain steps. And lastly I like to walk and watch the sunset in the park.
I definitely recommend investing in a good pair of shoes. I bought the cushiest pair I could find, but it completely wore down in less than 2 months.
I'll be sure to post some progress pics, but for now, trust that I am seeing results!
I started out walking around the park which has a short pull up bar. I started only being able to do about 15 cheater pull-ups (only partial pull ups since my legs hit the ground). I would try to add 1 more pull up each day until I could do almost 34 in a set. Next I began working my core with hanging toe raises. I am up to 10 with decent form. Form is the key! My goal is to pull up into a muscle-up. I'm not quite there yet, but it's close.
For Christmas I got an exercise band to help me achieve my first muscle up.
2/10/23
I finally did it!
I finally did it!
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