Why Zone 2?

 I am rounding out my 13th year training with CrossFit methodology.  To say it has been good to me would be the understatement of my lifetime.  It profoundly changed my life.  It has been what I do as a career for the last 11 years.  I have been stronger and fitter in this last decade than the entirety of my high school and collegiate training days.  I was what you would call fat-fit.  I could get after it and compete with some really lean mo' fo's. I could do most of the gymnastics their little scrawny asses could easily do. I could hang with them on some runs, keeping it close enough to make up for time on a heavy barbell where I had the advantage.  I love(d) the competition aspect, it pushed me to push myself.  I can say with confidence, that approximately 80% of the workouts I completed (6-7 days a week for the last 13 years) ended with me trying not to die in front of a fan and flat as a pancake on the floor. Through the first 11 years of this journey I lived anywhere from 203# at the very start in 2011 down to 160# when I dialed in on my nutrition throughout the year.  I can remember saying, "y'all if ever get down to 150#, I will coach naked."  It was that unattainable for me.  There was no way it could happen.  I just wasn't built like that.  I was "big boned".  

March 2023

Fast forward to the start of 2023.  My IG algorithm kept feeding me posts talking about getting "steps" in.  To which my initial response was "PULEASE! With the shit I do?  They think that STEPS are going to improve my fitness?"  It was laughable to me.  However, I DID like the idea of tracking the calories I burned versus the calories I was consuming.  So, I bought a Fit Bit Versa 3 (no I am not sponsored... but if they would like to ask me I would consider it. 💁) This little tool was a game changer for me.  On March 9th, 2023 I put that sucker on and got to work.  I weighed in at 169.9#.  I tracked my food, no macros just calories, no food plan just my vegan lifestyle. On the face of my watch, my steps were also visible... I started to pay attention to them.  A couple months later we also set up a Mile a Day May at the gym to encourage people to get some steps.  Life was happening along with all of this and things got very stressful as me and my partner of 23 years ended our marriage.  I walked A LOT to clear my head, for peace, it felt so much better to me than just sitting around stressing.  These weren't fast paced walks, they were also weren't snail paced.  Just a moderate paced walk.  I did all of this on top of my regular training at the gym.  Still getting in 6-7 days of training but now adding the walking.  And you know what happened?  My body freakin' started changing like it had never done in my life.   

End of May 2023

In three months time I was down 16# (153.4 weight to be exact) and down approximately 4% body fat.  Doing the same thing I had done for the last 11 years but adding walking and being attentive to my calories in versus calories out.  One month later, I did the unimaginable and hit 148.2 on the scale and dropped another 2% body fat... now below 20%, which was the first for my lifetime.  Since I started this walking addition to my training I have remained below 151 for the last 17 months... fluctuating between 148 and 144 on any given MONTH.  I weigh in on the 29th of each month to keep myself accountable. 

November 2024

I don't consider myself ripped up by any means, but I am more lean now than I have ever been.  I feel the best I have ever felt.  My performance continues to improve.  My 1 rep max strength has gone down a bit but I can still move pretty heavy weight well in workouts.  

Why this long history?  

A friend of mine recommended the book Outlive - The Science & Art of Longevity by Dr. Peter Attia.  He said he could see me enjoying it.  So I started with the Audio Book.  It didn't take too long to hook me.  There are books that do this to me.  They smash me in my face with, "YES!!!! THIS!!!".  Atomic Habits is another one that did this to me.  I listened and listened and listened with the words "yes, this! " repeating in my head throughout.  Now there are parts that are VERY sciencey, above my pay grade... but the gist of everything he said made perfect sense to me.  Like I had been part of his experimental group.  I ordered a hard copy of the book and have started working my way through that to beat it into my knowledge base.  

Here are the top 10 ah-ha points I immediately got from the start of this book, in no particular order:

1. Our healthcare system is so very broken.  We don't do anything until someone is in deep trouble, instead of intervening early when we see trends heading the wrong way.
2. When someone IS trending toward trouble we offer pills and prescriptions to slow the process down rather than a detailed lifestyle change plan which costs ZERO dollars. 
3. 99.9% of us have more crude in our veins and arteries than we should because of the choices we make.
4. It is not about how long you live so much as it is about how WELL you live when you live long.  
5. We need to train NOW to live our best life when we have the time and means to... retirement. 🤞
6. We must find a way to become flexible in our energy burning systems, we need to train to use FAT as our energy instead of just Carbohydrates... this is done through long slower paced workouts that you can maintain a sustained effort... Zone 2.  
7. We MUST build as much muscle now so we have it as we age and it get's harder to build.  
8. We must also shoot to get our best VO2 max in our training because that is our breather we want to stay with us when we do things like hike and bike and play with our grandchildren as we age.  
9. The biggest thing holding people back from living their best life is, it requires hard work and discipline.  
10. None of us see ourselves as our older relatives who are struggling to do the simplest of tasks because we think, "that won't happen to me."  And then it does.  

So my challenge to myself is creating a training program that will diversify our energy consumption systems.  I am going to follow Dr. Attia's recommendation of at least 4 days per week training in Zone 2 for 45 minutes and two days per week training our single lift strength and our VO2 max (short hard workouts).   I will ask you again to put your trust in me and see if you can benefit from this style of training the way I did by adding walking to my regimen.  

My challenge to you:  For the next 8-week, may yourself a priority.  Get to the gym at least 4 days a week for our programming.  If you can make it 6 days, I'll have you covered in your training.  If you can't make it one or two days of a 6 day training week, then commit yourself to a MINIMUM bout of Zone 2 Cardio - conversational jog or power walk, conversational machine, for 30-minutes on those days.  

If you meet this challenge and don't feel a change in the 8-weeks, I will refund your dues.  This does not apply if you don't do the work.  If you are going to do this challenge, weigh yourself early this week.  Ideally I would like your % Body Fat but that takes a bit more effort and higher end tool.  

Let's train!