If you want to progress, you must measure. It’s true people win the lottery every now and then. More often than winning the lottery, people get struck by lightning. The rest of us have to do something to see results. My observations are that success is absolutely tied to measuring. It can be predictive, suggestive, or sometimes compulsive, but I truly believe the more often one writes something down, the more likely it is they will succeed.
Most of my life has been dedicated to keeping notes and data. I have folders full of miscellaneous workouts and self-tests. They aren’t all neatly organized, but I can usually dig out what I am looking for when it’s necessary.
One thing I DON’T have enough of is fat photos. I hated my picture taken when I was 50 lbs heavier. I wish now that I had taken more of them. It’s not worth going back there to get one.
I’m not sure exactly what version of excel I used to create the original version of this spreadsheet (Thermogenex_12-week). I know that it has been formatted and reformatted many times. I used it on at least 3 body for life programs and many other false starts. It’s also a direct decedent of the charts you’ll see in The 4-Hour Body. I’m sure there is room for improvement, but I would like everyone to consider using it. I would ask kindly that not to forward or repost it, please just send people to register here. Thanks for your help.
You will also find a new Progress tab on the main menu above. There will be a permanent link to this file both the PDF and Spreadsheet, but most importantly, an online form to fill out to submit your progress once a week.
Part of the fun is sifting through the data.
Once it’s posted, there will be plenty of opportunities to use the results to help this community achieve new personal fitness goals. Perhaps there will be a way to put a more personal, dynamically-driven system in place – similar to patientslikeme.com. I’ve definitely been talking to some people that want to sponsor contests, so some cool “gadgets, trips, and things” are in the not too distant future (if anyone has prize to offer, send me an email).
If you have any questions or comments or REALLY want something added to the new online form, please let me know. If anyone has any ideas on data presentation or wants to start a “splinter group to form a challenge” I will be happy to be the unbiased judge. I like the blind submittal part. I hope to have a forum up soon, so that you can taunt your competitors, or just offer a helping hand – your choice, but let’s make this fun.
Thanks for the AMAZING support! Keep the comments coming. I spent the day sorting through a huge pile of peer-reviewed journal articles, notebooks, and personal data all in preparation of things to come. In the mean time, please stick as much as possible, to a method within The 4-Hour Body so that our results can create solid trends.
Look forward to the AMAZING transformations in 2011. Somebody reading this RIGHT NOW is going to end up with an after photo that is incredible.
Will it be YOU?
My weight seems to be leveling off. That doesn’t bother me over much as long as inches keep decreasing. There is a phenomenon low-carbers are well acquainted with called the “whoosh” where weight will level off for up to weeks at a time and then suddenly drop 3 to 7 pounds.
Theory has it that water gets temporarily stored in fat cells while the body adjusts to it’s new composition, then when the adjustment is settled in, the water gets flushed out. During this process there will be a definite drop in TI, so as long as the tape measure shows results I will try not to obsess over the scale…
For me this process is simple. I weigh myself everyday and write the weight on the calendar. I work out every 3 days. I follow a diet plan, If I get off the diet I take a picture of the food I did not plan to eat. Knowing I am going to make a record keeps me from eating it most times. I want the process to be very easy. I hate to say it but that spreadsheet gives me a headache. Too much stuff, easy to get caught up in the recording instead of the living.
Please, no headaches. If you can take measurements once a week (about 5 minutes) and write it down, it will help us all learn. If not – that’s ok, just report back and let us know you are progressing.
I also recommend photos of any OFF meals or meals that you are uncertain of the caloric content. You will see in the guide (this weekend) that I recommend using your phone/camera as an instant record of your meals.
Ray
Thanks for the spreadsheet!
I have been using the body fat calculator at linear-software.com/online but it seems to be down. Does anyone know of a similar calculator online that calculates for the Pollock 4 method? All I can seem to find is 7 or 3.
Hey Jeff
sorry I missed this comment. I’ve been doing simple measurements, but I did a more thorough measurement when I finished my original thermal loading trials. you can download my results here and the calculations are self-explanatory. I don’t know the root of this method, but it used 9 points and was what my trainer used at that time.
hope that helps.
Ray
Hi All, just joined and fascinated. If anybody wants it, I have created a version of the spreadsheet (I can supply headache medication Bruce) in Numbers for the Mac people out there. It also has my version of Phil Libin’s glide path tracker. You may recognise all this from the 4HB book.
This is a long comment, so read on for my question to you’all “I would love to know what throws that “easy switch” and invoke it earlier”
I have just started to work my way into thermal loading. I definitely recommend ramping up in intensity, both in each session and in the overall types of session. Here are some observations (using metric and Celsius), and please do take a critical look at them and respond where I might be going wrong: Bear in mind that I am also on a slow carb diet for 4 weeks (3 minor indiscretions outside of cheat day)
Ice bath – After a 1-3 km swim, I have a 5 minute steam, followed by 10 mins in an icy plunge pool. This is a relatively painless to get started, but I warm up quickly, so I follow with 5 minutes of icy shower. I do not get a shiver response at any stage, not do I feel cold beyond numb skin that is cold to the touch. I have not yet dared the 20 minutes of cold bath with added ice.
Cold Shower – Tried turning cold tap on and walking into it. This was very tough and only lasted 3 minutes. What works well now it to start luke warm for 2 minutes while soaping up (I do not like to start hot because I love hot showers and I feel dread at having to go cold from that starting point). I then turn down the temperature in 4-5 increments over 3 minutes, taking care to include under the arms, inner thighs, head and face. Then down to cold (our water supply runs through frozen Scandinavian earth – I will measure the temperature soon). This is really touch for 6-7 minutes and brings on involuntary verbal “hoohaa!” fits. Then around 10 minutes, it suddenly becomes very easy indeed. It really is very sudden, and very dramatic. I would love to know what throws that “easy switch” and invoke it earlier. In general, this really isn’t too bad and I sleep like a baby after. After the turn down to max cold, the most difficult part for me is boredom. Past 10 minutes, when it has all gotten easy, I just get too bored to stand under a cold shower, so the duration is reduced to 15 minutes total. My body temp dropped to 35.2 degrees C.
Walking – started walking in a windy 4-6 degree evening with just jeans and T-Shirt for 6km (4 miles) in 58 minutes. Body temperature fell 0.2 degree. Only arms and hands got cold, and was surprisingly easy and comfortable. Last night, I did this followed by a 15 minute cold shower, and 20 minutes after that with ice bags on shoulders. I was cold when I went to bed, but slept like a log for 8 hours. I weighed 2.3kg less than the previous day (weigh myself just after waking and peeing every day)
Please let me know how I can share my Mac numbers sheet if you want it.
Thanks for the info Ian…
I too am a macaholic. I created the original sheet in numbers, so if you want me to post that I can as well. I would be happy to take a look at your and then post it here on the same page (with attribution). I tend to keep isolated on these sorts of intellectual property. So long at Phil doesn’t have an issue, let’s bring it on.
Please feel free to email me directly and we’ll get this all done tomorrow..
Ray
Ian,
How embarrassing. 1) I didn’t see this post and 2) I use a mac and went to GREAT lengths to create the excel spreadsheet and didn’t THINK about posting the numbers version! I’ll get it up…MONTHS later.
SORRY!
thanks for the reminder.
Swimming – Now, suppressing the shiver response with your alternating steam/plunge defeats the purpose a bit. Remember, shivering is your body burning calories. There are some forms of walking hypothermia that are induced by exactly this sort of activity. When you suppress the body’s response to cold, you can have a resulting fall in core temperature. Try reduced steam, and/or consider air adjusting before plunge. Going from extreme hot to cold can also be dangerous from a cardiac perspective. What is the temperature of the water you are swimming in?
Walking – excellent it seems. I would consider nice warm gloves and earbags. Thee really make a big difference. As well, it turns out the face is a VERY big part of the thermoregulatory feedback system. I always carry a serius extreme masque for times when I just can’t tolerate the cold. This and a scarf are usually all I need. For me, if I have mild shivering – I can’t describe it, but a strange state just before teeth chatter not full on shivering – I can stand it indefinitely. I actually know I am burning calories by the way my jaw feels and across the top of my chest. I can feel a slight tension from shoulder to shoulder, but it’s not uncomfortable, just an “awareness.”
Shower – Haven’t done much with this. I go cool enough to elicit some slight shivering (as above) and then when I get out, I don’t dry completely. I’ve learned to enjoy that cold rush. I usually target 82F/28C range. It’s slightly warm, but mostly cool. I typically end my shower by going full cold and putting only hands and feet in the stream. that causes me to shiver nearly instantly, but not as uncomfortable as full cold shower.
Sorry again for missing this post somehow…Thanks for all the info and please give us an update.
Ray
Thanks Ray. This will sound weird, but I have been self-experimenting on putting blubber back on, having previously lost 8kg on thermal loading and Slow Carb Diet as per the 4HB book. I started back on a fat loss program last week, now that I know that it is not that easy to get all the fat on again (I fell 3.1Kg short of my pre-fat loss weight after 5 weeks of eating everything). I am 45 years old desk monkey, 6 foot 1 inch and was 121kg at the start)
So now I am measuring again for 6 weeks on SCD, Thermal Loading, kettlebells, and swimming. After that, I will try 4 weeks of eating everything for 3 weeks, but stick with Thermal loading and light kettlebell training to see if I can continue to lose fat (there is plenty) just on those 2 methods. As I travel for work, and diets and kettlebells don’t travel well in Europe, I will have a period after all this when I do thermal loading only. Getting cold is usually possible wherever I am. (I don’t run or go to gyms).
My Mac-based spreadsheets are now a sprawling mass tracking all sorts of data. I don’t think it is helpful, especially if you have one yourself. BtW, I tried not measuring myself daily for a week or so, and compliance dropped off straight away.
Ian