Three weeks ago (March 25, 2009) I had my first session with the “Bod Pod”. You can follow that link to read more about what the Bod Pod is all about, but essentially it is a highly accurate way to measure body composition. One of the many points of doing this test was to determine whether the Shakeology product, recently released by Beachbody, would make any difference in my overall body composition. I could have done this using a pinch test body fat caliper or using one of the many body mass index calculators on the Internet. What I’ve found is that they are all inaccurate. The Bod Pod told me my body fat was at 20.38% three weeks ago and I was shocked. These other devices indicated my body fat was between 14% and 17%. You get what you pay for and I want reliable data. You can fudge a caliper pretty easily. The Bod Pod doesn’t lie.
It has been three weeks since that test and since I started taking Shakeology. During this time period my output level has been about the same. The first two weeks I continued my triathlon training and did double workouts with P90X, P90X+ and yoga. This typically involved about 10 miles a week running, about 60 to 70 miles on the bike, one pool workout (45 mins or so), two P90X/X+ workouts and yoga. A pretty heavy schedule. Last week was a recovery week during which I did yoga twice, lifted twice and went on one long bike ride (to work). No running or swimming and only one double that I can recall (such a blur). Arguably, the last three weeks have seen a dip in activity due to that recovery week.
Really the only change was my nutrition. I started taking Shakeology every morning. You can learn more details about Shakeology here. On days when I have an AM ride or run, I put a scoop of whey protein in it and a banana. I also use a scoop of whey if I’m doing a double workout. On the days when I’m not doing doubles, I just take the regular dose of Shakeology. It fills me up until about 10:00 am when I have a snack of some sort. Aside from just enjoying the taste, I’ve really enjoyed the product. I am down to one cup of coffee a day, which I’ve done for a while, but since Shakeology I’m finding that I usually don’t drink the whole cup. I could go on and on about how it makes me feel, but this test is about empirical data not subjective opinion.
So, where are we at? I lost two pounds. Big whoop, right? It is just two pounds. Let’s dig into the data a little deeper. More precisely stated, I lost 2.4 pounds of fat, and gained .4 pounds of lean muscle mass. The plan we laid out three weeks ago was to get to 15% body fat with a total weight of 163.7. When I reach this goal I will be the lightest I’ve been since I was about 18. I will be two pounds lighter than when I competed in my first Olympic distance triathlon. I will also be at a record low for body fat percentage. I’m going to be interested to see whether this will be a comfortable weight for me or not. Currently, I’m at 19.21% body fat and a total weight of 166.1. In other words, I’m right on target with the plan.
April 14, 2009 Body Composition Update
Here are the numbers. Granted, someone telling you that they lost 2 pounds isn’t a big deal, and I’m not here to announce that this is some world altering change in my body composition, or that you should run out and buy Shakeology because I lost two pounds. Instead, this test provides evidence of a plan of action that is working very effectively, allowing me to lose body fat, while building lean muscle. Keep in mind that in the “real world” I’m both a lawyer and a Team Beachbody Coach, so I don’t train endlessly or have the ability to sleep for 12 hours every day. This change represents commitment to a plan of action and shows that Shakeology is helping me to obtain my stated goals.
To hit my goal of 163.7 lbs and 15% body fat I am going to have to gain another five pounds of lean muscle mass. That’s not going to be particularly easy. In order to gain this weight, I’m going to deviate from my training schedule. I’ll still work off of a periodized training schedule (like P90X for those of you out there reading this), that will focus on speed work for the next three weeks, then shift to endurance and finally end with race preparation (frequent BRICK’s, time-trials, etc.). However, I’m going to lift quite a bit more than I had originally planned. After finishing P90X in March I was pleasantly surprised to see that my run and bike times were faster, despite taking a significant break from those activities. My swim times didn’t improve, but I believe that is due to rusty technique more than anything else. Nothing a few sessions of Master’s Swim won’t cure. Run times are down from about 8:30 to about 7:45/mi. I consistently average above 18.5 mph on the bike, riding here in the hills of North Scottsdale. Doing 25 mph on a flat road is well within my wheel house now, which was not the case 4 months ago. Given that progress, and my desire to hit this goal, I’m going to lift three times a week. I will be using strength workouts from P90X, P90X+ and Tony Horton’s One-on-One series. My committment to yoga practice twice a week will also remain in place. It is going to be interesting to see whether this speeds me up or slows me down. So far, strength training and regular yoga have made me faster and more efficient. Hopefully, that trend continues.
I’ll probably take some updated pictures next week and put those up for accountability purposes. At this point, suffice it to say that I’m very pleased with my progress and looking forward to going back to the pod in another three weeks. And yes, my second month’s supply of Shakeology is already here so I’ll be sticking with that as the backbone of my nutritional plan.
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