Welcome

Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.

I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.  

I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time.  As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree. 

Sunday, July 18, 2021

Book Review: Body-Rx

  


Body Rx was a fitness and nutrition program released in 2001, right at the height of Body for Life's popularity, so much so that the creator of Body Rx, Scott Connelly was accused of "ripping off" Body For Life. Which was unfair for a couple of reasons. First, the programs are actually very different, even if there are some common themes (as there are in nearly all fitness and nutrition books), and Bill Phillips (the author of Body for Life) actually worked for Connelly's supplement company, Met-Rx, BEFORE he went out on his own and created EAS. So, the supplement product that Connelly discusses for all of one chapter in the book existed before Myoplex (EAS' meal replacement formula at the time) was ever a thing.

The main focus of the book is nutrition. Connelly has two main points regarding nutrition. First, eat more fiber, and by more, he means eventually eat a LOT of fiber. Second, do as much as you can to eliminate high fructose corn syrup from your diet. He calls it the worst kind of sugar you can consume, explains how it is creating a nation of diabetics, and points out how pervasive it is. He also (rightly) rails against the USDA's food pyramid as it existed at the time, specifically how it was so focused on lumping all fats together as "bad" that it had people eating minuscule amounts of protein and way too many refined carbs (which was also making people fat and contributing to the type-2 diabetes problem in the United States). 

His nutrition plan calls for eating a lot of protein, emphasizing lean protein, and a lot of fiber. The nutrition plan has three phases which gradually increase the amount of protein and fiber you consume. In the third phase of the program, you will be eating 60 grams of fiber and the amount of protein depends on your weight. Of course, if you try to eat 60 grams of fiber right out of the gate you will have horrible pain in your gut, so you have to build that up gradually. He breaks carbs down into three categories green (vegetables and other high-fiber content carbs), yellow (this is where most fruit and grains fall), and red (basically anything with little to no fiber and a lot of sugar, like sweets). There is no limit on the number of green carbs you can eat, but he sets limits on yellow and red carbs. The book is a bit confusing about yellow carbs. It is not clear if the number is a daily target or a limit. Years ago I was on a message board that Connelly would respond on from time to time, and he made clear that the yellow carb number is an UPPER LIMIT, that you do not have to hit daily, but should not go over. The only two numbers that he wanted people to hit every day were the protein and fiber numbers. 

In the workout portion of the program, he emphasizes weight training over cardio. He splits the weight workouts into 4 per week, three upper-body days (Chest & Biceps, Back & Triceps, and Shoulders & Abs), and one lower-body day. There is no built-in cardio (he basically says you can do it if you want to, but do not do the "cardio bunny" thing where you spend hours on the treadmill day after day). He advises mainly using cardio as a way to warm up and that is it. He also has you lifting as heavy as you safely can, emphasizing maxing out on the last reps in the last set. Because of this, the workouts are very hard to do at home (especially on lower body days). 

Overall, the book has some good advice, but is still a bit cookie cutter and may not work for everyone. If you do not want to do the very heavy lifting you probably do not want to eat as much protein as he suggests, because if you are not using it to repair your muscles, you will just pee it out. His advice on fiber and eliminating fructose is spot on. Even if you carb cycle (as I do) eating as much fiber as you can tolerate (utilizing green carbs) will not impact your low-carb days. I think the focus on the different phases, with muscle building in one phase (and preparing you for gaining some fat as well) and fat burning in a different phase (by cutting the amount of yellow and red carbs you are allowed), are good. It is definitely worth trying the program (with appropriate modifications for you) to see how it works. Just make sure you are not overeating yellow carbs. Even if you are allowed 300g of yellow carbs a day, if you are full after eating 150g of yellow carbs and hit your protein and fiber numbers, stop there. You are good. I think that will be the big key to a person's success (or lack thereof) with the program.

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