It’s official! September 2008 was experiment number 12, concluding an entire year of treating myself like a lab rat! It’s been quite the ride. I’ve been in more compromising positions than a Hooter’s waitress, tweaked my diet so much I got a new-fangled eating disorder, and typed so many blog posts (300 exactly!) that I earned a spot in the carpal tunnel hall of fame. And I’ve got the hemorrhoids (thank you one-rep max on the squat!), shin splints, bruises, carpet burns, stubbed toes, calloused hands, pummeled wrists, and wounded pride to show for it! But I’ve also learned a lot – a lot about health and fitness but even more so, a lot about myself.
My Favorite Part of This Year
I have to tell you, the number one best thing about doing this Great Experiment is: You! Not to get all Oprah on you but all of you are what makes doing this worthwhile. From all my Gym Buddies who put up with my crazy antics in real life to all of you who open up your lives and hearts to me in the comments and via e-mail and your own blogs, you people make this fun. Not to mention educational. You are some smart folk, you are, and I am amazed and grateful at how often you take the time to share your insight with me. It means a lot to me.
The Book
Some of you have joked about me writing a book from this whole experience. You should know better than to joke with a writer like that – it only encourages me;) But I have written a book (in addition to the 2 fictional and one non-fiction book already languishing on my hard drive) and am working on getting it published. So if any of you know anyone… Nope, I’m not too proud to beg!
Twelve Experiments
Here’s a little summary to catch you up if you are a new reader, or to make you roll your eyes and giggle (seriously – do you remember my first profile pic??) if you have been with me since the beginning:
October 2007: 12/8 Interval Sprints. I started this experiment because I blew out my shin running to much and this pretty bit of research spawned the whole Great Fitness Experiment concept. This was my first introduction to Tabata intervals and butt-bruises from the Spin bikes. A huge success, to this day I love Tabata intervals. And my butt.
November 2007: Skinny Bitch. Read the book, pretended I wasn’t copying Posh Spice again (the first time being in High School in a late-night ill-advised “music video” that I can only discuss because it was done in the pre-YouTube era), and went Vegan for three months. Strangers thought I was a poseur, my friends thought I was nuts, and my family thought I had relapsed into my eating disorder. And they were all kind of right.
December 2007: Just in time for Christmas, I decided to embark on a 30-day no-sugar Experiment in addition to changing up my weight routine both in technique and type. The results were mixed. I discovered that removing sugar from my diet makes me a happier, healthier, stabler, and less-acne prone woman. And that the only way I’ll stay sugar-free forever is if there is blight on sugar cane and sugar beets because I can’t leave the stuff alone. Jelly beans are my crack. As for the weights, I found that lifting slower does help but changing the order (cardio first vs. second) didn’t matter so much.
January 2008: The Monkey Bar Gym! This was my first attempt at Experimenting on a pre-fab workout. And I loved it. This workout has consistently remained one of my favorite Experiments ever. It is easy enough that beginners can start it and yet you can make it hard enough for the most seasoned athletes. It incorporates high intensity interval cardio with a good mix of functional weight training. It also has the added bonus of requiring very little equipment. And they post a new workout every day!
Feb 2008: The Cardio Diet. This was my first attempt at curbing my cardio queen impulses. Mark’s Daily Apple convinced me with their talk of low body fat and less exercise. The results were mixed. On one hand, it didn’t really work for me. On the other hand, I love my cardio too much to truly follow the plan. But on the other other hand, I have a repeating problem in my life with doing too much cardio. In July I will attempt the entirety of Mark’s Primal Blueprint (cue ominous music) concluding in the biggest failure of Experiment history.
March 2008: The almighty CrossFit! This is possibly one of the most controversial workouts out there today. Their philosophy was radical when it started, although it has since become accepted as more mainstream: lots of short sessions of weight lifting, short very intense bursts of cardio and the occasional very long cardio. It’s uber competitive with followers posting their times and weight loads every day, even spawing its own CrossFit olympics. My opinion? The hype is pretty accurate. It’s a kick-butt take-no-prisoners seriously hardcore workout. I’ve since incorporated CrossFit into several of my subsequent Experiments. My only complaint was that it made me a little too muscle-y.
April 2008: The Ballerina Workout. This was the complete opposite of CrossFit: long sessions of very low weight/high volume weight training. It ended up being a solid two hours per day of plies, arabesques and 100-rep sets of 3-lb weights. I learned that no matter what the press says, this is not the way Madonna got her body. My results were mixed. On one hand – World’s Most Boring Workout Ever. But on the other hand – This month was the month I was the happiest with my body shape, size and muscle definition. However, that could have been due to finally getting down to my goal weight (thank you confluence of stressful life events which temporarily made me lose my will to eat!). Which my friends and family then informed me was too thin. Thus opening up a whole ‘nother can of crazy. These days I’ll throw it in maybe once or twice a month to vary my workouts but I can’t say I look forward to it.
May 2008: The Action Hero Workout. Despite its supercool name, this pre-fab workout from Valerie Waters (personal trainer to the stars) was minorly disappointing. It wasn’t bad – mostly a mix of strength and mild cardio moves. But it wasn’t great either. It required her special Val-Slide and Val-Band equipment (which the Gym Buddies and I fudged because we’re cheap) and while it had a few new moves, it was nothing extraordinary. Definitely good to throw in to mix things up every once in awhile but not good if you are looking for a transformation.
June 2008: Jillian Michaels’ Making the Cut. I took this workout and diet plan from The Biggest Loser’s star personal trainer’s book. It was pretty good except that I found I couldn’t follow her plan to the letter. For one thing, her diet was ridiculously low in calories and the other problem was the science behind her exercise philosophy was… old. A fact later explained by careful examination of the copyright date. That said though, it was a decent burn and she did have some tasty recipes.
July 2008: The Primal Blueprint. I’d been toying around with different parts of the Primal Blueprint courtesy of Mark’s Daily Apple (see March) but had never tried his whole program together. I decided to give it a go. What happened? The most spectacular failure in Great Fitness Experiment history. I still can’t bear to talk about it. Feel free to read up if you want all the dirty details. (Note: I still love Mark Sisson and his site remains one of my fave resources of exercise and nutrition research.)
August 2008: Old-Skool Cardio. Because I am all about the extremes, this month was dedicated to all cardio, all the time. I kept two days of weight lifting in there to maintain muscle mass but I won’t lie – my heart wasn’t in it. Instead, my heart was happily chugging along in the moderate-intensity range for a whopping 25 (ish) hours per week. What did I learn? Cardio is not the great fat burner people make it out to be. But the runner’s high is totally real!
September 2008: Kettlebells. Long requested by my loyal band of readers, I finally got a hold of enough KB cuties to actually use them in an experiment. It was fun! It was cardio and strength together, making for a very efficient workout. The results were less stellar than I had hoped but I think with better training I’d try them again.
Future Experiments
Several of you (Hi Professor Platek!!) have suggested workouts for future Experiments. I LOVE this. Do know that I write down every suggestion I get (that doesn’t involve taking a crap load of pills) and hope to be able to get to them all soon. But some of them – especially the ones involving equipment that my gym doesn’t have – are harder to get to then others. But I’m working on it. And I love love love you guys for sending me ideas. So keep it up!
So there you have it! Any of you have a favorite Experiment? Which one(s) did you hate?
ahhhh what a ride. i havem;t been here for the wole thing, but enjoyed what I was around for.
How about an experiment where you relax and workout based on how you feel? Thats always been my favorite….
Kelly Turner
http://www.groundedfitness.com
That’s so exciting! A whole year, wow.
I am intrigued about this book, do tell more!
And can’t choose a favourite. They’ve all been so good.
As for suggestions… I’ve been super interested in martial arts lately; you should try a class of that. Ooh! Or fencing! I only ever tried it once and it was fantastic.
Heart fitness experiments.
Kelly – Relax? What does that word mean?? 😉 Someday I want to be you when I grow up.
Sagan – and I heart you! I’ve actually tentatively lined up a martial arts experiment for November! Shhhh!
I love your blog. Follow it almost daily. Thanks for sharing your journey. Keep on keepin’ on, Charlotte!
As for suggestions on future workouts– how about sandbags. I recently purchased one (still waiting for it, tho, I guess they’re back ordered) and have heard how great they are for both strength and cardio, which basically you can’t go wrong. I have been doing a lot of Tabata workouts and have really been enjoy them. So when I receive the sandbag I think I’ll hit ’em up Japanese style!
Have you considered doing an experiment in which weight loss/ body composition changes are not the goals? Sometimes I think it can be refreshing to take a break from aesthetic training and focus completely on something else. Maybe a powerlifting month (or couple of months really, to see the biggest difference) where your goal is solely to increase your bench press, squat, and deadlift by as much as possible. And where your success is not gauged by a measuring tape or bathroom scale.
“What A Long Strange Trip It’s Been!”
Thanks so much for picking up this hitchhiker along the way!
Happy anniversary!
I love the martial arts idea too – delighted that you plan to do it. How about you do the kung fu type that Bruce Lee does (think it’s Wing Chun) A whole new career awaits you in the movies…. stuntwoman Char!
TA (who already has her dress ready for the premier) x
Congrats on getting through the year!
As far as ideas, here is one:
http://www.simplefit.org/ – This looks interesting in a bodyweight CrossFit-ish type way
Kat – I’ve never even heard of sandbags! Def. tell me what you think of them when you get them!!
Anon – I think that is a really good idea. You make a great point about changing my focus. And I do track my one-rep maxes and other weights, I just need to post on them more often!
Dr. J – Love that you found me!
TA – LOL. I’m kind of a wuss when it comes to actual danger. Besides, I’ve read that stuntwomen are actually having a hard time right now because they can’t get as skinny as the H’wood actresses they are supposed to be doubles for and yet still maintain enough muscle to do the stunts…
James W – Ooooh! I’m intrigued! Thanks for the tip!
I’ve only been checking in for the last month or thereabouts, so it was great to get a round-up of all your experiments. It’s interesting to see what suited you, and equally what didn’t work for you. I’m intrigued by Jillian Michael’s plan, but that could just be the advertising hype sucking me in!
I definitely recommend the Martial Arts experiment!! I’ve been doing TKD (Taekwon-Do) for nearly 10 years, and it’s given me all round flexibility, strength and fitness. I’m not sure how much you’d learn in 30 days though, any chance you’d do a year long experiment?!! :o)
Keep up the great work Char, can’t wait for the book! ;o)
Hey Charlotte! I run into you a lot on Cranky Fitness and decided to check out your blog.
Damn! I can’t believe I’ve been missing out on all this! You are a great writer and I love the idea of the experiments. I’m currently experimenting with hoisting myself off the couch and back onto the treadmill, since it has been 2 weeks with NO cardio (and I’m feeling it all over).
I will fo sho be coming back and I hope you will continue your experiments because I desperately need some more workout ideas.
See ya at the Crank!!
Wow, you’ve given me some great ideas for future workouts. Thanks!
Happy anniversary. You are one of the few blogs I check almost daily, so here is a thanks, keep writing please (or what else would I do at work?), and good luck with your book!
Can’t say I have one favorite but I am constantly awed and impressed at how varied you are in your workouts. I’m just terrified at wasting my time in the gym (because I have so little of it) so I stick to the tried and true stuff. Thanks for experimenting so I can pick out the good stuff and use it!
My favorite part? Reading whatever you have to dish out for the day! Your blog is the first I check each day and I’m never dissapointed. Thank you for being so honest and such a great blog-friend! 🙂
I like the idea of a martial arts experiment too.
And to get away from the weight loss/body composition thing, how about meditation? It’s kind of the antithesis of fitness, since it’s just sitting, but I think that it can definitely help the mind (I’m still new to it and figuring it out, but that’s the theory at least).
I loved the JMP month and the old-skool cardio. I know your results weren’t as fabulous, but JMP really worked for my body type. I also think it made a difference that I wasn’t doing much lifting before I started the experiment. I still use some of her moves in my weekly routine.
I’m either going to take Pole Dancing in November or Kick Boxing – we’ll see.
I definitely had a good time experimenting along for some of those months! I think we all learned a little bit about what we like and don’t like by participating, and more about what we know wouldn’t work for us through your lab rat-ness.
Happy Blogiversary!
Shivers – I’d love to do a year-long martial arts experiment. It’s just spendy since my gym doesn’t offer those classes and so I have to pay out of pocket for them. Who know tho, maybe I’ll love it so much I’ll do it anyhow!
Jill- awww, thanks girl! I hope to see you around more. Love Cranky!
Tricia – that’s what I’m here for!
Quix – thanks for being such a loyal reader! What you just wrote is why I do this:)
Colleen – Aw, I love my Blog Buddies! How is your toe doing, btw?
Lethological – I def. need to do some more meditation. Somehow that’s the thing that always gets bumped off the list…
SeaBreeze – I vote Pole Dancing!! Then you can tell me all about it! Glad you liked JMP! That’s what it’s all about – finding what works for you.
Gena – thanks! I love that you are always so willing to try my crazy stuff!
i don’t know when i found you, but when i did, i definitely read through all the back posts and loved everything i read.
i’m not sure what my favorite experiment was, though – several were awesome!
Congrats! The scary thing is, i remember each of those posts without going back to peek – you’re just so memorable 😉 Mazel tov on Year one and here’s to many more…PS you should do that thing so many parents do on their one-year-old baby’s birthday and buy a cake and smash your face in it. In a good way, I mean.
happy birthday to your blog! I also can’t wait to read your book.
once my franken-foot has healed I am totally going to go back to the sprints. Love them!
not to get all Oprah on you, but thank you Charlotte! I hope I can meet you in person someday! 🙂
Woo-hoo!Happy one year blogiversary! You’re a wonderful unique authentic voice in the community Charlotte and I look forward to year 2!
congrats on one year!!! i love this blog and wish i had found it earlier!!
suggestions – i will have to keep thinking on that.
and did you do the metabolic intervals today??? is she serious? i did the whole thing once through w/o the repeats and i’m about to fall out. i can’t wait to see if i can do it as written by the end of the month!
T – thanks!
Weighting Game – you know I don’t cook well, girl! You bake me the cake tho and I’m all about smashing my face in it!!
Workout Mommy – I would love to meet you someday too, Lisa!!
Steph – thanks woman!
kimmitri – yeah, we did her metabolic intervals thing today and did it twice thru – took us AN HOUR and we were soaked in sweat. Also – I cannot stay on the swiss ball to save my life. All the exercise I get from those two moves is from the laughing as I fall off over and over again;) Good for you for doing them!
The nice thing is, it’s all immensely readable. Not something every blog can claim, alas, but something to celebrate.
Please, may we have some more? 🙂
Congrats on your one year!!!!
I predict a book deal before too long. You write way too well to go unnoticed. Always funny, observant, clever, yet you don’t shy away from the tough emotional stuff either.
Hope to read many more awesome posts and books and hell, maybe see the movie premiere of The Great Fitness Experiment!
OK, this isn’t a fitness one but more of a diet. Have you heard of the book “The China Study” by Drs Campbell? I’m not sure, but what I can tell on wikipedia the premise is that rural Asians are non-consumers of dairy and eat much less meat and thus have little to no osteoporosis as a result; way lower cholesterol; etc. And that the highest-dairy consuming countries are Finland, Sweden, US and UK. The countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis are Finland, Sweden, US and UK.
Seems to me a little too simplistic; solely attributing skipping milk, eggs, cheese and meat. Granted, the “typical American” diet of meat-n-potatoes isn’t doing anyone that much good. But I wonder if there are more genetic and dietary differences between Asians and Caucasians than meet the eye.
But didn’t know if you had heard of it.?.
cool summary post –
for future experiments ever tried paleo or zone diets?
Merry & Crabby – thanks!! You guys have been such a great help and support this last year. Love you two!
Brian – I have indeed read teh China STudy. It was one of my biggest reasons for going vegan last year. However, the study has some major flaws. If you are interested maybe I'll do a whole post on it?
Senior Saint – Yup! Tried both!! The "Primal Blueprint" is the name that MDA uses for the paleo diet. Worst experiment I ever did (see above). And Zone is what CrossFit recommends. I do all right on Zone.
Thanks for the year overview!
I almost bought Skinny Bitch when I first saw it. Your quote about it is exactly why I didn’t! “Strangers thought I was a poseur, my friends thought I was nuts, and my family thought I had relapsed into my eating disorder. And they were all kind of right”.(That and the fact that I probably couldn’t stick with it for more than a day).
I appreciate your openness about your “food issues”. Just when I think I am ok with food I realize I will never be ok with it. I just have to try to be.
I did buy Making the Cut when it came out because I love Jillian Michaels. I’m glad you thought the calorie requirements were “ridiculously low” because I thought the same thing.(Maybe that’s why I don’t look like her).
Anyway, I look forward to reading about more of your experiments!
I’m having to get really creative right now with my work outs due to the baby strapped to my chest (does that make me sound like a crazy bomber?) so the recap is awesome. Less Google this way. Really, I’m happy, I appreciate it. This ought to keep me busy for about, say, a year.
Charlotte- it's now September 2009 and I'm going to sit here and wait by my computer til my GoogleReader tells me that you have done a recap of the 2009 experiments. Ok. Nothing yet. Still here. Hmm. I'll just keep waiting. dumdeedumdeedum…No pressure or anything.
wonderful points altogether, you just won a emblem new
reader. What would you suggest about your submit that you just made some days
in the past? Any positive?