The
Body for Life Principles
work best for toughest competitor alive, Kevin Tjelle
You have heard the saying, “ my body is a temple”. That means
something different to everyone. To the athlete it means a regimented
program of exercise and nutrition and rest. Body For Life is a program
that is designed for you. The work is done and there are millions to testify
as to the results. The book and video are by Bill Phillips. Here are some
of the basic guidelines or rules of thumb:
1. eat six meals per day
2. all meals should contain all three of the nutrient food groups, carbs,
fat, and protein
3. portions should be the size of the palm of your hand
4. try to eat 1grm/lb of body weight of protein daily.
5. eat the proper kind of fat. The body needs fat to metabolize fat
6. drink .6 oz./per lb of body weight of water daily
7. 12 x body weight is the maintenance number of calories a day
8. have one cheat day a week and eat whatever you want
9. do weight resistive exercise 3-4 x a week
10. do aerobic exercise for 20-30 mins. 3 x a week
11. High Intensity Interval training gets better results than slow and
steady
12. set reasonable goals and work towards them, rewarding yourself along
the way.
13. don’t expect magic like results real fast. It will happen over
weeks and your friends will probably notice it first.
Basically what you will do is exchange fat for lien mass. It is possible to not even lose a lb but go down a few waist sizes. It is a great thing because you end up with eating habits that you’ll hang onto forever. After you get where you want to be, you can do cheat meals many times a week, if you want.
This is great for any person looking out for their health, but it is
very important for the athlete. A coach told me once “muscle hauls
muscle and muscle hauls fat, but fat hauls nothing”. Think about
it. Following these principles your body will reach a point of homeostasis
so to speak. It will come to a point where you have the greatest performance
potential. Then you just maintain it. It is great.
The athlete sometimes wants to tweak the body. All you have to do is adjust
the macronutrient profile. For example, in season when the training is
the hardest I will lower my protein and up my carbs. I often adjust my
fat percentage between 10 and 20 % to try to trick the body and stimulate
fat burning.
I have to warn you, it takes a lot of will power and at times a strong constitution to follow this in the firehouse. Stick with it and be strong and you’ll see the results out on the fireground. Before you know it you’ll have some followers, and trust me you are going to feel great.
Captain Tjelle