First, I want to apologize for any confusion I caused by my discussion of an early morning, pre-workout, mostly fat-free JDD shake. The purpose and the timing of the pre-workout shake is to get some high quality, easily assimilated protein into the body to protect our lean body mass (our muscles, bones, organs, and the fluids of our body). The avoidance of fat in the early morning pre-workout is because healthy fat or fat of any kind for that matter, slows down assimilation.

To be clear, a JDD shake any other time than early in the morning, in a fasting state, healthy fat is an integral and an essential component. This is true of our post morning workout shake as well as any JDD shake at any other time of the day or night. Healthy fat is our human body’s preferred source of energy and fuel. We want to eat enough fat so our high quality animal protein gets used to make our body stronger and healthier. A good rough and reasonable ratio of healthy fat to high quality animal protein is about 60% healthy fat and 40% high quality animal protein. My ratio is more like 70% healthy fat and 30% high quality animal protein. I will often put 2 to 3 tablespoons of avocado oil in my JDD shake along with 2 scoops of my protein powder and unsweetened coconut milk.

Aerobic exercise

Now to a quick review to bring us up to date. Aerobic exercise is the most important kind of exercise because it strengthens and develops our cardiovascular system: our heart, our lungs and our circulatory system. Aerobic exercise means steady state exercise where we can breathe comfortably through our nose. Remember: anytime we are puffing and panting, for all practical purposes, we are burning zero fat – we are burning sugar and muscle.

We learned, the best conditioned, the most fit athletes on the planet are cross country skiers. Why? Because cross country skiing is a full-body aerobic exercise. We can duplicate the incredible fitness and fat burning benefits of cross country skiing by walking at a comfortable pace and pumping very light hand weights starting with just one pound in each hand.

The basic move is Pump & Walk. One pump per step. Every time our left foot steps forward, our right hand pumps our hand weight up. We alternate like marching. We walk at a 2 ½ mile to a 3 mile an hour pace. This is not race-walking. It is not how fast you walk. It is full range of motion that gives you and your body the greatest benefits. When we are pumping and walking, every time our left hand pumps up, we count. We count left hand pumps up to 25 repetitions, then we transition to the first of 3 variations.

The first variation is called Chest Flyes. We are walking non-stop through out our Heavy Hands workout. To commence Chest Flyes, as our left foot steps forward, we bring our hands up to chest height, knuckles facing each other.   As our right foot steps forward, we bring our elbows back until we feel a good stretch in our chest or pectoral muscles. We also inhale as our elbows are driving back. As our right foot steps forward, we bring our hands back together and simultaneously exhale. Heavy Hands has a full body rhythm like dancing. Once your body gets the hang of it, it is fun and incredibly invigorating. How we count: every time we drive our elbows back, and expand our chest with a deep inhale, we count “one”.   One “set” of Chest Flyes is 25 repetitions.

Once you have completed one set of 25 Chest Flyes, go back to Pump & Walk for a count of 25 left arm pumps. Then you swing immediately into the second variation: Lateral Raises.

You move your hands to waist height with your elbows at 90 degrees. The palms of your hands are facing each other. As your right foot steps forward, you bring your arms up as though you are flapping your wings. Your elbows stay at 90 degrees.  Your upper arms are parallel to the ground. Your forearms are parallel to the ground and parallel to each other. How you count: each time your lead foot steps forward and you raise your arms up, you count “one”. A full set of Lateral Raises is 25 repetitions. As soon as you complete your set of 25 Lateral Raises, you go back to Pump & Walk. Between each variation, you do one set of Pump & Walk (25 left hand pumps). Now we transition into variation number 3: Overhead Presses.

Again, we are walking comfortably non-stop. As our left foot steps forward, we bring our hands to a position a little above shoulder height. Our palms are facing forward. As our right foot steps forward, we drive our hands all the way up to full range of motion. As our left foot steps forward, we return to our original starting position. As our right foot steps forward, our hands drive all the way up again. There is no stopping.

Keep it moving

There are no rest periods. Our entire body is moving non-stop for the full 30 to 45 minutes. This is one reason we start with only one pound in each hand. And why we will only gradually increase the number of repetitions. And even more gradually increase the weight in our hands.

You have now completed one full cycle. One cycle is: one set of 25 Pump & Walks, one set of 25 Chest Flyes, one set of 25 Pump & Walks, one set of 25 Lateral Raises, one set of 25 Pump & Walks, one set of 25 Overhead Presses.

In a 30 minute Heavy Hands walk, you will complete 4 full cycles. In a 45 minute Heavy Hands walk, you will complete 6 full cycles.

In part 3, I will spell out how we progress, that is, how we increase repetitions and how we increase our hand weights. By combining Heavy Hands walking and the Joe Dillon nutrition program you will get into the best shape in your life with your best blood panel ever and your best body composition. All safely and without puffing and panting.

Thank you for listening and thank you for joining me on the journey of becoming crystal clear, fully alive and living your life to the full.

Joe

Photo by Arek Adeoye on Unsplash