Foot Prints
articles by the tca community

Gaining By Losing

Robert Del Favero

     About two years ago I got the opportunity to participate in a program to lose weight and get into better physical condition. My weight had been slowly increasing for some time, my Aikido training had hit a serious plateau, and injuries were limiting my ability to train or to enjoy many other activities. When I found out that my health plan would cover a managed weight loss program, I committed to joining the program offered at the gym at work.

     The program emphasizes diet and exercise in equal measure, because the two go hand in hand. While I reduced my calorie intake, most of my weight loss came from burning more calories than I consumed, directly through exercise and indirectly by raising my metabolic rate and increasing my muscle mass (which burns more calories just being there.) This work was gratifying in its own right -- it feels better to be in better shape – but also gratifying because it made it possible for me to raise the level of my Aikido practice. I don’t think that I’d have been able to prepare for my ikkyu test if I hadn’t improved my conditioning and weight – my body wouldn’t have been able to take the strain. Through this process I learned some things that I’d like to share with my fellow students.

First, it’s probably easier to stay in shape than to regain it. For the first two months of my program, I was putting so much energy into my diet and exercise that I was barely functional at work or anywhere else. And even today it’s a struggle for me to maintain the habit of going to the gym on a regular basis. I’m encouraging all the young people I know to develop an exercise habit while they’re young, to get it well ingrained while it’s still relatively painless and easy.

I found that it helps to measure things like body weight, portion sizes, body measurements, heart rate or how much weight I’m lifting. There’s something comforting (to me anyway) about having some absolutes to look at during a challenging process. Feelings go up and down for many reasons and physical progress is often too gradual to notice from one day to the next, so when there are measurements or pictures to compare over time it’s easier to see what happened. Seeing results was the strongest motivator I found for staying with the diet and going to the gym on schedule.

Portion control is the key to knowing how much you’re eating, which is the key to losing weight safely and effectively. When I ate too much, I didn’t lose weight. When I ate too little, I had no energy and could feel the stress on my body of losing weight too fast. Under-eating made me noticeably less sharp mentally, which made my computer programming job rough. For quite a while after I started the diet I had to be very careful to eat properly, or I’d develop lightheadedness whenever I stood up. Picture trying to get through an Aikido class when standing up makes you dizzy!

     Setting goals is useful. Meeting them is rewarding. My goal for the weight loss program was to be in good enough shape to be well prepared for my ikkyu test, and to finish the test physically ready to keep training. I was happy to achieve both goals. In the longer term, I’m finding new confidence in myself and my ability to change things in my life. It turns out that losing weight was just a first step on a longer road – one I’m looking forward to traveling.

     I gained and maintain endurance by doing cardio training – elevating my heart rate and keeping it there for 45-60 minutes a day. I use different methods to do this: lap swimming, stair climbers, treadmills, exercise bikes and that wonder of modern exercise technology known as the Elliptical Trainer, which simulates a running motion without the impact. I measure my heart rate while exercising and keep it in a target range for cardio. It’s a pretty quick pace – I can maintain a conversation while exercising, but only barely. Good cardio condition makes it possible for me to train at Aikido with more intensity for longer periods, and to recover quickly between bouts of exertion. This means I can attend more classes, be more alert and attentive during class, take more turns at ukemi during randori practice, and even under the stress of a test I can concentrate on doing my best technique, rather than worrying about catching my breath

     I worked with a coach on strength training, using various exercises and equipment. We varied things often to avoid getting into a rut and to develop overall fitness rather than just bulking a few muscles. Strength training for Aikido can be self-defeating. Aikido’s effectiveness has more to do with timing, balance and energy than it does with strength. My ongoing struggle in training has been learning not to force things with my strength, and getting stronger makes that harder for me. On the other hand, our teachers were not physically weak people. My current understanding is this: Just as we learn lethal techniques as an option and choose when (not) to use them, it’s good to have strength as an option and choose when (not) to use it.

     That said, there’s one place where I can confidently say that strength is necessary for good Aikido: core strength. I worked specifically to strengthen my abdominal and back muscles, my glutes and my thighs. Improving my strength in those areas has made a huge change to my aikido. It’s much easier to have proper posture when a strong core is holding your body upright where you intend it to be. It’s much easier to move precisely when a strong core is keeping your body from whipping and wobbling around as you move. It’s easier to do good ukemi when your core can hold you curled into just the right shape to follow a line, and easier to get back to your feet when you don’t have to use your hands to get up off the floor. Core training also makes me feel more aware of where my center is, and that helps me keep everything coordinated with my center during technique. On and off the mat, I notice that I’m less prone to back injuries when I’m doing my crunches regularly.

     People have told me I got quicker on the mat. I’m sure that I’m a little faster, with less mass to accelerate and more muscle to do the work. But I think that it was actually being overweight and out of shape that made me “quick.” I had to learn a lot of tactics to compensate for my size and mass, and many of those tactics had to do with timing and its manipulation. We’ve had visiting teachers talk about this aspect of technique. Some talk about “leading”, others talk about “phase shift”, but in the end what they mean is operating on a different time scale than uke. When I was overweight, I picked up those tactics just to make it possible for me to keep up with people at my level. Now that I’m physically smaller and closer in quickness to others, those timing tactics make me look “fast”, at least for a brown belt. So even the handicap of excess weight was an opportunity to learn something.

     Two years after starting the program, I’ve rebounded somewhat from my lowest weight. I haven’t been willing to maintain the level of activity I did then, and some of you may have noticed that I enjoy the occasional beer these days. I’ve found what feels like an acceptable compromise between being in super shape and having a life with room in it for things beyond work, the gym and the dojo. The important difference between now and two years ago is that now I know what things cost – what it costs to eat carelessly and what it costs to eat with deliberation; what it costs to be a potato and what it costs to be in top condition. It feels good to be consciously choosing a nice place to live in that space.

Robert Del Favero is a computer programmer, knitter and motorcyclist who’s been practicing Aikido for ten years.