I've been observing people at the gym during my cardio workouts. It's interesting to observe gender roles with respect to their fitness approach. While some women lift, it's like the men's fears of the night must entirely revolve around a treadmill.

Again, it is pertinent to understand why we do what we do. What are we training toward? In that context, what should be prioritized?

I see a lot of overweight men at my gym lifting—and lifting only. Today, I watched a 50-something do assisted pull ups with a band. Now, I love-LOVE the idea of a bodyweight regimen. But, if somebody needs a cheat to do a pull up, instead, reallocate that time into something that melts off the fat poundage.

Unless it's purposeful strength building, what good is it to build lean mass only for it to hide behind a thick slab of fat? And what good are doing pull ups when one is just too fat to do any? Clearly, his life focus isn't climbing over something—maybe digging into another bucket of fried chicken.

Cardio is king for fat loss. Yes, additional lean body mass increases BMR, but only marginally. Cardio simply burns many more calories than resistance. And when I have 200,000+ calories in storage, do I need to do something that gives me more strength or something that will get those calories out the door? I don't want a hoarder body.

I suppose people lead directionless lives in the gym and rely on a monkey see, monkey do approach. Weightlifting is sexy: the barbarian clanging the guttural grunts; dieting and cardio is not. Perhaps the disconnect is simply when obese people see sub-8% bodyfat bodybuilders wrecking the gym like King Kong in Tokyo, it is believed that level of success is from the fireworks—as if the bodybuilder started from a place of a McLovin' life. Yet, diet and cardio—not resistance—has given me a 70+ lb weightloss so far this year and will lead me to 134 lb by EOY. And while they're hammering out more reps while drinking orange soda (true story), I'm striding ever closer to my goals.

In context to all of this, I'm taking resistance out of my program. It's just not time for it. I don't need more strength; I need the economy of movement provided by the slashing of unnecessary (and frankly, dangerous) fat weight.

And I'll do pull ups one day...unassisted.

As I referenced yesterday, I supplement my morning workouts by going into town. I regret losing my elliptical because there would be little need for me to take that morning drive. But on the bonus side, I likely push harder, for being in that environment motivates me. I only regret that I can't spend two hours a morning there.

Yet, as I said, I supplement my morning workouts with it. Beginning yesterday, I've returned to that hallowed 4AM hour for workouts. I've returned to my resistance regimen. But, I do want to explore how I can add martial arts back into the mix to further develop mobility and agility. That's critical: I have absolutely no interest in spending time in the gym just to develop my selfie game. That's something we have to ask ourselves: why am I here? How effective is this exercise in aiding me to reach a specific goal? Squats are a VERY common lifting exercise. However, I can't think of one instance my entire life of that being a real-world situation. But, we don't typically think in those terms—I know, I neglect it. When I designed my resistance program, it was to hit the muscles with the equipment I owned. I didn't think of functional fitness.

There seems to be a dogma that the purpose of these lifting exercises is to do more weight with those lifting exercises...which admittedly makes me turn my head. And yes, those exercises make some impressive specimens, but are the results limited to performing reps? I get it, though, some people really dig going to the gym and lifting up heavy things to put them right back down again. And some folks like to oil their bodies and glisten. I, for one, ain't no show dog, so there's got to be more to it for me.

But, all of that is talk is minutia—the bigger issue we have a society is not our workout approach, but working out at all...

I've got updated data tracking on The Wall. I added going to the local gym and if I hit my breakfast, lunch, and dinner cardio meals at home.

My vitamins have been sorted into their pill organizer; my lunches are prepped for the week; four days of my morning and afternoon blends are set (space becomes an issue); I'm set for a power week.

I have just a little bit over 2 weeks before I weigh-in. It's extra incentive to push hard.

I spent Friday night; Saturday and Sunday afternoons; and this morning at my new gym. I'm really glad I didn't have to pay the $80 enrollment fee and $50/month with a contract. There's some great resistance equipment there, but I wish it had other amenities like a pool and a basketball court. Still, it has the cardio machines I need. But, I'm attracted to the allure to see what else is out there. There's an Anytime Fitness location I'd like to try along with a non-franchise gym; it's really an issue of how long do I want to drive. It's not that big of an issue with a 24-7 gym, but it gets dicey for gyms that like to sleep in past 5AM...and a gym has to be markedly better to justify the time (and gas) spent in travel. Still, a gym that I'm considering would be better for my future running campaign.

I made some break through with my Sunday dinner treadmill. I was able to push harder, though I suspect making a break from Vibram into the shock absorption of an athletic shoe played a significant role.

The Midnight's new album, Kids, just dropped.