Posts tagged fitness

This is the second of a series of three entries that I’m making to give you guys an update on where I’ve been and the road ahead.  Part one can be found here and three should come in a couple of weeks so stay tuned!

Fresh out of the gym and sipping on my favorite protein smoothie so I figured this would be a great time to work on the second part of my update series.

Let me get one thing out of the way since it kind of ties into the theme of this post; I’ve been on about a 10 day “vacation” from the gym and I am WEAK!  I’m not infantile by any stretch but definitely a little less awesome than I was a couple of weeks ago when I was a regular rat.  Seriously, my squats were pathetic today.

And that brings me to the topic of the day; “Where I am”.  So after taking a step back from running, and in some ways fitness all together, I finally got a new gym membership this year.  I would love to say that I’ve been more times than not since joining but that’s just not the case.  And I’m ok with that.  I’m ok with that because when I joined I set a few goals that, to date, are either accomplished or on track.

When I started getting back in the gym I still had every intention on getting back into running shape at some point but I knew that then, like now, is not the time.  My goals were a little more mainstream; get in shape, get bigger, tone up.  In that exact order.  

To be honest, it didn’t take too long for me to get stronger.  I’ve never been the strongest guy in the room but a few years back I worked my way up to being a little above average in the strength department.  Unfortunately a whole lot of boozing and fourth meals wiped out a lot of my good gains.  This year I went back to my tried and true routine of Olympic and power lifts to get myself stronger and in better shape.

My next goal is to spend the next few months putting on “good weight”.  By that I mean lean muscle.  I’m fully aware that it’s not realistic to think I can put on 20 pounds of muscle in less than a year but…take a look at my blog again.  Nothing about this journey is realistic.  Seriously though I am in a bulking phase.  Protein, heavy weights, low reps, protein, and a lot of protein.  

Towards the end of Summer, I hope to have put on about 15 - 20 pounds of good weight and then I’ll move into the toning/cutting portion of my fitness plan.  During that phase I’ll be upping the cardio and aerobic work which serves the dual purpose of getting me ready to start running again.

So as you can see, I really do have a plan.  Whether I stick to it and if it actually works is a total other subject all together.  I guess you’re going to have to just stick with me and see what happens.

Wish me luck kids!

So next week the training starts but I still haven’t gotten the most important piece of equipment…

SHOES!

I’m new to this running thing.  I’ve jogged before, ran on a court and on a field but never actually “ran”.  I would always just throw on whatever pair of sneakers I had and hit the pavement.  No worries.  

If I’m going to get serious it’s time for a serious pair of footwear.  Doing research, picking the right shoe is an actual science.  

This 5k next month isn’t meant to be competitive at all and is more of a fitness test/warm up for the real training.  That said I don’t plan on dropping major bucks on a pair of running shoes.  My goal is to stick to the $50 range.  

I got some advice from my favorite fitness bunny Marie who suggested a nice pair of Asics or New Balance.  Both are pretty popular familiar brands.  Not the best looking if memory serves me but from what I’ve always heard they’re tops when it comes to running.

The plan this weekend is to pick a comfortable pair ASAP and get them broken in before training starts on Monday.  Hopefully these will last me through the 10k in April and maybe even the June Mile.  I’ll get a new pair for the 1/2 mile and for the marathon I’m planning on getting two really good pair to alternate during training and for the actual event.

                     VS.

I’m officially done with 24 hour fitness!  I was happy when I saw they had a bunch of great holiday discounts.  I wasthisclose to picking a package and signing up.

I haven’t been a member for over two years now and despite being pleasantly plump and jolly and jiggly i KNOW it was way overdue for a regular gym routine.  Also there’s the matter of the point of this whole blog.  Anybody remember that?

Strike one for me was the fact that it appears that a lot of 24 Hour locations are getting “upgraded” from “active” to “sport” and from “sport” to “super sport”.  Normally it wouldn’t be a problem but it seems they took the Microsoft approach to upgrading and just fixed things that were already subpar and are pretending to be brand new.  I still wouldn’t have a problem with it if it didn’t affect the actual monthly membership fee.

By my math I could spend $720 for a year at the gym or take that money to Big5 and buy every piece of equipment I’d use at the gym, a new pair of shoes, a couple of training sessions and some supps.  Guess which route I’m going.

Strike two was the fact that today, after months of my friend trying to convince me to try a Zumba class, I finally got myself a three day guest pass to try out the class and what happens? After waiting for 15 minutes for an associate to “help” me I was told that only members can take classes. *pause* Way to attract new members jackasses!!

Not sure why that upset me so much.  Maybe I was looking forward to Zumba class more than I thought but regardless my hands are washed.

Strike three you ask?  I don’t do 3 strikes!  People who know me personally already know this but for those that don’t here’s the breakdown:

There’s two famous expressions about the Law of Threes. The first is “The third time’s the charm.” That’s a positive outlook.  The second is “Three strikes and your out”. That is…say it with me kids…NEGATIVE!!

Now I’m no math whiz so correct me if I’m wrong but if we accept that both of those statements are to some extent true a third try has a 50% chance of success.  As a gambler those odds don’t sit well with me.

Alright.  Feels good to write again but I gotta keep this short and get to my new home routine.  Wish me luck and stay tuned for the next entry. 

Fist pump, fist pump, fist pump!!!!

If a former President of THE United States of Amuureca says it’s a word then it’s a gosh darn word!

So with introductions and preliminary research behind me I think it’s time to plot a course of action.  I’m starting to realize something about myself and that’s that I’m a bit of a stickler for definitions.  On that note I’m going to make this post about my “strategy” as opposed to my “plan”.

To put it simply, I think of “plans” as something you try, and only works once.  Hence the terms “plan b” and “back up plan”.  I look at a “strategy” as something that is well thought out and can be used over and over again in multiple types of scenarios to success.

If you happened to read my last entry prior to this you’ll see I touched on the subjects of training, healthy livers, and nutrition.  I’ll take you a bit deeper into how I plan on incorporating all that.

leggo!

Before I even think of signing up for or even training for a marathon I need to get myself into shape to train.  

Stop laughing.

It may sound like one of those generic excuses people use for not getting into the gym but I have it on good authority that before training for a marathon you should be able to meet a minimal level of fitness.  It’s really to keep you from dying 5 miles in.  I am the first person to admit that I don’t meet those minimal fitness requirements.  I may look good in a suit but my cardio is waaaay down!

In order to make it to that minimum level I’m going to use a workout routine I dubbed the “Go Hard Prison System V.2”.  And yes, there actually was a part one to it.  It’s really just a bodyweight routine that I tweaked and for V.2 really did try to upgrade.  I’ll cover the complete “system” in a seperate entry.

The routine I’ll be using doesn’t have a companion diet program and I don’t much plan on incorporating one into it.  I do know the importance of proper nutrition but I really struggle to practice what I preach.  Since I do have a few secondary and tertiary goals I don’t want to interfere with them by having to stick to a strict diet program.

I will however be paying attention more to what I put into my body in the next month or so.  I need to trim a few inches to look good for a wedding and I need to shed some fat to look good at the beach.  Not that I’m not already a sexy beast, I just want to be the SEXIEST beast at the beach. ;)

While on the topic of nutrition and diet, in a separate entry I’ll go over for you how I’ll be tweaking my current non-existent diet to benefit my training program without sacrificing cost, quality, or taste.

So you’ve read a lot of words already and you probably already got bored and started playing angry birds or words with friend but if you’re still around let me just lay out the strategy for you:

1. Get in shape to train by working out at a ferocious pace until I’m past minimal
2. Condition myself to run for two hours straight without rest
3. Ditch the “workout routine” for an “active lifestyle” 
4. Compete in a 5k
5. Compete in a 10k
6. Compete in a half marathon
7. Finish a marathon in under two hours

I think step one has been laid out for you so let clarify the rest.  Step two is to condition myself to run for a prolonged period of time.  I want to do this because quite simply I’ll need to be able to do it at some point in order to just finish a marathon. Step three is probably not easily comprehensible and probably won’t be still after this explanation but I’ll try.  Marathoning is running.  Running is a basic human skill and ability.  It differs from weight training and sports training in that it’s just simple.  Spending hours in a gym, or studying won’t prepare me for a marathon.  Being outdoors and “going through the motions” will not only prepare me physically but mentally for the task.  Once I feel like I’m in proper shape physically I’m going to cut back on the schedule workouts and gym time and focus more on being active on trails and pavement so my body can get used to real air and terrain.

The next few steps I’m going to consider warm ups to the big event.  I’m not going to aspire to win in the 5k, 10k, or half marathon.  I want to compete in those events as a personal test of my abilities and to experience running with the pack.  You can liken it to a pro fighter engaging in a few sparring sessions before a title fight.

Lastly I plan on getting across that line in under two hours.  Might not happen the first time out but I’m going to keep trying until I hit it.  I won’t be mentally prepared for what it really takes to muscle past all of those top athletes, break free from the pack, hit my stride, and cross that line until I’ve done it once or twice and built a callous over my mind.

So as long winded as that was it’s all laid out now.  I know what I have to do, let’s hope I can actually do it!