OK, I’m out of shape. It’s my fault but I have a plan to fix it. Even though I’m not exactly rolling around like a sloppy caricature from the movie Wall-e, I’m a far cry from the physical shape I’ve attained in the past and I am reaching the point where I actually feel like I’m out of shape. This is not good. At the peak of my training days while in school at CSU, I weighed 155 lbs and bench pressed 245 lbs, hammer curled 60 lbs, and squatted 450 lbs using free weights. My strength alone wasn't a good indicator that I was in overall healthy condition, but just to put it into perspective, I strain to bench press even 150 lbs today.
Thankfully, I’ve always been an active person with relatively healthy eating habits. I'm also blessed with a high metabolism. In fact, I am confident that one thing has improved - my eating habits - especially when it comes to having a more balanced diet. Over all, I think this means I don’t have an insurmountable hill to climb to get back into shape. However, unlike in the past, I don’t just want to appear to be in good shape. Physique without the stamina to back it up is pointless. I'm less concerned these days about my appearance and more with my overall health.
In order to achieve this, given the obvious time constraints of having a demanding job and home life to attend to, I'm not going to be able to spend hours on end in the gym the way I did in college. Instead, I'm choosing to follow a much more simplistic but effective training plan. It involves no complicated routines or equipment, which means I can train pretty much anywhere. The sheer intensity of exercise in a single sitting requires a huge level of determination and commitment. It means feeding my body with a conscientious diet and getting plenty of rest.
For anyone who knows me, you know I don’t always do things the easy way. I love a challenge and I like doing things that others are afraid to do, too lazy to do, or both. So the training program I plan to follow is equally challenging. It is basically a modified version of the same PT employed by our own Navy Seals. I know...I know. That sounds like complete overkill and totally impossible. But keep in mind, I didn't say I'm doing the same training as a Navy Seal. For obvious reasons, that won't be possible. I am only focusing on the conditioning or PT portion of the training, so it won't be nearly as mentally, logistically, or technically demanding – but that isn’t my goal. My goal is to become as physically fit to meet the high PT standard a Navy Seal must meet to complete their training.
So, it basically involves a ridiculous combination of push ups, sit ups, pull ups, running, and swimming. For fun, we'll also put in some ruck marches and at the end - I'd like to try to complete the drown proofing (not sure if I'll be able to do this since I'd have to get someone with credentials to commit to helping me with that). The program is essentially a perfect combination of strength and endurance training meant to push a person to be as fit as humanly possible and able to go the distance against any adversary. This training schedule will have to be modified in respect to overall duration - meaning it has to be longer since my starting point, by necessity, will be less aggressive at the onset. Since I’m not already in excellent fitness, I have to work myself up to the first phase of the training program.
This is an ambitious goal but it is doable…I've read the program and I can do it. To prove my commitment (and success) in reaching this goal, I plan to update my blog with a weekly progress report. This holds me accountable and it serves to document my transformation. There will be improvement, pains, set backs, injuries, etc. It won't be easy or even fun. It will be good for me. Anyhow, my first week of training (week 1) will commence as soon as I can procure a gym membership for access to an indoor pool, which should be early next week. Starting one week from today, I will publish my first weeks training schedule.
Check back often to heckle me or help keep me motivated...
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