SpiritualEngr

6:15am - Body Weight Program - DIY suspension trainer used for most exercises Sets x Reps - Exercise 2 x 5 - Pull-Ups, feet on chair on front of me 2 x 5 - Chin-Ups, feet on chair on front of me 4 x 5 - Push-Ups, Handles 4" off the ground 4 x 5 - Pistol Squats(Each Leg) 4 x 5 - Inverted Rows, Straight Body Feet on chair, negative last rep on each set 12:15 PM - Walk/Jog(Alternating 0.25 Miles) 3.55 Miles, 45 min., 450 cal.

October 28, 2014 Work Sucked today and I didn't make it outside to get my walk in during my lunch hour. 8:35 PM - Walk/Jog 2 Miles in 35 mins

Starting today I plan on updating this daily with my activity. Activities are going to include bodyweight program 3 days a week, HIIT 2 days a week and walking during lunch break and my dog almost everyday. I am going to keep it to one post a day and may go back and edit a few times adding more information as needed. 5:15am - Body Weight Program - DIY suspension trainer used for most exercises Sets x Reps - Exercise 2 x 5 - Pull-Ups, feet on chair on front of me 2 x 5 - Chin-Ups, feet on chair on front of me 4 x 5 - Push-Ups, Handles 4" off the ground 4 x 5 - Pistol Squats(Each Leg) 4 x 5 - Dips, Leg assisted for the last couple each set 4 x 5 - Inverted Rows, Straight Body Feet on the ground, only 3 clean on the last set. 3 x 5 - Leg Raise, bend knees, between 45-90 degrees 12:15pm - Walking 3 miles in 1 hour

Holy crap, I complete forgot about 3rd day sore. My legs were completely out of shape. I had to push this mornings workout to this afternoon. Took walk at lunch trying to get my legs to loosen up. This is nuts.

In college my leg days were killers. Our weight room was on the second floor and if you didn't need to hold on the handrail while going down to the lockers room you didn't push yourself hard enough. I honestly didn't think that would ever happen by just doing body weight squats. This morning I started working on pistol squats using my suspension trainer for balance and assistance. I decided to start out with 4 sets of 5 and work up to not needing the bands before adding any more reps. I really had to push myself but I got them done and a good burn going in my legs. I went upstairs to shower and get dressed for the day, got my 2 year old dressed and headed downstairs to start breakfast. The first step almost sent both of us tumbling down the stairs as my leg gave completely out. I was able fall backwards onto my butt, saving the bad fall, but Holly Crap! I haven't had the feeling in 14 years.

New to the Forum and from Grimes(Des Moines Area). It is cool to see so many locals.

Hello everyone, I'm not exactly new to all of this but I think you could say that I am a "born again" fitness seeker. I played football in high school and college. I was always the small skinny guy that was fast enough not to get hurt. I played running back in high school and got moved out to receiver in college because of my size. I had always been a hard gainer and had to work twice as hard as everyone else just to keep up. What I would consider my peak was in college I was 180 lbs. around 10% body fat. I think my wife still day dreams about how I looked those days. But the amount of time and effort it took to maintain that was incredible looking back on it. During the offseason there was morning conditioning with afternoon lifting 4 days a week. During the season lifting in mornings 3 days a week, practice in the afternoon every day. I was on a "see" food diet. If I saw food I ate it and then some. My goal was somewhere between 6,000 to 7,000 calories a day. It was my job to be at peak fitness, it was how I paid for college (along with work study and scholarships). Once I graduated I got a full time "Desk Job", moved in with my girlfriend. Priorities shifted to more "normal" levels of activity. I would still hit the gym and do some lifting after work but conditioning of any kind disappeared from my workouts. I mean who really wants to run if they don't have to? I just wanted to look good. I eased up on my diet but still ate what and how much I wanted. I actually lost 10 lbs. over the course of the first year after I graduated. But it all caught up with me. After that first year my weight started to creep up slowly, life got a little crazier. The motivation to stay in shape, football, was gone. So as "life" got busier it was easier and easier to skip workouts. We got married, bought a house outside of town that required a commute, bye-bye gym membership. Who has the time? It was wasted money since I wasn't using it. I was still active on the weekends. Living in Montana at the time lead itself easy access to hiking, mountain biking, snowboarding, wakeboarding and golf. My diet and weight were starting to catch up with me. Recovery after doing anything active was getting longer and I was starting to show the signs of wear and tear that 10 years of playing football can do to your body. Final push down the spiral staircase was having our first kid. All those weekend activities basically came to an end. Fast forward to this year, I now live in Iowa, have two kids. New job has my working in the field 5-10 days a month, but it was killing me. My knees and hips were so sore after a day in the field I have to take NSAIDs just to get around. While on vacation with my wife's family I get a chance to go wakeboarding. Nothing too crazy just pulled me around the lake a little bit and back to the dock. The next day I was in so much pain I barely got out of bed and I was so sore the rest of the week that I couldn't even golf. We got home from that vacation and I dusted off the bathroom scale. 225 lbs! That can't be right! can it? I schedule a physical with a doctor. First I had to find a doctor since I hadn't been since we moved to Iowa 3 years ago. Worse news at the doctor 230 lbs., 38% body fat, and high blood pressure. Blood results were in the okay range but could be better. Time to do something about this. I knew I couldn't do too much too fast. My body couldn’t take it and I would most likely start hurting, quit, and accomplish nothing. My new motivation/long term goal - Setting a good example for my two boys. Stage 1 Starting - 7/27/14 Weight: 230 lbs. Body Fat: 38% Step 1.0: Diet - I started counting calories, down to 1,200 to 1,500 a day (1,500 to 2,000 calorie deficit) Step 2.0: Walking the dog - He was as out of shape as I was anyway. Started just around the block, then twice around the block, then half mile, then a mile, etc. Step 2.5: Walking on my lunch break - Since I wasn't eating out at lunch every day I had enough time to get 2-3 miles in during my break. Between walking at lunch and the dog in the evenings I am up to 6 miles a day. Step 3.0: Started doing HIIT exercises on Xbox One Fitness 3 days a week. There are two free Athletic Fit workouts featuring Russell Wilson that I enjoy doing. Ending - 10/17/14 Weight: 185 lbs. Body Fat: 21.6% I have reached my first goal. I wanted to get down to 185 lbs. I didn't really have a time frame on it but I am glad and surprised how quickly I was able to accomplish it. Now the next stage is what brings me here. Weight is no longer my end goal, physic and fitness are. My knees and joints feel better than they have in a long time but I am still weary of doing heavy lifting because of them. But I know I need to get back into doing strength training. I am going to start with bodyweight exercises and progress from there. Taking cues from my body when it is time to move forward. To put numbers on it, I would like to put on 6 lbs. of lean mass while losing another 12 lbs. of fat. That should get me to a body fat around 16%. Not sure what kind of time frame I want to put on it yet, advice is appreciated. I know bodyweight exercises aren’t the fastest way to put on mass but I’m thinking that any remaining muscle memory I have might help aid my progress. Stage 2 Long Term: Be more active with my. Restart my meditation practice, at least once a day for 30 minutes. Short Term: +6 lbs. lean mass, - 12 lbs. fat. Starting – 10/17/14 Weight: 185 lbs. Body Fat: 21.6% Step 1.0: Diet – Around 2,000 calories (1,000 calorie deficit). Sep 1.1: Make sure addition calories come from “good sources†and more protein. Step 2.0: Strength Exercises 3 days a week, Step 2.1: HIIT Workouts 2 days a week. Step 2.2: Keep walking the dog and during my lunch break as long as weather allows it. Step 3.0: Meditation after walking the dog before going to bed. Insert Nerd Credibility here: I know I don’t sound very “nerdy†so why am I here. My wife likes to joke that I am a closet nerd, because few people would peg me as such when first meeting me. "Why yes, the reason i wear Comic book t-shirts is because my kids like them." I am a civil/bridge engineer with a closet full of anything Captain America or Spiderman with a little Hulk thrown in there for good measure. I like to think that someday I will be the first Jedi Knight to start it all. One of my favorite moments as a parent was watching my oldest son experience "A New Hope" for the first time. All the employees and regulars at comic book store where I like to play Magic:The Gathering know me by name and will stop to say hi when we meet in public, outside of the store. Apparently I had a lot to get off my chest. This got a little long but thanks for hanging in there. I’m looking forward to becoming part of this community.