Search the Community

Background info/Introduction: Hello everyone, I'll go by Delta-Romeo-Sierra here. I've been checking out Nerd Fitness for a couple of weeks and have been inspired by the positivity of your community. I decided that this would be the perfect place to refocus on some of my fitness goals. I'm a professional and a college graduate who has spent several years trying to get myself into phenomenal shape and earn a contract to enter a special operations training pipeline. A few months back, my training really started to nosedive after I turned 31 and officially became too old to apply to the program. There are incredibly rare exceptions that can be made if you're able to get recommendations from operators already in the community (I should be able to do this), but you don't dare ask for such an exception until you can practically max-out every single event on their physical screening test. After turning 31, I realized that even getting a chance to join this community was unlikely, and I let it get me down. Soon, my training fell off and my sessions at the gym became sporadic and unfocused. I was probably even experiencing some mild depression. Right when I thought I couldn't feel any lower, I got bacterial pneumonia! It took me a full week to go see a doctor, a full week of antibiotic therapy, and about two more weeks before I could even walk a significant distance without going into a coughing fit. All told, about a month's worth of deconditioning set in. Now that I'm working my way back into shape, I've got a whole new attitude. I want to get so strong and so fast that the only way I get turned down for a contract is 100% because of my age. If I get optimum scores on every part of the screening test and still get turned away simply because I'm too old, then so be it. At least I'll have done everything in my power to succeed and I'll be able to move on with no regrets. To kick off my time at Nerd Fitness, I guess I'd better state my main goal/main quest for this first challenge. Main Goal/Main Quest: Perform 15 consecutive good form pull-ups (I can currently only perform 10, despite having a much higher max before I started slacking off and got sick). Plan: 1. Eat as close to paleo as possible in order to lose weight (thereby giving my muscles a smaller load to pull-up over the bar). 2. Use the relevant physical training guide and perform the recommended sets/reps of pull-ups 4 or 5 days each week. 3. Mix in short but high-intensity run and swim sessions to augment the weight loss I'm expecting from going paleo. 4. Keep up the new heavier weight training I've already got underway after reading articles on this site (respect, Spezzy!). A sincere thanks to anyone who read through this whole thing. I'll update daily with workout summaries, and will even post a video of myself performing said 15 pull-ups if I succeed in this challenge. Delta-Romeo-Sierra, out.