big why My Big Why/Epic Quest

[JD89]

Hello Rebels,

 

I wanted to come out and share why I'm here, and why I'm doing all this. It starts with the "Big Why", why did I choose to start loosing weight and what's the whole endgame for me? For me, I have a bit of a "cursed physique" to say the least. Being 6'6" tall I've always carried my weight somewhat well. People had tried to guess my weight and would flatteringly guess sizes about 80lbs lighter than I actually look, the reality is I was at my heaviest close to 360 lbs. I used to be an avid runner and weight lifter until I started a job that wasn't very physically demanding but required several long days a week, lots of driving and a lot of time to think. I hated that job, and because of the circumstances, my weight ballooned and my fitness dropped. Until one day the best thing that ever happened to me came along, I was laid off. For the first time my adult life I had something I never had before, free time. Now loosing your job seems like something that sucks and it kind of did, but it opened a door for me, the chance to go back to school and finish my degree in Criminal Justice I had bailed out on a few years ago. So when I resolved to go back to school I resolved to go for my dream career in Law Enforcement. Now we know my big why, I want to get into my dream career working as a Peace Officer. So my membership to Nerd Academy started in Feb of 2018 when I started my first semester back as well. So here is my Epic quest:

1. Crush Push-ups: All agencies require some level of Push-ups to be commited as part of a physical agility test, and the minimum is 25. But I don't want to do the minimum, I want to be able to crush as many as I can in the time given.

2. Smash Sit Ups: Again based on the average PAT, the standard is 25, but I'm not as worried about this one as I am with the Push-ups, I've always had a pretty good core.

3. 1.5 mile run in under 14.5 minutes:

I want to make 1.5 miles happen as quickly as possible. 

 

That's it, a seeming simple goal to get to, I know as I improve my fitness, weightloss will come with it.

 

Here is my progress over the last few months:

 

 

Push-ups: I struggled to do one in bad form, but now I can do at least 5 thanks to the use of knee push-ups and elevated push-ups in the body weight workout series.

 

Running: I went from barely a min to about 3+ mins in a single burst, I use C25K to help develop running for time, I plan on once I get to 15 consecutive minutes without rest, I'll start upping my pace.

 

Sit Ups: I don't really practice these as much because of their debatable effect on health, but I did go from a 20 sec plank to about a 45-60 sec plank depending on my day.

 

And my starting weight for the academy was about 350 (highest was 358) to 329 at my last weigh in.

 

Thanks for reading, I also should share that I've been training on Stronglifts 5x5 before I started the Nerd Academy Plans. One of my big reasons for Starting with Nerd Academy was to help find some direction on what else to do and this site has been a big help.

[godjira1]

the training for a good score in the PFT in itself brings huge amounts of benefits. Frankly if that is your priority, I will skip the Stronglifts 5x5 till you ace the PFT (or get to a level that you want).

 

Pushups: use the progressions... until you can do 3 x 10 pushups (no need to go any further up the progression for now) with say, 1min rest between sets. Eventually just compress the rest til zero. If you can do 30 in a min, you are good for the PFT. Make sure you have good form, from what I know about PFTs, the scoring on form can be quite strict. 

 

Situps: I hear a lot of bad things about it, but it's part of the test, so I reckon get used to it. Bang out AMRAP for 1min every other day, it should be good enough.

 

Running: This is always the tough one for many people. The C25K program should work, but again not very PFT specific. I would argue that you just aim to clock 1.5miles every other day, running as much as u can during the 1.5miles, and walking in between. Eventually it will be all running. 

 

Good luck and let us know how you get on. 

 

[Elastigirl]

Congrats on your progress! 

[Infinity.Creates]

The progress sounds great, and congrats on the bright side of getting laid off When you say Peace Officer, what does that entail? 

[JD89]

Hey thank you everyone for the advice and support. For the past week I haven't been able to get much done for exercise on account of battling a respiratory infection but I can wait to infection. Godjira1's advice seems great, I cant wait to apply it to my routine. And to clarify what a Peace Officer is and entails is that Peace Officer is another title for a cop and doing what is entailed in that line of work. As a brief update, I haven't made much progress for exercise size because I was too sick to work out but I did weigh in at 328, which is a pound less than my last weigh in, so there is one minor victory for the week.

[Hiking Fatty]

I'm so happy to read this, and I congratulate you on your new career! Also I am impressed with your determination and the progress you have already made. Taking some inspiration from you!

[Sportsnut]

Way to go!  Having goals is fantastic.  Just be careful that you progress appropriately so you don't get injured.  Remember to take rest days from running.  Most of the new runners I know follow the 10 minute run, 1 minute walk/recovery model, seems to work for them as they continue to add distance/speed.  Being a bigger body you will amplify the pounding on your joints, so try to pick surfaces to run on that are softer - track, grass rather than concrete sidewalks.   As you mentioned, be careful with situps, they put a huge strain on your back.  Planking is great, work up to doing 3x 1 minute as a good interim goal.  I use circuit training in the gym so have some time between each plank that I do.  If you start getting bored there are lots of variations of planks you can do to work different parts of the abs/core.  

 

Good luck!