Jumping In

[OldManZatchmo]

Thanks to a blend of Zen Habits, The Art of Manliness, and Fitocracy, I've made my way here.

I'm 36 years old, been in the Navy for ten years (as a musician!), and have only last January gotten really serious about fitness. This is mainly due to the fact that I am still lucky enough to have a metabolism that allows me to eat whatever I want. Unfortunately, while I naturally have very little body fat or pounds (5' 10", 147 lbs.), my muscles have been like marshmallows - even since getting more serious at the beginning of this year.

Thanks to Leo of Zen Habits, I found Fitocracy and turned my New Year's resolution into an actual habit. However, after climbing to level 21, I read an ad by FitJerk about finding various workouts here and there eventually puts you at a plateau if you don't get a program that is customized just for you. So I signed up for his Personal Blueprint, and will be starting an intense 12-week program next Monday, September 24th, which just happens to be the start of the next challenge!

In addition to a strict diet, my workout plan includes mostly bodyweight exercises with a little bit of dumbbell exercises thrown in. But the maintenance plan after the 12-weeks gets me in the weight room for squats, deadlifts, bench presses, and pull-ups (in addition to others of course). So I'll be joining the Rangers'... Guild? Challenge? Whatever it has been changed to.

As far as my "nerd cred", I've had my share of nerd moments being a trombone player, but I joined acid jazz/hip-hop bands in college, which added a degree of hipness. However, I still like communities such as this, and would not be who I am today without Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Hitchhiker's Guide, the Matrix, etc. etc. - So I'll call myself a Funky Ranger in my profile.

Looking forward to meeting you all! Until I make my signature, find my links at the bottom of this post! -Zach

Twitter

Fitocracy

Navy Band Great Lakes on Facebook

[Thilde]

Welcome! Sounds like you've got a great plan in place. And I love the "funky ranger" classification.

[Mourner]

Welcome, Zack! Very nice to see more and more musicians here

[AngelaTheGeek]

Welcome to the club! This is where all the cool kids hang out.