Long time warrior, new to this rebellion.

[Beast McCoy]

The thing is, I was never fit, but I was always athletic.  Which is sort of akin to a kid discovering everyone thinks he's gifted.  It seems like a compliment, but really, what it is, at the core, is a crutch.

I played a lot of sports growing up.  I was a talented soccer player, I was a very good baseball player, I held my own in pretty much everything else, taking turns in basketball, volleyball, football, and was pretty good at all of them.  The problem is when you're naturally good at things, it takes away the drive to develop a work ethic.  I was soft, and a little heavy, but I was beating kids who were in better shape so why bother physically improving?  That took time, effort and seemed unnecessary to me.  And for a long time this worked.  Played a little University baseball, never had a problem with girls or making friends, so it just never became a driving concern of mine. 

I got complacent, and then, I got broken.  Post-University, I went through some heavy personal losses, culminating in a very ugly break-up that hurt my, until then, ridiculous over-confidence to the point I sort of fell apart.  Gained 100+ lbs in a year, lost the swagger and easy charm I'd had that, up to that point, made life easy for me.  I slipped into denial for a little over a year before I found my motivation again.  Or at least remembered I wasn't the person I was meant to be.  What I did, was let myself go, in the classical sense:
 

I realized I'd sort of given up.  I got hurt, and I retreated and I never stepped out again.  And that wasn't okay.  I could hide behind intellect and acerbic commentary and be bitter and removed and jaded all I wanted--because let's be fair, those things aren't ever going to change--but it wouldn't change the fact I didn't like what I'd let myself turn into.  So I learned how to put in work.  I started running, I started lifting, not well, but I started.  I switched my diet, became a keto warrior and kicked myself in the ass.  I didn't go couch to 5k, I went from open the door to 5k.  No slow build.  Just go.  Viking style.  I dropped 120 lbs in a year.  I started doing 5k runs 3 times a week to supplement home freeweights.  I got back to where I'd been.  But I didn't stop there.  I stopped skating by on inherent charm.  I learned fashion to go along with my foodie knowledge, I learned cologne to go along with the academic learning, I turned the one gift I've always had, which is an insatiable appetite to just know more than I knew the day before, into self-improvement. 

So why am I here?  I'm on track, right?  Yeah.  But I can be better.  And this place will keep me accountable.  I am recovering from a rather nasty leg injury that made me take a few months off running, but that got me lifting heavy.  I'm in the gym 3x a week doing a reverse pyramid program.  I'm sort of a Gorilla, tanking in at 6'4" with wide shoulders and a broad chest, so I've taken to the new approach very well.  I'm down to 245 lbs these days, but that's a number on the scale.  I can get better.  With the leg healed, I'm taking up a HIIT cycle, along with a hip raise/push-up session on my off gym days to supplement the sports I was already doing.  I'm still broken, but I'm finding the pieces.  And this place might be another one of them.

No matter where you're starting at, you can grit your teeth and get better. 



Nice to meet you, Nerdfitness.  This Warrior-Monk looks forward to contributing and learning here for a while.