Good evening from Massachusetts

[Keldon]

I got so excited to post that I already posted questions and skipped the intro!  Realized my mistake while doing my 10-minute walk, as ordered by my e-mail today.

 

About me: I'm a full time Paramedic and volunteer firefighter in Massachusetts.  Married with a 4 year old son and 5 month old twins boys (yeah, my poor wife).  My goal is to get a job on a full time fire department as a firefighter/paramedic.  It's something I've been working towards for a long time.  If I were to describe myself it would be "functionally overweight."  I can play with my oldest, I can do my job, but climbing three flights of stairs with a 15 pound monitor and 20 pound bag gear bag is tough.  I'm 6' 2" and 285 pounds, I'm not closely tracking weight loss but I would bet in the end I could lose 85 pounds of fat and gain 35 of muscle - I could probably even do 100/50!

 

My wake up call:  In order to get on the hiring list for many towns you have to take a state-run written and physical fitness exam.  The fitness test involves 7 stations, including a stair climber, a hose drag through a tunnel, ladders, and pulling ceilings (link to the state test here if anyone is interested http://www.mass.gov/anf/employment-equal-access-disability/civil-serv-info/multimedia/videos-physical-ability-test-pat.html).  I failed two stations, including the 5 minutes on the stair machine (got winded, got dizzy, almost got sucked under), and barely passed the 5 that I did pass.  I made it through by the skin of my teeth.  On my best day possible.  Sheer force of will got me past my last station.  The good news is that I passed overall and am on the list, the bad news is that if I get selected to be hired I have to pass all seven.

 

I joined a gym and have been doing well for the past 2 1/2 months, but I've found that nautilus and the treadmill aren't going to cut it, I need to upgrade to the freeweights.  I like nautilus and it served a good purpose, but it's not for me.  That's where I start to get confused.  Lot of exercises and terms I'm not familiar with.  From what I can tell my gym has good trainers that focus on form over weight on the bar, so Sept 1 I'm going to pay the money to spend time with a trainer and do it up.  I've started the beginner body weight workout and am getting a jumprope so I can do the warmup.

 

So basically, in the end, I'm sitting at my computer in a Tony Stark t-shirt and knowing there's no way I'm going to fit in an iron man suit.  I have the time, I have the motivation, I'm ready to go!