New to the rebellion, but not fitness

[S_Degnan]

Hi all, Sean here. I started my fitness journey in January 2015, after getting very scary results from a physical. I am the type that never goes to the doctor unless I absolutely have to. But since my mother is going through liver failure, I wanted to have myself evaluated as a living donor, so I did the physical. At 5' 6" I weighed in at 196 pounds, and about 28% body fat. My bad cholesterol was high, the good was low, and my blood pressure was at a dangerous 150/100. I was told that if I kept at this trend, I would likely have a stroke before my daughters graduate high school, which terrified me. I was placed on blood pressure medication to treat the symptoms, but I knew this would not fix the root cause. 

 

I ended up finding a great trainer who introduced me to lifting heavy, and from there, it was a match made in heaven. Deadlifts, squats, bench presses, and various pulling exercises made up the core of my program, and I was thrilled about the results. In 6 months, I lost "only" 8 pounds, but I got significantly stronger, and my body fat percentage plunged to around 18%. Most importantly though, my cholesterol numbers were close to the normal range, and my blood pressure was down to 115/75 without medication. 

 

I got involved with some fitness groups on Facebook, and in the group there were discussions about obstacle course races, which intrigued me. Adding cardio to my routine, including trail runs at the various parks in my area, my stamina improved significantly and my body fat continued to drop. I registered for and participated in my first Spartan Race in August of 2015, and was immediately hooked. In the year 2016, I've registered for 13 races of various types, and will be getting my first Spartan Trifecta (a Sprint at 3-5 miles, Super at 8-10 miles, and a Beast at 13+ miles, all with increasing numbers of obstacles). 

[HedgeMage]

Welcome to the madhouse!

[Boussole]

Hi Sean,

Fantastic job with your transformation!! It's those scary moments that give us that realization that the time for change is here. I hope your mother is doing well. 

I'm excited to hear about your OCR escapades. I'm going to start out with a Warrior Dash later this year, and I'm hoping I too catch the bug.... lol

 

Boussole