Friday, May 9, 2014

Where I'm Starting

My instructor would frequently remark that there wasn't much worse than an out of shape martial artist, and after having spent a significant amount of the last few years on my butt and eating poorly, I can definitely attest to that. Thus, my endeavor is going to begin with changing my lifestyle into not just something healthier, but to allow for the best physical conditioning I can manage.

I've started things similar to this before, though not with as clear an intent. In the summer of 2010, I weighed 170 lbs. While working at Sesame Place, a fortuitous series of events led to what I assume to have been on the order of five hundred Twix ice cream bars to be given out to the employees. One of my coworkers handed me a box and gave me the ambiguous order "do something with this." Eventually, I found myself sitting in the back room about to eat my eighth bar when I read the packaging. There were about 360 calories in each bar. I was hungry enough to eat maybe another three or four of them, after having already eaten over 2500 calories in about a half our. No amount of sugary goodness was going to make me feel okay about that, so I put the box down. I went home that day and looked in the fridge and took stock of what we had. I changed my diet and carefully considered the foods that I was eating. Two months later, I was down to 150 lbs.

College took a toll on me after that, and I put on weight over the next few years. In January of 2013, I weighed 180 lbs. This time, though, a more childish inspiration took over. I had spent the entirety of my winter break attempting (and more or less succeeding) and consuming every Batman animated media produced since the 1990s. This was a lot of Batman. As a result, I found myself noticing a little voice in the back of my head going "come on, do it, be Batman." I started exercising 5 days a week, doing weight lifting three days a week and running two days a week. I went back to a similar diet to the one from 2010, and over the next six months I lost 35 pounds.

Then August rolled around. I took a series of trips and got out of the habits I'd built up. It is now May of 2014. I put on 10 lbs (though I've been told I look healthier now), and have lost all of the strength I built up. While not what I'd like, and not something for me to brag about, I have definitely proven that I at least know how to make the types of changes needed to make significant physical growth possible.

I have returned to my routine of serious exercise, though I am try a different regimen. Whereas last year I focused on 5 by 5 lifting workouts and separate days for running, which in the end only produced mild results over 6 months, I am lifting more frequently (still only 5 days of workouts) with 3 by 10 structure, am running every day, and am including significantly more core exercise. I am on a reduced carb diet consisting of a buttload of eggs, milk, and fish. I'll be posting some specific workout info later on, including day 1 pictures I took on Wednesday (I really hate taking pictures of myself, but I felt it was necessary).

Martial arts is, obviously, a physical pursuit, and you can't just know the moves. I can't curl 25 lb dumbbells 10 times, I can't bench the bar+60 lbs, I can't squat the bar+70 lbs. It doesn't matter how perfect my technique and form is, I simply can't hit hard, I have minimal endurance, and I'd probably break easily.

There may be very little worse than an out of shape martial artist, but at least I have no where to go but up from here.

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