2012 Fitness Goals

I've been doing CrossFit for a bit over 90 days now and have seen some great gains.  But, without goals, one can just wander, going with the flow but never setting their sights on an objective.  To ensure that I have specific goals for this year, I want to take a few minutes and highlight my fitness goals for 2012.

• Row cumulative 250,000 meters for the year (This would average about one 5K row a week)
• Deadlift 460 lbs (my current max is at 400 lbs)
• Run 10 miles continuously (I have an 8-9 mile Spartan Race in late October and need to train to increase my endurance for this event.  Will probably start running more for mileage in the late spring and summer to prepare)
• 21 pull ups, (right now I'm at about 9 unbroken pull ups.  I want to get to 21 unbroken by June 1st.)  Will be starting a program doing 5 sets of pull ups Monday through Friday gradually increasing week by week to reach my goal.
• Complete "Murph" (google it) at least twice. Want to do it RXd so need to get previous goal of increasing pull ups in the works.
• Get to under 11% body fat by May 1st.  Right now I'm at about 18-19%, was around 24% in September before joining Reckless CrossFit.  This will require a laser like focus on my diet.
• Complete the Air Force Academy PFT once every 2 months.  Probably will do this on an Open Gym day on the weekends.  My goal is to break a 400 point score on the test by September. (My highest score as a cadet was about 350.)

So that's a start.  More to follow and I'll be back here updating my progress as I complete these goals.

--John

Redemption

10 years ago I was a First Class (Senior) Cadet at the United States Air Force Academy.  While there were many requirements placed on us as cadets, one of these requirements I didn't take seriously enough was physical fitness. 

Sure, I met all the minimum standards, but I didn't take advantage of the vast resources around me as a cadet and actually get in great shape.  I was more concerned with sneaking out and riding my Harley I wasn't allowed to own or ride.

When the time came to take the PFT every semester, I kinda got through it.  I didn't do great, sometimes I did really poorly.  I just never excelled.

With my 10 year reunion coming up next fall, I have a goal.

I want to score above 450 (out of 500) on the Air Force Academy PFT when I'm at my reunion next fall.  As a cadet, I never scored higher than 355. 

The test consists of the following:

1. Pull Ups
2. Standing Long Jump
3. Sit Ups
4. Push Ups
5. 600 yard run

Each event starts every 3 minutes.  So the entire test takes less than 15 minutes.

If I stay committed and keep working with CrossFit, that in a year's time this test will become rather simple.  But scoring a 450 will be tough.  I have a spreadsheet here that details everything, and it won't be simple.  Here's a basic table of min/max numbers.  To get 100 points per stage need to max that exercise.

WOD: 11-03-2011

Today's WOD:

Warm Up:

Basic Stretch on own.

WOD:

20 Minute AMRAP

10x Push Press @ 75 lbs. (Rx was 95 lbs but I knew I needed to lower the weight for 20 minutes)

20x Sit Up

30x Jump Rope Singles

I managed to finish 10 rounds exactly.  My first few round were about a minute and 45 seconds or so.  My reps started to slow down a bit after that.  I finished my 9th round at around exactly 18 minutes on the clock so I picked it up and made sure to knock out my last round in the final 2 minutes.  Finished the last round with 5 seconds to spare but not enough time to get set up on the bar for more push presses.

Overall a great WOD.  Definitely was sweating like a pig at the end of that one.  One note, my jump ropes are getting better. Got my own speed rope last week and have been practicing a bit.  I'm not able to string together Double-Unders yet, but I can do a  Single, single, double, single, single, double pattern for a few reps.  It's a good improvement in the jump rope arena and I'll be stringing doubles together in no time.

Will be going back tomorrow for Friday's WOD giving me 3 workouts in a row for this week.

Been Feeling "Reckless" lately

So, this is a big switch for me.  I've done P90X a few times, gone through good phases and bad phases.  Starts, stops, burnouts and the like.  For some time, its been a whole lot of nothing going on in my fitness routine. 

Late this summer I was driving to work and out of the corner of my eye I saw a sign in a strip mall.  "Reckless CrossFit." 

Now I've heard about CrossFit, and know several friends and acquaintances that have had amazing results from CrossFit.  I've done the hole P90X vs CrossFit discussion online. I never was one to argue for or against.  I've just seen some people get very "into" the discussion.

So, I found the gym's website, and I found the owner on facebook.  She chatted with me and I set up a time for my first workout.

Now, having sat on my ass for 6 months not working out, doing my first CrossFit workout was a challenge.  Yes, I puked. 

But I came back and did the Seven "Foundations" classes and leanred the basics of the CrossFit movements.  I have to say, I've been loving it.  Before starting in late September my weight was about 221 lbs.  (That's even higher than I was before starting P90X and this blog a few years ago...yikes!)

Today, I'm down to 214-215 lbs.  So I'm losing about a pound a week with CrossFit.  The one thing I love is the community aspect of the workouts.  When I go to the gym, I see the same faces.  They cheer me on, I cheer them on, and we hang out and talk about how we're doing.  It's definitely a great environment.

Yesterday was a really amazing day in my CrossFit journey. I did something I never had tried before.  I found my one rep max in a Sumo Dead lift.  We started easy, 3 reps at 135, then 3 reps at 155 and so on and so on.  Eventually we worked up to 1 rep sets.  I did 255x1, 275x1 and finally my last rep was 305lbs.  I've never even tried to lift anything that heavy before.  My coach thought that I probably could have gotten at least 10-20 more lbs up since I didn't struggle all that much.  But dropping that weight, and looking back at that much weight on the bar was impressive for me.  It surely was a good moment...but I'll get even better.

So, this is a new chapter in my fitness journey.  I will be a CrossFitter for the near future and who knows where it will take me.

--John

Day 3, Shoulders and Arms

This is going to be a tough week for me for 2 reasons. 

1. I'm starting P90X this week after a long layoff.
2. This is one of the weeks every so often that I need to cover the office at my job.

See, we have a real small office.  My companies HQ is in Rockford, but I work out of our Chicago sales office.  Due to the economy, streamlining etc, we only have 4 people in the office.  As our main office administrator needs to be in training for the week, I am filling in for her.  Now, I'm in sales and normally only in the office one or two days a week. So, a 55 mile one way trip into my office sucks, but is manageable when I only have to do it once a week.

When it becomes a 5-day a week trip, its stressful.  But here's what I'm thinking.  If I can manage to get a full week of P90X in without any missed workouts this week, then how much easier will it be in later weeks when I don't have the challenges of a 3 hour commute each day.

Last night, I got home, and went straight into shoulders and arms.  I'm not using the same weight that I used to.  But, I picked slightly lighter weight then previous runs of P90X and focused on quality form throughout.

Ab Ripper X still sucks.  I "presently struggle with" most of the exercises.  I have a weak lower back and long legs.  Moves like "fifer scissors" absolutely tear me up.  I have terrible form, can't get full vertical extension with my legs, and can't even keep up.  I'll definitely improve, but this move has always been my weak spot.

Diet yesterday was good.  Monica and I signed up for a grocery shopping and meal planning service called e-Mealz.  It's a great service.  Not only can you save money on food for your family by having a thoughtful planning list for your both your meals and shopping list, you can get healthy too.  We are currently enrolled in their "Wal-Mart Low Carb meal plan for 2."  This provides us a shopping list and meal planning for the entire week.  We're saving money and have good, quality low carb meal choices to choose from.  Last night's dinner was a cream cheese egg dish.  It tasted great. 

Well, that's all for now.  Back to work.  Yoga X tonight. 

Weight gain during pregnancy....in men???

A British research firm is reporting that the average weight gained during pregnancy is 14 pounds — and that’s by the babies’ fathers.

According to a NY Times article found here the average man gains 14 pounds (or one stone if you're reading this in the U.K.) during their partner's pregnancy.

Guess what?  I'm average. 

Yup, I don't know what it was.  During Monica's pregnancy I gained right along side her.  I put on about 14 lbs exactly.  I didn't watch what I ate, we ate out more because we realized that after Kylie was born opportunities to eat out would be few and far between.  There's a whole list of excuses, but they are all lame.

So, here I am.  Father of an amazingly cute 4 month old baby and pants that are a bit tight.  Isn't she cute?

Good news though, I've got a plan to take off the added weight.  I'm on day 3 of another round of P90X.  I'm around 212 lbs right now.  It's funny, because I now weigh almost exactly what I did way before I ever started P90X in 2008.  However, I can tell my body composition isn't the same.  I have more muscle now than I did back then.  So, the 212-215 lbs I'm at now is not the same body as the 212-215 I was back in 2008.  So at least I've got that going for me.


First couple days of this round have really beaten me up.  I'm taking my own advice that I've given others starting out.  Don't feel bad if you can't keep up.  If the first time through Plyo you're totally killed after 35 minutes take that as a small victory that you made it that far.  Don't think of it as a failure, think of it as an accomplishment compared to the "you" that was sitting on the couch last week.

So, I'll be back here blogging regularly about this round of P90X.  Can't wait to bring it all over again.

--John

1 Year Smoke Free!

For some of you, this isn't a surprise.  For many others, you'll be shocked.  December 2 2010 marks 1 year of me being cigarette free.

Many of you probably have no idea that I ever smoked.  I hid it a lot.  The only person in my family I smoked in front of was my brother once or twice.  My parents probably never knew.  A lot of my buddies knew because I'd bum a smoke at a bar etc.  Anyway, I just wanted to kinda hash out my life with cigarettes.

I didn't start smoking until I was 22.  That's a late time to start for sure.  I had smoked the occasional cigar from about 17 or 18 on throughout college.  No more than about 1 a week at the very most.  After college, a very close buddy of mine and I went on a month long motorcycle trip around the western US.  We started at our homes.  Me in Illinois, him in Ohio.  We met in St. Louis.  We told each other a few weeks prior to meet at the first rest stop west of St. Louis on I-70 at 8 am on a Monday.  We both showed up a half hour early.  My buddy smoked, but I didn't.  I bummed a few smokes from him at our rest stops the first couple days.  I was on a motorcycle trip, it seemed cool, and ultimately, I liked it.  Yes, cigarettes can be very pleasant in the very short term.  So, for the rest of that trip I was smoking about half a pack a day. 

After getting home from the trip I didn't smoke nearly as much.  I think I stopped for a month or two.  Then I went out for a weekend ride on a Saturday and bought gas and picked up a pack.  I'm not sure why, but it just felt right.  Riding my Harley and smoking seemed to go together well. 

I smoked off and on for the next couple years of my military career.  If I went out of town I'd buy a pack.  Monica hated me smoking.  However, I didn't realize exactly how much.  Here's a tip to women.  If you don't want your husband to smoke don't say the phrase, "I don't care if you smoke as long as you don't do it around me."  Men are simple creatures and will take that at face value.  I remember learning this lesson when Monica hung up my leather bike jacket and found two cigarette butts in the pocket.  I didn't want to litter and figured I'd throw them out in a trash can later.

I'd stop smoking for a few weeks, then I'd bum a smoke and this habit went on throughout my 4 years in the Air Force.  I rarely bought smokes unless I was out of town and away from Monica.  After I got out of the Air Force I ended up in a job working a night shift as a manager at a large distribution center.  I was working nights, getting home at 5 am or so.  Monica worked during the days.  This is when I started up smoking kinda seriously.  Some days I'd smoke almost a pack a day. 

I knew Monica knew.  She knew I knew she knew.  However I think to avoid a fight we both ignored it.  I quit for 13 weeks once, then I started again.  With my new job, the first year or so I was traveling.  I was gone Monday through Friday and only home on weekends.  I smoked when out of town then didn't when I was home.  Then I got more brazen and smoked during the day but not at home.  Then I'd quit for a few weeks, and start back up.

I smoked a lot when I was doing what you'd think of as "manly" activities.  Heading out to the gun range, grab some smokes. 

I don't know how many times I threw half a pack of smokes out my car window in anger and disgust with myself.

Then, last year, on December 2nd, I smoked my last cigarette.  I think it was a Wednesday.  I quit on my own...again...for 2-3 days.  On that Saturday after, Monica and I went out for lunch.  I finally opened up to her about it.  I told her that I needed her help in quitting.  I told her I wanted to tell her how I was feeling about it.  I asked that if I came home and said, "Damn I wanted a cigarette today so bad," that she'd listen and not judge.  I asked her to ask me if I had smoked. I needed to know someone was in there helping me quit and would keep me accountable.  Essentially, quitting smoking is hard enough on its own.  Especially if you are trying to hide the fact you're quitting.

So, this last year hasn't been that hard.  There have been a few days when I've had a really stressful day that I craved a smoke.  But nothing would be worth giving up my streak now.

One year smoke free.  I can't wait to make it two.