Prime Directive

Hi there :). My name is Fred, and I decided that letting myself get out of shape was unacceptable. We all know the story, right? Wake up early, commute to work, work all day, and then commute back home. Who wants to workout after a long day? I sure didn’t.

And what was the price for that. Well, I literally didn’t work out for 2 years. In those 2 years I ate fast food, chinese takeout and plenty of junk food. Oh, I almost forgot, I was also a soda junkie. I probably went through a 2 liter every day. Surprisingly I only gained 18 pounds in those 2 years, but I had slowly been gaining weight before then. My job consisted of a lot of walking and carrying a 13 lb tool bag, I guess that helped slow down the rate of increase.

I started working out and my body craved water instead of soda. I never thought I would stop drinking soda, but it wasn’t that hard. I didn’t even try. Every now and then I might give in to a craving, but by that time soda tastes too strong and I don’t really enjoy it. I weighed 187 when I started working out again in 2010, and now weigh 178. I didn’t lose a lot of weight, but I also wasn’t trying too.

My goal was to gain fitness. I couldn’t even do 20 jumping jacks without feeling like I was going to die. I didn’t realize how out of shape I had become. So I had to start off slow. I started off using Pick Your Level Pilates. I had to start somewhere and since I was so out of shape I figured this would help.

After about 2 months I had gained some strength and endurance and felt ready for the next step which was Tae-Bo II: Get Ripped Basic Workout . I had it on VHS, seems difficult to get on DVD these days. I know it’s available though as I saw it on Netflix. If you are a Netflix member always check if a workout video you’re interested in is available to rent. Then if you like it you can purchase it.

After Tae-BO, I then purchased the Power 90 in home boot camp workout DVD set. A lot of people never heard of it, but it’s actually the DVD that came out before P90X. P90X stands for Power 90 Extreme. Power 90 is a lot easier than P90x. The cardio workout is about 40 minutes and so is the strength workout.

After staying on Power 90 for 45 days instead of 90, I moved back to more functional style workouts. Power 90 had me too tired. The workouts weren’t killer or anything, but I still felt tired and the workouts are kind of boring. Like most of the workouts by the same company, they want you to take supplements so that you recover from the workouts. No thanks, I like to just eat right.

Now my goal is to get strong and gain endurance to make everyday life, along with sports easier and more fun. I try to focus on exercises that contribute to things you would do in real life.

Currently I work out almost every day. Even on my rest days I usually do a little something. I have a lot of energy now and sometimes I have to force myself not to do exercise so that my muscles can recover. If you notice, my workouts are fairly short. Only once in awhile will I do a “conventional” workout that takes 45 minutes to complete.

Long workouts like that are rarely fun for very long and I would begin to dread it and maybe even stop. I want to avoid that. I post what I do under the WOD menu.

Update: February 2013

As I’m sure you’ll notice, my workouts are all pretty short. I doubt I ever go over 20 minutes any more. My strength days have now become few and far between. I find that I recover a lot better this way and I feel a lot stronger.

I no longer stick to a set schedule for strength work. If I feel I need another day of rest, then I take it. Now that I have that worked out. I will focus on performing a minimal amount of cardio/endurance work on the other days. I usually hit the pool once a week during the winter and spring, and then switch over to a short fast run in the park.

I don’t like the pools in the summer time. They’re way too crowded for my taste. So, I usually get up nice and early on Saturdays and head on over to the park. I’ll perform some sprints on the soccer field or if I go to a different park, run the track. That’s run, not jog. If you’ve read But, I Don’t Like Running Now What? you know what I’m talking about.

Other times I might play a game of handball. If you’ve never played,, you don’t know what your missing. You sprint to get to that ball, over and over. It’s a blast.

My prime directive is to get stronger and more fit, without the torture. What’s yours?