Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Good and bad....

This week has been interesting. I am yet to work out, so obviously that is the bad. But the reason for my lack of working out I see as a good. I've been sleeping very well this week. I've only gotten up once in the middle of the night, which was last night and only because I forgot to set the timer on my heater and it got too hot in my room. My alarm goes off at 0530 and 0600 and I usually sleep through them, finally getting out of bed around 0730. Which puts me into work at about 0900 and I leave the office around 1800. This is too late for me to work out as it gets me too amped and I have difficulty falling asleep. I'm hoping that with today off I can kind of reset some of that. I'm going to get in a workout later this afternoon.

Now I'm going to talk about something a bit different. If you know me in the real world (as opposed to the internet world) you know that I'm kind of a survival buff. Ever since the great ice storm of 07 I've been working to be prepared for another disaster whether it be natural or man made. But I came across something that I've been neglecting, and that is physical fitness as a survival tool. Obviously I feel that some of my knowledge would help me a bit, but knowledge only gets you so far. You've got to be able to endure things as well. And my endurance is severely lacking. WIth this thought, I think that I've found my new motivation for working out. Crossfit preaches a lot about GPP--General Physical Preparedness. And I think my GPP is rather low. It's about time to change that, I think. I'm going to try to throw in a few different wrinkles in my training this year. Maybe take a couple of saturdays and go down to the Wichita Mountains and throw in a mountain hike/climb with a pack and weighted vest. Also planning a camping trip up at some family land were I will have to pack in/pack out...no facilities or resources. Will probably have to pack 100 pounds of gear a mile in and out.

Now with all of that said, I don't think that the world is going to end in 2012. But I'm not counting out crazy people misinterpreting natural occurrences and just generally going crazy. Time will tell. The goal is to be prepared for anything. If a tornado hit, would I be able to lift a heavy object off myself or family member? Right now, probably not. If the SHTF, would I be able to cover the 5 miles from my office back to my house on foot in a short amount of time (less than 3 hours)? Definitely not.

Preparation for the unknown and unknowable starts now.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Goals 2011

My Fitness and Health Manifesto



I have said many time that I want to be healthier, fitter, and generally more awesome. I feel that it is time to finally lay out my goals in a written form and post in a public place to be held accountable for my goals. I’ll try to organize them in short term, medium term, and long term. We’ll see how this goes.



SHORT TERM--END OF MARCH 2011


1). Get diet back in line with Paleo Standards and as close to 100% compliant as possible.


2). To work back to my 1 Rep Max in the dead lift, back squat, press with flawless form. (155 shoulder press, 305 dead lift, 345 back squat).

2). To work up to a solid 10 minute of jump rope (singles).

3). Complete a pull up from a dead hang.


4). Complete 25 perfect form push ups


5). Drop 40lbs.


MEDIUM TERM--END OF SEPTEMBER 2011


1). Keep diet at Paleo Standards and 100% compliant.


2). Establish new PR’s on the press, dead and back squat to the following numbers: 175 press, 350 dead, 400 back squat.


3). Establish double under jump ropes and work up to 30 minute sessions.


4). Establish 10 pull ups in a row from a dead hang.


5). Complete 50 push ups with perfect form in under 2 minutes.


6). Establish a sub 12 minute mile run (been a long time since I have ran that distance, best time in the mile is 9 mintues) with proper pose technique.


7). Complete 2 workouts a day, breaking up strength and met cons

8). Drop 50lbs.


LONG TERM--END OF JUNE 2012 AND BEYOND


1). 100% Paleo Compliance.


2). Work up to a max press of greater than 175 (I’m giving this goal a little flexibility as I feel like my press is pretty solid and in all honestly it probably won’t improve that much. A 200 pound press would be really awesome, I’m just not real sure on how probable it is).


3). 400+ dead lift.


4). 450+ back squat.


5). Complete the local Fight Gone Bad fundraiser


6). Establish a “Murph for babies” during my employer’s annual March of Dimes fundraising drive.

7). Drop another 60 pounds.


8). 6-pack abs.


9). Run a 5k.



For those of you who know me, please push me to keep these goals in line. I know that I’m going to stumble because I’m only human. I know that this stuff is not necessarily going to get easier as I am getting older, but I feel like these goals are achievable once I get my diet in line and maintain that diet over the course of the rest of my life. And for those of you keeping track, the magic number in total pounds lost is 150 pounds. The goal body weight is 180 pounds. Which I haven’t been at since I was in 6th grade.


As I still have some things to do to recover from the events of this past summer and get my garage back in order I am putting a tentative beginning on this endeavor as January 1, 2011. I don’t really believe in New Year’s Resolutions, but I guess this is one. I won’t promise to update daily, but I’ll try to update weekly and I’ll be keeping a personal food/workout/thought journal with me as well.


Now, anyone want to join me?


Matt