PT, Part 2

"Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general." - Mark Rippetoe

Lots of suggestions for a various other workouts and exercises, which wasn't surprising. Everyone has their own preferences and different things that work for them - from walking to playing tennis to kung fu or whatever. I almost put a disclaimer that I realized there are a huge variety of ways to be active and wasn't surveying the tribe for ideas.

Cardio is of course hugely important...gotta have gas in the tank. I walk 4-5 miles in an average day, but don't really consider that 'real' cardio. Quality time with weights and bodyweight exercises gets the blood pumping. 3-4 hours of yard work a week, too.

...but I need to add in some more focused/high intensity cardio. Have had knee problems in the past which make me apprehensive about distance running at this point. Had a punching bag back in the day that I really enjoyed wailing on...need to set up another one.

Diet. Obviously going to be hard to lose weight if you're eating thousands of calories more than you're burning.

I actually eat pretty well - cleaner than more people that I know. Minimal junk food, avoid mass amounts of carbs, lots of good salads, lots of protein...do drink zero cal energy drinks for daily caffeine fix, which I need to cut. Weight has been stable for years; not decreasing, though.

Have been tracking calories / food using an app called MyFitnessPal for the past several months. It's kind of clunky and mildly annoying, but it helps, especially tracking macro nutrients. I am pretty good of keeping mental track of my calories, but macros (carb/protein/fats) are harder. Recommend the app approach...it's helpful for understanding what you're taking in, and makes you really take notice when you eat crap.

I have been hitting 1700-2000 calories a day, which is a pretty significant deficit over what my "maintenance" intake should be, especially when you factor in exercise. Low carbs (about 15% of my daily intake). Lots of protein. Good stuff. The apps will help you figure out what your calorie intake should be, or there's some simple math (13-18 calories per pound) that you can track down with a Google search.

Another book to check out is Pat McNamara's Sentinel. Pat Mac is an ex-SFO-D (Delta) guy, epic beard owner and in hella good shape. Though it's not the primary focus of Sentinel, he talks a bit about his Combat Strength Training program, which is completely in line with the brand of fitness we want. Mix of strength,  Pat's also written a series of articles in Recoil magazine on the topic that I need to go hunt down.

Had some bills come up this past week that look like they may delay the garage gym I want to set up, but that's life. Lots of stuff that can be done with minimal equipment.

Had a crap day yesterday (see above around bills), got home late and could have easily come up with some kind of excuse to just crash on the couch. But I naa, I'm committed. Can't stop me that easily.

Tomorrow is my big PT day of the week, and I'm looking forward to it. Excited to get in there and crush it. Destroy that sucker.

PT

Big goal for the year had been to get into better shape.

Grew up as more the video game / nerd type (kids these days and their damn video games). Was a regular tub-o-lard through most of my youth, lost about 100 pounds in my early 20s (mostly through diet), got married. Gained 40 pounds of "sympathy" weight during my wife's first pregnancy, and have been pretty stable at that weight for the past six years--5'11 and 225, plus or minus five pounds depending on the season, despite more than a few failed attempts to drop some weight.

One of the reasons: I've not been particularly serious / focused on adding any kind of PT, weights, etc. to the mix. Inconsistent focus on body weight stuff--push ups, burpees, squats, etc. I work an office job, so that's not doing me any favors, either.

I agree 1000% with the importance of being in shape for survival/self defense or anything of the variety...can't help anyone else if you're gassed out, collapsed on the ground trying to catch your breath. Or you're too weak to haul your fat ass over a wall, blow out your knee trying to drop into a prone position or wreck your back lifting a box. Or you die of a heart attack in your 50s because you didn't take care of your damn self.

Yep, I get it. We want to be strong, fit, and hey, look a lot better, too.

But honestly I have never gone down the rabbit hole of how the hell to get myself in shape. Never learned growing up, and hadn't put in the work to educate myself.