For the past six months I've been a part of the Men's Challenge here on the forums with 20 other dudes. Some guys wanted to lose fat, others wanted to bulk. I simply wanted to exercise, heavy and hard, at least three times a week and see what would happen if I stayed ultra-consistent in my training.
I saw what happened. I broke. Hips, knees, shoulders... even with lots of prehab and care, my 31yo body actually is pretty old in training age and just couldn't take the barbell/dumbell strength and hypertrophy styles of workouts. I've spent most of the past six months rehabbing and healing. I played sports for 20 years, and with all that wear and tear on the joints, the risk/reward just isn't there for me anymore for doing heavy squats, deads, cleans, etc...
On top of that, I suck at weightlifing. Even after several years of it, and working hard at it, I'm just not very strong in the weight room. I kick ass on the sports field and excel in athletic movements, but can't move big iron in a linear plane. Conventional wisdom says to focus on your weaknesses, but I think it's time to do what I'm good at. Maybe my body is telling me that I still suck at squats and deads because I shouldn't be doing them. Sort of a self-limiting safety mechanism to keep me from breaking again.
So it's time to do something different. Something movement-focused, conditioning-focused, lighter in absolute weight, longer in reps/duration and perhaps better in line with my natural abilities. It's time for kettlebells. RedWifey's parents just bought some and they're just three doors down from me, so I'll be doing after-work training in their backyard. On days that won't happen, I'll try to do some DB work in my small company gym, or swim at the YMCA. Here are the main principles I'm envisioning:
Training -- kettlebells, bodyweight work, DB complexes, swimming, general activity (pushing/pulling the kids in their wagon). More activity, more often, but maybe only 10-20 minutes per day. A lifestyle of movement, rather than 3 heavy weekly workouts in the middle of a week of rest and recovery.
Nutrition -- whole foods. I've gotten into a weird thing of avoiding fruit over the past year like a carbophobe. Stupid. Fruit is healthy. I won't focus on macro ratios and won't count calories. Just eat real food. Meat, dairy, fruit, veggies... real food, the stuff without long, scientific words on the ingredient list. Maybe some intermittent fasting from time to time, who knows. Weekends will surely be higher-calorie and more lenient, and it's worth it. I'm not giving up my family's Friday night tradition of pizza/movie/ice cream. It's too precious.
Screech was one of my nicknames in high school, I assume because I was tall, skinny, thick-haired, brilliant and hung like a rhino. Who wants to be that? Hopefully the next few months will transform me into A.C. Slater, who was smooth-skinned, tan, muscular, a great dresser and good dancer. Wait a minute...
It's worth a shot anyway.
