Knowledge is power, discpline is more powerful

patrickfish7

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd share my experiences as I know for a fact that there's a load of people out there who have either been where I am, are on the journey or maybe had trouble along the way.

In 2004, I graduated with a Sport Science degree where I played most sports. I had previously played at county level in Cricket, Tennis and Badminton and retained alot of interest in other sports. After this, I moved to another place where I got married and now have two great children. Over this time I put on over 40lbs in fat through booze-eating like pizzas, chips, takeaways and beer, spirits etc. I was out of control. I didnt think I was too bad but it took a family photo on my wife's 30th birthday party to truly shock me. I was holding my daughter, having to lean back because my back muscles were very poor, my form was all over the place. Consequently my stomach stuck out a mile. I had to change. My wieght then was 235lbs and 31% body fat.

Because I had always had an interest in sports to start with, I knew what I had to do. But time was a big issue with family and a full-time job with long hours. I then had a conversation with a work colleague who used to be a bodybuilder and we started talking about weight training. I bought a pair of dumbells and started trying bodyweight exercises like pushups. My first attempt I could only manage one pushup, feeble. But it was a starting point. Over the next few months, I used the dumbells to develop small-level muslce in the shoulders, chest and arms and started to notice small changes. My pushup number went from 1 to over 30 in one attempt. One attribute I have is crazy determintation and I'd use these 100 Pushup apps which worked a treat.

Forward to 2012 and I moved home to an area where there was more scope for running and more space for weights. I started to read up on nutrtion at the molecular level such as amino acids and how they formed, muscle fibres and building on my existing knowledge. How fat was influenced by oxygen intake etc and I became really well-informed. Using this, I developed my own training plans which are now working very well.

The last six months I was following a bulk plan to add more lean muscle and from last week I started running again as part of a six-month cut phase to lose 7% body fat. I am now 194lbs with a body fat of 19% or thereabouts and for the first time ever, managed to run 2 miles at sub-8 minutes/mile pace. This was a target I set about three years ago so Im now made up I've finally achieved it. I feel even more motivated now to continue improving.

The moral of this story? Never give up on your goals and always stay focused. If you know why you are doing something and how doing it will change you, then you can only win. Remember, setting your goals higher than others will mean you achieve some progress quicker than the rest.

pg3ibew

Nice!!!