Midsummer Progress
Tag: fitness
Taking It Further
In the last few months, I’ve made the start on a new journey for myself. I’ve decided to become a certified Nutrition Coach and certified Personal Trainer.
The idea was lit for me by my former fitness coach, Jason, who runs a large online fitness group situation, and has taught me all of the fundamentals of body recomposition, strength, and nutrition. He and I parted ways as coach/client back at the start of this year, but I don’t think our connection is broken. In fact, after further emails with him, he suggested I should become a peer, and in fact, that’s what I’m trying to do.
As of earlier last week, I finished up my Nutrition Coach certification through Precision Nutrition.
I have another six chapters to complete my NASM Personal Trainer certification, but that’s well underway. I know I can do this.
Doing all of this refocus on my skills and abilities at the gym, and turning those skills into something that could make me money, has been a huge learning curve and massive leap of faith. I haven’t taken the plunge yet, but there will be, if all goes well, a change in my whole life, once I get these certifications under my belt and start working with actual clients to do actual coach/client interactions.
I cannot wait, to be honest. I simply cannot wait.
In the meantime, I’m also stepping up my own game at the gym.
I’ve recalibrated my calories and macros to set me up for recomposition and growth. I’m hitting personal records and busting through them again. I can feel the power and strength I’m growing in my flesh. I
Coincidentally, I’ve also given up alcohol, remain smoke free, and am making deep progress with my mental health as well.
Stay tuned. Daddy’s turning a new page, it seems.
Body Consideration
I’ve been a thick man most of my life. I’ve got a stout body, with thick thighs and broad shoulders, and have almost always been heavier than I should be. There were those brief and fleeting years of being near my perfect-weight (for the BMI chart, at least), where I had gotten so thin from running/starving myself/avoiding my mental health demons, but that never lasted. Not like my current weight/size has.
Currently, I’m sitting between 190 and 200 lbs. I still have about a 32” waist, and my damned 31/32” inseam, and still at 5’9”, where I’ve been for about a year and a half.
Right now, I’m debating my direction with my fitness. I am torn between two physiques. One involves me doing a deep-dive into cardio, into really limiting my calories (and carbs) to lean out again, to shrink, to show the muscle curves under my flesh a bit more. It’s a familiar chase for me – I’ve done that sort of routine and regime a number of times, with some success.
But there’s this newer, more powerful version of me, sitting here, writing this out. I’m sipping my morning coffee, about twenty pounds heavier than I was two years ago, and wondering if this is where I want to be. Since the gyms reopened after being shuttered to help slow the spread of COVID-19, I made a choice to grow. Really, really GROW. I wanted to put on as much muscle as I could, instead of chasing ”thin” and, for a time, that’s felt really good. I still enjoy it, really. I enjoy adding more weight to the bar, more reps to the circuit, and all of that. But that growth has come at a weird cost. I am running smack-dab into some old emotions, still, about the size of my body and my acceptance among others. I guess maybe I need to adjust who those ”others” might be. I’m still figuring it all out for myself.
Thicker, stronger, 195lbs, muscle growth across chest, back and legs, eating a bit more to foster the growth, April 2022
As I stand now, these arms have powerful hugs. This chest is strong and firm. My shoulders are powerful and defined, as is my upper back. I have legs that can move and press over 600lbs multiple times. I can do things I’ve never been able to do before. If this is Dad-Bod, then I’m embracing it with my full force.
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