In my last post, I wrote about giving up running — and, really, any long-distance cardio. But that didn’t mean I gave up on my fitness goals.
Quite the contrary, actually. I started lifting weights.
Funny thing is, I used to HATE lifting weights. The guys in the free weights area of the gym all seemed to speak a foreign language about sets, reps, supersets, time under tension, macros, pre-workout, recovery meals and so much more.
The times I tried lifting, I felt awkward and out of place. “How does this machine work?” “Am I lifting this right?”
About a year ago, I ventured into Nutrishop Knoxville. The store was co-sponsoring a New Year Body Transformation Challenge with Clean Eatz Knoxville, where I had been getting pre-prepped meals for a couple of months.
Store owner Kyle Spicer took one look at me and said, “I specialize in helping guys like you?” I looked at him skeptically and the voice in my head said something like, “Good luck with all that. I’m a fat guy with a metabolism jacked up by chemotherapy who spends hours every week on the treadmill and can’t get the scale to move.”
As if he heard that voice, and maybe he did, he told me I needed to start lifting weights. Adding muscle mass would change my body composition and, eventually, the weight would come off.
Not for nothing, I’m still waiting for the scale to change, but Kyle and Tim Jones, the store manager, and Zach at Clean Eatz have advised me not to focus on the scale. Instead, I have real, honest-to-god shoulders. I have visible biceps and triceps. I have trapezius muscles, which are the really cool muscles that rise up between my shoulders and my neck. I’m hopeful I’ll have something that looks like visible abs before the end of the year.
I’ve learned the “foreign language” of weight lifting. I count my macros, drink BCAAs, pre-workout fuel and post-workout recovery drinks. I enjoy protein shakes. Consequently, I can lift my best friend over my head.
I’ve also embraced that I’m never going to be Men’s Health cover model fit. While I’d like to be ripped like a lot of the guys I work out with (at my awesome gym, Armor Gym Knoxville), it’s not in my genetics. My current goal is to get by body fat percentage down to 25. When I started this journey a year ago, I was hovering around 42.
Truth is, I’m a big dude and always will be.
As part of embracing my largeness, I’ve become a brand ambassador for Hoss Wear, a gym wear company that makes workout shirts for mostly but not exclusively big people like me. My favorite T-shirt has one word on it: “Thick.”
My favorite workout of late is LIIFT4, which combines weight lifting with High Intensity Interval Training. I absolutely love it, and have been seeing great results over the last 10 weeks. If you’re interested in learning more, send me a message.
It’s the middle of January, and it’s already shaping up to be a great year. I’ve joined the 2019 Nutrishop Knoxville Body Transformation Challenge, and I look forward to continuing the hard work needed to meet my goals.
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