I have been a weightlifter on and off for the past five years and a runner for the past two. I am neither very talented, nor exceptionally motivated. I try to make it to the gym four days a week because of the wonderful benefits of exercise. Yet, as a graduate student and web developer, many times I only manage it twice a week. During those cold snowy Chicago winters, I’ve often struggled to maintain my healthy exercise habits. I am just a regular guy.
That being said, I’ve learned a lot about exercise in the past few years, climbed one of the tallest mountains in the lower 48, and trained myself to run a 10k in an hour (not fast, but a feat for a computer programmer). I’ve read many books on exercise, lifting, and running from Gunner Peterson’s G-Force: The Ultimate Guide to Your Best Body Ever
how I started
When I started exercising at the age of 24, I weighed 130 lbs and I could barely lift a 15-pound dumbbell. Sweat made my back itch; I hadn’t touched a weight since high school. After putting a weight bench in my bedroom and spending months weight training (and injuring myself twice), running around the block very slowly still caused me to keel over and die. Breathing hard made me dizzy. Yet, through stubbornness I still managed to stumble my way up and down Mount Shasta.
After my closest friend dragged me off the mountain and I spent 3 weeks recovering from my experience, I knew it was time to take exercise more seriously. I started reading every exercise book I could stomach until I managed to find a few great books. Most exercise books are really bad and extremely embarrassing to read in public. But, I always want to do everything well. So I hit the books.
By establishing realistic goals I’ve managed to gain 10 pounds, add 55 lbs to my bench press, and increase my cardio limit by 50 minutes. If I hadn’t taken up exercise at 24 by the age of 30 I’d have been a 120 lb weakling with 30 lbs of fat. Whether you want to gain 10 pounds of muscle, or lose 10 pounds of fat, given a healthy whole foods plant-based diet, and realistic goals changing your body is easier than you might imagine.
My goals for next week are to benchpress 135 pounds 5 times, squat 135 pounds 5 times. Last week I pressed 135 pounds 4 times, and squated 135 3 times, so I expect to add 1 more rep next week, although I didn’t make it to the gym over the weekend due to school work and job searching. Whether you can lift 50 lbs or 200, setting realistic goals will allow you to build self esteme and succeed at weight lifting week after week.
Related:
- Can I do pull ups everyday?
- The Benefits of Exercise
- Marine Daily 16
- 100 Pushups: How Many Can You Do?
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