Hello, welcome to my new blog.
For those who don't know me, I'll explain a little about myself and hopefully while doing so explain a bit about the purpose of this blog. I'm 42 (hence the name "over 40"), not tremendously out of shape, but not in the shape that I would like to be in. I'm sure that I fit into a common category for men my age.
I was athletic as a kid as I experimented with lots of different sports. My primary sport that I settled on was wrestling which I did for 6 years. I wasn't at the top of the food chain, nor was I at the bottom. I was decent and with a little more effort and commitment I could have been very good. I have never been big, I was 5'9" 135 lb. when I graduated.
After high school I joined the Air Force where I had a physical job working on aircraft. While in the Air Force I start skiing and would work out starting in August/September to get in shape for the upcoming season. I spent one year in Iceland where I worked out pretty hard and continued to improve my skiing. When I arrived in Iceland I was still around 135 lb, but when I left I was 170. I attribute the gain in size to a solid year of gym time. After Iceland I got stationed in Holland. While in Holland I joined the base soccer team and met a fellow who got me interested in ski racing. I was never a highly competitive racer, but I enjoyed the challenge and was able to race in a downhill in the French Alps which was pretty cool. The bottom line here is that I used to be pretty fit.
I left the Air Force 12 years ago, at the age of 30, to finish graduate school. I now work as a computer software tester. This is about the farthest you can get from a physical job that there is. Combined with the lack of anything physical all day is the fact that I am now 42 and my metabolism has slowed down accordingly, just as everyone said it would. As I said at the beginning of my post, I haven't let myself go to the point where I grossly out of shape. However, I am acutely aware of how easy that can be.
Right now I am (still 5'9") wavering between 185 and 190 lb. depending on my discipline that week. However, my endurance and fitness are gone. I have recently started (sporatically) playing soccer again. It's just a friendly game, but not as much fun when my legs are shot half way through and I have been unable to motivate myself to run independently to help gain fitness/endurance. This is where this blog comes in.
I have just joined a gym with my wife. The name of the gym doesn't matter. I can (and have) work out pretty much anywhere. What does matter is if I can stay motivated and achieve results. Here's the deal. The gym is 1/2 mile from my house. My plan is to jog over as a warmup, then workout and jog/walk back as a cooldown. Along with the membership we have purchased a program to meet with a personal trainer once per week. The membership and training sessions are for one year.
OK, I know what you're thininig. "OH, a personal trainer. Well la-te-da" LOL, that's what I would be saying anyway. But hear me out. This was a good deal when broken down to a per session rate (via a promotion) and I'm hoping that meeting with a trainer once per week will keep me on track to attain my goals by the end of the year. If I can't meet my goals in one year, then all is lost (so to speak).
I don't think my situation is unique. In fact, I think this is very common amongst men of my age. So feel free to follow my exploits as I trudge through this year long experiment in fitness for men over 40 years old. Hopefully I can inspire someone along the way, or at least give you a laugh.
My first session with the trainer is Wed (August 19th). Keep posted!!