Greetings and welcome to the online workout journal of the Big Tiger! Any longtime friends and fans know that this is not the beginning of my story, which began in 2008 with my realization that I had become fat and visually unappealing even to myself. While I have long promised an online journal, that has repeatedly fallen prey to a busy life with higher priorities. But here in 2024, I intend to give you complete documentation of my fitness pursuits. Perhaps in some way my own successes and failures will motivate, inspire, and educate.
GOALS:
OVERALL: The overall goal is to get healthy on the inside, aesthetic on the outside, as much as my body at this time in life will allow. I have lofty goals in my head, but I probably should have started in my teens for that. However, I will pursue the goals as far as I can and see what I get. If nothing else, I will be a healthier man for trying at all.
YEAR 2024: My overall goal stated above is vague and incalculable, as well as being so long-term that focusing so far into the future would actually foster defeat. Breaking it down into shorter goals with more objective standards is the best way to attain the greater goal. The following are goals I have written down annually since 2019, but have never attained. So I will keep repeating them until I succeed!
• Drop my weight below 200.0 for one weigh-in – I once got all the way down to 211.0 over a decade ago. I know with diligence I can do it again. Since I am interested in adding muscle weight in the long run, I want to hit this weight "just once!" to say that I did it, then I will ignore the scale and work my way back up in muscle mass.
• Drop my bodyfat below 10% for one assessment – Since the scale measures everything, both lean and fat mass, it is important to reach my weight goal in tandem with this one: I want to be lean, not just light. So my goal here is to have a reliable bodyfat measurement of below 10% just once in these twelve months. After that, I will be free to bulk back up a little to a more reasonable and sustainable level.
• Set new Personal Records for charted exercises – I have a list of exercises that I have tracked over the years as a way of measuring progress, both in cardio-vascular ability and resistance strength. I want to set new Personal Records for all of those exercises.
• Execute one rep of each powerlift at 315 pounds – In 2017 I received a few weeks of introductory training in powerlifting and learned that reaching 315 pounds (three 45-pound plates on each side of the bar) is considered a milestone called "The 315 Club". And so I want to hit 315 on the Bench Press, the Deadlift, and the Squat. I am aiming for reaching this goal much earlier than the end of the year, but I do have all year if I need it.
• Execute one Pull-Up – I haven't been able to do a Pull-Up since junior high school. Weight gain combined with a life of little physical exertion has led to the complete inability to do so. Now I want to get that back, even just once. A few acquaintances saw footage of my best attempt last year and assure me that I've done one, but I personally was not satisfied with the height I attained, so I consider this still a goal yet to be attained.
ADDED FUN: I am not one of these guys that thrives on simply working out. That in itself is not fun for me. So to add a dash of enjoyment into the "daily grind", I have these additional informal goals.
• A Dozen Guests – I want to get twelve guests onto my YouTube channel this year. Whether those people are trainers, nutritionists, other health experts, or just friends who life, I hope to include them each in their own episodes.
• Powerlifting Competition – On the condition that I can find a local competition, I will enter a powerlifting competition this year regardless of my strength capacity as recommended by the owners of a powerlifting gym in Bend who say, "For your first time, just do one no matter whether you're competitive or not."
• 50 x 50 x 50 – Inspired by a college peer, I want to perform fifty Push-Ups in each of the fifty United States by the time I reach my fiftieth birthday. This is a long-term goal that started on January 1, 2019, and I have already completed the task in 29 states. I am down to nine months to get the other 21 states on time, though this is something I would continue to work toward even if I can't complete it by the end of this September.
• Feature Film Rough Cut – My life goal of directing a feature film has turned toward making a documentary on the subject of men's fitness, so my goal this year is to have a Rough Cut of the film complete. This is a somewhat subjective goal, but I'll know in my mind if I've succeeded or not. And it's under "Added Fun" anyway.
WEIGH-IN:
Weight: 221.4
This starting weight represents a net gain of 0.2 pounds over last year, meaning that in all the ups and downs of 2023, the sum result is that I have barely moved the needle in a full year. This year, Brian; this year.
FOOD INTAKE:
I call this section "Food Intake" because it is not my "diet", meaning it is not necessarily what I should eat, but a journal of what I do eat, as often as I can remember to write it down. (It's amazing how fast the memory fades on a daily basis regarding mundane details.) Do not read this section as a guide to what you should eat! Proper nutrition is my biggest weakness and I am by no means the example for you to follow.
UNFINISHED
9:30 a.m. :: Redmond, OR – Home
• Sausage patty : 3
• Granola bar : 1
• Banana bread : 1 slice
11:15 a.m. :: Redmond, OR – Home
• Cookie : 2
1:45 p.m. :: Redmond, OR – Church
• Pizza : 1 slice
2:15 p.m. :: Redmond, OR – Home
• Granola bar : 1
5:30 p.m. :: Redmond, OR – Home
• Pizza : 3 slices
• Breadstick : 2
8:30 p.m. :: Redmond, OR – Home
• Cookie : 5
• Pepsi : 1 can
The new year is never the best time to renew my diet lifestyle. In addition to kicking off a dozen New Year's Resolutions, my son has his birthday (Sweet 16 this year!) on January 1st so there's always some kind of birthday meal and party food. I controlled myself around lunch when he and several friends had pizza, but by dinnertime the leftovers called to me and I had three more slices.
I don't make a habit of listing everything I drink, but when the fluid has a high and obviously substantive caloric effect I do. So there's that one can of Pepsi.
EXERCISE:
Exercise will include both cardio and resistance exercises, both formal gym workouts and informal sessions at home on busy days. To be counted as exercise, cardio must last a minimum of 30 minutes; and any resistance training must have at least three sets.
2:30 p.m. :: Redmond, OR – Hugh Hartman Campus
• Cardio: Walk Test
– Time: 32:55
– Distance: 2.5 miles (10 laps)
– Walk Test: 12:04
2021 Push-Ups: +10 / Total: 10
I kicked off the year with my traditional Walk Test for a basic cardio-vascular assessment. Simply, I walk a mile as fast as I can. It's part of a larger test called the Rockport Walk Test that involves taking one's pulse and entering the data in a formula that gives a number that goes on a chart that tells you how healthy you are. I just do the walk, and figure that if I can go faster than before, then my overall physical capabilities have improved.
This one was actually slower than my times in 2020; possibly due to not doing much jogging during the cold months of November and December.
And that is probably the longest journal entry you will read. I have an unstoppable compulsion to be thorough on such things, setting it up for any readers wanting to follow along. See you tomorrow!
