Commitment

Well, it's been a very long time since I have posted to this blog. But I return with a vigor and commitment stronger than ever before.  I feel like this blog has little direction, and I don't think that will change any time soon. Right now, I'm going to resume blogging and I am going to write about whatever I want.  The topics may or may not relate, may or may not be entertaining, but most certainly will happen on a somewhat regular basis. Good enough?  Great!

This post is going to put down some goals that I have set for myself and hold me accountable for them.  Over the next couple of weeks, I will be sharing these goals with people as they come up in discussion and that will also hold me accountable.

So what is the goal?

** To get in the best physical shape of my life.**

I've just upset a lot of goal setters out there. As a person that has taught goal setting (a few times anyways) and read at least a handful of books or blogs about goal setting, I realize I need to be more specific. And I need to have a timeline.  So let's add some details.

I feel like I have always been an 'athletic' guy. I grew up playing sports and lead a generally active lifestyle. Other than an embarrassing period after college, I have also always been a generally thin guy.  I am fortunate not to be pre-disposed to a much thicker body type, ie fat.  But just like anyone else, if I eat whatever I want and don't exercise, I get fat.

So here is my plan.

I am going to tackle this goal one week at a time. I turned 29 2 days ago and my goal is to be in the best physical shape of my life when I turn 30. So BOOOM, time frame is 1 year.  This will be extremely hard for me because I am very good at sticking to a workout schedule when I am first getting started (sound familiar?), but I tend to lost interest and neglect exercise pretty easily once more entertaining opportunities come along.  1 year - Time Frame Set.

What is the best physical shape of my life? Well, I am going to define it as -

1. Being able to run 3 miles in under 22 minutes. This is related to cardio obviously, and should be the easier portion of my goal. I don't like running but I can do it. I haven't been this fast in years so it will be a challenge, but I know it is attainable.  (Oh yeah, that is important for your goals as well, they need to be attainable, or else you will definitely lose interest!)

2. Being able to complete 20 pull ups consecutively. YIKES, never been able to do that before in my life.

3. Being able to complete 50 push ups consecutively. YIKES AGAIN! I gave it my all last year and maxed out at 44 push ups. At this point, I think 25 might be my max!

4. To have a six pack.  WHAT?!!?  This has never happened in my whole life. More importantly, I love food so much that this is probably the scariest part of the goal. I know that diet will become a major factor and I hate to give up food. 

5. To have an overall toned body. I could go into more detail about working out arms, shoulders, legs, etc, but I won't. Basically, I am going to try and have a balance between both cardio and muscle exercises to get the results I have in my head.

Okay, now that I have typed it up, now is the time to get it done.

Week one is shock therapy for me. I am going to run 2.5 miles every morning for 5 days, and complete the first week of P90X.  1 morning of running down, a few more exercises to go!