» Fitness 2019
By Vince on July 25, 2019
Fitness
I don’t recall if I’ve touched on this subject before. I most probably have, as I am a firm believer in being physically fit. Especially for martial artist and most especially for people who go into harms way: soldiers, police officers, EMT’s, firemen, security specialists, etc.
A friend of mine Tom Furman calls it “The Armor of War” also from his book of the same title available on Amazon for those interested. And no, I get nothing back from Tom or his book, just great information from a guy who’s been doing it all his life.
This has also been referred to as making yourself the hardest person to kill in the room. Granted this will take more skill sets than just being fit, but it is part of the equation that makes up the whole package. Being fit AND having skill simply enhance each other.
I have been working out, in one form or another since I was 15 years old. After reading all the adventure/sci-fi, fantasy books of the time (Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lin Carter, Otis Adalbert Kline, John Jakes (Thongor) and a slew of others) not to mention the true life books of soldiers far and wide, I wanted to be like them. But then again who wouldn’t? They were hero’s! Something that sadly, nowadays, seem in short supply, and are even vilified.
At the age of 15 I decided to work for that goal. I’d been to the gyms of the day, Vic Tanny is one that comes to mind, it was more of club than a gym. So I looked through the phone book (yeah, I’m that old! Didn’t have Google back then…or even computers!) What I found was a place fairly nearby in Coral Gables called appropriately enough: The Coral Gables Health Spa. It was an old school weight lifting gym. Mostly Olympic bars and plated with a token Universal machine tucked away in a back corner.
I went in there and talked to the guy running the place, a very huge an ripped guy named Stan (I ran into Stan over a decade later when he bought a pistol from at my gun shop, he wasn’t as big, but still ripped and fresh out of med school!) and got a 3 month membership as I was in high school and it was summer vacation.
Stan gave me a “program” to follow…and I quickly learned that I had no idea wat to do or how to do it or basically anything! As fate would have it, an older gentleman, who at first glance didn’t look very fit, took me ane another beginner under his wing and showed us how to start off. As it turns out he was very fit, even tho all he did was sit-ups. He did 2 HOURS of sit ups! Non-stop. EVERYDAY. What looked like a band of fat under his shirt was a band of huge muscles! It also turns out that he had lifted with the famous Steve Reeves back in the day and actually knew what he was doing.
That summer I gain weight in my shoulders and legs and got pretty ripped. I was also working with my father’s construction business and going to the beach (Hey, I lived in Miami! It’s what we all did in the 70’s!) so I had a decent tan too.
My buds who hadn’t seen me in 3 months at school were awestruck! I had no idea why. I’d seen myself in the mirror every day, to me I still looked the same! Lesson learned then about what you see in the mirror also needs to be evaluated correctly!
From then on, I have always worked out, again in one form or another. I’d continue doing what weights I could even while training the martial arts, which I’d actually been doing since I was 10. Now I’m closer to 60 than I am to 50…and the body isn’t quite the same as when I was 15, Hell it’s not the same as it was when I was 25 or even 45! And that is part of life my friends, learning how to do the same things in different, and sometimes, not so different ways.
I still teach the martial arts and very much enjoy doing it, and I still work out and enjoy it as well, although like everyone else I have strong days…and not so strong days! Like in martial arts I find that the old ways are sometimes the best ways, altho not always. It’s good to keep an open mind and not be too hasty in looking at the “new” stuff.
I decided to do just that and with the help of a young trainer friend, Angie Escobar, did just that. She set me up with a new work out and a meal plan to go with it. I’m about 2 months into it and am just overjoyed with the progress I’ve made! I’m at least in as good a shape as I was when I was 15! Incredible! This is with all my broken & repaired parts, added extra parts and more than a few corrective surgeries.
All it takes is: WILL, a place to work out, a proper workout plan and a proper diet.
We’ve come a long way since the 70’s when I started. Back then a diet was basically eat everything with as much protein as you could and a LOT of it. I remember reading up on one of Arnold Swartzenegger’s snacks; a can of tuna mixed up with a pound of cottage cheese! Still good but nowhere near as tasty as Mutant Nutrition’s Mutant Pro
I got this at the recommendation of my trainer and it is excellent! One of the main issues I have with “protein powders” is the way they taste, which is usually like shit and/or worse! I ended up getting the chocolate version, even tho I am not a chocolate fan, because it was the only one I found in the place that had it. Hooked after the first try! This stuff tastes like chocolate ice cream!
Much better than the cottage cheese and tuna, although I remember acquiring a taste for it…after a while! I will say I’ve not eaten any of that combo since that time frame tho!!
So at first I went down about 15 lbs: from 185 to 170. I am now at 176. I have gone down 2 inches in waist size, from 32 to 30. But most of all I am stronger. I have had gains in the amount of weight I am pushing in the air! I went from only being able to bench 130 lbs to 200 lbs in this short time period! In spite of myself I am impressed.
It may not seem that much to you, but for a guy pushing 60 with a bad shoulder and bursitis, I’m good with it!
That’s me this week. (see above)
So it is possible for you or anyone else to get these same results or better. All you have to do is like the Nike commercials says, “Just do it.”
Now I do have my own set up here at home. Weights and a half rack with two benches. One bench for the rack and one I do sit-ups on. I have a padded floor so I and my wife can also do video workouts from Beachbody. To do so I have a 34 inch flat panel TV mounted on the wall with AppleTV and a Blu-ray player. I have a rack for both my dumbbells and kettlebells as well as the odds n’ ends of workout equipment. I can also teach martial arts here as well, when we’re not doing it outside in the hot Florida sun! Yes, I also have the garage both air conditioned and heated and well lit. BTW this also my shop.
So, admittedly, this has taken time and resources to make come true. I will say that this IS the way to go. When you have all you need to do your workout in you are not at the mercy of any gym’s set time frames. You can work out anytime you like! Day or night! It’s freedom. Highly recommended.
Now you do need to motivate yourself to actually get in there and WORK OUT. T’s not called working out for nothing! It is work and you are going to hurt from it. I call this pain “Honest Pain” because you got it bettering yourself. You can get Honest Pain from working in your yard, going for bike rides or even taking the stairs at work. This is “good” pain and will go away as you get stronger.
As Beachbody coach, Autumn Calabrese says:
“The exercise doesn’t get easier, YOU get STRONGER!”
Truer words were never said!
So motivate yourself because no one is going to do this for you. This a gift you give yourself. All it takes is getting out there a doing it, even when you don’t “Feel” like doing it.