Just now getting serious about getting back into shape

LinvilleGorge · 07-08-2007, 11:35 PM

Here's a little background and info.

I'm 24, will be 25 later this week. I'm 5'11" and right at 200# right now. I grew up in the foothills of the Appalachians and stayed in great shape hiking and rockclimbing (GREAT total body workout by the way) as well as working on the family's small farm, and playing football and basketball. As part of football, I bulked up to 205 by the end of high school, but staying in the 12-13% body fat range. When I went off to college, I was away from the mountains and was no longer playing competitive sports, but I still played a lot of pickup games and worked out. The real problem started my senior year when I had to spend so much time on my senior thesis and then after graduation having to work 45+ hours a week.

Now, while I'm 5# lighter than my heaviest weight, I'm in poor shape. I'm been running lately and starting to workout again over the past two weeks and I've dropped from 205 to 200.

It's amazing how quickly you can go from couch potato to being in A LOT better shape! I started out with very light jogging, but in two weeks, I went from very light, casual jogging with lots of walking breaks to now being able to run 1.5 miles straight and doing it in 13 minutes. While that's by no means burning up the track, it's certainly better than 2 weeks ago when I couldn't make it 1/2 a mile before sucking wind! Starting tomorrow, I'm bumping it up to 2 miles, because I want to continue to push myself and the past 2 days, I've noticed that after the 1.5 miles, I still had some more gas in the tank where a few days ago I was done after that distance.

My main concern right now is getting down into the 180-185 range and getting in good cardio shape and then I'll start really focusing on some strength training again. Right now, I'm just doing some basic lifting to get back into the swing of things.

I've only been getting serious about getting back into shape in the past 2 weeks, but so far, I'm amazed at how well I'm progressing.

Not really asking for any real advice here, more just sharing my experiences. However, if you have any tips or anything you'd like to add, please feel free!

sitnspin · 07-08-2007, 11:41 PM

Congrats, man. Keep it up, stay consistent, change what you're doing on a regular basis to keep surprising your body, don't overtrain, drink a lot of water, and take a good multivitamin.

LinvilleGorge · 07-08-2007, 11:45 PM

Oh, and I'm getting ready to start training again in MMA. I have some background in wrestling, BJJ, and boxing, but not much and it's been several years since I've done anything, so I'll basically be starting from scratch again. My primary goal is to get in the best shape I can and then train hard and see where it goes from there. I'm not sure if I have any desire to compete or not at this time. Some things like football and basketball, I'm very competitive; however, other things, like golf, I do for relaxation and to get away and I have no desire to really compete. I'm not sure how MMA will be. I'll just get in there and give it my all and see how I feel. Generally, I'm pretty competitive, so I think I'll probably get the itch to really go at it and try to compete/

In that case, I think my best bet is at 170. If I really pushed myself, I think I could get to the point that I could make 155, but I really don't think it's worth it. If I compete, I only plan to do so as an amateur or maybe if all goes well a low level, local organization and I simply think trying to get down to 155 would take more of a toll on my body than it would be worth unless I was trying to fight at the highest levels of the sport.

As for my general body type, probably the best MMA comparison I can think of off the top of my head is Rich Franklin, but I'm about 3" shorter.

Avenue_Brawler · 07-14-2007, 10:52 AM

This right here shows that it can be done. Congrtas.

Just like sitnspin says, stay consistent