Training 2024

The last few years... got locked in the last half of my time in Timor, through summer of 2022. Back down to my USMC weight'ish - in the 180s. (HS 155-165, college 165-175, USMC 175-185.) Back to the States for a year where PT was consistent but diet and nutrition was a free for all, combined with trying to get our cat out of Timor and to the US, and PT-food-booze was the coping mechanism of choice, and weight creeped back up into the 200s.  

Summer 23 moved to Cyprus, weight at 206. Started getting back after the end of August 23 when my gear/equipment got here. 

 January 23 to Jan 1 2024. 196lbs on 1/1/23 to 178 at this AM's weigh in. 

Used the 75 Hard template in Timor to good effect. Ending up running it 4x through the end of 2023 and in 2024. Currently on Day 51 of another round. 

Solid template and gives much needed structure. First workout generally strength/weights based, the second usually stretching/mobility. Though during part of the year the second/outside workout was just a walk. Hardest part is honestly getting the gallon of water in a day. I enjoy the PT, the reading & all the rest. Eschewing the booze for 75 days at a clip has been a net positive. In between when I indulged it actually seems as if lost my taste for it, really. 

Nutrition/diet wise the largest change after 15-20yrs of a meat heavy/low carb diet when getting into shape, I went vegetarian in 2024. I'd done it previously 20'ish years ago. The changeup not for any health or fitness reasons - were I eating only for performance and health it'd be steak and eggs 3x/day - but for the same reasons I'd tried it before, along the lines of 'ethical vegetarianism.' If it's got a face, might have a soul or suffers when killed, it gets a pass. A naive and simplistic worldview, likely, but I'm just going with how I feel about it. Honestly, having a pet in my life made me revisit the whole concept.

Milk, eggs, protein powder for the bulk of my protein needs, plus using intermittent fasting, has gotten me just as lean as previous best attempts. Coffee, milk, water & supplements throughout the day, start eating in the PM as hunger dictates.

 

Best program I ran this year was Dan John's Easy Strength. Especially his Easy Strength for Fat Loss variation. Ran both of those, once. Played with his One Lift a Day as well. The rest of the year I ran bastardizations/variations on old school 5x5 and Wendler's 531, as much as one can with my equipment limitations and program hopping ADHD.

That connector bar for my dumbbells was a good piece of gear, but apparently it wasn't built for power cleans. When it snapped I ended up having to replace my Bowflex handles, which weren't built to be dropped, clearly. Cheaper to replace the handles than get a different set of adjustable dumbbells, not even counting I can't get items that heavy shipped to my current locale. 

I ever settle down in one place though, I'd start over with an IronMaster set - but 13 yrs ago when I started outfitting the home gym, the Bowflex Selectech were the best choice. And then I'd get a power rack and barbell. Living abroad and moving every couple years has made making due with dumbbells, kettlebells and calisthenics is a creative work in progress. 

2024 I finally started incorporating a warmup into training. At a minimum hanging from the pull-up bar and sitting in the goblet squat (h/t again to Dan John.) When I need more loosening up I try to do a light 2x5 in the 'basic human movements' - push, pull, hinge, squat - plus whatever else needs work. 

The old Navy bodyfat calculator isn't the most accurate metric in the world, but like the other metrics - weight, progress pictures, waist measurements (all of which can be juked one way or the other) - following it can give you trend lines to see if you're moving in the right direction. 17% at the beginning of the year, down to around 10% at my lightest in the summer, around 170.

 

The lightest weight I saw this year, a number I haven't seen since college. Weight varies wildly, depending on water intake, fluid retention, time of day, time of last meal... what have you. I think I hit this #, iirc, by extending my fasting window a bit and playing around with my water intake for a couple days, and at the end of the Easy Strength for Fat Loss/weight cut focus. 

Likewise progress photos are pretty easily manipulated - lighting/angles/post workout pump - as are tape measurements - you can always pull that tape a little bit more snug to get the result you're looking for. But again, in general, looking for how things are trending. 

Charting the last 13 years, from my absolute worst condition ever in 2011 to getting it together, mostly using P90X and related programming, through my 'powerlifting/strongfat' phase to a 500lb deadlift and the ups and downs since then. 

2024 was the 30th anniversary of the first "progress pic" I ever took, back in college. 

1994-2024.

The only thing that I could classify as a PR in the past year of getting my act together/building-rebuilding habits is finally nailing a standing ab wheel rollout. 

Spent the last month and today getting some baseline strength metrics for the next few months training. Gonna try and nail some basic strength goals. Using basic 5x5'ish programming. 2-5 warmup sets, 1-5 work sets, depending on whether I'm working sets across or top end sets. Higher rep work, particularly chins and pullups tend to aggravate my elbow tendonitis, so reps limited to 5. A few months working on basic movements and strength building and hopefully hitting my completely random yet nevertheless meaningful goals, then I'll probably run Easy Strength again. I also got gifted a set of 24kg kettlebells with an eye towards running Dan John's Armor Building Formula/Complex.  

I'd likely do best and have better results on a 3 day/week full body workout, but - more for my mental health than physical - I need to get in the gym every day and do something, or I start to get wonky. More likely a 4 day upper/lower split or some kind of 5 day split, with lighter screw around stuff on the weekends. The hole in my training is conditioning, and I need to find a way to start working in more shadowboxing and bag work into my programming. Need to continue working mobility/flexibility, even between/after my 75 Hard run. 

Work in progress. Onwards.