Rebuilding my strength

Back when I began figuring out what to do for my workout routine I had an eye opening experience about my health. When I first got started I was just doing some stuff like push ups and sit ups and light body resistance type exercises. Then I decided to brave the world of cardio because I knew that it would be effective in helping to shed pounds faster. It was an unbelievably nice day out when I decided to start so I threw on my old gym shoes and was going for a jog. I figured I'd make a lap around my neighborhood and see how it went. I did a couple light stretches and rushed out the house and started down the side of the road. After maybe 2000 feet I was already completely out of breath and had a side ache and had to stop to rest. I sat there for a few minutes and still couldn't hardly catch my breath, so I started walking back to the apartment. By the time I got back to the apartment by walking I was again completely out of breath, so much so in fact that I was getting dizzy and had to lay down on the sidewalk. It was at this point I realized a cold hard truth that I was terribly out of shape. Just because I used to run lines in basketball in high school doesn't mean that after 8 years of not working out I'll be able to jump right back into it at a full speed.

After this incident I watched several YouTube videos trying to educate myself about methods for getting back into working out. After watching these videos (as well as my jogging incident) I learned the importance of needing to rebuild your base strength when getting started after having not worked out in a long time. You can't expect to do things like intense cardio or a heavy lifting weight routine if you are starting from being horribly out of shape like I was. I then realized that it was going to take me some time to build up enough stamina and base muscle strength to get to the point where I could work out like I envisioned.

I accepted the fact that I needed to take it slow at first and get back to where I was healthy enough to be able to push hard. I then started instead of jogging to walk on a treadmill with a slight incline for 3 sets of 10 minute intervals. I would gradually increase my speed or incline a little bit as I got better. Pretty soon I was able to do 1 30 minute session of an inclined walk. For my weight lifting I did lots of reps with low weight to all my muscle groups. By doing low weight with high reps this will help your muscles become accustomed to being active and it will prepare yourself for when you start upping your workout. If you do start at a gym using the weight machines is an excellent way to start off. The weight machines give a slight mechanical advantage for starting out easy as well as helping you learn good form. If you try to lift too much too quickly you run a very high risk of hurting yourself. After about a month at home working on rebuilding my base strength I signed up for the gym (now that I didn't feel completely embarrassed about my lack of fitness). I then started to slowly increase my weight while lifting and my intensity during my cardio.

Remember folks getting started and doing your workout and sticking to it is important. But please understand the importance of rebuilding your base strength. If you haven't worked out in a long time like I had you will want to build your stamina and strength back to a point where you can start to work hard again. If you don't you will run the risk of injuring yourself and setting yourself even further behind in your quest to get healthy. Besides hurting yourself physically you might also hurt your pride. I know I did and it makes it hard to continue on when you see how bad it is. So start off consistent and with a real expectation of what you are capable of with your current health. In no time flat you will regain your stamina and be able to push harder!!

Onepunch-Man Fitness

Here is the first of many images for Picture of the Month (PotM)!! Today's picture stars a Manga character named Saitama from the series Onepunch-Man. Onepunch-Man is an action/comedy/supernatural style manga. The story revolves around the main character Saitama who originally was an ordinary human that discovers he wants to be a super hero. Saitama then trains vigorously for 3 years and becomes ungodly powerful. So powerful in fact that he now defeats all his enemies with only ONE PUNCH!! Saitama meets with several other heroes and joins a hero alliance and works towards saving the world while increasing his hero rank. Saitama however is frustrated that all his battles now are instantly over and never provide him with any excitement because they always end after only one punch. 

I like this manga because it has a humorous story, amazing art work, and despite the fights ending with one punch the author still incorporates many awesome fight scenes. It currently has two different versions out. The one I linked to is a combination piece where the original author teamed up with an awesome artist to redo it. The other version called Onepunch-Man (One) is done solely by the original author (the author's pen name is ONE). One's artwork is somewhat under par but this version of the story has progressed further along than the redo with the plot.

The other reason I chose this for my PotM is because Saitama in this frame is explaining to the other heroes how he became so powerful. When you understand how powerful Saitama really is you know that this workout routine is completely impossible to achieve the strength he has. For example Saitama can defeat huge enemies that destroy sky scrapers in the blink of an eye (it's meant to be a humorous panel because Saitama is saying it so seriously). Anyhow despite the humor intended by this panel it does speak to a truth that all people aiming to get in shape can appreciate. If you build your workout and diet and work hard and stick to it every single day you will see results. Working hard EVERY SINGLE DAY is the point I wanted to drive home with picture. This doesn't necessarily mean working out everyday, but it does include working hard at eating right, getting enough rest, and everything else needed for improving your health. If you can do that you will get results and you will reach your goal.There will not be any shortcuts and it will take time, sweat, a few tears, and maybe a little blood but you can get there!! This is the awesome thing about health and fitness that anyone and everyone can get there with hard work and determination. So go out there and work hard everyone and you will see results!! ^_^

Finding motivation and starting

Getting myself motivated was one of the hardest parts to getting started. It is also the most important factor when starting down the path towards regaining your health. Looking at the road ahead can be daunting and seem like your goals are so far away. The good part though is that your goals are attainable and you can get there. You just have to find your motivation and keep it to overcome the that initial speed bump of doubt.



For me a big part of becoming motivated was that I had recently just watched Expendables. I saw this movie and was amazed at all these old action actors that still look burly. For instance Sylvester Stallone is in his mid 60's and he is still in great shape and pumping out action movies. This really spurred me to want to be in great shape even into my later years in life and I set that as a goal of mine. Another big thing I used for motivation was that I would visualize a clear image in my head of what I wanted to look like when I reach my goal. In particular I visualize myself  getting a 6pack, the slim indents on my hips, and the "V" shape of my upper body from my back muscles. Setting realistic attainable goals is an excellent way to get motivated and to help keep you motivated. These are some good long term goals that I had set. It is also good to keep some goals that are short term. When I started my short term realistic goal was to lose 1 pound per week. These are important because it helps you focus on the small successes.


Another way to help build my motivation was what I like to call the "Nike" method, get out there and JUST DO IT!! It really does sound cliche but it is an amazing help. Getting started is the hard part, a lot of times you just need to grit your teeth and jump into action. After you get past that initial mental road block of getting started motivation winds up naturally coming to you as you do your workout. I know for a fact when I didn't want to work out but did it anyways I always felt great about it after I was done, never once did I regret it.


For me another big thing that helped in getting started was the fact that I came to the realization that I wanted to get back in shape and not ever fall back into being unhealthy again. This for me was going to be a lifestyle change. If I had approached it with the attitude that I would diet and lose some weight and then stop once I hit my mark I would have fell victim again to failure. A couple of times I had used extreme diets to lose weight, however when I stopped because I had lost the weight it would get put right back on. If you can shoot for a lifestyle change, rather than a quick fix diet, that is how you will best get results and keep them.

Despite what you see on TV there are no "shortcuts", miracle drugs, or gimmick diets that are going to get you results and keep you that way. It all boils down to hard work and being determined to eat healthy consistently. The best thing about fitness though is once you can wrap your head around the fact that you will have to put in some effort and use a little will power with your diet is that ANYONE can get healthy again.

The last method I employed to help keep me motivated was to keep track of my success. This gives you a good way to remember just how far you have come and allows you to celebrate your progress. It is much better to look at the road you have traveled and the progress you have made than to worry about the road that lies ahead and how long it will take for you to get there. In keeping track of your success using multiple methods is always best. The scale isn't always the most accurate way to keep track of how well you are really doing. The scale can give you a good indication of your weight loss but it can be misleading when you are getting stronger and putting on weight from building muscle. I still use it but I look at other methods as well. My favorite is taking pictures it gives an awesome visual of the progress you have made and how much healthier you look (and sexier ^_^ lol). Another good thing to notice when you are taking pictures is how much bigger the smile on your face will be as you get towards your goal!! I also like to take note of how my pants and shirts fit. It is fantastic to see your clothes size dropping and feels good when you go buy new slim clothes.

Intro to GFN author Karl Keim

Hello my name is Karl Keim. I am the author and writer of Geek Fitness Network. I decided to make this blog to help provide a means for people to come to the understanding that it is possible to be a "Geek" and be healthy and in shape. I know for a lot of people out there feel like it is an overwhelming task and that it just isn't possible, well I'm here to show you that I'm living proof (as well as many others) and that it is possible.

Growing up I always preferred doing the dorky things like playing video games or working on computers. I did however do lots of sports growing up as a kid and was very active pretty much year round. When I was in middle school I did wrestling and baseball. In Junior High I did baseball and basketball and Karate. During my high school years I did basketball and baseball. All the sports that I did along with the fact that I was still growing made it so I was able to overlook the fact that my eating habits were horrible. For the most part during my younger years I was in pretty good shape and only ever had a little bit of belly fat. At the end of my senior year I was 195 pounds.

After high school I went off to college. At college I was more content to just sit around and play games, watch anime and TV because I was no longer involved with any sports teams. Shortly after I started college I had a overwhelming life crisis that put me into a depression which only further stemmed my inactivity. This is where my lack of a good diet started to wreak havoc. I didn't know what I wanted to do so I quit going to college and started working at a job in retail. My retail job was a desk job where I sat and processed paperwork to order product for customers. I worked at this job for four years and then finally decided what career path I wanted to do and went back to college to get an associates degree in Information Technology. At this point in time is when I started to have a real concern about my health because I was at that time 270 pounds.I was also having all sorts of physical problems like my right knee was very weak and hurt me, being short of breath, low energy levels and even things like bending over to tie my shoes was noticeably difficult. Shortly after I started to be concerned about getting my health back. It wasn't too long until one morning I had an epiphany and realized something needed to quickly change. I decided to jump in to the fitness thing whether it was sink or swim. I am quite the stubborn bastard so by god I was going to swim!!

  

This is when I started my trek to get in shape. I didn't know anything about fitness or nutrition but that didn't matter I was going to do it. I knew from all my hard work in sports from my younger years that if you move you'll get in shape. I scrounged together with a buddy and found some rusty dumbbells and a workout bench and a old treadmill and went to work. As far as nutrition I didn't know anything other than I should eat less food so I aimed to have smaller portions in my meals and overall eat less.

All of the subsequent posts regarding my transformation will be about how I went through the trials and tribulations of getting healthy. I will go over the things I tried along the way and what worked and what didn't. These days there is a lot of information about ways to get healthy and lose fat and be in shape, some of it works and some of it doesn't. I am writing my story to try and clear up what people should expect, failures I had that you can avoid, and the methods that led to me finding success.

At the end of my story you will be able to see how I went from being 270 pounds, out of shape and physically deteriorating  in May of 2011 back to being fit and healthy at 198 pounds where I am at today. And I managed to accomplish this while keeping true to being an astounding geek and aiming for a path in an IT career!

I managed to make my fitness work even though I work in the IT industry at a desk all day. I am currently progressing in a career aimed at network and windows administration. As most of you can figure this entails lots of sitting in front of computer screens and not much in the way of physical activity. When I get home I also enjoy playing several computer and console games in my free time. In addition to gaming I have a slew of other numerous geeky activities such as reading manga, watching anime, playing trading card games, watching TV, and going to the movie theater. The only physical hobbies I currently enjoy, besides getting fit at the gym, are playing disc golf and baseball from time to time.