This is the time of year that everyone goes into self analysis and many folks, I’d say the bulk of them, come out with fitness oriented/health oriented changes. It seems that now; and then spring are the main times folks that don’t live the fitness oriented lifestyle actually acknowledge it’s existance and even consider switching into some sort of ‘fitness’ mode.

I’ll just speak for myself right now. As I come into 2009, I’ve been really focused and prioritized towards fitness since April. Last November 2007, I separated my left shoulder in a sports injury (indoor soccer. How do you separate your shoulder playing soccer? Leave it to me to find a way…). It took me 4 months to have some normal range of movement and start to build my strength back up. That’s one reason I look so weak in my ‘before’ pic that I’ve posted on this site as my ‘Day 1′ photos. I needed to really change up my routine, get my life in order and not just ‘fade away’ like I felt I was. It wasn’t about looks, or walking around with my shirt off in the summer. It was about performance on the soccer field running around slower and slower with less power and less stamina than ever before.

The main issue for me was simply letting the aging process take over. I was 41 and felt older. I was working out, eating 1/2 decent (and 1/2 not decent!) but felt old. And slow.

I found P90X, but through on-line research and not the (in)famous infomercial you see all the time on the weekends. I was researching Plyometrics (aka ‘jump training’) after watching a special on Kris Draper from the Detroit Red Wings focused on Plyo and keeping his speed and jump as he aged as a professional athelete. The search led to P90X and I liked what I read, and then in checking out reviews from folks I found a lot of folks I knew on-line and in real life had tried it and I liked what I heard from them.

When I got the program, I admit I was overwhelmed with it. I read all the included material and watched the workouts. I took the fit test to set a baseline. And then… I waited. I wasn’t sure I could commit that much time (an hour a day, six days a week) and focus on my diet over 90 days.

I laugh to myself about that now;

What’s happened to me over the last half of 2008, physically and mentally (related to getting in this groove) is really moving to me. I’ve regained my jump, energy and strength. I feel like I’m 20. I’ve got abs like I’ve never had before, my core is stronger than ever before, my strength matches (almost) where I was in my 20′s, my stamina is better than ever before, my flexibility is better than ever in my life and my balance is better. Doing Yoga on a regular (weekly) basis in this program has done wonders for me. I hated that part of it, but now have come to understand what it’s doing for me overall. Especially on the flexibility and balance part of this whole experience.

Physique wise, I’m totally impressed with what all this has done for me. I didn’t really believe that looking like this was really possible again. Really. lol. I hate typing stuff like this, because it comes off the wrong way so much; but I don’t think I’ve ever had it all ‘together’ like this ever before. When I was in my 20′s and really focused on muscle building, size and strength, I had no idea about core strength or worried about abs too much. Back then, to me, if my stomach was flat, then I was fine. Now, combining portion control and sensible common sense good foods instead of bad ones… I have abs. I’ve never had that before. Ever.

Mentally, I feel like I can accomplish things and am more confident tackling even very large tasks and hard tasks in any realm because I am more focused on what I can actually do. I’ve proved to myself that things that seem so impossible can be successfully done with consistent effort applied over time. I can weather things that before would really bother me without blinking an eye now.

In August, I reset my goals and focused on my 42nd birthday coming up this January. I wanted to see how close I could actually come to looking like I did at my physical peak… which I sort of loosely peg about age 23. I was working out everyday, very determined to get bigger and stronger. I was playing outdoor soccer and worked at a job where I was running a lot. Luckily I have some pictures from then, though I don’t often take such pictures, where I was ‘posing’. They’ll remain private, but suffice to say, I am pretty much there even right now by the end of December. I still have another whole month (my birthday is the last day of January) to keep working. It’ll be fun to see how I end up at that point.

I’ve often gone off about ‘perfection isn’t a destination, it’s a process’. So when you set a goal and actually, gasp, get there… what do you do? Set new ones. I have no intention of slowing down, eating crap, getting sedentary or letting all this work go to waste. I want to stay fit, live clean and enjoy the rest of my life as best I can. I want to be the old guy out on the indoor soccer field that guys marvel at for keeping up even though he’s the oldest guy by far on the team. I want to be the guy that my kids can grow up and later think, “Well, the old man still does it, why can’t I?”

When folks toot their own horn, even if they can do it and be honest, I hate it. It always comes off to me as arrogant. That’s not my intention. I just want to be honest with myself – and anyone following this blog – about where I’ve been, how I’ve gotten here and where I am going.

Peace.