Pandemic Fitness
Pandemic Training Diary
With all the gyms closed it has been difficult for many people to come up with ways of staying in shape other than walking and running. At 58 years old I’ve been a gym rat for over 50 years. I started Martial Arts, Boxing and Wrestling when I was just 5, and soon after began lifting weights, mostly as a way of increasing my strength for competition in the three martial arts. At the peak of my fitness I was 205 lbs of solid functional muscle at 6’1”, though I found I felt faster and lighter competing at 180. 205, a solid heavyweight back then, made more money for me, but 180, middle weight back then, was where I felt at my best. I was a natural ectomorph, long limbs and ridiculous endurance, even as a heavyweight. Somewhere along the line I compressed my spine in the lumbar region trying to squat too heavy too soon, shattered both my kneecaps in a car accident, and damaged the spine again, this time in the neck while I was grappling. I’ve been a trainer pretty much my entire life. But recently I got tired of suppressing my knowledge of the truth working at the big fitness chains and ended up with no gym to work out at. I’ve always been intensely self motivated, so I thought working out from home would be no problem. But around the same time my friends finally talked me into seeing someone about the PTSD, Depression and Anxiety that I suffered as a result of a very abusive childhood. I’d been against taking any kind of drugs my entire life. Virtually my entire family are addicts. I’ve never had a single drink, not even one, not even when I was in the military. But the therapist, the psychiatrist and my friends have convinced me that I should at least try medication. My depression and anxiety came out as rage and it had destroyed so many relationships as well as making me deeply unhappy much of the time. The meds are helping. But the meds are also prone to causing weight gain. No problem I thought. I’ve got the knowledge and motivation to avoid that. Except taking away my rage also dulled my motivation. I got lazy working out from home and I began to overeat. Junk. Lots of junk. I’ve usually been pretty good with my diet but it got so I was eating junk and eating it late, and lots of it. So one of my dear friends got me to join a gym. And I began to really get into the rhythm again. My workouts got better and more intense and my diet cleaned up. Then the pandemic came and the gyms were closed. No problem again. I could take that motivation into working out from home. Except I didn’t. And I binged on junk food again. So this morning I weighed in at 210. Definitely not all muscle anymore. At least 15 pounds of belly fat. So this diary is going to trace my attempts to be the trainer I’ve been for so many others for myself. I don’t have the motivation of getting ready for a fight anymore. But I can do a lot better than this. I’m going to use my imagination and knowledge to get myself in shape and stay in shape until the gyms open again. I hope you can use my experiences to help you do the same. I might fall down a few times. I will struggle. My spine and knees are killing me. But I will be completely honest as to what happens, as to my failures and my successes. I hope it helps. Me, by holding myself accountable. And you, by learning and being motivated by my experience. Please share your own experiences as well on our page:
It would really help to know about what everyone out there is doing and how you’re all doing.
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