Breaking my update into 3 parts. Part 1 will be vacation writeup, Part 2 will be 2023 in review, Part 3 will be an update to Jan 31st goals and plans moving forward.
Part 1: Vacation
I spent 7 days out in the PNW, visiting a girl out there. This was the first time in months that I have had a full 48 hours off of work, and gave me the opportunity for some much needed rest and relaxation. Now, being T-Nation, this is the part where people normally talk about doing burpee madness at 5am before the holiday festivities begin, or finding hole in the wall gyms to grab a squat workout while their family is shopping.
I took a rather different approach. For the whole trip, the closest I came to exercise was that arm wrestling machine lol. I spent the days going to restaurants, cooking holiday meals with my girl, sleeping more than I probably have in the past 3 weeks together, and drinking with enough fervor to bring the Navy pride. And it was Fantastic. Utterly Fantastic. I feel great. Energy levels skyrocketed, many of the aches and pains I have been dealing with resolved themselves, I just felt good. I had been pushing things hard for a long time, both in terms of my training, and in terms of the stressors outside the gym. Giving my body a weeklong break from both to just relax and recuperate was sorely needed. (and surprisingly, my weightlifting belt fit the same on my return as it did when I left. Was expecting it to be a little tight, if from nothing than just the bloat, but it seems my body just welcomed the extra rest and nutrients.)
On a more personal level, I had a blast. The girl I went to visit is an Army officer, so I spent a lot of my time tooling around post with her, baking cookies for her soldiers, going out for meals with some of her co-workers. (@TrainForPain I have to admit, walking around the Commissary, I was struck but how much more āin-shapeā everyone appeared to be in comparison to what I see at work. Im not saying that everyone was an Adonis, but most guys looked reasonably fit, and it was uncommon to see anyone truly fat. I knew the Navy had a pretty big deficiency in fitness, but it was pretty eye opening to see how stark the difference was.) Her and I absolutely hit it off, already planning our next trip to see one another. She is my best friends wifeās best friend, so we were both being interrogated by the two of them during the trip about how it went lol. Was pretty funny, but at least we both had good things to report back lol.
Part 2: 2023 in Review
Jesus it has been a year. I can say that in many ways, this was the worst year of my life. But I can also say that I have grown more in this past year than in perhaps any other. In the last year I got out of a 9 year relationship that was utterly and completely toxic, but still amazingly painful to end. I have worked the most difficult position of my career, seeing more sailors leave the Navy for mental health issues than I ever thought id deal with in my career, to include quite a few fellow officers. Ive gone weeks without a full nights sleep, months without days off, and havenāt seen any family this year. It doesnāt help that I never wanted this position in the first place, and while I will do the best wherever Iām placed, I cant pretend I have either an aptitude nor interest in any sort of engineering field. Throw onto that a few deaths in the family, and theres scarcely been a month without some major problem derailing lifes plans. I never thought Iād miss the days of deployment, but god that was just such a higher quality of life in comparision.
But, in spite of the struggles, I have thrived. I made a life for myself. I have trained consistently, god knows how many workouts I have done at this point while being awake for 36+ hours. But despite the issues, I am stronger, faster, and leaner than I was at the start of the year. Professionally, I have performed at a very high level. Itās been a hard year, but my team has performed admirably, and more than once we have pulled off evolutions to meet timelines that were nothing short of a fantasy. I have a very close relationship with my sailors, and their devotion shows. My work hasnāt gone unrecognized either, as my latest performance evaluation was nothing short of shocking for someone so junior in my rank. Damn near the top out of a large pool group, which really ruffled some feathers seeing as I have only been my rank for half a year, and I placed above the vast majority of people 4-6 years senior to myself. In the little free time I have, I have been a better friend, a better son, a better man. Being single for the first time since I was 16 really gave me a chance to think about what I wanted to do for me, what life I wanted to forge. I have dated plenty, realized I am a much more eligible bachelor than I ever thought I would be, and really learned what I did and didnāt want in a partner. And then a few months ago, I met an amazing gal. Its still early, and we definitely have a lot stacked against us with our various duty stations, but she makes me happy, and I am very excited to see where this goes.
This year was shit. I hope to never have one like this again. But I managed to take all the pain, the frustrations, the boiling anger that is constantly lurking in the background of my mind, and turn it into something productive. I may not like where I am in life, but I am damn proud of the Man I am in life, and this past year was instrumental in shaping that.
Part 3: Goals
First, a quick update on my Jan31st goals.
Weight 195: Not even close, put off cutting weight in favor of fueling training.
1.5 Mile run in 11:30: Ran 11:17, and have more in the tank
300 M sprint: Abandoning this goal. Was for one very specific job requirement, which is still possible, but if its coming, wont be for at least 2 years. Not worrying about this right now.
75 Pushups: Passed
4 min Plank: Havent done it, but have done numerous 3 Min planks with more in the tank. 4 minutes is there, at that point its just a mental test not a physical one.
12 Pullups: Passed
35x5 weighted Pullup: Hit 32.5x5ā¦ im close.
405 squat: I havent tested it. But, I hit 350x5 with reps in the tank, I hit 325x10, I hit 340x8. 405 is there by any measure, and I dont really feel the need to test my 1RM to prove it. Iāll go Wendler rules and stick with an estimated 1RM.
Plan moving forward.
I recently found out that a job opportunity may be open to me that I never had really considered before. (Actually found out on vacation) This is something I would absolutely love, and much more in lines with the type of work I was originally hoping to do. I still donāt know if itās even possible, but I should be meeting with a few people in the upcoming weeks/months to explore the viability of making it happen.
This job has some pretty intense physical requirements. It will definitely be a different training demand than what I have been doing. Lots of endurance work, lots of bodyweight work, and then theres the mental aspect. Honestly, training for this wonāt be fun, and I fully intend to abandon these goals if it turns out my going this route in just impossible. But until then, Iām going to act as if its reality and prepare accordingly.
Interestingly enough, If i go end up going this route, I would start the process most likely feb-march of 25, so some year long goals are perfect to get my in a good position.
Looking at what I need for this. I need to be strong. I need to crush bodyweight workouts. I need to run like a deer. I need to ruck likeā¦idk, someone who rucks a lot. I need healthy joints that can deal with some strain. And I need to mentally be a tough SOB.
So, where am I now?
My lower body is strong. 325x10 on squats, 405x11 on deads, I feel confident that my legs are strong enough to handle anything that comes their way. I do want to bulletproof my core though, just rock solid.
My upper body lags a bit in comparision. My bench is pathetic, my overhead press is decent, and I can hold my own on most back exercises, but I donāt feel like I am as strong as id like to be. With every screener type event ive done in the past, I was one of the stronger guys, and it served me well. Iād like to continue that.
Bodyweight: I need work. I can do pushups well, but I need to become a pushup machine. In my experience, regular strength training builds my base for pushups, and then 4-8 weeks of specific training gets me to 100+ pushups. Want to set myself up to replicate that. And then I need to improve pullups, beyond what I can do now. No other way about it.
Running: Needs to improve. Flat out. it hasnāt been a priority for me, buts its going to become one. If being objective, this has always been my week point in these type of endeavors. I have gotten down to a 20min 3 mile before, but im looking to surpass even that.
Rucking: Honestly, I havent really done this in years. I always was decently good at it back when I did it a lot, but the standards we had were lower than what im looking at. then again, I also didnt train for it as much as I intend to. Either way, this is going to take a lot of work, just to get used to it again.
Strong Joints: Yeah, I need work. This is as much of a concern for me as anything else. Knee injuries cost me Marines, and while ive rehabbed it to near 100%, I need to go into this feeling good. Mobility work, rehab work, tendon work, whatever the hell I need to do, I need to do it.
Mental Toughness: How do I codify this? Every guy out there believes themself to be tough, regardless of reality. But I will say this. I have excelled in every position ive been in. That could be football, wrestling, high school, college, Gunnery Officer, Nuke School, my job now. Its varied, its different, and put me into any of those and I thrived. Not because I was naturally gifted, though that did apply in some instances. But because I would work harder than others, keep working when others through in the towel, and held amazingly high standards for myself. I have done pretty well in life despite a background growing up that was anything but beneficial, I have never quit in an endeavor, and I truly do believe that I can do anything I set my mind to. For that matter, I believe that for most everyone (barring disability). This last year has been amazingly challenging, but hitting 5+ mile runs or heavy squats after a 36 hour shift has been a great opportunity for me to train my ability to do the work while heavily fatigued, which was as often as mental of an endeavor as it was physical. So I think I am strong mentally, but I can always be stronger.
So with that in mind, Goals for 2024:
5 mile run: 35 minutes
2 mile run: 12:30
12 Mile Road Ruck with 55lbs: 2 hours 30 min
5 mile Road Ruck with 55lbs: 55 min
Pullups:21
Weighted Pullups: 70x5
Pushups: 101 in 2 minutes
Press: 185x5
Strict Toes to Bar: 10 reps
Standing Ab Wheel: 10 reps
Weight: 190. This may hurt some of my lifts, but with the mileage im going to be doing, I just cant be walking around at 215-220. Time to cut, even if the rest of my goals are going well.
on top of that, there are some challenges I want to complete. These are done in part to gauge my progress, in part to build my toughness, and in part for the sake of being the type of man who does difficult things.
Complete all 5 Challenge sessions from tactical barbell.
Duku-Duku
Burpees for the Mentally Disturbed
Triska-Deka-Phobia
Beasting
Snake-Eaters Delight
The last one comes from a friend of mine whoās done similar to what iām looking at, he called it the man-maker.
Time Limit: 2 hours
5 mile ruck with 55lb pack
100 squats with ruck
5 mile run
100 bodyweight squats
Are these goals ambitious? Absolutely. Are they realistic? To be frank, Iām not sure. But I know i have always been able to progress cardiovascular goals pretty rapidly, I know I have a good program set up to get me to these goals, and I know im ready to work. Some additional difficulties will come up. The hours at my job should be improving, but on the flip side, I will be at sea for a significant portion of the year, adding difficulty to both training and nutrition. But no one made progress with excuses, they made it with effort and discipline.
Lets get to Work.