30 Day Fitness Challenge!

(Note: This is part 5 in a 30 day series, with a new post and a new workout every day! If you like these posts, subscribe to the Mumbo Jumbo RSS feed at the top of the page!)

I’m going to start a new series here on Mumbo Jumbo Daily! about fitness, particularly my personal fitness journey over the next 30 days. I’ll be reporting in every day, detailing my progress and activities, goals, ideas and strategies.

Let me also state here that I am in no way a training professional or doctor. I’m liable for my own behind, just like you are liable for yours. Anything written about here is merely for reference in accordance with what I have completed. None of this material is medical or professional advice (though some of the videos and materials might have been put together by licensed professionals). You can follow along with these workouts if you like, but if you do, you assume full responsibility for yourself. If you hurt yourself doing anything I do, it’s your own fault and I can’t be held responsible (after all, I’m just describing what i completed successfully, and linking to pages, videos, and tutorials). Sorry if that sounds cold, I just don’t want any old fool who happens to have a computer end up suing me because he now has a herniated a disc in his spine.

Legalities aside, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.

The Situation:

I have 30 days to really shape up. Why 30 days? Well, this summer my family is hosting a gigantic graduation party for both myself and my brother. If you follow this blog, you will have undoubtedly seen my last post on my recent college graduation. As it turns out, my brother is graduating high school this year as well. We are having a combined pool party of epic proportions in 30 days. It also just so happens to be the first day of summer this year.

Some Background Info:

For years I’ve somewhat struggled with my weight. I hovered around the mid 180’s for most of high school, but at just 18 years old I weighed in at a whopping 195 pounds. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I were able to bench more than 130 at the time.

Coming into college, I was able to drop a lot of that weight relatively quickly. High school was extremely stressful for me. I went to an intense medical academy, where I often spent 6 or more hours a night doing homework. Every day I woke up at 6:30 and every day I usually went to bed after midnight, just trying to get everything done. I also didn’t have a whole lot of friends then, I was socially awkward, and the year didn’t end the greatest for me (which is a whole different story for another time). Needless to say, stress and lack of sleep were huge contributing factors in my weight. Being removed from that stressful situation and being in a new school with new opportunities both helped me immensely, as did finally being able to dedicate some time to a fitness program. I dropped down to a lightweight 165 in no time in just over one semester. It was like losing a whole turkey in weight.

Over the next few years, I went off and on various exercise regimens, buying different pieces of equipment, having varying levels of success. Sometimes scheduling interfered, so I would take several months off from working out. However, still I wasn’t where I wanted to be. You see, my younger brother is absolutely ripped. The kid started working out around the same time as I did, but his school situation allowed him to be more physical than I when I was in high school. Now, four years later, he puts me to shame physically!

In this past year, I was barely able to keep anything together in regards to a set physical regimen. My weight has grown with the increased stress of having to graduate and job hunt. Today I weighed in at 178.2 pounds, and looked pretty soft. Sure, I can bench more (around 200 pounds, according to my Bowflex) and run farther than I could back in high school, and I’m not in terrible physical shape, but I’m not where I want to be either.

Over the next 30 days I intend to fix this once and for all.

The Goal:

Click “More” to see the rest of the plan and the workout from Day 1!

How much can I accomplish in the next 30 days?

This is not going to be an easy regimen to follow. I might end up hurting myself and derailing from this plan completely, in which case I might end up looking dough-boyish in front of all the girls at my pool party. Or I may succeed.

Having worked out for a number of years and read plenty of materials, I feel fairly confident in the level of damage my body can take in a session. I’ll try my best not to burn out, but this is going to be a challenge. At times, it’s going to downright suck. That’s good. The military has a saying,

“Pain is weakness leaving the body.” That’s the attitude I am taking with me over these next 30 days.

There are a few reasons I’m posting all of this online for the entire world to read and see. Partially, if I succeed, it may help others in accomplishing their own fitness goals. Another reason I’m keeping this online is for accountability to my readers. Forcing myself to be accountable and reflect on the workouts will help me to consistently make sure I complete them. It also provides a way for me to track all my progress over the next month.

The Plan:

Honestly, I’m making it up as I go. I don’t have a set plan. I have ideas in my head, and every day I will report back what I did. I will also report diet and other relevant statistics; for instance, my weight every day. The idea is to mix it up, keep it fresh, challenge myself every day without killing myself, and report back what I find.

One of the major things I want to do is see if I can utilize the information that’s already freely on the Internet and what I already have at home to accomplish my fitness goals. I’m not big on planning out workouts, mostly because it can be very time consuming. Here I think I will find the Internet useful because there are people out there who have already found and created great workouts! I will be posting videos of the workouts I use in every post.

And so that leaves us at Day 1.

Day 1

My thoughts:

I’m eager and nervous to get this underway. I haven’t worked out in the blur of the past few weeks, so I’m especially soft right now. Time to plunge in wholeheartedly and attack this thing!

One of my inspirations in doing all this is the movie 300, and the workouts those guys did to get into top physical shape as quickly as they did. From the 300 production video diary:

So how do I go about mimicking this kind of activity? What are the key things I should take away from this?

Variety - I never want to do the same workout twice in a row. Keep my body guessing.
Intensity - If it’s not a challenge, I’m not working hard enough.

I find some more info at the Gym Jones website, the place where the “Spartans” went to train.

In the end Vincent Regan shed 40 pounds in eight weeks, and took his deadlift from less than bodyweight (205) to more than double-bodyweight (355). He could pull 85% of 1RM blindfolded and recite Shakespeare in the midst of the toughest training session. Andrew Pleavin trained with us for just five weeks. He increased his maximum number of pull-ups from 6 to 23, rowed 500m in 1:25.6 and 5000m in 18:12, and he finished “300” in 18:11.

This is good news for me. This means that I can drastically improve my strength and overall fitness in a matter of weeks.

But obviously I don’t have the same facilities as these guys. Gym Jones is an amazing and Notorious place, I’m certain, but I don’t have the equipment for all this at my home, and I’m not paying for a gym membership. How do I solve this?

Pre-Workout Stats:

Weight: 178.2

Dietary Considerations: I’ve taken to drinking green tea for the past week. I usually brew it straight, but when I absolutely need something sweet, I drink a very lightly sweetened Organic brand. 20 grams of sugar in the entire bottle. I avoid all refined sugars, saturated and trans fats for the rest of the day. Eating is mostly organic. I’ve taken to eating too much lately, so I’m watching what I eat, namely quality of food and portion size. I quit eating 3 hours before I sleep.

The Workout:

Lucky for me, this guy Arnel Ricafranca, who is a licensed trainer, set up this site. I’m going to try to use it as the basis for most of my workouts. I follow his first 300 workout.

I complete the session in 45 minutes, which is a bit too long for optimal performance. The goal is to be able to do a 300 workout in 20 minutes. This workout exposes my weaknesses and I struggle with the Hindu push ups especially. By the end of the workout feel like I’m at muscle failure. This is a good thing. I haven’t worked out this hard in a long while.

I complete the session and feel tired and tight. I need to unwind. I’ve always been curious about yoga…

Hey! A quick Youtube search reveals that this cute yoga instructor by the name of Dashama has decided to just develop a 30 day challenge of her own! The videos are quick and to the point, not overly new-age (I’m a Calvinist, I don’t believe in the spiritual aspects of yoga, just the physical benefits). They make a perfect end to my workout! Let’s hope I can keep up with her!

I feel much better after the yoga. The stretching and breathing has really helped me loosen up and refresh myself.

Closing Thoughts:

It’s been an intense workout but it’s a good place for me to start. The 300 video helped me gauge my starting strength and ability. I completed it in double the time that it’s ideal to complete the entire workout in. I should come back to this workout at the end of the 30 days and see how I’ve improved. The yoga is a really helpful addition as well, and one that I enjoyed tremendously. Don’t shy away from it just because it looks girly! Some parts can actually be really difficult if you’re not that flexible; and flexibility is key to overall physical health.

I hope you enjoyed the first installment of the 30 Day Fitness Challenge! I’ll be reporting back every day with new information and ideas, so check back, subscribe via the links at the tip-top of the page, and send me your ideas and feedback. Follow along with these workouts and start this summer off as your best ever!

Update: Here is Day 2!