some thoughts

[GrumpyHuw]

I just felt like writiing a bit about my journey so far.
I was going to write this at the end of my first 10 weeks but 10 weeks is up next weekend and im on holiday so i thought id write this now instead.

First a bit about myself.
I have always been fairly active, i used to play football (soccer to our american friends!!!!) 3 times a week and considered myself in pretty good shape, then I moved away from home to start a new job and that stopped instantly and I developed more and more of a sedentary lifestyle.

4 years down the line and with a wife and new baby in my life i decided something needed to be done so I could play as much as my daughter needed me to as she grew up.
I started jogging and completed a competitive 10K in 54 and a half minutes, not bad i thought to myself, but there was something missing.

I was feeling lethargic and tired the whole time. Then christmas came around and my wife bought me a Kindle. I had a bit of a search on the amazone Kindle home page for a few days and came accross Mark's book, I read the snippets on amazon and imediately thought this was what i needed. I bought the book and read the whole thing cover to cover in 2 days.


Now I was a little skeptical about how only 30 mins a day 4/5 times a week could shape a body that was rapidly going to seed (I'm 6'1 and 200lbs or 14st 4 in british money (of mostly stomach!)). Nevertheless I took the fit test for the 1st class to see how far away from it I was. I surprised (more like amazed!) myself by passing all of the pre-requisits so i decided to start the first class the next day.

Now, I used to do some circuit training when I was a youngster, but never did I feel as bad after a circuit class as my arms did following the first push/pull ladders day! I couldnt wash my hair in the shower i was in that much pain, so I struggled though the shower and prepared myself not to be able to use my arms the next day. Things continued like this for the 2 weeks then decided to repeat them again just to make sure i was physically able to move on to week 3.

Wks 3-6 I thought went quite well, I hurt most days but I felt good about it, I still was having trouble with let me ups (I've never had much upper body strength!) but I could feel things getting easier.

Then something happened that proved to me that I was changing shape. My wife said something to me when i was getting dressed for work one morning. She said "Where's your ass gone?" I asked her what she meant and she said "you dont have an arse anymore!" I didnt know what to think but inwardly I smiled and finished getting dressed and headed to work.

I now have just finished week 9! Stappers are really, really, really hard as are the tabatas. I can see improvement there also though! My first stappers exercise I did 15 sets in 20mins, the final 5 of them had the pushups done on a raised surface though! While this morning I did 17 sets as described in the book and damn it feels good!

Not only has this improvement in my strength been evident but I also still jog/run a couple of times a week too. Last weekend I ran 10 k in 54 mins on my own with no competition which is proof to me that not only will this program make me stronger but it will increase my overall fitness too.

So in conclusion I am going to keep going with this program and progress as I can, I'm even going to try and include my wife in my workouts.

I have also signed up for a half marathon in October and I'm going to make YAYOG a big part of my training regime and gradually ramp up my milage for the HM.

Anyway, this program is now turning into a way of life. So I guess the best way to sign off would have to be.........


HOOYA!!!

[Cecilia]

Very cool! Amazing isn't it? Keep up the great job, your progress is great - getting stronger and fitter: this is truly a good feeling!

[Melky6]

It's very good to have a YAYOG base, it's more like an appropriate title should be "The Word is Your Gym". That's the way I look at things. Congrats and good luck with a half marathon, I want no part of that much running

[bark50]

My wife said.."Where's your ass gone?"...I'm even going to try and include my wife in my workouts.

Please think hard about including your wife, Huw. Do you really want to be thinking to yourself a few months from now, "Where's her ass gone?"

Thanks for the post! It's a good read.

[adamanddad]

Oh My God I have to laugh. I have just this week started the program starting with 1st class. I ditched the weights about 4 months ago and have been doing nothing but body weight gymnast and core stuff thinking i was kicking ass. So I bought the book after doing a lot of research. I did my ladders and wanted to put a gun to my head! My arms, traps, lats and pretty much everything hurt so bad!!! I workout 4 days a week and hike 10 -12 miles every weekend and this is going to be a tough program. Now i feel like a wuss and should have started at basic? It's amazing how didfferent this works the body out. By the way, I have been lifting for many years and my joints were going bad. After starting this I really don't feel all that strong!