The Best Shape of My Life In Just 50 Weeks

Last Tuesday, August 27th, was my 44th birthday and by this time next year I will be in the best shape of my life. Right now I’m in pretty good shape, my career is doing better than I ever dreamed, I have a wonderful family. I don’t want to brag but things are looking pretty great.

Still, I’m not content to just sit back and stop improving. I always want to keep working and getting better. I want to be in the best shape of my life when I turn 45. Let me rephrase that. I will be in the best shape of my life, and I have 51 weeks to get there. Here is how I’m going to do it.

Main Goal Improve Cardio and Flexibility

As I have been hitting the gym one thing is becoming clear, I can’t move like I used to. My muscles are tighter, my flexibility is poor, and my conditioning sucks. Over the next year, my focus will be on improving in those two areas over everything else.

I believe that successfully reaching your goals requires 9 simple steps. Two of those steps are to make the goal clear and to set a realistic deadline. So here are 3 achievable goals that I will reach before my next birthday.

Smart Goal #1: Body Fat of 10% or Lower

My current body fat is about 18.5% so this will be a tough but achievable goal. To be successful I will be getting back on the Keto diet. I tried it once before and decided I was happier without it. I have seen first hand how effective a low carb diet is at shedding fat so until I reach my goal I’ll be sticking with Keto.

There are a lot of ways to measure your body fat. Some of them are more accurate than others. In general you get what you pay for. Personally I’m not too worried about being super accurate. That’s why I’ll be using my cheap smart scale. It’s really affordable and good enough for me.

Smart Goal #2: Run my first 5K

I often describe myself as a wanna-be runner so it is past time to make that a reality. I have been successfully working on reducing my shin splints and I can now run with little to no pain.

To make this fun (also one of the 9 steps) I’ll be using the Couch to 5k app by Zombies, Run. It looks like a lot of fun and that should help me stay on track. The app has a friending feature so please add me. My email is [email protected].

I will also be adding in a lower intensity cardio exercise first thing in the morning before I get ready for work. I have been meaning to get my jump rope out and this will be the perfect time. Here are some other cardio workouts that aren’t running that I will be mixing in as well.

Smart Goal #3: 100 Push-Ups

20 years ago I could do 100 push-ups without much effort. Fast forward to now and that number is somehow only 34. It could be worse before I started getting back in shape I was under 20. Clearly not a great number but it’s important to remember that we all start from where we are.

For the next year, I’ll be splitting my workouts between high weight low rep and low weight high reps. I have always favored the low rep workouts because they are much more effective at building muscle and strength. The high rep workouts are effective at both increasing your muscle endurance while allowing you to focus on technique.

Accountability and Support

Two more big steps in achieving your goals are to make yourself accountable and build a support system. That is why I’m writing this blog post and putting myself out there like this. I will be needing your help. I have some great support here but most of my friends and family aren’t going to push me as hard as I need.

So, I’m going to do a couple of things to keep this going. First, I’ll be sharing before pictures. As an introvert, this is hard for me but it is important to be able to see where I started. Also, I will be posting weekly workout reports on social media. If I slack off I hope to hear about it.

My Before Pictures (Taken Today)

I Will be Successful, No Excuses

I’m excited to get started. I can’t explain just how dedicated I am to reaching my goals so I’ll have to show you. I already know the excuses I’ll try because I have tried them in the past. This time there won’t be any excuses. Let’s get to work.

Thanks to everyone for supporting me as I get in the best shape of my life.

Honestly, I appreciate that you took the time out of your day to read this. If there is anything I can do to help you out please let me know. I would appreciate it if you could help me get the word out. If you liked this post please share it on your social media and leave a comment of encouragement. Thanks again!

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