Goals
Fitness update for 2009 & 2010
2010.01.01 05:28 PM
Good evening,
Here it is, the last workout update for 2009. What a year it's been! Did I get all my fitness goals accomplished? Nope - not even close. That's okay, though, because I still came a very long way and learned a lot about how my body responds to varying types of exercise.
Let me just quickly insert the final tally here before discussing next year's progress:
December 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 23 (actual: 0)
Assisted pull ups goal: 2 x 10 @ 35 lbs (actual: 2 x 7 @ 55 lbs)
Pushups goal: 120 (actual: 90)
Waist around navel: 33” (actual: 36.5” )
A few things to note here — the muscle pull from the November 30th test ended up actually being quite severe, much more than I first realized. It's been a month and I still can't push myself to the level I was without feeling my neck muscles starting to pull again, so that's why I only peaked at 90 pushups. It's so frustrating because after last month's 110, I absolutely would have made 120 this month! In fact, I probably could have done it last month too, I just stopped at 110 because that was the target for the month. This was so very frustrating and disappointing. Same thing with the pull ups; not that I would have completed a real one, but I had to go from subtracting 55 lbs to 85 lbs. I am pleased with the waistline, though. Making an improvement in that department during all the holiday season feasting was certainly an accomplishment.
Despite coming up far short of the final target for 2009, I learned plenty about how I felt versus the focus and exercises I was doing at the time. For example, when I strayed away from working strictly towards the 2009 goal items (pushups, pull ups, waist) and worked more on high intensity full body training, I was losing weight and trimming up quite nicely. Then, when I realized how far off course I was for the specific pull up and push up exercises, I reworked my focus for those items, and my waistline took a hit. I found I felt better and healthier overall during the high intensity full body training when I was slimming down as opposed to when I was cranking out 100+ pushups. At the end of the day, this is all about being healthy and feeling good. Though it will feel great when I do finally get that first pull up, my overall sense of health was better when that wasn’t the sole focus.
This year's fitness goals are taking last year's results and lessons learned into account. There is an expression: if you can't measure it, you can't track it. 2009 has shown to me the great benefits from tracking my progress and reporting on it here. It has kept me motivated to continue because with other people reading this and following along I'm accountable to more than just myself. This has been a great motivator all year long! Even though I couldn't keep up, I still kept going, and that is the most important thing of all.
Coming back to the expression, what metric will I use to measure and track 2010's progress? This year I'll be looking at body fat percentage (BF%). My research has shown that a healthy BF% for an early 30's male is about 15%, the very athletic are around 10%, and 3 - 4% is the minimum safe level. Using the skin-fold method, I've determined my BF% rounded to the nearest 0.5% to be 25.5%. Therefore, I'm tracking two goals for December 31, 2010. The most important goal is to reach a healthy 15%. However, I'll also be shooting for a very nice 10% and the six-pack that goes along with it!
Here it is, the last workout update for 2009. What a year it's been! Did I get all my fitness goals accomplished? Nope - not even close. That's okay, though, because I still came a very long way and learned a lot about how my body responds to varying types of exercise.
Let me just quickly insert the final tally here before discussing next year's progress:
December 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 23 (actual: 0)
Assisted pull ups goal: 2 x 10 @ 35 lbs (actual: 2 x 7 @ 55 lbs)
Pushups goal: 120 (actual: 90)
Waist around navel: 33” (actual: 36.5” )
A few things to note here — the muscle pull from the November 30th test ended up actually being quite severe, much more than I first realized. It's been a month and I still can't push myself to the level I was without feeling my neck muscles starting to pull again, so that's why I only peaked at 90 pushups. It's so frustrating because after last month's 110, I absolutely would have made 120 this month! In fact, I probably could have done it last month too, I just stopped at 110 because that was the target for the month. This was so very frustrating and disappointing. Same thing with the pull ups; not that I would have completed a real one, but I had to go from subtracting 55 lbs to 85 lbs. I am pleased with the waistline, though. Making an improvement in that department during all the holiday season feasting was certainly an accomplishment.
Despite coming up far short of the final target for 2009, I learned plenty about how I felt versus the focus and exercises I was doing at the time. For example, when I strayed away from working strictly towards the 2009 goal items (pushups, pull ups, waist) and worked more on high intensity full body training, I was losing weight and trimming up quite nicely. Then, when I realized how far off course I was for the specific pull up and push up exercises, I reworked my focus for those items, and my waistline took a hit. I found I felt better and healthier overall during the high intensity full body training when I was slimming down as opposed to when I was cranking out 100+ pushups. At the end of the day, this is all about being healthy and feeling good. Though it will feel great when I do finally get that first pull up, my overall sense of health was better when that wasn’t the sole focus.
This year's fitness goals are taking last year's results and lessons learned into account. There is an expression: if you can't measure it, you can't track it. 2009 has shown to me the great benefits from tracking my progress and reporting on it here. It has kept me motivated to continue because with other people reading this and following along I'm accountable to more than just myself. This has been a great motivator all year long! Even though I couldn't keep up, I still kept going, and that is the most important thing of all.
Coming back to the expression, what metric will I use to measure and track 2010's progress? This year I'll be looking at body fat percentage (BF%). My research has shown that a healthy BF% for an early 30's male is about 15%, the very athletic are around 10%, and 3 - 4% is the minimum safe level. Using the skin-fold method, I've determined my BF% rounded to the nearest 0.5% to be 25.5%. Therefore, I'm tracking two goals for December 31, 2010. The most important goal is to reach a healthy 15%. However, I'll also be shooting for a very nice 10% and the six-pack that goes along with it!
| Date | Current | Target 1 | Target 2 |
01-Jan-10 | 25.5% | 25.5% | 25.5% |
| Date | Weight | Fat | Lean Mass |
01-Jan-10 | 202 | 52 | 150 |
Once again, the number on the scale is only a guide for informational purposes. Maybe I'll end up weighing 175lbs (at 10% BF = 17.5lbs fat, 157.5lbs lean), or maybe I'll still be at 200lbs (20lbs fat, 180lbs lean). That doesn't matter. What matters is burning the fat while keeping and even increasing the muscle.
2009 was a great year! I went from ten pushups to one hundred and ten, trimmed my waistline by 2.5", and figured out how to work towards my first pull up (albeit far too late in the year). I'm really looking forward to the progress that will be made in 2010!
Goal Tracker 2009 archive
2010.01.01 04:25 PM
Here is the final Goal Tracker page for 2009. Since there is a new set of goals for 2010, the Goal Tracker page needs to change, but I don’t want to lose the 2009 information. This seems like a good place to archive the information.
Welcome to my goal tracker for 2009. Take the following snippet from the January 1, 2009 entry in my blog:
With this in mind, here are some of my goals for 2009. My focus this year is health and fitness. My legs have always been pretty strong thanks to several years of martial arts, but my upper body has always been weak and my spare tire ever present. This year, I’m going to remedy both of those problems.
This is not to say that all I’m going to do are pullups and pushups! I definitely have balanced workout plans (i.e. all muscle groups), but I didn’t feel like planning and spelling out my entire workout schedule for the year right now, either.
On this page, I will be tracking my progress along the way.
December 31, 2008
Pullups goal: 0 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 0 (actual: 5)
Waist around navel: 39” (actual: 39&rdquo
January 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 1 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 10 (actual: 10)
Waist around navel: 38.5” (actual: 38.25” )
February 28, 2009
Pullups goal: 3 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 20 (actual: 20)
Waist around navel: 38” (actual: 37.5” )
March 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 5 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 30 (actual: 30)
Waist around navel: 37.5” (actual: 36.75” )
April 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 7 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 40 (actual: 40)
Waist around navel: 37” (actual: 37.5” )
May 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 9 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 50 (actual: 50)
Waist around navel: 36.5” (actual: 36” )
June 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 11 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 60 (actual: 51)
Waist around navel: 36” (actual: 36.5” )
July 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 13 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 70 (actual: 35)
Waist around navel: 35.5” (actual: 36.75” )
August 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 15 (actual: 0)
Lat pull down goal: 2 x 10 @ 80 lbs (actual: 80 lbs)
Pushups goal: 80 (actual: 36)
Waist around navel: 35” (actual: 35.75” )
September 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 17 (actual: 0)
Lat pull down goal: 2 x 10 @ 110 lbs (actual: 105 lbs)
Pushups goal: 90 (actual: 55)
Waist around navel: 34.5” (actual: 36.25" )
October 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 19 (actual: 0)
Lat pull down goal: 2 x 10 @ 130 lbs (actual: 130)
Pushups goal: 100 (actual: 75)
Waist around navel: 34” (actual: 36.25" )
November 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 21 (actual: 0)
Assisted pull ups goal: 2 x 10 @ 55 lbs (actual: 60 lbs)
Pushups goal: 110 (actual: 110)
Waist around navel: 33.5” (actual: 37” )
December 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 23 (actual: 0)
Assisted pull ups goal: 2 x 10 @ 35 lbs (actual: 2 x 7 @ 55 lbs)
Pushups goal: 120 (actual: 90)
Waist around navel: 33” (actual: 36.5” )
Welcome to my goal tracker for 2009. Take the following snippet from the January 1, 2009 entry in my blog:
With this in mind, here are some of my goals for 2009. My focus this year is health and fitness. My legs have always been pretty strong thanks to several years of martial arts, but my upper body has always been weak and my spare tire ever present. This year, I’m going to remedy both of those problems.
- 1 pullup by the end of January
- 3 pullups by the end of February
- Continuing on until 23 consecutive pullups by the end of December
- 10 pushups by the end of January
- 20 pushups by the end of February
- Continuing on until 120 consecutive pushups by the end of December
- Today (January 1st), my waist size (relaxed) around my belly button is 39”; 38” by the end of February
- 37” by the end of April
- Continuing on 1” every two months until 33” at the end of December (ideal healthy waist line for a 6” tall male; Tiger Woods is 6’2” and has a waist of 28” - source: http://www.collectivewizdom.com/NormalWaistforaManpage2.html)
This is not to say that all I’m going to do are pullups and pushups! I definitely have balanced workout plans (i.e. all muscle groups), but I didn’t feel like planning and spelling out my entire workout schedule for the year right now, either.
On this page, I will be tracking my progress along the way.
December 31, 2008
Pullups goal: 0 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 0 (actual: 5)
Waist around navel: 39” (actual: 39&rdquo
January 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 1 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 10 (actual: 10)
Waist around navel: 38.5” (actual: 38.25” )
February 28, 2009
Pullups goal: 3 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 20 (actual: 20)
Waist around navel: 38” (actual: 37.5” )
March 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 5 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 30 (actual: 30)
Waist around navel: 37.5” (actual: 36.75” )
April 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 7 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 40 (actual: 40)
Waist around navel: 37” (actual: 37.5” )
May 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 9 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 50 (actual: 50)
Waist around navel: 36.5” (actual: 36” )
June 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 11 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 60 (actual: 51)
Waist around navel: 36” (actual: 36.5” )
July 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 13 (actual: 0)
Pushups goal: 70 (actual: 35)
Waist around navel: 35.5” (actual: 36.75” )
August 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 15 (actual: 0)
Lat pull down goal: 2 x 10 @ 80 lbs (actual: 80 lbs)
Pushups goal: 80 (actual: 36)
Waist around navel: 35” (actual: 35.75” )
September 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 17 (actual: 0)
Lat pull down goal: 2 x 10 @ 110 lbs (actual: 105 lbs)
Pushups goal: 90 (actual: 55)
Waist around navel: 34.5” (actual: 36.25" )
October 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 19 (actual: 0)
Lat pull down goal: 2 x 10 @ 130 lbs (actual: 130)
Pushups goal: 100 (actual: 75)
Waist around navel: 34” (actual: 36.25" )
November 30, 2009
Pullups goal: 21 (actual: 0)
Assisted pull ups goal: 2 x 10 @ 55 lbs (actual: 60 lbs)
Pushups goal: 110 (actual: 110)
Waist around navel: 33.5” (actual: 37” )
December 31, 2009
Pullups goal: 23 (actual: 0)
Assisted pull ups goal: 2 x 10 @ 35 lbs (actual: 2 x 7 @ 55 lbs)
Pushups goal: 120 (actual: 90)
Waist around navel: 33” (actual: 36.5” )