The Return of the Training Update Post: 5 Fitness Goals for the Rest of 2013

In the past few months, I’ve written fewer and fewer personal posts, opting instead to provide my usually inane and useless commentary on the world around me. The last posts about me were here and here, where I delved into the fascinating world of colitis and colonoscopies. The last time I did a post about training, working out, or personal fitness goals? Let’s just say that I refuse to take the time to look that far back through the B-Court All-Star archives to find one.

But since Krissy asked me to state my workout goals a few days ago, I figured I should write them down somewhere. People say that it’s always easier to hold yourself accountable to a goal if you write it down. Who are these people exactly? I don’t know…but I’m going to give it a shot regardless. Here’s 5 fitness goals I’d like to hit before 2014.

1. Combined 700 lb. 1 rep max…Just writing that makes me sound like some kind of powerlifting bada**, and I did get the idea from one of those muscle mags, but when you actually realize what it means, it’s not overly impressive. Basically, I want to be able to have 1 rep maxes for the bench press, squat, and deadlift that total 700 lb. or more. If I had to guess, a combination of 1,000 lb. would be considered pretty strong…I’m talking 300 lb. less than that. And I might actually be able to do it now. The most I’ve ever benched is 225. The most I’ve ever squatted is like 260-265. I’ve only just started to incorporate deadlifts into my routine, and I’ve never tried to max-out, but based on those numbers I would only need to deadlift 210 lb., which is probably doable. The only thing is that I’m just beginning to get my strength back from my pre-colitis, pre-when-Krissy-got-pregnant days, and my combined bench-squat that I’ve actually done in the past month or so is probably only around 400 lb…so, it may be a goal that is already reachable, but it might also take a good amount of work as well.

Workout ball not necessary.

2. Bench 225 lb…Also, a lofty goal since I just said that the most I’ve ever benched is 225, but that was about a year ago, and my 1 rep max as of last night was 215. 2 or 3 months ago it probably would have only been 200-205, so it's gone back up, but it still ain't what it was. I’m giving myself some wiggle room on this because truly I would like to be able to rep 225 lb. 5 or 6 times. We shall see.

225 lb. the hard way.

3. Run a sub-7:30 mile…Another thing that I know is within my reach because I’ve actually done it before in my lifetime. Sense a theme here? However, the last time I did this was many, many moons ago…like, probably 10 years worth of moons. Believe or not, back in high school I could run close to a 6 minute mile. That was during my high school soccer/basketball days though. In college, I could probably still do a 7 minute mile just because of all the basketball I played, but I don’t remember ever getting up one day and saying, I think I’m going to run the f***ing mile today. Since then, I’ve timed myself in the mile several times, and I’ve never quite been able to crack that 7:30 barrier. It’s got to be in there somewhere, right?

Is this oak?

4. Have 8% body fat…Really, anyone can get stronger. Can you get stronger without looking like a beached whale though? There was probably a time (high school and college again) where I was that lean just by virtue of playing sports so much. Many years later and 30-40 lb. heavier, that goal is much more challenging. Using our trainer friend’s calipers, I think I measured somewhere in the 10-12% range 2 or 3 years ago. Decent, but at the same time I think I can do better.

And here we observe the rare Speedo whale in it's natural habitat.

5. Dunk a basketball…Do I need to specify that this means dunk a men’s basketball on a regulation 10 ft. hoop? Like the 1st 4 goals, this is something that I was able to do at least once during my lifetime that I’d like to be able to do again. This goal might be the toughest to accomplish of all though. And at least 3 of those other 4 goals may play a role in accomplishing this one. To be able to get up that high, I do need to strengthen my legs, and I probably need to lean-out too, which will take more running and better eating habits. It also would help to play more basketball again, which would get my legs in better basketball shape. The problem is that there are some things that can’t be undone, like lingering knee and lower leg injuries, but I’m hopeful that some additional strength and a lighter load will go a long way. After all, it was only a year ago that I was still relatively close to throwing it down (more like barely creeping the ball over the rim, but still), and I can still graze the rim with 2 hands on a good day now. Still, I've got my work cut out for me. But what are goals without making them challenging? Ta ta for now.

Oh boy.