I got tons of pictures this year but this was my favorite of them all! I loved reading all the of year end evaluations and new years goals so here it goes here are mine. 2023 I hit all of my goals !
2 plate bench press 225lb complete 12/18/23
3 plate squat 315lb complete 11/27/23
4 plate dead lift 405lb complete 11/30/23
complete a spartan trifecta
5k sprint complete top 6 percent finish
10k super complete top 3 percent finish
21k beast. Complete top 22 percent finish
2 15k tough mudders complete
I started the year at 162 lbs purposely up from my low of 148 lbs in october. I ended the 15 week bulk mid February at 166 lbs and cut down to 158 lbs prior to my first race in april. I dealt with knee injuries and had to train and race around them and ended up losing a few lbs of muscle and gained a few lbs of fat at the same time . By August I went on a mini cut and dropped the extra fat and ended up down at 156 lbs. I started my bulk after my last race on oct 1 and I ended 2023 at 174.4 lbs after 13 weeks of bulking.
2024 game plan bulk up to 180ish end bulk mid February after 20 total weeks . My hope is to end up around 165 lbs after the cut by my first race at the end of arpil. But that might be too optimistic for how much muscle I've gained on this bulking season. I am registered for the same 3 spartan events this year plus one additional spartan ,2 tough mudders and 1 or maybe 2 savage OCR races as well. My goal is to place better in every race I completed in 2023. My weight lifting goals this year are to hit 20+ pull ups, learn to do muscle ups(I beleive I have the strength but need to learn the technique ) and join the 1000lb club for the combined maxes for bench deadlift and squat. Now for my ultimate goal and most difficult is dont get injured and maintain as much muscle mass as possible!! so how do I plan to do all this ?? To start I took 3 full months off from running and biking as well as any excess walking to give my knee time off. I have also kept up on and progressively overloaded all my PT leg strengthening exercises. As of yesterday I have started my slow endurance build with a 15 minute seasion on my indoor bike trainer staying in zone 2 the whole time. I plan to add a few of those bike sessions in a week and slowly increase the length of them while keeping the intesity the same (zone 2) I will start to add more lunch break walks back and forth between the dip and pull up bars. I will follow an 80 20 running training and will do half of my endurance work on the bike trainer to save my knee from some stress. I plan to lift weights less probably 2 maybe 3 full body workouts a week cutting out most accessory work and only focusing on compound lifts with heavy weight in the 3 to 5 rep ranges in hopes to maintain my muscle mass and have less fatigue and soreness from lift sessions. I will start my obstacle training again and will do lots of steep hiking, and sand bag carries. This year will be all about finding the right balance of everything and I know this will take some trial and error. Even the best laid plans are just plans and may very well need to be adjusted! I have learned so much over the past 2 years about training and how my body reacts to all sorts of stressors and demands that I put on it. I plan to use all this to not go overboard, ramp up my milage slowly and try to manage the training adequately. If you read this far more than likely you are one of my biggest supporters and I just want to say thank you again for that! Your support and encouragement as well as following your journeys keeps me going in the right direction. I cant beleive its only been 2 years since I started on fat secret as a new years resolution to lose a little bit of weight that evolved into a complete lifestyle change for not just me but the whole family.
The last part here is what I posted somehwere else on January 2nd 2022 as a I sarted my weight loss journey its pretty funny to see what my intial goal was vs what it actually turned into of losing overr 50 lbs while gaining muscle!
"My diet had been horrible as in anything i can grab and take with me InThe morning then snack while I'm driving around all day then buy lunch while at work then come home exhausted snack and eat an unhealthy dinner. So my diet has to change drastically off to a good start so far resisting temptation. Sweets are my only vice which makes this extra hard. I have quit everything else bad I use to do. Sober going on 12 Years, quit smoking and vaping cant remember when but it's been years. Goal is drop 15 to 20 lbs by end of May. Even with minimal exercise I can't imagine I won't start dropping weight just by not eating like crap. 20 or more certainly doable in that time frame with more effort in the exercise department.... time to get out of this slump I'm in."
Lets make 2024 an awesome year together!
