Completed.

So a week late, but here we are. My musings on PcP.

Three months of intense workouts, harsh diet control, and constant reminders to do ALL of this have taught me one, somewhat unexpected thing. Weight loss is MUCH easier than I though it was. Thinking back through this project, there where only a handfull of days, at most, when I REALLY didn't want to do my workout/diet/whatever. Even though at times I felt I would collapse, or was unable to continue with my daily life due to all that I was doing, I still felt as though PcP was dragging me along by the nose. As pounds started to melt off and muscles became more and more apparent, I came upon a startling realization...that I had kind of always known but never really fully understood the gravity of.

Our bodies have momentum. LOTS of it.

Every time I did a pushup, every plank I barely eeked my way thru, I could feel them all pushing me to do another, and all the ones I had not yet done where calling me to do them. Now, a week after my last workout. I can FEEL my body yearning for me to start again, to get that feeling that I'd somehow defeated the whole world. The last 3 months of my life are sitting there, staring at me, daring me to start again, DEFYING me to stay in this great shape, to continue pushing myself. Everything I do reminds me that I'm better than I was, and that I can keep it this way as long as I want.

Even better than that is the fact that I now feel as though I have all the knowledge I could need to stay here, or even get better. Very early in the program I realized that I should treat this like a class. I'm doing this less so to get the results that I have attained and more to learn how to do it whenever I want. With Patrick's help I understand the processes of the body better, and can keep pushing myself. Before I started PcP the biggest barrier to me being in shape was a lack of that knowledge. I didn't know which workouts would work, how to really make the muscles burn right, and I didn't particularly want to learn through trial and error This short little class has taught me more about the human body, how it moves and reacts, the way it WANTS to be strong, to do these things which seem hard. Things which would have made no sense at all 90 days ago are obvious facts now, and I wonder about how I missed them before.

But looking at this as a purely physical phenomenon is incorrect. The ability to overcome the barriers that life may throw in my way is a wonderful feeling. Lifting things and only THEN realizing how heavy they are gives a MASSIVE ego boost, leading to me walking around feeling good, and like I can take on the whole world. Before I had to think hard to do things, because "the hard way" was the one that required a large amount of physical strength and dexterity, but now that is the easy way. Picking up the couch to reach that thing you dropped is now easier than searching for a stick to fish it out. Climbing 15 feet up the wall to get into the locked house is now easier/faster than finding someone to let me in.

The world is my oyster, and now I can pick the pearl whenever I want.

To those of you recently joining the project, I congratulate you. You've made a wonderful choice. The road ahead looks rocky and difficult, full of bumps, twists, turns and harsh uphills, but when you look back you will realize that it's not Everest, but the hill behind your house with that delicious apple tree growing at the top, and you can climb up and have one ANY TIME YOU WANT.

The strength you gain from this is strength for life. Not to mention that you are going thru this change!

Ok everyone. I want you to all go out and do better than me. I know you have it in you, and you know you have it in you, and Patrick will help you get it out of you. Push hard, and the incredible feeling of being a superhuman will just FLOW into you.

Hercules, over and out.

gonna be late.

Sorry all. My REAL real final post will be a bit late. This last week has been a special kind of hard, and I haven't gotten all the stuff I want together. Final pics are going up now, but my real final post will have to wait untill Monday. SOOOOON.

Wooo!

So guys and gals. I'm done! Just finished my last workout (day 3, the one I remember as making me the most sore the next day) and man was it easy.

My final post...well, it'll take a while, cuz I'm being lazy and just don't have all the pictures together.

BUT...

I have one photo for you. It may be awfully scary, cuz it's my Haloween costume, and since there was some wondering of what I'd be...well...

Here it is. Talk to you all later, kids!

Supersets and the nature of Pain.

Ok....yesterday was my birthday and introduction to the Superset. This is a simultanious awsome and horrible experience. Because I had the day off, I could really PUSH and put energy into the workout, like I haven't always been able to do. The whole time I thought about the pain I was feeling (and there was a lot of it), and pushed and kept on going. Until the end. The Abs superset quite simply destroyed me. After the first sets of failure (which was a LOT faster than I expected) I simply couldn't move fast enough between Vsit and Plank formation. It wasn't just "roll over and go" but more of an arduous shouting at my muscles to turn me over so I can keep going. My roommate actually walked in between 2 sets, and saw me basically staring at the ceiling unable to move, and I told him I simply couldn't push myself into the 15 second rests. First time yet that I've been completely and utterly destroyed. I had to just.....lay there when I was all done. I literally couldn't move a single muscle.

Now, that sounds perfectly horrible, BUT, the upside. Fer the next 6 hours of that day, I felt INCREDIBLY euphoric. I pushed incredibly hard, and the body feedback was "Awesome!"

The following day however, has been odd. I've maintained that euphoria, but also the feeling that all my muscles are made out of bricks. I haven't been this consistently sore since the start of the program. Kinda the best way to end it that I can think of.

Anyway, now that I scared the newbies and exited the midrange and made my team nod their heads and say "oh yeah" I can go away. Workout time!

laters all

Hercules out.

B day!

Hello All.

Today I am 27, and what'd I get fer my birthday? ABS! MUAHAHAHAAA! Those lazy buggers are FINALLY peeking out. Took them long enough. Biggest achievement of the day, deciding not to really celebrate until next week so I can REALLY power thru this.

Also, Patrick has recommended it, but I'm hesitant to really go fer it, so I shall put this to a vote.

Should I shave my chest fer the last weeks of photos? Upside, you get to see better just how awesome my pecs are. Downside, I don't look like I have SUPERPECS when I have a shirt on, and I feel more of the breeze from the front.

anyway, besides birthday and being generally badass, there really isn't too much to report on. This last bit of workout IS a bit on the extreme side, but I've been enjoying the slight amp up on jumpropes and everything. SERIOUS burn in all bits that move, to the point where I really don't have the option to skip stretching. Feels teriffic tho.

Anyway, gonna bop on down the road. I'll get pics a goin'.

For Team Badass, Hercules signing out.

I am a ninja.

Ok.

I'm late in telling this story, but the wait is worth it. I locked myself out of my house yesterday when I went out to jumprope. I had nothing but shoes, shorts, and a jumprope on me, and I had to eat, shower, fix food and be at work in none too long. What'd I do? I though, and while I thought, I jumproped. I thought there where only 2 ways in, and both where thru a window in a second story house. I asked the neighbors who where a paint company if they would help, but they had no ladder, so I had to go fer plan B, which was stupid and....well, stupid. Plan B involved this corridor here, which is about 15 feet up in the air. I have to get into the clown house on the right, and the window is about 6 or 6 feet from the opening of the tunnel. I gotta spider climb between them allong these houses to my roommates window, pry it open with my fingers, and yank out the screen...then crawl into the window. This is why it was plan B. Cuz it's dumb. However, I did it. I channeled the spirit of spider man and successfully wall crawled.

I gotta say, this real world victory over the forces of unluck has made me even happier I did PcP. I can jump hurdles I would have fallen flat on before. OR...that could be the adrenaline rush from NOT DYING 15 feet in the air, tho. Either way, I feel good.

toodles all, go be ninjas! GO TEAM BADASS!
Hercules out.

...Mental Health

So...I kinda failed at yesterday's workout. There where special circumstances that I'm not exactly at liberty to talk about due to Hipaa law, but sufficed to say that it has me VERY down in the dumps. Enough so that I simply could not get myself into the mindset to do anything, much less a full on workout. I did some shoulder/abs stuff, but failed out quickly. I couldn't even get through 4 sets of situps. ugh.

Anyway, that said, I'm pushing myself hard now. This weekend I have off, and I'm gonna use it to get myself all set up. boil me up a couple dozen hard boil't eggs...cook up some foodstuffs. Have myself ready fer this last push. We're here folks. Push it hard! Let's show this new legion of PcP'ers how this is DONE! GO TEAM AWSOME!

Hercules signing out.