Fitness Savage

Have faith in you're abilities! You can do more than you know. You just have to start with the first few steps, believe in yourself, and see yourself at the end of the path.
Be well, be Savage!
Alan

"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes."- Mohandas Gandhi

I started my fitness journey as a child. As many children do, I tried to out perform the other kids in school, athletically. Every year I looked forward to the events of the Presidential Award.

I probably moved a bit more frequently than the average child, and because of that, I went to a number of different schools up and down California. It was my ability to excel in sports that helped me to fit in.

Being the youngest of 6 kids, my older brothers were the ones who familiarized me to weightlifting. They showed me basics before I even reached middle school age.

By the last couple years of high school, I was going to the school weight room, working out regularly to get ready for the sports I was involved in.

After high school, I continued with weight lifting. I had read more, learned more, and gained a few mentors along the way at the various gyms that I had joined. (This, of course, was before the gyms became the corporate entities they are today.) I started taking many of the supplements that were being promoted in that day, minus any steroids, and I received great results. I didn't really know a whole lot about macro-nutrition. I had only heard that I needed to take in lots of protein. I didn't know how many calories, fat, carbs, or protein I needed. All I did was eat bigger carb and protein heavy meals to get big. I assumed that you had to bulk up, then lean out. My main goal was to naturally gain some lean size. I just assumed that getting leaner meant to run a lot and do more cardio.

Before my daughter was born in 2003, my wife at the time, was already feeling insecure with her baby weight. I couldn't keep running to the gym, so I didn't. It only worsened when my daughter was born. I couldn't very well work all day, have my wife look after our baby, then go spend more time away, in the gym. It wasn't until a couple years later when she was ready to get back in shape did I get the "green light". By 2005, I had earned a "belly". I had never had a belly issue before, but I did then!

In a very short time I started to see my old self coming back with some hard work. I wasn't focused too much on my diet until around 2008. I started a new job and was bringing my food to work. It was the planning and preparation that helped.

By 2010 I found myself hitting plateaus that would leave me feeling discouraged. I lost most of my belly, I was getting the muscle back; I just thought there was more than just the aesthetics aspect. I wanted to be healthier, more fit. I shifted my attention to my inner health and fitness. I allowed my look to evolve based on the path I took for a healthier self. I decided to become my own test subject.

A large problem for me was my asthma, so I felt I couldn't do much in the way of cardio. Being asthmatic for many years, it had cut back on much of my activity, including limiting how I lifted weights. I really started doing some real research into fitness toward the end of 2010. That's when I came across High Intense Interval Training, otherwise know as HIIT. I started following a few interval exercises and workouts with an interval timer, and I did it every day. The workouts averaged only 15-20 minutes, but I was exhausted, drenched in sweat, and felt great. I noticed that my metabolism sped up, I was getting leaner, the workouts were getting easier, my core was much stronger, and I was healthier. The so called "floodgates" opened for me at that point.

I started researching more, reading more, and studying more. I created my fitness blog on Facebook in 2011 hoping to share some of the things I discovered. I discovered lies and half truths that had been put out there in the name of lining someone's pockets. I started a mission to help anyone who reached out and was interested in some of the things I was throwing out there. Often times you'd find a rant on some topic that I'd find that would contradict what we've been told for years.

During that same time I was entering races that would challenge my asthmatic condition. I didn't want to use my condition as an excuse to not be as active as I wanted to be. I started posting my workouts, hikes up peaks, runs on trails, rain or shine. I used myself as a test subject. I'd apply all the things I was learning on myself only to find a healthier, stronger, more fit, and well rounded individual.

It wasn't until I noticed that people were finding me from other continents, that this "one man movement" thing might actually be having an affect on others. I was receiving some positive feedback and comments, as well as questions on what they might be able to do to reel themselves back into shape safely and effectively. It was at that point that I decided to finally start the website.

This site, like the Facebook blog, is intended to be a community site. I want people to be apart of the growth and movement. We're all a little different, some things may be less affective to some than others. We can always learn more from others and their experiences. Posts are always welcomed.

Just remember this...you don't need to be in a gym! The world is your gym. All you need is the right tools. Remember, there is no magic pill! Health and wellness is a lifestyle. You have to recognize a few things in your life as a threat first then have the drive and determination to want to make the proper changes. As you implement small changes in your life; the small changes turn to big changes, to the point that everything is second nature and effortless.

How far you take it is up to you! I'll give you the tools, but the only one who can create the changes in you, is you! Hope you decide to join in this journey and bring out your inner savage!

Be well, Become inspirational, Be savage!
Alan