Goals.... how do you measure success?

Here is something that I have wondered about.  Especially since right now my workouts are primarily driven by "home workouts".  How do set goals with these programs?  How do you measure success?

Certainly I've completed my fair share of home workout programs.  Power90, T25, P90x3 and Piyo (to some degree), Body Beast, etc... I guess I've always had the same goal.  It all goes back to Power90.  When I bought that, I saw Tony Horton on the cover.  The dude was ripped.  Ripped abs, pretty jacked.  It was clear he was FIT.  THAT is the body that I've always wanted.  That, as the program/brand stated, was the "Beach Body".  It is something I've never had.

When I first started doing these types of programs, the number 1 goal was to get to a healthy weight.  Bottom line is that I was extremely out of shape and you need to start with a goal.  For some people I guess a goal could be just to show up every day and do it.  The results at the end of the program are whatever they are.  That is certainly one approach.  Every program offers similar visual results.  Some offer more specific things, like Body Beast offers you the chance to gain mass muscle size.  Some programs use weights, some don't.  Some are purely cardio based (Insanity), some have little/no cardio (insert Piyo here).

When I started working out (again) back in July of 2013 I was 197lbs and I knew to get to a healthy BMI I needed to get to 176lbs.  I had accomplished that by December of 2013.  I was down to about 175lbs.  Yet - I still had a pretty pudgy belly and I wasn't very muscular at all.  Tony Horton and P90x3 came out and I jumped on it immediately.  Fantastic program.  I grabbed hold of that and ran with it to try and target those problem areas.  I wanted bigger arms.  A CHEST.  A back with some width.  Strong legs.  Most importantly... I wanted the ripped core.  I wanted a 6 pack.  I'll spoil the surprise... I didn't get everything I wanted.  LOL

As I've pushed ahead doing these assorted programs I've never had any clearly defined goals.  NEVER.  Just a vision of what I want my body to look like.  I haven't gotten there yet.  I've managed to continue to improve upon my nutrition and I feel pretty good about that.  I need to work on those random binges that come up when it's date night.  My weight right now is fluctuating between 167 - 170lbs, which isn't too bad.  It is considered a healthy weight for someone of my height (5' 11").  I feel like I am continuing to shape my body more in line with how I envision it is supposed to look, albeit SLOWLY.  Or, more accurately - more like I would prefer it to look.  How I WANT it to look.  Continuing to shed some fat and gain muscle.  Yet despite this presumed forward progress, I can't help but feel like I'm a hamster on a wheel.  Just getting up, getting on my wheel to do my exercise because "that's what I'm supposed to do".  It's what healthy people do.  That's great and all... but where am I going with this?  What am I working towards exactly here?  Abs?  (Yes - definitely abs and hopefully so much more)

I spoke to this a little in my last post, but let me touch on it here a little more.  I have a couple friends that do CrossFit and they are always speaking very highly of it.  How goal driven things are.  I couldn't help to wonder what this was like.  Goals?  What goals?  Like, you want to be able to bench press more?  Squat more?  What?  Inquiring minds want to know!!  Like NOW!!  I seriously don't know what it's like to have goals other than "to finish a program" in "hopes" to be in better shape than when I started.  Those have always been my goals.  Other than of course, getting that Tony Horton body that I saw on the cover of Power90 over 12 yrs ago.  lol

For REFERENCE:

Fitness program updates, etc...

First - been forever since I last updated.  I completed Body Beast which was awesome.  If it weren't for the brutal leg day I'd probably still be doing it.  I had a lot of fun with that one and saw some great results.

Once I completed that I set a new goal to take up running and try to run a 5K.  I last ran one 12 yrs ago and I was in pretty good shape back then (at the time I thought it was the best shape of my life).  My plan was to alternate the Couch to 5K app (3 days week) with Power90 Strength (3 days week).  I did that for a month and it wasn't great.  The Power90 stuff simply wasn't a challenging enough strength workout.  I just came from Body Beast for fucks sake!  There is one sequence in the program where they do a lunge/squat combo sequence and it is all without weights.  I was using 20lb dumbbells with it just so I could push myself more.  A lot of the exercises in Power90 are body weight exercises and they only do them for a certain length of time.  So, if you do push ups as an example and they are only doing them for 1min and you've done that but not gotten the push you wanted... then what? It was time to find something else.

A friend from one of my fitness groups had been recommending a kettlebell program called "Kettleworx" as a solution for sometime (initially she thought it would be a great workout for my wife).  I kept pushing it off as in all honesty I didn't want to buy more shit.  I already had enough fitness crap to be fit, why do I need more?  How much shit can you have?  lol  A LOT!  The short of it is, I bought the program and have bought a bunch of kettlebells and the program is fantastic.  Works really well.  REALLY well.

Where am I on my running?  My goal with the running was to complete the C25K program.  Be able to run a 5K and have my pace be 10min miles.  As my last run for the C25K program I ran my first 5K.  I finished in 27min 56sec.  I guess 9min miles.  Pretty excited about it, but I want to improve upon that.  More on that probably in a separate blog entry.... however, my thoughts on that brought up the thoughts about goals.  I really need a separate post for that, because honestly every time I think about it my brain goes in 12 different directions and I want to just do a brain dump... at the same time though I want to make sure it makes sense to someone other than me and my random logic mind. 

Back to workouts.... so right now, I'm running scarcely.  lol  Once or twice a week is probably the max my body can handle at this time.  My knees just hurt from it and I HATE that a workout can make me feel so weak.  That can, instead of empower me, it breaks me down.  I try to think about the positives it also brings, like the cardio.... the decent amount of calories burned in less than 30min.  It is just the pain the knees AFTER the run that kills me (mainly the right knee).  The whole run not a single bit of leg/knee/shin/feet pain at all.  NOTHING.  Not until after my cool down.  Then the right leg just kind of gets weak.  It hurts to push off of anything (like when you are walking up steps) and the pain stems straight from the knee. 

Other workouts, for strength it has been Kettleworx - Evolution.  I can't say enough good things about the program.  Cardio without doing HIIT?  Good stuff.  Strength/core training without dumbbells?  Cool.  Everything is all compound moves.  Meaning, you work more than 1 body part at a time.  One of the favorite moves is probably the squat-upright rows.  Squat down with the kettlebell and when you come up from the squat do an upright row.  Just always seems, no matter what the exercise, you are working more than 1 body part.  The downside I guess would be cost.  I spent $90 on the program and probably another $200 on kettlebells.  Good thing my wife and I have good paying jobs.  lol 

Kind of a workout side note.... I have a couple of friends that do Crossfit and both speak so highly of it.  Highly of how much the workouts push you.  How varied the workouts are.  How goal driven everything is.  How tight knit the community is, how encouraging everyone is about you getting to your goals.  Both of them have told me repeatedly that it is a place where they think I would thrive.  Anywho, I investigated it a little.  There is a new place not far from the house called Great Woods Crossfit.  They offer 3 free sessions.  My first one is May 4th.  :)  We shall see how it goes.  I'm nervous about it.  I don't think I'm in horrible shape, but I really think I could be better.  I like the thought of the challenge.  I like the thought of getting my body closer to the way I envision it.  I feel I'm close and every time I think I'm right there, I seem to push myself away.  Is that a workout issue thing?  No.  Accountability thing?  Maybe... More of a discipline thing most likely.  Either way I don't know what the hell I'm doing.  I'm looking for answers and I'm hoping to find some there.  We shall see.

Next post will be about goals.  Until next time.