Fat Me, 2017
I’ve always exercised in one form or another, although I wasn’t always consistent.
Yet, over time, I continued to gain weight, and it was always around the belly. I was the classic skinny fat guy.
I was able to put that process on pause for a few years when I started training at a kung fu school. I combined that training with having a decent home gym, and this kept me relatively fit.
However, I stopped my formal training in 2008, and then had to give up my gym equipment in 2010. My fitness began to slowly decline, and the weight gains returned.
For some reason, even after seeing not-so-flattering photos of myself over and over again, I remained in denial that I needed to change something.
In early 2020, my wife and I were finally able to purchase this small home in Rockville, Maryland. One of the big selling points for me was the garage, as I knew I could get some fitness equipment in there.
In February 2020, just before the pandemic really hit, I was able to purchase the equipment I wanted.
Learning the Deadlift
The timing could not be better, as the demand for home gym equipment went through the roof when gyms were forced to close.
So, I put my power rack together threw up 135 pounds on the barbell and thought I would push up a few reps on the bench press.
A few was all I could manage, and this used to be my warm up weight!
What I hadn’t realized that, even though I would do some P90X for stretches, the lack of consistency over time, and my aging resulted in a loss of muscle.
So I got to work, and started making progress with my strength and overall fitness, but I really wasn’t seeing progress in the mirror.
What I was doing was exercising, but not really training. And, I had not yet focused enough attention on diet.
About 18 months ago, I started training properly. I learned that to actually build significant strength for a lifetime, you need proper programming.
I made good progress with all that, but was not getting the results I wanted in regard to fat loss.
About a year ago, I made two changes.
September 2022
First, I started paying much more attention to what and how much I was eating.
I determined how many calories I needed to maintain my weight, and kept track of how many I was consuming.
I also started paying more attention to how much protein I eat, since it is critical for building muscle.
Second, I purchased an indoor bike and started doing more Zone 2 cardio, which I’ll discuss down the road.
I began to immediately see results… I developed more energy and I really started to lose fat.
Over time, I’ve changed up my strength training routines, but earlier this year I started to increase the intensity a bit.
The end result is that I’ve probably made more progress in 2023 than I have at any time over the last 15 years.
Here are the primary keys to my process:
- Lift weights with intent and programming
- Do some cardio
- Eat to live, don’t live to eat and drink
May 23, 2023
Given the improvement in my fitness, I’ve become quite passionate about helping others.
As we age, we lose muscle mass, and many people also lose bone density, particularly women. As a result, if we live past 70, we start to lose mobility.
The other issue obviously is that the rate of obesity around the world is skyrocketing, and this is driving up the cost of healthcare.
The healthcare establishment is quite happy about this, as the issues that arise from obesity help to line their pockets with doctor visits, surgeries and prescription drugs.
The absolute best medicine is exercise, but most people don’t do nearly enough.
Golfers in particular do very little in the way of real strength training, opting instead for “golf specific” exercise, which I pretty much view as bunk.
Therefore, it’s my goal to spread this message. It’s really not that complicated.
Most of us are willing to work our asses off at our jobs to make more money, and even put time and money into getting more educated, so we can make more money.
Golfers are notorious for spending time and money investing in their games.
Yet, most people simply don’t invest in their own health.
If you want to learn more about how I can help you achieve your fitness goals, for now, just shoot me an email at scottcolegolf@aol.com.
No matter your age, there is no time better than the present to get started.
Thanks for reading!
