+ Hi, Pablo here +
+ ++
My fitness journey
+Nowadays I find myself in the best physical shape I've ever been at. I'm stronger than I've ever been. + Pretty decent cardio-wise, not at my peak but close. I'm overall very active, and I can jump into any + physical activity without having second thoughts. I sleep like a baby, perform like a machine, eat like a + pig and it's all good. I'm at a very good weight. And there are so many other things in my life that work + nicely because my body is working nicely.
+I'm very happy about this because, for a long time, I really didn't think I would find myself in this + situation. Historically I was not an active person at all. It took many years of back and forth, making + mistakes and trying things, to get my groove in and settle for the habits I have now. And those habits + are great because it's literally costing me no effort to maintain myself in this state.
+So I thought I could look back a little, reflect on how I got here. Perhaps you can learn from some of + the mistakes I made and some of the things that worked for me.
+Growing up
+When I was a kid, I was a normal kid. I liked to play and have fun, but I was pretty terrible at sports. + Not a cripple, but surely a rather clumsy kid. I wasn't really talented for most sports, usually falling + in the bottom 25% of the distribution in terms of overall skill and performance.
+I guess part of that was just genetics and natural talent, and part of it was simply that my parents were + not the most physically active people. They never engaged in any sports, never did any physical exercise + or went to the gym. So I had no input from them in terms of physical activity or motivation around that + area. I would just play because I was a kid, not because of my parents pushing me to go for it. As I + grew up and playing slowly became less of a thing due to age, sports also slowly faded from my life (and + I was quite happy about it: it's not fun to be the loser systematically).
+The only exception in this path is that I did do a couple of years of martial arts when I was around 11 + or 12. That was nice, it was a lot of fun and it helped me boost my confidence. And surprisingly, I got + kind of decent at it. Being used to the bottom 25%, just being average at something felt like a massive + success. But then I went into my teenage years and my head was quickly filled with other stuff. I + eventually dropped out of it.
+The dark ages
+During my teenage years, I didn't do shit. I played no sports nor trained my body in any way. I don't + think I ever tried to do anything until I was 18 or 19, already in university. I signed up for the gym a + couple of times, checked online for routines, downloaded them, tried to follow them. Would usually last + two or three months and then drop out. It was boring, not motivating, and I also had no clue what I was + doing. When I look back at how I was training at those times, I can see so many mistakes. I would try to + go too hard, have overly ambitious routines that were completely not sustainable. Nutrition wasn't in + place, technique wasn't in place, exercise choices were probably extremely poor.
+I also tried jogging for a bit, but similar experience. Would do it for a while, then eventually lose + consistency. On and off for years.
+When I was around 20 or 21, I was living in Germany and really short on money, so signing up for a gym + was not an option. But near where I was living there was a park with some bars, and some days there was + this German fella, I think his name was Leo. He was insane good: super ripped, in extremely good + condition, did all sorts of complicated exercises like it was nothing. The kind of guy you see training + and go "oh wow, that's amazing." He would give me some tips and I really enjoyed training around there + with him. Still, I wasn't extremely consistent. But it was a good intro to doing calisthenics in a bar + park, since the closest I had done was bodyweight training when I did martial arts in my younger years. +
+And in that park I fucked up my ribcage doing dips on the parallel bars. One day I went too hard, and I + would guess the technique must have been absolutely terrible as well. That day, after finishing a set, I + just felt this little stab in my chest, which I didn't give much importance to on the spot. Then the next + morning I had super intense pain in my chest every time I tried to move or breathe. I'm pretty confident + I searched online whether I was having a heart attack. It slowly faded but not completely, and it stuck + around for at least a couple of years. That was my first big fuck-up with training and injuring myself. + After that, I learned not to exceed myself with risky exercise like dips, to respect my natural ranges of + motion, and to just take it easy for the most part.
+That chest pain got me away from exercise for a long time because any chest exercise would hurt quite a + bit. Push-ups were a no-no. And how's a man supposed to train if he can't do push-ups, right?
+Some progress, then rock bottom
+Around 23 or 24, I went a bit harder with running. Started jogging more regularly, signed up for a 10k, + did a decent job, ran a couple more races, and eventually finished a half marathon in under two hours. A + year or two where I was jogging regularly. That was nice. I eventually lost my habit, but it was a good + experience and there I learned how to do resistance training decently. Also proved myself I was capable + of training for a feat like a half marathon, which was nice since I would have never identified myself as + a runner before.
+Then, by the time Covid hit, I was not active at all. Absolutely zero gym, calisthenics, no jogging. And + then we were thrown in our cages with the curfews. Being locked down all day was absolutely terrible. I + wouldn't move around. I was working quite hard at my desk, long days of sitting. My back was hurting like + I was a grandpa. I was smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. Probably drinking more than I should. For a + few months it just spiralled down into some mornings where I would wake up and go "god, I feel like shit + every single day."
+Actually, let me backtrace a little. A few months before Covid hit, I had a traffic accident and broke my + leg. Had to get surgery on my knee. I was bedridden for a couple of months, then had to slowly learn how + to walk again. It's hard to explain how bad it is to be bedridden for that long.
+So Covid hit on top of that, and I just went worse and worse. Maybe one year, one year and a half into it, + I was in absolute shit shape. At that point, it started to click in my brain that this was not normal, not + good, and not something I wanted. I guess sometimes you really need to lack something to truly appreciate + it and feel the need for it. Greener grasses, yadayada.
+The turnaround
+First thing, I quit smoking. One morning I woke up with my usual chest congestion, you know, where you + have to go to the bathroom and spit the hell out of yourself for five or ten minutes. All morning I was + just feeling it and I was like "I'm so done with this." I quit cold turkey that day, never went back. + Took no effort. Since then, I always advise smokers who want to quit to consider as a possible strategy + to just smoke themselves out. Smoke every single minute, as much as you want. Heck, smoke even when you + don't want to. Maybe that way you'll just get sudden rejection for it like I did.
+Then I started training a little at home with a few dumbbells. Basic stuff: rows, squats, floor presses. + And I took it really easy because I was in such terrible shape and I had learned from my leg surgery + rehab that when you're at the bottom, you really have to take it easy coming up. That was one of the most + enlightening things I figured out. When you're in a really bad shape, don't rush it. You will go up + eventually and things will work out, but don't force yourself to do stuff you're not ready to do. Do + something that feels comfy, even trivial I would say, and start doing it regularly. From that point on, + you can start pumping the numbers.
+I was extremely busy with work, working from home, so what I would do is train during my lunch break. 15, + 20 minutes. Four exercises, a few rows, a few presses, a few squats, maybe just nine sets, done. Cook my + lunch, continue with life. Very humble training for a busy guy.
+Precisely because what I was doing was not ambitious, it was pretty convenient. We're talking about + working out for 15 to 20 minutes in a lightweight way at home. I didn't change clothes. I didn't get in + my car and drive to a gym. I would sometimes cook as I was training, leveraging the rest time between + sets. It was extremely convenient and humble, and because of that, I was actually able to make a habit + out of it. One month, two months, three months. Eventually it just grew into a habit. I stayed with this + attitude for at least a year. That was the first time in my life I was actually consistent with strength + training.
+The habit stuck and slowly, I increased the intensity, but with an extremely relaxed attitude. I wasn't + tracking myself heavily. I wasn't pushing hard to pump the numbers. I was just happily trying to feel + well and then every now and then I'd throw another half a kilo here, another half a kilo there. Do 4 + sets where I used to do 3. Do 8 pushups instead of 6.
+I also started jogging casually, doing 5k's here and there. Same principle: very humble jogs with no + intense pace goals, trivial to include in daily life.
+Calisthenics and the bars
+Eventually I started working for a company with a nice office close to the beach, literally a few meters + from the sand. Right in front of the office there was an absolutely amazing calisthenics bar park, with + all the pull-up bars you could figure out, all the grips and heights, parallel bars, row bars, everything + you can imagine. Training in the sand was really nice.
+I made a habit of training whenever I went to the office. Sometimes in the morning, sometimes at the end + of the day. I would train at the bars regularly and some days go for a 5k near the beach. I just kept my + sneakers at the office and grabbed them whenever I felt I had the energy.
+At this stage I had clearly recovered all of my shitty physical condition from the curfew, smoking and + drinking. By the way, by the beach stage I had already stopped drinking as well. I've been smoke-free + and alcohol-free for a few years now.
+Things kept improving. I was feeling so great that I could actually be a bit more ambitious with my + training. And it just worked. It didn't feel like I was pushing myself too hard and I didn't have weird + pains. Also, because I was in decent condition and not smoking or drinking, I was getting incredibly good + sleep, so recovery was much better. I also lost quite a bit of weight due to it all (though most of the + merit I think goes to quitting alcohol completely).
+Eventually, I kind of got addicted to the bars. The habit had completely stuck with me. Since then, I + train at different bar parks depending on where I'm working or where life takes me, but I'm always + finding some bar park and going there 2-3 times a week. I even got a weighted vest, so some training + sessions I'll go quite hard with heavy pull-ups and dips.
+And that's where I sit today. I'm stronger than I've ever been. I can crank out 10 pull-ups any day of + the week when I'm fresh, or squat cleanly with the missus on my back. And what I today call an easy day + would have been outright impossible for me to perform in 2020. That's pretty cool.
+I'm not doing great with jogging right now because I stopped for a few months, tried to pump the numbers + too quickly when I came back (lesson learned), and hurt my Achilles tendon. Working on recovering that, + and then I'll just be very humble again with my 5k's. But right before that, I could run you a sub-hour + 10K on any normal day, even if I had not been prepping intensely for it the weeks before.
+The only thing I might be missing is some stretch work for flexibility and mobility. I've been thinking I + should probably try some yoga classes. Not to become a master at it, but to have my joints pushed to the + extreme positions every now and then. I'll probably do that at some point.
+Lessons
+If I look back, here's what I would tell my past self, or anyone who's starting out or struggling to make + exercise stick.
+The most important thing is to start ridiculously small. So little volume, so little frequency, that it + almost feels pointless. A couple of days a week, five minutes of something that doesn't even feel like a + challenge. You might think that's not getting you anywhere. You're so wrong. Listen: first, you need to + prove yourself that you're capable of doing something trivial consistently, because doing something + consistently is all that matters. Once you prove you can do that, slowly increase, but very slowly. + Don't be in a rush. Don't try to make every session a challenge. You have a lifetime of exercising ahead + of you. Get to a certain level, stay there for a few weeks until you're bored, and then bump it up a + little bit. So little you have a hard time noticing any difference. And then repeat. Same for cardio. + Never jogged? Just go out and do two kilometres. You should be able to pull that in under 15 minutes. Do + that for a month, a couple of times a week, then do 2.5 kilometres. Take years to get to something + significant. But eventually you will get there, which is the important thing. And you'll make it because + you took it easy, you didn't injure yourself, and you didn't give up because your training plan was too + hard and completely incompatible with living a normal life. It feels counterintuitive, but by being kind + of lazy and doing very little, you eventually grow into doing a lot.
+Along the same lines, make it trivial to start exercising in your daily life. Remove every bit of + friction you can. If you can afford to have equipment at home, have it ready and accessible, not buried + in some inconvenient closet. If you just have to reach for it and start, there's no excuse. The moment + it takes a couple of minutes to prep for exercise, you can talk yourself out of it. Same for jogging: + have your sneakers and clothes ready to grab, have one route you always do, don't plan it, don't think + about it, just go. Calisthenics bar parks have worked nicely for me precisely because they need zero + prep. You show up and the bars are there, ready for you to jump to them. And don't shy away from short + workouts either. In 15 minutes at a bar park you can do a lot. You're not going to break any records, + but it's way better than doing nothing. I never do long strength training sessions. I'm pretty confident + 80-90% of my workouts sit somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes. You can get quite decent results with + that. And if someday you have the time and energy to punish yourself for an hour, be my guest. But don't + feel you have to.
+Finally, get your weight sorted. Being at a good weight is insanely convenient for exercise. Running, + lifting, all of it. Being overweight is a fucking pain in the ass, messes with your health in many ways + and just doesn't let your body work properly. If you're clearly overweight, getting your weight down + before you start training hard will make your life a lot easier. Things like running are terribly tolling + when you're heavy, whereas at a healthy weight it feels so much more pleasant, which helps you stick + with it.
+That's it. It took me many years to get here, but I'm rolling with it. I'm having fun with the bars, + I'll be having fun jogging with no pressure very soon, might throw the yoga in. I keep it easy. Whenever + I feel like I have some extra energy and bandwidth, I push myself a bit harder for fun. Not on a + schedule, not with any pressure, just because I feel like doing it. Whenever I seem to have no energy or + time, I just do what I can afford to. But the key is: I always do a bit, no matter what.
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