Monday, January 6, 2014

OWE14: Starting Stats & Desired Endstate


Starting Stats

Last known Body Composition:
12.20.13- BW 265.20 @ 24.0% = 201.68 FFM / 63.53 FM

 Last Bathroom Scale Weight:
01.06.14- BW 274.0 w/ 43" Air Force Waist

Mock Fitness Test Component Scores:
12.16.13- Push Ups: 38/Sit Ups: 40/1.5 Mile Run: 3/4Mi in 9 minutes, then I spit the bit and walked off the track.

 If I were to be given an Pop Quiz PT Test - which I've heard is possible - at any point in the year, save the two weeks before my actual test, I'd fail it hands down. Why? Because while I'd like to own a Mr. America Physique I want even more to posses Herculean Power. As times goes on I inch ever closer to having the best of both world but I usually end up training more for Power and less for looks.

As long as I've been in the service I've heard the quip, "The enemy doesn't care how fast I can run a mile and a half." My personal version of that would be; "The Iron Mind Axle doesn't care how small my waist is." I've had conversations with numerous people, both military and civilian, about how silly some components of the test are but, at the end of the day, the standard is the standard. While rewrites and revisions come down the pike all the time, the waist tape and run probably aren't going to go away over the course of my career.

I've reached an acceptable - not ideal - balance of training like a wrecking ball and pounding calories like there's no tomorrow for the majority of the year and taking a little time off, a 'Ronadan' if you will, 6-8 weeks every now and then to focus on beating the AFI 36-2905. For most of my tests, expect the one I failed on 08.04.2007, I've managed to pull it off:

R.A. Strahan's Air Force Physical Health Assessment History
In recent history I've made some mistakes that I don't think I can recover from and that's going to play a role in my desired endstate, which I'll get to in a few paragraphs. I want to talk for a minute about how crash-cutting and my Body Transformation from '07, has become a gift and a curse.

I had not run since my last test on 02.27.13. A few days before the two week end of year break period we had a mock PFA which I failed, miserably, disgracefully even.I was barely able to complete 3 laps (3/4 mile) on the track. You'd think that I would have looked at the red flag for what it was and knowing my next test would be in Feb '14, gotten things in gear. Did I? No! 

Instead I decided to enjoy the little break time that I had with my wife and family, and enjoy it I did. From 12/23 to 1/6 I lived like I was going to die. I didn't lift a weight, didn't put my running shoes on once and indulged in all the fatty food I wanted to the tune of a 9 pound gain over the two weeks. Now... the 16,000 dollar question... Why?

Here it is... The gift and the curse of getting results is knowing that you can get results. This is not my first rodeo with crash cutting and beating the tape. I've done this many times and I have confidence in my ability to throw the discipline throttle into overdrive and do what needs to be done. At this point it's a little late in the game to shoot for a 90 but I am confident that I can pull at least an 80 out despite my current state, in about 6 weeks from now.

Desired Endstate
I've set some conservative goals this time around with the overall goal of achieving an 80 on the test.

Goals for Feb 2014 Air Force Physical Fitness Assessment
A 12:30 Mile and a half, 37.5" Waist, 46 Push Ups and 48 Sit Ups would give me a total score of 82.3 points. I have a little flexibility should something go wrong with either the run or waist and I may even come in above my goal on the Push Ups and Sit Ups.

What it'll mean to achieve these goals is;
- Double my current max run distance and shave probably close to 3 minutes off of it
- Slash 5.5" off of my Abdominal Circumference measure (a reduction of 25-30 pounds of body weight)
- Add 8 reps to my current Push Up max
- Add 8 reps to my current Sit Up max

In order to do this I'm going to have to reorient my food intake, change my training routine and start hitting the track to align every aspect of my physical efforts towards losing half a pound to a pound a day, decreasing my waist and increasing my muscular endurance. This will be no easy task but, as I said above, I'm confident in my abilities.

With the main goal of scoring an 80 I may not have to get as drastic as I have in the past. In the past I've always shot for a 90 and ended up sacrificing much more Fat Free Mass than I'd like to and post test it takes a while for the strength to return.

I plan on competing in Texas's Strongest Man in April In San Antonio in the 265 class. As a secondary goal - which isn't nearly and measurable as the primary goal, I'm going to try to keep as much strength and Fat Free Mass as possible. I'll plan to start out that way and keep a close eye on my markers to make sure I'm losing enough as the coming weeks unfold.

Progress Reporting 
I've come to accept that I'll probably never be able to document any body transformation efforts or strength follies as well as I did in 2007. For instance, I did get on the scale on 01.06.14 to see that I was 274 pounds, I neglected to get a photo or video of it or take a "before pic". But also, in the end neither of those actions would have a direct impact on getting me around the track faster. 

It begs the question; 'if it doesn't have a direct impact on goal achievement, why blog or document progress at all?' The answer is two fold. 1) On some level it keeps me accountable to the passerby that's kind enough to 'like' a post, share one of my vids or offer the occasional words of encouragement. 2) Through the years I've been able to motivate a fellow Airman or two to take responsibility for their state of health and save their own career here or there by 'beating the tape'.

I plan on posting a weekly roll-up of exercise activity - nothing too in depth, at the very least just some numbers on the Big 4 and what I've been doing on the track. Also, a scale check about every 10 days, adding Body Composition Analysis tests when I can make and appointment over at the BodPod.

The parameters of the game have been laid out. The board is set. Pieces are now in motion; here we go...

First Bodyweight Benchmark Goal;

BW on 01.06.14: 274.0
BW goal on 01.16.14: 269.0-264.0 (.5 lbs to a pound a day)

Also... Get on the track and knock out the whole 1.5 mile in one shot to get an actual time to improve on.

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Location: San Angelo, TX, USA