Okay so here it is all...late in 2011 I decided that in 2012 I was
going to become fit and healthy again, after the best part of the last 8 to 10 years of my life doing...well what most young fella's do..chasing the ladies
(and subsequently meeting and marrying my beautiful wife Christy) going out partying with mates, eating just about anything that was put in front of me, and of course the occasional weekend sitting on my arse watching the V8's or any other sport that was on that took my fancy.
So in 2012 I have decided it is time things must change... my family's history as far as health is concerned isn't exactly what you would call sparkling, Heart Disease, Diabetes, and High Blood pressure are all there, and are things I can look forward to as I get older if things don't start to change now...I WILL NOT BE A STATISTIC!!!
The other thing I forgot to mention is I am also in a wheelchair and have Spina Bifida, add to this the fact I work in front of a computer all day in sedentary job means that the potential for me to gain weight without regular good cardio exercise is pretty high.
I mentioned above that I had been pretty much inactive for the last 8-10 years. Prior to this I was a wheelchair track and road racing athlete...you know those 3 wheeled chairs you've seen on TV?.... See, I knew you knew what I was talking about!!!...Anyways I competed in that for the better part of 10 years, travelling all around Australia, and also over to the United States and Canada which was pretty awesome, and as you can imagine kept me in pretty damn awesome physical condition because I was doing up to 13 training session per week between training on the track, swimming, road sessions in my racing chair, my hand cycle (3 wheeled hand cranked wheelchair equivalent to a bike) and also a gym session a couple of times a week just for good measure. Eventually I decided after 2 bouts of glandular fever it was time for me to give the athletics and rest for a while and so I did....the only problem with this was..I ENDED UP DOING NOTHING which has lead me to my current physical state.. a shade over 80kg's, on medication for hypertension and slowly struggling more and more every day with tasks such as transferring myself in and out of my wheelchair, getting in and out of my car and just general other things like getting around when my wife and I are out together going fishing, or just out for a picnic in the park. Anyways, enough of that gloomy crap...
So what have I done to date...well as anyone who knows me reading this will attest to, I have never smoked, am not a big drinker, however my one main vice that I have is that I drink Coca Cola like there is tomorrow. The good news is that one of my new years resolutions was to give up Coca Cola for the entire year, a feat that I am proud to say I have succeeded in thus far.
The other new years resolution I kick started is I have joined a gym with my mate Steve and currently going twice a week. Triceps and Chest on Tuesday and Back and Biceps on Thursday...which reminds me..following my Tricep flogging session the other day I went out to my car to get in, get home and get organised for work...didn't really occur to me that the main muscle group I used for getting myself in and out of my wheelchair was in fact my triceps..(along with various other muscles around the shoulder area) and that following the workout, my triceps were likely to be quite fatigued and not working to their usual standard...I found this out the hard way...pulled up to my car opened the door, put my breaks on and started to lift myself across to the drivers seat...all going well so far...then all of a sudden my arms went out from underneath me and I fell straight to the ground beside my car. after laughing at myself hysterically for 5 minutes or so and looking around to make sure no one had seen my stack, I grabbed the steering wheel and pulled myself back up into the drivers seat, apparently my biceps were still working fine. Note to self: maybe hang out at the gym a little longer next time before trying to cart my arse back into the car to go home. Oh...forgot to mention...it is SO awesome to have a training partner to go to the gym with. Back in the day when I was competing I would always have a coach beside me, pushing me harder and harder and generally have me wanting to swear at them. After giving up racing I found it so hard trying to do any sort of physical exercise on my own, so easy to just say "yeah I'll do it tomorrow." Having someone to exercise with whether it be in the gym or a walking partner I have found means that you are more accountable..if you don't show up to a session, your not only letting yourself down, but also letting your training partner down.
Anyways, I plan on writing in this blog as much as possible to update you on my progress to becoming the fit, healthy and sexy adonis that I am sure lays somewhere dormant deep within me, and hopefully I can share a few laughs with you all along the way.
P L & M (for future blog reference this translates to Peace, Love and Mung beans)
Adam
