Phewwww. Started the morning off with a bang. Wrapped up a 13hr shift yesterday, came back and started off with loading a trailer by hand with 55gal steel drums. This is why functional fitness is so important; training those 3 plains of motion. It was a full body exercise today for about 1.5hrs straight, after logging 20k steps yesterday! What occurs in your day that your fitness contributes to?

Gooood evening! Interested to hear testimonials on others fitness journey. What worked, what hasn’t worked, achievements, what are you working towards now? For me, I first hit the gym at the age of 12. Sports followed and I was obsessed. For majority of my life it was specifically performance and strength focused. Notable milestones 18 yo bench- 335, squat, 405, deadlift 555 at 185lbs 27 yo bench- 405, squat 455x5, deadlift 600 at 210lbs 37 yo the above sounds horrible lol. I have shifted focus as I had gotten up to about 240-245lbs to losing weight and feeling good. I was over 18% bf, felt terrible, was strong but always felt nagging issues. I got my diet in check, since January 2025 to about July, I got down to 202 and 12% bf. I’ve had a few bumps in the road with some tendinitis in my left arm (was teaching kickboxing several nights a week along with my normal workouts) and my knee lacking an acl/mcl. I feel more engaged in my full body routines, working out 3 times a week, diet is in a much better place, and no longer chasing those 1rm; instead chasing the pump and putting it into action. No fad diets, no ironclad routine, simply consistency and just keep showing up. I personally enjoy the full body routines as I get all of my sets spread across the week, recovery is much easier, and it’s always awesome feeling that complete pump walking out of the gym. I am in it for the long game. How about you? What have been your struggles? What has been your great accomplishments? If just getting started, what are your goals?

“Routine is the playground of a dull mind”- Pat McNamara Routines are not inherently bad, but often times complacency follows if we are in a flow state of doing what we need to do to get it done. Consistency is a requirement in the fitness sphere, as we look to build, grow, and improve, but do we get stuck in this state of just going with it? I have adopted routines over the years based on specific goals, in which I have achieved the outcome desired. However, since my fitness aspirations of changed, adopting a free flow mindset is what keeps me engaged and driven. I am still hitting all muscle groups, still engaging that stimulus, but I am frequently changing volume, intensity, exercises, to avoid routine and make my workouts mundane. Change planes, switch up concentric, eccentric, and isometric focus, make it fun, and get after it. Curious to know what you do to keep things fresh, engaging, yet still driving forward for results! Drop a message below!