“Those who think they have no time for exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.”

– Edward Stanley

Fitness has always been an important part of my life.

I was an active child — the woods were my playground and I’d get lost for hours exploring the nooks and crannies of my rural surroundings. I loved to read, too — and could easily get lost in books for days (and later, video games), but my mom was always telling making me go outside and play. And I am sincerely grateful for that.

I wasn’t into the “popular” sports in high school — so I didn’t play football, basketball, or baseball — but I did run x-country and play tennis — and like most things, I was just average at both of them. I would’ve loved to play soccer, but I went to a very small school, with a small budget, and we didn’t have a soccer program until the year I graduated.

My active youth led to an active adulthood. I didn’t play any sports in college, but I did play lots of video games. Fortunately, I also started working out at the college gym — but to be honest, this probably had more to do with it being a way for me and my roommate to meet see girls. Still, it did manage to provide me with a solid introduction to strength training — as well as girl watching.

Outside of watching feminine beauties breath heavy sweat work out, I also enjoyed running, hiking, biking, rollerblading, shooting hoops, volleyball, skiing, and whatever else I could do with friends.

While I have always been somewhat active, I’ve only put varying degrees of effort into consistently working out and being “fit” over the years. Though, the older I’ve gotten, I’ve consistently worked out for far longer periods of time (years) and restarted far less frequently than I used to.

But ignoring what went on before this time, I’m starting this story in January 2009. Read more