Ode to Cressey Performance: They Meet (Part I)

Just one year ago, about this time I was faced with moving away from everything I had known for the past 6 years of my life. My job was moving me to greater boston area and out of the NY/NJ area I'd grown so accustomed to over the course of my life.

While looking for a place to live I managed to catch a John Berardi seminar that same weekend. Now the seminar was great, and made me realize a lot of things I wasn't doing to reach my goals. I had successfully lost close to 40lbs from extreme dieting(still not sure if success is the right word), but still felt and looked like crap and probably was no healthier than when I started my dieting journey at over 200lbs(obese according to the BMI). JB made me realize that my nutrition wasn't necessarily lacking, but my training was way off.

Now the seminar was held at a strength training facility and lucky enough for me one of the trainers was on hand and I picked his brain a bit at the end of the seminar and inquired about what it would take to train there. The trainer I spoke with was none other than Eric Cressey. I got the low down and realized it would be fairly expensive to train there.

I ventured back to Long Island where I had a week to mull things over before my move to Boston. I had been looking to purchase a new ride for a couple weeks and had all but settled on one. I had even put a deposit down on this beautiful 2 door coupe with a moonroof, alloy wheels and 10 speaker stereo. The thought of listening to tiesto on 10 speakers was music to my ears, literally. The car was to arrive a few days before I headed up to Boston.

Driver Wanted

It was at this point that I realized I had to stop myself. I knew if I was to get the car, there would be no way I would be able to train with Eric as the 2 expenses would quickly drain my bank account. It would probably seem like a no brainer to most people, but keep in mind I come from a family of car enthusiasts. Heck my family owns an oil change center and my brother and father regularly raced their cars at the 1/4 mile track. We even like Nascar. Yes I just said that, we like NASCAR. I know, it's a tough thing to admit. I digress...

I don't watch it for the crashes either. I watch it because I really like Tide.

Fortunately during college I witnessed countless individuals trading in their dreams, the things they said they really wanted, for what they wanted right now. Most people are not willing to give up something to get what they really want. It's not always what you have to give in order to get something you want, it's what you have to give up. While mentoring many younger college students I realized many people often miss this one simple thing.

So I have some goals in the back of my mind. I only have to ask myself one simple question.

What will I have to give up?

Take for example the obesity thing, or epidemic as they call it. People watch an average of 17 hours of television a week. Thats an average so some are even higher! If people would just give up 1/3 of that time to get off their ass and exercise or just go for a walk, we'd see a lower risk of chronic diseases across the board. But people can't do it, they trade in health for a pack of cookies. Why? Because the pack of cookies satisfies them right now.

It comes down to this...Do what you've always done, get what you've always gotten. If you are to achieve something you always wanted, you have to do something you've never done. That resonated with me and I knew I'd have to give up the car(and the 10 speaker sound system) and learn to train properly to achieve my goals.

So here is what I hoped to accomplish(One of which I'm told by medical doctors will be impossible, can you guess which it is?):

• Lose the skinny fat physique and the negative health impacts that go with it. That whole visceral fat thing scares me. Visceral fat = untimely death
• Put on some weight (this was really tough for me as I'd always had this lose weight mentality, thanks diet books!)
• Fix my poor posture that I had gotten from too much computer time, which had only gotten worse from traveling a lot for work and from sitting at a desk from 9-5 every damn day.
• Strengthen my weak lower back which was starting to become an issue from sitting at a desk all day.