fitB4forty – Impact Fitness Challenge

I have been looking for something to up the ante with my training lately.  I didn’t know exactly what, but something that would continue to push my training regimen to the next level.

I found a call out for a “Best Self Challenge” from Impact Fitness Brampton, which I found to be a CrossFit style gym located pretty close to my work. Best Self – wasn’t that exactly what I have been working toward? It resonated with me immediately; I couldn’t ignore the synchrony with my goals, or the convenience of it being a short drive from my work. I immediately sent a request to apply and set an appointment to meet one of the coaches.

When I first arrived Paul Rudzik welcomed me into his office and asked the questions that don’t often come up with the personal trainers (PT’s) found at your big box gym. Instead of: “how much do you want to lose? Have you exercised before? What exercises did you do? How often do you train?” His questions were much different: “why do you want to do this challenge, what is YOUR goal? What is going to motivate you; why are you doing this? What are the tangible/measurable accomplishments that will be a satisfying result? What has gotten in your way in the past – what worked/what didn’t? After you reach this goal, what next?”

I was impressed, not only due to it being a very different approach than what I was used to, but it also had me looking deeper into everything I was working on.   In fact, it solidified my resolve and provided more focus and motivation for the path I was already on.  He understood that I wanted to keep improving my lean body mass, while losing the excess body fat; we agreed that over the 6 week program I could shave off 25lbs if I stayed focused and ate right.

I returned to complete an initial program introduction, went over nutrition basics (complete with menu outline), and debriefed on the training expectations.  We also established baseline measurements individually, not just body measurements (weight, measurements at multiple body parts & body fat % – multi point skin fold check), but performance measurements as well (2 minute timed max reps on push-ups, sit ups, full range squats & a cardio test that measured the amount of watts/calories that were exerted).  I loved the idea that we would track improvements on every level, focusing on the functional part of fitness just as much as the body results.

My pre-challenge weigh in and body composition was 211.8 lbs., 21% body fat (skin fold calipers – multiple points). I’ve included a few pictures for before and after reference. I am pretty excited at what I will accomplish by the time this is done, not only from the visual side, but performance as well.

I have been working with Paul this past week and it has been great.  The sessions are challenging, and not only is Paul encouraging, but so is everyone else at the gym! (Solid community there, including coach Christina who does one of my sessions).  He has been super accommodating, tweaking the program slightly to suit the format that I have already been on. And has also given positive input on how I can continue my keto based diet with some fasting windows, while integrating into the 6 week program that I am on.  It’s all about being able to stick to the program over the long run, the Impact crew understands this, and have been great to work with.

I am pumped just thinking about where I could potentially be at the end of this 6 weeks, and will keep you updated as I grind out each week leading up to the end of the challenge!