Fitness Progress

This is where I – somewhat alarmingly – bare all of my fat bits so that you can see the Paleo Diet and a more active lifestyle all doing their part to give me a slightly “buff-er” exterior. The plan is to put up monthly progress photos, measurements and test results, and to stop once I’ve got my sexy back.

I was kind of nervous at first about taking these photos (let alone actually posting them here), but once you’ve gotten past the whole “confronting nearly naked middle-aged guy” thing, have a look at the coloured lines I’ve added to the photos, and read what it all relates to in the image captions. I’m finding that using photography to take a critical look and analyse the state of my physical health is showing me stuff that I never really paid close attention to over the years. Yes, I’m putting my own body on the line for your personal amusement to show that you don’t get his way by accident, and that a positive lifestyle change will help to correct the problems caused by excess weight and inactivity.

01 January 2013

Notice a slight pelvic tilt (red), poor vertical alignment between shoulders and hips (green), rounded shoulders, poor abdominal conditioning (yellow), and that waistline fat is a future heart attack in the making.

Weight = 79.9 kg
Waist =97 cm
Hip = 103 cm
Waist to Hip Ratio = 0.94 (1^st goal: 0.92)
Waist to Height Ratio = 0.56 (1^st goal: 0.45)
Body Fat % = 29.42 (1^st goal: 18)
Resting Heart Rate= 61 (1^st goal: 58)
60s Pressup Test = 18 (1^st goal: 30)
Plank Test = 1 minute (1^st goal: 3 minutes)
Beep Test = 6/4 (1^st goal: 8/0)

28 January 2013

Such a change in only 4 weeks! Slight lessening of Pelvic tilt indicates lower back muscle injury is slowly recovering, and results in straighter posture. From the side, the curve in the TVA line is significantly straighter, and belly has flattened considerably. Love handles at waist and lower back are greatly reduced revealing my waist for the first time in nearly 20 years!! As my wife says however, the shorts are an improvement over the last photo, but next time I take photos I should remember to comb my hair first! 😛

Weight = 76.6 kg
- 3.3 kg (7.3 lb) reduction
Waist = 85.5 cm
- 11.5 cm (4.5 in) reduction
Hip = 96 cm
- 7 cm (2.8 in) reduction
Waist to Hip Ratio = 0.89 (1^st goal: 0.92)
Waist to Height Ratio = 0.49 (1^st goal: 0.45)
Body Fat % = 24.46 (1^st goal: 18)
- 3.74% reduction
Muscle Mass = 30.90 kg
- First calculated on 6th February 2013
Resting Heart Rate= 60 (1^st goal: 58)
60s Pressup Test = 21 (1^st goal: 30)
Plank Test = 1 minute 21 seconds (1^st goal: 3 minutes)
Beep Test = 6/9 (1^st goal: 8/0)

28 February 2013

Very subtle changes this month. I’ve a tilt at Pelvis and shoulder due to hip flexor (psoas) tightness. Lower back fat looks more pronounced on the right as a result. Love handles from front are fractionally flatter. Spinal curvature shows I am standing straighter with slightly less rounding of the shoulder, and my chin/nose less raised as a result. Belly is slightly flatter with the line of the inner abdominals straighter and slightly more prominent. I also think that shoulders and upper arms look fractionally larger, and are held less awkwardly due to improved posture.