Thursday, June 07, 2012

Neither Super Nor Soldier

Tomorrow marks the last day of my own version of Project:  Rebirth, the month-long Captain America-inspired workout program I’ve been following faithfully.
So what are the results?
Well, I’m pretty sure I could land a pretty solid blow to Hitler’s jaw, but I wouldn’t last long against the Red Skull, or even Baron Zemo.
I could probably take Arnim Zola down (in his pre-robot body days, at least).
And I would just flat-out refuse to be seen anywhere near Batroc just on principle.  (Still, cheesy as he is, he’d undoubtedly kick my ass.)
I have no pictures to show you my results, because who would take (or have taken, to document the “before”) pictures?  I’m not about to do some MySpace-style bathroom mirror self-shot, and even if I were willing to ask Scott to take pictures (Note:  I’m not.), I haven’t actually seen him since before I even considered starting the workout.  And without any “before” pictures, you wouldn’t really be able to see the results in the “after” shots anyway.
When I went in for my regular check up the other day, I found that not only was my scale lying to me about my body fat, it wasn’t even giving me my correct weight.  At the doctor’s office, I weighed in at 168 pounds while fully-clothed.  My scale, just a few days prior, put my weight at 174.  It seems unlikely that I lost that much weight in that short a period of time.
So I’m not sure how much weight I actually put on.  I think that was about what I weighed at my last check up.
More subjectively, I can say that there has been a visible increase in my overall bulk, especially in my upper body.  My shoulders are broader, and my chest is bigger, firmer, and more well-defined.
My biceps are only slightly larger, but are substantially more firm, and better-defined than they were a month ago.  Triceps are also more defined.
Forearms don’t appear any larger, though they are more defined (and even more veiny).
As for my legs, only my calves appear visibly larger, though my thighs (and my butt) are both firmer…under the layer of permaflab, at least.
My abs show the least improvement, though there is a noticeable difference.  To be fair, the workout didn’t really do a lot to target the abs.
Beyond my own observations, a few people at work have commented on the changes to my physique, so it’s not just (or at least not entirely) wishful thinking on my part.
So what’s next?
I’m not sure.  I want to take another crack at eliminating the permaflab, so I may put in a solid week of cardio, along with a decrease in caloric intake (focusing on low fat, high protein to a greater extent than I have the past month).
Then I may go back to my previous routine, simply adding in more reps/and or more weight.
Obviously I didn’t expect dramatic results, and I’m both surprised and pleased by the results that I did see, though I wish I had seen some more growth in my arms.
Still, I wasn’t in anywhere near the same kind of shape that Chris Evans was already in when he started preparing for the role of Cap (and, in fact, I’m still nowhere near it), so I knew that I wasn’t going to see the same kind of results.
Then again, a guy can dream, I guess, though ultimately maybe he shouldn’t.

1 comment:

lbugsh2 said...

Dreams are good keep them up. And ask for seeing Scott sorry many been a crappy month. And you hate coming down here.