Nerd Fitness begins...

Hi, I'm Steve, and I am a nerd.

Maybe not in the typical sense, but I am a nerd nonetheless. I've built my own computer. I have a level 57 Templar in Everquest 2. In my apartment we have a 56 inch TV, with a PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, and old school Nintendo hooked up to it. I've read all the Harry Potter books, and I own both versions of all three Lord of the Rings movies (regular and special edition). I'm a nerd.

However, I like to think that I'm a pretty cool nerd. I play sports, and I try to stay in shape. I actually enjoy going to the gym. This all started back two years ago...

When I moved out to San Diego in '06, I weighed approximately 160 lbs. I spent 4 years of college trying every workout routine in the book: one muscle group every day for 5 days a week, 3 muscle groups a day twice a week, etc etc etc. I think between Freshman year and Senior year I probably put on 10 lbs. (I didn't drink through most of College, so the "Freshman Fifteen" that everybody else put on didn't really apply to me. I woulda LOVED to put on 15 lbs!) I tried it all, and nothing worked.

Things changed when I moved out to the West Coast and signed up at the local gym, I was given 5 free sessions with a personal trainer, and I learned what I had been doing wrong all along: my diet. Even though I had done the right exercises for the four years of college to build muscle mass, I was only eating half the number of calories and grams of protein necessary for muscle development. In the 5 weeks hitting up the gym and meeting with my personal trainer, I was eating over 200 grams of protein a day, scattered throughout 7 meals (eaten every 3 hours), and I went from 160 lbs. to 180 lbs. It was ridiculous.

I figured after 4 years of intense work-out sessions, I was doomed to be skinny for the rest of my life (yeah, poor me. I know, I'm so lucky, blah blah blah. That's not the point!) All it took was a change in my diet and my approach to the whole thing. Of course, right after crossing the 180 lbs barrier, I immediately got sick and dropped 10 lbs. Since then, it's been a constant struggle for me to stay motivated and healthy enough to get back up there. Job, vacations, even lack of sleep always jump in right when I get back on track, and I drop back down to 170 lbs.

Well, I think I've come up with a solution that will get me back on track, and help others do the same: I'm going to get certified as a personal trainer and try to pick up some clients over at the L.A. Fitness where I work out. I can save some money (by not paying the monthly membership), make some money (by helping people), stay motivated (can't be an out of shape trainer, can I?), and give me fun things to write about here on the blog.

In-depth analysis of my training techniques and diet will be helpful for not only skinny nerds looking to get big, but just out of shape nerds who want to have more energy and feel better about themselves after spending a marathon day on the couch playing GTA or Mario Kart (like my roommate Evan, who might be one of the best Mario Kart players in the world).

That's my story, and this is where we begin.

-Steve