My Commitment to Year Four: Core, Glutes & Legs… God Help Me

It’s September 1, and tomorrow I will officially be nine weeks post-surgery.

More importantly, tomorrow I have been cleared to resume training with Isaac.

I’m excited.

I’m grateful.

I’m ready.

And I’m also a little scared.

Okay. A lot scared.

But tomorrow marks the beginning of Year Four of this crazy fitness journey, and I’ve decided Year Four needs a theme.

But first, a little recap.

Year One: Where Did All That Weight Come From?

Year One was primarily about losing weight. I lost the majority of the weight I wanted to lose and, along the way, learned a tremendous amount about lifting weights, proper form, and the shocking revelation that randomly moving heavy objects around a gym is apparently not a training program.

Isaac taught me how to lift.

He also began his multi-year campaign to convince me that lunges are somehow good for me.

I remained skeptical.

Year Two: Wait…Is That a Muscle?

In Year Two, I continued losing weight, but something else started happening.

I started gaining muscle.

Actual muscle.

Not Arnold Schwarzenegger muscle, but enough that I occasionally caught myself in the mirror thinking, Well, hello there.

My body was changing. I was getting stronger. And after spending most of my life thinking exercise was something you did primarily to burn calories, I started realizing how much I loved feeling strong.

Year Three: Look at Those Arms!

Year Three was when all the work really started showing.

I could see definition in my arms, shoulders and back.

I had muscles!

I may or may not have started choosing sleeveless shirts based entirely on whether they adequately showcased my shoulders.

And then, about eight months into Year Three, my back apparently decided it had had enough of all this showing off.

A pinched nerve caused me to lose feeling and function in my right foot and leg. We tried to fix it without surgery, but eventually it became clear that surgery was the only option.

And just like that, Year Three became less about building muscle and more about trying to get my leg to remember that it was, in fact, still employed.

Then Came an Uncomfortable Revelation

Going through all of this made something painfully obvious:

My core, glutes and legs need work.

A lot of work.

At one point I asked Isaac a perfectly reasonable question:

“After THREE YEARS of training with you, why are my legs still weak?”

His answer?

“Because you hate lunges.”

Well.

Yes, Isaac.

I DO hate lunges.

Thank you for pointing that out.

I was hoping for something more scientific. Perhaps genetics. Hormones. My skeletal structure. A rare medical condition.

But no.

Apparently the diagnosis is simply:

Patient refuses to lunge.

Year Four Has Officially Been Declared

One thing I know about myself is that I am stubborn.

I prefer the word determined, but there are people in my life who might suggest stubborn is more accurate.

So after scheduling my first post-surgery training session with Isaac, I sent him a message:

“I’m declaring Year Four the Year of Core, Glutes and Legs.”

His response:

“Roger that.”

Two words.

Somehow they sounded vaguely threatening.

I feel like I may regret making this declaration directly to the person who controls the weights.

But it’s too late now.

I told Isaac.

And now I’m telling the world.

There is no backing out.

I Have Entered a Toxic Relationship With the StairMonster

As part of my Year Four commitment, I have been getting on the damn StairMaster — which I have affectionately renamed the StairMonster — almost every day.

I have done it 9 out of the last 10 days.

My goal has been to add one minute each day.

I’m currently up to 13 minutes.

Thirteen.

I realize there are people who stay on that machine for 45 minutes.

I don’t understand those people.

I assume they are either professional athletes or fugitives.

For me, 13 minutes is currently an accomplishment.

And judging by the soreness in my 🫏, apparently something back there is finally working.

Isaac should be thrilled.

My ass has officially joined the fitness program.

I’ve also been doing core work every day since starting physical therapy, and for the first time in this journey, I’m making core strength a real priority rather than something I occasionally squeeze in when nobody mentions planks.

And Then There Are My Inner Thighs

Eventually, I know I may need to go into a calorie deficit if I want to lose some of the remaining fat on my inner thighs.

There is just one small problem.

I weigh about 120 pounds.

At 120 pounds, a calorie deficit basically means:

You may look at the food.

You may smell the food.

Under certain circumstances, you may lick the food.

But please do not actually eat the food.

So for now, I’m not worrying about getting leaner.

My priority is getting stronger.

I want muscle.

I’ve Also Upped My Creatine

Another change I’ve made is increasing my creatine from 5 grams to 10 grams per day.

Originally, my interest in increasing it had less to do with muscles and more to do with my brain.

There is a history of Alzheimer’s and dementia in my family, and I want to do everything reasonably within my control to protect my brain as I age.

I’ve been reading the emerging research on creatine and cognitive health, and some of that research has made higher daily doses particularly interesting to me.

But I’ve noticed an unexpected bonus.

Since increasing to 10 grams, my post-workout muscle recovery seems better.

Maybe it’s the creatine.

Maybe it’s something else.

Either way, I’ll take it.

Because if Isaac took my “Year of Core, Glutes and Legs” declaration as seriously as I suspect he did, I’m going to need all the recovery help I can get.

So Here We Go: Year Four

Tomorrow I walk back into the gym with Isaac for the first time since surgery.

Nine weeks ago, my goal was simply to get through surgery, get my nerve functioning again and get back to doing the things I love.

Now it’s time to rebuild.

And Year Four isn’t about weighing less.

It isn’t about having better-looking arms.

It’s about building a body that will carry me through the next several decades.

Strong core.

Strong glutes.

Strong legs.

And yes…

I will do the lunges.

I will probably complain before the lunges.

I will complain during the lunges.

There is a very good chance I will continue complaining about the lunges long after the lunges have ended.

But I will do them.

Because apparently Isaac has been right all along.

Please don’t tell him I said that.

Year Four starts tomorrow.

Roger that.