JD’s Three-Year Transformation: I May Be Stronger Than I Thought

My last Physical Transformation update was called “I Fell Off, but I Have Not Quit.”

That was where I was at the time.

Since then, something has changed—not everything, and I am not going to pretend I suddenly have this whole thing figured out.

But the workouts have changed.

I have been working out with Nate and Astin, following the workouts they are doing but using weights that are appropriate for me. At least some of what we have been doing is based on Doug Young’s training.

We are still taking it slow with me.

They are helping me be careful and safe, and both of them have told me that I can probably go stronger than I have been going. So I am slowly increasing the weights when it seems right rather than just jumping up because I can.

Last Wednesday was leg day.

On both the Leg Curl Machine and the Leg Extension Machine, I used 130 pounds. Next leg day, I am planning to move those up to 150 pounds and see how that feels.

One of my other numbers surprised me.

We tested my bench press, and my current maximum is 135 pounds.

That may not sound like much to someone who has been lifting for years, but it gave me an actual starting point.

Astin has also pointed out a few small things in my form that I need to get dialed in.

That matters more to me right now than simply putting more plates on the bar.

If I can get the movement right first, then I can start pushing the weight harder without just muscling my way through bad technique.

There was also a change on the scale.

When I started this transformation, I was around 285 pounds. Since then, I had gained about 15 pounds.

Last Wednesday, the gym scale showed me somewhere around 295 pounds. Nate got on it and said it was reading him about 10 pounds heavier than he actually is.

If it is off by roughly the same amount for me, then that would put me back around 285 pounds.

I am still treating that as an estimate rather than an exact weigh-in, but if the scale is off the way Nate says it is, then I have worked my way back down to about where I started.

That matters to me.

The bigger thing I am noticing is that I may be capable of more than I thought.

Working out by myself, I probably would have stayed with lighter weights longer. Working with Nate and Astin gives me people who can watch what I am doing, correct the small things, and tell me when I am probably holding back.

I still have work to do outside the gym.

That part has not magically disappeared.

But compared with where I was when I wrote the last update, I am moving again.

Not perfectly.

Not quickly.

But I am moving.

JD