From Fat to Firm: Life from 2007 to the Present

My fitness life began a new after the death of my father in 2008. I was 270 lbs, 5′10", and depressed as of December of 2007. I began shooting baskets because it was one of the few things that can truly occupy my mind and help me to elevate my mood. Within months, I began losing weight and getting into shape. I had gone from 260 lbs. to 180 lbs. from 2003 to 2006. Medication for depression and taking care of my father (who suffered from Parkinson’s Disease) along with improper eating caused my weight to balloon. This occurred between mid-2006 and mid 2007. An awful job, with terrible administrators, poor compensation, stress, began to take their toll.
However, from September of 2007 until the present I have been training, using plyometrics and resistance training and I shoot baskets, playing pick-up games whenever I can. Despite, job loss and eviction, I have continued. While my job searches have been fruitless, I have continued to take care of my health, and I have not abandoned my goal of dunking a basketball from a vertical jump. I’ve combed the Internet for articles and workout tips and exercise regimes for improving my vertical jump. I purchased two products from Lifeline USA that have helped me to improve my body and my vertical jump. I exercised daily, and in December of 2009 I began using The Jump Manual training method by Jacob Hiller and Dr. Larry Van Such’s Isometric training method called Jump Higher with Isometric Training. In the interim, I’ve relocated to the state of Maryland and was formerly a resident of the state of Michigan. Between the resistance systems I purchased from Lifeline USA, Bell Sporting Goods, and the two manuals, (along with training, reasonable eating, supplementation, and rest), my body has grown stronger, leaner, and I’m able to jump higher. I’ve even learned how to perform knee jumps and can now perform a knee jump onto a 5 inch medicine ball. With each day, I feel greater motivation to exercise. I’d hoped to reach my goal by the summer of 2008, to celebrate my 40th birthday, but when I started I couldn’t jump 4 inches from the floor. Today, I can, from a standing position jump and reach the middle of the net on a regulation basket. With a couple of steps, I can almost reach the rim.
Since I moved here to Maryland, I began resistance training including simulated weightlifting and dumbbell exercises along with sit-ups, leg lifts, and crunches. I feel and look stronger without bulking up. I have always been able to gain weight, whether from exercise or from merely eating too much of the wrong things. I was 190 lbs when I arrived here, and I think that I’ve gained 20 lbs. since then. I’m not upset though because all of my slacks and jeans fit me just as they had when I arrived. When I started losing weight, my waist size was about 50 and as I’m writing, I am wearing a pair of 38 jeans comfortably, with a bulky sweatshirt tucked into them. So, I feel great. I’ve also found a new love and a new job.
Honestly, I don’t know if I’ll ever dunk that basketball or not, but I feel that because I’ve overcome as much as I have so far, I’ve won already.
Click the link to the right for one of the vertical jump training manuals on the market today.