EXAMINE YOURSELF. My decision to join the Suwanee Get Fit Challenge came after much self-reflection in 2017. At 32 years old, I have accomplished some significant personal goals: I graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor’s Degree, graduated from the University of Mississippi with a Law Degree, and started and sustained my own law firm, Alford & Burkhart LLC, since 2015. However, while examining myself in late 2017, I also came to terms with a few inconvenient truths about myself: I had gained 60 pounds since law school, dropped my priorities for fitness and exercise, adopted poor eating habits, and become somewhat socially aloof. I needed to address these issues, immediately. When I saw the advertisement for the Suwanee Get Fit Challenge, I knew it was something I wanted to participate in, and attempt to succeed at, to correct these weaknesses I had examined about myself.
Come to find out, the self-examination had only begun after the Get Fit Challenge started. First, Humana’s initial health assessment, including weight, blood pressure, glucose levels, and cholesterol levels, gave me some insight about myself I was unaware of. I saw room for improvement in several areas, and began to set some goals for this Challenge. Then I stepped through the doors of Crux Fitness for the first time, and Trainer Daniel LeBlanc put me on the InBody 570 (a futuristic-“how does it even work?”-internal body composition data analyzer). My self-examination got much more detailed. The InBody assessment provided me with everything from weight to body fat percentage to intracellular water and extracellular water levels to Basal Metabolic Rate — basically a complete analysis of my internal body, its composition, and its functionality. This was certainly more examination and information about myself than I’d ever had before.
BUILD YOURSELF. In my first meeting with Trainer Daniel LeBlanc at Crux Fitness, he made it clear what the agenda was for my 3 month challenge: “You’ve got to tear yourself down in here and build yourself up out there.” In more conversation with Dan and his team of trainers, I came to understand that Dan believes that workouts are about tearing muscles down, making them fight hard, and exhausting your body while in the gym. Dan also believes that outside of the gym is where the real work is put into building the body up: eat right, sleep right, recover properly, and the muscles will build.
Ten days into this challenge now and I am continuously doing exactly what Dan said on Day 1… pushing my body to the edge one-hour per day, at least 4 days per week, in workouts at Crux Fitness. Outside of the gym, I am working hard to build myself during the recovery. That means drinking enough water (goal: 1 gallon per day), eating a clean and balanced diet, doing active recovery, and getting adequate sleep.
After 10 days I examine this about myself: I already feel better, healthier, and stronger than I have in several years. I will continue to build myself from here.
