Jim's Fitness Journey: Conclusion

Teammates, this post ends Jim's series of blogs on his journey to become Navy SEAL fit -- but the work continues! Just ask Jim. And if you want to check in with him and other Perfect Fitness teammates, please join the Perfect Fitness Facebook fan page. CHARLIE MIKE Jim!! AMM

I resumed my regular workouts after I got dismissed from the army and kept on following the “SEAL training pattern” which also helped me develop a “never give up” attitude helping me a lot with my job. Back at work I was assigned to a “special task” for which I couldn’t find any serious support on how to deal with, no matter how hard I searched. Not accepting failure as an option though I finally managed to fulfill the given task on my own powers with 100% success! It was probably that “fire in the gut” that kept me going.

Years passed by and further internet searching on fitness led me to “Perfect Pushup”. This community of motivated people has managed to keep me fired up over the years and looking to further improving myself, not only in terms of fitness but also as a person. What can one say about Alden’s inspirational posts but a great THANK YOU!

Looking back all I can say is that bringing change to one's life requires a stimulus usually external but then equally important is the person’s own will to succeed and make change happen. it definitely requires being open minded so as to manage to question one’s beliefs and be able to accept the coming changes, no matter if it’s fitness, work or other aspects of personal life someone is dealing with.

Set short realistic goals that will take you to your final objective.

Maybe the road to improvement is hard (yes, those stomach muscle cramps is something I don’t ever want to go through again) but it’s definitely worth the effort, as Navy SEALs say “It’s mind over matter, if you don’t mind then it doesn’t matter”.

Jim in Greece

Jim's Fitness Journey: Part III

Teammates, more fitness inspiration from Jim K, a sensational athlete -- and great communicator -- from Greece. He's a charter member of Team Perfect! Did you take the challenge I made the last time Jim blogged, to sign up for the weekly fitness challenges on our Perfect Fitness Facebook fan page? Check it out! AMM

One year before enlisting for my obligatory military service, I purchased a book by Dockery which got me into all round fitness, running, lifting weights, swimming & calisthenics. It felt really good! This triggered me to do some further searching on Navy SEALs and I decided to attempt Stew Smith’s “BUD/S warning order” (picture above is of one of Stew Smith's books). I would have a free weights session at the gym and then get back home for a one hour session of calisthenics (not recommended to anyone since it can cause serious injuries due to severe muscle strain).

Those Navy SEAL fitness books managed to boost my endurance and fitness levels to a point that I’d never thought of I was capable of achieving. Before I started doing the workouts in those books I had considered myself to be fit because I could lift some serious weights even though I wasn’t bulky at all. This showed how wrong I was, free weights didn’t offer the functional strength “SEAL fitness” did!

I couldn’t join the special forces because of terrible eye sight (I’ve had eye surgery recently) so I said to myself “if you can’t join them at least why not be as fit as these guys are?” I stopped lifting weights and got into the advanced level of "BUD/S warning order" with all my heart, always keeping up with the pace, just driven only by my personal will to become “SEAL fit” .

Excessive running (6-7 minutes/mile) almost daily, swimming almost one hour each day, and calisthenics had managed to reduce my body fat to a level I had never imagined. Yes, I’d exercise about 3 hours a day and there was a short period that I’d suffer from serious stomach cramps because of those workouts’ intensity. Those cramps were probably the hardest pain I’ve ever endured so far, it felt as if someone was cutting through my stomach with a knife and they lasted for about 2 weeks. But even this couldn’t keep away from exercising, and I kept saying to myself to be patient and that they’d go away when my body got accustomed to this physical exertion, and they did. Today I can recognize the symptoms and prevent this from occurring but I was determined to reach the fitness levels Navy SEALs had set and there was nothing that could stop me.

My military service (in Greece) was rather frustrating for me because I had reached the fitness levels set by Navy SEALs and I was determined to stay there. I did a daily workout on my own and in fact people were giving me strange looks because I was the only one in the camp who would exercise voluntarily. I recall a competition between our company and another one where I was asked to compete against x-special forces guy on pushups, he kept yelling and shouting that he’d beat me easily but in fact he dropped face first into the ground and I kept on going for an extra twenty reps before being stopped by the cadets who had the roles of referees (I could keep pushing out more reps though). By the way, that guy never talked to me again!

Part IV: Maintaining Navy SEAL fitness level after military service

Jim K

Jim's Fitness Journey: Part II

Before I turn the spotlight over to Jim K, a sensational athlete -- and great communicator -- from Greece, I have a challenge for you: sign up for the weekly fitness challenges on our Perfect Fitness Facebook fan page. Jim's journey to Navy SEAL fitness levels demonstrates the power of having a "swim buddy" -- a fellow fanatic to show the way! Every week Perfect Pushup users challenge each other to take their workouts to the next level. AMM Back to Jim --

"A few years later I got to high school where kids were much more competitive. One summer I started doing pushups and abs to improve my overall condition. Maybe the form wasn't correct but at least I was trying! At that point I'd started going fishing with my dad where I'd row for quite extended periods of time, and I begun to realize that exercise wasn't actually so bad even though the palms of my hands would get sore with blisters and tears from extended rowing periods on a heavy wooden fishing boat.

Even without an exact workout or strict exercise pattern I kept food intake at normal levels; the big change came when I got to college where I became friends with a guy (John) who probably was "the ultimate fighting machine" on campus. He was seriously involved in weight lifting, kick boxing and various martial arts and showed me organized workouts either for weight lifting or calisthenics. I owe him big for all his good advice. This also led to further weight loss and I have managed to maintain this weight ever since (probably I could use an extra 1-2 kg though)!

So there I was, I had managed to shed weight (those extra 4-5kg) and would hit the gym almost daily making steady progress until one day I came across on the internet Navy SEAL fitness books."

Part 3: Navy SEAL fitness books and their impact on a civilian athlete

Jim K.

Jim's Fitness Journey Part 1

Guest blogger: Jim K of Thessaloniki

How does change come to ones life? I’d say it usually is due to an external stimulus which triggers a “special” mechanism in people’s minds or it could be due to the fact that the person is fed up with his/her current way of living.

Looking back to my childhood years I can remember that generally speaking I wasn’t into sports, except for some football. When we’d run as kids I’d be the first one to stop because I’d get out of breath. As a teen I had some extra kg due to my love for food. Yes, I’d eat huge quantities of pizza or whatever was in front of me on the table considering eating big as something really worthy! Although I wasn’t fat I had to keep on buying trousers of bigger size time after time because of my increasing waist’s diameter.

However, my aforementioned low performance on running comparing myself to the rest of kids had started bugging me and after a certain point I realized it’d have to be changed.

* First I told myself that I needed to lose some weight otherwise this ongoing weight increase wouldn’t lead to anywhere good. So I managed to convince myself that instead of eating 3 sandwiches in the evening 2 would be enough and then the 2 became 1, and so I did it and the difference of before and after became more evident.

* I’d also buy slightly tight fit clothes so as to force myself sticking to my goal of getting thinner, and yes it worked (I keep using this pattern even today and it works BIG!).

Part 2: The teenage years

Thanks Jim! Teammates, two great suggestions from Jim here -- post comments with your solutions and I'll fire them out on Twitter (@aldenmills).

CHARLIE MIKE -- ALDEN

Breaking News from Marcus & Jim

Just in from Marcus Colburn! Like Alden says, you have to be ready for anything. GO 4 THE GUSTO HOOYAH!! Turns out that yesterday, when I went for a run, instead of going around a steep hill, I went for the downhill. Started jogging carefully down, got a little speed going -- OK, too much speed -- tripped on a root and found myself somersaulting to my face. Needless to say, I have fallen from higher than that before! As I got up, I assessed the damage. Just some dirt around my knees and some embarrassment. Easy day.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot I had heard a ((((((SNAP)))))! It seems I broke my arm in two. Went to the hospital -- they said, "You again?" I smiled as they x-rayed and put a cast on my arm. So I'm out of commission for a month but hey, I know I was going for it! I call it going above the call of duty :) Marcus Colburn

Marcus, Continue Mission and keep us posted!!

Jim, HOOYAH for sharing your fitness journey with military.com. Teammates, it will run on CHARLIE MIKE too but here's a sneak peek. Here's what I heard from the military.com team: "Great stuff! There is definitely a strong interest in SEAL content among our audience. I'll make sure we promote this as much as possible. Thanks again."

Thank you Jim!

CHARLIE MIKE -- ALDEN

P.S. More teammate stories are coming -- like Max on fight or flight and the importance of being ready for any and all contingencies. Stay tuned! AMM

Jim's Extreme Fitness Workout

Teammates, last week I asked, "what's your definition of Extreme Fitness and how do you get out of YOUR comfort zone?" Here's what Jim had to say. "I totally agree Alden. Although it may be really uncomfortable pushing oneself for that extra rep or mile it really gives you a nice feeling of accomplishment (at least it does to me) in the end.

My personal fitness goal is staying SEAL fit. I'm into running, at least 10km at a 7 min/mile pace, calisthenics, and swimming or spear fishing.

I've done 4 cycles of Stew Smith's "Grinder PT" e-book, (it's really intense), and I still keep searching the internet for innovative ways to spice up my workouts.

Getting beyond one's comfort zone is hard and usually should be done with at least one person standing by in case something goes wrong, but so far I think I've done pretty well on my own.

Recently I came across some very interesting workout videos on YouTube which I'm sure will push most people beyond their limits. The channel is called "xtremeoutdoorfitness". My regards to Mike Brower and his buddies for the awesome workout challenges they've posted so far.

HOOYAH!"

CHARLIE MIKE Jim! ALDEN

Spear fishing photo taken at the Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

Where in the World is Perfect Pushup? Thessaloniki!

Guest blogger: Jim from Thessaloniki, Greece. Jim's a plankholder on our Perfect Fitness community site: he even has his own blog on CHARLIE MIKE!

"Get ripped" translates into "Aποκτήστε γράμμωση" but I prefer "Σμιλέψτε το σώμα σας" (meaning sculpt your body).

My personal experience using the Perfect Pushup: I've been into pushups for more than 10 years and from the time I started using the PPU I hardly perform pushups without it. Really takes pushups to another level! Great product, great company, great support & service! What more can one ask for?
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BRAVO ZULU! Jim (Navy speak for OUT-F*&king-Standing Job!) -- Keep on CHARLIE MIKE'ING and inspiring and motivating our CM Teammates.

CHARLIE MIKE -- ALDEN