Working Out for Hockey Cards.

[mcmercutio]

Background:

I started getting in shape three years ago, and did really well by making a connection between my hobby and my workout - I was only allowed to buy hockey cards with money I earned by working out.

Worked great. I lost 30 pounds between february-june that year. I was stronger, faster, better than ever before.

And then, life got in the way. My wife and I welcomed our second child into the world, which immediately cut down on all workout time, and once you had the time, you were generally too tired. Then I got pneumonia. And a concussion. And I got swamped at college (came back to get another degree), and work, etcetera etcetera.

Life just sort of... happened. And training did not.

So now I'm here, weighing in at 215 pounds, 5 foot 7 tall. Asthma is kicking my butt, my back aches, my left shoulder is a bundle of pain from a dislocated shoulder that gave me an impingement a year ago, and I feel generally weaker than ever.

The positives: I'm stubborn as heck. I know what works for me. And I'm soon finished with my college education as a physical therapist.

So, it's time to get back to the old regimen. I've recently started tying my collecting to my hobby again, in an effort to get fit.

Here's how it works. Every activity is tied to a small monetary reward to keep me motivated and help me change my behaviour. Reaching a high goal I've set for myself also gives a monetary reward. I've set the rewards so the more challenging items on the list have better rewards. Here's the list:

Shoulder rehab: 1$
One hour walk/run (to the best of my abilities): 2$
Working out at the gym: 3$
Reaching a goal: 5$

Starting out, I have two goals:
- Go below 200 pounds.
- Be able to run for 30 minutes.

As for my collection, I'm going to spend the cash gained on getting autographed cards on some of the biggest names in the game. I'll reserve two posts after this one: one to post the collection, and one to post the latest status update (to avoid flooding this thread with updates about how my workouts are going, I'll simply sum it up in that post, so the rest of the thread can focus on the cards as they start to arrive).

As for how I've done so far - I've done 4 runs, 4 gym visits, and 3 shoulder rehabs, for a total of 23 dollars.

If you want, feel free to challenge me! Post a card you'd be willing to part with, and a challenge for me, and I'll post a pic when/if I manage to complete the challenge as proof.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll get on board on this journey!

[mcmercutio]

Here's the list of players. If you think anyone of importance has been left out, give me a shout. I expect to have a lot of training to do before it's ever complete, though. ;-)

Forwards:
Steven Stamkos
Steve Yzerman
Joe Sakic
Peter Forsberg
Mario Lemieux
Wayne Gretzky
Pavel Bure
Doug Gilmour
Mats Sundin
Jean Beliveau
Eric Lindros
Markus Naslund
Phil Esposito
Paul Kariya
Teemu Selanne
Sidney Crosby
Patrick Kane
Jonathan Toews
Phil Kessel
Joe Thornton
Gordie Howe
Jarome Iginla
Rick Nash
Saku Koivu
Brett Hull
Pavel Datsyuk
Mike Modano
Sergei Fedorov
Mark Messier
Henrik Zetterberg
Daniel Alfredsson
Ron Francis
Stan Mikita
Jaromir Jagr
Marcel Dionne
Adam Oates
Kirk Muller
Jari Kurri
Luc Robitaille
Guy Lafleur
Jeremy Roenick
Bobby Clarke
Bobby Hull
John Tavares
Tyler Seguin
Evgeni Malkin
Claude Giroux
Nathan MacKinnon
Vincent Damphousse
Mike Bossy
Michel Goulet
Alexander Mogilny
Pat Lafontaine
David Keon
Alex Ovechkin
Niklas Backstrom
Bernie Geoffrion
Maurice Richard
Milt Schmidt
Bryan Trottier
Martin St. Louis
Henrik Sedin
Daniel Sedin
Ted Lindsay
Ryan Getzlaf

Defencemen:
Ray Bourque
Nicklas Lidstrom
Doug Harvey
Zdeno Chara
Paul Coffey
Erik Karlsson
P.K. Subban
Al MacInnis
Larry Robinson
Borje Salming
Denis Potvin
Chris Chelios
Bobby Orr
Brian Leetch
Chris Pronger

Goalies:
Carey Price
Patrick Roy
Arturs Irbe
Felix Potvin
Martin Brodeur
Henrik Lundqvist
John Vanbiesbrouck
Ed Belfour
Curtis Joseph
Marc-Andre Fleury
Grant Fuhr
Tuukka Rask
Tim Thomas
Dominik Hasek
Chris Osgood
Jonathan Quick
Jacques Plante
Bernie Parent
Terry Sawchuk
Gerry Cheevers
Vladislav Tretiak
Glenn Hall
Ken Dryden
Ron Hextall
Jean-Sebastien Giguere
Georges Vezina
Tony Esposito


Collection so far:

cheevers.jpg

[mcmercutio]

Starting status (27th february 2015):

Weight: 215 pounds.
Max runtime: 8 minutes.
Longest run: 1 km
# of times at the gym: 0
# of walk/runs: 0
# of shoulder rehabs: 0

Current status (March 15th 2015):

Weight: 215 pounds.
Max runtime: 20 minutes.
Longest run: 2,50 km
# of times at the gym: 4
# of walk/runs: 4
# of shoulder rehabs: 3

Latest workout:
Went for a run today.
2.5 km, 20 minutes run-time... approximately. Noticed that Runkeeper was on pause halfway through, so I turned it on after about 7-8 minutes of running.
I felt pretty good though. The 1.5 km I managed to record on Runkeeper were at a 7.20 min/km pace, which is a minute shaved off from my starting pace.

[theboxbreaker96]

This is a really good idea. Its not easy to stay motivated. Its very easy to get sidetracked and just not want to go anymore. Definitely keep posting. I would love to see how this works out.

Keep up the hard work!

[reoddai]

Good luck with your weight loss. If you are looking to run long distances, check out vancouver (canada) sun run training. They have a 14 week regimen to get you to do a 10 km run.

Also, don't weight yourself too often. The human body can gain/lose a couple of pounds over the day. Try bi weekly of even monthly weigh ins.

cheers & good luck!
reoddai

[30ranfordfan]

Good luck man!

I've fought the same thing over the last few years myself (I'm taller than you, at 6'0", but also significantly, heavier.... around 240 lbs now, but that's down from over 280 a couple of years ago). Getting into a routine, and sticking to it, that's what I've found to be the key (and it's always hard to get back into it, after you've broken that routine).

[grifnutz]

Hey man great job! Keep it up! You found the system that works for you and that's all that matters. Stay dedicated and strong and you will achieve your goals, big or small!

[mcmercutio]

Thank you for all the kind comments. Really appreciate it!

Made my way to the gym to work out today, but ended up not being able to get to the equipment I needed since someone was hogging it and I was in a hurry. So I ended up doing a 20-minute rowing session and counted it as a cardio session instead of a gym session. That brought me to 25 dollars saved up.

An hour later, I landed this card on Ebay as my first purchase:

cheevers.jpg

Just love the glove piece on that card! And old-timers know how to write an autograph. Instead of these young whippersnappers who end up just writing their initials. Might as well write an X.

[RGM81]

That's awesome Martin! Good on you! Nebula approves and shares the inspiration, he's lost some weight too! Down to 8.1kg, was as high as 8.7kg!

Congrats on the goals!

[zqxhit4817]

im doing the get back to my 20 year old weight ( 175) I am the exact same amount as you and am the exact same height, well its not card related but getting back into shape.. so I will follow you on your journey im on day 6... I feel better already not cramming fast food into my body and within 90 days I know I can look better, stay motivated this is my 3rd and last time doing this, not gonna let life get in my way of a healthy lifestyle again.. Keep it up Martin

DAVE