Looking Forward to 2017?

[Chance]

We're about to sign off on this dumpster fire of a year. Anyone have anything they're excited about happening in 2017?

For me, I'll be officially tying the knot (I say "officially" because the evening of Thanksgiving, my SO had a bit too much to drink and took the initiative on Facebook) and training with John McPhee. The cool aspects of my new job should kick in, and I'll finally have the money and the time to train the way I want to.

How 'bout y'all?

[Lon]

Gonna try to get to a Tom Givens shotgun course in IN. So far that's all I'm looking forward to.

[Kyle Reese]

Going to enjoy a wonderful evening with the wife at a Brazilian steak house to ring in '17. Shooting wise, my goal is to hit the range weekly again and shoot 20,000 rounds in training in 2017.

[Luke]

I am buying a house, my first house. I literally have an erection I'm so happy about it.

I'm shooting open, same physical side effects as house buying above ^^.

[Totem Polar]

Little bro recently moved to the Bay Area: he's also a long-time martial arts enthusiast, so we are going to go to something (e.g. Burch, Douglas) next year.

Making a goal to get into the second best shape of my life before 50.

Going to raise my own professional profile in my field, and monetize it. It's time.

F 2016. Long live 2017.

[Totem Polar]

ps, this:

[Tabasco]

Little bro recently moved to the Bay Area: he's also a long-time martial arts enthusiast, so we are going to go to something (e.g. Burch, Douglas) next year.

Making a goal to get into the second best shape of my life before 50.

Going to raise my own professional profile in my field, and monetize it. It's time.

F 2016. Long live 2017.

When I was 37, I decided that I didn't want to turn into a fat 40 year old IT guy. I like fine dining, wine, etc. and no matter what I did (walk 5-8 miles per day) I kept putting on weight. Until I started doing push-ups and pull-ups, I.E. resistance training. Push-ups sucked at first as they were used as punishment in Basic Training, but I got over it and did them anyway. It took me almost 8 months before I could do a pull-up, but my goal was to be able to do at least 10 when I turned 40. Achieved my goal, and both exercises build real usable strength, which is important now that I live in the country. Sawing through tree limbs with a bow saw (Mexican chain saw as the locals call them) is easy. Adding a lower carb diet into the equation and I actually have lost weight (was 255, now 230) and waist size (was 40, now 38). Now at 51, I'm actually in pretty good shape, quality of life has never been better. Just find something you will stick to and do it regularly. Just do it!

[Totem Polar]

When I was 37, I decided that I didn't want to turn into a fat 40 year old IT guy. I like fine dining, wine, etc. and no matter what I did (walk 5-8 miles per day) I kept putting on weight. Until I started doing push-ups and pull-ups, I.E. resistance training. Push-ups sucked at first as they were used as punishment in Basic Training, but I got over it and did them anyway. It took me almost 8 months before I could do a pull-up, but my goal was to be able to do at least 10 when I turned 40. Achieved my goal, and both exercises build real usable strength, which is important now that I live in the country. Sawing through tree limbs with a bow saw (Mexican chain saw as the locals call them) is easy. Adding a lower carb diet into the equation and I actually have lost weight (was 255, now 230) and waist size (was 40, now 38). Now at 51, I'm actually in pretty good shape, quality of life has never been better. Just find something you will stick to and do it regularly. Just do it!

Oh, I'm on it. I've been boxing 2-3 times a week for a few years, and last summer started working on the thing popularly called "the Murph" (after Lt. Michael Murphy. I say "popularly" because a friend of Lt. Murphy's has told me that there was a lot more to the workouts they all did than the pop culture distillation, but that he was happy to see Murph get the recognition).

I met my first goal of a "1/2 Murph" over the summer, meaning: run a mile under 9 min; do 150 squats, 100 push ups and 50 pull ups, run another mile. It's pretty clear that the whole thing is within my reach, with the possible exception of the 100 pull ups, in context of the rest of the workout. It may take me years to get to 10 sets of 10 on that, based on progress thus far and recovery at my current age/fitness. In the meantime, I'm definitely on my way to "second best shape of my life" because there is no way–short of a lottery win–that I will reach the shape I was in when I was in college until starting on my current career: Back then, I AI'd and then had my own dojo, and worked out 18+ hours a week; running, weights, ultimate frisbee, you name it. Easy with a tuition stipend and working as an RA for room and board; all I had to do was scrape up movie, beer and gas money for years.

But, just like you, I like to eat and drink, and I don't want to be a newly 50-something fat guy in a couple of years. I'd rather be in shape so, to quote John Travolta when he was once training with SOF guys researching/bulking up for a film role (maybe "basic," IIRC), "I realized I just have to work a little harder. There are lots of guys out there my age in better shape."

That's about the gist of it for me, as well. I'll keep on it if you will...

[MGW]

Found a good BJJ gym close to my new job. I'm looking forward to rolling consistently again in 2017.

I'm looking forward to learning how to run a 1911 in 2017.

I'm looking forward to finally learning how to run a Glock in 2017. It might. It might be a 19, what I want to shoot well, or it might be a 17. I'm going to crack the code.

Looking forward to a further reduction in personal debt. Last credit card will be paid off before the end of this year. Wife's last student loan next year. If everything goes right one of the cars.

[Grey]

Renovating house, maybe I'll actually shoot in 2017 since I wasn't able to do any of that in 2016, second graduate degree.