My name is Jonathan, although I’m called johnny, jon, and various other nick names. I am the average baby boomer male. I am not a Doctor, Lawyer or a Indian Chief. I’m not an professional athlete. I’m not who I thought I would be when I sat on my steps, and dreamed about who I’d be when I grew up. Somewhere along the way, the world changed from the carefree easy life I knew to this complicated, frustrating, confusion sphere of constant change, and upheaval. Life became a series of adventures some good, some not so much. Each adventure adding character to my being, shaping me into who I am, and what I’d be.
I grew up in a small village of poor factory workers who slaved away for 45 to 50 hours a week to scrape out a meager existence. I lived in a house that resembled every other house on the block. Of course, I had to live on the block that had twice as many girls as boys, and the boys were either five years older, or five years younger. The average family was 2.5 kids with a dog, and one car. The kids played sports, went to school, and all dreamed of a better life, somewhere else. We weren’t city kids, and not quite farm or country either. We were tagged rednecks later, when such labels were applied and everyone had one. I grew up in a small village of poor factory workers who slaved away for 45 to 50 hours a week to scrap out a meager existence. I lived in a house that resembled every other house on the block. Of course, I had to live on the block that had twice as many girls as boys, and the boys were either five years older, or five years younger. The average family was 2.5 kids with a dog, and one car. The kids played sports, went to school, and all dreamed of a better life, somewhere else. We weren’t city kids, and not quite farm or country either. We were tagged rednecks later, when such labels were applied and everyone had one.
I always wanted to be involved in athletics one way or another. I played seasonal sports like all the other kids, We got up early, headed to the nearest ball field or vacant lot and played baseball until dark came, someone got hit with a ball, or until someones parent showed up and called off the game due to darkness or because “I said so”. I had friends who were naturals, in any sport. They could hit, throw, and run better than the rest of us. Some just settled for being mediocre but not me. I worked hard to get better at sports; baseball in general was my favorite game. I found that I could read books and magazines to learn tips, tricks and skill enhancement drills. We had a full set of encyclopedias that I read like some kids would read comics. I talked to the older kids, coaches, team mates, friends sometimes random people. The lesson I learned was “If I don’t know it, I can find it.” I carried that lesson with me throughout my childhood, teens, and into adult hood. The answer is out there, you just have to find it. – I researched all the time , I kept a library card active well into my twenties through my first marriage, into my second and still have one to this day. When the internet was created, and discovered by me, I had high hopes for more information. Finally some fifty years later the internet is an endless collection of information which we can access. Today the internet does thrive and there are infinite numbers of websites, resources on every subject imaginable and some that we never imagined, and some well… we never thought of them. Some of the information is great, others are just pure cow pasture samplings. The whole purpose of my writings is to provide first hand logical, easy to understand information for those that have the curiosity, interest, want and need of fitness. I’ll help you determine what fitness is to you, what its not, how to get it, and how not to be suckered into someone else’s get fit get rich quick schemes.. I’ll also answer your questions and requests for advice.
Fitness is defined as Fitness: 1 The condition of being physically fit and healthy. 2 the quality of being suitable to fulfill a particular role or task.3 an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.
So if your are me, and you read this the first time as a impressionable child, this doesn’t tell you a thing. I became a Certified Personal Trainer with multiple certifications who came up with my own definition of what fitness means to me. Fitness is the combination of strength, flexibility, coordination, balance and mental acuity, ability to perform daily activities, tasks and skills, and continue to improve the level of performance of them, to ensure that the quality of life and enjoyment of, will always be in the state of constant and never ending improvement.
The carton came with three bars, one long two short, very thin, and hollow filled with dirt or something, the weights, gold in color, same filling, some collars and 110 pounds of weights and A standard weight bench. There was a manual which the first page was how to assemble, and the second page with the three exercises that you needed to get in shape; the bench press, the shoulder press and the squat. The basement in our house wasn’t tall enough to allow standing shoulder press, and I wasn’t smart enough to figure out how to squat from a weight bench. So I did a lot of bench press, day one I found out why collars are important, after I launched myself off the bench like a stone from a roman catapult. Day two I found out why you don’t load the whole set on the bar, without a spotter. It took me a half of hour to get the weights off my chest and onto the floor. I went to the library where I learned about bicep curls. So now I had all the tools I needed, right? I went to work, every waking moment was spent down in the basement, and I worked my way up to the 90 pounds on the barbell. I wasn’t getting any closer to looking like Charles Atlas. I had the tools, but something was missing, but what?
Commando Fitness. health for the masses 