The Beginning

6 years ago Clark and I were preparing to go overseas to serve as missionaries in South Korea. The company that was sending us required extensive physical testing before we could leave. Through the many doctors appointments and tests we soon discovered just how "out of shape" we had gotten over the years. Clark was only 29 at the time and he was put on cholesterol medicine and told he needed to lower his blood pressure. Although my tests came back normal, the doctor did tell me that I needed to start moving a bit more or I could be in the same shape as him before I knew it. Once all the results were in and we saw just how bad it was, we made a commitment to each other to "Get in Shape."

We had NO idea what "getting in shape" would mean. We started separately with me doing TheFirm and Clark working with Power90 (before there was Power 90 X, lol). We saw some weight start to come off, but we weren't satisfied with the results. We turned to the Internet and started searching something more. We came across MattFurey and his "Combat Conditioning." Through him we learned all about body weight exercises such as the Hindu Squats and Hindu Push ups. That pushed us a little more and satisfied us for a while, but it wasn't long before we were on the hunt again! From Furey's site, we found TonyCecchines and started doing his workout called "The Lucky 13." It was a challenge for our out of shape tails, but again we wanted something more diverse and started hunting again. This time Cecchines lead us to ScottSonnon at RMax International. He was the first person to introduce us to kettlebells and clubbells. We also learned (and are still learning) a lot about his "Body Flow" techniques to keep your joints working at their full range of mobility. We couldn't order kettlebells yet, but we had 5 clubbells and a set of kettlegrips to start with. We absolutely fell in love with kettlebells and this Sonnon lead us to another discovery, Pavel. We dove into Pavel's kettlebell workouts and saw results like never before. We ordered our first kettlebells from Dragon Door in December of 2006. Having the real thing made a world of difference and we couldn't get enough! Through Pavel we soon found AnthonyDiLuglio at Art of Strength. He takes all of the kettlebell moves that we had learned from Pavel and put them in amazing workouts. He has also taught us many other exciting techniques and tools that we will share about in blogs to come.

In all of our research on the Internet we have also discovered two other amazing resources. SteveMaxwell comes up with some workouts that will kick your tail like none other! He gives ideas on using the resources around you rather than needing expensive equipment and a full gym. We absolutely love to hate him, lol! If we haven't had our tails kicked enough, we just run over to MarkTwight's gym, GymJones, and find a few workouts. They post their daily workouts, so it is a great resource of ideas to try yourself. Once you start, you will see results, and then you will be hooked!

So, that's our journey so far. We have come a long way and learned a lot. However, that journey is far from over and we have a lot more to learn. We are on a mission to be in the best shape of our lives now. I am happy to say that Clark is no longer on any meds and after his last physical was told he has the heart of a 24 year old. Obviously something we have been doing is working. Eventually we hope to be certified trainers doing one on one personal training, or dare I say, maybe even opening a training center of our own. Clark and I are going to document our journey here. We are going to share workouts, tips, great websites, ramblings, and probably a few rants. We hope you will join us in that journey.