2012: A new year, new fitness goals!

I'm not too big on new years resolutions, especially when they come to fitness. I feel like you should always take care of yourself and make fitness a lifestyle. With that said, the turn of the year is very significant to me this year. I've been wanting to compete in the Crossfit Games Open ever since I made a pathetic attempt at it last year.






The CrossFit Games Open is a five week series of workouts posted by CrossFit.com.  Tens of thousands of people will compete online for a shot at qualifying to a regional competition.  People world-wide take part in this competition.  I tested my abilities last year and ended up getting around the 30th percentile on the workouts that I completed.  It really surprised me that I did that well with such little preparation.  I decided ever since then, to stick with my workouts and see where I can get within a year.

Here's more information about the CrossFit Games and the open (last year):

At this point I have seven weeks left until the competition begins.  I've been working hard on strength and skills over the past year to try to become more well rounded.  My plan now, is to begin to work extremely hard with metabolic conditioning (where I'm lacking right now), over the next six weeks.  Then, I'll do a light week of work before the open begins.  I hope to score in the top 20% of men this year.

Other than hitting the gym hard, I'm doing the following:

1. 2000 Calories per day
2. At least 9 hours of sleep per day
3. No Alcohol

I think drinking excessive amounts of alcohol is something that can really hurt your ability to reach your fitness goals.  It has always been something that has held me back.  My big issue is that it really crushes my decision making when it comes to diet and fitness.  I start skipping gym sessions to go out drinking, eating awful things, and consuming way too many Calories from the alcohol department (which add up quick).  Alcohol is 7 Calories per gram of alcohol.  The only thing more dense than that, is eating straight fat (9 Calories per gram).

I figure 7 weeks of this regimen should get me into pretty good shape.  Its kind of an experiment as I've never tried meeting any of these goals, so wish me luck!

After the open, I'll probably start training for some other crossfit competitions and maybe some sort of a race.  I think I'll take a little time off after the open, and decide what I will do.

Feel free to comment below with your fitness goals.  I'm interested to see what everyone else is up to in 2012.