All you need to know about Bilderz.com, me and maybe some stuff you don’t even care about.

My Stats:

Age : 40

Weight: 222
Height: 6’
Born: Oct
Military: Air Force
Status: Married (X Army girl)
Children: 1
Hobbies: Snowboarding, Swimming and you know.

Things I love: My wife, daughter and family. Movies, relaxing at home and Vegas

Things I hate: Ignorant folks, bad drivers and lima bean soup!

 
Before we get into the site details I figure you should know a little about me.

My name is Lance Fischer; I am 39 years old and have been into weight lifting, or some sort of exercise off and on for most of my life. I started visiting local gyms in Bakersfield Ca, when I was in high school. During those early years I really didn’t know what I was doing. I just followed along with what I saw and gained my own knowledge, using what I thought worked and discarding what didn’t.

Shortly after I graduated high school, I joined the military and continued my quest for muscle. I think I spent more money on muscle mags, protein powder and gadgets than I actually made each month, if that’s possible. I was on a quest to find information that would get me huge. What the mags lacked in information people more than made up for. Most people I met in the gym had no problem giving me advice, good or bad, but most of the time it was just plain bad. During my four years in the military I gained some size, but it was nothing to write home about. If I remember correctly I was still on the skinny side when I got out.

After the military, I began a career as a peace officer and became involved with all things cardio, which didn’t help my muscle quest too much. At one point I was down to 160lbs or close to it. While working one day, I met a huge dude, who had at one time been pretty small. He seemed to really know his stuff and I began working out with him. Over the next few years I gained a lot of size, and learned a lot about what works for me. I had finally achieved what I had set out to accomplish many years before. I had a lot of muscle, and looked great with my shirt off. That’s when life happened.

I was pretty squared away fitness wise in 2004. I wasn’t gracing the covers of any magazines but I didn’t care, I had given up that dream years ago. All I cared about was looking good and feeling great. Then one day it all came crashing down, my working out all but came to a halt, I was going through a divorce. Needless to say during this time I had bigger fish to fry and the gym was put on the back burner. After the divorce I began dating again and met a wonderful woman (who I later married). During this time I tried to get back into working out, but I was never quite able to dedicate myself, I guess I was just being lazy. A few years passed and the time was right so I asked Mayra to marry me. Of course by this time my body, while not completely out of shape, had slipped considerably. Great I had a goal; I set out on a quest to resurrect the old me for the wedding. About eight months later I was 75% of what I had been before.

Needless to say my transformation caused people to take notice. A few buddies who had not known me in my glory years asked about what I had done and I decided to show them. I figured I’d start a blog, teach them and others how to get in shape and maybe make a little cash on the side. I figured to make the site work I needed a fat human guinea pig whose progress I could track and photograph, but I had no volunteers, so I concocted a simple plan. I’d gain some weight and track my own progress. I set out on a quest and ate everything in site, all to gain weight for the blog. As it turns out that was a really bad idea, instead I ended up gaining more than I anticipated, which resulted in me being fatter than ever.

Also during this time we were trying for our first baby and Mayra got pregnant. Fast forward 12 months, my working out had stopped, but my pigging out hadn’t and I looked like a whale. I was pushing well into 270lbs, a far cry from my lean 205 six years before. I had little muscle tone, my chest was sagging and I looked pretty bad. Once again I started towards my goal of getting in shape and building this site. This time I figured my plan would work. I no longer needed to gain weight cause I already had a test subject (me) so I had no excuses. I began hitting the hills, hitting the weights and making decent progress. I was pretty happy with myself, I began posting on the bilderz.com website, shooting a few videos and trying to build readership. All was fine until one day, when I was surfing the web, I ran across a site that changed my workout philosophy for good. The name of the site was CrossFit.com.

My first impression was wow! Here was this website with thousands of followers who from the looks of it were in great shape, all doing something called WOD’s. I was amazed, it seemed that CrossFit had been around for years and I had never heard of it. Best of all the information was free for the taking. So I began to research CrossFit to see what it was all about, what true converts had to say and what naysayer’s were saying. In the end, I figured the only true way to find out about CrossFit was to try it, so I did.

Well I tried it for maybe a couple of weeks and quit. My reasoning seemed sound, I had none of the equipment, I tried substituting for what I lacked but that wasn’t working out so well and I had no affiliate near by to guide me. The real truth to me quitting actually stemmed from the fact that I was comfortable in my fatnitude and my old ways of doing things. I came up with excuses why CrossFit couldn’t work for me, basically CrossFit was taking me out of my comfort zone and I just didn’t like it. I had been doing things my way for years, which at one time worked wonders, so I decided to stick with my system. CrossFit and I were through, or so I thought. Then one weekend, Mayra and I were visiting her family in L.A and we ran into my wife’s cousin (Dalay) and boyfriend (James). Both are avid CrossFitters, so eventually the conversation turned to that subject. After a lengthy conversation, I decided to give CrossFit another try and here I am today. A true convert.

Since then Bilderz.com and its message has changed for good. Instead of just random posts trying to get others fit, with what might or might not work, I decided to show others how CrossFit has changed me. I decided to log my CrossFit ups and downs, track the progress of my garage gym build, give reviews and write about other things my crazy mind comes up with, all to promote CrossFit. Since I made the choice to do CrossFit, I’ve learned a lot, made great progress and met some cool people. Hope you enjoy the site and hope you try CrossFit soon.

Questions and Answers!

So what is Bilderz.com exactly?

Well it’s a blog of my Fitness journey and my life in general. From building my own garage/home gym to learning all about the WOD’s, equipment, gear and everything Fitness and CrossFit. I also write about everything and anything else that pops into my mind or interests me. I rant a bit, provide a review here or there and even rave about stuff I find that’s pretty cool. I am pretty opinionated and that comes out in a lot of my posts. You know what they say, opinions are like assholes - everyone's got one.

So am I a CrossFit expert or fitness guru?

Nope not even close! I am just a guy who has tried lots of stuff over the years and would like to share what I know. I know what works for me and what doesn’t. I post about what I like and what I don’t. My readers can use that information to make their own decision about their fitness and workout goals.

Am I affiliated with CrossFit?

Nope in no way am I affiliated with CrossFit, CrossFit.com

 
Do I think CrossFit is the best choice for every person?

Well that’s a tough one. So far from my experience I think CrossFit can benefit anyone. It is an extremely tough conditioning program that can get you into incredible shape. From what I have seen, a lot of athletes in specialized sports use it to improve certain aspects of their individual discipline. But I don’t think CrossFit is going to produce any Mr. Olympia’s, or any Michael Phelps etc. Those sports are specific in their goals and CrossFit is not. CrossFit does one thing great, it gets you fit, I mean really fit. If you want a rockin body, and want to achieve a high level of health its for you. If your sole goal is an Olympic gold in snowboarding or some other specialty, I suggest you practice snowboarding and maybe follow up with some CrossFit on the side.

Is it tough?

Extremely! After years of traditional lifting I have to say it’s not the weight that hurts, it’s the number of reps, the lack of rest in between, the multiple exercises during each workout and the toll it takes on you. Each WOD is scalable for your fitness level, but when done right it can bring you to the point of exhaustion. They don’t have a pukie mascot for nothing. It’s tough, hard and brutal, if you want it easy and you want to look and feel like you always did, then I suggest you do what you’ve always done. Put your tail between your legs and scamper back to your old gym.

What are my long-term Bilderz.com goals?

Well I’d love to become a source for all things garage gym since that’s how I do CrossFit. I think the program is terrific, but in my opinion it’s kind of hard to get into for those that don’t have access to the equipment or an affiliate. So I decided to make Bilderz.com a resource for all those garage gym junkies out there. Of course over time I got bored just writing fitness stuff, broadened my horizons and started adding other types of posts that interest me. On Bilderz.com you'll see it all. Eventually I would love to sell a few products on the site, maybe even some of my own stuff, who knows. Plus I would love to see the Bilderz.com community grown a lot larger.

My fitness goals?

I want to be healthy so I can be active as my daughter gets older. Looking great with my shirt off wouldn’t hurt either. As for things I’d like to accomplish, I would really love to compete in some sort of CrossFitl event in 2012. That may be a pipe dream right now, because the cardio is still killing, me but I’m getting better. I’d love to get a level 1 and level II certification, just for the fun of it. After that who knows, I’d have to see what happens with this site and with my crazy life.

See you in the hills!

Lance