Leveling Up Your New Year's Commitment

by Lindsey Wilson

So you had glorious plans to get fit at the beginning of the year, but now it's February and your once proud intentions have been stuffed into the back of the closet with your lonely workout shoes.  The gym regulars are starting to get more comfortable with the decreased population and shake their heads at the now absent January Joiners.  If you were inspired by January’s article, and started working out, but then lost your zeal, discard the label of January Joiner and get back on the bandwagon by joining Nerd Fitness!  Nerd Fitness is a community of geeks from all over the world that are all dedicated to changing over to a healthier lifestyle.  

Legos: Showing us we don't need to be made of plastic to have hard bods.
(Image from Nerd Fitness)

There are two sections of the site. First there is Nerd Fitness, which is populated with articles on all aspects of healthy living. Here you will find tons of articles that are related to a variety of geeky interests.  All of the articles are well written and the site style is simple which makes the content easy to read and follow (the pictures of little lego miniatures help with the awesomeness).  Since all the articles have a tie in to Star Wars, X-men, Assassin’s Creed or anything else under the geek sun, they are fun and easy to relate to.  You could seriously waste an entire day here. There are articles on working out like superheroes, training tips from the X-men, but there are also articles about self betterment in more ways than just fitness. Nerd Fitness’s most popular article, “5 Ways to instantly Appear More Confident” has nothing to do with fitness, which is actually how I stumbled onto the site. But articles like “Embrace the Weird” keep me coming back.  I also really appreciated the retro love of the Oregon Trail article which helps you map out a fitness plan like preparing to take your covered wagon across the vast stretches of plains (with a wife named “poop face”).   

Second there is The Nerd Fitness Rebellion, which is the area dedicated to the forums and the challenges.  If you decide to join The Rebellion you get to participate in Challenges!  Challenges are set on a cycle of 6 weeks.  Participants are asked to set 3 health and fitness goals and one life goal related to fixing some non-fitness part of your life such as tackling a messy closet or writing a book.  Several members participate in NanoWrimo.  Most people chose to have a Character personify their fitness adventure. These characters have stats like D&D characters.  You get a race and a class and you can level up and add experience points to your skills.  You start at level one and distribute 15 skill points among 6 character stats.  There is even an awesome little widget to help you determine your player class, complete with role playing.  However, it is all text based and on the honor system.  It is mostly something people add to their signatures in the forums.

I mean, really, who wouldn't choose squats over this?
 (Image: Flickr - United Nations Photo)

I participated in this last challenge, and posted my progress there regularly.  Knowing that people could read it helped keep me honest and gave me a boost from guilt if I skipped a day.  I lost 4 pounds in the 6 week challenge.  I did really boring workouts, like sit-ups and squats instead of fencing, like I used to in college.  However, boring workouts and a “boring” diet are what gets you the results (especially when you don’t have the money to shell out for Capoeira lessons.)  I couldn’t have made it through all the workouts and certainly would not have maintained the habit if I didn’t get my daily dose of motivation from the Nerd Fitness site.  The site even inspired me to start lifting weights, which had been kind of scary for me.  I got over my fear since there were so many geeky girls on the site who were doing the same thing.  (I promise you won’t get bulky)

My one criticism  is that Nerd Fitness can be a bit heavy handed with the paleo diet, but the diet is not part of the site’s official position.  There are many users that have alternate ways of eating healthfully and you are sure to be able to find someone who shares your food ideals.  There is actually a fair contingent of vegetarians and vegans in The Rebellion.  Whatever your thoughts, you should do your own research about an appropriate plan for your food intake and consult your doctor.  Diets are not one size fits all.

There are many forums with topics from lifting weights to Doctor Who.  You need to register with the site to post on them, but it is completely free and they don't send you spam.  Whatever your geekophilia is, you are sure to find other members who share your interest in the same nerdy topics as well as your mutual interest in shaping your body into a form worthy of the Justice League. There are many friends to be found in these boards, but like with any social group, you have to put yourself out there and make the first contact sometimes.  Participate in the forums and step out on a limb and send some people private messages. Starting fledgling friendships online takes some work, but ultimately will help you stay true to your goals here.  However, if online camaraderie and support isn’t enough to keep you honest and engaged, there are meet-ups of Rebels across the nation. Many Nerd Fitness Rebels live here in DC and threads for DC meet-ups are overflowing with interest.
This isn't your average bodybuilding forum where as a geek you might feel like a wimp or feel alienated since you are not into the “jock” activities like sports.  The community is very accepting of anyone who identifies with the label geek and is looking to make a healthy change.  There are people there who have tons of fitness experience and have the body of a god but there are equally many gamers that have spent years packing on the pounds with Mountain Dew and Cheetos during all night gaming sessions.  And the best thing is, no one will give you any shame for it. This site really showed me that YES you can be a geek AND be into fitness.  Get geeky about fitness!  Exercising always used to seem repetitive and boring and not nearly as interesting as playing D&D, but when you geek out with other Nerd Fitness Rebels about gaining mad ninja skills or getting epic Hulk-like muscles, it makes the workouts less droll and feel more like becoming a real-life superhero. And that is what will keep you in the game.

It's completely free. What do you have to lose?