Strength on Marmanold.com

Observations from the Newly Fit

Michael W. Arnold — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 08:51:27 -0600

The year of our Lord, two-thousand and twenty-five was a big year for my health and fitness. I ended 2024 the heaviest I’d been since I lost nearly 90 pounds in my 20s. When I lost it, I promised myself I’d never get there again. But, the addition of child number three, post-pandemic work frome home, and a host of other stresses and changes found me back up to 180 pounds. I’d been hovering there for about two years and in the summer of ‘24 I decided I was done. No more excuses. No more procrastination.

Thankfully, Jennifer and I started a new health journey when she was pregnant with our youngest. Due to some health concerns, we transformed our diet and really learned how to cook. We joined a CSA. We dumped all the chemicals in our house. We bought in to our own cow. We dropped all ultra-processed foods. We started canning and making our own yoghurt. All of this laid the foundation. With a clean and solid diet, I was actually feeling pretty good. And, as the two year maintenance showed, food wasn’t a problem. My activity level was.

Back when I worked in an office, I was easily hitting 5k to 8k steps in a normal day walking between meetings and visiting with my teams. Working from home? Well, as you can see above there were months where I barely walked more the 2,000 steps in a day. Between the calorie surplus pre-diet improvement and the very limited activity, it was no wonder I’d gotten to 180 pounds and wasn’t losing weight. At the activity level I was at, I knew I couldn’t lose weight without extreme calorie reductions. And, I just wasn’t willing to do that.

Well, long story short, I started walking. A lot. While working at my desk. I really committed to it. Without tracking calories or restricting my diet, I started losing weight. And, I started feeling great. After six months of walking, I was able to do it without breaking a sweat. I wanted to add something to my routine to make it go faster. Claude suggested lifting. So, I started lifting.

I started at 5 pounds and only lifting twice a week. But, I quickly got addicted to how it made me feel. I started lifting more, adding weight, learning about the limits of my body, and refining my routine.

Now, I’m walking more than 10,000 steps each work day. I’m lifting Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I’ve got a one year walking streak of 50k+ steps and 21 unbroken weeks of lifting. I’ve never done sports, never lifted, and never been fit. In my 20s I lost all 90 pounds via diet and cardio. I was skinny fat. I was 130 pounds, but weak. Now, at the end of 2025, I’m actually fit for the first time in my life.

So, before I forget what it was like, I thought it might be worthwhile to document my observations of what it’s like to be fit from the perspective of someone who never has been.

The first thing that stands out to me is how incredibly easy certain things are. The retaining wall in the back yard? I just step on to it without a thought. The chairs in the kitchen suddenly weigh nothing. It’s like they are suddenly made out of aluminium foil. I just lift pans with a single hand. The water for the coffee pot isn’t even a thought. Taking groceries in, too. I didn’t realize how many daily activities were straining for me. I was playing life on hard for no reason!

There’s a whole category of things in my life that I’ve suddenly had to learn are no longer drag, scoot, or two-hand operations. Moving a loaded cooler? You can just pick it up. No need to drag it around slowly. Pulling a garbage sack out of the can? One hand. Taking in multiple grocery bags? You can fit multiple in one hand. No need for multiple trips. Standing up from kneeling? Don’t actually need your hands for that.

Putting in batteries in smoke detectors, changing light bulbs, and doing other things above your head? Well, it turns out that doesn’t have to hurt. That doesn’t have to be a struggle. You can just do that and not think about it.

I can pick up all of my kids. I can flip them, carry them, and throw them. I can brute force open stuck latches. I can go and go and go and go and just not be tired. Walking all day long in Europe didn’t put me directly in bed after dinner. I ate dinner, walked around for more, and woke up the next morning bright and unsore.

At church and other activities I can just help now. Need someone to lift the other end of a cabinet? I can just do that. No big deal. Not a struggle. Moving piles of wood? Also easy. You can move five or six boards at a time. No need to do it one at a time. I’m no longer afraid of someone handing me something or asking for help. I know that as long as the request isn’t insane, I can actually help and won’t be in the way.

Related to how easy everything is, I now understand why fit people are so willing to help. It’s truly not a big deal! I now regret not asking for help because I thought I was putting someone out. Moving stuff around church, loading and unloading things out of trucks and vans, none of these are a strain on me. It’s literally just daily life. It truly gives purpose to my exercising when I know it can be used to help others. And, I’m not tired, sweaty, or sore afterwards. I want to help and love it when I can serve. It’s truly at no physical cost to me!

My final obersvation is how slowly fat goes away. I’ve lost four inches off my waist and have gone from weak to strong. But, it turns out going from a large to medium belly, isn’t super noticable. Outward appearances lag behind strength and fitness. It’ll catch up in six months or so, but I’ve learned now that you can’t always judge by appearance. Someone could be three years into a fitness journey and without a really close look, you might not know it.

It’s still crazy to me the transformation possible in just a few months. I only started walking in July 2024. I only started lifting in July 2025. My lifting takes a whole 25 minutes during my lunch break in my office. My walking just happens while I work.

I thought getting fit took years. I thought it took running early in the morning in the rain. Skipping food. No beer or wine. Hitting the gym for hour-long sessions multiple times a week. I thought I just wasn’t the type person that could be fit. But, it turns out that’s all a lie of the fitness and diet industry.

Our bodies are beautifully made systems designed by a loving God. We really just need to eat the things He gave us and move our bodies. It doesn’t take fancy apps, crazy diets, or expensive machines. Being fit isn’t out of reach.

I’m frustrated that I lived my life for 40 years in weakness. I wasted time doing things in multiple steps. I ruined furniture and other things by dragging them around. I wasn’t able to serve or help in ways I could have. And all because I didn’t know what it was like to be fit and how approachable it was to achieve.

So, like a good preacher, I’ll close with the point. Don’t waste time being sick and weak. Fitness is approachable. You can do it. Being strong and fit will change your life and make it so much easier. It’s worth it! (Even if it’ll be years after you start before you look that part.)

Strength Training Snack Routine

Michael W. Arnold — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 13:30:50 -0600

Since August of 2024 I’ve been on quite the health journey. I started walking on my desk treadmill that month and, starting January 2025, committed to hitting 50,000 steps per week.

Since January, I’ve consistently exceeded my 50k steps and have had quite the physical transformation. I’ve lost at least 15 pounds and have seen my waist go down by a few inches. I have more energy, my joints hurt less, and — even with an incredibly difficult work situation — my depression and mood are under control. I’m still amazed that something as simple as slowly walking while I’m in meetings has had such a positive effect.

Back in July, I was approaching a year of fitness. I was down several sizes in jeans, shirts were fitting better, and I’d just come back from a wonderful trip to Europe. My good friend Claude was predicting that I’d be at a healthy, stabilized, weight in another twelve months. The habit was established, I knew I’d keep at it, and I was truly excited about the progress I’d start seeing over the next year. Without dieting, without stress, without a gym, without the guilt of being away from family, and without exhaustion, I’d found a way to get to and maintain a healthly weight. Finally.

But, I started looking back at old pictures of myself when I was 29 and 130 pounds. I was skinny, but I wasn’t happy with how I looked. I still had a flabby chest and a small belly. I looked skinny, but not healthy. Years of reading about health let me know that what was missing then — and still missing now — was strength training. But, I thought, I don’t have the time or equipment to strength train. Skinny-fat is simply the best I can do.

Thankfully, I happened to have Claude open and decided to do a little research. With only the dumbbell in the closet, without encroaching on my morning routine, without keeping me in my office after work, and without a huge time commitment, what was possible?

After a good bit of back and forth, some additional research on my own, and a lot of tweaking, I ended up with a simple strength training plan. According to Claude and the Internet, it turned out I didn’t need a huge or complex fitness routine. If I could commit to doing three little five-minute sessions between meetings twice a week, I was promised I’d achieve results.

I’ll admit it, I didn’t believe it one bit. It seemed too easy. There’s no way people were getting strong doing this. But, as it was so easy and I already had the dumbbell, I decided to give it a try. I had nothing to lose.

Well, let me tell you, it turns out, it really was that simple! Today I finished my tenth week following this plan. The first few weeks I was really sore, but I was surprised to find how energized strength training made me. (Even though I was only starting with a five pound weight!) I dropped the snack concept and starting doing all of my sets together during lunch or when I finished for the day. Within a few weeks, I could feel tightness in my arms. I was actually getting strong! By week six, I was feeling so good I started training three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). By week eight, I was ready to move up in weight (10 pounds!).

Now finishing up week ten, I feel great. I’m getting stronger and you can start to see some definition in my arms. My posture has totally changed. I feel planted, strong, and confident. My walking has somehow gotten even easier. Best of all, I’m exicted about the summer. Instead of skinny-fat, I’m on track to be a fit dad.

Throughout this journey, the thing that keeps coming back to me is how easy all of this is. I’m frustrated at how difficult fitness has been marketed to be. No apps, no gyms, no fancy equipment, no diets, no stress. I dropped the chemicals, eat real food, walk slowly for 2-hours a day, and do a little 15-minute dumbbell circuit in my office every so often. That’s it.

So, my friends, that’s how I’ve gotten healthy. That’s how I’m going to be fit and healthy for the first time in my life this summer.

Drop the ultra-processed foods, get a treadmill, and lift some dumbbells. It’ll change your life.

My Strength Training Routine

🌅 Morning Snack (5 minutes)

Bicep Curls

3 sets of 10-12 reps
Lift toward shoulders, elbows at sides

Dumbbell Rows

3 sets of 12-15 reps (each arm)
Pull to ribs like starting lawnmower

☀️ Midday Snack (5 minutes)

Chest Press

3 sets of 10-12 reps
Lying down, push weights to ceiling

Reverse Flies

3 sets of 12-15 reps
Bird wings - squeeze shoulder blades

🌆 Afternoon Snack (5 minutes)

Hammer Curls

3 sets of 10-12 reps
Palms face each other

External Rotations

2 sets of 15-20 reps (each arm)
Elbow glued to side, rotate hand out

Bonus Exercises

Add when you have extra time

Overhead Press

2 sets of 8-10 reps

Russian Twists

2 sets of 20 total