Georges St. Pierre's RUSHFIT: An Eight Week Journey of Self Discovery

Thanks to Georges St. Pierre, UFC welterweight champion, I'm facing one of the most depressing moments of my life. As a lead in to his RUSHFIT exercise program St. Pierre asks you to take three pictures of yourself, shirtless, to keep as a monument to what a fat waste of life you were before you started RUSHFIT. Not his words. I've done this, hung them dutifully in the bathroom where I can't escape their presence, not even for a day, and now I'm staring. Who is this man?

I say this to explain two things:

1. Obviously, I haven't had a difficult life if looking at myself, complete with 30 hideous extra pounds, is one of my worst moments.

and

2. I am starting this program from scratch. Once, several years ago, I was in pretty good shape. Now I'm 35, overweight, and over my head. That's my starting point.

I'll be reviewing the RUSHFIT program over the eight weeks they promise will turn me into a better looking, healthier, human being. As you see above, this is a review for the most average of average joes. If I can do this and succeed, anyone can. Let's get started.

When the RUSHFIT set arrives, my wife is more than a little excited. Perhaps she thinks GSP himself will be in the tiny package? I explain it isn't likely to be so - the package is just Urijah Faber sized and there's no way Georges could fit. Seriously, my wife was onboard immediately. Women will do any kind of exercise video, especially to further the goal of their husband/boyfriend looking even vaguely like Georges St. Pierre. Keep this in mind.

We plan our meals for the week. A nutrition guide was included, a hate letter if I've ever seen one to high fructose corn syrup and other evils. Now it's time for a fitness assessment. Results? Not good. But we knew that. We run through the handy guide to the movements involved in the program, practice them all, and then call it a night.

And then pain. The next morning I had an old man's shuffle. This was going to be hard! I could barely move around after an assessment and a run through. To say I was nervous about the program that evening: an understatement.

Yet it all comes together. GSP's trainer, Erik Owings, insists on a warm up before getting started on the good stuff and the man must know his business. By the time we are done, Owings has the muscles in my legs that have tormented me all day pretty loose. I'm ready and excited and soon a little overwhelmed.

The workouts are designed to go five rounds, each making you progressively more tired and miserable. There are six DVD's in the set and the plan has you rotate between them. Most of the workout uses just your bodyweight and light dumbells in a series of squats, situps, and other explosive movements.

It's a challenge, I imagine for anyone, assuming they up the weight a bit higher than my measly five pounds. I'll talk more in the weeks to come about the program, how it's working for me, and critique any weaknesses I find. For right now, almost a week in, I feel great. I'm eating like I should, drinking water like it was free, and honestly feeling more energetic than I have in a long time. I don't look like GSP - at least not yet. But hopefully it won't be long before the man in the three awful photographs is a distant memory.

The people at RUSHFIT provided this program to me free of cost. It is a blessing and a curse. Thank you. RUSHFIT is an advertiser on Bloody Elbow.