Marcus Dean
Founder and only writer at Bakman Health · Charlotte, North Carolina
I'm the guy behind Bakman Health. Quick version: I spent my twenties starting workout routines — January gym runs, a Couch to 5K attempt, a garage full of barely-used gear — and quitting most of them by week three or four. In my early thirties, working a desk job and feeling it, I stopped chasing programs and started fixing the boring stuff: my schedule, my default meals, my sleep, my expectations. That version stuck. I've trained consistently since, and I keep logs of just about everything.
Who I'm not
I am not a personal trainer, a dietitian, a physical therapist, or a doctor, and I don't play one on this site. I don't diagnose anything, I don't treat anything, and I don't sell supplements. When an article touches actual health science — how much exercise official guidance recommends, what a protein target should look like, how much sleep adults need — I look up what the CDC, NIH, or ACSM actually says and link it, instead of asserting it myself. Everything else is field notes: what I ran, what it cost, what broke, what stuck. Your situation is yours; if you have a health condition or any doubt, that's a conversation for your doctor, not a blog. More on that on the health disclaimer page.
What I actually cover
Training plans that survive a busy week, eating like an adult without a "diet," sleep experiments with real logs, gear I've worn out, and the consistency mechanics nobody sells because they aren't exciting. Start with the 3-day dumbbell plan or the week-3 article — those two are the heart of the site.
All articles
- Training
The 3-Day Dumbbell Plan for Busy Guys (Full 8 Weeks, One Pair of Dumbbells)
Three 40-minute workouts a week, one pair of dumbbells, eight weeks mapped out in full — including the week where most guys quit.
- Training
"How Much Exercise Do You Actually Need? The CDC Numbers, Translated"
The official numbers are less scary than the fitness industry wants you to think. Here's the CDC guidance translated into a regular week.
- Gear
The $150 Home Gym That Covers 90% of What Most Guys Do
Four purchases, about $150 total, and you can run a real strength program in a spare bedroom. Here's the itemized list and what to skip.
- Eating
"Eating Like an Adult: 12 Default Meals That Keep You Out of the Drive-Through"
The problem isn't willpower at 6:45 p.m. — it's having no default answer. Twelve meals, most under $4 a serving, all under 20 minutes.
- Consistency
Why Week 3 Kills Most Routines — and the Scheduling Fix That Saved Mine
Novelty is gone, results haven't shown up, and one missed Wednesday becomes a dead routine. Here's how the quit actually happens — and the fix.
- Training
"Walking Is Underrated: What 8,000 Steps Really Does (Sourced) and How to Hide Them in a Workday"
The least impressive exercise turns out to have the best evidence-to-effort ratio. The studies, translated, plus my desk-job step playbook.
- Consistency
"Planet Fitness to Powerlifting Gyms: What Each Gym Tier Costs and Who It Fits"
The real question isn't which gym is best — it's which gym you'll still be walking into in March. Every tier priced, with the fine print.
- Eating
"Protein Without the Bro Math: Simple Targets From Real Guidelines, on a Grocery Budget"
The gap between the official minimum and gym-bro folklore is enormous. Here's what the actual guidelines say, and the cheapest way to eat accordingly.
- Sleep & Recovery
"The Sleep Routine Experiment: 30 Days of a Fixed Wake Time, Logged"
One alarm time, thirty days, no weekend exceptions. Here's the log, the ugly middle week, and why I kept the habit afterward.
- Gear
"Running Shoes, Lifting Shoes, Cross-Trainers: What Actually Matters at Each Price"
After wearing out a closet's worth of shoes doing everything wrong first, here's what each type actually does and where the price stops mattering.