Berlin Fire Department WOD

So, Friday's workout was based on the firefighter challenges that are held around the world. The entirety of it is done wearing full gear (boots, suit, oxygen tank, gas mask, helmet, etc). This challenge includes a 4 story climb carrying a 20 kg hose, a 4 story vertical 20 kg pull, 4 story downstairs sprint, a 1.5 meter, 80 kg horizontal sledge pound (using the Kaiser Force machine), a 25 meter hose drag, a zigzag cone run, and a 25 meter rescue drag to the finish line. (I’m approximating the distances from what I could gather from our workout and the videos I checked on youtube.) Alex and the rest of the organizers of the group have been helping the firefighters at the East Berlin station train for this competition, and for the rigors of the job, in general. Today, Mike and the crew were to return the favor and show the group what it was like to undertake some of these challenges, plus/minus a few stairs, meters, and cones.

After a very creative dynamic warmup including heavy bag hand-offs and medball passes, and some technical work with air squats and deadlifts, we headed downstairs to begin.

The Workout:

Part 1- for time (all with 20 kg PA gear)

7 floors up w/ hose (20 kg)

4 floor vertical weighted rope pull (20 kg)

7 floors down

Part 2- for time (all with 20 kg PA gear)

1.5 meter sledge pound on Kaiser Force machine (80kg)

50 meter hose drag (2 hoses plus steel frame)

25 meter rescue Randy drag

Part 1 was hardest during the climb. As one can imagine, sprinting up stairs with 35 extra kilograms of weight will tire your legs out pretty quick. So, by the last flight things were slowing down considerably. The vertical pull was a strength movement, but with a ton of technique. This was obvious when you watch the way I pulled the weight and the way Mike pulled the weight. He was way more efficient and used much more back and hips. This was an awesome exercise that I would love to keep doing, I just can’t figure out where it would work. (Maybe the new pool deck at the Thomas Circle Balance will see some version of this?) Surprisingly, the run back downstairs was difficult as well. According to the rules of the competition you have to touch every stair on the way down, meaning a whole lot of extra steps that require coordination and patience when your body is lacking both.

It took the majority of the group somewhere between 2:30 and 3:00 to finish this series. I did it in 2:00. Mike did it in 1:45.

Part 2 took us outside to one of the storage areas, of which there were many. Inside there were old medballs from the Iron Curtain, kettlebells, hoses, and all kinds of cool stuff for these guys to use. Also in there was the Kaiser Force machine. This is what firemen use to simulate the power needed to chop through walls, doors, etc with their axes. There is definitely a measure of technique involved (a blend between keeping the weight behind your heels and keeping the swings short and fast), but mostly its raw power. I loved this! You’re basically pounding away at this piece of metal as hard as you can until it moves 1.5 meters. As soon as you finish that, we ran outside and dragged 2 hoses connected to a steel box for 50 meters. Legs are now dying. This reminded me of pulling the VW beetle back in Washington, with obviously less resistance. Then, we sprinted back and grabbed Rescue Randy (really heavy dummy simulating a person in need of rescue) and dragged him 25 meters to safety. Legs were like JELLO.

On this series the group averaged somewhere between 1:30 and 2:00. I finished in 1:10, and, again, Mike the fireman smoked me at 1:02.

Doing part 1 and part 2 back to back would’ve been a huge challenge. Then add full fire gear and a mask? Lights out. Major respect to the firemen competing in these challenges.

Berlin

Just a quick update before I get on the train from Berlin to Prague. Amazing experience last night with the guys here. Their group is completely fluid, meaning they aren't yet tied to any single location. Often their WODs are done in parks or local school gymnasiums, but last night we trained at an East Berlin firehouse. More like a fire complex. This place was enormous with more potential for crazy-creative fitness than anywhere I have ever been. When I have more time, I intend to write a more thorough explanation of what we did, who I met, and what their collective experiences may mean for the growth of fitness, and crossfit, in Europe. I will also include video footage and plenty of pictures. For now, let me just say that I could not have been more impressed with the hospitality of the head trainers (out til 2am sightseeing\eating\drinking), the willingness to work of the group (we were at the fire station for nearly 3 hours doing various training!), and the potential for a real community impact they offer as a whole. After sitting on a train all day yesterday, it was a great feeling to be physically challenged again. My week off is officially over, and I am really excited to see what else the rest of this trip has in store for me.

Fresh out of the Microwave Oven

This post stems from a conversation I had with one of my Dutch classmates the other day. He was arguing that America, through its various entertainment, athletic, and consumer exports, is a cultural empire that is gradually spreading to all corners of the globe.

So, I thought about it, and, I have to admit, since I've been in Europe, it's been impossible not to notice the growing cultural impact of the American way, even here in Leiden. I saw kids in the streets wearing I heart NY t-shirts. Renting a movie the other day, I found myself deciding between The Watchmen and Valkyrie, both only available in English with Dutch subtitles. Buying school supplies at the local store, I heard Green Day, then Britney Spears playing on the shop speakers above me. Right across from the 16th century Calvinist Church just off the Rhine River are a McDonalds and a Subway.

Our global impact, needless to say, is impressive.

Thankfully, one part of our culture that has not completely taken over is the perpetual rush everyone seems required to be in. Because so much of our system is dependent on consumerism, individual growth, and production efficiency, the American way is hell-bent on making things easier, faster, more available, and more profitable. By extension, this means we, the cogs in the wheel, must make our lives simpler, more accessible and more productive.

If we examine specific cases, these developments are largely positive, healthy evolutions that contribute to more streamlined, efficient uses of our time. Think e-bay, direct deposit, call forwarding, Starbuck's Coffee. But, if we step back from between the trees, we might just see that the edges of the forest are starting to burn.

Ingrained in this philosophy is the idea that time is the enemy. How many times do you hear the phrase "there just aren't enough hours in the day." Hell, I don't know many people back home who think there are enough days in the year, or years in their life to get done what they "need to get done." Ironically, this belief tends to drive us to do things in a more rushed, less fulfilling way, thus exascerbating the problem. Enter stress, anxiety, and poor health.

The perfect symbol of this, in my opinion, is the microwave oven. This common kitchen appliance, widely heralded as the greatest invention since sliced bread, is in 90% of American homes, and represents the ultimate in convenience and efficiency. Nevermind that it's led to a multi-billion dollar industry whose sole purpose is the production of essentially fake food.

Birds Eye Foods files $350 million IPO - MarketWatch

Nevermind that it poses a myriad of risks, both to us and the real food we put inside of it.

The Hidden Hazards Of Microwave Cooking

For most of us, it's fast and simple, therefore it's good. This belief holds obvious dangers we can plainly see in the health, or lack thereof, of our population.

On the whole, the microwave is just a symptom of the greater illness, but an enlightening one: Some things (nutrition is certainly one of them) should not merely been packaged, time-shrunk, and "nuked."

In this instance, I feel, I have already benefited from my still young European adventure. A few observations... In Sicily, everyone takes three hour lunch breaks. On weekends, Leiden shops don't open until noon. French students are expected to take time off from their degrees to travel. All Dutch citizens go on one month of holiday every year.

Admittedly, I laugh at some of this stuff, and I'm not saying adopting this lifestyle is the answer. In fact, I know it isn't. People here might be a bit too relaxed, even for my taste. However, it does serve as a catalyst for reflection. Stopping to take a breath every now and then isn't such a bad thing, and I think in most cases it's a relatively simple fix.

Using nutrition as a example, but also as a metaphor, I thought it would be interesting to hypothesize the tangible benefits of "unplugging the microwave."

1) Food quality would become more important, leading you to take greater care in choosing what you eat. As time becomes less of a consideration, you would be less likely to rush into a bad meal and more likely to choose ingredients that are of a higher caliber. Because of this change, 2) You'd know exactly what you were eating at all times. Gone would be the days of pre-packaged mystery meals that you think might be good for you, but you just don't have the time to find out if they actually are. Therefore, 3) You'd be getting more nutritional value out of every meal, and, thus 4) You'd have a greater appreciation for what you were eating. Knowing what's in your food and that it is of high quality will necessarily leave you feeling more satisfied after eating it. 5) Meals would become more communal. Slow down long enough to make this adjustment and there'll be more time to share this high quality food that you enjoy with family and friends.

Since I've been here, I haven't even seen a microwave. And, as far as I can tell, the only downside to all the cooking I've been forced to do, are the dirty dishes. Now if I could just get a dishwasher I'd be in business.

Food journal for today:

Meal 1: smoothie (1 banana, peanut butter, protein powder, whole milk)

Meal 2: scramble (1 potato, 1 tomato, 1 avocado, 1/2 onion, 1 bell pepper, 3 eggs, cheese)

Meal 3: Dutch hamburger, green tea

Meal 4: brown rice, chicken breast, tomato soup, broccoli

Meal 5: smoothie (1 banana, peanut butter, protein powder, whole milk)

Yoga

I borrowed an Ashtanga yoga dvd from my neighbor and followed it for about a half hour this morning. The dude on this dvd is RIDICULOUS. Once I got past the chanting and other yogi things that I can't quite jive with, I was left in awe of what this man could do physically. His name is John Scott: look him up.

I haven't done yoga since the first week i was here, so things were a little tight, to say the least. Flexibility is an area that I have neglected, as I look back. Especially when it comes to recovery, this is so important yet so easy to overlook. I think for this next 6 weeks I'm going to try to use one of my rest days each week to do yoga, and dedicate at least 15 minutes at the end of every session to certain static relaxation stretches.

I've also decided to use this week as an experimental food journal to track exactly what I'm eating, so I apologize if this is annoying.

Meal 1: smoothie (1 banana, scoop of peanut butter, protein powder, whole milk)

Meal 2: breakfast scramble (1 potato, 1 bell pepper, 1/2 onion, handful spinach, 4 eggs, pepper cheese)

Meal 3: My favorite sandwich shop (dark whole grain bread, sliced chicken, tomatos, cucumber, aged cheese, pesto, onion)

Meal 4: Greek yogurt and trail mix (sunflower seeds, walnuts, almonds, cranberries)

Meal 5: 20 g Salmon w/ skin, green lentils, raw broccoli

Meal 6: smoothie (1 banana, scoop of peanut butter, protein powder, water)

On the way out to grab a beer or two, so I have to include those as well. We'll see what I actually put down.

Hopefully I won't be eating many of these...

From Oct 9, 2009

Rest Day

Sore today. My entire posterior chain is tight from yesterday. Took it easy and spent the day with a friend of mine here and his family. Every Sunday he plays field hockey for the local club team. The game was very competitive and played at a high level. It was interesting to see how they organize their sports here. Clubs range all ages, with 2 year groupings for everyone 18 and under, then skill level teams above that (1st, 2nd, 3rd team, etc) that you get placed on due to your relative ability. This essentially takes the place of high school and college sports in the States, but the scale is much smaller. It works the same for soccer, but the lower clubs serve as feeder systems for the pro teams, sometimes signing kids by age 16. It was a nice Sunday, but I still miss football.

Beyond my initiation to Dutch sporting culture, today represented the first day of my rest week. What this means for me, is that I won't be doing any highly intensive training for the next 5-6 days. I will still do very light exercise to maintain circulation to the muscles/tendons/etc that need the rest and repair, just nothing extravagant. Typically, this means no more than 3 sets per movement, 50% weight or less. Beyond that, it will mostly be stretching, self-myofacial massage (if I can find a foam roll), and yoga. Just enough to keep things moving.

Nutritionally, I will try to eat cleaner than ever, and more than ever. As my body recovers, I want to give it all the help I can and if I overdo the calories a tad, that's okay so long as they're good calories. This is not the week to start slamming chocolate bars and milkshakes.

Finally, this should be a good time for me to evaluate what I've done for the past 6 weeks and see where improvement has been made, where it hasn't, and how best to push forward. Also, I expect to come up with plenty of new, creative workouts for the archives. That way, I won't have to come up with a whole week's worth of WODs every single Sunday.

Looking forward to going to Berlin, Prague, and Ansbach next weekend... should be a great time.

From Sicily

5 rep max

I slept really hard last night. Something about running in the sand just sucks the energy out of me more than other activities. By the time we were home and I was posting last night, I could barely keep my eyes open.

The benefit of this, however, was that I woke up feeling pretty incredible. The gym was empty, as usual. So funny the difference here. L.K.V. has enough space in its myriad rooms to comfortably support hundreds of members at once, but I don't think I've ever seen more than 20 people in the place. Thankfully, this is not my concern. In fact, unless someone there decides to do more than machine weights and cable curls, the emptier the better for me.

Today's workout was:

5 x 5 deadlift, working up to a 5 rep max

-after each set of 5 do 30 pushups, then rest as needed

I successfully got 175 kg (385 lb), then failed on the 4th rep of 180 kg the following set. I was happy with this, but not ecstatic. Getting to 400 for a 5 rep max would've been great, but for someone with a 440 lb max, I can't be too critical.

Overall, my deadlift strength is something I've slowly been improving as a secondary focus, so that is definitely a good thing. After finishing, I did 3 x 8 high bench rows at 70 kg (lying prone and pulling the bar into the bottom of the bench), continuing to do 30 pushups between sets. I finished with 3 x 10 back extensions and 3 x 10 second isometric knee to elbow holds.

This was the last real workout before my rest week. I'll elaborate more on what that entails tomorrow.

Oct 9, 2009

Day at the Beach

My neighbor and I took a mini excursion to Noordwijk today, seeing as how the weather was so inexplicably gorgeous here. 60 degrees and sun, if you can believe it. The beach was empty, making it even more beautiful, and even more appealing to use for my own fitness devices. I wanted to do an endurance effort today, and the long stretches of open sand provided plenty of potential. The workout looked like this:

20 x 50m run

50m bear crawl

20 x 50m run

50m handstand walk

20 x 50m run

50m duck walk

20 x 50m run

50m crab walk

20 x 50m run

50m broad jump

So I wound up running 5000m and doing 250m of various quadrapedal and bipedal movements. This was not easy, taking me 31:40 to finish. The sand got chewed up quick, making the running difficult and the handstand walks practically impossible. My heart and lungs were pumping hard the whole time, but my legs held out okay until the very end. The mental component was very challenging in this one. With so many turns and so much difficulty during the bodyweight exercises, it was a matter of just keeping the legs moving during the runs and not slowing down. I wish I would've had someone to compete with because I think I may have been able to break 30. The video turned out pretty cool as well. Props to Neelan for some stellar camera work.

Rest Day

Thinking back on yesterday's workout, and my admitted error in choosing to do it so soon after other related exercises, I thought it would be good to explain, a bit, my rationale in programming my sessions and why yesterday's WOD was a poor choice.

First, I deliberately only plan one week at a time (typically this means 3 days on, 1 day off, 2 days on, 1 day off). I know some people program 4, 6, 8, or even 12 week cycles. Apart from scheduling weeks off at the 6 week mark, (which I always adhere to) I don't find this extensive of a plan beneficial for a hybridized training program because it doesn't allow you the flexibility to respond to your body on a weekly basis. How will I know 7 weeks from now how my body will be responding to the different elements of training that I had programmed? I don't.

Now, if you have decided to train specifically for strength, power, size, or conditioning, then this is a different story. In that case, due to the progressive nature of most of those programs, setting different routines, exercises, and weights for months at a time can be very beneficial. I used to periodize elements of training in this manner for 6 weeks at a time, and I saw a lot of success. However, I found it to be less exciting and less fun, overall, than a hybridized program. The jury is still out on whether one style is better than the other in terms of performance gains, so maybe it's good to try both and alternate between the two.

Currently, I subscribe to the school of conscious variation, always trying to avoid any set pattern from week to week. This is not to say I use a fish bowl method, simply pulling a workout out of a hat each day to adhere to the idea of randomness. Randomness is not necessarily the same thing as variation and it often invites injury. For example, what happens if you pull pistol squat, box jumps, and dips on Monday, max effort thrusters on Tuesday, and squat clean and jerk to burpee on Wednesday? This is not variation, in my opinion, though the method of selection was totally random. And doing a stretch of WODs like this would run the risk of over-stressing your knee and shoulder joints.

Some people try to avoid this problem by designing their programs around muscle groups, much like a traditional bodybuilding program. This is okay, but you quickly run into problems because so much of crossfit (and I think this is a very good thing) is built on multiple joint, multiple muscle movements. For example, if you a do deadlift/push press WOD 0n Monday (back, hamstrings, glutes, quads, calves, shoulders, triceps), what are you going to do Tuesday to avoid working those muscles again? Situps? Biceps curls? The nature of this type of exercise doesn't allow for disintegration of workouts into muscle groups.

So why try? Instead, I think it much better to base training around movement patterns. So, using the example of deadlift/push press from above, the predominate movements are full range hip extension (I make a distinction here because so many lower body movements could be considered hip extension to some degree) and shoulder to overhead. If I were to write a workout for Tuesday in this scenario, it might involve pullups, ghd situps, and box jumps. Many of the same muscles and joints are being used, but the movement patterns are completely different, ostensibly working the muscles in a different, or varied, way.

Furthermore, I also deliberately vary the style of workout based on energy pathway. While I know there is a lot of science dividing the different types of exertion, I try to keep it basic. (I may divide metcons into "interval" versus "just finish", but that's as exotic as I get) More generally, I try not to do strictly heavy strength, strictly metabolic conditioning, or strictly extended endurance work during the course of a given week. This doesn't mean you have to do one of each every week, just that you should avoid over-doing one element, relative to the others. This is a problem I see with a lot of Crossfitters. They only want to do workouts like Fran, Grace, Tabata intervals, and AMRAPs. While this type of programming can easily adhere to the philosophy of alternating movement patterns, it does not significantly alter itself from the perspective of energy pathway. Hence, in my opinion, the program is not varied. (This becomes more like the periodized programming mentioned earlier. I might get really good at metcons after a while, but that's all I'm going to be good at until I change my focus. And, if you believe in the idea of "specific adaptation to imposed demand," the rate at which I improve will most likely diminish over time as my body becomes accustomed to what I ask of it.)

Returning to my earlier example, if Monday's workout looked something like: 21, 15, 9 deadlift/push press, Tuesday might look like: weighted pullup 5 x 1 (rest as needed), box jump for height 7 x 3 (rest as needed), and Tabata rounds of GHD situps. In this example, the only element of the workout that could be considered in the metcon energy system category that was challenged on Monday are the Tabata situps. A Wednesday workout, to play it forward, might be: run 1 mile, 5 rounds of 10 pushup, 10 squat, 10 burpee, run a mile. The emphasis here, obviously, is more on extended endurance.

Having these criteria (movement pattern and energy pathway) to build workouts relative to the previous one is essential. But this is not always the problem people have. Often, the problem is where to start. I think the best way to solve this is by having a cornerstone for your week. For example, the cornerstone in my training right now is heavy Olympic lifting. This is because the totality of the lifts are so beneficial for other elements of fitness (strength, power, coordination, balance, accuracy, flexibility) that they are worth sacrificing a bit of variation and doing more frequently than anything else, in my opinion. Also, the movements are so technical and practiced that if I don't dedicate time to it every week, I simply won't improve.

I set aside at least one day per week to work on Olympic lifting (Typically Monday, now). Having this one element of certainty gives me the base around which I can build the rest of my week. This is so important. If you don't have a cornerstone, the concept of variation can easily spin into randomness or you can find yourself paralyzed in deciding what to do from day to day. I've found that major movements, (the olympic lifts, deadlift, squat, flat/overhead press) as opposed to favorite WODs, tend to work best in this capacity because they represent specific movement patterns.

Now that I have a place to start, I can apply the ideas of varied movement pattern and varied energy pathway to create a complete and kick ass weeklong training program. To avoid replicating weeks, I stay a student of history and of creativity, always writing down what I've already done and always looking for new twists on old movements (Stone deadlift) or new combinations of old exercises (2k row w/ bodyweight bench). Apart from a few benchmark WODs and the major strength lifts, I try to avoid doing any workout twice. Some people think this makes it harder to measure progress, and they're not wrong. But I find that the general benchmarks are enough, for the most part. Besides, as I've said before, improvement is tied to inspiration. And it's far more motivating to tackle the new challenge than to get better at the old one.

From Week 4

Muscle Failure

Today's workout was pretty disappointing, to be honest. My legs got tired pretty quick during the external resistance stuff, probably still a residual effect of Monday night, and my upper body just didn't have it at all during the bodyweight resistance. The HSPUs, even though I acknowledge the added difficulty of being from a 5 inch elevation, knocked me out quicker than they should have. Totally crushing, mentally. I knew the pullups were going to be a chore since I had done 100 yesterday morning during the 5 x 20 workout, so I guess that was no surprise. Still, overall, I expected to have more in the tank.

The workout was:

1 round for time:

5 Snatch w/ 80 kg

10 Clean and Jerk w/ 80 kg (this should've been 100 kg, but I didn't have enough bars)

15 Deadlift w/ 120 kg

20 HSPU from 5 inch elevation

25 strict overhand pullups

100 double unders

I finished in 14:11, with tons of wasted time during the HSPUs and pullups. The moral of this story is over-zealous programming, I think. Sometimes we get workouts in our heads that we just want to do so badly that we don't always pick the right times to do them. The silver lining, I guess, is that you're not always at your best and you're still expected to perform. Today was good practice for those times.

AM...PM

My legs are HEAVY today. I am definitely feeling the effects of the session last night. Or, it could be the weather in the Netherlands. The sun just refuses to break through the clouds here. It's constantly gray and dark with a mild drizzle. I guess things could be worse, but this is one part of living abroad that I have not been able to adjust to yet. Nevertheless, I got myself outside for one of my 2 workouts-- a moral victory in itself.

In the morning...

Run .5 miles

5 rounds for time of:

20 pullups

20 situps

(For the situps I did not hook my feet under anything. A full repetition was head to the ground and hands to the ankles)

Run 1.5 miles

The metcon in the middle took me 7:11. My pullups still kind of suck-- i was only able to do the first 2 sets unbroken. The runs I didn't time, but tried to push the pace as fast as I could. They were enough to let me know I haven't been running much.

In the evening...

Single arm DB shoulder press: 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1

followed by...

500m row for time.

I took my time getting through the pressing. I wanted to see how unbalanced my overhead strength was (34 kg on the left, 36 kg on the right) but also to work the core balance element of the movement. I wound up doing sets of 2 push press to slow eccentric with 38, 40, 42, and 44 kg after I topped out on the singles.

The row was fun, but intense. Short and sharp, as a good friend likes to say. My goal was to finish under 1:30. I made it in 1:28.5. I kept feeling like I was going to slide off the seat, thus necessitating a few periodic readjustments. If anyone knows how to fix this, please let me know. I included the video below.

Monday is for Snatching

Everything was closed and in recovery on Sunday, so I decided to join the crowd. An extra day of rest every few weeks can be a good thing, and it'd been awhile since I took off 2 days in a row.

After missing last Monday's session due to a late arrival from Sicily, I was really excited to get back on the platform and train with Hank tonight. We followed a similar program to last time, starting with snatches. My form is definitely improving and I can see the difference on the video clips. I had 100 kg overhead solidly but couldn't stabilize it on the way up and ended up losing it behind. To work on this aspect of the movement, we did some snatch balances instead of pulls next. Doing sets of 3, I got up to 85 kg feeling good. I want to incorporate this exercise a lot more-- it's so good for speed and balance. We finished with back squat, doing heavy sets of 3. I did 4 sets at 150 kg and felt challenged but not overly so. I focused on getting better depth and really driving up from the bottom. Walking out of the gym, I could feel the difference. Serious jelly legs. Here's the breakdown:

Snatch: 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1

Snatch Balance: 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Back Squat: 4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3

Really excited about the program I have planned for this week. After 2 days of rest over the weekend, I feel ready to hit it hard.

Rest Day

Today, October 3rd, is Leiden's independence day. In 1585 the Hollanders successfully expelled the Spanish troops of the Habsburg emperor Phillip II and established the Dutch Republic. In celebration of this accomplishment, the people of the Netherlands descend upon Leiden and, simply, party their asses off. 3 October, as they call it, really begins on the night of the 2nd. There are beer tents, stages, musicians, and vendors everywhere. The city is practically unrecognizable it has undergone such a transformation. The city center from the train station to the university is one big carnival, complete with ski ball, cotton candy, roller coasters, and traditional Dutch cuisine.

Since today was for resting, I went out and walked around, ate some unhealthy food, and tried to take in the scene as best I could. In an incredible coincidence, the theme of this year's 3 October parade is the "American Dream." Was interesting to see the Netherland interpretation of what it means to be American. The traditional symbols were there: the statue of liberty, the stars and stripes, even a few pilgrims. There were also some more contemporary floats, like the hollywood/entertainment portion. Somehow they found a couple Deloreons and did them up like Back to the Future, with Doc Brown and Marty walking alongside. There was a Titanic re-enactment with Kate and Leo on the front of the ship with a human iceberg walking just in front. Further back there was a Las Vegas float with magicians and slot machines. Bringing up the rear, in what I thought was a really cool finishing act, were members of the U.S. Marine Corps marching band in full uniform performing songs of Americana. Not sure what base they were from, but I thought it was cool that the city got them involved.

Anyways, I included a clip of maybe the scariest ride I've been on in my life. It cost 8 euros, but it was worth every bit of it. Apparently you're feeling just under 5 Gs of force during this thing. Crazy.

From Oct 3, 2009

From Oct 3, 2009

Joker and the Thief

Last night I went into Amsterdam to show Chickaro a proper good time. The proof of our success is that we didn't return until 630 this morning. Needless to say, most of the day was spent in recovery behind tightly pulled shades. However, in a display of true grit and resolve, and in an effort to accelerate the metabolization of that which we had consumed the night before, we got ourselves out of the house and to L.K.V. to break a quick sweat. Or so was the plan. The actual course of events is as follows:

For time...

2k row

100 bodyweight bench presses (85kg for me)

Every time you rack the weight, do 15 air squats

2k row

I thought this would be a 25 minute ordeal at most. Incorrect. 34:18. Strength and recovery were a major issue during the pressing. I thought I would be able to do 10 sets of 10 with 185, but that was not the case. After rep 60, I was doing sets of 4. Think it took me 22 rounds to complete the 100 repetitions, meaning I had to do 330 air squats. So, that second 2k row was ROUGH. The first 2k took 7:13, the second 7:35. I don't remember the last time I did a workout that took this long to complete and it was definitely tough mentally to keep pushing. Boy, did it feel good to finish though.

P.S. Cricky, this song was for you.... wooooolfmother!!!!

Van der Werfstraat Wall

Today's workout took me back outdoors, just without the beautiful scenery of Sicily. A few weeks ago, I walked past this stretch of wall on the Van der Werfstraat in Leiden and thought it looked like a great spot to do some bodyweight, parkour style gymnastic training. I decided not to film this in its entirety because I knew it would take a while and it would be very repetitive. I did however, film a clip just to explain what each exercise was intended to look like. The workout was as follows:

10 wall muscle ups

1 handstand wall circuit

8 wall muscle ups

2 handstand wall circuits

6 wall muscle ups

3 handstand wall circuits

4 wall muscle ups

4 handstand wall circuits

2 wall muscle ups

5 handstand wall circuits

This was tough, and I recommend getting gloves. I didn't and wound up with a few cuts on my hans from small shards of glass. The wall was just shy of 9 feet high - perfect height for this type of routine. I finished in 15:14. Chickaro did it in 29:09. We were both feeling it in the shoulders and core, but I gotta say, I really liked using the wall. It requires a different kind of strength to climb and walk on your hands than you build in the weightroom. I think I'm going to incorporate this location into some runs in the future.

From Oct 1, 2009_2

From Oct 1, 2009_2

Clean and Jerk

Today Chickaro and I followed the olympic training model that I used with Hank a few weeks ago, except this time with Clean and Jerk rather than Snatch.

Clean and Jerk: 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1

Got 120 kg easily. Missed 125 twice because I couldn't get out of the hole. Pretty frustrating because the pull was no problem.

Clean Pulls: 2, 2, 2, 2

Used 140 kg

Front Squat: 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 1, 1

Finished at 135 kg, a new PR. Go figure that one... couldn't get 125 out of the hole but got 135 at the end of the workout. I think I must have poor foot position on my cleans. Bad habits that need to be corrected.

My legs are feeling it now. A lot of work, but that's a good thing.

Rest Day

As I look back on my weekend in Sicily, a few things stand out from the experience that pertain to this blog.

First, the scope of the physical human achievement throughout history is just simply inconceivable. Trying to compute the time, strength, will, and ingenuity it took to build the things I saw this weekend, to put it plainly, short-circuits my brain.

Then I tried to translate those qualities into the world of today... not so easy. Suffice it to say that it took a different kind of strength to build the Segesta Temple in 400 B.C. than it took to build more modern places of worship like Yankee Stadium. While both are impressive architectural achievements, the former certainly required a more robust physical presence than the latter.

I think this type of physicality is the ultimate example of what we now call "functional strength." It didn't exist in a gym with med-balls and thera-bands and single leg hops. It was all around, all the time. And everyone had it. In primitive societies, men and women were strong and fit because their lives demanded it. In order to build something like Segesta, EVERYONE had to be strong. In order to defend the city in battle, EVERYONE had to fight. At one point or another, they were all warriors, hunters, and architects. Today we're lucky if one in ten of us can get the wheel barrow up the damn hill.

Some will argue that ancient societies had masons and generals responsible for specific tasks the way contractors and soldiers are paid to be experts in their fields now. And I'll admit, some level of specialization probably existed in every era. But not the way it exists today. And those worlds certainly didn't encourage the physical de-conditioning of their non-specialized populations the way our life of room service, remote controls, and catalogue landscaping has surely done. Some take the fact that we can afford to hire someone else to fix our roofs, and pave our roads, and build our walls as a sign of civilization's progress and technological adaptation. I think it's laziness and ineptitude. In sheep's clothing, of course.

I ask this: Why not be able? This is a fundamental question. Whatever the physical challenge, why not meet it? In 400 B.C. Sicily, there was no choice. Society dictated the standards of fitness by what it required of its people. You were physically able, contributing, and valuable; or you were physically unable, detracting, and expendable. Today the standards are set by the individual, and they aren't very high. This is my reflection as I look at pictures I took of Segesta. Weathered and bleached, but unbroken by 2400 years of history, I think it's a penultimate reminder of where our standards should be.

From Sicily

From Sicily

The Sicilian Chipper

For my last day in Sicily, I didn't have much time for sight seeing as my flight was set to leave at 1:00 from Palermo. So we stayed close to home, made some breakfast, and I wandered about the grounds of the place where we were staying. Turns out they have a lot of fun stuff to play with. I devised a short chipper (multiple reps of multiple exercises, 1 set per exercise) to do before heading off to the airport and the taking the trip back to the Netherlands. It ended up being a great workout. Minus the part at the end where I tried to climb the 30 foot, 6 inch diameter street lamp next to the tennis court. Win some/lose some, as they say.

Anyways... all in all an incredible weekend. There was so much to see, do, and experience that I feel like it would take a year to get it all in. Fitness definitely isn't in the DNA or even on the back burner down there. Don't think I saw a single gym, and there were very few people that seemed to know, let alone care, about the health hazards of eating 4 course, pasta laden meals. But, as a tourist, I think being exposed to the entirety of the culture is a necessary part of the experience. And now I can appreciate the benefits and knowledge I've been afforded thus far in an even richer way.

Sunday 9/27

On Sunday we ventured to Segesta, the site of the oldest, intact temple in Italy. The ruins are pristine. No crumbling columns, no eroded foundations. It was built in the 4th century BC by the Athenians and has stood the test of time. It backs up to this enormous canyon, and faces out over the valley where the settlements once were. On top of the hill across the valley are the remains of a classic Greek amphitheater where the citizens of said settlement would trek to see reenactments of plays, battles, etc. The crazy part is, they still hold performances there today.

The only way to get to the amphitheater is by climbing the switchback trail that starts at the temple. Naturally, I took this opportunity to get a run in. It's a total of 1.8 kilometers to the top, so not too far. But the grade is steep. The guide at the bottom told me you climb 1000 feet or so before you hit the top. I couldn't get video of this for obvious reasons, but I snapped a few pictures before and after. It took me just over 9 minutes to get to the top.

Sep 27, 2009

Also, now that I'm back I was able to post the videos from Saturday below

Morning and Afternoon in Sicily

Friday was a rest day, and I didn't get a chance to post anything since I had just arrived and was pretty tired. Today, however, was quite a different story.

In the morning...

I woke up early feeling refreshed and decided to go explore the area a bit. Turns out, there is a vineyard 10 minutes from where my grandparents and I are staying. So, as one could expect, with the sun rising over the ridge and the rows of grapes just starting to glisten, I felt physically inspired by the scene. Looking around for resources, one fact made itself very obvious: there are a LOT of big stones in Sicily. This felt like an appropriate apparatus, seeing that the vineyard was walled in by stacks of stones and stone lifting is a decidedly old world form of exercise. I found one that was big, but liftable, and did 30 deadlifts for time. Kudos to the men who have been stackign stones for eons without the help of cranes. This was awkward, uncomfortable, and heavy. It took me just over 7 minutes to complete, and I don't think the rock weighed more than 150 lbs.

In the afternoon...

Along with my grandparents and a few others, I ventured up to Erice, a medieval mountain city overlooking Trapani. This place was unreal. Incredible structures, untouched ruins, and heart stopping views. If history is what you want to experience, this is the place to do it. The Palace of Venus, a relic from the Roman times, literally hangs over the edge of a 3000 foot cliff. There are numerous churches towering over piazzas and squares, and so many tight alleyways bustling with local and touristy shops. Every corner had an authentic sicilian cafe or restaurant.

With the help of my grandmother and grand aunt, I did a short met con at the base of a temple overlooking the bay and beach below. 21, 15, 9 box jumps and burpees.

L, Strict, Kip

I took Chickaro to the dog park to do some creative engineering at the playground. We brought my fisherman rope with us and used it to construct a set of rings from the high bar. This was a great idea in theory, just not quite suited to the structure of the playground bars (I think it will work great from a tree branch). However, we were able to use it to some success, doing 3 sets of each - maximum repetition L, strict, and kipping dips. We followed this with 3 sets of each - maximum repetition L, strict, and kipping pullups. Each set was broken by 1 minute of rest.

3 times through, Max of each, rest 1 minute between variations:

L dips

Strict dips

Kipping dips

L pullups

Strict pullups

Kipping pullups

Chickaro L- pullup

After finishing, we hung around and experimented with more uses for the rope and managed to come up with some great exercises that I think will be used in future routines.

I'm heading to Sicily tomorrow to visit with my grandparents. Really excited to explore a new location and see a different vision of old world beauty. Expect the requisite creative engineering, a few touristy historical reflections, and some serious scenery.

AM...PM

In the morning...

I went back to the Burcht this morning with my good friend Chickaro from Washington, DC and did a great interval workout. We took this giant carpet roll (which I found a few days before) taped it up real strong and set it at the bottom of the burcht hill. The idea was to do 5 rounds separated by 2 minutes of rest of the following:

10 snatches

10 alternating shoulder press

sprint to the top

We kept our time for each round and added it up for an aggregate total once done. Chick had a little trouble by set 3, but he was jet lagged and it was early...

In the evening...

We did heavy deadlifts from an elevated stance and heavy bench press, followed by core work.

3, 3, 3, 3, 3 deficit deadlift (stood on a 25 kg plate)

3, 3, 3, 3, 3 bench press

I made it to 170 kg (374 lb) on the deadlift, then did an additional set at 180 kg (396 lb), but stopped after one. For the bench press, I did 130 kg (286 lb) easily (which last time I failed on) and finished at 135 kg (297 lb) with a very little help on the 3rd repetition. Overall I felt great on both of these exercises. And having Chickaro here is a great motivator. It's amazing how big a difference training with someone makes, can't emphasize it enough.

Playground bars

After last night's snatch session with Hank at L.K.V., I was feeling pretty fatigued. Decided to do a quick workout I've been wanting to try at the park.

10 minute AMRAP

1 bar climb

1 pull up

1 muscle up

1 dip

1 handstand pushup

I finished 11 rounds plus one climb and one pull up. The video for this came out a little weird, but I'm going to try and get it posted tomorrow.

Chickaro just got to town for a visit so I think the next few days will be fun. Nice to have someone to train with.

Monday is for Snatching

Tonight was great!

I trained with Hank, as expected, sans young child. He employs a pretty traditional, weightlifting specific program: we worked full squat snatches for triples, doubles, and singles, followed by double sets of heavy low-hang snatch pulls, and finished with heavy sets of back squats. He didn't go too heavy on the snatches, instead working mostly his technique, but encouraged me to keep going up. I didn't get 100 kg tonight, but, watching the video clip, I pulled it plenty high enough to make the lift. And Hank thinks my pull is good enough for 110 right now if I improve my focus during the dive and improve my catch positioning. I included clips of each of our last few sets. By comparison, I appear really loose and a little all over the place, but it gives me a good visual of where I can improve.

Snatch

4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1,

Snatch Pull

2, 2, 2, 2

Back Squat

4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 2

Interestingly, he told me tonight that it's the mental side of it that he really enjoys. Like, how losing concentration for just a split second could mean he pushes the bar 2 centimeters out during the second pull and thus results in a missed catch at the top. Honestly, his attitude toward training is inspiring. He truly does it because he loves it. He's intense when he's on the platform or under the bar, giving it an honest 100% every lift, but in between he was light hearted and intent on helping me improve. As I've expounded on before, finding your purpose for training is perhaps the most important way to ensure you will continue to do it. Whether it's competition, sense of fulfillment, doctors orders, even vanity... Finding that one purpose that will drive you makes all the difference. Hank's is sport. He loves the sport of weightlifting. Even though he doesn't compete anymore, he continues to "play," thus continuing to stay fit and to live strong.

Amen to that.

Rest Day

I went back to the beach today and read & relaxed. Did some stretching in the sand, but mostly just laid around. It was a beautiful day to just be outside away from other people.

Sep 20, 2009

ERG it

So I went in to meet with the owner of L.K.V., who, it turns out, doesn't want to work out with me. However, he did want to introduce me to Hank. Hank is the last remaining member of the #1 Dutch Weightlifting Club in Holland to still train at the gym. The rest have either moved away or become too busy with family, work, etc. to continue coming in regularly. So, of the original 10 or so, Hank is the last man standing. He's still young, very strong, and ultra nice. He brings his 5 year old son to the gym to watch him workout, which I thought was pretty cool.

Anyways, he agreed to train with me consistently Monday nights! I think, along with the help of the owner, this could be an incredible opportunity to learn from some serious Olympic lifters. Now if I could just get some shoes....

My workout today was simple:

5000 meter row for time.

I'd never done a distance longer than 2k, so this was a little scary, and pretty challenging. Having no real frame of reference, I set my goal time at 20 minutes. I was able to finish well under that, at 19:17. I think, when I do this again, a better goal will be 19, and maybe eventually under 18. I definitely felt my legs and back from the squats yesterday, but my heart and lungs held out fine. It was good to get a solid pure endurance effort in... there haven't been enough lately.

From Sep 19, 2009

AM...PM

In the morning...

I was back at Ankerpark doing bodyweight work. The workout was 5 rounds, no time, and no rest.

1 L rope climb

maximum pushups

5 dead free hanging situps

The situps were done from a chain cargo net and were pretty uncomfortable, even with t shirts wrapped around the chain. And they were a LOT harder than a GHD situp. Because the chain swings, its almost impossible to get any rhythm. Also, youre pulling vertically without any fulcrum under your butt. I'm going to work on making it more comfortable for the shins and do lots of these.

I followed this workout with 20, 15, 10, 5, 10, 15, 20 kipping pullups to finish. Took 1 minute rest between sets.

In the evening...

Max effort squat.

3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1

I finished at 185 kg (407lb) but I felt a little touch from the spotter so I don't think it counts for a new PR.

Perhaps the biggest news, the owner of the gym has been jabbering at me in unintelligible Dutch the past few weeks, and it turns out that he wants me to come train with him on Saturday mornings. So I'm going to go in tomorrow and see what I can glean from him. Apparently he used to split snatch 130 kg and split clean and jerk 170 kg. Eeker...

Rest Day

Woke up pretty sore today. My calves were knotted, and my legs felt very fatigued. I went to L.K.V. and sat in their whirlpool (yes, they have a whirlpool!) for 15 minutes, then stretched my legs and core for 20 minutes. Felt much better afterwards. Hopefully I'll sleep well tonight, big plans for tomorrow.

From Week 2

AM...PM

In the morning...

Weighted stair sprints.

In the absence of sandbags, I've had to get creative. This morning, I took my duvet cover off my comforter and filled it with dirty laundry, heavy jackets, and every pair of pants I own, wrapped it up tight and carried it to the Burcht. The bag probably weighed about 35-40 lbs. Once there, I did 10 sets of stair sprints carrying the load across my back. The rest interval was the walk down: no stopping at any time, no dropping the bag.

From Sep 16, 2009

From Sep 16, 2009

From Sep 16, 2009

In the evening...

The Lullaby. This workout put me out. Building on a AMRAP variation borrowed from Crossfit Coronado, I did 5 power snatches at the top of every minute, followed by AMRAP burpees for the remainder of the minute. I continued this progression until I reached 100 burpees. As soon as this happened, I transitioned to 5 OH squats at the top of every minute, followed by AMRAP double unders for the remainder of the minute. I continued this progression until I reached 500 double unders. It took me 23:27 to finish. I'd love to see someone do it in under 20 minutes. The weight for the snatches and OH squats is 45 kilos (100 lbs).

Ankerpark

Back at the dog park, I wanted to lay off the lower body a bit. This workout required a lot grip and arm strength because the bars were thick.

5 rounds for time:

5 pullup

1 muscle up

5 bar dips

5 handstand pushup

I finished in 8:04 and coudn't move my hands. The muscle ups got really sloppy, as did the HSPUs. Doing this actually gave me an idea for another workout using the jungle gym that I'm definitely going to come back and try.

From Week 2

Go Heavy

Today's workout was originally intended to consist of max weight thrusters and max weight pullups, followed by Fran with prescribed weight. However, L.K.V. de Spartaan does not have a single free standing pullup bar. The closest thing was a combination pullup bar/roman chair/dip apparatus which obviously would not support kipping. So, I scrapped the Fran in favor of weighted good mornings and knees to elbows. Disappointing, but not shocking.

On the upside, I did well on both the thrusters and the pullups, getting 105 kgs and 50 kgs, respectively. (The pullup bar had cheap handles that wouldn't stop rotating, making this infinitely more difficult, but also uniquely challenging). I included video footage of my 5 thruster attempts below.

Active Rest Day

Today I went to the coast and hiked around the dunes at Noordwijk beach, listened to music, and relaxed. Found some good spots for a sand workout in the future, so stay tuned for that.

It felt good to get into some open space and just let my brain go. I think this is undervalued, generally. It's indisputable that intense training wears on your mind as well as your muscles, making it harder to concentrate and get up for big physical challenges. This goes to the heart of the varied intensity training philosophy. Just as the volume of physical work should vary between low medium and high during the course of a given week and a given training cycle, so should the volume of mental work vary. I believe that when people plateau or burn out, it's largely a result of mental exhaustion. Therefore, days like today are really important. For me, they recharge my nervous system, relieve my stress, and get me itching for the next big thing.

From Week 2

The Gravensteen

So this morning I got up early and jogged to The Gravensteen, which means Castle of the Count. It's a building that now houses the international office of Leiden University, but originally it was home to members of the Dutch aristocracy. At some point in the interim, it was the prison, court of law, and site of execution for all of Leiden. This fact struck me as incredible. The international office (where my academic fate is ultimately decided) is essentially renting space from death row. A potentially ominous sign for my studies here. The only way to karmically balance this situation, in my estimation, was to pay my tax in sweat, and hope the ghosts of Dutchmen past were appeased.

Using an old fisherman rope (15 lbs) I found near the river bank earlier in the week, I constructed this workout:

With additional weight (vest, rope, etc) do 3 rounds for time:

20 strict pullups

10 pistol squats (each leg)

run 200 meters

Upon reflection, that's a lot of strict pullups with weight. By the final set I was mostly doing singles. Also, the bar I used was square. Tough on the hands after that many repetitions. The pistol squats took forever towards the end. I kept losing my balance falling backwards/sideways as the rope shifted on my shoulders.

Overall, this workout was challenging from a strength and technique perspective, but not in terms of stamina. I think I could have finished in under 10 minutes if I could've gotten the pistols down a little better. Either way, the location was incredible. Almost eerie it was so quiet. Will be a challenge finding places to top the Gravensteen.

From Desktop

AM...PM

In the morning....

4 mile run. Got up early and ran the perimeter of Leiden Centrum (central Leiden), passing by many wonderful historic sites. The city is bordered on all sides by water, so it forms a natural loop that is fairly easy to follow. Only bummer about this route is that it's very flat. I would like to find somewhere to run that has hills, but apparently they don't exist in the Netherlands.

In the evening....

3,3,3,3,3 bench press followed by 1,1,1,1,1 elevated bench row. I was going for the maximum weight possible on each and recorded the top successful sets. I finished at 130 kg (286 lb) on the press and 100 kg (220 lb) on the row. Finished with 3 sets of 30 situps and back extensions.

From My First Week

From My First Week

Rest Day

How to Eat Healthy for cheap in Leiden...

This has been more of a process than I anticipated. Honestly, coming in, finding food was the least of my concerns. But as soon as I moved into my place I knew it was an oversight. The kitchen situation is minimalist: 2 electric burners, 2 square feet of counter space, and a miniature refrigerator (with no freezer space beyond ice trays). Needless to say, the days of microwavable brown rice and frozen vegetables were long gone. And no oven, no grill.

The first week was full of trial and error with local grocers, i.e. buying too much food, buying shitty food, not understanding the labels on anything, and struggling to use foreign currency. However, now that we're into week 2, I think I've hit my stride. Every Wednesday and Saturday, I've discovered, local growers and merchants sell nuts, produce, meat, eggs, fish, bread, cheese, sweets, and pretty much anything else you can imagine along either side of the Rijn river that runs through the middle of town. The earlier in the day, the more expensive the prices. (Also, the better the pickings) With my fridge situation, a 3 day menu is about the most I can handle anyways, so the wed/sat is perfect. Yesterday I bought bell peppers (red,green,yellow), spinach, avocado, blueberries, bananas, Oude Kaas ("Old cheese", and the best cheese you've ever had), a small bag of potatoes, 1 kilogram of salmon, 3 chicken breasts, a dozen farm fresh eggs, and about a kilogram of an assorted raw nut trail mix (walnuts, almonds, cranberries, and god know what else). My fridge is at max capacity, but there's nothing superfluous and all of it will be gone by the weekend. Anyways, the best part is that all of this cost me about 35 euro, 15 of which was the salmon and chicken. When added to the non-perishables I got in bulk at the natural foods store (brown rice, cous-cous, canned kidney and black beans, lentils, salt, pepper, hot sauce, dressing) and some greek yogurt, I'm completely set. Every morning I'm able to scramble eggs with peppers, spinach, cheese, avocado and potatoes. Every night I alternate between fish and chicken with salad and grains. Snacks are combinations of yogurt, nuts, and fruit, plus leftovers. I've been frequenting a sandwich shop just about every afternoon when I'm out and about, but all their food is fresh as well. All in all, it's like I've been forced into a more agrarian, paleolithic diet than I've ever had because of INaccessibility and my INability to store things. Kind of ironic that the more choices we have, the worse ones we make, and vice versa.

From My First Week

The Room that Time Forgot

This is a look inside the L.K.V. de Spartaan Olympic lifting room that I anticipate will be housing a lot of my strength and heavier metcon training. Was feeling the hips from the bear crawling and the back from the deadlifts. Good thing tomorrow will be for rest.

The workout was 10 minutes, As Many Rounds As Possible of five 185lb Push Jerks and 50 Double Unders. This absolutely gassed me. I was able to complete 7 rounds, plus 1 additional Jerk.

AM...PM

In the morning...

10 rounds for time:

10 pullups

20 pushups

30 squats

I did this at a local park, Ankerpark. It's essentially an underused playground that now is populated mostly by dog walkers. Going to save this location for better videos in the future- lots of cool stuff to be done here. My time was 14:00.

In the evening...

Deadlift Bulgarian progression (10 sets with the repetitions as follows):

3,2,1,3,2,1,2,1,1,1

The idea is to start at around 50% of your 1 rep max, add 5% per set, and finish at that max or just over it. If you make your last set, continue adding weight and do singles until you fail. I finished at 200 kg (440 lb).

I did this at L.K.V. de Spartaan, my new home for weight training and olympic lifting. This is the 4th and final gym I was able to find in Leiden. Didn't show up on a google search-- I actually got lucky at the student gym (all 50 square feet of it) when some guy saw me doing hang cleans and recommended I check it out. I don't want to spoil the visual by describing it too fully here, but, suffice it to say, it's a rare beauty.

From Sep 8, 2009_2

7am at The Burcht

Found this place on one of my lost adventures getting to know Leiden. Figured it would be a good spot for my first workout, being that it's historical and simple. It's very cool and always open. Just me and the garbage men at 0700. Here's the workout...

5 rounds of:

Stair sprint up (30 steps if skipping stairs)

5 burpees

Bearcrawl down (60 steps)

5 burpees

The Reason For This Site

For the past 3 years I've lived an almost exclusively physical existence. I worked as a personal trainer, competed in various competitive athletic endeavors including several adventure races, a marathon, the Crossfit Games, and pretty much ate, slept, and breathed fitness. For these things I am not in the least bit ashamed. On the contrary, I am proud. Some of my more intellectual brethren have failed to see the importance or lasting value in committing so much time and effort to activities that essentially amount to a simple, albeit efficient, caloric burn. So, being the responsive, open-minded student of theory that I am, I asked myself, "What is it that I enjoy so much about fitness?"

Answers came fast and loud.

There's the scientific knowledge that I'm preparing myself for a lifetime of health and strength, curbing my chances of contracting a whole myriad of ailments like heart disease, diabetes, even certain types of cancer. There's the physiological response, a sort of competitive cocktail, that occurs when raw adrenaline and exercise-induced endorphins mix with the fear of failure and the joy of success. If you've been there, you know what I mean-- "sense of accomplishment" doesn't quite cover it.

Then there's something else. It's a bit deeper down and was a little harder for me to put my finger on. I'm not sure everyone feels it to the same degree, or perhaps some just don't recognize it as quickly as others. It's the idea that our bodies were built for action in the same way our minds were built for thought. While our brains were meant to reason, explore, and problem solve, our bodies were designed to stand up to the forces of nature and its many elements. Now, naturally, times have changed and the level to which said strength is a necessity has changed with them. But, as developed and evolved as we are, primitive cortexes and neuro-pathways still exist that really enjoy when the body fulfills its intended purpose. Imagine the feeling you get after you've just watched seasons 1-4 of The Office back to back on dvd; the lethargic, stiff, rooted to the couch, slovenly portrait of modern civilization that now substitutes for your body. Now imagine you're on that same couch, 20 minutes after scaling a climbing wall, or moving 10 yards of dirt from the front yard to the back , or doing 5 rounds of "Fight Gone Bad." You just challenged your body in the physical manner for which it was intended and it responded. Sure, it was painful. Sure, you were convinced half way through that you'd never do it again. But now that it's done...

So, armed with these answers, I concluded that my physical pursuits were not only justifiable in the face of critical scrutiny, they were essential. In order to feel truly fulfilled, I need to be challenged in all aspects. Wherever I am.

Now we come to the real purpose of this blog. I have just begun a History Master's program that will require me to live in several European countries, none of which have the available resources for fitness that exist in the United States. Without going into too much detail, the culture over here isn't exactly what it is in America. This presents an interesting problem, for as I will obviously be engaging the mental side of things, I won't have access to many of the traditional physical outlets from home, leaving me potentially and woefully imbalanced. As this is unacceptable, I have made it my mission to put together a user's guide for staying fit in circumstances such as these by tracing my path over the course of the next year. I will seek out local gyms and Crossfit affiliates. Where there are none, I will go to parks, churches, etc.

I intend to maintain a regimented schedule similar to that which I kept back in Washington. If at any time, people have ideas, suggestions, or local knowledge, please share it. Also, if anyone can get Cricky over here to train with me, that would be great. I will try to post pictures and videos of the workouts as often as I can.