Keeping It Interesting

I'll never forget the day I was working at a summer camp and the students there were in the throes of a water fight. There were a handful of kids that were kind of standing off to the side awkwardly. They wanted to get involved but it almost seemed like they didn't know how. My buddy, Noah, leaned over to me and said "Grady, we are the last of a dying breed". He meant that we were the last of a class of kids that was encouraged to go play outside. One that our parents didn't always know where we were and frankly, they were happy about it. It meant that we were outside making a mess instead of inside making a mess.

Now, before I go off and start sounding like an old man: The truth is that Noah was a couple years older than me. I was very much on the fringe of that class. I was a bit more protected than him. I was softer.

The last video game system I owned was a Play Station 2. And while we may still be a few years away from seeing one hung on the wall at Cracker Barrel, I’m proud to say that most kids would consider it an antique today. It means it’s been that long since I’ve been consumed by such a machine. I’ve found better, more constructive forms of entertainment. They’re called WODs.

Here's an example of a Spartan WOD

When we post a workout, you may find yourself wondering where we get these crazy ideas and why we would subject ourselves to more than one round of burpees. Well I’m about to reveal the secret: I’m a subscriber to the Spartan WOD. In fact, when you see a photo of my workout log with “SWOD” written across the top, that’s an indicator that the routine came from that day’s Spartan WOD”

WOD Stands for Workout Of the Day. It was a term popularized by Crossfit and it is a novel idea. I like the Spartan WODs mostly because they are e-mailed directly to my inbox every morning around 1:00 and they are like a little idea tap to take advantage of each morning. Also, they rarely require equipment. A good running track or an athletic field with a pull-up bar and most of the time you are good to go.

If you are looking for a place to start working out, allow me to suggest this WOD from back on August 26th. It’s a lower intensity workout and a great way to get a taste of one of my favorite ways to train. So go get to it. I promise you won’t get bored.

Setting The Bar

I'm not too good at pull ups.

It’s not a motivational thing, it’s a gravitational thing.

At 205 pounds, gravity pulls harder than my arms and back are able to.

There is nothing quite as disheartening as looking up at a pull up bar and knowing exactly how this is going to go. I’m going to jump up, hang on for dear life and pull… pull… pull… and if I’m lucky, I’ll get to where my chin juuuust touches the top of the bar before my old buddy gravity begins to win his battle of tug-of war. Then I’ll drop back to the ground, catch my breath, wait for Flux Pavillion to drop the bass (it happens at 0:34), and jump up to start the process over again.

But just like Nick, I couldn’t beat a 10 minute mile a just few years ago. And after a few short months of sticking to it, I’m able to run several miles in a row at a better than 10 minute pace. If you’re not reading The Art of ManlinessThe Art of Manliness may I suggest you start? You’ll be seeing a lot of references to them in my posts. Specifically this article. I utilize a lot of these techniques when doing pull-ups now to strengthen my arms and back so that soon I will be able to crank them out.

had to change it up a bit tonight and work out on the soccer field
burpees in the dirt and pull ups on the goal

As a guy who can’t do more than 2 pullups in a row, I can think of a few choice words to describe today’s workout:

3 Rounds

10 burpees

5 burpee pull-ups

3 burpee pull-ups with knee raises

15 crunches

10 laying leg raises

5 hanging knee raises

I took my sweet time, but I got it done.

Fitness is all about goal setting. One of my many goals is to be able to do at least 10 pull ups before my child is due to be born on February 14th, 2014. I have a lot of work to do. But gravity isn't getting any stronger and all these miles we will be running ought to weaken his grip a little. With continued cross training, I ought to be there with no problems.