Fight or Flight

Getting a little better at both

Reflecting

When the thin veneer of civilization gets stripped away, it happens quickly.  You need to make a call to fight like hell or run like hell.  It is worth it to be as comfortable as possible with both. 

• Fight?  It is good to spend time at the shooting range.  It is better to spend time in 3-d environments where you can train more dynamically.  A test of whether you are in the right place for functional training?  It is the same for shooting and lifting: can you drop whatever you need to?  In a fight, an empty mag (even my beloved Surefire magazines) is scrap metal once it is empty.  You let those things hit the ground when you’re combat reloading.  An overhead press isn’t really your heaviest unless you can just let it go.  If your facility doesn’t let you drop mags/weights, it isn’t really that realistic.   If you live in or near Fairfield/Westchester counties and want to train realistically, here is an upcoming course that can point you in the right direction.  Meanwhile lots of great stuff going on in the jiu jitsu world this month with Alvaro Romano the founder of ginastica natural doing a seminar this Saturday followed up by Roger Gracie doing a seminar two days later.  Ammo is expensive so learn jiu jitsu.

• Flight?  This past weekend was a bunch of running around with my folding saw, clearing trails for this upcoming weekend’s run.  The full sized Silky Katanaboy is almost as fast as a chainsaw and much lighter, so optimal for clearing trails. 

Training

This morning’s whiteboard: 7 Rounds not for time

• 3 deadlifts as heavy as possible

• 60 second weighted plank with 45 pound plates

• 9 heels elevated goblet squats as heavy as possible

Then afterword: Monday Max Effort Lower

• Yoke walk 15 minutes to a heavy 50ft

• Romanian deadlifts with banded kettlebell 3x15

• Anderson squats 3 x 12

• Glute ham raises 4 x 8 (possibly my weakest exercise)

• Weighted march on the belt squat 4 x 1:00 holding dumbbells with fat grips

• 100 standing abs using GHD

It was my favorite day of CrossFit so far.  It had everything:  feeling progress, revealing holes, finding limits, and just showing up to learn how to be better.  The environment cultivates authentic relationships because there is nowhere to hide.  They call CrossFit gyms “boxes” and in this case it is literally that – a big black hanger with weights, bars, ropes, and a big American flag.  Everyone sees your strengths, weaknesses, and quirks.  Your true self is fully on display, for better or for worse, broken down to its core without pretense.  We have the common bond of suffering to get fitter.  That commonality is stronger than all the things that make us different.  I am not there for friends, yet have found it the best environment for making them as an unintended consequence. 

Fueling

I try to pull from a diverse variety of sources, but Dr. Paul Saladino is the one most aligned with my thoughts on optimal fueling.  What I eat in a day: Detailed nutritional analysis is particularly worth listening to.   

Supplementing

I was not looking to add to my supplement stack and instead would like to simplify, but I found How CoQ10 Supports Heart Health, Prevents Migraines, And Improves Cognition so compelling that I’ve added 100 mgs of Ubiquinol CoQ10.

Measuring

I’m posting this to keep myself intellectually honest and accountable but wish there were more progress to show.  BMR is one I strongly want to improve as a key health marker.  It takes time and I am impatient.  My fictitious version would be reporting that I gained fifteen pounds of muscle mass while keeping body fat beneath 10%.  But that is why I weigh myself each day to preclude lying to myself.  You only care about what you measure so measure frequently enough to allow for small course corrections.  Big problems are small problems that you don’t address head on.       

Recovering

It can’t always be fight or flight.  The associated cortisol spikes are only healthy if temporary.  And you need more recovery than a nine hour sleep opportunity window (although that is a requisite start).  Train hard then feel fully justified in relaxing as a wholly legitimate part of health and fitness.  It is a great time of year to build a raging fire in the fireplace, stretch out, and read my youngest son a story.  Currently we’re both loving this series by SAS Sgt. Colin Armstrong who writes under the name Chris Ryan. 

Closing

Thanks for subscribing!  Next stop: 600.