Lone Wolves Starve

Rugged individualism is a myth

Reflecting

The sign above the door at the gym reads:

Strength is a Choice.

So is working.  So is saving.  So is everything that matters.  I’d like the consequences of my choices and would like to leave others with theirs.  Taking on joint and several liability with 336 million strangers seems like an obviously terrible idea – a bad trade but also corrupting.  They should count on themselves.  You should count on yourself.  If you rely on the yourself for as much as possible, you’ll be happier, safer, and less frequently disappointed than if you wait for strangers to bail you out. 

And yet, those of us who are repelled by coercive claims on our liberty and property are too quick to gravitate towards the idea of rugged individualism.  Sure, if you can defend your home, educate your kids, save for your retirement, and privately contract for whatever services you want, you don’t need the government for much.  But the problem with government is the coercion, it isn’t working within a community that sacrifices for each other. 

Find your pack.  Join a tribe.  The most rugged frontier communities in the harshest environments look out for one another.  Find people that can and will put in as much as you do.  When it comes to health and fitness, my experience is that joining small voluntarily organized groups is far more effective than going it alone.  In theory, I could run, lift, and shoot on my own (grappling is another matter).  In practice, isolation lacks the schedule, accountability, and discipline that I need.  I’m not that effective or happy with a whole 24 hours to casually wander between activities, sucking at each one.  I get so much more done with time blocked out where I monotask on a single focus with people dedicated to the same pursuit.

If you go through your day asking yourself what you feel like doing at that moment, you’ll be ineffective and miserable because you’ll constantly question yourself.  Instead show up at groups with standards worth holding yourself to.  You are right to hate strangers dictating arbitrary infringements on your rights, but you don’t actually want to be free to be ruggedly individualist.  You should want to be your own dictator.  You should want to join groups that sacrifice for each other made up of people who can make that a good deal for you. 

Training

This morning’s white board –

Every 3:00 x6:

• Row 20 Cals

• 15 Burpees

• AMRAP Ski for the Remaining Time

Most people today are pantywaist. Exercise is good for you.

- Emma Gatewood, first solo female AT thru-hiker (1955)

The current Appalachian Trial speed record is Karel Sabbe’s 41 days, 7 hours, and 39 minutes.  Here’s Karel on top of Saddleback Mountain (too foggy to see but Rangeley Lake where my family has spent our summers for four generations is in the background):

But his record on this 2,189 mile course featuring 465,000 feet of vertical gain or sixteen Mount Everests may be about to fall.  I’m supporting Kristian “Captain” Morgan’s attempt next month.  He’s done it in 44 days, 4 hours, and 54 minutes so “just” needs to knock off three days.  Hard but surmountable.  I’ll update as we get closer and hope to cheer him on when he runs through Rangeley.  You’ll be able to track progress here.  What does it take?  55 miles, 6 hours of sleep, and 8,000 calories per day for over five weeks.

Fueling

I take a vitamin every day—it's called a steak.

- Jim Harbaugh

This one is from our college friend Mary Heffernan of Five Marys Farms.  Everything about Five Marys is delightful; their ranch is beautiful, animals are well cared for, meats are top tier, and their cookbooks have ideas that my family has loved. 

Supplementing

L-Theanine helps me sleep.  It is also useful to take whenever drinking anything with caffeine to help counteract caffeine jitters.  Taken together, the combination contributes to calm energy.

Measuring

The easiest way to track your body composition is with a home InBody smart scale.  Just get one, weigh in each morning, and you’ll know exactly where you are and what you need to do with nutrition.  They just had a cool update on their app which records all of your stats as a background to a photo, so you can see progress over time in both the photos and the numbers.  Worth it. 

Recovering

Most mornings before our workout of the day, we roll out our muscles with a foam roller.  My favorite one is the RumbleRoller.  It is a bit intense at first but you can breath through the discomfort and the texture makes it dig deeper into the muscles. 

Closing

Thanks for participating in the last post’s poll.  This past week, most Vale Tudo subscribers lifted weights, prioritized protein, and tracked your weight.  About half are supplementing with creatine.  Keep up the good work.