First, thank you for following along. This will be an ongoing conversation about health and physical training that began for me in the Summer of 2008 at age 38. There was a catastrophic injury and a long rehab. That rehab was the first commitment I had made toward my own fitness in some 15 years.
I am a kettlebell enthusiast and certified instructor of kettlebell skills. My training on shiny white machines stagnated until I found a new motivation in moving myself and simple pieces of iron in the Summer of 2009. What followed has been an exciting and interesting discovery in strength and well-being that continues to this day.
Every few months some men's magazine or website will present "15 physical skills every man should have". 15 pullups, 25 pushups, run 5 miles, carry someone your weight up two flights of stairs, that sort of thing. Useful stuff for getting out from under a motorcycle or into an open window overhead or carrying an injured comrade to safety. There are strong, rippling monsters of manhood that cannot do a pullup or touch their toes. There are people who can run a marathon but cannot carry a heavy load up stairs, and vice versa. The day I handed my walker to my nurse and clambered up two flights of stairs because the elevator was broken, I committed to be more physically fit. Here we go.
-j