“Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”Steve Jobs / Whole Earth Catalog

Today (May 2), I am celebrating my 27th birthday, and it seems like as a good a time as any to stop and reflect on my life. I wish I could easily provide people with some great insight on life, provide some ultimate lesson I have learned or just generally be more helpful to whomever happens to read this.

When I was graduating from college, I don’t clearly remember the speech that was given or whom actually gave it. I do however recall the premise of the speech: never stop learning. It is important lesson to learn. Coupled with the lesson I learned when I started college – which to summarize and save the story for another day was to: roll with the punches.

If you’re learning everyday, and rolling with the punches that are thrown at you by life, you’re going to learn your own lessons. You will have your own scars, experiences and stories. And you will have advice for the people that seek it from you. Every year, as I get older, it is inevitable that people ask me – what advice would I tell my younger self?

If I could tell my younger self any one thing it would be: Don’t believe or accept the rhetoric of others, regardless of how laconic it is – it is either complete horseshit because they just don’t know or something you cannot hope to truly understand until you experience it. Navigate through your own personal hurricane of confusion to find peace and know that without storms you cannot have calm.

Maybe in another 27 years I will have something profound to say, I doubt it. I will still have so much left to learn.

Photo credit Jay Callaghan

So it was no wonder I found this in the new Warrior Cardio book by Martin Rooney. I found that I gravitated directly to the Kettlebell material. I have been doing kettlebell swings in the morning, it is a really simple exercise to do. The intention of the complexes in the book is to create a “metabolic disturbance”. Ideally you want to complete the set of exercises in 60 or so seconds, with good form for each exercise. As you can imagine, speed and form will give to weight, so you won’t be lifting heavy at first.

So far I have tried some of the several complexes offered in the book for kettlebells, and I must admit that it surprised me how difficult they turned out to be. My first experience was on one of the bigger complexes of 8 exercises. Due to my unfamiliarity with the sequence, and having to check notes for the exercises I averaged about 3 minutes per complex. It was still a work out, and I had developed quite the sweat.

My next attempt were much more successful, but with smaller complexes. I completed two of the complexes for three rounds each. With added rest time, and time to show those who joined in with me, I managed to get a complete weight and cardio workout in 15 minutes. I also was hitting the one minute mark for each sequence. It should be noted, the sequences were much smaller than the one of my first attempt, with four and three exercises respectfully.

This is something I really recommend you try, either with a couple of Kettlebells or a set of weights and a barbell. I will continue to use these, and will work them into my workouts moving forward. I will mix and match them as well, and provide those match ups and thoughts on them right here.

With the warmer weather on the way I plan to begin jogging as well. In the late summer last year, when I first rescued Felix, I was jogging almost every morning. This continued into the late fall until I developed some injuries, and then it became hazardous to continue – damn ice and snow. With some unseasonable warm weather this past month, I have been partaking in doggie play dates with several other people that I hope to continue as well.

I have now finished all the way up to Book 7 of the Walking Dead, and currently have the Rise of the Governor to read. I aim to read that before the fall, when Season 3 of the Television show starts airing. After completing the Flinch by Julien Smith, he offered / recommended two other free ebooks. I still have yet to read the Falling While Sitting Down: Stories, but enjoyed the bit size action of How to Be Remarkable. Similar to The Flinch, nothing revolutionary but still an enjoyable and quick easy to pick up and put down read.

It is sad to say that this may be the first summer in a long time that I don’t play any hockey, ball or ice. Given the problems I have had with my arches, I don’t want to commit to ball hockey or hurt myself playing ball hockey. And the only ice hockey I can find it either a decent drive, and the price of gas has me considering not playing, or in direct competition with Jiu Jitsu times. I may still play pickup hockey once a week, recently I have become pretty frustrated with that.

The freelancing has been slow, but I am fine with that. I don’t have the interest I once did in it, as my interest have clearly been in other places. And I am beginning to focus on some other personal projects as well. Those ‘personal projects’ have mostly consisted of me, but soon will consist of my other website.

At any rate, 2012 has been shaping up to be a good year. I’ve tried things already I’d never considered before, and been to places I’ve never been. And I look to continue that moving forward into the rest of the year. Follow me on twitter to keep up on what I am doing.

Deadlift

Deadlift can be intimating, but it works so much of the body and is so beneficial it can’t be ignored. Always start with the bar on the floor. Stand with the bar above the center of your feet - your stance should be a bit more narrow than shoulder-width to give your arms room. Grab the bar and bend through your knees, touching the bar with your shins. Lift your chest, but don’t squeeze your shoulder-blades together, just pull shoulders back and down. Finally pull – keep the bar close to your body, roll it over your knees and thighs until your hips and knees are locked. Do not lean back at the top.

Deadlifts are good for:

• a total body exercise! Often recommended as one of the bigger of the three you need to do (Squat and Benchpress being the other.)
• it works every muscle in your body’s lower half and can even work your lats and upper back

Equipment: Weight Set. (lifting bar, plates)
Try this: 5 reps for 5 sets.

Kettlebell Swings

Stand with your feet shoulder–width apart and holding the kettlebell handle in both hands. Keep your weight spread evenly through your heels and forefoot. Bend your knees and descend into a quarter squat and push your hips back. Lean forwards and lower the weight between your knees. Keeping your arms straight, your shoulders back and without rounding your back, thrust your hips forwards and swing the kettlebell up to your preferred height (typically about chin height). Allow gravity to pull the kettlebell back down as you push you butt back, bend your knees, and get ready for another swing.

The kettlebell swing is important for things like

• works the abs and strengthen the core muscles better then a traditional crunch
• train all the muscles of the back, from the lower back to the traps, together for a more functional workout
• higher rep swings will develop back endurance (good for reduction of back injuries)
• fantastic conditioner and body fat burner

Equipment: Kettlebell(s)
Try this: 75 reps (1 set preferably, 2 – 3 if needed), 2 – 3 times a week, 10 – 20 minutes

Push ups

The old classic. Pretty simple, yet here is a brief description: Lie prone on the ground with hands placed as wide or slightly wider than shoulder width. Keeping the body straight, lower body to the ground by bending arms at the elbows. Raise body up off the ground by extending the arms. Repeat. Body weight should be lifted by the arms; don’t be tempted to use your butt, stomach or the lower half of your body to pull yourself up. To maintain correct body alignment, imagine a straight line running from your head down to your ankles.

The push up is important, it is one of the basic, most common exercises for the human body.

• equivalent to benching about 60% of your body weight
• great for chest, shoulders, triceps and core.
• good for conditioning muscles.

Equipment: None
Try this: one hundred push ups

Do or do not… there is no try. Yoda, Star Wars

Damn, why is this so hard? All I wanted to do is write like 350 or 400 words about how I’ve recently been self sabotaging and slowly become my own worse enemy. I must have started this post a half dozen times and each time I’ve erased the first paragraph and started again. Trying to get the enlightened, perfect lead-in well attempting to be funny and witty and that junk.

Well to hell with it – because each and every time I do it, I just spend time trying to think about what I want to write and failing at actually writing anything. And that has certainly been a theme for me as of late, as I continually self sabotage my efforts in various areas of my life. Be it weight loss, or work or just generally feeling good. Heck, I totally flaked out on some paying freelance work (Jesse, if you’re reading this, I am sorry about that).

This at a time when the freelancing has kinda dried up. I mean I understand that some people have hired more permanent solutions, or have people available at better times for them. When I got the opportunity I chose to not take advantage of it. This is no ones fault but my own. And it isn’t like it is the first time. Even early this month, I was creeping in on the 200 pound mark and feeling great. And then I started falling into the old eating habits.

And now I am back to half of what I started the new year at. Not such a big deal, but I would love to break the 200 point mark and maintain that weight. I have two personal projects that I would love to get to and work on. However, a lack of motivation and inspiration is my issue for that. I would rather spend my off time playing games like Starcraft or on my Xbox then actually accomplishing anything.

Not that playing games are such a bad thing, I think it is important to help me relax. They also work my mind in a different way. But I have those personal projects that I could at least just chip away at, one of which has been sitting for well over a year now. At least now I can cross writing something off my list, as I have officially cranked out something.

Picture Tweeted by @ganeca

We don’t know how to cope with stress and boredom in a healthy way.
Leo of Zenhabits; The Habits That Crush Us

This week marked the pinnacle of a project and as such launch week for said project. Which is a stressful event for anyone. Add to this my yearly performance review several days later, and it was a heck of a stressful week. Not that I was worried about my review, but still, a stress none the less.

I coped with the stresses the same way I coped with stress week in and week out. I hit the gym, I grappled and I played hockey. Everyday was something a little different. In fact I tweeted a picture of the gym with a time for therapy message. And that is what it is, therapy for me. The reality is whenever the day is rough, I can escape onto the mats, ice or weight room.

Sometimes I have to force myself to do it, other times it is purely out of the habit of it. I mean for the past several years, my life has consisted of the same basic schedule. So the habits are well formed. It is a good alternative too other habits for dealing with stress.

Once upon a time, I would veg on the couch for the night while spending the night watching TV, avoiding the gym, and surfing the Internet. Tired from the stress of the day, and hiding behind that excuse. To say I don’t do that now would be a lie. Sometimes I still find myself aimlessly surfing the Internet.

However those times are  now few and far between and, because I don’t have cable or satellite, I don’t fall into that trap with television. That is why I have these outlets that are also very much habits. They help me cope with stress, and help me with a healthier body. So it is win, win and win.

Here is more information on habits and dealing with stress.

I’ve lived within an hour of some type of ski hill for almost my entire life and yet I’ve never tried to ski or snowboard. It isn’t something the ever interested me, the thought of attaching sticks to my feet and going down hill, whilst dodging trees, just didn’t appeal to me. After reading ‘The Flinch’ by Julian Smith, I decided I want to face these things and try them.

Hence when I was invited to go to Sir Sam’s in Haliburton and try snowboarding, I hesitantly said yes. Even when I got up to the top of the bunny hill, I could feel that nagging feeling of fear and doubt. I didn’t want to fall, I didn’t want to get hurt. So I took a deep breath, and stood up and off I went. Guess what? I fell, multiple times.

But every time I fell, I made it right back up and kept on going. More importantly then that – I had a large smile on my face each and every time. And as the day progressed, the amount of falling I did was slowly declining. I even made my way onto some of the bigger hills! It was quite the experience and something I didn’t think I’d ever partake in or enjoy so much.

It is funny that this comes about the same time that I was finishing up ‘The Flinch’ – abook about facing that exact thing that kept me from doing snowboarding. It holds some valuable lessons, and although a little light and somewhat repetitive, the price is right because it is free. Read my review on Amazon.

I would like to try and get out to do it once again this season, most likely sometime in February. Although I won’t travel nearly as far, maybe I will try Devil’s Elbow or the Batawa Ski Hill. Both of which are much closer, and more of an afternoon opposed to an entire day trip.

So to start , I began with the graphic novels for the Walking Dead series, that the popular TV Show was based on. For Christmas I received The Walking Dead Compendium Volume One, which essentially covers the first four books. Before I began reading, I had some general ideas of how the show had differentiated from the series. I was surprised to see how close the series is followed by the TV Show.

After I past the point in which the show is at, I began to get really into the Compendium. The story began taking some extreme twists and turns. And I have started to really enjoying the series. In fact I have not only purchased, but also finished The Walking Dead Book Five. I could easily purchase the next several books and consume them at the very same rate (in a couple days). But I am going to read some of the other books I have on my shelf before I read The Walking Dead Book Six.

If you’re a fan of the TV Show, I really recommend trying out the graphic novels. The story is similar, well remaining unique enough as to keep you interested and not necessarily spoiling the show. You don’t have to purchase the compendium, it just covers the fist four books. Here is The Walking Dead Book One to help get you started.

And don’t be concerned if you’ve never read or enjoyed graphic novels in the past. I hadn’t read them, they’d never appealed to me. If you haven’t caught the TV Show, I highly recommend that as well. It is currently in mid-season break for Season 2, but you you can purchase Season 1 of The Walking Dead and start catching up immediately.

I’d love to hear from you if you’ve enjoyed the TV Show or the Graphic Novels already. So please leave your comments and let me know. Also feel free to subscribe to my RSS Feed and follow me on Twitter for the latest.

For example – my coffee addiction. I was at one point in early in December I was drinking at least one of several cups of coffee a day. And then I got sick. With a high fever, and then a cold. I started drinking much more tea. Now a month later, I haven’t had a cup of coffee. I am drinking two cups of tea instead. Not all broken habits are good however.

Given how busy I got with holiday stuff, and being sick, I haven’t gotten to much weight lifting in and sort of fallen off that band wagon. Not that I haven’t been inactive, I have been sticking too the jiu-jitsu and played hockey twice a week. But I certainly fell off the bandwagon for weight lifting, and have not made it in even once a week.

Another habit that got butchered pretty severely, as it does with everyone. Plain and simple, I spent the last half of December eating like a giant bag of crap. As I work to change the eating habit and starting weight lifting again, and I continue the good habit of avoiding coffee. I want to continue building good habits.

Because my goals in regards to me don’t have an expiry date – I am the project. Improving me and my habit is what I am doing, and it won’t stop this year, or the next, or the year after that. I’ll be perfect when I am dead.

Me at the OBJJF Championship 2011

“Running to train for a marathon is like being a good person so you can get into heaven. The means is right but the end is all wrong.”
Missing the Point by Ryan Holiday

I love no-gi Brazilian jiu jitsu. I train it three to four days a week. Why do I do it? Well, as for a self defense art goes, it is the most realistic. One of the few you can practice in a safe manor, in a controlled environment. It is also on the best forms of exercise I have ever experienced, and when I originally started that was exactly what I was looking for.

I don’t need to justify it beyond that. I don’t need to earn medals or win fights to make the experience and the hours I spend practicing and training worth anymore then what they are. The reality is I enjoy it, and some of the best friends I’ve made recently are the same ones that will grind elbows and jaws into my softer tissue, and intentionally try to submit me with a joint lock of choke.

Why compete at all?

With that attitude I often get asked why I compete. Well, it is simple: nothing can quite compare to the thrill of victory or the stress of competition. It provides a bench mark for where I am, and allows me another form of practice. In reality, no-gi jiu jitsu is something I am already doing three or four times a week, what is another day?

Don’t get me wrong, I like to win, but I can’t but much value in it. It isn’t the end goal for me. So this weekend, when I competed in the Ontario BJJ Championship and failed to get gold, I was disappointed. But losing isn’t a measure of my worth, I know what I am worth, and I am a big believer of failure leading to success. Because now I know what I need to work on to improve my game, and that was achieved thru competing.

At the end of the day, the reason I go back and continue to train is for the love of the game. It is because it gives me a healthy body, albeit: an often beat up one, and a clear mind. It is my reason to do extracurricular workouts, like running and lifting weights. And that all leads into me being a healthier person, a commitment I have made to myself to help live a very long and healthy life.

Brazillion Jiu Jitsu and fighting in general is allowing me to meet that commitment, well I feel strong and confident  and very aware of my own limits and body. What are you doing to help with that?