December 20, 2005
The Quest
As the new year approaches I find myself reflecting on this year (2005) and the changes and challenges it brought. One of the biggest lifestyle changes that occurred this year was a decision to get in better physical shape. Luckily, my fitness urges happened to coincide with both my wife and best friend Dax also starting new workout programs. The additional encouragement and inspiration provided by them has helped me stick to my plans, and I am already in much better shape.
This blog entry attempts to describe my current state of fitness so that I can properly track my progress through the year:
In June of this year (2005) Guru Labs bought gym memberships for most of the employees. I began a weight training program at that time and at least had some form of workout one or two times a week for the last 6 months. I have treated this time as learning time and have been actively working towards putting together a well thought out training program.
Getting up early in the morning and lifting heavy things is not my idea of fun; so I want to make absolutely sure that I get near optimal gains for my efforts. To that end, I have spent a great deal of time studying so that I can design an efficient program that will help me meet my training goals as quickly as possible. I have read a dozen or so books, and numerous online articles (I hope to post reviews of my favorite books/authors some time soon). One of the most important things that I learned during my study was that the human body often has very specific and targeted adaptations to the demands placed on it. In short, different types of training can lead to very different results.
Knowing that you train quite differently depending on the results you want, I have had to give serious thought to what results I want. I must admit that my first thought was that "I want to get big!" However, the more I studied bodybuilding, the more I realized that even though it would be fun to have big bulging muscles, this was not really what I was after.
I have always been fascinated by gymnasts, acrobats, dancers, and martial artists that seemed to have such powerful mastery of their bodies. The combination of incredible strength and balance needed to perform some of their feats holds great attraction for me. Some time ago I saw the following video of a "break dancing badass":
Break Dancing Bad-ass
The entire performance was amazing to watch, but the thing that grabbed me was right near the end of the clip when he does several consecutive planche pushups (pushups with both feet held horizontally in the air behind him by body strength alone!). I have shown this video clip to a dozen or so people, and every one of them has had roughly the same glassy eyed, slack jawed, "Damn! I didn't even think the human body was capable of that" reaction.
After watching that video clip, I began scowering the Internet to find out if this guy was just a genetic freak, or if this kind of strength was within the reach of anyone dedicated enough to obtain it. This journey of research has led me into an entire subculture of people pushing themselves to do all kinds of amazing things. From one arm chin-ups and pushups, to single arm handstand presses, to splits in suspension, to bending nails and bolts with their bare hands... After much study and contemplation, I have come to the conclusion that the great majority of these feats are within the grasp of nearly anyone who wants them badly enough!
My quest that began with vague desires of being more fit, has evolved into a growing passion to push myself to levels I previously viewed (in my naivety) as simply unobtainable.
Posted by bcroft at December 20, 2005 11:54 AM