Journey, Not A Destination

[MissDFITT]

Hey Steve! Happy belated new year. I have a good feeling about 2009!

I have several questions for you. First off, what is your opinion on P90x? Step and I have been looking into it for the past year or so and are planning on doing it in May. I've read many reviews here and on amazon, all of which being very positive.

Second, is there a way to train to do chin-ups without doing chin ups? From what I gather the 90x program has a strong focus on doing these and I found out today holding myself in air is about as much as I could do, I pulled myself up about 1/8 of the way, but that was it.

As always thanks for your help!

 

[i_love_muscle]

Tomorrow I'm supposed to go with Gordy and a couple of the others who are going to Mt. Washington in February for a night hike in northern PA where we'll camp out. Just to a) build up endurance b) get used to hiking in the dark and c) build up endurance. Don't know if I'm going on this yet either.

You guys have mountains out east? I didn't think you guys actually had any mountains. How high are they?

The mountains here are freaking treacherous unless you're on a trail, and even then you can still have some serious issues unless you're prepared. Some of the trails here are so tough to get around, you'd think they were designed for mountain sheep/goats (the width of where you'd put your foot is sometimes no more than 5-6" and there's not too much to hang on to other than rock). Nobody here would ever hike in the dark because you'd probably die. We set up camp and set out again in the morning.

What kind of trails are these? They must be pretty good.

 

[Steve]

Hey Steve! Happy belated new year. I have a good feeling about 2009!

Thanks

I have several questions for you. First off, what is your opinion on P90x? Step and I have been looking into it for the past year or so and are planning on doing it in May. I've read many reviews here and on amazon, all of which being very positive.

I think it's a nice product for your average person. It's not optimal in my opinion but if you're not into hitting weights traditionally in a gym, it's a fine second choice.

I don't like their coaching programs and I don't like their gimmicky advertising. I also don't like their cult following.

The reason it's gotten such great results for people is b/c people buy into the fad and it's actually one of the few that gets people eating better and exercising with resistance.

Not many do this.

So of course it's going to work better than most others.

If it's something you'd like to try, I see no harm in it.

Second, is there a way to train to do chin-ups without doing chin ups? From what I gather the 90x program has a strong focus on doing these and I found out today holding myself in air is about as much as I could do, I pulled myself up about 1/8 of the way, but that was it.

I'm a fan of eccentric pullups for those who can't do regular pullups.

Simply elevate yourself at the bar with a chair or something of that sort. Start from the raised position and control your decent slowly. From the bottom, help yourself back up with aid of the chair and again do another controlled decent.

We are stronger eccentrically than we are concentrically. Building some eccentric strength will carryover to your concentric ability.

Don't leave out things like pulldowns and rows either.

 

[Steve]

You guys have mountains out east? I didn't think you guys actually had any mountains.

Haha, ya, we have some mountains over here. To some they'd be considered hills, but such is life. The White Mountains up in NH house some of the worst weather in the world though. It's not the height that will get you. It's the weather and temperatures.

That's where we got into some trouble earlier this year. That's where we're going in February coming up.

Check this out:



Last night the temps were well, well below zero and the winds were well above 100 mph.

How high are they?

See above for Mt. Washington.

None on the east coast are above 7000.

The mountains here are freaking treacherous unless you're on a trail, and even then you can still have some serious issues unless you're prepared. Some of the trails here are so tough to get around, you'd think they were designed for mountain sheep/goats (the width of where you'd put your foot is sometimes no more than 5-6" and there's not too much to hang on to other than rock). Nobody here would ever hike in the dark because you'd probably die. We set up camp and set out again in the morning.

What kind of trails are these? They must be pretty good.

Depends on where you go. Where we're going tomorrow is nothing intense. We're going more to get acclimated to the colder temps and just to hang.

Up in the Whites, the trails are treacherous in many places. Especially when there's a dozen feet of snow on the floor. We try not to do much nighttime hiking up there unless we have to.

 

[i_love_muscle]

WOW! That's beautiful country, Steve.

The weather can turn really quickly in higher terrain, and you can really get caught off guard. Sooooooooooo ... Mt. Washington is "Home of the World's Worst Weather", eh?

-50 doesn't sound very nice; neither does 100mph+ winds. After looking at that website, I think I'd rename Mt. Washington to "Mt. I Own Your Ass".

That's horrible. That's worse than you get here in the Rockies. And I bet you actually have humidity where you live. It's as dry as a desert in Calgary. Makes the cold a little easier to cope with because it doesn't get through your bones like the humid cold does.

So you're planning on doing this in February? Isn't that still a little early? I'd be taking at least a day's worth of food on my back ... just in case.

You're brave, Steve!! I'd be too chicken shit to do it in February

 

[Steve]

There's three frontal systems that collide there and the weather is extremely volatile. We climbed it, as well as a few others up there on what's known as the Presidential Traverse in May of 2008.

On the third mountain just before Mt. Washington we got stuck in a terrible snow/rain/sleet/wind storm.

We actually didn't know if we were going to make it out alive.

It was too dark to climb down and there was absolutely no cover since we were above the tree line. We eventually found a cabin up there that's locked that time of year but it has an emergency hatch in the basement.

Unfortunately for us the wind and weather were so bad last year that this little room which wasn't more than 8x8 was frozen solid. Had over a foot of ice on the floor.

We eventually found a metal rod and broke into the cabin.

Survival wasn't easy in there since there was no electric or anything but it was doable. We all huddled up in two man tents and snuggled, lol.

I was able to contact my wife at that point and she checked the weather for us. I was blizzard conditions and winds were gusting at 100 -120 mph.

I've never heard anything like it.

We weren't exactly prepared for such weather that time since it was so close to summer. This upcoming trip you better believe we'll be prepared. In February up there boiling water will turn to snow before it hits the ground. Any exposed skin will be frostbitten in minutes. It's no joke. But if you're prepared, it's doable.

I'm split; nervous and pumped. It will be a challenge, that's for sure.

Here are some pics from our trip in May.

 

[i_love_muscle]

Awesome pics, Steve. My comments

1. You guys are very well equipped.
2. You guys are in awesome shape
3. Those mountains might not be high, but I can't imagine they look very inviting in the winter time if that's what they looked like in May. Those clouds are just menacing.

You guys might have had a bit of luck on your side But you were also smart. That's probably why you survived.

I'd still be too chicken shit

 

[MissDFITT]

I think it's a nice product for your average person. It's not optimal in my opinion but if you're not into hitting weights traditionally in a gym, it's a fine second choice.

I don't like their coaching programs and I don't like their gimmicky advertising. I also don't like their cult following.

The reason it's gotten such great results for people is b/c people buy into the fad and it's actually one of the few that gets people eating better and exercising with resistance.

Not many do this.

So of course it's going to work better than most others.

If it's something you'd like to try, I see no harm in it.

Thanks for your advice its always appreciated. I'm not a huge fan of any of the beach body products. I've seen several of their ads for different products and they use the same before and after pics for all of them. Many of the same people that got fit using P90x also got fit with slim in 6 apparently. But its hard to look past such rave reviews outside of the beach body site.

Step's brother just ordered it from ebay and I think his overall review will give us the final yes or no. Right now we are just sticking to getting as fit as we possibly can in 2009.

We must have been on the same brain wave. I was thinking that I would start with an assisted pull-up and then as I gained strength lose the chair. And Step mentioned pulldowns and we always do rows!

Thanks again!!

 

[Steve]

Thanks for your advice its always appreciated. I'm not a huge fan of any of the beach body products. I've seen several of their ads for different products and they use the same before and after pics for all of them. Many of the same people that got fit using P90x also got fit with slim in 6 apparently. But its hard to look past such rave reviews outside of the beach body site.

Exactly.

I wouldn't believe any B&As on any site or product, truthfully. There's no regulation and from what I've seen, all of them exaggerate the truth.

Step's brother just ordered it from ebay and I think his overall review will give us the final yes or no. Right now we are just sticking to getting as fit as we possibly can in 2009.

Sounds like a good goal.



There is certainly more than one road to that sort of goal. If you decide to pursue P90x, just realize that it's one of many tools. It's not The Answer by any stretch of the imagination. It's simply one marketers take on the application of fundamental variables. It just so happens that said marketer applied most of the fundamentals appropriately so you have a half-way decent product, is all.

We must have been on the same brain wave. I was thinking that I would start with an assisted pull-up and then as I gained strength lose the chair. And Step mentioned pulldowns and we always do rows!

You should be good to go then!

Thanks again!!

Anytime.

 

[maleficent]

Nice job on the Eagles win yesterday...

It's always nice to see a pansy ass team that plays in a dome get their asses beaten

 

[Steve]

Update

Wow was it rough waking up this today. I think it was the combination of not getting a lot of sleep on Saturday night and the realization that my vacation since Christmas Eve is over.

Vacation was superb. I didn't do anything particularly special or exciting. I just did stuff that wasn't stressful and made me happy.

My mind hasn't been in the best of places. This always happens when I get lazy with regards to thinking about my overall goals and the good things in my life. Negativity is a bitch I tell ya... it will invariably creep into the forefront of your mind the moment you let your guard down.

The entire vacation I could feel it there. A surefire indicator that my mind isn't in the right place is when I start thinking in terms of absolutes. It was only this morning when I was whipping up my morning shake and spilled some of it that I said out loud, "I knew everything was going to be shitty today, today being my first day back to work and being short on sleep."

I've been allowing myself to say such things for a few weeks now.

For some reason I guess I had enough of that garbage and I literally said to myself, "What the fuck are you doing? Are you looking at things retardedly or what? Look the fuck around you? Is everything in the gutter? Are there more things in the gutter than not? No. I didn't think so. Kick that shit to the curb and focus."

Yes. I am crazy.

And yes, it was all I needed to be motivated. It certainly isn't enough to change me around forever. I need to work at it just like I work with exercise for my physical body...

It was simply a testament to how powerful self-analysis of your thoughts can be to me.

Saturday Gordy, Chris and I went for a night hike up in northern PA. Chris was a guy I met on Saturday afternoon. Very cool gent. He's hiked all over the globe... some crazy stuff I tell ya. It was nice to gleam off his experience a bit and Gordy and I both learned a lot from him.

The hike itself was a true test. Neither Gordy or myself has hiked in the dark before. The forest floor looks a lot different under the canvas of night. We wore head lamps that light a few areas in front of you and that's it. It takes a heck of a lot more concentration since the trail was rocky. You don't have the privilege of looking ahead and calculating your route. You have to make split second decisions practically every step.

We hiked 5 miles in. We each had 50 lb packs on. I wasn't winded at all, nor were my legs overly tired. That's a good sign.

We did freeze our arses off though. Temps dropped into the low 20's and we had a hell of a time keeping a fire going. It was windy as all hell too, not sure what the wind temps were. At one point during the night, I woke up and seriously considered walking the 5 miles back to the truck and hightailing it the hell home. I even woke Gordy up to see if he'd hike back with me.

Turned out my sleeping pad ripped and wasn't holding air, so I was basically laying on the cold, hard ground which makes a huge difference when maintaining your body temp. Also, the cover on the tent was properly put on so the cold air and wind was literally belting right up against so outside of my sleeping bag. A couple of hours sleeping in that and my body woke my up in pure alarm saying, "What the fuck are you doing, you're freezing to death." The worst part was I was uncontrollably shivering.

I got up, did my best at starting a fire again and warmed up slightly. Gordy, having better winter gear than me, then switched sides of the tent with me. I managed to get a couple of hours of shut eye before we hiked out at sunrise.

It was a good warm up for the February trip.

 

[Steve]

Nice job on the Eagles win yesterday...

It's always nice to see a pansy ass team that plays in a dome get their asses beaten

Thanks, I would've liked to see more domination, but I'll take the victory. Next week is a big game. I'd wish you luck but the Eagles need every once of it that's out there!

 

[maleficent]

Negativity is a bitch I tell ya... it will invariably creep into the forefront of your mind the moment you let your guard down.

negativity isn't all that bad.. .you have to use it to your advantage - and as long as it's not directed at other people...

Oh nevermind -that's me - doesn't work for other people...

carry on

 

[Steve]

Haha, ya know, when I type stuff like that I almost always think of you and how you'd see things in the exact opposite light. I suppose different things work for different people for different reasons.

For me and most of the people I've worked with, not all but most, negativity does more harm than good. I've tried using it to push me forward but I simply don't respond to it well.

 

[maleficent]

everyone has a different reality...

and different thinks work for different people...

either that or maybe I really am a freak of nature...

 

[i_love_muscle]

My mind hasn't been in the best of places. This always happens when I get lazy with regards to thinking about my overall goals and the good things in my life. Negativity is a bitch I tell ya... it will invariably creep into the forefront of your mind the moment you let your guard down.

The entire vacation I could feel it there. A surefire indicator that my mind isn't in the right place is when I start thinking in terms of absolutes. It was only this morning when I was whipping up my morning shake and spilled some of it that I said out loud, "I knew everything was going to be shitty today, today being my first day back to work and being short on sleep."

I've been allowing myself to say such things for a few weeks now.

For some reason I guess I had enough of that garbage and I literally said to myself, "What the fuck are you doing? Are you looking at things retardedly or what? Look the fuck around you? Is everything in the gutter? Are there more things in the gutter than not? No. I didn't think so. Kick that shit to the curb and focus."

Yes. I am crazy.

And yes, it was all I needed to be motivated. It certainly isn't enough to change me around forever. I need to work at it just like I work with exercise for my physical body...

It was simply a testament to how powerful self-analysis of your thoughts can be to me.

I hear you loud and clear, Steve!!! Great way to say it!

Every time a person says something negative to themselves, it creates a self-fulfilling prophecy

It also confirms to your subconscious mind that just maybe you think you aren't as good as you really are

I had a habit of saying "You're so stupid" or "You're such a putz" when I would do something stupid (which is a lot of time, especially in the kitchen). I really shouldn't say that about myself, because I know it's not true, but every time I said it, I'm sure it reinforced something in my brain that made me a little less confident about my abilities than I should have been

So what I've been trying to do for the past few months is just laugh these things off. The rehab thing has taken its toll on me mentally and I figured I don't need to add insult to injury by putting myself down or setting myself up for a crappy day just because I did something human

I still can't believe anybody has the balls to climb Mt. Washington ...

 

[Steve]

I hear you loud and clear, Steve!!! Great way to say it!

Every time a person says something negative to themselves, it creates a self-fulfilling prophecy

It also confirms to your subconscious mind that just maybe you think you aren't as good as you really are

I had a habit of saying "You're so stupid" or "You're such a putz" when I would do something stupid (which is a lot of time, especially in the kitchen). I really shouldn't say that about myself, because I know it's not true, but every time I said it, I'm sure it reinforced something in my brain that made me a little less confident about my abilities than I should have been

So what I've been trying to do for the past few months is just laugh these things off. The rehab thing has taken its toll on me mentally and I figured I don't need to add insult to injury by putting myself down or setting myself up for a crappy day just because I did something human

I love thinking about perception.

I was talking to a client today who just didn't seem to have it in the gym. When I asked him what's up, he said, "I'm thinking about seeing a therapist." When asked why, he explained how he's just down right now.

Him: I have a great job, my health, no real concerns, a great girlfriend, great house... I just feel like something is missing.

Me: What's missing?

Him: If I knew, it wouldn't be missing, would it?

Me: Check your smartassery at the door and think about that for a second. You're allowing your mind to let you know something is 'off' but you haven't done a damn thing about it in terms of real thought. When's the last time you identified your true values, beliefs and identity? Do your days involve actions in line with your values and beliefs? How are you labeling yourself? What absolutes are you holding over yourself?

You know the usual stuff. I ask similar questions to people here on the forum but I know it doesn't work. In person, when emotional intensity is felt and true conversation is had, you can see the wheels spinning.

He knew he was missing something but he also realized he was being mentally lazy.

Powerful stuff.

 

[Steve]

Wow was the gym crowded. I've been involved in the gym scene for over a decade now, you'd think I'd be used to the new years rush. It never ceases to amaze me though. Just look at how many people are logged into this forum too. Same deal.

Are you strong enough to last though? Make permanent change? Or are you just another one of the many who jump into this with no real direction or management of expectations and fall off the wagon until next January?

Mission Get In Shape So I Don't Die On Mt. Washington is in full effect.

On the nutrition front, I'm doing nothing in terms of tracking calories or macros. I'm eating very balanced and healthily. I imagine I'm in a deficit with all the training I'm doing. I'm also quite certain my protein and efa intake is adequate. Besides some rice, most of my carbs are coming from fruits and veggies.

Today was lifting day. I'm lifting 3 times per week... two upper body and once lower.

Today was upper, a la Cressey's Maximum Strength.

A bunch of mobility warm up followed by:

A1 - Flat BB Bench - 245 for 5 sets of 4

B1 - Incline Neutral Grip DB Press - 60 for 3 sets of 12
B2 - Medium Grip Cable Rows - 90 for 4 sets of 12

C1 - Prone Incline DB Trap Raise - 15 for 3 sets of 10
C2 - Side Lying External Rotations - 5 for 3 sets of 10

D - Side Planks

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get in some specific work at a local hill that is huge... I'd like to do some sort of complex where we're hiking the hills up and down with 60 or so lbs on the back followed by bodyweight circuits, rest, then repeat. The weather is supposed to be real shitty though so we'll see what becomes.

 

[Darth Pooh]

Fuck man... how do you do it. You make me think beyond my own scope sometimes. The way you push me (yes, via the interwebz) is beyond a description I can really explain.

I like your take on P90x (and the others I am sure are the same, like Crossfit). It's a lot of calisthenics but just a piece of the puzzle, sometimes people need to drop cash down for packaged things that they can find elsewhere. I mean, financial motivation is one of the biggest driving forces people can use to lose weight (I mean, secondary to their initial desire to lose it in the first place).

 

[Darth Pooh]

Funny I was just about to ask about your current routine.

Seems like your in a holding pattern? Or am I missing your goals somewhere?

EDIT: Nevermind, I get it now. Just some overall training to not get yourself killed for your yearly trip. Good stuff... your still effing insane for taking that trip