On a clear, cold New Years Day, Lindsey and I took to the outdoors for an absolutely awesome workout up in Becket, MA. After one of the best New Years Eve's I have ever had, we proceeded to one-up it by having the best New Years Day ever.
A healthy breakfast, lounging around, then this:
Well, let's just go into the process first. We bundled up and went out to this old barn behind the house (my pops owns this house, it's right next to the Kushi Institute, a center for macrobiotics where my mother is buried). Scouring around, we found an old wheel barrow, a large piece of piping, a long stone wall behind the barn, and, plenty of space. So with these tools I came up with a fun little chipper. We would get a rock, run it to the wheel barrow at the bottom of the snowed over driveway, wheel the thing to the top of the drive and back, get another rock, add it to the mix and repeat. We would do this three times. To scale, I started with a rock already in the wheel barrow, and used a pretty damn huge one for the final round. So big in fact, that the wheel totally busted and made it literally impossible to push, so I resorted to pulling the thing up and back. That. Was. Hard.
The wheel barrow running was followed by a 100 meter up and back sprint through the snow. This sprint was to be done in between each exercise and proved to be a much larger challenge than Lindsey and I were expecting. The snow was difficult sure, but it turned out to be just enough UP hill on the way back to absolutely destroy the legs.
The next exercise was 30 overhead lunges with a rock. Not too tough for either of us. Then the sprint again. Next was 30 pull ups. We hooked the pipe between two trees above the stone wall for Lindsey, and I used a perfect tree branch off a tree in the middle of the yard (only problem was that around 20, the great grip tore off, making my last 10 really challenging). Another sprint and on to 30 rock throws. The hardest part of this one was just getting a grip on the rock, and the fact that every rep, more and more snow got stuck on it making it more slippery and heavier. A final sprint and we were done. Lindsey got 13:36, and I got 14:58.
This one goes in the books as one of the best ones all around. Not just for the workout itself (which could easily be replicated in a gym), but for the weather, the scenery, the company, and the entire day. As close to perfect for me as they come.
Never Stop, GET FIT.
Josh Courage
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Bringing in Another New Year
The New Year brings new hope for so many people. It represents a time of rebirth, a time to clean the slate, to wipe clear the white board and start something new, make big changes, become better, more successful and grow. So often we hear of peoples resolutions, their plans, their intentions and their goals for the year and so often, at years end, we find that it is pretty common that people have failed to follow through. So this year I am proposing something a little different. Don't forgo the New Years Resolution fun, it's enjoyable, it's a conversation starter and such, just take a slightly different approach to it.
I say, make one. Just one simple resolution. But there is a catch. Make another on the first of February, and another on the first of March, and April and so on, for the entire year. It is very common to weigh yourself down with too many expectations, and when you do that, you move to slowly and are way to overwhelmed to realistically achieve what you have put in front of you. So, simplify.
I am choosing to stick completely to my desire to eat more healthily. I have been completely dairy, gluten and red meat free for over a month now and I plan to stick with this for the entire year (most likely my entire life). I plan to reassess my progress every month and really focus on my physical, mental and emotional state around my nutrition, and will make changes accordingly. But because of the way I feel, the deepness of my sleep, the progress of my performance, and the energy I have throughout the day, I plan on continuing this for a long time.
Now, this does not mean I will not be focusing on other goals. I have two events to plan, one of them being a bike ride across the country. I have a new business venture starting, a new site to announce, competitions signed up for and so much else. And I have many, many goals that I am going to attain. But it is the main goal to avoid being overwhelmed so much that I can not produce and follow through. So, as a main focus on the first of January of 2010, I will make sure I am eating properly.
So, with my singular resolution, I can now touch on some of the plans that are in order for the new year. First, the announcement of my new website: www.CouragePerformance.com. The site is not quite at full capacity yet, but it's getting there. The main thing will be that the blog on that site will encompass everything. All these posts on this blog, and all future posts will be within that site and it will just be a wonderful collection of information and stories.
The other main plans are my bike ride across the country for Children's Miracle Network, my silent auction event a month before that ride, a couple CrossFit competitions, the expansion of Courage Performance to another facility in VA and a good deal of other stuff I am just not prepared to list here. While it's easy to say that 2010 will be a big year, I really feel like 2009 was a HUGE year and that things are just going to keep right on growing. I look forward to all the fun, the clients, the workouts, the adventures and the suprises. I can't wait for them all.
Never Stop, GET FIT.
(the pictures are some of my gluten and dairy free creations over the holidays)
Josh Courage
I say, make one. Just one simple resolution. But there is a catch. Make another on the first of February, and another on the first of March, and April and so on, for the entire year. It is very common to weigh yourself down with too many expectations, and when you do that, you move to slowly and are way to overwhelmed to realistically achieve what you have put in front of you. So, simplify.
I am choosing to stick completely to my desire to eat more healthily. I have been completely dairy, gluten and red meat free for over a month now and I plan to stick with this for the entire year (most likely my entire life). I plan to reassess my progress every month and really focus on my physical, mental and emotional state around my nutrition, and will make changes accordingly. But because of the way I feel, the deepness of my sleep, the progress of my performance, and the energy I have throughout the day, I plan on continuing this for a long time.
Now, this does not mean I will not be focusing on other goals. I have two events to plan, one of them being a bike ride across the country. I have a new business venture starting, a new site to announce, competitions signed up for and so much else. And I have many, many goals that I am going to attain. But it is the main goal to avoid being overwhelmed so much that I can not produce and follow through. So, as a main focus on the first of January of 2010, I will make sure I am eating properly.So, with my singular resolution, I can now touch on some of the plans that are in order for the new year. First, the announcement of my new website: www.CouragePerformance.com. The site is not quite at full capacity yet, but it's getting there. The main thing will be that the blog on that site will encompass everything. All these posts on this blog, and all future posts will be within that site and it will just be a wonderful collection of information and stories.
The other main plans are my bike ride across the country for Children's Miracle Network, my silent auction event a month before that ride, a couple CrossFit competitions, the expansion of Courage Performance to another facility in VA and a good deal of other stuff I am just not prepared to list here. While it's easy to say that 2010 will be a big year, I really feel like 2009 was a HUGE year and that things are just going to keep right on growing. I look forward to all the fun, the clients, the workouts, the adventures and the suprises. I can't wait for them all.
Never Stop, GET FIT.
(the pictures are some of my gluten and dairy free creations over the holidays)
Josh Courage
Friday, January 1, 2010
Albany CrossFit Day 2
Stopped over at Albany CrossFit for another day of fun. Today (New Years Eve) we got a good warm up in, and then one at a time, we all did 20 reps of heavy back squats. I was able to get 235 pretty easily, and was a little annoyed at myself for not pushing a bit harder. After the squats (another inspiring session given that everyone was gathered in the room pumping each other up), we set up for the WOD.
5 rounds of:
9 Power Cleans
4 Front Squats
6 Jerks
The rule was that the bar could not leave your hands or rest on the ground until all three exercises were finished. Then you could rest as desired in between sets. There was no prescribed weight for this, so I chose 115#. I think 135# would have been a decent choice, but to be honest, I am so convinced that I would have needed to drop that weight by the fifth round. This thing was really tough on the arms. By the last round my hands were numb and the transition between front squats and jerks was so tough, just trying to get the grip on it. I was able to finish in 5:08 and was really happy with that time.
Now it's off to Becket, MA with my girl, good food, and an awesome workout planned in the snowy woods for the morning!
Never Stop, GET FIT.
Josh Courage
5 rounds of:
9 Power Cleans
4 Front Squats
6 Jerks
The rule was that the bar could not leave your hands or rest on the ground until all three exercises were finished. Then you could rest as desired in between sets. There was no prescribed weight for this, so I chose 115#. I think 135# would have been a decent choice, but to be honest, I am so convinced that I would have needed to drop that weight by the fifth round. This thing was really tough on the arms. By the last round my hands were numb and the transition between front squats and jerks was so tough, just trying to get the grip on it. I was able to finish in 5:08 and was really happy with that time.
Now it's off to Becket, MA with my girl, good food, and an awesome workout planned in the snowy woods for the morning!
Never Stop, GET FIT.
Josh Courage
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