This is going to be a very bloggy blog… if that makes any sense. Sorry for the few days off; it has been a crazier-than-normal past week or so.
As you can see from the picture below, last week, I was “forced” into action when we were taking Noke for her morning walk. A genius couple decided to “tie” their 120+ lb Great Pyrenees to a ~15lb garden table that wasn’t anchored to anything, while they went inside together to get their morning coffee. The dog must’ve planned on greeting Noke, even though we tried to avoid her, and everything went downhill quickly from there. When the table hit the ground, Daisy (the huge white cloud of fur) ran and, thinking that the table was chasing her, wouldn’t stop. The male owner ran outside the coffee shop, freaked out and started chasing her.
Please consider that this is happening on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood (Los Angeles, California) so the chance that Daisy ran into the street and got hit (by a car) was extremely high. They had a 3-5 second head start before Fit gave me that look and told me I had to help. With my torn calf and handful of other injuries (I’ve only been doing PT and rehab exercises the past three months) I chased after Daisy and the table she was pulling down the sidewalk. It took about two seconds to pass her owner and caught up to her a few seconds after she turned onto a side street that leads up to the Hollywood Hills… phew! Unfortunately, the table provided a barrier between us and when I reached to grab her, I fell THROUGH THE TABLE and onto the concrete.
At this point, while I was scrambling to get back up, the owner caught up and passed me. Daisy was faster without the table and much more agile as well. I bounced back up and caught up to her in a few seconds, passing the owner, again. This time I said “full speed” and ignored her leash, grabbing her collar directly. At that point, you could tell, she was completely exhausted and had no fight left in her. She was nearly foaming from the mouth from exhaustion, but I could tell she was an extremely friendly dog who got spooked after her foolish owner set her up for some awful situation.
Now, the scabs on my hand and knee are still there from the fall, while the other bruises and sore muscles are healing. My calf isn’t too happy with me, but it was obviously all worth it. Who knows what would’ve happened to Daisy if I decided to just let him deal with it himself. Not everyone trains for random, emergency situations, but that is essentially exactly what I do.
The other day some older gym-bro told his younger gym-bro buddy that I “probably count every calorie and don’t eat carbs” and also must “do crazy diets” to go along with my “no heavy lifting and tons of cardio based cross-training” to be “that ripped.” That guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but in a sense, I do “cross-train” all the time. I’m all about being well-rounded and would happily give up a few reps of muscle-ups for a bigger bench, and then a bigger bench for more shoulder mobility, etc. I have no problem being good at everything when it comes to physical fitness, instead of being great at any single discipline.
That is how I train… a balance of conditioning, strength, power, flexibility, endurance, etc. I never want a single area to be so weak (or neglected) that it is actually a weakness, so just training for powerlifting, boxing or swimming is out of the question. When I do a workout for each of those once a week, it keeps my skills sharp enough and gives me the other benefits to a high enough degree that (in my opinion) it turns me into a very capable person.
To be 205 lbs with a torn calf and be able to break into a run that is fast enough to catch a dog… well, I’m pretty damn happy about that, especially when I hadn’t done any running in over three months. I’m not a naturally gifted runner, but I can credit a lot of that to a well-rounded training plan and tons of calories: fats, proteins AND carbs. I also have to give credit to the mental aspect, the sheer willpower to say screw what might happen to my calf (or if I get bitten by this dog or hit by a car myself) and focus on the goal, but that comes from being a competitive athlete in the past… I think.
That’s basically how I train, and the why is so simple. As I already mentioned, I train for situations JUST LIKE THIS. I don’t wear flip flops/sandals/dress shoes/boots/etc. Why not? I wear comfortable (and not stylish) clothes 99% of the time so I can jump into action at any time. Emergency and crisis situations that could require a random strength or skill because… why not? It’s fun and engaging as a training plan and allows you to… be a HERO! If you want to be a hero, train with me and become hungry and fit!
OMG !!!!!!!!!!!
I know, right?!