Fitness – Serenity Through Sweat

Backcasting

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. I was listening to the Huberman lab podcast and was introduced by guest Dr. Peter Attia to a concept called “backcasting” which I wanted to share with you.

Dr Peter Attia is a physician who specializes in extending his patients’ life span and health span. He went to medical school at Stanford and worked at both John’s Hopkins and the NIH. He recently authored the book Outlive and also hosts his own podcast The Drive on health and medicine. He is a pretty highly qualified guy in the space.

During the conversation with Huberman (another very informative voice in the space of health and wellness) he introduced the concept of backcasting with the following question. What do you want the last decade of your life to look like?

This is called the Marginal decade. “Delineate the objective function and break that down into metrics that we can measure” you can set the goal posts for what you want your marginal decade to look like, and work backwards to find definable goals and measurable markers and at what ages you need to hit them

What do you want to be doing in your marginal decade? Picking up a grandchild, getting up off the floor, have an athletic hobby. Living alone. Do you want to be paddle boarding, bicycling, still driving your car?

If I ask you what is going to happen next year you can predict certain variables and make some educated guesses. This would be a forecast. The period of time is fixed and defined. You don’t know when the last decade of your life will be. Even if you did, there are likely too many variables to forecast that far out. But you can backcast.

Start with the desired outcome and trace the markers you need to hit in order to reach it. Let’s say for example you want to be able to go for a brisk walk on the beach every morning in retirement in your 80’s or even 90’s. That sounds like a nice goal and not outlandish.

“The gravity of aging is more vicious than people realize and therefore the height of your glider needs to be much higher than you think it is when you are our age if you want to be able to do the things we probably want to be able to do when we’re ninety “

Studies show that VO2Max (your ability to process oxygen during aerobic activity) declines roughly 5% per decade after 30, almost regardless of exercise intervention. As Dr Attia so eloquently put it. You need a lot of altitude for that glider flight into your marginal decade.

Changes in peak VO2 with age (left) and percent change in VO2 per decade (right) in men and women. Source: Strait and Lakatta, 2013

A VO2Max of 35-45 is considered fair to good for males in their 30s. This can be tested very scientifically in a lab while wearing a mask on a treadmill, but many running watches or fitness wearables can give a pretty good estimation for general purposes.

From there the math isn’t hard to cary out if you are right in the middle of average at a VO2Max of 40 in your 30’s, by the time you are 80 it will be closer to 30.

Murtagh et al., 2002 (4), investigated self-selected speed of recreational walkers and their interpretation of “brisk walking”.

It turned out that the self-selected speed, which was between 1.55 and 1.6 meters per second, resulted in an exercise intensity of almost 60% of VO2max and a heart rate of 67% of the maximum. A “brisk” walking speed observed was 1.79 meters per second in a parc and 1.86 meters per second on a treadmill. The “brisk” walking speed equated to almost 69% of VO2max and 78.5% of the maximum heart rate.

By your 80’s in our example your VO2Max has dropped a full 25% (and that’s likely best case if you remained healthy and active for those 5 decades). And that brisk walk you wanted to take (4mph is the conversion) was already taking up 69% of your VO2Max. That means you are going to have to slow your pace considerably or reduce the duration of you walk to meet your goal.

Or as Dr Attia told us, increase the height of your glider now in middle age. If your VO2Max is closer to 50 or 60 in your thirties, that brisk walk (all other variables constant) in your 80’s is much more attainable.

The same benchmarks can be set for strength in individual muscle groups or specific movements. Squats, pushups, pullups, grip strength. Gravity is unrelenting, as is the “vicious gravity of aging”. The Stronger you are now and the more you continue to train, the higher you can climb the glider, and the longer you can stay aloft.

Backcasting gives you the tools to set yourself up for success, once you have defined what you want your marginal decade to look like.

So stretch out those glider wings and keep climbing. gravity is thus far undefeated, but that doesn’t mean you can’t prolong, and thoroughly enjoy the ride.

Thanks for joining me,. stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

Race day

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. This past weekend was my first foray back into longer distance triathlon since having kids and I wanted to share some of my experience.

Let me start by saying it is difficult to adequately express the range of emotions that pop up over the 5:48 it took me to cover the 70.3 miles.

There are lows of despair, pain, and self doubt, followed by bouts of confidence and elation. The smallest and most insignificant detail can move you from one end of the spectrum to the other, and right back again just as quickly.

Nobody likes swimming with company. Biking and running with friends is great, swimming with friends really just means getting groped and kicked. Even with the rolling start (which was way better than IM FL in 2013) the swim was more of a contact sport than desired.

I’m very grateful for a safe bike experience both training and racing. Seeing some of my fellow athletes bloodied and road rashed, or worse is a reminder of how fortunate I am to have avoided major accidents despite all the miles put in.

It also reinforces my decision to train almost exclusively indoors on the bike. With a smart trainer and zwift, my biking is more efficient (in terms of not needing to load up and load out and drive to a safer road to ride). It is also way more diverse in terms of ability to climb, sprint, and ride different simulated terrain and topography.

I felt very prepared for the bike course with only indoor training, but it was a refreshing reminder of why I love to ride my bike. The cool December Florida temperatures (at least for the bike leg) paired with the rolling hills, rural roads, and orange groves, made for a picturesque Sunday morning ride. There were more than few instances out on the bike course where I found myself smiling, lost in the gentle mechanical hum of the chain through the cogs.

There is a simple and efficient exchange that happens on the bike that is magical. Human power goes in and locomotion comes out, but some of that majesty can be lost when looking at a power meter and a virtual world. The wind rushing past the ear scoops of my way too serious looking aero helmet, brought all that majesty back very quickly.

By mile forty seven on the bike course, after north of three hours of racing already, the gentle rolling hills and orange groves seemed much less enchanting as my legs started to fatigue and the new asphalt gave way to roads that can be best described as a taint jackhammer. It is a glamorous sport, you just need the right words to describe it.

The race start was delayed an hour due to morning fog, which was a good call, but it meant the run would be done in the heat of the day, even for the fastest athletes. My slightly better than .idle of the pack pace was no exception. Add in unseasonably warm temperatures for Florida in December, and the half marathon was set up to be a trip through the pain cave.

There is a surge of energy that happens in transition. Our senses are naturally enhanced by change, as an evolutionary trait, so the bike to run change brings not only a sense of completion and accomplishment, but also a much needed shot of adrenaline. That wears off far too quickly as you realize you have 13 miles to run with more uphill than you realized.

A two loop run course is wonderful for spectators and logistics, but it is a cruel mistress. The exit is always close, the self inflicted punishment can stop whenever you want it to. This is a silly thing to do to yourself anyway, why run another lap?

A shot from a friendly neighbor’s hose, the ice cubes melting into sweet relief down your back, a kind word from a fellow masochist, can all give you the push you need to keep moving forward.

The run course wound in an out of neighborhoods, doubling back on itself, in a way that made me frustrated and delirious. Those same rolling hills that seemed so enchanting just a few hours ago, rose up like a rock wall, shimmering in the Florida sun.

Wanting to quit, wanting to jump for joy, wanting a beer, these are all things I had felt before in varying intensity at different races. What I hadn’t felt was my ability to be a father after that kind of effort.

Above and beyond triathlon, the extra gear and the endurance that I have when I see those two smiling faces, is something that I wish I knew how to train, but I’m glad it comes naturally. Being able to take my kids to the playground and the pool, and run around the house with them after the race means regardless of my finishing time, my training was right on point.

The elevation profile is a little off, but here are the race details in all their glory

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

Tangible

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. Today I want to talk about something I struggle with both personally and professionally, the nature of a tangible finished product.

I think all of us feel a sense of pride and purpose from a completed project. There is something about our own creation, something new where before there was something old, or even nothing, that fills a hole inside all of us.

Even the simplest of tasks can produce a spectrum of emotion inside and generate the momentum necessary for a positive day. But it is easy to overlook so many of our tasks because the world we live in has moved away from the tangible.

An early birthday celebration for Speedy

As a pilot I struggle with this concept. On a given three or four day trip I will fly hundreds if not a few thousand people. Each of them have a story, a reason for traveling, and connecting them from point A to point B is an important and fulfilling endeavor.

But, at the end of a long day of flying sometimes it is hard to remember where I even went. There is nothing to show for my day’s work, just another hotel room and another day’s worth of missions ahead. The service I provide is very real and valuable, but it lacks a tangible nature that serves as a validation and a reminder of worth.

Fitness has a lot of the same characteristics. Miles run or biked, kettlebells swung, pull-ups rep’d, they are all valuable and worthy endeavors. Oftentimes though we are left only with a puddle of sweat and delayed onset muscle soreness as our only reminder of the work that was done.

I think that is why I feel a special sense of fulfillment when I complete a project around the house. To build, to create, to progress through a planned project, producing something new, scratches an itch that is left unattended by my other endeavors.

My wife requested a new bench for our kitchen table. The project was a relatively simple one, and we were able to involve the whole family in one way or another. The result is nothing special, but it is functional, matches the existing table, and is more resilient than it’s predecessor.

Beyond that it is a tangible creation, a useful household item shaped by family hands, and a reminder of the fruits of our labor. The bench project has been a nice change of pace from a expiration based service job and a a fitness journey that is mostly solo (especially during covid).

I hope that we are all able to find serenity in both the tangible and the intangible as they ebb and flow through our lives.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

COVID-19 Engineering

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. I can’t remember where I heard (a good chance it was a JRE podcast) that engineering is finding a way to do what you want with what you have. At the time, I thought about ways to stay in shape with the things I have at home (before the pandemic, but knowing how hard it is to get out of the house with a newborn) COVID-19 is showing us how deep that idea really goes.

One month side by side of El Duderino and Speedy

From a fitness standpoint, most people’s routine has been turned upside down. Grapplers, crossfitters, gym goers have all had to adjust. But garage gym athletes, folks who favor the kettlebell or sandbag, and bodyweight or calisthenic practitioners have already found a way to stay fit when what they have. Running, biking, hiking, jumping rope, are all great ways to get outside and engineer your fitness with things you probably already have.

El Duderino approves of the shrimp and grits, grilled broccoli, and Amish friendship bread.

With restaurants closed and some grocery store staples picked clean, I know I have certainly gotten more creative in the kitchen. From modifying recipes to make meat last longer, scratch baking, and catering to the sensitive, yet discerning, palette of a toddler, the kitchen has become a laboratory of experimentation and family fun with COVID-19 changing our eating and shopping patterns. Finding new and different ways to keep the family eating a healthy diet has been an interesting challenge in doing what I want with what is available.

Parenting and family activities sure look a lot different when you can’t touch public surfaces. Keeping a toddler interested in anything for more than fifteen minutes is a challenge, but removing some of our usual routine activities (library, playground, science center, pool/splash pad) has made us dig deep as parents to provide entertainment and education. The resources made available from organizations as well as individuals helping each other provide a nurturing environment for their children is heart warming and incredible.

I think one of the biggest silver linings to this pandemic is our collective ability to adapt and overcome. To engineer our way through a problem. A lot of us have become teachers, IT managers, personal trainers, and chefs, in addition to any other hats we might have already worn beforehand. All of those skills have been there all along, they just needed a little nudge to find their way to the surface. With a little ingenuity, and a can do attitude, we can still do most of the things we want with what we already have, and engineer our way towards Serenity.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

This week’s SerenityThroughSweat, some solo miles in the midday Florida sun and my phone shut down from over temp mid workout with the sandbag and the training mask.

Working Out or Training

When I was preparing for Ironman Florida in 2013, I remember enjoying telling people I couldn’t stay out late, or have another beer, or whatever the activity was, because I had to train in the morning.

People that knew about the traithalon community or where familiar with the race understood, but inevitably, someone would ask what are you training for. For me this was a little bit of a way to brag on myself, but it was also a carefully chosen word.

I had a training plan, that was well designed and crafted. I had specific short and long term goals, I was measuring, logging, and assessing key metrics. These were not just a series of physical activity done for their own sake, these were goal oriented, focused, purpose driven workouts.

And there in lies the conundrum. If I was doing an interval ride, or a tempo run, those were both workouts. So when do we cross the line from workout to training? Can an activity be both, or one without the other?

This is a question I think a lot of BJJ practitioners struggle with/can benefit from, and something wrestlers (in my humble opinion) do a lot better with.

In generic terms, here is how I view the two. Workout: an activity done to improve physical fitness. Training: an activity or course of action undertaken in preparation for an event. So the key difference is the specificity of the goal, and I think both are important and both have their place.

Let’s say you are getting ready for the local BJJ tournament. You might set up a training plan that has four days a week in the gym rolling and two days a week with some sort of cross training, lifting weights or running. These could all be considered training because they are planned out, specified, and helping you towards your goal of preparing to compete in a tournament. They are also all individually workouts.

Now let’s look at an individual BJJ class where you don’t have a tournament you are planning for. Based on our earlier definition, it is clearly a workout, but can it also be training? The answer depends on how you approach it. Are you putting yourself in specific positions or situations repeatedly? Then it is probably training. Are you just letting the roll take its own form? Then it is probably a workout. Both are great, just understand what the value of each is.

The same ideas apply to running, riding, lifting weights, etc… Sometimes it just feels good to sweat. (I do a lot of that incase that wasn’t clear, and I’m a huge fan). Other times a more measured and calculated approach is appropriate, and will probably help you reach your goals better.

As January starts to close out, and those new year’s resolutions start to look a little hazier, ask yourself. Are you working out, or are you training? And is that the right choice for today?

Thanks for joining me, stay sweaty my friends.

Today’s Serenity through Sweat: throwing arrows down range at Orlando Archery Academy and then rolling with my homies at Orlando BJJ

Mastery of the Aircraft

Whenever training on a new aircraft, pilots are put through a rigorous training program consisting of aircraft systems knowledge, training procedures and flows, and ultimately both normal and emergency operations in a simulator. There is a whole slew of things that evaluators look for including ; knowledge, skill, good judgement, proficiency, and mastery of the aircraft. That last item, mastery of the aircraft, is obviously a subjective term, but I think we all know it when we see it, someone who is calm and in control regardless of the scenario, and who can think a few steps ahead.

I was listening to JRE episode #1392 the other day with ultra runner Zach Bitter and it got me thinking about this concept as it applies to athletes. How much training and experience does it take for a pilot to be the master of an aircraft, and how much time do we devote as athletes to being masters of our own bodies?

On the podcast zach talked about his recent 12 hour and 100 mile record breaking performance, as well as his diet and training plan leading up to it. The thing that surprised me the most about Zach was his training based on perceived effort which is an arguably more subjective criteria as opposed to something more objective (like heart rate zone training)

The difference of course is that Zach has put in the time, energy, and effort, and has the discipline to be a master of his body and can honestly and accurately assess his training based on perceived effort. How many of us age group traithloners, or casual BJJ practitioners, can say we have the discipline and understanding to do that?

Yoga practices often remind us to be aware of our breathing and tune in to what our body needs. I’m relatively new to yoga and after about twenty minutes in the hot room the only thing I feel tuned in to, is how much longer I can hold chair pose before my yoga mat has transformed into a slip’n’slide. (Incase the blog title didn’t give it away I’m a pretty sweaty dude) I can’t tell you how many interval runs or rides I’ve done where I’m unable to maintain my interval pace through the final interval. Even with a wrestling background and a lot of competition experience, I still remember going out way too hard in my first BJJ tournament match and almost running out of steam.

Part of the journey towards Serenity through Sweat is being aware of our lack of knowledge of our own body and working to better understand this vehicle we have through life. Working to develop the discipline and putting in the effort to become masters of our “craft”. For me anyway, that journey makes me a better husband, father and friend, and it’s a journey I’m happy to share with all of you. Stay sweaty my friends.

Today’s Serenity through Sweat was my first time through Pavel tatsoulini’s Simple and Sinister kettlebell workout followed by 15 min on the spin bike.

Sweat through the small $h!t

I remember as a kid one of the first times I flew looking down and thinking how small everything was. And then my next thought was once you’re up in the air, things on the ground don’t really matter anymore even if only for that short period of time.

Looking back on that memory helps me understand what keeps me coming back to aviation and why I look forward to going to work. Being both something I’m passionate about and enjoy as well as a space for me to compartmentalize all the other drama away is almost like a mental vacation, how many people can say that about their job. As aviators we tend to be very good at compartmentalizing our problems to complete the mission, but those problems or worries are always waiting for us on the ground like a checked bag you wish you didn’t have to lug through the parking lot.

The very heart of Serenity Through Sweat, is that most of the time once I’m done exercising, that drama is gone, or at least toned down. The blood starts flowing, the heartbeat elevates, the sweat drips and then whatever background bull$h!t that seemed important before is lifted like a morning fog to reveal a beautiful day.

Last night I got sucked in to a super negative conversation. Every time I tried to exit I got pulled back in and kept slipping further into the weeds. I didn’t sleep great (the hotel bed didn’t help), and I was thinking about it almost immediately when I woke up.

Getting on the bike first thing was the best mental therapy I could think of. After a few tabata intervals everything else is background noise and even if it does come back it comes back muted. I was able to find Serenity even if only for a few moments through sweat. I hope you can all find your own moments of Serenity, stay sweaty my friends.

My morning Serenity Through Sweat: a peleton tabata ride where instructor Robinnyc helps me get reaquainted with my hustle

Travel Tip Tuesday: Pocket Monkii

All alliteration aside, travel tip Tuesday is something I plan to make a weekly thing. I’ll try to cover things I’ve learned spending my entire professional life and a decent part of my childhood living out of a suitcase, especially as it relates to fitness, diet, relationships, and overall travel saavy.

I often joke with other pilots that the three most important things in the hotel are the three W’s: Wi-Fi, water pressure, and a workout area. If any one of the three are mediocre chances are your stay will be mediocre. I don’t know how many times I’ve been to a hotel with a broken down workout room and been left to my own imagination to get my sweat on.

The Pocket Monkii in it’s case next to my suitcase for a size comparison.

I’ll start by saying I am not affiliated with this company and I’m receiving no compensation for this post. (Although if you are part of the Monkii team and want to show me some love, please reach out) This is something I was excited to buy and something I use both on the road and at home. To me, it is an insurance policy against the broken down hotel workout room.

The Pocket Monkii (https://monkii.co/collections/pocket-monkii) has been my go to for a great hotel room workout, especially when the weather is bad and I can’t get outside for a run. The trx style workout is great for it’s variety and scalability. I can do light stretching and range of motion exercises, all the way up to a full on sweat session. It also folds up super compact and doesn’t take up a ton of space in my suitcase. The company has a companion app that also helps provide instructional material, pre programed workouts, and a glossary of movements so you can get inspired and create your own.

Movement library in the companion app with gif animations to check your form

Turn your planks up to 11 with the Pocket Monkii

I really enjoy using the Pocket Monkii both on the road and at home, and coming in at roughly the size of Coke can, it’s a great insurance policy against crappy hotel workout rooms. Thanks for joining in on travel tip Tuesday, stay sweaty my friends.

What I’m thankful for

Sometimes the things we are thankful for are hiding in the background, to be discovered and appreciated years later

With thanksgiving here I’m thinking about what I’m thankful for. I’m extremely blessed with a happy healthy family, friends that enrich my life, a job I enjoy, and hobbies I’m passionate about. There are other things in my life that I am grateful for that are less obvious that I maybe took for granted because they are in the background.

My son was playing with toolbox in my garage and I remembered where that toolbox came from. It was Christmas gift from my father when I was about eleven or twelve. As an eleven or twelve year old I wasn’t particularly enthused with a toolbox as a Christmas gift. In fact I wasn’t very enthused with it for a number of years. But when I moved off to college and had a decent tool set I was very grateful and realized the true value of that gift.

Likewise my parents gave me the tools as a young child to lead an active lifestyle, and for that I am eternally thankful. There were lots of outdoor activities, sports, hobbies, etc and none was ever pushed more than another, just the idea of being active. This mindset as a child and as I continued to grow has led me to a number of adventures that wouldn’t have been possible without a basic level of fitness. That mindset of an active lifestyle has always been in the background, and like the toolbox, it has taken me years to appreciate what a special gift it was.

Throwback Thursday to 1992 wrestling practice

Camping and trekking in Philmont New Mexico with my father and brother. Biking along the Alsace wine route after getting engaged to my wife. Exploring temples and hiking in Thailand and Cambodia on my honeymoon, training for and completing an Ironman with a good friend. These experiences have all helped shape me as a person, a father, and a husband, and are all rooted in interpersonal relationships and athletic adventure.

A hilly day on the bike with my wife between Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé enroute to Obernai

Lots of steps on the way to this gorgeous view with my wife in Angthong National Marine Park Thialand

There are so many life changing experiences out there, but a lot of them require you to walk, climb, swim or sweat to reap the rewards. This is a gift I’m grateful for, and a gift I hope to pass on to my children, even if it takes them many years to appreciate it. What are you thankful for that’s hiding in the background?

Thanks for joining me on the journey towards Serenity. Stay sweaty my friends.

Father son Thanksgiving turkey trot 5k on the way to the playground

Today’s journey towards Serenity through Sweat

Pushing with purpose

The development and progression of my two year old son fascinates me and forces me to reexamine my understanding of behavior. He has developed a keen liking to the word “show”, and a habit of pushing on the baby gate that safe guards my TV and sound system. When pushing doesn’t work he stomps his feet and pulls. Until recently this was nothing a little talking and explaining couldn’t solve. And then he got big enough and strong enough to pull the gate down.

Watching this was a validation to me that the gate should be there, if it wasn’t, he would have unfettered access to all those buttons and knobs that toddlers love to play with, and would certainly wreak some sort of havoc and destruction on my sound system. But, as is often the case, the wisdom of my better half prevailed and the gate stayed down.

The impressive thing was my son didn’t go turn every knob to eleven, but sat back (further away from the TV than normal) and watched his show. He was pushing on the baby gate because that is the natural reaction to the barrier, and once it was down there was no more need to push. He was pushing without a purpose.

In a grappling context often times we push our opponent to set up a reaction. For most people if you push them, they push back, and we are counting on that reaction to set up a technique. However, if you’ve trained BJJ or wrestling for any length of time you have probably found yourself in a glorified shoving match rather than a productive training roll. I push you, so you push back. You push me, so I push back. We do this dance, reacting to each other for five minutes or so and then change partners without any knowledge gained or technique applied. It’s easy to find ourselves in the same situation as my son, pushing without a purpose.

Next time you train and you find yourself in a grappling shoving match try to visualize your technique beyond the push. The same goes for training in any sport, hammering out reps or pounding the pavement without an endgame is pushing yourself without a purpose. Keeping the goal in mind be it short term or long term is crucial to success. The purpose could be your first takedown on a tough opponent, finishing a triangle choke, or getting on the podium at a tournament. It might be your first 5k or it might be an ironman PR. It might even be just to feel a little bit better after a workout you didn’t want to do. Whatever it is, pushing with a purpose in mind will always yield better results.

Thanks for joining me on the journey towards Serenity, stay sweaty my friends.