Tag: Flu season

The Toddler Immune System

Cold and flu season is here in full swing, and my family is feeling the effects.  Watching my son actively leave the playground so I can help him with is snot bubbles got me thinking about the toddler immune system, and then as my peculiar brain works, training.

I don’t care who you are, snot bubbles are funny, but they do lose some of their humor when your toddler’s mood and ability to listen to you start going down the drain.  That said, he has been in good spirits and is soldiering through this iteration of the cold pretty well.

As I watched him play in the sand in between running over to me to wipe his nose on my sleeve (obviously the only place he doesn’t freak out to wipe his nose) I thought about how this is ultimately a good thing for him and will make him stronger.

Babies inherit certain immune protections from their mothers both in utero and through breast milk. After that, they are a relatively blank canvas and they need to build up their immunity through exposure. They are exposed to some sort of ailment, their body learns how to fight it, and then that knowledge and ability stays with them. So, in order to build a strong and robust immune system, they have to be exposed to a lot of things.

Building yourself as an athlete and as a person is really the same idea. You need to be exposed to a lot of different things in order to be strong and robust. This can mean trying new positions or techniques in BJJ or wrestling. Trying new lifts or lift variations when in the gym. Trying new activities that require a different skill set. Maybe you have a background in football and want to try archery. Maybe you have a background in power lifting and want to try yoga. The point is exposure to new activities, just like new germs, provides new opportunity to sure up our weaknesses and promote growth.

As we approach election season, the same idea applies emotionally and intellectually. Honestly and openly exposing yourself to new ideas is the only way to grow as a person. Even if you come out with the same opinion afterwards, you will have grown stronger from the exposure.

So try that new technique, read that new book, talk to that person from the other political party, because ultimately we are all better through exposure.

Thanks for joining me, and stay sweaty my friends.

Yesterday’s serenity through sweat, lift run shoot while El Duderino was down for his nap

Performing for the Family

The main focus behind this blog has been a mix of fitness and fatherhood, and how those two intertwine and intersect for me. Writing about fitness and fatherhood is something that I’m passionate about, but there are so many different approaches and levels, it’s sometimes difficult to know where to start. I hope that you can find similar intersections in your own lives regardless of your athletic pursuits or family situation.

Aragorn’s famous speech before the battle at the black gate. “I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day”.

First of all, if that doesn’t get you all jacked up to train I don’t know what will. Second, I can’t think of anything more motivating to be a better person than to be able to meet your family challenges head on and say “it is not this day that my strength gives out”

This week everyone in the house has been down with some sort of bug. El Duderino had a stomach bug and was vomiting all day Monday. My wife and I are both fighting colds, and with her being 32 weeks pregnant, no one is sleeping.

My wife got up early with El Duderino so that I could have some more melatonin assisted sleep this morning. Then he and I went to the library so that she could get a mid morning nap in.

Bubble time at the local library

It’s days like this where I appreciate my first and foremost athletic goal: be able to perform for the family. Being a father and a husband is its own ultra endurance event, and it requires lots of training. Every long run, every bike ride, every Jiu Jitsu roll, all of them have a specific purpose, but they also all serve the same global purpose.

From wrangling a squirming toddler, completing construction projects around the house, or even just soldiering through a day with a cold, performing for the family is an athletic event with constantly changing demands. This is always on the forefront of my mindset when I’m training (or working out). Everything I do should be making me better for my family, and I need to have enough left in the tank to perform for the family when I’m done.

The day will come when we are all tested by the rigors of our everyday lives. Getting into a regular training habit is crucial knowing these test days come around without notice.

Build yourselves a healthy routine of mind and body so that the next time you are struggling through a training session, struggling through a rough family day, or just plain struggling, you can find in yourself the courage and strength to say “not this day” and perform for your family.

Thanks for joining me and stay sweaty my friends.

Yesterday’s Serenity through Sweat a low impact ride and some long overdue time with my Tri bike Layla