Code of the warrior - JUST DO IT

Tough questions, difficult decisions, maybe(!) dreadful consequences. Some moments in life make us tremble.

Should I ditch my old job and risk not getting the better one?
Should I go over there and as her/him out?
Think of 1 to 999999999999 other difficult questions.

Now...
100% of the people reading this know what I mean.
85% will have something like that happening in their life right now.

Well... Only one thing, and ONE THING ONLY to do now:
Lean back, take a step back, take a deep breath and listen:

YOU KNOW what is right.
YOU KNOW what is the right way.
YOU KNOW what is THE RIGHT WAY FOR YOU.
Because YOU FEEL it deeeeeeeep inside!
JUST DO IT!

Sometimes we are afraid of big decisions. That is ok. Everybody is.

The IMPORTANT thing is to JUST DO IT.
It is that simple. It can be. You can allow it to be.

Be a warrior.
Just do it.


Train hard and enjoy life.
All the best,
Harry


(By the way: this blog-entry was not sponsored by nike.)

Code of the warrior - DON`T TAKE ANY ABUSE

Yesterday I attended the Wintertraining in Thomasroith.
There, working all day, enduring challenges, lifting one thing after another, moving, performing,... Challenging oneself gets the mind going as well as your whole body.
There I got to think about that phrase... "Don´t take any abuse".

Who can abuse you?

External "foes".
Abusing you physically...Well, those are no match for a warrior. Deal with them the same way.
Abusing you mentally. People outside who want you to go down, who don not want you to succeed, because they can not themselves.
Those are the "no- sayers", the ones constantly telling you this or that can not be done.
Those are the dangerous ones. They work with little steps at a time. They go slow but in the end will break you if you let them.

"Do not set your expectations that high."
"Come on...That can not be done."
"Do you really think you could ever achieve that??"
"How can you be happy this way?"

Keep your friends close, your enemys closer. Watch them, learn how they work.
Then you know their game and guess what...It won´t work.
But keep your eyes open, there are a lot of them outside!
If you can not deal with them at the moment, because it is just to much, get them out of sight, 100%, surround yourself with people who truly want to help you, take your time to assess you situation, your resources, you potential, your weaknesses, your strengths.

One has to be realistic about the TIME ONE REACHES CERTAIN GOALS, but overall THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!

Internal foes.
This is the little voices inside your head telling you "I can not go on." "I can not do this." "I´ll never reach this goal."
"I have to do this, they expect me to do it..."
"I have to do this or I´ll lose my face in front of the others."

Comfort. Ego. Fear. Lack of fear. Blind trust. Laziness.
Hell yeah, there are many. But a warrior is always mindful, watchful, vigilant.
To experience ones´ emotions, ones way of thinking, acting, making decisions... To experience oneself.
That´s the way of a warrior.

Don`t take any abuse!

Train hard and enjoy life.
All the best,
Harry

Wintertraining in Thomasroith 2009

"We ride together, we die together. Bad Boys for life."

Have you seen the movie "Bad Boys"?
It doesn´t really mather. I´ll come back to the quote in a few moments...

Our host Dominik Feischl (http://www.naturtraining.at/) invited us to the Wintertraining 2009 to Thomasroith in Upper Austria.
I have been invited to several camps but i never know whats going to happen to me once i get there.
Altough Dominik only uses simple, highly effective training tools and methods he has succeeded in combining it with his amazing creativity and passion for training into a flexible training system where you never know whats going to hit you.

Only two things are for sure:
-you will have to demonstrate your will to perform in every energy system you got( from anaerobic to aerobic, from maximal- strength to strength- endurance)
-you will meet only people there, willing to go that extra mile, that extra set of pullups, that one-more-rep-with-the-log with you.

We started the day with a light warm-up jog(yeah, I know, I know, I jogged... ;-D) and some joint-mobility combined with bodyweight- movements to get our blood flowing and increase our core- temperature.

The first workout was provided by Karl Humer.
Karl, "Charly", is a guy you can get up to a pullup- bar, go away, do your christmas- shopping, meet some friends for coffee, shop for dinner- ingredients and then come back... Be sure he has been up on that bar doing pullups, one- arm- static- holds, grip- variations for the whole time!!
So we had the pleasure to learn from his method of strength- development, exercise- selection by doing all this stuff for about one hour!!

My favourite exercise was when all the trainees where hanging from the bars and we had to pass down a brick from one person to another...That is some amazing strength!!

The second workout was the Wintertraining- Challenge by Dominik Feischl.
To keep it simple: as fast as possible do all of the following exercises:
-30x Trapbar-Deadlifts 70kg
-20x Tire Flips 160kg
-3x Tire- Carry for about 40m
-30x Ring- Pushups
-100x Sledge Swings
-50x Around- the-world with a bulgarian bag, estimated13kg
-3x up and down stair-crawls

I don´t know where to start... Yesterday I started with the stair crawls...They kick some serouis a**!!!They almost killed me!
I proceeded to the tire flips, which are normally quite easy for me, since i got a good technique due to all my Kettlebell- work. But thanks to the snow, the tire was almost impossible to grab and therefor you needed almost 3 TO 4 attempts to lift the damn thing ONE TIME!!

The sledge swings where ok for me, since I do them myself and I got a good pace. Nevertheless my heart pounded like a drum. :-D

With the Trap-Bar-Deadlifts I got motivated and did them in one set. Oh yeah, by the way, my hammies, quads, glutes and lower back quit and went on vacation after about 25 reps.

After that the Ring- Pushups were hellish and the fairly light Bulgarian Bag almost killed me.
I will not talk about the final tire- carries here...;-) Although they were fun.

After that nice, little challenge we had a cup of tea. Literally...one cup. It felt more like a box squat...
Taking your weight(the cup), sitting back on a bench, taking a sip and then you hear your coach (in our case Dominik) shouting "UP!!!" and you give it all you got to make that lift.
When you are up... Well... We were off to our next workout.

The third and final workout of the day (yes, ONE DAY!) was another challenge by Dominik.

We went for a run in the woods surrounding Dominiks´ self- made gym.

This one was in its own way the most difficult one but at the same time the most beatiful.
Running, brief walking, Sprinting up inclination covered with ice and snow, between tress, branches,... It just felt right to work out like this. Thank you Dominik for this experience!

Between the slopes we did a ton of pushups, pullups(about one hour into the woods we absolved a pullup- ladder with some guys going up to 9 reps and an additional all-out-set!!), and squats, clean & presses, overhead- squats with logs we found on our run. Some you could pick up yourself, otheres required teamwork.

The most difficult thing was keeping your gloves flexible, since we sweated a lot (I wonder why...) our gloves were soaked and if you did not move them for about an minute, they simply froze up on you...
Getting them flexible again was sort of a grip- challenge inbetween. :-D

After that (by the way, we roamed the woods for about 2 hours without a break!!) we hit the showers and we all went to a lovely tavern for dinner. This was a perfect oppotunity to exchange thoughts and interact with the fellow warriors over some eggs, meat and vegetables.
(I admit, I had some french fries too... Shame on me. ;-D)

To get back to the first quote:
10 athletes, with 10 different focuses, 10 different approaches towards training, 10 different personalities, 10 different performance- levels.
Some there were a lot stronger than me, but I kicked their ass during the hill-sprints. Some kicked mine there as well, but I had an advantage with the deadlift since I got a good base built with Kettlebells.
Some guys could only walk the slopes while others sprinted them. So what?! The faster one simply carried each other uphill.
If they still had some spare time... We´ll... Always time for some pushups and pullups!!
Everybody performed at a different level at each station/workout.

It was never important to us.
Some guys we had to drag up the slopes. So what?! We ride together, we die together!
We started this together, we finished this together!!
That is the mind-set you expect and get from warriors who understand the effort it requires to push ones limits!

Thank you Dominik, for giving people the possibility to experience such a mental effort at least once in their life or to come back several times a year and develop it as a ability, as a tool aiding in ones´ whole life.

Train hard and enjoy life.
All the best,
Harry

Do I love training?

I was prepared for this post with a lot of quotes and clever points.
Well...
I decided to cut that crap (pardon my french) and simply be honest.

Training is certainly a huge part of my life and I say "I love training" quite a lot I think...
But I´ve got to admit, I never really thought that one through.

I talk about it a lot, I want to talk about it a lot. I want to discuss it, gather information about it, want to know it in every aspect possible.
I crave it when not doing it, I´m looking forward to it, sometimes all day long, I crave the calm before the storm and afterwards. I crave the exhaustion, the sweat, the focus, the difficult breathing.
But training just is, exists.
It is just movement of myself and external objects.
Muscular contraction against a variable resistance with different intervals of contraction and relaxation.
Training doesn´t care about me.
I crave for it, miss it, initiate it.

I decide what and when, I decide the intensity, tough I get carried away sometimes.
It´s something brutally honest, something that, at times, almost destroys me.
But in the end I keep coming back stronger.

Give it all you got. The intense moment where one just can be. Complete.
Because it is simple: Extend your arms/legs. Bend your arms/legs. Tighten your abdomen/belly.
Watching something simple remaining simple but becoming difficult; close your hands, open your hands after a 10- minute- Farmers´ Walk with heavy dumbbells or kettlebells.


A focus behind a blurring wall of sweat pouring down from every inch of your body, muscles not even used shaking from sheer exhaustion of the total being.
Focus on bringing all together, exact movement to generate power, energy, on the spot.
Feeling feedback, feeling the kettlebell, the sandbag, the barbell moving, shifting, trembling when you are. Grabbing it tighter, almost to the point you feel your hands melting with the steel, cast iron, canvas, cotton. Harmony... The tighter the grip the more burning flames Inflame your every fiber, crawl up your arms, to your back, to your legs, somehow fill the lungs, one on each side. A honest feedback.
Well... I guess you could call that passion alright.


My goals in training?
Get better!!
Stronger. Faster. More powerful, More enduring. Become Indestructible.
Training itself got no goals itself, none for me.
Training doesn`t exist without me.

Still...I love training.
There... I said it. It´s out there.
I hope me saying this doesn´t ruin our relationship...

Thinking about symbolism, I´m afraid what this means for my general concept of love.
Well...I´ll go work out now.(Don´t say "make love"...Get your thoughts out of the gutter!)
I post a video on You...YouTUBE i guess...



Train hard and enjoy life!
All the best,
Harry

Regeneration - Not necessary talking training here

After the Christmas Endurance Training I thought i also walk you through my regeneration-day and the most important aspects.

For those who don´t want to know my whole philosophy:
-eat enough protein.
-sleep more than 8 hours.
-drink a LOT of water!
-do something to keep the blood flowing (Joint Mobility Drills, Hot Tub, a massage, go for a walk,...)

Well, now the deeper thoughts...

Why the "not necessary talking training" in the title...?

Well...
I went for a long walk today, primary to get some blood flow going in my sore hamstrings and some fresh air into my lungs.
So I took my MP3- player and started.
After about 10 minutes I shut off the music... I felt like the music was filling my head.
Those of you who know me personally know it´s almost impossible to meet me without ear-phones. The music helps me to modulate my mood, gives me the possibility to attend to myself if needed.
Today I needed an empty head, no modulation, no influence. Just my surroundings, my thoughts.

I discovered i was tense again.
Not my muscles but my mind.(Well...my muscles as well but you do a workload of 16000kg in under an hour!)

I don´t know if this is something special only I experience but sometimes I discover my mind gets tense. It feels like I´m stuck in my own head, it spreads out and tightens my forehead, my face, my chest and there you go...I´m tense all around...

Those long walks help me reflect things experienced... SOmetimes not by thinking consciously about them but by just letting my mind wander or being silent like today.

I bet everyone of you, physical active or not got those events which tighten your head.
Exams, interpersonal relations, job, family,...
Get your recovery! After a good amount of hands-on work with burn-out- patients I can tell you: IT´S IMPORTANT!!
Search and find what´s good for you and DO IT!!

We only progress by hard work. Some do them conciously, plan them. Some just got those "AHA!!" - Moments.
But like training one needs to be able to restrain oneself.
Do not eat that chocolate. Do not have another beer. Do not watch another episode of Lost, Seinfeld or whatever and go to bed!

Knowing my zodiac sign being Cancer, a friend of mine once said to me "Ah...Two steps ahead, one step back."
I guess my friend was right...That is what i, we, should practice. Being able to step back once in a while in my world of training.
Only by stepping back one step once in a while we enable us to see the whole picture and assess if me are making progress.

After the long walk through cold rain I soaked myself into a 30min hot bath. Those do wonders for you. Especially if you finish them with a cold shower.
After those I usually feel like chewed and spit out but 30min afterwards I can eat a whole cow.
By the way, I did that. ;-)
Yeah, like I said, Protein is important!

I´ll finish my regeneration with about 8 to 9 hours of sleep. And I´m looking forward to it!

Train hard and enjoy life!
All the best,
Harry

Christmas Endurance Special

Merry Christmas.

For most people. christmas is family time. You know, hang out with family, dinners, presents, more food...

For me as well. ;-)

But those who don´t do anything during the christmas holidays need nuts like me who also push their workload during the holidays so they maybe do something.
Please don´t go jogging now...

For me, i spent about a hour of my 24th of december doing:

-500x Swings
-500x Push Presses,

both with a 16kg Kettlebell.


It´s about rep 300 at the end of the short clip.

No more rules, just finish it.
It took me something short of an hour.

To be honest, I was suprised how well it went.
Since I worked at a cosy cadence it turned out to be an 1hour endurance event, my grip stayed with me, my legs kept on going, my back feels great and my shoulders are going to be sore tomorrow.

Overall I´m happy. I like stuff like that.

Train hard and enjoy life!
All the best,
Harry

Code of the warrior - TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

A scary duty if you really think about it...

Every word we say, every action we take, every use of our weapons(be it knowledge, words, bullets,...) and every consequence following...We are responsible for it.
We are responsible for our success and failure.

It is YOUR LIFE, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE!!!

If you don´t like it, do something about it.
If you wanna blame someone else, if you wanna start whining...Go on. And get used to the fact that your problems will never go away.

Enjoy life and train hard!
All the best,
Harry