Stay on Offense Climb Mountains

Attacking Adversity

Go Hiking If You Want To Feel Young Again

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Climbing a mountain every week is certainly not a comfortable way to spend one of your two weekend days. It would be much more comfortable to take in a movie or go to the beach. Mountains are steep. The uneven terrain challenges your muscles.

The Season

My hiking season begins the first of March and ends either at the end of August or September. The reason it might end in August varies. By the end of the summer it has taken its toll on my body. Every weekend no matter the weather or how tired I might be the night before, I head up the trail. It isn’t easy doing it every week.

One Sunday morning I sat in the car listening to the rain pelt the hood and really not wanting to get out of that nice warm space. But then I remind myself of one of the reasons I do it. To feel younger!

Be Bold – Begin It

Goethe said, “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and magic in it.”

Once my feet are on the ground and I am heading up the trail I feel like a twenty year old. Someone said my breathing resembles a stove pipe. Maybe it is because of Asthma I suffered as a child. Every once in a while I will wheeze if I push myself particularly hard, but the noise makes me feel like I am a train chugging along. Maybe it is an old smoke belching train, but still powerful. It might even keep the bugs away.

Of course when the hike is finished I feel that surge of youth again. Like “magic.” I did it one more time. I am still vital and strong. It combats those thoughts that older people have telling them that they should act their age or that they shouldn’t be doing such and such at their age.

Yes, hiking makes me feel younger, but it also keeps me physically younger as well. So all you chronologically “older” people get out in nature while you still can and go hiking!

Bookish Weapon Number Sixteen

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When I wrote about having sore legs in one of my hiking posts, I mentioned Kelly Starrett. Well, he wrote a book called “The Supple Leopard,” and Jill Miler wrote a book called “The Roll Model.” If you read and apply what is in these two books you will be Superman or Superwoman. These two also got together to create a CD which I highly recommend called, “Treat While You Train.”

These are all weapons in and of themselves. So I suppose each of these books deserve their own post, but I am going to concentrate today on Starrett’s book. It is a huge book, but I will pick a couple things for your consideration. Keep in mind that this book is filled with pictures so you really need to get it and go through it.

Stability

If the first part of the book Starrett explains his system. Then in chapter two he gets into Midline Stabilization and Organization. He gives you sequences to practice, breathing mechanics, and much more. In chapter three he focuses on the “One Joint Rule,” where “if you see flexion or extension anywhere in the spine, it is an error.” You want to have a braced neutral spine and he shows you how to get that.

In chapter four he covers the Laws of Torque. Want a stable hip position, then “screw your feet into the ground, spin your feet as if they are on dinner plates, spread the floor and shove your knees out.” Hence, law number one – “To create stability when your legs or arms are in flexion, you need to generate external rotation force.” Then law #2: “To create stability when your legs or arms are in extension you need to generate an internal rotation force.”

There are torque tests for hips, shoulders, etc

Movement

In chapter five he covers movement hierarchy and then a whole list of movements including the right way to do a back squat, pushup, deadlift, etc. He breaks them down into category one, two and three movements.

This book is almost 400 pages of color photos and text that help you move better in and out of the gym.

Good luck with all this. It will help you prevent injuries.

Go Hiking And Your Legs Might Get Sore

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Soreness is guaranteed if you are my age, but I have heard younger folks complain about sore legs too. Of course we all get sore and for some the soreness will last several days. So what can you do about it besides stoically accept it as part of the territory. After all, some of us search out the “burners” just so our legs will hurt.

Stretch

Well, you don’t have to be so defenseless, go on offense. Do some stretching. I highly recommend the Kelly Starret’s “Couch Stretch.” It opens up the hip flexors and does a nice job on the quads as well.

If you cannot do it correctly use a big Swiss Ball to lean on. This works for me.

Roll

Those foam rollers work. After climbing a mountain and driving back home, when I get out of the car I can barley walk. Foam rolling along with the stretching really helps.

When you use the foam roller, be sure that after you have rolled back and forth, you stop and put pressure on those muscles. Tense them and then release. Put pressure on the areas that hurt, which is usually pretty much everywhere. Once you finish this couch stretch and rolling you will be able to walk again.

Cramps

Sometimes when I hike over six hours I get cramps. If you are older you will most likely have more problems with this than younger people. The is because your are old!

There are many things that help. Putting something bitter in your mouth for example. Salt pills can help a lot, especially those with potassium in them. However, I have found that magnesium malate helps the most. It has eliminated night cramps for me.

Bookish Weapon Number Fifteen

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The book that started it all for me or at least what kept me in the sales profession was “See You At The Top,” by Zig Ziglar. I had forgotten that it was a 400 page book. I remembered it to be a lot smaller for some reason. So I am going to pull a few gems out of this one for you, but before I do consider that Norman Vincent Peale endorsed this book.

I noticed that on the inside cover of my copy I wrote the dates I completed reading it. I read it eight times, the last time being in 1980. Now, I wish I had kept reading it every year. As Zig says in his introduction, “…read it from cover to cover as a way of life. Then you start over.”

The Big Weapon – Six Steps

Zig says there are six steps to everything you want – self-image, your relationship with others, goals, attitude, work and desire. That’s it! He says we all have some of everything we need to be successful.

He says, “winning isn’t everything, but the effort to win is,” and “man was designed for accomplishment, engineered for success and endowed with the seeds of greatness.”

One of his most quoted sayings is, “You can get everything in life you want, if you help enough other people get what they want.”

Your Mind

“Whatever you plant in the mind is going to come up – multiplied.” The reason for this is that between planting and harvesting the imagination gets involved and multiplies whatever you planted. Think about that! Have you ever had your imagination go wild on you after even something relatively minor? I know I have allowed it.

His key idea here is if you plant negatives in your mind you will reap negatives. He says “whatever we put into our minds is going to come out of them.”

The Scariest Disease

Ziglar calls it the “worlds most deadly disease.” It is “hardening of the attitude,” and it is caused by “stinkin’ thinkin’.” I always have loved this.

Have you ever suffered from this not so rare disease? If course we all have and it is deadly, so be careful and recognize it for what it is before it becomes terminal.

So what you should probably get is a “checkup from the neck up” so you don’t get this disease.

Desire

Zig calls it the equalizer. He says “Desire is the ingredient that changes the water of mediocrity to the steam of outstanding success.” “Desire is the extra.” “Our yearning power is more important than our earning power.”So crank up your desire if you want to get somewhere.

Also don’t get bent our of shape regarding “happiness.” I have always just wanted to be useful, but Zig says “happiness is not pleasure. It is victory.”

Go Hiking And You Might Encounter A Sasquatch

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“Ok, now you are getting stupid,” you say! Well, maybe, but hear me out. This happened about a year ago when I was climbing Mt Dickerman in the North Cascades. Dickerman is a tough hike gaining about 3800 feet in 4.5 miles. It also has some of the best scenery anywhere (See Picture).

This particular hike was no different than others I have taken. I parked my car, put my forest pass in the window, packed my bag, and headed up the trail.

Dark

One think you need to know is that I hike in the dark. I of course use a headlamp. Typically I am in the dark for an hour and a half to two hours before sunrise.

When you are in the dark your hearing improves. At least that is my experience. However, I can still see with the lamp so it is not like I am blind. In any event I do have a tendency to listen more intently.

Typical Sounds In the Forest

Have you heard a pheasant? It is one thing to see one fly out of its hiding place and you shot it for dinner, but have you ever heard the sound it makes. It is very eery. Kind of a moan.

Then there is the chattering Squirrels. They make a lot of noise when they want to. It is all expected in the woods.

The Unexpected

Because I do a lot of hiking I have heard lots of sounds. On this particular morning I heard the most blood curdling scream, but it wasn’t like someone screaming. It was more like a screeching sound combned with a snarl. I stopped when I heard it. Stopped dead in my tracks. I had never heard anything like it. It didn’t do it just once. It made the sound several times before going quiet. So what was it. A Sasquatch? Maybe. Who knows.

The rest of that hike I was on edge. You might just hear something like that yourself someday, but don’t let it stop you. Go hiking!

Bookish Weapon Number Fourteen

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Today’s Bookish Weapon is from Ray Dalio’s book, Principles. It is arguably one of the best business books in print. Dalio’s biography is stunning. A billionaire investor and hedge fund manager. He knows how to make anything more successful. I am going to look at his take on making decisions, but I highly recommend you read the whole book.

Decisions – Broadly Speaking

So you need to make a decision about something. Something important. How do you ego about it from Dalio’s perspective. He says, “Know that coming up with the right questions and asking other smart people what they think is as important as having all the answers.”

So ask some smart people what they think. Get someone else’s perspective. This is always good advice.

Process

There is a two step process second for making decisions says Ray. First take in all the information especially apposing views. Second, decide!

He says that, “You are looking for the best answer not simply the best answer you can come up with yourself.” Find people that have been successful over time and ask them.

Always plan for worse case scenarios as much as possible. The old 2 is one and 1 is none.

Upper Level and Lower Level

You need to understand what level your conversation is on. If it is about a sub-point then that is a lower level conversation. If it is a main point, that is upper level, and he says, “decisions need to be made at the appropriate level, but they should also be across levels.”

He slices it for sure. He is very detailed in his decision making. He says that most people focus on the lower level points and make decisions based on them and those decisions are inferior.

Bets and Probability

“Make your decisions as expected value calculations. Think of every decision as a bet. Reward times probability of occurring is greater than penalty times probability of occurring.” The book gets into more detail so read it.

He also points out that it is “Not always best to bet on what’s more probable. The best choices are ones that have more pros than cons, not the ones that have no cons.”

Consequences

Have you considered all the consequences of your decision? Dalio says you must consider second and third level consequences. So look at how this decision will impact you in three years. Who will it impact and what will be the consequences for them in three, five, the years. Go deep! Most people only look at first level consequences, so don’t be like most people.