The amount of amazing shit I see each weekend I am at Tough Mudder Events is truly a refreshing taste at what it really mean to be human. Stripping down the barriers of clothes, standards, rules, and expectations; we humans get to actually be...human. As I step back each event and wonder at the social interactions that happen in front of me, I am reminded that we all have the opportunity, in every moment, to either suck or be great. I am going to offer 3 tips that will help you suck less and be more amazing.
What does it mean to suck? What does it mean to be great? Lets quickly frame these two distinct but inherently subjective levels of personal classification. To suck one must first begin with consciousness. If your reality extends no further than say your immediate 'feelings' then you are already setting yourself up to be disappointed because life is never going to be fully satisfying to the senses at any one time. To be great is to do just the opposite then. Greatness as I have seen expressed in the people and things in this world is an outward effect that creates a benefit to the world around you. No matter tangible, visual, spiritual, or simply spreading positive vibes can be classified in the greatness category.
So now we venture into simple ways to create greatness!
Don't Be "that guy". To allow for greatness in the world you must first allow it to happen in your own life. As a traveler and observer I can tell you that most of us use suckiness as a way to defend against the world and falsely justify our own irrational concepts of morality and proper living. Being great means that you must abandon shallowness, fear, and stereotypes at all times. This is very difficult because nature has given us a hardwired brain which uses these defense mechanisms as a manner of navigating a treacherous world. I blame it on parents... haha. Not really but sucking more and being less great starts with your upbringing. We must transcend what our traditions tell us, and look to the virtuous men and women of our world for a roadmap to true greatness. Consciousness begets greatness. When you can move past the shallowness, fear and stereotypes you essentially are on the path to consciousness. If we could all become more conscious of nature, our neighbors, those not like us, and especially those who may not have the same beliefs as us... we are on our way to a pretty cool Greatness party that everyone is invited too!
Create Opportunity in your daily life. Ive really been into the concept of Opportunity lately. Every time you walk into a room, get out of your car, turn around in Starbucks, you can create an opportunity for greatness in someone else life. One thing I have learned about humans is that WE ALL DESIRE THE SAME THINGS. We want to feel love, have purpose, and have a voice. If you can let someone express one or more of those things in your presence you can become a legend! The empowering of others creates a greater sense of consciousness inside yourself at the same time which can help elevate you past the previously mentioned suckiness in the first point. For many, consciousness needs to be jarred out of them like a slap to the face; and opportunities created in situations when others least expect it make the greatest impact. By going out of your way, everyone will consider the slightest effort as a sign of greatness. So take advantage to compliment someone, smile at a stranger, give something of value inadvertently, really just the small things matter. 2 or 3 of those per day add up to a greatness level that is incomprehensible.
Pop The Bubble. Hugs fucking rule. Lets be honest. I must give 200+ hugs at each Tough Mudder event and each one brings my happiness level up to the full level. Human contact is fleeting though. With virtual lives and loss of physical interaction we are in danger of losing a level of connection that has bound our humanity for so long. Greatness can be created through touching and bursting our personal bubbles. Valuing Nature and the majesty it holds is declining as we pave over it, avoid it, shut it down and otherwise. Mark Twain said, "Architects cannot teach nature anything". No matter how we try and imitate it, there is nothing like sinking your toes into the soil and feeling the eons of life and death that we have arisen from.
Break out of your bubble and become great. Humans touching each other gives relevancy to our humanity. From the Maori's touching foreheads, europeans kissing, and Americans shaking hands, the connection means something. By simply touching another human you recognize them and that sensation brings us to a level of physical appreciation truly understood by even the most primitive mind. Sucking involves a complete lack of understanding and that is tied to ones ability to hug, touch and kiss. Its human, just do it and be great.
While the concepts are simple, so is the title of this piece. Being great is nothing out of the ordinary, in fact it is something that you can attain within 1 minute if you really tried right now! This goes especially for you parents. Our children are easy to assign greatness, they are searching for it; give them a leader to model in their own lives. Don't Suck, Be Great. Lets elevate our humanity and rise above this level we are at right now. Whether you are a spiritual person or not we owe it to the reality of our present situation to take an extra minute, second, moment to be extraordinary .
I love you all, E.
Programming Notes 10/9-10/13
10/9
Baseline:
500m Row
3X
12 Banded Lat Pull Down
10 banded Pull Aparts
8 Banded Pass Thru
6 Jump Squats
Lat Band Mobility/ Bully Stretch/ Scapula Distraction
*cover the C2B Progression.
-hollow body
-Hollow Body Kip Swing
-Hip Extension and Flexion. POWER
-Pulling to the chest
WOD:
5 Rounds For Time
15 Chest To bar Pull Ups
20 Wall Ball Shots
25 Push Ups
-Rest :90 btwn rounds-
10/10
Baseline:
3X :60 @ Each
-Jump Rope Freestyle
-Barbell Good Mornings
-Barbell Bent Over Rows
-Barbell Overhead Reverse Lunge
Lunge Flow: Ankle Roll Outs, elbow to instep W/ Reach, hamstring Pulses, Back Bends, Side Lunge, Pigeon Stretch
WOD:
20 Min EMOM
A- Deadlift 3-7 @ 345/245 ,315/225, 275/200
B- Kettlebell Overhead Lunge X16 @ 53/35
C- :60 max Double Under
D- Rest
10/11
Baseline:
Agility Warm Up @ 10m Each
High Knee Pull
Quad Pull
Squat 180 **stepping the leg high over hip, swing opposite leg to 180, squat
High Knees
Butt kickers
Marching High Kicks
Groiners
Straight leg shuffles
Fig 4 Drill
Lateral Shuffle
Carioca
Lateral Bounding
Sprint W/ Change of Direction
Sprint Intervals:
2X
200m Run - rest 1:00
100m Sprint - Rest 2:00
50m Sprint - Rest 3:00
Strength:
Back Squat
3X5 + 5-10# from week previous
*focus on toes forward
* depth is reliant upon your midline strength and hamstring flexibility
*Control eccentric, explode Concentric
10/12
Baseline:
400m Run
10@ Each
-shoulder Rolls
-Arm Swing
-lateral jabs
-divebomber push Ups
-Scorpion Stretch
-squats
-Elbow to Instep Lunge
-Tuck Jumps
Core Development:
3X
10 Dumbbell Side Bends (each side) (ensure chest stays squared up)
20 Dumbbell Renegade Rows (feet wide, each pull to body is a rep)
30 2Ct. Flutter Kicks
WOD:
2X
400m Run
21 Alternating Dumbbell Snatch
500m Row
15 GHD Sit Ups
30 Cal Bike
9 Strict Ring Dips
10/13
Baseline:
Partner Warm Up:
For 7 Minutes
P1- Bike @ 55/75 RPM
P2- 10 Slam Balls/ 10 Single Leg Glute Bridges
Shoulder Prep:
-Banded Pass Thru
-Banded Tempo Press
-Banded Pull Aparts
10 Negative Handstand Push Ups
WOD:
Against a 6 min Clock,
Begin by doing 1 of each movement, then 2, then 3… and so on until time is called.
-Power Clean 135/95
-Kipping Handstand Push Up or Barbell Strict Press @ 95/65
*Rest 3 Minutes and then Repeat the 6 Min AMRAP. Goal is to match or beat your previous number.
