The Road to 10,000
The Turning Feral Devotional - Day 68
DAY 68: The road of life is always paved with difficulty. Folks who are prepared for those difficulties always seem to fare better and are less rattled when they hit those unexpected bumps in the road. Just like investing in nicer shocks for your vehicle, you can also invest in yourself by priming yourself for doing hard physical things on a regular basis.
How often should you be doing large volume physical feats that push you to your limits? Well, the consensus on this is pretty mixed… Some say that doing one exceptionally hard thing each year is enough (an ultramarathon, etc.), while others attest to more frequent - even weekly - challenges. Having subscribed to different types of fitness routines over the years, I think the right answer is to do hard things as often as you can. Whether that’s once a year or twice a week… find the cadence that is right for you, but make sure you are getting hard things done with some regularity. Plus, the more you do extreme physical exercise the less daunting doing another will seem, which will ultimately bleed over into giving you better emotive control of your personal life.
Not feeling inspired, or maybe you don’t know where to start? You can always follow a few different accounts of people who push themselves regularly and offer up challenges of all sorts. Folks who inspire me include:
Michael Ester and his 2% crew who do monthly “Burn the Ships” workouts to find that that edge
MTNTOUGH Fitness always does a “buy-in” and “buy-out” workout for their minimum gear daily workouts that are pretty epic (PS: you can use the promo code OKAYEST30 for a 30 day free trial!)
Jason Khalipa has a new Train Hard fitness app that also includes some ‘top of the mountain’ type of workouts
Clark Mountain Athletics is always posting awesome content showing how to push yourself further in mountain terrain and also host some epic wellness retreats up in my hometown (could be a great excuse to come visit me?)
If none of those examples tickle your masochistic fancy then you can always make up something on your own. A data geek buddy of mine messaged me the other day asking if I wanted to get in 10,000 kettlebell swings by the end of February – instead of thinking about whether this was feasible or not, I dove right in. Thankfully I have a group of friends who are also like minded (and maybe lack good judgement) and always seek out new challenges, so I put out the bat signal and others have been joining in on the fun.
If you want to join in the kettlebell swinging bandwagon, jump in while the water is warm – the average amount of swings per day is 370 and any kettlebell weight is acceptable. Whether you do this 10k kettlebell swing challenge, one of the ones listed above, or cut your own challenge trail, just ensure that you are pushing yourself to the limits physically as often as you can - you never know when you will need to tap into that calloused grit and resilience in your everyday life!
Daily Prompt: When was the last time that you were really challenged physically? How did you feel afterward?:
Motivational Passage:
“You have to learn to get comfortable being uncomfortable. You have to be willing to get out of your comfort zone and push your limits.”
Jesse Itzler
Rewilding Action: Having a solid pack and pack frame is vital to rucking around heavy loads on hikes, hunts, or personal fitness challenges. There are boatloads of great companies but my personal favorite from a versatility perspective is Initial Ascent. Yes, they are an Idaho based company and are pricey, but my pack frame and bag have been all over the country with me hunting and trapping in some gnarly terrain. Other great bags I have used are GoRuck (I still have an original GR1 from 2009 ish?), Mystery Ranch, and Stone Glacier. Choose what’s right for you, but make sure you have one and that you load it up regularly to get out into the wilderness.
