The Useful Strong Stuff Journal Vol. 5

Coronavirus Edition 1.

So I have been looking at a lot of stuff lately about how to workout at home and stay fit and healthy during this Coronavirus quarantine and pandemic. I don’t have big answers. What I do have are some links to things that might help you maintain your health and fitness during these times. Implement an idea or two if they fit your life, and stay safe everyone.

Home Fitness

Great ideas on fitness during the quarantines and isolation from Nerd Fitness https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/how-to-stay-in-shape-without-leaving-the-house-the-ultimate-guide-for-getting-fit-at-home/

Exercises you can do at home. https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/the-42-best-bodyweight-exercises-the-ultimate-guide-for-working-out-anywhere/

Josh Bryant has a lot of videos of workouts you can do from home with no equipment. Links to playlists at the bottom of the article. https://joshstrength.com/2020/03/time-the-ultimate-resource/

A good outline of doing bodyweight training. https://www.elitefts.com/education/the-power-of-bodyweight-training/

A full lower body bodyweight workout from Josh Bryant. https://www.elitefts.com/education/bodyweight-training-for-lower-body-strength-and-power/

A full upper body bodyweight workout from Josh Bryant. https://www.elitefts.com/education/bodyweight-training-for-upper-body-strength-and-power/

Some good ideas on things you can get, many at a local store. https://www.self.com/gallery/build-an-affordable-home-gym

Workout from home guide from Self https://www.self.com/story/exactly-how-to-start-workout-program-without-joining-gym

Movements you can do with a band if you have one. If you don’t have bands they are rather affordable and available through sites such as Elitefts.com. These are rather hardcore bands, not the super easy ones you might be familiar with for an aerobics class. https://www.elitefts.com/education/band-exercises-at-home/

John Meadows with an at home band pressing workout. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjeudmtmEU4&feature=youtu.be

John Meadows sharing an at home total body workout. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGsnp5yapD4

John Meadows with a banded pulling workout at home. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je2M-2juAD0

Mental Health America has resources for you about mental health things. Life could be trying for a while, we don’t know. This is a resource for help if you think you might need it. https://www.mhanational.org/

Our Coronavirus Moment

The world is looking like it is more and more up against something really big and daunting with this Coronavirus that is spreading right now. I am not a smart enough man to predict how any of this may land. I might lose a lot of family and friends, and I may not. That seems to be a part of being in a pandemic, you don’t know how things will shake out. I feel like I am standing watching an approaching storm. The clouds are black, the wind is blowing, and it is uncertain how bad exactly this might be. In a person’s life they only see so many bad storms. These storms are moments that define us. How we react and what we do during these times are moments that reveal our values. We are looking at a coming storm, for some of us the storm has arrived, the question we must ask is “Now what?”

I won’t provide any answers here, I’m not smart enough to have those. Everyone’s situation is vastly different and will necessitate different actions. I have isolated and pretty much quarantined myself. This wasn’t hard for me. I spend most of my time alone anyways right now. I will just do my writing from my parent’s house rather than from the library. I cannot pass judgement or suggestions onto people that have a lot more going on with their lives. It does feel to me we are standing before a pivotal time.

I have wondered before how many of these times in our lives do we get? Sometimes men are sent off to war, those are pivotal times. Accidents and illnesses can be the same way on a much smaller scale globally but are still huge for the people they directly impact. Meeting your spouse is a far more positive example of these important times. I feel like these times are the ones that really shape our story and legacy.

How we react and what we do in these times are the makings of story and legacies. In fifty years our grandchildren may be asking what we did during this time. I don’t say this to try and inspire anything. This might not be a time to take drastic inspired action. It’s probably more of a time to stay home and quarantine. To be honest we might not even get a chance to take much action. We might just get to sit at home and ride this out. Sometimes the best action that can be taken is no action at all. We might get a chance to help a neighbor out or something like that, all our situations will be different. So this is probably not the time to hold rallies and march in the streets, but there could be other things we can do.

We can forgive, we can reach out, and we can improve during our exiles. If we’re able maybe we should forgive debts until after this pandemic has passed. Your neighbor that owes you money might need that 200 dollars a lot more than you right now. Most of us have a lot of communications technology, so we should reach out to people and make them feel less isolated. We can learn new things during this time. I know I have a lot of reading and learning goals to catch up on. Mostly we can use this time to do things we’re proud of in some way. If this thing goes as bad for as long as it could, this will be important.

There is no way today to really know how long this will last. I am losing hope that this will pass quickly. We can only do the best we can with each day and go from there. We must consider though where this time and where these moments sit within our life. The things we do in the coming days will matter a lot. Even if all we do is quarantine at home and help stop the spread of this virus, that is a legacy worth having. This will not be over in the next few days. We have time to sit and ponder how we should react. I do believe this is likely going to be a pivotal time period in our lives, we should recognize that, and act accordingly.

A Lunch Routine

I break daily from the toils of my labor for lunch and refreshment. This refreshment is of the mind, body, and spirit. My lunch routine has grown beyond just eating, its about fueling everything. Every day I seek to get strong in all things. I am grateful I have forged this pursuit into a daily lunchtime habit.

My lunch routine is simple. I drive to the park and park off by myself. I then proceed to spend some time reading the Bible and in prayer. I then eat some food from a cooler in my van. Then I go for a walk, either listening to education podcasts, or in silence. That is my routine, and it seems as though it makes me stronger in all ways. I have spent time thinking about each part and dialing it in.

I go to the park and park way off by myself to do these things. I don’t want distractions and I want quiet to do these things. This is my space for doing these things, I feel as though its good to have a space for all things. This is my space for lunch.

Reading the Bible and praying is all about taking my faith more seriously. I have not taken my faith as seriously as I should in the past. So I built this into my lunch habits so that I was at least doing something every day. A little time talking to God is good, I don’t always pray that long, but this habit keeps me doing it daily. The same goes for reading the Bible at lunch. I read whatever I feel like, I just want to make sure I’m touching the Bible daily. This little bit helps me stay more centered on God, it is just the start of what I should be doing, but it’s a start.

Eating lunch, well eating lunch is pretty simple. I eat simple foods that fuel me, and that’s it. My lunch’s tend to be nutritional, and stay focused that way. I eat a lot of garbage but not at lunch. Lunch is to fuel performance.

After eating I go for a walk that lasts anywhere from 10 to 60 minutes. I just walk as far as I feel like. This gives me some base of exercise. I seem to think better after getting the blood flowing a bit. Depending on the day I will either listen to a podcast or walk in silence.

Podcasts I listen to while walking are for expanding my knowledge. I listen to podcasts about an array of subjects, some business podcasts, some writing podcasts, and some lifting ones. These seem to be about exposing myself to more ideas and concepts. I don’t know that I learn a lot of deep things from these podcasts, but exposure is the first step in deeper learning. Somedays I just walk in silence though.

I think quiet is important, and super important if we are trying to think at our peak capabilities. Long quiet walks are my best thinking times and where my so many of my ideas come from. The more I walk the more ideas I have. I could warrant spending most of the day walking to be honest.

This might be rambling, but its what I do 6 days a week, Sundays look a bit different. I have experimented with it and shifted different things in and out of this routine. It does a good job of helping me address things that are important to me but maybe not urgent. I am grateful this whole routine is autopilot and taking care of some of these important and non-urgent things. It helps me keep stepping forward in a lot of ways, it is an easy pace, but I know I keep moving forward with these things daily.

Livestreams Are Cool

I have taken the last couple days off from work. I have done next to nothing other than eat and lay around the house watching tv and streams of strongman events. I am a meathead so I like watching people lift heaving things up and put them down. 20 years ago I would have had to have waited until Christmas Day World’s Strongest Man Marathons on ESPN to see anything like this. I’m grateful for livestreams and the fact that all sorts of stuff can be watched live.

Watching something live is a special kind of magic. Combine a livestream of an event with all the buzz on social media and you are a part of an event. Livestreams are so awesome and I just celebrate all the cool things the let us watch.

Something Something Smile

Beauty and wonder is abundant. I find it so many places.

Amish cheese, it just tastes better fresh from the farm.

The hamburgers from the local meat processing plant are the same way. They just taste meatier.

Blueberries from the farm are the same way. Fresh has a quality all its own.

A good new song has this same quality.

A new movie trailer too.

Connecting with a new friend for the first time too.

I am just grateful to recognize this awesomeness.

Meatball Feast

Some days I work. Some days I am lazy. I am no different than any other man. I do the normal things a man does. Sometimes I feast. When I feast, sometimes I feast on meatballs. I am grateful for the feast of meatballs.

I make my own meatballs. They are nothing special but they are my meatballs. My meatballs taste good to me. I have learned how to make them just the way I like. I am a wise man for dialing in these meatballs. Be like me, dial in your meatballs.

Choosing Experience

Much of our existences are a result of our opinions, reactions, and our thoughts. They shape how we see the world. These things influence how we experience anything that happens. Two people can be in the exact same situation but experience it differently. How we experience things is a free and open experience. We get to choose how we experience the world. I am grateful we get to choose the lens through which we view life.

The more we can choose this lens, the more peaceful and positive we can be. How we view the world doesn’t change the world, but it can change our experience. It does no good to choose a negative lens, it does not change the facts. If I am going to experience a thing, I want to experience it as positively as possible. I am grateful I get this choice, we all get this choice.

Tweet Rants About Gloves

This morning I spent about an hour on Twitter ranting about gloves. Yes the piece of clothing that goes on your hands. I don’t know that I was all that clever or insightful about gloves, but yes I tweeted about them for a good long time. It was a rant, a rambling, and once it started in my mind I let myself go with it. I tend to let myself go with these things a bit more these days than I used to. I am grateful that I indulge in ranting.

Ranting and being silly is fun. My brain does it automatically at times. I see something, and then it starts. If it is a fun or goofy rant, well then I let my brain keep going with it. I think it sparks creativity and its fun. Some people don’t indulge in this behavior, but I do.

I think we need to all do better to indulge in the right indulgences. We can’t worry about looking cool, we just got to run with things if we want the benefits. Moderation is lame, and we all know it. So today I rant about gloves. This is how I expand my mind. Now that the rant is complete, I feel more energetic. I feel more creative as well. This little side adventure about gloves, well that has me all fired up. Now its time to move onto the main adventure of the day.

Ode To Buffalo Wings

I have Celiac Disease. This means my diet is limited. There are many things I have not eaten in the last 7 years since going on a gluten-free diet. This is not a big deal to me, but I did give up eating a lot of foods I liked. With the addition of an air fryer to our kitchen, there has been a comeback of sorts happening. I am very grateful for having access to an air fryer, and the return of the Buffalo Wing to my diet.

Air frying makes it easy to fry a wing without using any flour. Add some Buffalo sauce and I have Buffalo wings again. This is really cool to get this back in my life. This is something I didn’t even know or realize I had missed a little bit. Getting this back into my diet is a small thing and not a big deal, but it makes me happy.

Small things can make us happy. Buffalo Wings are one of those things. Chicken wings are cheap, so is the Buffalo Sauce I add to the wings, but they taste so good. Cheap easy things that spread around some happiness, those are things we need to seek out. They are everywhere, and we should spread them and lean into them a bit more. I might be grateful for Buffalo Wings, but I am also grateful for the reminder that life can be a bit simple if we let it be.

Motion

It is hard to know the future. It is best not to get too wrapped up in an unknown future. We can prepare best we can. I have not always prepared the best. I have sought to remedy that though. I am grateful for everything I have set into motion to create a better future.

The last couple years have been very hard for me. I however have been working in silence on a lot of stuff. I have written a book that should release soon. I have started research and experiments for another book or podcast or whatever it becomes. I daily take steps deeper into a fitness world that is brings me unending joy. I have been busy, mostly I have been putting things into motion.

None of my projects will likely bring me much return on investment in the immediate future. I have set in motion things though that should return to me many good things. There have been times in my life when I had no such things in motion. This was unwise. I feel I have gained wisdom and always want things to be set into motion. Some things will return with gain, some things will not. It is merely my job to start motion.

That is what I am really most grateful for when it comes to putting things into motion. The fact that I am creating motion and attacking the future. I don’t know what will happen, but action creates. I am happy I can say that I am working towards almost all my life goals on a consistent basis. I will have fought the good fight regardless of results, I will have taken my shots, and I can smile about that.