DAY 90 = PCP DONE. A long life of activity, vitality, wellness, and awareness just begun . . .

So it is so hard to figure out how to make a quality, meaningful, and complete last post. But I'm going to do the best I can and hopefully update from time to time in the future. Once a month or so with thoughts on maintaining, new growth, and encouragement for any new PCP groups to come.

So without further ado, here goes nothing!

SECTION 1: PCP Mindset and changes

So if you decide to embark on this journey of changing your lifestyle to be balanced and healthy, to the high limits of expectation. What can you expect to change about your life?

1. In this world you will never "fit in."

2. You will view yourself and others that have the same level of fitness completely different from the world around you. This opinion is usually that you are better. It's hard to fight against that new prejudice.

3. Your habits will change so much, eating dried figs can seem like an "indulgence"

4. You will be overly critical of fitness, especially of others. The type of people who used to seem "fit and attractive" might not any more to you. Especially if even though they are "fit and attractive" they don't approach fitness the same way you do. 

5. You will be happy

6. You will feel "right" or "in the groove" a lot. Things will go your way more often, as a by product of positivity and better performance in all areas.

7. AWARENESS

8. You will value those who are close to you ever more

9. CONFIDENCE

10. Finally, you will change everyone around you for the better, at least for the better of their health, without even trying.

To sum up once you achieve a PCP mindset (It came for me around day 60) so many things happen. All the things above become very noticeable and you will feel very distanced form your former self. But around day 80 you will totally forget how you used to feel and the PCP is like a new skin or personality.

Be prepared for major changes. You your new "powers" for good (those of attraction, confidence and awareness). Fight against the prejudice which comes form self-discipline and turn it into empathy for others who just don't understand what they are doing to their bodies and remember that by making the changes you have you are impacting everyone for the good. 

Your wonderful habits will instill guilt in others. 

They will also inspire.

Share with those who repeatedly ask you how you are doing it how they too can get in shape. While at the same time realize that most who ask are only hitting on you or making conversation, they don't want a sermon. 

And lastly bask in your new found body and posture.

SECTION 2: Where the PCP leads

Be prepared for motivation. You will want to be creative and start more projects. Run with it. But be aware that the first feeling of being superman do fade a little. Around day 30 you see major changes and the workouts aren't too serious yet so you think you can take on the world. wait and be balanced.

The PCP, in my case, also strengthened by belief in natural medicine and I envision a world with everyone in PC daily. It will be a wonderful place when it comes.

Maintenance is a beautiful thing as well. Once you are in truly good shape once in your life maintaining is very easy. 80% of it is diet so never veer to far away from your new habits.

And remember anyone can do the PCP. You can do the PCP.

And once you do the PCP you can do anything else you want.

For me I have many goals. I hope to be back around with those updates in the future. I have some business ideas. So wonderful art ideas. Tons of Parkour and travel to do. And a PCP convention to help Patrick organize. I now have the goals and time to work on and improve my mind-body connection, spirituality, and flexibility.

And not to mention tree-climbing here I come!

SECTION 3: Thanks

Sean, Corry, David, now is my chance to thank you on my own PCP blog for paving the way as the first PCP guinea pigs. Your honest and enthusiastic blogs really made me anticipate doing this even more than I imagined. KNowing I went form commenting a TON to being on the PCP complete roster with you is something I am so proud of. I hope we one day get to meet.

Amy, Tim, Adrian and Emiko, what can I say? This was such a great trip and the support you all gave in the beginning helped so much! We all kind of lost our blogging stamina to some extent (except Tim, a post every day! amazing!) but know you were there doing what I was doing was great and I hope we all get to keep in touch as we continue down our path to whatever our vision of true physical PC may be. I hope we also get to meet one day and reminisce about all the good times. Stay strong my friends!

PCP Japan, you guys are awesome and did amazing it was great to have a group slightly ahead of us to follow and get a preview of what was next to come. Great job guys! You all finished strong!

Hama Mamas, Hang in there and rock that PCP! I hope none of you regret the hard work you are doing and I'm sure Corry's six-pack is motivation for all!

Readers, Family and friends, thanks for the support I hope I have helped you as much as you helped me.

Chen, the man behind the scenes! Thanks for all the hard work with our diets and I hope I one day get to meet you and see you in action!

Patrick, man I don't know what to say. Thanks for the opportunity, the hard-work, and the friendship. I hope the journey doesn't end here and we get to meet in person sometime and not just over iChat! I won't ever forget how I stumbled upon this blog form the yoga garden channel and how I think I have been reading or writing a PCP blog every day since! You have done great work, I hope it pays off, and maybe this time you can make some money at something you love! Keep in touch and thanks again for your inspiration and keeping it real.

SECTION 4: Before and After

BEFORE

Height - 5' 6.5"

Weight - 148lbs

Waist - 32"

Stomach - 33"

Chest - 36.5"

Thighs - 19"

Calves - 13.5"

Biceps - 12.5"

Forearms - 10.5"

Neck - 15"

AFTER

Height - 5' 6.75" (up .25", posture I think)

Weight - 133lbs (down 15lbs)

Waist - 29.5" (down 2.5")

Stomach - 28.75" (down 4.25")

Chest - 36" (down .5")

Thighs - 19.5" (up .5")

Calves - 13.5" (same)

Biceps - 12.5" (same)

Forearms - 10.5" (same)

SECTION 5: Closing Comments

FInd something you love to motivate you and do it! Get moving! Once you have digested this and the other PCP day 90 blogs, get up and move!

You will thank me later.

Do things the hard way because when you get good at that everything else will seem super easy. A simple Parkour philosophy. Practice the hard moves and when those are easy, everything else is cake. Trust me,

You will thank me later.

Do something to make yourself feel good not just your mouth. Eat real food. Be active. And take each moment by the horns. Don't put things off. Do it now. Yes I mean now!

You will thank me later.

Trust me.

BE PROUD TO BE HUMAN.

That's all I have to say. If you are embarrassed about your body and looks. Upset that you get winded walking up a couple-flights of stairs. Fed up with all your medications. DO something about it. It's your life and your body. Only you can fix yourself. So please start with something, anything. The smallest change makes a difference. Your body wants to be healthy, it's this world that doesn't want you to be. Fight against it!

And be proud to be human . . .

Until next time. 

Nate

Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout, ‘Do your worst! For I will do mine!’ 

Day 90 post coming soon

Hey guys I'm working on my day 90 post I want it to be special so bear with me and check back saturday. If all goes well it will be up in the afternoon. If not the latest will be Sunday. Thanks!

Nate

3 days left!

Craziness.

I'll be doing a long post tomorrow about our last week homework assignments. Plus I will probably start writing my day 90 post ahead of time because I have so much to explain.

But for tonight I am off to get a TON of sleep because Patrick says that I should and that's way more permission than I need to sleep in after this crazy weekend.

I never thought it was possible for me to sleep any better but I do. I went from being a great sleeper to being a PRO!

And to continue the course of awesome tree climbing goodness here is a great video from someone in Washington. Absolutely stunning and I can't wait to try some of these techniques. Actually tomorrow I may go to Webster Park and try this out. Especially the work on smaller trees. However I will probably avoid doing it barefoot in this 40 degree weather. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Have a good night and sleep well!

Storyboard Parkour and Nature

I have been looking to the future so much recently. I think it's that I know this 90 day deadline is imminent and I have all this room to do more stuff after!

So I have all these plans I have been forming and I can't wait to launch a few new projects over the coming year. And as usual work ever more toward Peak Condition. And on top of that work towards Parkour. Especially this nature Parkour. I have been watching a bunch of videos on Youtube from other traceurs that have the same idea as me. Let me tell you the basis for wanting so badly to do nature PK.

David Belle is credited with the "invention" of Parkour. But one of the reasons why I respect the man so much is the fact that he does not take credit for this. He feels that Parkour is in every single one of us, that humans have been doing it for centuries but we have just forgotten.  

This kind of view of Parkour is amazing in my opinion. Parkour is such a profound discipline that forces you to connect the body and mind in ways nothing else can why not use it to connect yourself to your surroundings? Since so much of the earth is urban now it only made sense for David to develop the parameters of the discipline in such settings. The predictability of urban environments also makes it safer and easier to train. But my view is why not use PK to strengthen your connecting with the earth?

Squirrels, monkeys, cats, wolves, all practice PK in nature. So should we.

So here is 2 videos of nature PK and what I plan on developing. And also a funny (i think) storyboard about the invention of PK. (not David Belle but originally, however many centuries ago)

Darn! There is something, in this case a fence, in my way! I do not want to keep walking around it. What can I do?

Aha! I have it! instead of wasting precious steps and time to go around I will go over!

This works! How did I never think of this before?!

That was cool. Next time I will try something even faster like leaping or vaulting the fence! Sweet.

Hope you enjoyed it! Here are the videos!

Nature Parkour and PCP Day 90 closing in

So I mentioned before about how I want to do Parkour in nature. The great thing about PK is it can be done anywhere. It's simply getting from point a to b in the fastest most efficient way possible. And to be able to hone those abilities you can practice a certain set of defined movements anywhere. This allows you to become more proficient at getting form point a to point b. 

So here are some cool things my buddy Jason and I found today at the local Powder Mills park. Fallen trees make great places to practice cat-walks and balancing. Also I invented (well I've have never seen it anywhere else) the crab-walk. It's a cat-walk but upside-down. It's great for walking down inclined trees in a quadrupedal motion.

Also I have noticed the movements change a lot because of the environment. You have to use more caution than speed because limbs can break and bark can slip or break away. Also things are round an uneven not flat and sturdy. When you gorilla walk a tree or cat walk your feet have to curl and grasp around the trunk, more so the narrower it is.

So I look forward to doing this more and more. There were awesome rock walls, stairs, and railings at Letchworth to practice on too.

Also this winter I am going to start snow-shoeing and cross-country skiing. Also as soon as the snow melts my friend Doozer and I will start hiking trails and country roads with full packs preparing for our trip to Europe. The great thing about the PCP is when you are done and already in shape you can spice it up a ton and it all works to maintaining your fitness.

So here are some pics. Enjoy! It was a beautiful 65 degrees and sunny!

What we were dealing with. Plenty of fallen trees. Many of which connected to make long balancing courses.

The new Crab-Walk!

Jason Trying out a Cat-walk

Jason doing another Cat across a tree on a slope with a 10 foot drop underneath.

Awesome sitting spots we found!

Alright have a good one!

Hiking and a Physical

So I went on an awesome hiking trip this past saturday. I mentioned I went to Letchworth State Park here in upstate NY. 

It was great!

I did about 6 miles of hiking I think. But we stopped a lot for do some random filming and just to mess around. A couple things we did which were much easier in the shape I am in now was climbing trees, climbing a couple steep inclines, and A rocky cliff/slope. It was great fun and I want to do some winter hiking. Maybe even get a pair of snow shoes!

So here are some picks and a new fitness picture up. I don't notice a huge difference and I feel that I won't in the last week but the sense of accomplishment is great. I'm looking forward to PK and good weather in the spring to have the opportunity to really get in amazing shape! These 90 days so far have done something truly amazing. And that is to form a unshakable foundation for fitness. Amy was talking about how she won't be at her "ultimate shape" at the end but we knew this going in. The human body can always improve and that's why it's great. So lets have a great last week everyone!

Enjoy the pics! More to come in other posts. I have a story board of "what is Parkour?"

Also I had a check-up (physical) with my doc today. It went really well! He was super-excited to hear about the changes I have made and noticed them right away and said I am at the perfect weight right now, unless of course I put on more muscle mass. We had a discussion about how health care would be cheaper and better if everyone did the same stuff. And how sad it is as a doctor and pharmacy tech to see how so many people could just make minor changes and have tons of improvement.

And apparently have 98 over 54 blood pressure was a really good thing for someone my size fitness and age. I thought it was freaking low!

Have a great night everyone! I'm off to watch some survivor and listen to Bright Eyes!

Wow tomorrow is day 80!

I can't believe there are only 11 days left. Well tomorrow I will hopefully get a short post in because I will have a busy day I want to leave something each day for sure. Even if it's really short.

Later this week I'll be back with a long post about my awesome hiking/climbing/trail-running/amateur film-making trip to Letchworth State Park hear in NY. It's the Grand canyon of the east, and boy did me and my best friend Jason have a LOAD of fun. More on that later.

So for my indulgence I sampled many things. It all came to the 1,000 calories and boy was it a LOT of food. 

So this is what I had. And how it tasted. I got everything at Wegmans again because it is my most favorite place on earth.

1 cup New england clam chowder - Amazing, not salty at all, potatoes nice and soft, plenty of clams. Creamy and good and warm

1 slice garlic cheese pizza, dipped in marinara - Awesome but greasy. I put parmesan and red pepper on it too. I should have skipped the parm because it was too salty. Over-all a very good choice, the marinara was pure awesomeness. Plum tomatoes and basil freshly pureed all the way baby!

2 glasses spiced apple cider - Amazing and it will never get old. I love that taste

1 pumpkin square - Great! But the sugar on top ruined it. So me and Jason are gonna make PCP worthy ones. After all the man is a chef. It had a whole wheat and walnut crust which could stay the same, and the pumpkin on top could have been a little thicker. But it's only pumpkin so pile it on! Veggie servings! And instead of a crumbly sugar topping, which made it WAY too sweet for my PCP taste, we were thinking either only sprinkling cinnamon and nutmeg on top OR if you want to be a little non-PCP drizzling some thin lines of some 80% dark chocolate to bring down the total sweetness of the dish.

Observations - My stomach was PACKED. It was all very good and I am happy with the whole meal and this part was really neat. Hoe I treated it mentally. It would not be easy for me to start eating that stuff all the time because in my head it was a "one-time thing" so-to-speak. So even though post-PCP I may have occasional indulgences what I am saying is that is all they ever will be. My body is not used to that, neither is my taste buds, so getting back into a habit of doing that would require time, money, and many trips to the bathroom. All of which I don't want to spend to start eating unhealthy again.

Over-all my body took it fine. A little sugar rush from the cider and pumpkin bar. A little upset stomach from the grease on the pizza. But not too bad. My best and most thought out indulgence yet!

Until tomorrow have a good one!

PCP Life

So I am pretty sure that the general feelings and approach to fitness I have developed are going to stay pretty unchanged for the future. I was thinking the other day that I am so content with the changes I have made it is amazing. The fact that so many people are out there trying and wanting to get into shape but go on the these cycles all the time really upsets me. I wish people would just take the time to be healthy because it doesn't take any time at all.

By that I mean the energy and positivity you get form getting in shape is priceless. And before you know it it is all habit, and second thought. 

I have noticed a higher confidence in myself. I feel taller when I stand. When I focus on posture I feel powerful and in charge. It is amazing. 

The other day I was in my back yard and I just started running full tilt and I don't think I have ever propelled myself that fast before it felt so nice. Post-PCP I definitely am going to focus more on running and biking. I htink it will be a lot of fun. Also as far as Parkour goes I was thinking that it is sometimes seen but not often in nature. I love trail running and that is my ultimate goal but the other day I thought why not take it a step further and do nature PK? After all PK is just getting form point A to point B as fast as humanly possible and it would be so cool to see what kind of movements would be best in a natural setting.

I actually think it would be harder than urban PK since not everything is right angles and firm surfaces.

So here's to the PCP life we have less than 2 weeks. It has gone my so fast but I am already content because I know that you can always improve. I might not have the rippling 6-pack I wanted by the end of the project but the progress I made is so great when I look back on my donut consuming, red-bull pounding, baconater eating past self!

You can only go up from the PCP and refine yourself further and I can;t wait to improve on all fronts of fitness. I am building the ultimate fantasy of running headlong through the woods jumping rocks, crossing streams and climbing trees as we speak.

Off to go day dream!

Have a goodnight everyone!

Some recent PCP thoughts and observations

So recently Adrian and Emiko had some very interesting posts and I seemed to be on the same wavelength mentally so I'm going to discuss a couple point and comments I left on their blogs.

Recently Patrick sent us an e-mail on how our mind shifts perception. As in if we saw a picture of ourselves now on day 1 of the project we would have been like awesome! That is great! So much changes! But now because we are familiar with our current physique it's no big deal and we want to get better and better. Not to mention looking back the changes do not seem as big as they really are. especially because it's so gradual and we obviously track our progress every day.

Adrian was talking a bit about this and I had this really neat observation and commented and this is how I put it into words.

"Dude this really fits with the latest e-mail on change of perception. It's crazy that the body is really good at forgetting things. People who used to be starving that get a chance to have better lives very shortly forget what it's like to be hungry and this tolerance drops. Same with fitness. The other day I was thinking I feel the same too and I realized it's because I am the same. By that I mean our perception is always now, and we are who we are. Our bodies and subconscious can shrug off prior experience and states of being so well. Why can't our conscious minds? Off to blog about this! haha"

So in more detail I am trying to say this. 

I am me.

Think about it. You are the same personally mentally as your were when you were 5 years old for example. It's not until you consciously track the difference that you really notice any progression. It's the same with physical states. Every day you experience some form of pain, most likely a very small thing like stubbed toe. But it still hurts a LOT right? Have you ever felt more pain than that though? Like a burn or a broken bone? Probably. But your mind does not catalogue and compare. The pain RIGHT NOW, is the worst pain, it's not toned down because you can consciously remember worse pain.

The same goes for our bodies function and looks. Yes we used to be much less fit, however our minds only see us as fit as we are right now and lose track of the progress. We have to remind ourselves that we have come a long way.

So in turn our subconscious, and our reflexes, and out instinct, only looks at the here and now. Our thinking self has to be pushed really hard to make a fair judgement of progress from the past. But at the same time very easily looks to future goals. And this went on to Adrian next post where he was talking about the wonderful word of post-PCP maintenance and goal-setting. I left this comment.

"Man we are totally on the same wave length right now. I am definitely constantly thinking about post-PCP. I have decided that My goal for the winter (all winters actually) is to not push myself at all physically. Just pure maintenance. so no changes to diet (except to proper amounts for lower activity) The only things I will work on to improve is flexibility, balance, and fine motor strengths. Like grip and forearms. To get ready for intense Parkour in the spring. I really want to get to my ultimate view of Peak Condition by next fall. And that will be over a summer of Parkour. And of course sticking to a healthy diet. Then when winter rolls around stop where I am at and maintain. It's a great idea i think! Plus I will be motivated to paint/write more in the winter! Good times!"

So anyway this post-PCP paradise is tempting. And get this. I look forward to a time  of less intense DAILY WORKOUTS, maintaining a HEALTHY DIET, IMPROVING easier things than strength like FLEXIBILITY and BALANCE, and using my new reserves of energy to tackle other projects like ART and WRITING.

The PCP messes crazy with your head. My pre-PCP self would have been like that's the easy stuff you look forward too? Holy crap!

So the post-PCP life will be good and I think it's great we are there mentally. Granted the workouts still require effort on my part and they probably always will. But diet is 80% of the work and I have that down cold. And also I suffer from random bursts of energy and wants to do things the hard way. Like running to my car form the store with groceries. Jumping random things. Jumping in place. Jumping. 

For example, today I was stacking wood. Our primary source of heat is a wood stove, so I have to stack (I actually wish I had to chop, again PCP mentality is awesome) 10 cords of wood a year, sometimes more. Today before I started I just ran around my yard a bit and hung on some tree branches. Then I was stacking and loving it, it started to rain hard so I started doing pull-ups in the enclosure we keep our wood in. Then I tried to see how long I could hang from my hands, then I swung a round, and then I brought my legs up and hung upside-down for awhile. It was awesome. Just so you guys know last year, I would have hated stacking the wood as I have my whole life and probably gave up because rain is a perfect excuse not to work!

So life will be good. Life is good. And I have a feeling being semi-shut-in in the winter will make me have boundless energy come spring. 

And not to mention Europe here I come. The details are coming together. I can't wait!

So anyway guys have a good one!

Lack of motivation?

So it seems as everyone has had alack of motivation recently. Myself included. I think the change in weather, sickness, and busy schedules all takes it's toll.

I have to say for myself it's the weather that's the biggest right now. If there is a PCP 3 group sometime soon they are gonna have it ROUGH in the winter. I have to do my jumps outside and man it is not fun in freezing rain. Especially because, believe it or not, upstate NY did just get it's first freezing rain and snow flakes. I saw them today with my own 2 eyes!

My lack of motivation recently hasn't been a bad feeling though just a tiredness and down-ness from the weather and busy schedule. I look forward to the end of the project here as I assume maintaining will be much easier than the effort i put into it now. Like I said earlier you can always improve and choose to get in even more "peak" condition. But I tell you what I realized the other day I am so happy with my body right now and the changes I have made. And over the winter I am merely going to focus on maintenance. After all keeping the motion of a healthy lifestyle is easy if you stick to the diet. So the diet by now requires so little effort with the numbers gone I imagine maintenance will be great! And then next spring Parkour here I come and the term "peak condition" will bring on a whole new meaning.

Also I have an awesome announcement! I am going backpacking in Europe for 3 weeks in May! Can't wait. I'm staying with some friends in Italy and France (primarily spending the trip there) but my friend and I are gonna take sometime to flit around to a bunch of places and do a eurail circuit of northern europe.

Highlights will be Athens, Monet's gardens, The alps, and of course all the beer and wine we can sample!

Also one other good piece of news. I found out just how many skips I can do in 6 minutes if I don't trip at all! That right! 6 straight minutes of jumps I tripped 5 seconds before my timer went off. Want to know how many that was in a row?

936!!!!

That's right ladies and gentlemen I came 54 jumps short of 1,000 in a row! I was so happy I threw my rope across the driveway and flexed like the HULK!

Alright here is a new update picture of how I look. And I'll have official measurements soon. I can't believe that finally my abs are starting to show up! I am really happy about that.

 Have a great night everyone!

Busy Busy Busy

Hey all,

So I have been insanely busy. Everyone who knows me personally knows I work 30-40 hours a week, do 18 hours of volunteer work a week. Have the daily workouts and food to prepare. Plus 2 nights a week and sunday mornings that I attend my religious meetings. 

I tell you what recently it has just been insane! Preparing numerous public speaking parts to give, visiting friends down in Waterloo NY (about an hour away) more frequently, and the cold darkness in the mornings and nights is taking it's toll. It's very difficult sometimes to get going early enough in the morning. And when I don't and have to do my workouts late I immediately regret not getting up early because it's so hard to be motivated. So most days now I am doing my jump-ropes in 40 or below degrees while it's dark. That's really hard. 

Plus the past few days it has been near impossible to get my whole workout done in one straight shot.

My diet went up again and it's now the highest it has been for the whole project. It's pretty crazy and a ton of food to get used to but it's working. I have seemed to plateau with weight and also body fat. That last bit I have been complaining about for a month now is still there holding strong. But I know I am doing all that I can so I'm taking it one day at a time.

Our workouts have changed a little. No new types of exercises but we have 1 less this to do. Instead of 8 different exercises a day it's 7. That doesn't really save us any time but it seems more manageable. Especially because I now do 18 minutes of jumprope, which turns out to be about 2500 skips at my pace. And we are working to muscle failure on a few sets the workout takes me more than and hour from start to finish. And boy it is hard to find even an hour now a days.

So I apologize for the less frequent posts. I have a list of things I wanted to post about and I don't know how many of them I will get to since the project is near it's end but I'll do what I can.

New measurements and flexing in a different pose photo coming soon

have a good one.

Nate

Less than a month left!

Crazy thought huh?

This weekend I'll be around with some interesting posts but this one is just to let everyone know I'm feeling a whole lot better. Just plugged up still. And I was able to do the whole workout no problem yesterday and I think my body was very happy to get to do that!

And also, we have less than 30 days left! 27 days left to be precise! That to me is incredible. I am so happy to be doing this project and I think finally my brain has switched from thinking "I am so happy to have this opportunity" from a student like standpoint to a I really understanding "I know what this is all about and it's part of me" type standpoint.

It's a great transformation to feel. 

"Peak condition" is an interesting term. What I mean is the human body can always improve none of us at the end of this project will be as strong or fast or fit as our heroes, so we won't be at a literal ultimate "peak." But the interesting thing is our heroes are at no way at a "peak" either. No one is. 

But this project is all about that climb to the top. The search for improvement. The lack of "settling" and the search for healthy, strong, fit bodies. It's also about being in the best mental state possible to never lose the want to carry out those goals, for life. 

I really feel that today. I feel like I am already in a peak condition of sorts. I mean 2 days of being sick really threw off my diet and workout schedule and it impressed me so much how easy it was to pick it back up. At the end of 90 days I'm sure it will be that much more solidified. 

And that is peak condition.

So I'm sure my final post will talk a lot more about this theme. But I just wanted to tell everyone it's easier to change than you might think. Jut do something. Right now. Don't wait.

Have a great day everyone!

P.S. Great quote from a recent PK video I saw "Share your inspirations, but keep your fears to yourself."

Also there is officially a Rochester Parkour group now! I am sending them an e-mail today and I really hope I can learn a lot and maybe one day contribute to the growth of PK in the Rochester community. They have training sessions that are beginner friendly every saturday so I can't wait to meet up with these guys!

Sick or not to be sick

Hey all,

Just wanted to say I am feeling much better today. I'll probably be going to bed really early in hopes to keep it that way!

However I think I really bounced back quicker than usual because I am healthier now and have more energy to fight of illness. 

So I am feeling pretty good and look forward to getting back into the swing of things tomorrow. My appetite was way down from not feeling well and I could not maintain the PCP regimen of food. Also that wouldn't have been good due to lack of physical exercise. However now that I feel better my body is definitely letting me know it needs that food again and I feel weird to have sat still for basically 2 days. But man that achy flu feeling is the worst things, and the best thing at laying you out. 

It will be nice to start working out again and interesting to feel how my body reacts. I'll pay extra attention to make sure I don't push myself too hard or too far.

Alright guys I'm off to bed in a bit.

Have a good night!

PCP Sickness

Man this sucks! 

So late last week I was feeling sick and left early from work friday. Which I HATE doing. It's one of those things that 1 I rarely ever get sick and 2 I know how much extra work gets placed on the crew if only 1 person calls in. It's really tough because everyone in our pharmacy works to the max anyway so when someone calls in there really is no back-up.

So yesterday I felt fine and worked my shift and was great Got my workout in and it was cool.

This morning I woke up and was achy. I thought form yesterday's workout. I also woke up with a really dry mouth so I thought that was why my throat was sore and also really bad mucus which isn't unusual in the morning for me. So I ate breakfast and then shortly after did my jumps. I made it through those OK went inside cut my hair and by then felt really gross so I took a Looooong shower. Felt better. Ate an apple then man the effects for the shower wore off FAST.

Now I have that achy feeling in all my joints. Feel weak. And have the "hot breath" thing that makes me think I have a fever. You know when you exhale out your only working nostril and it feels aflame? Yea. And also my skin is super sensitive to cold right now. 

So things aren't looking so good. I'm gonna have to skip the workout today I want to be better by wednesday. Which is the next day I have to work. I haven't officially called in for the day yet but I called to let em know I'm not feeling to hot and I'm Calling back a little later to confirm one way or the other. But I am not one just to down some tylenol and cover the achy-ness and go to work. I really want to get better and that might mean just taking it slow and healing. 

Anyway I hope everyone else enjoys the beautiful day!

S'all Good

Hey all

I just wanted to let everyone know I feel great and am doing good. The new workouts are tough! But great nonetheless.

I'll have a nice post tomorrow but I just wanted to check in amidst my busy schedule!

Night

Chin-ups and Quadrupedal Movement

So guys finally here are the pictures of the chin-up bar I got for my home. It's pretty cool. It sets up in 1 second and come down even faster. Uses my door-frame or any door-frame really. Does no damage. And has upgrades I can purchase later. It's really neat and I see know way that I can wear it out ever so it seems like a good purchase for just 45 bucks. Not to mention it took 5 minutes to build.

So here is the bar and what it looks like not on the door

And here it is set up from the front

And the back. 

You can see how it works now. The rectangular bar sets on top of the trim in the back and the front cross-bar sets on the sides for the trim on the front. When you get on it the cantilevered effect holds it in place and can support 300+ pounds depending on the door. So here it is being used in action!

Cool huh? It's pretty neat I think I really dig it. 

So I also wanted to talk a little bit about Quadrupedal movement. Which is using your hands and feet (arms & legs) to propel yourself. They work together to improve speed, reach, balance, or strength.  

Basically it is mimicking certain animal movements in nature and naturally these quadrupedal movements are a huge skill in Parkour to develop.

So on the days that I have to do the creep walk in our work-outs I do other things out on my driveway. Among them being . . .

Cat Walk

Gorilla Walk/Run

Monkey Walk/Run

Rolls

and/or Monkey Crawl Mix-up

So I'll give some brief definitions and then hopefully later I can post some pictures.

Cat Walk - See Adrian & Emiko blog since Emiko did a great job doing this on a railing and they have video! Basically you go left hand, right foot, right hand, left foot, repeat. Keep your back straight and head up to see where you are going. It can be practiced on flat surfaces but is great for railing or narrow surfaces as your balance is much easier to hold with at least 3 point of contact at all times. 

Gorilla Walk/Run - Basically start by sitting like a frog. If you reach out in front and put your hands down you can get a feel for your "reach" the faster you want to go the farther you will reach. And the stronger you have to be. Beginners use your palms but if you want to make it tough use only your finger tips. If you use your finger tips your hand should look like you are holding a big grapefruit. Fingers curved, no knuckles buckling, or bending toward the ground. If you can't keep your hand like that do it with your whole hand, kind of slap your palms down.

So you reach forward place and shift your weight forward by giving a little leap with your legs. All weight will go to your arms in that place right before being able to somersault if you wanted. Then your legs drop back down next to your hands and you repeat form there. It's a great way to travel fast and work great muscles. Also it a great way to learn the movements for a kong vault and getting used your your butt being over your head. 

Monkey Walk/Run - Harder to describe in words but I have seen it described as a cross between a cat walk and a gorilla walk. you can lead with your right or left  side and you run like a chimp! You know how they kind of do that sideways shuffle? Well that's what thing is!

You place your leading arm followed by the next right behind it. then swing your legs forward in the same way as you did your hands. and your leading foot should be the farthest thing forward. Repeat. 

Rolls - Well I cannot explain it as good as the instructional videos out there so go watch some! But basically I have been practicing rolling over both left and right shoulders so I do not favor any side. The basic principles are dispersing impact. Not rolling directly along the spine. Avoid hitting your head. And conserving energy and speed. It's a lot of fun but when you are first starting boy are you sore after doing a few dozen on asphalt.

Monkey Crawl Mix-up - This is my name for it and there a ton out there. It's basic quadrupedal warm-ups and stretches. Slow everything down to an easy speed and move from form to form. Do anything that feels natural and stretches you in a healthy way. Throw in some rolls and hand stands even. Some pistol squats or even down-dog pose and up-dog. Anything really just be like a monkey having a good time and fooling a round. Who knew working out could be so fun!

That's all guys. Have a great one!

Week 8 is here with a bunch of exciting stuff!

Hey guys so here are all my updates for Week 8 so far. A lot of stuff to go over so here we go!

SECTION 1: Diet

Breakfast 120g carb 140g veg 2egg  200ml yogurt (up 20g carb, up 20g veg)

Morning Tea 100g fruit (same)

Lunch 140g carb 120g meat 150g veg 1egg white (up 20g carb, up 20g meat)

Afternoon Tea 100g fruit (same)

Dinner 100g carb 50g meat 100g veg (up 50g carb, up 50g meat, up 20g veg)

Night Tea 100g fruit 200ml milk (up 20g fruit, up 50ml milk, down 1 egg white)

Before Workout 50g carb (same)

After Workout 2 eggs white (up 1 egg white)

Comments: I am eating a ton of food now. This is about as much as when we started our diets in week 2! It's hard to actually eat all of this and keep it straight. But I'm doing my best and eating it all every day. My belly feels huge after breakfast and lunch because I have to pack it all in! It's crazy. But it's what we need of course with our active schedules. And this is definitely more carbs than I ever ate on a regular basis.

SECTION 2: Workouts

I'm going to spare all of the details this week since nothing has really changed. We only have a new biceps workout called the show-off and elevated push-ups for new exercises. And the new concept of working to muscle failure is now mandatory for a few exercises. That's really nice because we can get away from the numbers, just like with times jump-roping. So for example if you do 4 sets to failure you work to failure on every set and naturally the amount you can do decreases with every set.

And we are doing 4 set of 4 minutes of jump-roping. I am having a great time with it actually because I am really spicing it up now with tricks and things. I have developed this way of jumping I call the PCP shuffle. More on that later.

SECTION 3: Indulgence Version 2

So my second indulgence was INDIAN FOOD! I have wanted it so badly for so long! It is my all time favorite food ever.

So I went to this great restaurant called Thali of India and got some seafood masala with basmati rice and garlic naan.

Sadly I have no pictures. 

So I quickly devoured my 700 or so calories. I evjoyed every bite it was so tasty and amazing! However it was much saltier tasting than ever before and that was the only downside. I loved the spicy goodness and the garlic naan tasted so good.

However I ate the naan last and then is when I started feeling gross. It was the most white flour I had had in probably 3 months and it sat really heavy in my stomach and a few minutes late I really started to churn. 

So over-all it was a great indulgence but the downsides were too much salt, so I felt bloated the rest of the day and next morning. And the greasiness of the food made me gassier than usual and the white flour made me sluggish. 

All along there a few things I thought I will change in minor ways after the PCP. I was thinking from time to time I may enjoy some 85% dark chocolate. Make myself fresh OJ like usual (2 Oranges, half grape-fruit, half lemon is my usual recipe) and I really want to start making wine and hard cider. 

All of those things aren't unhealthy and I'm sure I will have allowance for them after the project. As my indulgence 1 showed me however the days of chocolate cake are over. So what about Indian food you may ask? well the answer is after the PCP I will do much experimentation to develop awesome indian homemade recipes that cut out the salt and butter, and awesome whole wheat garlic naan! 

Because man I can't give up those spices.

Have a good one every body!

So I was gonna blog tonight

Well I guess technically I am but not a long one.

Tomorrow morning I will blog about the following

Indulgence v2: Indian Food!

Workout

Diet

And Chin-up bar!

My schedule is insane so I have fallen into a habit of long posts every 3 days or so. I guess that's bad maybe just slightly irritating to any one who follows all our blogs because when I do one of my jumbo posts that would be a lot to read with everyone else's.

That brings me to my only point of the day. If you are a reader of our blogs please comment! We didn't all get 2,000+ views from each other and our few friends and family who follow I'm sure. So if you read please comment. It means a ton and it's nice to know if anyone else out there may be interested in the project. Who knows if there is a PCP3 group you may be it and know us already before you start!

So comment!

Please 

Be back tomorrow. Good night.

Challenges!

This is just a quick post to let everyone know that the PCP by all means is a huge CHALLENGE! 

Right now I have been so busy and it seems so hard to keep up with everything and I have totally been battling not letting the PCP take a back seat in some cases. I don't know why it's so hard sometimes just to do stuff but I have been so worn down and tired it has been hard to do 100% of my exercises some days. And honestly I have let a couple slide here and there. 

That needs to stop.

I don't want to look back and think "Man I could have had a ton better results if I only did THAT or THIS"

I have been keeping everything pretty much at the level it supposed to be but I know it can be a Slippery-slope and I don't want to start down that path. So I hope I can keep things in high gear here and not slip any further. It's not good to get lax on the project AND feel guilty about it so I'm not going to dwell on anything but form here on out I'm going to cultivate the energy and zeal I had on Day 1.

Let's get the adventure going again.

So Help me all hold to this because I know everyone else has there own stresses and problems and I have proven to myself I'm not the kind of person anymore to say "well I just don't have the TIME to get in shape" I have the time and I have the program and I'm afraid of letting you all down. I just need to balance and readjust my mindset.

Six-pack here I come.

And on a positive note the PCP has changed me so much that my diet has not slipped at all. I find it much harder to stick to the workouts. So At least I know at the end of the 90 days eating right is 80% of the battle, and I have the 80% knocked down and covered. But I have 40 more days to get a handle on making working out not a choice but a habit in every way possible. The jump-roping is fine I have never missed a day without a legit substitution but man I just can't get myself to do all my strength workouts some days. It can be a real battle.

So it's time to change and taking preventive measures to not go any further. And as Patrick has always told us the blog is the accountability that keeps us going. If I'm not honest here then I'm not being honest with myself.

Thanks guys for all your support and this probably isn't as dramatic as I made this post sounds, but the PCP has the effect on you. Avoiding 20 grams of vegetable or your shoulder workouts can seem like a HUGE deal with a PCP mentality. While before I would've been like "eh, it's nothing I'll just make it up tomorrow."

Have a great night

PARKOUR HEROS: David Belle

So this is the last of my PK heros post that I am going to do. I figured since David Belle is the hero I chose to work towards for the PCP he deserved 2 posts. In this post I'm gonna show you a little bit about PK and how it's not always safe. And it is certainly not easy. 

For everyone out there new to PK or those that think it's just the next dare-devil risky thing to do beware of stupid videos online of kids just "tricking" that have no training or discipline. 

Parkour CAN be dangerous.

But everyone who takes it's seriously knows that you never do anything that you do not think you can do. And the second you do something that you feel uncomfortable doing that's when you get hurt. Naturally you get all sorts of bumps and bruises all the time but we are talking injuries. As you will see in one of the videos below even David Belle and fall sometimes. 

So please be careful if you are going to practice PK and work at YOUR OWN PACE. Never someone else's. PK and Free-running are trying so hard to gain a strong footing and a good reputation we don't need people breaking or killing themselves because they were stupid and then PK gets a bad rep. 

The other video is from a movie he did. The videos of David Belle are sadly in short supply, especially because so man of the interviews are in french. But I still think it's awesome what he did in that movie and the stunt work involved. You saw in previous posts how he does quality real life PK. So enjoy the bit of entertainment.

So enjoy the videos and learning from David Belle as I have. His years, no decades really, of practice allows him to jump building to building, and I'm sure it also helps him fall better and recover from injury. Go slow, have fun, do PK.

Past the half-way point! Where am i?

So anyway I'm back after a 3 day hiatus there. The "change of scenery" was a nice break in the pattern even though I had to sleep in my car because my one friend wouldn't stop snoring. Curses.

But we had a blazing bonfire. I learned a ton of cool stuff about bees. Since we camped at my friends farm and they keep 3 huge hives it was really neat. The one apparently has 700 lbs of honey. Crazy! It was really neat to get right next to them and see how they work and communicate it was so cool.

I sadly did not get to do a blazing steel wool trick I wanted to do but playing video games, camping, and burning massive amounts of brush and pallets was fun. And no matter what anyone says that diesel fuel was completely unnecessary my friend Jason and I totally had the fire started even though it was wet from the rain. We rule!

So I wanted to share a few things. One people have really started to notice a difference in how I look now with my clothes on. They are noticing how much more fit and slim I look and that is a huge motivation to keep going. Also I think standing with proper posture (which Patrick e-mailed us about) helps a lot too. Good times.

So I have my updated measurements and a flexing pose that I thought it's time to do so everything can have some hard facts about my progress and how everything is going. Hopefully I can do a nice post tomorrow too about my new pull-up bar. 

So here are the new measurements. Both from last time and over-all.

Weight - 136 lbs (down 5 lbs, down 12 lbs over-all)

Waist - 30.5" (down .25", down 1.5" over-all)
Stomach - 29.75" (down 25", down 3.25" over-all)

Chest - 36" (up .5", down .5" over-all)
Thighs - 19.5" (down .5", up .5" over-all)
Calves - 13.25" (same, down .25" over-all)
Biceps - 12.25" (same, down .25" over-all)
Forearms - 10" (same, down .5" over-all)

I have shrunk! Over-all in everything I have decreased that is so surprising that I was building muscle on places I thought had NO fat (calves, forearms, biceps) man was I wrong! It was everywhere. What proves that is my muscles are bigger but the dimensions and wait still shrunk. Awesome!

So here is pic. Be back later!

Have a great evening world!

Updates going into Week 7! And I'm off for the weekend!

Alright guys I have a ton to post and not a lot of time. it's days like this I'm glad the PCP really gives me the extra boost of energy!

Section 1: Jump-rope

So first off how am I keeping jump-roping interesting? I'll tell you how!

So I wanted to start developing my jumping tricks, I and starting to think how I can start incorporating more Parkour related things. Since many of our exercises are already geared towards that. (aka creep, pistol squats, pull-ups, and floor jumps) So I made a routine I go through to increase the fun! And also increase my stamina, agility, coordination, and balance. So this is what I do.

5 normal jumps

5 on my right leg

5 normal

5 left leg

5 normal

4 normal 1 double (repeat 5 times)

4 normal 1 cross (repeat 5 times)

5  normal

25 running in place at double previous speed

repeat

It's awesome and makes 2 minutes fly! With all the tripping I still do on the cross jumps I can do that whole circuit 2 maybe 3 times. But man am I really pushing myself again!

Section 2: New diet

Breakfast  100g carb 120g veg  2egg  200ml yogurt (up 20g veg, up 50ml yogurt)
Morning Tea 100g fruit (up 20 g fruit)
Lunch  120g carb 100g meat 150g veg 1egg white (up 20g veg)
Afternoon Tea 80g fruit (same)
Dinner 50g carb 80g veg  1egg white (No more smoothies! I'll miss em! This is a very small dinner less calories than the smoothie I'm sure) 
Night Tea  80g fruit  150ml milk (down 80g veg, up 30g fruit, up 150ml milk)
Before  Workout eat 50g carb  (same)

After  Workout 1egg  white (same, down 1 egg white total back to 5 a day!)

Section 3: New work-outs

Just a list. These are broken up day to day in a way of being most effective. And most tortirous on my body! :-)

Jump-rope  3 minutes x 5 sets

Lunge 4 x 18

Floor-jump 4 x 14

Pull-up 4 x 4-6

Rowing 4 x 20

Elevated Triceps Dip 4 x 6-8 (max, I have done them elevated from the beginning)

Ski-jumper 4 x 18

Seated Sit-up 5 x 12

Plank 4 x 60 secs

Chest dip 5 x 5-8 (8-8-6-6-5)

Push-up 4 x 12-14 (max, hopefully)

Standing Ovation (Formerly Chest-fly) 4 x 20 

Thumbs-up Curl 4 x 15

One-arm Curl 4 x 12-17 (max)

Chicken-wing 4 x 15

Side-crunch 4 x 12

V-sit 4 x 14

Section 4: Change of Scenery

So I heard Patrick talk about before that a vacation is a bunk term. That he says instead A change of scenery. I like that better since I have never viewed "vacations" as "vacations" since they are often more stressful, spend resources you don't have, and make you feel like the rest of your year is incomplete and lacking. 

So this weekend I'm going camping. I'll have to pack a ton of food but I'm excited because I'm sure my pyro-side will be happy for 2 days. So enjoy your weekends everyone!

Be back Monday!