Hard Things

I've got a beer keg filled with sand. It weighs about 250lbs. My training partner Tim and I took it down to the street and set up a little strongman medley yesterday. We would pick up and carry the keg 50ft. down, then pick up a 550lb. frame and come 50ft. back. Tim went first, picked up the keg, kept it high and walked it down the course, then stepped in the frame and made it back down the course. He set the frame down and between heavy breaths that "this seemed like a better idea on the drive over here". He was right. My turn came... There is special kind of anxiety that I get when I know I'm about to have to dig deep and do hard things. I finished the course with room to spare, but it just reinforced what I already knew; I hate medleys. Strongman medleys require resilience, endurance, monumental levels of intrinsic motivation and just a touch of crazy. I possess all four in extremely limited quantities.

We finished the second round of this and almost had to flip the switch (more on flipping the switch later) to get it done. I laid down in the yard heaving and panting and stared up at the sky and questioned everything in my life and most especially why in the world this, of all things, was what I did on Sunday afternoons.

The answer never really came. It's just what you gotta do to do what you want to do... But I got to thinking about it...

The last thing in the world I wanted to do after carrying that frame was to pick up the keg and head back the other way...

Nobody ever chooses the hard way on purpose. Sure, sometimes they do because they have to, but rarely. In fact, when it comes to our day to day lives I would say most people never intentionally choose to put themselves through Hell physically or, much less, emotionally thinking in their head "this will develop my character and make me a stronger person, and ultimately be for my good". Nope. Those thoughts never enter the brain while you are handcuffed to your very own personal tragedy.


I am thankful for a loving and infinitely wise God who puts us through the hard things, even when we go kicking and screaming. The lessons you learn in the dark hours are the ones that will carry you the rest of your life. They are the lessons that, God willing, you attempt to convey to your family, friends, and children... even though they'll have to their own hard lessons ahead of them. They are the lessons that fill you with right indignation. They are the lessons that flood you with resolve. They are even the lessons that make you want to love so deeply and purposefully that it will take death itself to peel you away from those on whom you've set your affections. In other words, these lessons are important.

I don't claim to have endured much, or know more than I really know, or (Heaven forbid) be wise. What I do know is that every day I am being molded and hammered out by The God of the Universe into what He ultimately wants me to be, He'll do the same to you, and without your permission... And sometimes, regardless of the circumstance, you have to pick up the keg and just keep walking.

Getting Old

My back hurts. It is clamped up like piano strings. My knees hurt. Squatting off the couch makes me concerned for my patellar tendons. I'm getting old. I feel old. I feel like a dad. And to tell you the truth, I kind of like it. Now, not the knee / back pain thing, but there is something in me that is feeling, I don't know, mature. I guess there a few reasons I could feel this way…

I waved a sad goodbye today to my old '97 Dodge truck, Rosie. She wasn't "just a truck"... Those are fightin' words... No, Rosie was a friend of mine. We were together for ten years. I sold her for $1200 dollars to a man from Valley, AL. Never thought of Rosie as a Valley girl, but oh well. Alot of my youth left as Rosie drove away, the older I get, more I have to let go. I’m not 20 years old anymore, a lesson I must relearn daily.

Perhaps it was the baby furniture I assembled for my daughter (who is still in Russia, God willing not much longer). Putting together the crib (not hard) and the dresser (intensely hard) was a labor of love for me. It scarcely felt like work when I considered the precious girl that will grow to love the home we are preparing for her. I would put together a thousand dressers for that precious little one.

It could just be the rain, but today was different. On the one hand the letting go, on the other is the promise of great gain in bringing Rebekah Grace Boman home… I need to grow up, so I can love her and help her do the same.

…I’ve never been a big fan of “adolescence” , the male species should be boys or men. There is a real danger in embracing adolescence as a stage of life. Perfectly good “would- be” men can get stuck here and with the enabling of mothering wives find themselves trapped perpetually playing video games, whining, and shirking various responsibilities…

In regards to a time when the transition from boy to man occures, I’m sure ages vary. For some it is when they turn twelve or fifteen or maybe when they watch the last remaining token of their youth drive away without them in it (like me).

So tomorrow is going to be a new experience for me, genuine manhood. I’m glad it coincided with strongman training, I’m going to take my painful back and knees and train until I’m lying on the grass trying to talk myself out of vomiting... I’ve got to get some stuff out of the basement. Goodnight everyone, I guess we gotta grow up sometime.

Eugene Sandow Books

Lately I've been trying to gather a few resources from some of the more notable "Old Time" Strongmen. I stumbled across two PDF books listed on Archive.org by Eugene Sandow:

Strength and How to Obtain It
and
Sandow on physical training : a study in the perfect type of the human form

These are free to read/download, but caution: he is pretty naked in most of the book.

Where I've Been

I haven't posted in a while. Honestly, I had nearly forgotten about the old blog. My training has been, due to more important endeavors, nearly not worth mentioning since the start of Football season, then into Thanksgiving, and then I never get anything done between Thanksgiving and New Year's. So now here I sit, typing this and Tivo-ing through The Biggest Loser.

There was a four week stretch where I didn't touch a barbell, or a dumbbell, or a tire, or a stone. And now that I'm a little older, and hopefully a little wiser, I'm going to make it an annual habit of doing very little in the Month of December. So, from here on out I'm going to take a month off every year, it's good for me.

I've been back in the gym for two weeks now, and every drop of strength has returned. I'm focused. I'm looking forward to moving the weight and I just feel fresh. A step back, has turned into a step forward.

During that month off not only did I spend alot of time with family and friends, but I took a trip that will forever change my life. My beautiful wife and I flew to Russia and met our daughter for the very first time. We have been in the adoption process for two years now, and experienced nearly every high and low imaginable, and finally in early December we took a 10 day trip to Russia and got the ball rolling on bringing this little one home. She is a precious little two year old with blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. She has endured more Hell in those two years than most people experience in a lifetime. There is alot to undo in her little heart, and we are resolved to complete the task. As my sister says all she needs is a little love and vitamins and she will be just fine. Given my wife's fantastic cooking skills at preparing some calorie dense, down home southern soul food, she is gonna plump right up. In late February we will travel back to Russia, go to court, and then bring her home. I could go on and on about our trip, but let me just say, if you're a praying person, please pray for us. Also, if you have the desire to adopt, do it... You will never be the same.

So that's it for me. I was on sebatical from training, now I'm back. I'll try and post more often.

Right now here is what I call the "Not as Young as I used to Be" training routine

Sunday afternoon
3-4 events

Tuesday morning
Squat (low volume, mostly dynamic)
Front Squat
1 Hamstring exercise (~30 reps)
1 Ab exercise (~30 reps)

Thursday morning
1 Pressing exercise
1 rowing exercise
1 bicep and 1 tricep exercise

Friday Morning
Deadlift (low volume)
1 low back exercise (GM's or hyperext.)

My gym days are pretty standard and low volume, stuff that I can recover from easily, then on Sunday afternoon I kill it and work 'til exhaustion on 3-4 events. Sleeping and eating like a Grizzly Bear is also in the mix... maybe some Advil too.