So…what’s your plan? What are you looking forward to? Do you have vacation planned? A little adventure maybe? Camping and floating, travel or a roadtrip? How about a race? Is there a 5K or a Tough Mudder in your future? Mountains or the beach? Woods in the Midwest or a tropical jungle? How about a little fishing or mountain biking? Maybe just work around the house and relax? Whatever you’re thinking, make sure you take advantage of the time and…
The Missouri Department of Conservation has some great areas in the St Louis Region, here is a short write-up of Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center. Enjoy! Recently the Midwest had several days of rainy downpours. On the unfortunate side, the aftermath was sever flooding in the area. Locations that had just recovered from a January 1st, 2015 “500 year” flood were suddenly sandbagging again to protect their homes and businesses. We were safe from any flooding but most of…
Learning to Slackline My awesome wife recently got me a Slackline kit for Christmas, so this year’s new skill…Slacklining! I’ll be posting my training and progress through the blog here and hopefully it can help others that may be interested. A slackline is basically a two inch wide length of webbing stretched between static points that you walk along. It’s similar to walking a tightrope, but the webbing is dynamic so there is a bit of a stretch so it…
The final installment of the Hiking Strength Series is here! This post will layout a 10 week program that will target your training to crush your upcoming hiking adventure! The previous Hiking Strength posts detailed different movements and exercises that are the basis of this program. Descriptions, photos, graphics and videos help provide explanations and movement standards to help get you on your way. Introduction Squats! Bulletproof Your Legs Build a Durable Core Stronger Upper Body The Program The Hiking…
Rounding out the Hiking Strength Series will be upper body work. If you have followed the series so far, we have discussed various exercises and routines to help you train and prepare for your upcoming hiking adventure (links for previous posts below). Training your upper body is no different. For example…hauling heavy packs? Strengthen shoulders and back. Scrambling up a rocky face? Develop capable arms and chest. Slip, and end up dangling off the side of a cliff clutching a protruding…
“The New Year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.” Melody Beattie “When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” Confucius Back in late August I set a goal to do 100 miles of hiking by the end of the year. I wrote it down and downloaded an app to help track my progress. Yesterday…
The next step in building a strong, trail ready physique will be to focus on core work. On the trail, having a strong and solid core will help you maneuver obstacles, haul packs for miles and will reinforce your overall strength training. During winter backpacking, in particular, pack poundage can tend to add up with the addition of cold weather gear. The pack here was around 50-60 lbs! Fortunately core training is not just beneficial on the trail, but also…
“Oh, Wow”, I exclaimed as we rounded a bend and were presented with a fantastic view of a glistening, rocky cliff face towering over a small pool of water formed from Pickle Creek. Rows of icicles, formed from recent rain and groundwater runoff, adorned the cliffs and lit up the small alcove. This was the pinnacle of the scenic loop at the farthest point of the Whispering Pines Trail in Missouri’s Hawn State Park. It was a crisp, early December…
A few years back I was on a 3-day Outward Bound (OB) backpacking adventure in the mountains near Leadville, Colorado. It was late October and snow was already knee deep in some areas and just plain slick and wet in others. The goal was a summit attempt on a local 13’er. We were off trail and learning map and compass skills. We had just started day two and were a little over 11,000 feet when a member of our team…
Option A: It’s Black Friday and the “Biggest Sale of the Year” signs are everywhere. At some stores there have been lines formed since Thanksgiving afternoon. Shoppers are anxiously waiting to get that extra 5% off the new video game system the kids want or that TV that would just go great in the bedroom. The stores open and a rush of shoppers flood in, heading straight to electronics and special floor displays. In some locations fights break out because…
