It's not exercise, it's training

The shit is going to go down.  Probably.

A few years ago, I suddenly noticed the need to purchase pants a waist-size bigger.  I was out of college and generally inactive, while my diet had remained consistent with the high metabolism that led a high school football coach to suggest an intestinal worm infestation.  Enter Christopher Barefield.  An old friend, Chris and I began growing closer as we committed ourselves not to regular exercise, but to training.  Why do we train?  We train for when the shit goes down.

What, might you ask, does this shit going down entail?  And how might one train for it?  We're not sure.  But over the span of human history, it seems as though for many societies, it happens.  So we train.

That training has taken many forms over the years, from regular pre-dawn runs through Highland's parks to hours spent pulling plastic at the climbing gym.  And while preparation for the imminent going down of said shit is an important motivator, the sheer satisfaction of physical fitness is what must drive any training.  Now don't get me wrong - I'm certainly not a meat-head and I fall far short of training with the intensity I'd like.  I am in full agreement with Tyler Durden of Fight Club when he says, "Self improvement is masturbation."  But I find a much needed escape from the boxes of my world in challenging and improving my physical fitness.

In recent years, Chris has taken an interest in Mountain Athlete, a training gym in Jackson, Wyoming.  He passed along this article, "Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie," which calls us to reconnect with the simple training methods that are the foundation of any real training program.  I find it both convicting and affirming.