Rainy Day Workout With My Dog Ronin

Most people stay indoors as much as possible when it rains or snows. People don’t want to get wet, they don’t want to be inconvenienced, and they definitely don’t want to challenge themselves to try something new and exciting. If you’re the type to avoid the great outdoors when the air is slightly more moist from precipitation, then I’ll let you in on a little secret… humans are waterproof! And so are poncho’s!

I took about 90 minutes today to get out in the woods with my dog Ronin, who has his American Kennel Club “Canine Good Citizen” test tonight (CGC info here). In the last 5 months that we’ve owned Ronin, I’ve discovered that he performs much better in obedience when he gets moderate exercise throughout the week. He’s more discerning, faster, and more compliant when he has a balanced activity level.  Naturally, I want him to pass his test, so it behooves us to give him a little bit of physical and mental stimulation today (the test is 10 obedience skills, and all must be successfully completed to pass the exam, no mistakes allowed – one fluke and we fail). Here are some highlights from our rainy day workout…

Rainy Day Workout

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A Humorous Presentation by Stuart Brown, Who Talks About Why Play is Vital, No Matter What Your Age

Stuart Brown Talks About Why Play is Vital, No Matter What Your Age

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Friday Inspiration – Failure: The Secret To Success

I’ll let this one speak for itself, no need for commentary…

Failure: The Secret To Success

Have a great weekend!

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional

[...]

John's Training Journal – another Personal Record with the Clubbell

3/25/09 – Clubbell Test Day
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Dogs Don't Run In Circles For an Hour – and neither should you!

I read this quote in an article from the April 2009 edition of Men’s Health magazine (It’s a great article, I highly recommend you check it out here). This section is talking about Erwan Le Corre, the founder of MovNat, and how he has stepped outside of fitness routine and has adopted a more playful method of pursuing fitness and health. I posted a quick mini-review of his promotional video – which is awesome, by the way. You should check that out before you read this, if you haven’t already: Ditch the Zoo, and Get Back to Nature

From Men’s Health article:

well, maybe some dogs do... but not for an hour!

well, maybe some dogs do... but not for an hour!

But Le Corre’s most important breakthrough might be the way he’s welded purpose and playfulness. When he jumps and tumbles and chucks stuff around, he looks just like a kid mucking in the backyard. Zehr believes that could be the way we’re hardwired to work out. “You never see your dog running nonstop around and around in a circle for an hour,” he points out. “If he did, you’d think there was something wrong with him. Instead, he’ll chase something, roll around, sprint, rest, mix things up. Animal play has a purpose, and it’s not hard to surmise that human play should as well.”

What an awesome perspective for human fitness and movement, Le Corre acting just like a kid playing in the back yard. This is how we should view our own fitness training, like it’s the best part of our day. “I can’t WAIT til I can go out and train! (play)

But what really struck me was the note about how dogs never run around in circles for an hour – they play, which involves all sorts of athletic maneuvering.
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Q+A about Intu-Flow, the Joint Mobility Encyclopedia of Human Movement

Richard asked me about how long it takes to progress through each level of sophistication in a joint mobility program. Here is my response:
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John's Training Journal Update – Clubbell Practice and Test Day

3/23/09 – Clubbell Practice and Test Day

I spent some time today practicing with my 15 lb clubbells, doing swipes and mills mostly – not pushing into exertion. My milling is virtually effortless, which I attribute to regular practice and good execution of the 7 Key Components of Structure.

This afternoon, I also did a hammer swing test to see how fast I could perform 100 repetitions – 50 clockwise, and 50 counter-clockwise. Here’s the footage I filmed:

100 Hammer Swings with 15 lb Clubbell

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