What's extreme fitness and why should you care?

Extreme fitness is another way of saying “get out of your comfort zone” fitness. Set your goal just a little out of reach and go for it! If you never push yourself, you’ll never get better at anything you do, whether it’s trying something new or strengthening your muscles. You should care about extreme fitness because it’s about learning a mindset to help you push your boundaries in whatever you do. Your success in anything you undertake is directly linked with your success at controlling your body. In SEAL Team our number one weapon’s platform is our body, first and foremost. Everything else is secondary.

In your life, your body is your experience platform: how your body performs in large part dictates the experiences you can enjoy, from climbing a mountain* (like I did a few weeks ago) to body surfing a wave to bicycling with your children. Each of us has our own goals for our body and what we want to do with it, but a funny thing happens when you achieve a goal: you set one a little harder than the last one because your confidence is stronger…and there’s no going back! Just ask Lance Armstrong!

It becomes a wonderful addiction that can propel you to living a life that you might have felt was unattainable. It was unattainable because you focused on the end goal, not the first baby step. Would you try to do to a 5.5 mile open ocean swim before completing a 500 yard swim? No! Whether you apply the concepts of extreme fitness to your body or other areas of your life is your business, but one thing is for sure, we’re all going to die, so why not get the most of life while we can? I say Go For It!

CHARLIE MIKE -- ALDEN

* aerial photo of Mt. Whitney courtesy of National Parks Service

TGIF: Summer Reading List Part III

Guest bloggers: Dr. Karin Anderson and Julie Erickson

Nonfiction: Secrets of a Former Fat Girl by Lisa Delaney. While I'm not in love with the title, this book really changed a lot for me. It made me realize that my relationship to food is not like that of other people, and that's okay. It's a whole new way to look at yourself, your body, fitness, nutrition. Everyone always says "you shouldn't diet, you should make a lifestyle change," and this book really showed me what that meant. And written by a smart, funny, normal person.
Fiction: Yann Martel's The Life of Pi. I can't say why, I just loved it. Fiction is much harder to pick from, because I read so much of it. I don't think I could even limit myself to one page, not to mention one title. For hilarious fun summer beach reading, pick up The Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Cookbook and Financial Planner by Jill Conner Browne. She is a Southern evil genius, and I am quoted on page 161.

Karin
Scar Tissue is the autobiography of Anthony Kiedis, lead singer for my favorite band of all time, The Red Hot Chili Peppers. It’s a harsh eye-opening look into the world of the drug addicted vocalist, struggling to deal with fame, success and the lifestyle and temptations that go with it. It made me love this incredible band even more.Running With Scissors is the early-life memoirs of Augusten Burroughs’ very untraditional adolescent life. It’s hilarious and disturbing but very entertaining. Read the book before even considering seeing the motion picture adaptation. He also has his adult memoirs in print, Dry, which details his struggle with alcoholism.

Julie

Next Friday: Summer reading suggestions from Rick Osbourne, Mark Friedman, Sean Glass and Marty Heilman. Teammates -- any recommendations you'd like to share? Post your comments here or mail them to getfit@perfectpushup.com.

Meet Chris Horner, professional road cyclist

Guest blogger: Chris Horner, Perfect Athlete Ambassador

Hi, my name is Chris Horner, and I am a professional road cyclist, racing for the Astana Cycling Team in 2009. I’ve been using the Perfect products since the end of 2008, and have achieved the best fitness of my career at 37 years of age. I grew up in San Diego, California, and started riding at the age of 13. I’ve now been a professional cyclist for the past fourteen years, racing all over the world, including three Tour de France races.

Currently, I am preparing for this year’s Tour de France, training with 7-time Tour de France champion, and my Astana teammate, Lance Armstrong. I am in the process of recovering from multiple broken bones that I have sustained in crashes throughout the season.

The Perfect Pushup has become my tool of choice for strengthening my upper body for better performance on the bike. It targets the muscles that are integral for racing, but not exercised on the bike. Because of the multiple injuries that I have sustained this year, the extra core conditioning that I have achieved while using the Perfect products has allowed me to recover more quickly and stay physically balanced on the bike while coming back from injury.

By incorporating the Perfect products into my stretching and core strength exercises, I have been able to gain an extra edge on the bike, using my upper body strength to support my legs at key moments and give myself a little extra boost when I need it most. The extra muscle has given me more strength, and helped to burn more fat, making me leaner than I have ever been in my career.

Exercise Routine (each morning after breakfast):

1. Ten to fifteen minutes of stretching, followed by three sets of pushups, using the Perfect Pushup
2. Three sets of abs, using the Perfect Ab Strap, varying between 10-30 repetitions per set.

Chris Horner, Spring 2009

Update: Chris is not racing this summer in France. He'll be competing 26JUL09 in the Chicago Criterium, the same day his Astana teammates ride into Paris on the last day of the Tour de France. Stay tuned.

* Photo credits: CC used with attribute crediting Graham Fisk.

Presidential helicopter squadron stays fit

Guest blogger: Mark Friedman, President, Perfect Fitness

In March, we donated Perfect Pushup Originals, Mobile Units, and Perfect Pullup handles to the Marines of HMX-1, better known as Marine One. This is the helicopter squadron responsible for flying all US presidents since Dwight Eisenhower back in the 1950s. The 700 Marines and contractors in the squadron have put the equipment to good use, helping keep themselves fit on their base in Virginia, and during their many deployments around the world. We recently received some cool pictures taken at their base and from an undisclosed hanger. In one picture you can see a cargo box carrying the presidential seal. Very cool! This is our way of giving back to the people who serve and inspire us.

For more info on HMX-1 link here.

Perfect Fitness is proud of its support of the US military, and local fire and police agencies. Late last year, we made our biggest donation ever to the US Navy. Now every ship in the Navy fleet carries Perfect Pushups. We love reading emails from crew members telling us how much they enjoy adding the Perfect Pushup to their workouts. If you have a story and/or a picture, we'd like to hear from you at getfit@perfectpushup.com.

Mark Friedman

Marines Pulling 'Em Up in Iraq

Teammates -- Are you Fired UP to reach up and pull up some Perfect Pullups when you see these Marines? They are "Get Ripped" in action.

HOOYAH to this Marine Unit, currently deployed in Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, with the Counter IED (roadside bomb) section. Teammates, here's a picture from a few months back showing them working out with the Perfect Pushup Mobile Units.


CHARLIE MIKE -- ALDEN

p.s. If you are serving overseas, send us your pictures and your story and let us share it with the CHARLIE MIKE Teammates -- getfit@perfectpushup.com

Happy Independence Day!

Teammates, HOOYAH on the Glorious Fourth to all of you and especially to these Marines serving overseas. Stay posted for some pictures Monday of them Pulling Up and Pushing Out!!

CHARLIE MIKE -- ALDEN

Hydration 101: SEAL myth-busting

CM SEAL Team blogger: Marcus Colburn

Let's think about this...your body is mostly water. Water covers 2/3rds of this planet. If you're getting thirsty, you're already dehydrated. The whole thing behind "creatine" (the secret bodybuilding fix) is that you have to drink constantly to keep it moving through your system. These bodybuilders are dopey. They've been lifting dehydrated for so long that when the prescription for creatine calls for drinking 10 large glasses of water per day, they assume that it's the creatine that makes them able to lift longer and heavier. That, my friends, is the gimmick behind this whole creatine fixation! During these big weightlifting competitions, competitors are supposed to quit drinking liquids of any kind 24 hours before a show. So we can all just push these huge steroid monsters over with one hand tied to a scuba tank!

Unless you're doing a magazine cover, don't stop drinking water. Stay clear of all other types of drinks and drink lots of pure H2O!
We used to have a saying in BUD/S (because water is so heavy). Whenever someone tried to lighten their load by carrying less water, we just said when they complained, after they were warned to bring more water, "Are you thirsty? DUDE, IF YOU DIDN'T BRING IT, YOU MUST NOT NEED IT."

Summer is here and it gets wayyyyyyyyyyyy hot. So keep up with your fluids. Stay strong and ready!

Mojo Frog

P.S. Regular plastic bottles get old and can cause foreign bad juju to harm you whereas Nalgene bottles can be washed and won't leak bad juju into your blood stream!

Picture used with permission of Dreamstime.