End of the Beginning

So we wrapped up our first outdoor Hi-5 FitCamp of 2011. Of course it wasn't entirely outdoors, only 2 days. But by using a big hill, a pull-up bar and a step, we got a lot of work done.

And hopefully as a part of that work we showed that outdoor training is not only good for you, but it's pretty fun! In fact yesterday I was speaking with one of our members and we discussed how when you're a kid outside running, jumping, climbing, crawling that it was fun. But somehow as we age, we forget how much fun it is. I think the transition goes something like this:

• Toddler - Excited to be walking. The world is yours to claim and no one can stop you!
• Elementary school - running, jumping, and climbing are necessary skills for being the ultimate hide and seek player. You dominate your neighborhood.
• Junior high - you enjoy playing sports and this is basically what your activity is now limited to. Your creativity diminishes and you start playing sports with formal rules instead of games with rules made as you go.
• High school - you only participate in sports and your tactical games are no more. You now only squat, run,  and jump according to your prescribed sets and repetitions in weight lifting. If you're a girl, you don't really do that stuff any more.
• College - your still stuck doing the high school football workout even though you don't play football anymore. As a result you get big and bulky, but without the extra cardiovascular work from playing football, you grow a belly.
• 30's - You're so involved in making your career that fitness has been condensed to 30 minutes on a recumbent bike while reading the newspaper. 
• 40's - You start to feel tight, restrictive motion and you're activity now consists of physical therapy for your knee's and back. A weekend fishing trip causes a week's worth of pain and soreness. You feel you've earned the right to say "I wish I was 18 again!"
• 50's & 60's - You now watch grandchildren climb the tree in your back yard and remember your "Glory Days." And it hits you how much you wish you could still run, jump, climb, roll and your tactical challenge is how you're going to get up the staircase of your grown children's home without your knees screaming in opposition.

But you know what? It doesn't have to be like that. Just because the majority of America grows old like this doesn't mean you have to. 

The HI-5 FitCamp is designed to keep you fit, to place challenges in your way and to make you move like when you were in elementary school. This round we jumped, ran, shuffled, and did pullups outside while inside we did bench press, cable chops, medicine ball throws, SlideBoard work and some pretty heavy squats. 

If you're in the HI-5 FitCamp, tell you're friends what their missing. Have them come try for a day or two. Although tough and challenging, it's pretty fun stuff. You get to challenge yourself and each other, you feel that youthful vigor from when you were a child and you get strong, flexible and fit.

Mile High Mayhem!!

This week could not have come at a better time: I only had two trip planned this summer and both of them came during the 9 days we have off from the Hi-5 FitCamp! However, we will be staying active, which is what EVERYBODY should be doing during the week off from the Hi-5 Fitcamp.

I just got back from an extended weekend in Monterey for the MotoGP races which were awesome! Imagine a motorcycle that puts out over 200 horsepower being ridden 3 inches from the ground by a man weighing 140 lbs! It makes for an amazing spectacle.

Denver at Sunset

The next adventure is a trip to Denver in which we will leave on Thursday morning at 2am to get to our 6am flight out of LAX. Coffee? Please. Sugary donuts and other "breakfast" foods? No. I'll stick with my oatmeal, agave nectar and blueberries.

During our trip, we have a couple of hiking trips planned as well as lots of dancing as my sister in law is getting married! Will I eat cake? Yes. Will I eat deep fried hors dœuvre's? Probably not.

But this week is a time when I get to relax, spend time with my family and enjoy Denver and the surrounding communities. Also, on Saturday, the high temp is supposed to be 68!! Nice!

So for you lucky guys that get to stay here for the rest of the week and weekend, I would highly suggest spending some time in a swimming pool. Just get outside, enjoy the weather, play some water tag or perhaps a fun little game called "Sharks and Minnow's." Basically 1 person is a "shark" and has to try to tag the "minnow's" to get them to become sharks. It's a fun game and great exercise!!

If you're not up for that, perhaps a good old fashioned circuit might be more your type??

Try this on for size in honor of my trip to the Mile High City, it's Mile High Mayhem!!

Bear Crawls

• 20 Mountain Climbers
• 20 Squats
• 20 bear crawls forward
• 20 slalom skier jumps (side to side jumps like a skier; squat low on the landings)
• 30 Mountain climbers
• :30 high knee running
• 30 bear crawls backwards
• 30 Split Jumps
• 40 Cross body mountain climbers
• 40 snow angels (lie on your stomach and make snow angels with arms and legs off the ground)
• 50 Smurf jacks (in honor of my friend Noah the Navy SEAL, who introduced these to me and is a Colorado native)  
• 50 4-count body builders
  

How do you do a smurf jack? Squat as if in the seated position, put your hands behind your head, now do jumping jacks from this position squatting the entire time!!

Have fun with this circuit, I know I had fun creating it! I'll do it with you (but I will be a Mile High!!)