And so under the consultation of Jeremy Layport (Assist. Strength Coach of SJSU) and RKC Jason Agrella of JAKT, and drawing inspiration from the RKC minimalist benchmark approach, I’ve developed a level system to serve as signposts by which our members can recognize their progress.

I also believe that introducing this matrix can serve to raise our standards, changing our belief of what’s even possible in terms of our physical destinies. Once something is broken down into chunks, it’s conquerable. Suddenly by having a formal progression, watching your peers ascend it’s levels in front of you, you’re then not only empowered to do the same, but eager to lead the pack or at least keep pace.

The theme pays tribute to the most electrifying, athletic, powerful, and ferocious class of beast on the planet:

Felines…

…a living, breathing, yin-yang of grace and terror.

Before opening up the PDF, watch this 2 minute clip which illustrates why the Tiger has been selected as the top of the terrestrial predators.

Now that you’ve watched the clip, you’re ready to witness the…

…Evolution of a GutChecker

I wrote about the importance of having empowering references in Part II of “Lifestyle Change”…No Thanks. The RKC snatch test is another example of that, even though it is simply a test, not an actual person. The very fact that dozens of new people (who weren’t all life long athletes) pass this test nearly every month, raised my standard for myself. If this benchmark (100 Snatches with the 24 KG Kettlebell in 5 min.) never existed, I don’t think I’d ever have set it as a goal for myself.

Looking back to when I first heard about it, it seemed waaaaayyy out of reach. But since so many people pass it, I allowed myself to keep it as a goal, suspending my disbelief. And that is sometimes the hardest part, suspending disbelief, getting true emotional buy-in deep within yourself, as opposed to a shallow, forced affirmation that never penetrates your actual view of what’s really possible.

It is my sincere hope and intention that just how the RKC snatch test raised my personal standard, so too will the GutCheck framework raise the standards of thousands who would have otherwise settled for less. Maybe not everyone has a desire to go as far as the RKC snatch test. But instead of settling for losing a little weight, a Bobcat now aspires to grow into a Panther one day, achieving the vaunted GutCheck echelon of “Tier II.”

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More About the Method Behind “Evolution of a GutChecker”…

The approach behind the GutCheck Level System is one of minimalist General Physical Preparedness (GPP) Metrics. In other words, how can we best measure overall strength and conditioning with the fewest metrics? The metrics are not sport specific but weighted toward the strength, conditioning, and athleticism we need to thrive in the game of life.

The cats progress in terms of size and ferocity. I know a Cheetah is a pretty darn athletic animal to be listed first, but I weighted ferocity ahead of athleticism because our training is about heart more than athletic gifts. If you feel a terrible injustice has been done in the ordering of the cats, please state your argument and cite your sources.

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Of course, the final days are expected to be painful for all of us. But with medical advances, an increasing number of us are extending the length of time we suffer from days or weeks into years.

Hear me out. This is not about euthanasia.

I remember my grandfathers in particular, being proud men, well educated and accomplished. On my mom’s side was Carl, captain of his soccer team at Stanford, working his way up to becoming an exec with Standard Oil, now Chevron. On my dad’s side was Theodore,  a Cal graduate and life-long realtor.

Carl was a man who sacrificed for his family. My Mom always spoke about him with the highest praises. He could have enjoyed his wealth, but lived frugally, worked hard and left it for his kids. Theodore was the consummate gentleman, constantly doling out compliments, expressing gratitude to the cook of every meal served to him, as if it were fine cuisine from a 3 Star, Michelin rated restaurant.

But most of my memories of them involve frailty as a foreboding theme.

Carl broke his hip a few times, had trouble maintaining any muscle mass, and suffered from arthritis in his hands. Theodore, had slumped posture, had to walk extremely gingerly with every step, and suffered from embarrassing memory lapses for the last 10 years of his life. For the last 5 years, I think he stopped being embarrassed because he slowly adjusted to the new reality of just existing, recognizing warm faces but not being able to exactly connect the names and past memories with each person.

Both needed very “hands-on” help for their final years — just to survive and maintain a minimum level of hygiene and dignity. I want to respect their privacy by not sharing too many details but hopefully, I can paint a picture enough to let their lives continue to add meaning and impact to those that read this.

I can remember being in the assisted living facility with my grandpa Theodore. It was one of the better quality ones, but still. You can’t expect your loved one to be treated with the respect and honor he deserves in most of these places. There are so many needy patients. And the nurses come to view each patient as another task to complete. They get numb to the human part, regardless of the fake smile and token pleasantries. I watched my grandpa so frustrated with the language barrier while his male nurse just continued on with his “tasks,” proceeding to do what he had to do, not concerned that my grandpa was scared, confused, and felt disrespected.

Okay, now the point…

Most of us live in a binary reality when we think of old age.

That reality affects our choices about our health in the here and now. We think that the fate awaiting us is one of two:

between living long or dying young.

Few of us consider the fact that most people live long lives these days but the real question is what will be the nature of our exit?

Will we live vital into our elder years and then decline rapidly to our finish? This happens when our organs reach their expiration and start to fail naturally. Or will we start that declension fairly early on, adding chronic conditions on top of each other, living our last 10-20 years totally dependent and reliant upon loved ones or worse: the anonymous “system?” (Be as nice as you can to your loved ones TODAY as an insurance policy.)

Of course the fact remains there are people who take care of themselves that still end up suffering chronic conditions. But we can’t allow those exceptions to discourage us from playing the odds, taking responsibility for the many choices we have this moment, choices that accumulate to likely equal the quality of life we’ll live up until the end. If you assume that healthful living won’t steer you clear of chronic conditions, you’ll fulfill that prophecy. It’s clearly quite easy to do judging by the high level of chronic conditions suffered in our country.

But if you choose to accept the other perspective: that your healthful choices today are an investment in your future, you’re likely to be one the many examples of vital individuals living fulfilling and independent lives, well into their eighties, nineties and beyond.

Have you pictured yourself in old age? How about making the intention of being an 85 year old competitive athlete in the sport you love today? Examples are everywhere if you look for them.

Or, you can listen to your defeatist and moaning friends who whine about the “inevitable” energy drain, fatigue, weakness, and sickness that come with old age. And by golly you’ll be right. You’ll slow down with each ache and pain but take comfort in the fact that you correctly forecasted your fate. You weren’t a hopeful sucker like the rest of those veggie eating, workout snobs.

Take out a blank sheet of paper. What DECISION can you make right now that will be an investment toward realizing the picture in your mind of being vital and independent up until the end?

Disclaimer: No disrespect, blame, or lack of sympathy is intended here to those who suffer from chronic conditions and ailments. This is merely an attempt to spark readers into action to preserve the health they have and wake up from the binary delusion we suffer of the possible endings that await.

The idea behind teaching this material is that as we go through these stages we’re unaware of them. We just naturally evolve through them as our life circumstances change and we need to adapt. Without much extra intention, we’ll all evolve up to the conventional level of society. By gaining awareness of the stages and why we go through them, one can then willfully take the wheel and seek to accelerate his personal growth if desired or needed.

HOW IN THE $#%^ DOES THIS RELATE TO PHYSICAL TRAINING?

Well I got to thinking about the evolution of someone who begins any sort of physical training. What if we could document the common stages of training so that one could accelerate his physical training maturity? If you’ve followed my blog at all, the most important thing to me is sustainability. Not everyone needs to be an athletic specimen depending on his personal life circumstances. (Although GutCheck training makes that possible with a pretty darn small time commitment.) But each of us CAN incorporate an organic routine that is compatible with our life.

The problem is that many who attempt to train are retarded in their inner game when it comes to training. Their maturity is very high when it comes to their professional life or family life, but their physical training life models the world of a whiney 6 year old:

It’s all about instant gratification.

So this is obscenely unscientific but that is where I need you. If you identify with these stages outlined below, or you can identify another, help your fellow man by commenting. If enough insight comes through this, I can post a refined growth model:

1. Self-Pity:

You join the gym or commit to some routine, any old routine because any extra thought put toward this primal side of life is thought take away from more “important” matters — like polishing up that report with pretty graphs and tables due at the end of the week.

So you pound away on the treadmill hating every minute and then if you have time, try a few moves on the nautilus machines. This goes on for a few weeks if you’re one of the persistent ones.

Outlook Traits of this Stage:

• You resent that you even have to workout. You have too many other responsibilities and worries to be bothered with the physical world. This is the information age and it bugs you that you have to waste time doing this for your health. Any time for you not using or developing your mind, earning a living, or caring for your family is a waste.

• You feel that you have a genetic disposition toward being fat and that it is not fair how some of your friends seemingly eat what they want and still stay trim. For you, it seems that every pastry shows itself in the girth of your boiler, every burger adds points to your cholesterol and raises your blood pressure. You just have no margin of error like “everyone” else.

• You’re delusional about your true calorie needs and your actual intake. If you eat it while standing over the sink it doesn’t count. By breathing hard and breaking a sweat in your workout earlier in the day you feel you’ve earned an extra serving at dinner and especially your favorite dessert.

2. Structure:

If you’re persistent enough to get to this stage, you’ve started to realize that since you’re going to be devoting time to your fitness, you might as well learn a little bit and maybe even model some of those that seem like they know what they are doing. So you either hire a trainer or get someone to show you a good routine that hits your major muscles on alternating days.

Outlook Traits of this Stage:

• You still sort of resent your training but see it as a necessary evil like your mortgage.

• You’re pretty dogmatic about the little knowledge you have. You’ve started to invest some time and pain into the routine you have and this builds a little partisanship. You see training as black and white and believe your general path is superior to most others.

• Through experience you’ve reached the unsavory conclusion that you can’t outwork a doughnut. As a result you’ve cut desserts back to 2-3 times a week and you’ve started to look a bit at your portions, trying to resist the second serving at dinner.

• You still think you’re genetically cursed and find yourself feeling out of your element and wishing there was a pill you could take to just solve this whole health burden without all of the sweat and wasted time.

• All progress is measured externally: scale weight, body fat composition, waist size and health markers.

3. Physical Actualization:

You see the parallels in your training development to all other areas of life you care about. While the process can be tough, you start to realize that the process is something worthwhile, just like the path to any other milestone you’ve achieved in life.

Your training progression becomes a metaphor for your overall potential. You see that the hurdles you face and overcome in your physical training mirror the internal battles you’ve fought on other fronts.

Outlook Traits of this Stage:

• You realize physical development supports and facilitates the other areas of your life instead of seeing it as a detractor or competitor.

• Your workouts are now “practices” for honing your physical and mental skills.

• Overall, you look forward to training and the adrenal rush it provides. Some workouts are still a chore but you bang them out anyway because you understand that success in any area of life means doing some things that you’d rather not at the time they need to be done.

• You’re open to all methods of training, fascinated by the possibilities and curious about the pros and cons of each. You realize that activity is the key and that each person’s life circumstances will dictate the style, type, frequency, intensity, and overall time invested.

• You want to help others tap into this electricity and seek to meet others where they are at in their stage, helping pull them up to the next level.

• You experience “peak” experiences of gratitude, spiritual in nature, thankful that you’ve integrated regular training into your life.

• You use goals and milestones to help your progress but the process is everything to you. Your lean exterior is simply a physical manifestation of the many internal victories you’ve had for years prior, a wonderful by-product of a deeper path. It’s gravy, but truth be told, you’d probably still engage on this path without the cosmetic benefits.

• You no longer view yourself at a genetic disadvantage. You realize that years of being sedentary were to blame for your crawling metabolism. It was you who created the hormonal imbalance and optimal fat storing physiology. It happened over years and took time to rectify. Now that you’ve healed your body you find that you can “cheat” as much or more than you’re “skinny” friends.

I think this is a useful start. Do you identify with any of these stages or recognize them from your past? I see plenty of room for refinement here and recognize the gaps. This could be stretched to 5 or 6 stages but that would be an ebook, not a blog post. I also recognize the bias that I cannot write about a level beyond my current stage without finding an example and studying him. So naturally the “actualization” phase largely describes my own breakthroughs and outlook. It could very well be that 10 years from now I’ll look back at this stage as being the infancy of my physical training “inner game.”

I’d love your input to flesh this out a bit better…

This caused me to reflect why?

What was it about training in the elements that made it so fun and rewarding?

I’ve known that cold water dousing and exposure to freezing temperatures is a part of physical culture. Beyond the adrenaline rush which may be reason enough, practitioners claim many benefits: from it being therapeutic, to immune boosting, to helping reconnect with nature. The iconic figure who popularized this movement was Porfiry Ivanov. In our class, we weren’t quite dealing with freezing conditions, but I suspect many of the same factors were at play, both mentally and physically.

Here are some of the reasons I came up with. I’d be riveted to hear yours as well in the comments:

1. Not to get all “Woo woo” on you but I think part of this is beyond what we can know through empirical means of detection. The rain especially has long been observed by many traditions as a direct experience of God’s Mercy. And maybe that is what is at the root of the empowering sensation that comes with training in the rain. In the strength culture, training in the elements is mystically referred to as helping one “become more connected with nature.” From my perspective nature is not an end by itself but a means to directly witnessing God’s Glory and Majesty. However you view it, there is a feeling of purpose, of connectedness that comes with training outside. This is magnified when the weather assumes a conspicuous presence on a given day.

2. Inspires Humility – The first part of learning is humility. Much of building true, holistic strength is being open to discovering our imbalances and frailties. “Discover the cause of your own ignorance,” as our teacher often says, quoting Bruce Lee. Submitting yourself to the cold and rain helps cure any self delusion you may suffer about the extent of your power. Being slowed by the winds and pelted by the rain was a stark reminder of my place in the universe. I felt Connected yet hungrier to never stop fighting to achieve a status of hardened conditioning.

3. Liberating - Remember as a kid when you walked home from school after a rainy day and instead of avoiding the puddles you were pulled toward them? When you approached the puddle you didn’t just pause to marvel, you cocked your leg and violently stomped in it. You knew your mom would be furious but there was something too primal to resist. It had to be done.

Deep down our nature laughs at how sterile and mundane we’ve made things. We’re dying for spontaneity, some wackiness, an ability to express ourselves. Training in the mud, getting wet, getting dirty, on a work day felt dangerous, especially in the context of the Silicon Valley. While everyone else was crawling along the highways, tuning into traffic news, sipping on their commuter mug, careful to avoid coffee from dripping on their starched clothing, we were doing Kettlebell relay races on the soggy turf, soiled, drenched, and ALIVE.

4. Reference for Self Worth – Many of us know intellectually that our thoughts are the major determinant in our results in the external world. Yet we’re haunted by certain short comings we’ve had in the past: perceived failures and times when we just didn’t “measure up.” Those references hold us back because our “intellectual” brain cites those times as valid excuses why we can’t achieve what we want to. However, when you get some momentum, start achieving some great things, you get on a roll. Success starts to begets success. We need success references to submit as evidence to our neural judge in order to convince him that indeed WE CAN do what we’re aiming to do.

This is one of the reasons I am so passionate about intense physical training. It offers you an instant, tangible, measurable opportunity for a killer success reference that your “neural judge” can’t mess with. So few people choose to push themselves intensely that by you choosing to do it, you give yourself an instant edge of confidence. Everywhere you go, you’ve got something on that other guy. If he feels entitled to pursue greatness, you have all the more right to it as someone who submits himself to such physical demands. Training in “nasty” weather takes this feeling up a notch. You walk around the rest of the day feeling bullet proof.

What’s been your experience?