Comrades!
Welcome to another edition of Digestable, the short, weekly email where I share information, ideas, and what’s new with me. This email was sent to subscribers on May 2nd, 2021.
Let’s dig in:
- How to Keep Your Edge as You Get Older: Vic Verdier is a “physical polymath” with a list of credentials a mile long. Everything from MovNat Master Instructor, to Trauma Release Specialist, Breathing Specialist, StrongFirst Elite Instructor, Scuba Diving Instructor Trainer, Krav Maga Instructor, Olympic Lifting Coach, Nutrition Specialist, and Firearm Instructor. He owns a gym in Seattle called, Kettlebility, and runs a coaching practice where he specializes in “Coaching Men Over 40 to Live a More Vibrant Life”. Though this podcast interview with Vic by Brett McKay focuses on avoiding “Soft Suburban Dad Syndrome”, Amanda and I listened to it during a rainy morning run this week and she confirms it is equally interesting for women. Vic’s prescription includes: MovNat workouts outdoors with friends, the acronym S.E.E.D.S for natural testosterone production, kettlebell training for explosiveness, and reading inspirational adventure books by Hemmingway and Jack London. Vic suggests an important change to the definition of sarcopenia: “
age-relateddecrease of muscle mass”.
- 5 Conditioning Tips from the “Father of the Kettlebell” Pavel Tsatsouline: And only one of these is a weird tip. Pavel Tsatsouline is Chairman of StrongFirst, former instructor to Soviet special forces, and widely credited with popularizing kettlebell training in the West. I had the opportunity to pose a question to Pavel on the Tim Ferriss podcast, so I asked for his advice on conditioning. Read the five tips he gave me and see video of Pavel teaching the basic kettlebell moves on my website, comrade!
- Book Notes: A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemmingway: An American soldier has his heart broken by a beautiful English nurse while serving as an ambulance driver for the Italian army during the Italian campaign of WW1. Read my book notes on this classic American novel (banned by the Irish Free State and the fascist regime in Italy!) and see if it might be a good choice for your bedtime reading.
- New & Exciting:
- Stay off the roads, I have two new drivers in the house! Judah passed his driver’s license exam this week, and Salem obtained his learner’s license. Great work, gentlemen.
- Exams are over and Amanda just finished her second year in her studies towards a Kinesiology degree from the University of Alberta. To no one’s surprise, she maintains a 4.0 and is “Professor’s Pet”. It is exciting for me to see her crush academia.
- Two exciting new programs you should be aware of at Frontier Lodge: Ready to Ride is a Saturday program for ages 11 – 99 to learn to mountain bike, and the Resiliency Program is a FREE 4 or 7 day adventure for those dealing with mental health hardships or job losses due to the COVID-19 response. Participants will have the support of a psychologist and trained outdoor professionals. Wow. Please share with someone you know who would benefit.
- Quote I’m Pondering “Faith, thankfully, does not preclude doubt. It consists of staking your life on the rumor of grace.” – Michael Gerson, in the Washington Post article, I was hospitalized for depression. Faith helped me remember how to live. Hat tip to Tim Ferriss for the link.
Thanks for reading. If you know someone who would like to receive these types of updates I’d appreciate it if you shared it. Should you come across anything noteworthy this week please send it my way!
Yours truly,
Jeff
Jeff Sutherland 