Laird Hamilton has been someone I've become aware of through surfing and a few big wave surf documentaries. He also writes a Mind and Body column for Men's Journal. He's not exactly Paleo, but follows a nutrient-dense diet.
Some topics he addresses are:
-Benefits of waking up early
-Stretching
-Drinking hot water with lemon as a cleanse every morning
-Protein shakes
-Not eating flour, sugar, salt, or starches
-Exercising in unique and intense ways
-Living naturally
-Risk-taking
-Training for life
Force of Nature is sort of an expanded version of his columns, and consists of four sections: Mind, Body, Soul, and Surfing. From just perusing it and doing one of the workouts, it seems like an outstanding book- and an opportunity to hear what's worked for an amazing athlete. The guy is nearing 50 and still going strong.The book begins with a quote:
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
Along those lines, I feel like I've tried to explore, dream, and discover the past three months. It's been a good summer. I surfed twice a week since April or May- going out to County Line, Staircase, Point Dume, San Francisco's Ocean Beach, Seaside, OR, and even La Fonda, Mexico. I went yesterday to El Porto, south of LAX and just north of Manhattan Beach. El Porto is a little industrial with a processing plant down the beach, but that adds to its outsider charm. There were more teenagers and it seemed like the guys from Dogtown and Z Boys would've hung out here after school. The waves weren't big but it was a decent spill, turning over gently so that a beginner could catch it. I had one notable moment. I used a visualization technique to imagine riding the wave before I caught it. As the wave swept me forward, at the moment of popping up, I closed my eyes, and caught it, jumping upright. When I opened them I was turning and surfing, which was cool and felt effortless.
I went out last weekend too. I surfed Staircase and met some nice folks from Sierra Madre, and a local dude named Philip. The waves were small but I had brought my longboard, so I could actually get up. Philip was cool. I was sort of stand-offish, letting him be where the break was, and he invited me over. There were only four of us in the water. This was probably 9am. That was probably my best surf day of the summer. I could see the waves, identify their direction, anticipate their speed and their break, and the board was steady enough to hold me when I popped up. I didn't realize that the pop-up has to be one smooth motion, a movement without thinking- just bang, pop up. I had been trying to do a push up...So even though the summer is ending, I'm still discovering new things about surfing.
I'd recommend Laird's book. I did his Anywhere Workout last night (p70-75). It consists of a bunch of bodyweight exercises done in a circuit:
1-Walking Forward With High High Step (recommends 1 min intervals)
2-Walking Lateral Lunge (recommends 1 min intervals)
3-Hindu Squat (40x-slow)
4-Decline Pushup (30x)
5-Core Series- (9 movements)
6-Handstand (30-60 seconds- I did it against a wall)
7-Dips (30x)
8- The Steeps (stairwalking in lunges of 4 steps. I did this 5 times)
Great workout and can be done at home in front of a dvd... maybe Riding Giants. Have a great Labor Day weekend, folks!
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