A Revolution for Your Kicks?!

Hickies

Hickies

Are you ready to revolutionize your sneakers? Is the world ready for this revolution?

No more laces?!

Kind of reminds me of McFly’s sneakers from Back to the Future. I’m not sure the Dude is ready for this revolution, but I’m thinking it’s kind of brilliant.

If silly-bands caught on, there must be room in the world for…

Hickies!

Welcome to a world without laces. A world where every shoe is a slip-on.

Get ready, Hickies are taking over the world.

Hats off to SwissMiss for sharing the revolution. You can join the Hickies KickStarter campaign here.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/41317108[/vimeo]

Best Exercises to Keep a Dude Healthy

Whole9Life.com

Whole9Life.com

A few posts ago I opened the door to a new line of discussion here on DKB; health. That post discussed mobility – the often ignored ideas of stretching, massage and range of motion. The mobility blog I shared in that post is spot on, and the mobility dude is the shiz. I highly recommend.

I’m eager to continue down this line of healthy thought. Mainly because these are ideas that I’m exploring, and it’s fun to share ideas. Hopefully there is some use for you too.

“Health” has always been a significant focus for the Dude. I’ve always been active, played sports, and experimented with bodybuilding techniques. But the definition of “health” is difficult to pin down; it’s in a constant state of flux based on who you ask, and more importantly, based on your stage of life. My focus on health has shifted significantly over the years.

I’ve gone from lifting as much heavy weight as possible, eating as much as I could, and spending hours in the gym to a very streamlined approach to my activity and my diet. And I’m happy to say that I believe I’m in much better shape – and health – based on the evolution of my understanding of “health.”

Recently, my quest has led me to a wealth of information that has refined my views even further. I’m convinced that the majority of us are eating the wrong diets, wasting time in the gym, and being disappointed by the lack of results and performance.

We reside ourselves to the fact that “we’re getting old,” and accept declining health, mobility, and fitness as a fact of nature. Maybe we are just practicing the wrong techniques and taking direction from the wrong sources – ah hem, The Man. Perhaps there are simple changes that can bring significant improvements.

I’ll continue with this line of thinking as DKB progresses, and today I want to begin with a focus on some important exercises that we should consider adding to the core of our workout routines – yes, everyone should have a workout routine.

As I mentioned, I was an avid gym rat for years. But as life progressed over the last few years, my daily schedule became a bit tighter, and I gave up the gym. I’ve been working out at home for a couple years, and over time, I’ve been refining my routine(s).

I no longer believe in a monthly payment to a gym. With the right direction and a little ingenuity, health and fitness can be accomplished at home. No question. Saving time, saving money, and in the Dude’s opinion, better results.

I’m a believer that my routine(s) will continually evolve, and the below discussion of core exercises will help with this evolution. This is from a new blog I just found; Whole9Life.com. I’m still exploring it, but at first glance, I’m digging their thoughts.

I’ll let the blog offer the full details, but I’ll share a quick synopsis and a some great highlights. Here’s the premise of this post:

Whole 9 Life “brought together 12 fitness experts from a broad range of backgrounds–with bodies of experience ranging from weightlifting to track and field to mixed martial arts, and over two centuries of collective coaching experience–to ask them all the same question:

If you could only perform five exercise movements for the rest of your life, which five would you do? (Assuming your goals are general health, fitness and longevity.)”

Great idea, right? Experts sharing what we all need to know. How do we stay in shape, maintain our health – or improve it – and increase our longevity. The secrets that we all need to know.

So, forget what the Dr. said, ignore your cousin who is a personal trainer, and start to think along “unconventional” lines. This is the highlight of a three part blog series from Whole9Life.com. The first two parts offer more specifics about the exercises and the experts, but the overview in part three ties it all together.

Highlights & takeaways…use these ideas to build your routine. Drop the gym, save time, save money, and take care of yourself – you’re the only one who can.

  • All of the exercises selected are multi-joint (compound) exercises. As in 100%. No single-joint exercise belongs on a list like this.
  • The vast majority of the exercises are ground-based, either with feet flat on the ground, or with some sort of transition between body-on-the-ground and standing positions. The real world happens with objects in unrestricted planes of motion, and so should your training. The only “resistance” you need is your body and something heavy to pick up or carry.
  • There is a significant emphasis on movements that are “big, strong” movements. For long-term health, building and maintaining strength must be a central feature of your program.
  • Locomotion was a common response. We are bipedal creatures, and training the reciprocal patterns of walking, running, lunging, stepping, and crawling, strongly echoes the three-dimensional ways that we move in the “real world”. Stabilizing our trunk while shifting and supporting weight is not only beneficial, it’s fundamentally human. We learn it as infants, but far too many of us lose that ability in adulthood. Get it back.
  • Squatting is not the end-all-be-all. Sure, we have to squat to be able to stand from a chair, but little else occurs where our feet are symmetrical and neatly spaced outside of hip width. Gardening, all field and court sports, moving furniture, and wrestling all share the staggered stance position where stabilizing the body’s mass on top of a narrow or unilateral base of support is critical.
  • We found it fascinating that an Olympic weightlifting coach (Greg Everett) did not include a single explosive movement in his list. If that doesn’t illustrate the priority of building full-body strength with basic movements, we don’t know what does.
  • Almost everyone included putting weight overhead: press, clean & jerk, overhead squat, etc.If you aren’t putting heavy things overhead on a regular basis, your program should change.
  • Almost everyone included a pulling movement (a pull-up or row variation), and no one mentioned kipping.
  • Note that one of our experts selected both swimming and walking. We believe the training and therapeutic value of both of those movements is under-rated. They might not sound very bad-ass, but [p]erpetually chasing performance is not the same as creating excellent health. Don’t be afraid to slow down.

Princess Tickles the Ivory…& Little Dude Copes

The Dude family started the day by donning our Sunday best and heading out to a piano recital. Awesome.

In a recent post, I mentioned that I regret not learning to play music earlier in life. Luckily, The Princess will not shoulder this same regret. She has been jamming on the piano for almost a year now. And today was the day she got to show off.

Super proud moment.

We huddled in the living room of the piano instructor surrounded by about 30 proud parents and relatives. And we watched a small group of kiddos perform strokes on the piano that I assume the majority of us have no clue how to play. Very impressive.

It’s awesome to see people learning new skills and having enough confidence in their growing abilities to perform in front of others. Very cool.

The Princess tickled the ivory to perfection. And she showed a lot of confidence in herself. Nothing better for a parent to see.

And Little Dude? Well, he managed. He managed to remain relatively quiet, and somewhat still until The Princess completed her performance. Then we broke for the exits. I have a feeling this will be a habit at most formal engagements with the Little Dude.

Here’s a quick video of The Princess tickling the ivory…and Little Dude coping with his first recital.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDD0qeGZ7qg[/youtube]

 

Russian Dude Trademarks the Goatee

Facial Hair Types

Facial Hair Types

I’ve only known a few Russian dudes in my day, but they’ve all seemed tough as nails. It’s not anything in particular; it’s just a vibe that the Ruskies give off.

Have you seen Putin?! Dude seems hardcore. I don’t want to piss any Russians off.

But I’m rocking a goatee, and that’s in direct conflict with the trademark law handed down by a Russian blogger. Not cool.

(I guess Russian bloggers practice trademark law now? Who knew?)

Ain’t that some shiznat?! The dude claims a trademark on the goatee. I like your style Ruskie. I like your style.

I’m planning to trademark the boxer brief. I wear them everyday. Been doing it for years. No boxers. No tightie whities.

Seems like I should be gettin’ some royalties from all you copycats. Just send along some dinero, and we’re good.

Here’s the catch. I was planning to shave the goatee, but last night I trimmed it just right. Now I’m digging it. Y’all know I love some facial hair. What’s a dude to do?

I think I’m going to wait for the cease and desist order…or until I have a Russian knocking on my door.

Although, this gives Mrs. Dude a good reason to shave it…hopefully she doesn’t team up with the Russians. I guess I’ll have to sleep with one eye open for multiple reasons.

Napping is the Bees Knees

King of Naps

King of Naps

As the self-proclaimed King of Naps, I feel that it’s my duty to pass on this great napping info to my napping subjects.

Thanks to EdGalaxy.com for sharing the siesta stats.

Nap on.

Napping may save your life
A multi-year Greek study found napping at least three times per week for at least 30 minutes resulted in a 37% lower death rate due to heart problems.

Can’t sleep? Don’t stress
Even if you can’t fall asleep for a nap, just laying down and resting has benefits. Studies have found resting results in lowered blood pressure, which even some college kids have to worry about if they are genetically predisposed to high blood pressure.

Pick the right time
After lunch in the early afternoon
your body naturally gets tired. This is the best time to take a brief nap, as it’s early enough to not mess with your nighttime sleep.

It makes you smarter
According to Dr. Matthew Walker of the University of California, napping for as little as one hour resets your short-term memory and helps you learn facts more easily after you wake up.

Abandon all-nighters
Foregoing sleep by cramming all night reduces your ability to retain information by up to 40%. If you can, mix in a nap somewhere to refresh your hippocampus.

Drink coffee first
The way this works is you drink a cup of coffee right before taking your 20-minute or half-hour nap, which is precisely how long caffeine takes to kick in. That way when you wake up, you’re not only refreshed, but ready to go.

The ultimate nap
According to Dr. Sara Mednick, the best nap occurs when REM sleep is in proportion to slow-wave sleep. Use her patented Take A Nap Nap Wheel to calculate what time of day you can nap to the max.

It Will Bring a Tear to a Dude’s Eye…

This time-lapse video of a young girl aging from zero to 12 has been shared quite a bit the past couple days – gone viral as the cool kids like to say.

It is very cool to watch how kids progress. But it brings a tear to the Dude’s eye. Kids grow up too fast.

I’ve been using an app on the IPhone called “Everyday” to take a picture of me and Little Dude…almost everyday. The idea is that the app will take the pictures and put it into a video. I’ve been doing it for over a year.

It’s amazing to see how much he’s changed in a year. And how much the Dude’s facial hair has changed. 🙂

I keep thinking that I’ll turn it into a video. But I always decide to wait for another deadline. The reality is that it’s kind of scary to see how fast the Little Man is growing.

But the beauty of watching a child grow is the next stage is at least as fun as the last. Although, we’re seeing hints of the terrible two’s, so I reserve the right to retract that last statement.

Zero to 12…

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/40448182[/vimeo]

Physics Can Blow a Dude’s Mind

The Elegant Universe

The Elegant Universe

A few years ago I read The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene. It’s a dizzying explanation of string theory and quantum physics.

Back then, the internet was just taking off, and TED wasn’t pumping out 20 minute videos on YouTube about dizzying ideas. Now we can learn what took me a few weeks to muscle through in a matter of minutes.

The internet is awesome.

Here’s a great video of Brian Greene diving into some awesome ideas about physics, the Multi-verse, string theory, the future of cosmology, and why our Universe is perfect for us.  If you’re into science that sounds like science-fiction, you’ll dig this.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf7BXwVeyWw[/youtube]

He’s a Climber

He's a Climber

He's a Climber

I’ve heard kids referred to as “climbers.” As in, “Keep an eye on him; he’s a climber.”

Now I know first hand what that is. Little Dude will claw his way up anything he can. It’s like watching a mountain climber scale a cliff as he tries to maneuver up the cabinets in search of a jellybean.

Clearly Little Dude needs a climbing wall like this little guy. The safety seems a bit questionable, but clearly he knows what he’s doing. As if by instinct. 🙂

Nature is amazing.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58xVk48t4GI&feature=related[/youtube]

 

Getting Old is Comical

That title is true, but it’s not the whole truth. Getting old can be hard too, but maybe with the right perspective the hilarity can outweigh the challenges.

I’m not old enough to face the full onslaught of age, but the Dude has entered the “Dude, I’m old” stage.

Age is definitely a state of mind more than anything, but there are some realities that are unavoidable.

1. Concerts take on an entirely new perspective as a parent. I love music, and live music is amazing, but these days the Dude is happy to trade a great Pandora station for a live show. That just seems like a lot of work. 🙂

Questionable Skills does a great job capturing this.

Questionable Skills - Concert for Parents

2. The mid-30’s is an interesting stage. Not young, but not old.

Whoa! Did I just define myself as mid-life?!

Below is a comical video about the mid-30’s. The Dude’s peers. I’d like to think that I’m better off, but I can definitely relate. It’s interesting to see where people are in their mid-30’s.

Luckily, I fall into the “Parent Concert” category. And I couldn’t be happier to be here. Being young and dumb is fun. But it’s nothing compared to having fun as a parent. And the comparison to mid 30’s and looking for fun at an improve class isn’t even in the same universe.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HWHXMBDs5U[/youtube]