Squats – My New Friend…and the Best Lift – PERIOD!

On By Sean HathawayIn FitnessLeave a comment

Back loaded with weight, shaking, dripping sweat and every muscle in my body and thought in my mind determined to not let this metal crush me to the ground. My new found love: Squats. Now I’m doing an intense bike ride on Saturday morning and hitting the gym with the family on Sunday; needless to say I have trouble walking and sitting entering the week, but I welcome it. Francis Underwood would have to agree “this is the kind of pain that makes you strong!”

I have seriously ignored weightlifting in the last couple of years. Spare time, I’d rather go for a run. Plus, I want to continue improving in Triathlon, so better to spend precious spare time on the Swim, Bike and Run…right? Sure, but weightlifting has benefits that pay serious dividends. I’ve noticed my bike has been improving as a result and I’m not as sore as I used to be after an intense ride.

Why squat?

  1. Engages every major muscle group in your body. 
  2. Powerful, sculpted legs, butt and back. Check…all good! Back muscles and entire core fully engaged.  
  3. Squats trigger the release of testosterone and human growth hormone.  Who needs Viagra?
  4. Building strength and muscle through weightlifting benefits performance in endurance events and helps injury prevention.  
  5. It’s fun to break up the monotony. 
I listen the Ben Greenfield Podcast and lately Ben and his sidekick Brock have been talking about putting on some muscle and are following a routine outlined in a book by Dan John called Mass Made Simple (link to Interview with Ben and the basic concepts of Mass Made Simple).
My goal now is to squat my weight 50 times without putting the bar down…did I really just say that?! Today my weight is 165, I’m sure it will be 170 or 175 as I continue this training. And today, in the picture you see in this post, I squatted 115 pounds 57 times in 3 sets. My goal is 50 squats every Sunday, with steadily increased weight. I’m seeing fast gains; I started about 6 weeks ago with 30 reps over multiple sets with 95 pounds.

My Sunday routine now is a 45 minute swim, huge squat routine discussed above and I also throw in additional sets of lunges, pull-ups, dips and whatever else looks fun (below is a picture of me performing a ‘light’ clean-and-jerk exercise). On Wednesday morning I’ll spend 20-30 minutes in my garage doing push-ups, pull-ups and sit-ups, as a complement to the goal of putting on some muscle.

I’m feeling awesome, seeing new muscles pop and loving the way I feel!

P.S. If you don’t want to hit the gym to get this benefit, I recommend two 10 minute sessions a week: Do as many deep squat-to-jumps as you can in 10 minutes. Trust me; you’ll be dead and feeling great!

Ski Weekend – Ultimate Fitness/Family Combo

On By Sean HathawayIn Family, FitnessLeave a comment

Heavenly! That’s where we’ve been skiing the last five days and I couldn’t better describe our time here. That is if you enjoy memorable experiences with your family and going to bed every night severely exhausted from an intense workout on the snow. I’m constantly trying to find time for family and fitness and now I’ve unlocked the secret: Ski Vacation. Vacation may be a strong descriptor, as it could be just a long weekend.  Here’s our routine:

  • Wake up at 6:30. Eat, get dressed and out the door. Note dressing a 4 and 6 year old with all required gear requires planning and patience. 
  • To the mountain. Check kids into ski school. (highly recommended and more on that below). 
  • Ski/snowboard til 11:30. Eat lunch. 
  • Pick kids up at 4:00.  
  • Back to cabin (I highly recommend Airbnb or VRBO)
  • Start dinner. And open beer/wine.  Kids exhausted and telling stories all night. 
  • Eat together as family. Tell more stories. 
  • Everyone is dead by 8:00 and in bed by 9:00.  
  • Sleep like your dead and repeat.  

Fitness Element: 
I had some disillusioned dream that I would go for a jog or bust out 30 minutes of a HIIT-type workout while here…ya…not happening. My legs are toasted and I’m mentally exhausted from navigating the daily routine. After a few days of recovery, I’m pretty sure my legs will be stronger than ever. It is so nice to get out of the bike/run hamster routine. Try to hit up a resort with Express-Lifts, as you’ll get in twice as many runs and likely (if like me) may call it a day around 1:00.

Family Element:
Memories, memories, memories. We’ve created more stories here in a few days than a few months at home. Our kids have learned a skill that that they will enjoy their entire life! Every night we are together sharing experiences of the day. We meet people on chair lifts, chat with instructors and the kids love it. We happen to be here during Christmas, so opening and playing with toys was a bonus.

Ski School for Kids: 
I’m an accomplished skier – raced in high-school and college, etc… – but truth be told, I’m not the most patient guy and generally kids will listen to a stranger/coach better than a parent. I do ski with my kids, but we want them to have a great experience and establish key fundamentals. Ski school, can seem costly, but consider what you get for ~$125 per day: lift ticket, coaching, lunch, ski equipment (including helmet) and mass entertainment like hot chocolate breaks! Heavenly (owned by Vail) coaches rock! Works out to about $15/hour; it’s like a babysitter. Also check out Epic if you visit a Vail resort: pictures, vertical miles, etc…
Cost: 
A trip like this does not have to break your budget. Plan ahead, buy lift tickets from your local ski shop, book ahead on Airbnb or something similar, cook your own meals and pack your lunch. If you need to rent gear, do that locally before heading to mountain (my fav Sportsbasement; rented a snowboard for $60 for 12 days!).

Finally: 
Have fun and rock it! Full disclosure I snowboarded 4 out of 5 days and took some nasty spills. I kinda of suck, but loved it. My wife just started skiing and she is dominating.  The entire family is severely challenged daily, sore, beat and insanely united and having fun!

Would love to hear if you have fitness/family combos!

Stock Bets

On By Sean HathawayIn FinanceLeave a comment

I enjoy gambling. Craps, blackjack, poker. I’ve rarely left a casino ‘up’, but the entertainment justifies the cost; at least that’s what I tell myself so I can sleep. Another way to place bets is in the stock market. I think its similarly fun, because in addition to an occasional adrenaline rush, you get to follow companies you love and follow your bets over time. I’m not referring to day trading; I don’t have time for that. We’re talking about long-term bets on companies and brands you know and understand.

[Disclaimer: I’m not your financial adviser and you may want to talk to one prior to buying individual stocks.]

I own the stocks listed below because I believe in the long-term success and future growth of the companies. Some of these bets may be bad, and there are certainly some better ones out there, but these are bets I’ve made based on personal circumstances. I live in Silicon Valley, so I hear a lot about these companies, and you’ll note almost all my bets are SV companies.

Another recommendation: listen to your significant other. My wife recommended Adobe about a year ago, and boy did I miss that one. She also had great calls on Amazon and Twitter.

If you have comments or recommendations, please let me know!

  • Apple – I use so many of their products and so do most people I know. Pays a dividend too! 
  • Amazon – Taking over retail of the world! Same-day delivery in most metros not too far out. 
  • Facebook – Not cool with kids any more, but can you bet against them? Owns Instagram.
  • Google – They have data on all of us; information is power.
  • LinkedIn – The Facebook of every professional in the world…not seeing a lot of competition here. 
  • Netflix – (disclosure: I work here). Watch what you want, where you want, when you want. The “what” is debated from a content standpoint, but continues to improve significantly. 
  • Tesla – I see these cars everywhere in the Valley. No reason to believe other regions won’t follow. It is the coolest car on the road. 
  • Twitter – Could be bigger than Facebook. 
  • Workday – Probably the least known to the layman, but I use their cloud-based corporate HR management solution daily, and I think its slick. If their Finance ERP solution proves similarly successful, watch out. 
Could have picked up for $40!!