Summer To-Do List

Who doesn’t have a summer to-do list?  Everyone does!  Most people want to work on their tan, party with their friends, and run the elliptical for two hours a day. (Yes, I’m talking about sorority girls.  Ha!) There are a number of goals that I want to accomplish this summer, and their mostly unrelated, except for the connective significance of awesomeness.  I may be getting a little overzealous here… Anyways,  my list contains a smorgasbord of activities and goals, and I’d like to share it with the public.  I’ll be much more likely to complete them, and people can join in if they like!

1. It’s a short one, but I’m going to work to earn four A’s in my summer classes, and boost my GPA.  Why?  Because it can never be high enough.  Also, I’m super nerdy and have become a bit of a perfectionist.

2.  I want to write more.  My schedule has been insane lately, which is nice, but I haven’t been able to write as much.  Hopefully I can start cranking out three fun reads a week, so the 4 people that check my blog can say “Thanks for the giggles and knowledge bombs, Harold!”  This will happen.

3.  Eat better.  Why?  Well, we can all eat better.  Personally, I’ve been slipping on this a bit, and I need to include more colors in my diet.  Little changes can go a long way; the elimination of bad snacks, and their replacement with healthier snacks will make this much easier.  It’s summer time, and during summer I tend to eat as much as I possibly can, but I’m going to do it the right way.  Bring on the carrots/hummus, greek yogurt/walnuts/raisins, and turkey burgers.  Oh, and scrambled eggs.  Duh.

4.  Jump out of a plane.  Skydiving may not be the most intelligent idea that people have ever had, and the whole idea scares the living life out of me.  If it scares me, I’m going to do it.  (Although, I’m petrified of sharks and spiders, and I’m still going to avoid them at all costs.)  There’s a place in Gardner, New York, called The Ranch, with a jump altitude of 13,500.  I think that my heart is racing already…

5. I want to pick up some heavy stuff.  I have a number of PR’s that I want to get to by August.  I’ve gotten to one already, and pretty close to another, but this is what is next to come:

• Squat: I smoked 3 PR’s yesterday on the back squat (385lbs, 405lbs, and 430lbs) and 2 on the TRX RFESS (60lb DBs, then 70lb DB’s x 5).  I took out 455lbs, and got pinned in the hole, so that’s my backsquat goal for mid-August.  As far as the TRX RFESS goes, I’m really starting to load those heavy, and I’d like to hit the 100’s around the same time.  Why?  Because what’s more bad ass than the plethora of benefits from unilateral work?  Doing it while holding two hundred pounds.
• Deadlift:  Pull 405lb from the floor.  Because I love to deadlift.  And I’d love to deadlift more than 2 of me.  It’s simple math, really.
• Bench: 315lbs. The Floor Press is there, but I suck when I’m on the bench.  This’ll be a fun one to work for…
• Chin-Ups:  Who the hell tests their Chin-Up 3RM?  Well Mike Boyle recommends it HERE. I pulled body weight + 80lbs on Tuesday, and I’m going to get to 100lbs.
• Push-Press:  Behind the head, 225lbs.  I’ve got 205lb, but I haven’t tested in a while.  Deadlifting heavy makes you feel good. So does holding heavy things above your head.
• Car Pushing:  This isn’t necessarily a number to hit, but it’s something not to do. I never want to be the one who calls it quits, and I will always push further or more than whoever I’m with.  The only more awesome form of conditioning is riding sharks.

6.  I have a pretty extensive back-log of books I’d like to read.  This is what is in the cue right now; I’d like to have most, if not all of them, finished by the time my Fall Semester starts at Adelphi.  In the middle of “Under the Bar” by Dave Tate.  Next is “Athletic Body in Balance” by Gray Cook, then “Raising the Bar” by Dave Tate.  Next, I’d like to read “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall, Shirley Sahrmann’s “Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes“, and “Anatomy Trains” from Thomas Meyers.  The later are clearly two I should read prior to taking Kinesiology 101, so I can have long boring arguments with my professors about who’s really on the up-and-up.

7. Candice Swanepoel