Contemplative Fitness

09/07/2026

To Die As A Child...

Striking in appearance, and with an unequalled cunning, the wolf spends much of his waking hours working — hunting and protecting his family. There is little downtime for the wolf. He is the workaholic of the canine family. A wolf that lives to an older age, dies with a look of wisdom, but also with a swagger of fatigue, and a weary body.

The Labrador Retriever plays every day of his life. Recess begins on awakening, and lasts all day. Despite any gray on his face and fatigue of his body, he dies as a child. The wolf lives an autonomous life and must fend for himself. The Labrador Retriever is born into system of chill, with little more to do each day than to play and to rest.

We humans are born as Labrador Retrievers, but are gradually taught to become more like the wolf. By the time most of us are in our mid-20s, the Labrador Retriever inside is a faint memory, living deep within our daily wolf. Play gets cast aside in favor of hunting — the providing and earning we require to attain the acquisitions synonymous with cultural respect. Maybe I'm lazy, or maybe I recognized early on that, despite life's requirement for us to survive as wolves, it's important that we keep our inner Labrador Retriever alive. I have built my life largely around this ideal.

I get to do recess for a living — recess for other people. When people are with me, they’re generally like Labrador Retrievers set free on an agility course. They leave tired, but always smiling. Ask any of them and they'll tell you that time spent exercising is a necessary break from their wolf-like life. If only for an hour, they are children, playing with weights, balls, stretching, and in some cases, jumping. For many, time exercising is the best part of their day.

As for my own life, it is designed to be roughly 3 parts wolf, to 2 parts Labrador Retriever. Though much of my day is constructed around chasing that which I need to survive and protect myself from harm, I take recess several times per day in the form of strength training, balance work, and cardiovascular exercise — er, play. I think this is a good way to be.

So where am I going with this...?

If you recall your school days, they didn't start in the classroom. They started on the playground before school. After a few hours of wolf training, another recess was necessary. I have no memory whatsoever, at least when it comes to myself or my friends, of anyone going straight home from school and continuing wolf training. We all took time to play, yet again, because we knew it was important and so did the wolves who raised us.

Today we celebrate Labor Day — a day for the worker. We hold in the highest esteem, the effort that millions of Americans have given in the name of our collective pack. But this day is always a good reminder for me, that it’s the Labrador Retriever in each of us that enables the better wolf. So as we all head back to work soon, let’s remember the value of play, whether it’s in the form of exercise or recreation, that a physical release, not only makes us better prepared to be the wolf, but it usually makes us happier.

A Labrador Retriever plays every day of his life, and despite any gray on his face, he dies as a child… rc

09/03/2026

Some mixed thoughts on social complexity, Dunbar’s Number, and evolutionary mismatch — all in one happy-go-lucky blog…

Most early humans, going back millions of years, have lived in groups of 50 to 150 individuals.

08/28/2026

Now you know…

08/25/2026

Well, I guess it’s a way to keep people coming back for more exercise… 

08/24/2026

I have an idea…

There’s two possible outcomes — what you’re capable of, or not.

Need help finding what you’re capable of, hit me up…

08/20/2026

A true story of flyin’ and lyin’. Enjoy…

I hate small talk — with all the hate you can possibly hate something with.

08/17/2026

Many of my clients update me on their weekly cardio activities by way of email. This is always appreciated, though it isn’t always cardio. The line between movement and cardio can be fine, but it is more often broad — especially when it’s reported under the influence of rationalization.

Here are the ten most common non-cardio cardio sessions I receive from week to week.

1. Mowing the lawn. This is definitely work, and there are calories burned to be sure. But the calories burned are relative to the size of the lawn, and the equipment being used. If you’re mowing ten acres with a tractor, you are still going for a ride. If you’re mowing a quarter acre on a 21% grade with a push-mower, there may actually be a sweat brewin’, still not necessarily cardio.

2. Chasing the kids. Chasing the kids is to cardio as getting a b**r is to halftime — not exercise. Not too many calories burned chasing the kids. Accelerated heart rate and frustration yes, but that’s not the healthiest way to increase your pulse. Unless your child is on the treadmill in front of you, or you are chasing them from San Diego to Carlsbad, probably not sufficient cardio.

3. Walking the hills of Fallbrook (or any community). By far, the most common cardio session I receive each week. Walking can be a very healthy endeavor, as well as relaxing come and great for mental clarity, but true cardio…? More often than not, these walks are very healthy, but not true cardio — not in the fat burning sense that most people are seeking.

4. S*x. I had a woman ask me recently if s*x was cardio. Like mowing the lawn, this is relative to the size of the lawn and the equipment used. Anyway, s*x, like other physical activities, is exercise and can burn calories. Only the lucky ones can count it as fat-burning cardio.

5. Cleaning the house. Very seldom do I clean mine, so I can’t really say. This I know — if you’re breathing hard, sweating, and maintaining a heart rate of 130+ bmp for an extended period, your housework may be cardio. Otherwise, it’s just housework and that’s why I never do it.

6. Walking on the beach. See number 3, and then reduce it’s metabolic and caloric value since the beach is that much more relaxing.

7. Gardening. Great dexterity, flexibility, and balance developed here if you adhere to, and maintain good postures during your planting and yard grooming activities. Calories burned…? Not too many. Calories grown? Depends on what you’re planting. Gardening is a great activity — but not a major fat burner.

8. Waxing the car. This is exercise to be sure. Especially for the right deltoid — wax on/wax off, that sort of thing. Just like a tennis player, you can tell a car enthusiast at a glance, by the disparity of the size and definition of his right arm and shoulder relative to the one on his left side. He’ll still have a belly though, unless he does some real cardio.

9. Visiting SeaWorld. Even if you run through SeaWorld at a sprinters pace, any would-be cardio will be offset by two words — Funnel Cake.

10. Shopping at the mall, Costco, Ikea, and other large profile structures. Okay, I actually do consider this cardio because I really do run to get in and out of these wretched places as fast as possible. Most linger though, and there are few calories spent in lingering.

“Cardio” in the perception of a fitness enthusiast is a way to coax the body into losing body fat, minimizing blood sugar, and increasing and maintaining a higher heart-rate.

However, in the mind of a fitness professional, this entails reaching a certain heart-rate by way of a certain level of intensity, and maintaining that heart rate for an extended period of time.

Exercises which will promote this include the usual fair — rigorous walking, swimming, running, cycling (stationary or road time), stair stepping, elliptical trainers, and fast paced multi-disciplinary workouts.

That’s not to say that the activities listed above aren’t valuable. There is value in all movement. Decreased blood pressure, burning blood-sugar before it turns to fat, stress relief, mental clarity, improved balance, increased flexibility can all developed by embracing the ten listed activities. However, as a means of cardio for the sake of fat loss, stick to the standard fair, and stick to ‘em like glue... rc

08/16/2026

Sure, point out the inconsistency… 

08/14/2026

They Ate Their Way There...

It’s come up a few times recently during conversations in my studio — clients seeing very fit looking people and sharing with me how striking these people look, male and female.

These observations are almost always followed by how hard the individual must workout and what types of exercises they must do to look that good.

In these instances when the man or woman involved looks to be over the age of 50, 60, or even older, I always steer the conversation away from what their perceived exercise regimen must be, to what their eating must be.

For anyone that sees and admires such a physique — lean, athletic, and fit looking individuals over the age of 50 or 60, you should admire them first and foremost for how well they eat. Because it is they’re eating, far beyond their exercise regimen, that is responsible for them looking that good.

We all have muscle, everyone of us. If the average person did no exercise at all, but ate a lean diet consistently for months at a time, they would eventually come to that level of aesthetic conditioning.

Exercise can be an accelerant and enhance a muscular or fit looking physique, but it is diet and nutrition that get people to that level of aesthetic conditioning.

Now in no way am I suggesting or advocating that people should live like that. I’ve said many times that getting and staying lean is the Siberia of eating. Been there, done that. For most people eating to get to that level of conditioning is not sustainable for the long-term, not even for me.

When we see people with that level of conditioning, and if they are able to maintain it in the long-term, there’s a very good chance they’ve always eaten that way, and are psychological conditioned to eat that way.

Last word: When we see somebody over the age of 50 or 60, and very fit looking, it’s good to admire them, appreciate them, and even take inspiration from them. However, if we wish to look like more like them, we should look to our refrigerator before we look to what they are doing in the gym…. rc

08/12/2026

What’s In A Definition…

Fitness, a word which has been hijacked and transmogrified over recent years by varying factions from reasonable to bad intent, each wanting to wholly own the term and use the lure and the promise of that term to promote for-profit agendas – not necessarily consistent with what true fitness might be. There are at least three definitions of fitness; Webster’s, mine, and yours.

Webster’s:

1) The quality or state of being fit

2) The capacity of an organism to survive and transmit its genotype to reproductive offspring as compared to competing organisms; also : the contribution of an allele or genotype to the gene pool of subsequent generations as compared to that of other alleles or genotypes

Mine:

Fitness is the sum of balance, flexibility, endurance, strength, and the ability to be physically autonomous — to operate physically without the help of another person. Fitness, in my definition, includes command of the body, a reasonable aesthetic form, and confidence.

Yours:

Take a moment — write down what the term fitness really means to you. Keep that definition handy. Each week refer back to your definition of fitness. Add to it as you wish, or take away from it if you need. Make it a living document. Always maintain an awareness of what fitness means to you, and why it’s important for you to be fit.

And to get your attention, this is a picture of a dog after she’s had one shot of tequila too many…