I have written about my weightlifting experiences on this blog on previous occasions. (Sometimes, about my experiences with, feelings about, and lessons learned from, particular lifts like the squat or the clean.) Today, I am writing about watching others lift weights. More specifically, I am watching some friends of mine complete the so-called Crossfit Total:Continue reading “Watching People Lift Heavy Things”
Category Archives: Fitness
The Pleasures of Running, Part Deux
The good folks at WordPress have been nice enough to put one of my recent posts ‘The Oft-Missed Pleasures of Running‘ into their Freshly Pressed selection. This has resulted in an overwhelming number of new readers and some very nice comments. I’d like to able to respond to each one individually, but it is lookingContinue reading “The Pleasures of Running, Part Deux”
The Oft-Missed Pleasures of Running
Late into the night of my 28th birthday, I was doing a passable impression of a dancing fool. It was almost four in the morning, I had consumed enough alcohol to administer local anesthetic to a small platoon of foot soldiers, and I was blithely unaware of impending danger. But there it was, in the shape ofContinue reading “The Oft-Missed Pleasures of Running”
Book Release Announcement: Brave New Pitch: The Evolution of Modern Cricket
As some readers of this blog might be aware, I write on cricket (the sport, not the animal), at my blog The Pitch, on ESPN-Cricinfo. My first book on cricket, Brave New Pitch: The Evolution of Modern Cricket has just been released by HarperCollins. The blurb for it says: Cricket as we know it mayContinue reading “Book Release Announcement: Brave New Pitch: The Evolution of Modern Cricket”
A Bloody Shin, Homeostasis and Automaticity
On Saturday morning, while working out in my gym and attempting to complete a series of twenty jumps on to a 24-inch box, I momentarily took my eyes off the target, stumbled, and hit my shin on the jagged edge of the box. I almost fell to the left, recovered, and completed my workout. AContinue reading “A Bloody Shin, Homeostasis and Automaticity”
Row, Row, Row Your Erg (Not So Merrily However)
Three years ago, when I first started training at Crossfit South Brooklyn, I was introduced to the ‘pleasures’ of the rowing machine (more specifically the Concept 2 erg). My coach, David Osorio, took us through an initial training session; I was struck by how a seemingly simple motion had several distinct components, each demanding attentionContinue reading “Row, Row, Row Your Erg (Not So Merrily However)”
Off The Road, Back In Town
Returning from vacation and getting back to work is always hard. This year, returning to a three-class, ten-credit teaching load after driving some six thousand miles through New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota feels particularly onerous. Syllabi still need finishing touches, and despite my best attempts to hike as much as possible,Continue reading “Off The Road, Back In Town”
Tennis, IBM’s Data Tracker, and the Hidden Order of Things
If it’s the first–or sometimes, the second–weekend in July, it’s time for Wimbledon brunch–or breakfast. Today, I hosted a few friends to partake of the pleasures of the 2012 finals. Among them, Roger Federer’s biggest fan, one whose fanhood makes for very interesting watching from up close. I have watched many tennis matches with herContinue reading “Tennis, IBM’s Data Tracker, and the Hidden Order of Things”
The ‘Guilty Pleasures’ of ‘Friday Night Lights’
When Lorrie Moore wrote her New York Review of Books review of the Friday Night Lights phenomenon—the television series, the book, and the movie–she made sure she prefaced it with talk of ‘guilty pleasures’: On my way to a Manhattan book party recently my mind was wandering to cultural guilty pleasures: sprightly but inane movies,Continue reading “The ‘Guilty Pleasures’ of ‘Friday Night Lights’”
Of Pugilistic Encounters and Uncanny Resemblances
In high school, I boxed for a year in the flyweight division. In the year-end boxing tournament, I lost in the final. To my best friend’s identical twin. Most people who I recount this story to are struck by the apparent weirdness of fighting an opponent that bore a striking resemblance to someone who IContinue reading “Of Pugilistic Encounters and Uncanny Resemblances”
Samir Chopra 