A few days ago, as my nephew, an aspiring mountaineer who has been on expeditions to Kamet, Trishul, (both in the Garhwal Himalayas) and Stok Kangri (a trekking peak in Ladakh), chatted with me on Facebook, he said (roughly), You know, for me it’s no longer that away from the hustle-bustle, out to find myselfContinue reading “The Mountaineering Make-Over”
Category Archives: Fitness
Taylorism and the Doctor’s Office
From this vantage, distant point in my life, childhood meetings with doctors, whether at home–they still made house calls–or whether in the doctor’s clinic, appear as encounters with quasi-avuncular figures, benevolent, mostly-solicitous contacts with a wise, ostensibly caring person. I experienced my share of childhood illnesses, suffered from minor ailments, and almost always looked forwardContinue reading “Taylorism and the Doctor’s Office”
Crossfit and Strong Women
A singularly positive aspect about being in a Crossfit space–like the one at Crossfit South Brooklyn, which, in point of fact, is the only one I’ve ever spent any time in–is the many opportunities that arise to see strong women in action. Women can deadlift, squat, clean and jerk, run fast, do muscle-ups, pull-ups–you nameContinue reading “Crossfit and Strong Women”
Six Years of Walking To Work
This past weekend, I completed six years of walking to work. My daily commute is a thirty-minute walk, give or take a few minutes depending on whether I’m trying to get to class on time, or perhaps lugging a slightly heavier backpack than usual. Somehow, miraculously, my walking commute has ensured that while living inContinue reading “Six Years of Walking To Work”
The Dirt on the Clean
Some three years ago, when I first started learning the clean at Crossfit South Brooklyn (CFSBK) my Coach Extraordinaire David Osorio said it would take two thousand repetitions to get the clean ‘right.’ As I’m fond of saying to my fellow CFSBK’ers, I’m not sure I am at two thousand reps yet, because I don’tContinue reading “The Dirt on the Clean”
Nietzsche, Power, and Bible-readers on the Subway
Last evening, after a full day of work teaching Philosophy of Biology, a seminar on Nietzsche, and conducting a teaching observation of a graduate fellow, I left campus for my evening weightlifting session. I was feeling run down, and not a hundred percent. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep, perhaps a nagging cluster ofContinue reading “Nietzsche, Power, and Bible-readers on the Subway”
Barbells for America? Crossfit, the Military and War
On any given day, if you were to click over to the Crossfit ‘mainsite’, the chances are you will find a reference to the military in the daily entry. Today, on February 25th, the blog prescribes a ‘Hero workout’ named ‘Zimmermann‘ named after U.S. Marine Corps First Lieutenant James R. Zimmerman, who died in action in Afghanistan.Continue reading “Barbells for America? Crossfit, the Military and War”
Failing To Scuba Dive
For many years, a prominent member of a short list I maintained of things-I-must-do-before-I-die was: scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef. In December 2007, I went scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, and a few short minutes later, it was all over. I was back up at the ocean surface, gasping for breath,Continue reading “Failing To Scuba Dive”
An Ode to the Squat
There is simply no other exercise, and certainly no machine, that produces the level of central nervous system activity, improved balance and coordination, skeletal loading and bone density enhancement, muscular stimulation and growth, connective tissue stress and strength, psychological demand and toughness, and overall systemic conditioning than the correctly performed full squat. So what elseContinue reading “An Ode to the Squat”
A Tale of Two Crossfit Totals
A Crossfit Total is a simple test of strength: three attempts to find a one-repetition max in the back squat, deadlift and press. Add up those numbers, and you have a Total. In September 2011, after finishing an eight-week cycle of lifts that tracked (quite closely) the programming prescribed in Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength program,Continue reading “A Tale of Two Crossfit Totals”
Samir Chopra 