At last, we’ve brought back our 15-part series on Alexey Faleev and his "80/20" system of power bodybuilding and physical culture as a downloadable PDF book! It’s available here, 100 pages for a suggested donation of $5 (or none at all). I am donating proceeds to charitable organizations doing works of lean, solid goodness around... Continue Reading →
Hats Of Defeat
A further installment in our series on French gear. Some people deal better than others with losing. France doesn’t like to lose, but for a great power, it’s endured a tough couple of centuries. It lost its bid for global hegemony to Britain, and it lost Paris three times to Germans (twice before Germany was... Continue Reading →
Marching to the Battement of Their Own Tambour
This is the inaugural post in our new series "The Je Ne Sais Quoi of French Surplus." The French army has done things its own way since at least the Revolution and nurtured a distinct military tradition quite separate from those of the Anglo and Germanic countries. And this independence has showed up in its... Continue Reading →
Chest Rigs: A Love Song
Other than kettlebells, if any object screamed aloud for the attention of Lean, Solid Dogs, it would have to be some kind of (a) surplus outdoor equipment (b) made to carry heavy loads over long distances, (c) especially in hot, dry climates, and (d) with a Communist parentage. What if I told you that such... Continue Reading →
Double Your Work Capacity By Being Lazy
This little $4 Esbit stove has been a huge winner for me. Dating back to the 1940s, it uses technology and design so simple and un-screw-up-able that I consider it honorarily Russian. And though it's as just a survival stove, if you add a coffee can to screen it from the wind and contain the... Continue Reading →
Romp in the Rain
Today’s game was to test out rain gear on a 3-mile ruck romp with Lean Solid Girl and our team weight, the Canadian Brick Bag (CBB), a sturdy canvas antique loaded with 35# of bricks. The rule was that the bag had to be carried in one hand at all times, by either one of... Continue Reading →
Girevoy Sport (Pt. 3): The Jerk
The jerk rewards a lot of Gumby-like flexibility in the hip flexors and shoulder girdle. Each of these bells weighs 32kg (70lbs.), and during the 10-minute set, your only chance to rest is in this position, but you need flexibility. (battlebell.ru) Whereas the snatch is a pulling exercise—you feel it most in your back and... Continue Reading →
Girevoy Sport (Pt. 2): The Snatch, “Tsar of Kettlebell Exercises”
In the snatch, if you’re going to last the full 10 minutes, you must spare your grip. How? Use your legs. After you “pull” the bell up, bend at the knees and dip down. That way you won’t have to pull as high. Even more importantly, when you drop the bell back down, rise up... Continue Reading →
Girevoy Sport (Pt. 1): Russian for “What Means This ‘Pain’?”
In Russian, a kettlebell is called a girya. As an adjective, it becomes girevoy. And someone who lifts kettlebells is a girevik. (Provenance of photo unknown.) Russians have been lifting kettlebells for health for a long time. They originally used them as "counterweights ... to weigh out dry goods on market scales. People started throwing them around for... Continue Reading →
Goldilocks Boots
I don't even buy them anymore, I swear. They're breeding and multiplying. After experimenting a lot, I have arrived at some hard-won conclusions about boots for rucking. Great for flat roads and short to medium distances, but nothing hairier than that. As reported earlier, I rejected GORUCK’s own house brand of boots, the MACV-1. Though... Continue Reading →