My man Jack LaLanne would try to do some feat of strength and endurance every birthday. As I hit the big 4-3 this summer, I figured it would be cool to try to do the same thing myself every year. Like many warm-weather lovers, I come alive and my vitality increases one hundred fold when the weather is warm, so setting a summer time goal is perfect for me.

So what did Jack do at 43? According to this site, he:

1957 Age 43: Swam the treacherous Golden Gate Channel, towing a 2,500-pound cabin cruiser. This involved fighting the cold, swift ocean currents that made the 1 mile swim a 6 ½ mile test of strength and endurance.

Wow.

Well, lets just say that I’m going to start off small compared to his performance.

At 43, I’d like to:

Deadlift – 430 lbs.

Bicycle – 430 miles

Now, I know those totals aren’t much to many people reading this, but it has value to me. First. I’ve deadlifted over 430 lbs. before in my younger days. My brother can deadlift 505 lbs. just getting out of bed, no warm-up, and with Beethoven playing in his ears. But for me to handle that kind of weight requires consistency on my part. I can get workout routine A-D-D and not stick to the tried and true compound-skill lifts that require dedication to really get the numbers up. Plus, since dudes like to do the curls-for-girls in the power rack,  it’s often hard to get an Olympic bar with the space around me to warrant keeping the DL in my routine on a consistent basis. But, now that the weather’s better and my homegym is open for business again (check out Jason’s article here for some great tips on training at home), I can pull with the deadlift bar (hex bar) and even use the Olympic bar if I have to. So this goal will likely be the most convenient, but surely the hardest to achieve.

Next is logging 430 miles on my rusty-trusty bike. Sadly, there are only a few good months to ride the bike in my area but it’s something I absolutely love doing. Having the time will be the biggest challenge on this one, but I’m looking forward to knocking it out as an early morning ride is the most tranquil thing I do. Okay, maybe cruising with the sounds going in harmony with the Flowmasters is up there as well, but that activity doesn’t burn any calories.

So where am I at right now? Well, as of today:

Deadlift – 365 x 3

Bike Miles – 71 miles (5 rides)

How about you? Any goals you have for your next birthday? Forget that New Year’s resolution stuff, if you’ve already failed there, why not use your birthday as a new target?

I’ll keep you posted on my progress!

CSD