When I was a kid Joe Namath was one of my first sports idols. Being from NY and seeing Joe Willie win the first Super Bowl I ever watched and then later seeing him dating Rachel Welch, made a big impression on my puberty scrambled brain. I followed everything he did. I remember reading a story that when he was in 6th grade he went to a local fair and at the arcade, won every stuffed doll they had in that old carny game where you knock over the weighted milk bottles with a baseball. There was also the story that before the days of it being popular, that he used to dunk a basketball routinely during HS games. His college football coach, Alabama’s famed Paul “Bear” Bryant, said Namath was the greatest athlete he ever coached. Coming from him, that’s quite a statement. I think all this was the root of my long interest in cross training. I always found the thought of being an all-around athlete much more appealing than just being good in any one sport, still do.

Throughout my life I’ve tried almost every sport you can think of and was incredibly average in all of them. I had some standout moments in weight lifting and boxing, but for the most part I was pretty unremarkable. However, I enjoyed them all and I especially enjoyed the training, as it was all different. Which fit my five-minute attention span perfectly. Later when I became a Marine, I learned another type of physical training. Then after I retired from active duty and started training international military people, I gained additional training insight, as most internationals don’t grow up with the same sports and recreation that we do in the states. They also (for the most part) didn’t have the assets (money) we did for sports. This is certainly true in their military training. It was all good and along the way I built up quite a data-base of different training methods and experiences.

From all this I’ve come to realize that for the vast majority of us concerning sports, we share a similar experience. That being is while we were never going to become professional athletes, we enjoyed many different sports growing up and even though our serious athletic careers are mostly over by the time we left HS or college, we still want to enjoy sports and other rigorous recreation. With that being said IMO to really enjoy a wide variety of these things, you need to maintain a very good, (if not great) level of all-around health & fitness. What I call the “Do Anything Condition”. A 24/7 level of fitness that will allow you to handle almost anything at a decent level and if desired, provide a solid base to build on for something more specialized, like running a marathon, mountain climbing, or any other specific sport or activity. Now you may be someone who just likes to golf or fish, but I’d suggest that any recreation short of just sitting and watching will be enhanced by better fitness. This enhanced level of physical wellness also provides a lot of other collateral benefits also like: better sleep, more energy, better sex, better overall attitude and outlook on life. There are many more. You could even become more productive at work? LOL.

So how do you get there? Get there without a lot of complicated bullshit and a big -time investment? First realize that this standard of condition is somewhat subjective, meaning it will be a little different for each person, which is based on their needs and goals. However, I think that at a minimum, it’s based on achieving and maintaining a few basic physical standards:

1) An ideal body weight, which is ideal for your height and frame.

2) Strength, expressed your ability to effectively manipulate your bodyweight plus an additional 33-50% (of your bodyweight).

3) Endurance, perform a wide variety of repetitive tasks for an extended time without undue fatigue, this also includes the ability to recover from such tasks quickly.

4) Flexibility that allows a wide range of motion. Important in injury prevention.

5) Robust health that provides a high energy level and a strong resistance to injury, sickness and fatigue.

The key to achieving these states is a program that is properly balanced and flexible. Now, obviously I can’t lay out a lot of detail in this short article, but I can provide a basic training outline that has been proven effective over many years of trial, error and observation. It’s also a basic plan that I have personally followed for many years and with great success.

Monday – Strength

Tuesday – Endurance

Weds – “Active” Rest

Thursday – Strength

Friday – Endurance

Saturday – Specific Sport or Activity Participation

Sunday – Endurance or “Active” Rest.

Now the actual make-up of what you would actually do under these broad headlines depends again on your individual goals. However, Monday – Friday sessions are generally around an hour (workdays), while the weekends can and frequently are much longer. The workout options within this basic outline are literally endless. I lay out many different routines in my book: Corps Strength. It goes without saying that to make this work you need to support it with a sound eating plan. I also give a lot of practical guidance on that subject in my book. Again, nothing complicated, just sound principles that I know work.

Another great “Bennie” of the Do Anything Condition is the ability to be spontaneous with your recreation. This opens up a world of opportunities. It was a normal way of life as a young Marine on liberty around the world and something I still enjoy doing since I retired. Traveling for work I’ve entered road races of different lengths when they came up locally, like the 10k I ran through the Jungles of Sierra Leone with some Canadian and Brit military people. I climbed an active volcano (over 7000ft) in East Africa with some of my students and went free diving to spear lobster and grab conch in over 40ft of open water in Trinidad. I did all of this without a second of any specific preparation. It was all a blast and I had no problem with any of it physically. The point is where-ever I go, I’m physically ready to do whatever fun may present itself. Plus, do it well enough to have fun and not to break myself or be completely worn out afterward.

The reality is that 99.9% of us aren’t going to play professional sports, or date a movie star (shit). But it doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a lot of sports and recreation, IF and that’s IF we keep ourselves in decent shape and ready to go. The fact is it’s not really that hard either. It just takes a good plan, some consistent effort and a little discipline. It’s well worth it in the end, especially when you’re able to experience these things with your family and friends. Don’t wait, get ready now and remember when you do:

“Be Safe Always, Be Good When You Can.”

Semper Fi

MGunz