It was a great adventure.  I felt like Huck Finn discovering the woods…and for about 4 hours I was able to forget all of the daily worries, stress and just have fun.

Luckily we had a couple of local teenagers that knew the mountain like the back of their hands, so we weren’t too worried about getting lost.  Now, I should also point out that our “guides” weren’t just any ole’ teenagers…they were elite high school athletes in amazing shape with endless amounts of youthful energy.  So in addition to climbing up the mountain, they decided that we could get a better view of the bay, if we climbed up some trees.  But these weren’t just any old tress…these were 100 ft redwoods.  Yep…100 ft tall!

Initially, I thought that this was a crazy and dangerous idea, but after watching our fearless teenage guides climb up to the very top without any hesitation…I had to at least give it a shot.  So I climbed up just over halfway… probably about 60 ft high… which was plenty high enough for me to get a spectacular view of the bay area.  In hind sight, climbing the trees probably wasn’t the smartest idea… but the kid at heart took over my adult common sense.  And truthfully, it was pretty awesome.

This hiking / climbing adventure reminded me of the the real reason why I workout.  Of course having a lean physique is great, but ultimately for me, it’s the ability to be able to go off at a moments notice and partake in an amazing adventure without thinking twice.  It’s the ability to be able to take full advantage of what life has to offer, so you can experience things that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to do, if you weren’t in great shape.

This is why doing short but intense workouts that help build power, strength and endurance while boosting your metabolism to burn more fat is my workout of choice.

The finale of the adventure was a ginormous tree near the top of the mountain.  It was a another 100 ft redwood with an even larger trunk and bigger branches, a truly awe inspiring and magnificent tree.  This was our 4th and last tree, but unlike the other trees we climbed before…there was one problem.  The first branch was about 10 ft off the ground.  That’s about the height of a regulation basketball basket.  Unless you’re 6"6 or have a 40"vertical, reaching the first branch was going to be very difficult.

Well, as I mentioned earlier our teenage guides were elite athletes and one of them happened to be a state champion for pole vaulting, so he was able to jump and grab on to the first branch without much difficulty.  And the other teenager, ran up the trunk of the tree trunk and jumped up onto the first branch like a human squirrel.

That left five adults at the bottom of the tree.  Although no one had a 40” vertical, we were all in great shape, so we worked together as a team and figured a way to get everyone up to the first branch.

Talk about functional fitness.  This was a true testament to the benefit of being functionally strong and fit.  As the saying goes, “Your team is only as good as your weakest link”, and it was certainly the case in this situation.  No one cared if you had six pack abs, big big biceps or that you looked great in a bikini… all that mattered at the time was being strong and fit enough to able to get up to the first branch of that tree. Sometimes it’s important to step back and realize that being fit isn’t always about looking good.  It’s just as important to be strong, fit and dependable, so you’re never the weakest link.

But if your goal is have the best of both worlds… to look great and also be functionally strong and fit… you CAN have the cake and eat it too.  But only if you do the right types of exercises and workouts.  Personally, I have a difficult time working out just for looks.  And that’s why I created these workouts to help trigger the right hormones so you can build more muscle and burn more fat while boosting your strength endurance, so you can get super fit AND look great!