It snowed in Minnesota the day right after the wonderful wifey arrived in S Padre TX, where it was a sunny 88F today.

Since there was some wind, I opted yesterday to go kiteboarding in the afternoon. Unfortunately, it did not go as planned.

I got my big 17M kite pumped up, launched, and started to walk out as the tide was super super low.

After a 20 minute walk just flying the kite in shallow water, it was time to ride.

I stuck my large Lightwave board on and gave the kite a hard tug. Normally this creates power by pulling the kite through the air, and you are up and riding.

Not so much this time…

My kite folded like a limp $1.59 pool noodle and fell out of the sky.

Ah, crap.

I pulled the safety and got to the kite to find it was missing about half of the normal air – which explains why it was now had the consistency of a massive 48 foot long unconscious jelly fish.

Conditions 1. Kiteboarder zero.

Turns out I had a slow leak in the kite that will need to be repaired.

Some days life has other plans for your best intentions.

It happens. As Steve Pressfield says “The resistance is waiting for you.”

The key is what do you do then?

How adaptable can you be? This allows you to bend with the stressors of life and not break.

In the materials engineering world, ceramics are incredibly hard materials. The downside? When they break, it is a catastrophic failure. Imagine dropping Aunt Betty’s ceramic vase on a tile floor.

Pieces explode everywhere upon impact

Another example was the super early carbon fiber mountain bikes. They thought they could just make a frame from carbon fiber. Oops. While carbon fiber can be incredibly strong and super lightweight, but you have to use it correctly and account for the mechanics of it. If not, it can explode upon a heavy impact sending sharp pieces flying towards you.

No Bueno.

In fitness, being strong is great – and helpful.

Strength without mobility – not so useful.

Being able to follow a strict, hardcore dietary approach is a useful skill – until you are dropping into a brand new environment and you only have random wizard fingers that have been on the gas station roller under a heat lamp for 6 + hours. You better either have the ability to turn them into some energy or be good at fasting (dem met flex skillz). I wonder if some nerd could only build a complete nutrition and recovery system around that idea? Oh, wait, the Flex Diet Cert!

Yes these are the extremes and real life is somewhere in-between, but the extremes inform the means.

The take away is that being adaptable.. even dare I say…flexible… is key to hitting your fitness goals.

What is beyond the Flex Diet Cert to reach the next level of flexibility to absorb more stress, be able to train harder, recover faster, get leaner, and stronger at a lower cost to your health?

I have an idea about it. Stay tuned for the main linchpin of this concept tomorrow.

Practical nerdiness,

Dr Mike

Check out my Flex Diet Podcast about exercise vs. recreation.