Strength Coach - Art O'Connor

PUHSAWA, (pick up heavy sh*# and walk around) has always been in my programs. Earlier this summer I discovered @thestonecircletraining and something clicked for me. A little back story. My last @itialaska attempt ended when I had to quickly lift and thrown my 70lb bike off the trail about half way up the Happy Steps (an ironic name if there ever was) to make way for a snowmobile convoy hauling supplies. My already herniated but not presenting L4-5 got really pissed and I more or less had to push my bike for the next 8 hours to get to an extraction point. So the a ha moment with sandbags for me was this is exactly what bike packing is. Moving a weirdly shaped unstable load across weirdly shaped unstable terrain. Pedaling is a bonus. It also checks my 2 favorite boxes. Simple, and not easy. I’m not Cody so I am not using Cody weight. This is a 100lb sandbag which for me and my purposes and current skill is heavy. Over time it will get heavier but that is not the goal. The goal is to make my 60 year old body ready for anything I will encounter in Alaska this winter. The great thing about PUHSAWA is you don’t need an actual sandbag. They are pretty sweet and not very expensive. Do you have something that’s awkward to carry? Great, use that. See you on the trail.