Craig Constantine

Marks were made →

Published July 23 · All posts on Jul 23 · Fasting

A friend and I recently did a 48-hour fast. (One of the low-lights was going to dinner with people on our way to a concert… everyone’s having burgers and salmon, and I’m drinking black coffee. Anyway.) Our design was to finish the fast by doing one of my usual quadrupedal movement (QM) workouts at my favorite tennis courts, and then a run (as best as possible) around 1.75 mile trail loop. Then break our fasts by eating.

By the end of the QM, I was utterly exhausted. For a cool down I worked on a sweat-angel for about 5 minutes. Left a legit puddle where my head was. And then we did the trail run. Several people joined us for the QM and run, and much fun was had by all.

There’s no real takeaway here. Just a photo and a note to myself: Sometimes I push things. Sometimes I push things too far. Where’s the edge?

1 — Quadrupedal →

Published September 6, 2023 · All posts on Sep 6

This entry is part 46 of 46 in the series Level 52 countdown

That’s all folks! Thought it was fitting to end this series/countdown with a good QM session at my favorite tennis courts. Keep moving, friends :)

I’m starting to feel like an optimist →

Published May 26, 2023 · All posts on May 26 · 7 for Sunday

This entry is part 13 of 13 in the series Williamsburg Bridge QM challenge

And I typed that title with trepidation. I’ve been saying forever, “You know what you call an optimist with experience? A realist.” I suppose at some point in the past, I must have had the rosy-eyed optimism of youth— but I don’t really recall that. Also at some point, I realized I had a solidly pessimistic position. I simply spent too much time dealing with broken technology; technology is always broken. I always seemed to end up having to fix it. But lately, my mood has certainly shifted. Is that because my “outlook” shifted, or is it vice versa?

The first time I saw speculative futures used to shape cities, I was standing on the work. It was an April evening years ago, and I was headed to a client meeting. I hustled from my car toward the building in question, my arms full of rolled paper, when I noticed a series of questions chalked in block letters on the sidewalk below my feet.
~ Johanna Hoffman from, What If The Best Times Are Still To Come?

slip:4uloie5.

I once QM’d 2km across the Williamsburg bridge. A fellow adventurer had started the morning by buying a croissant with the express intent of not eating it. (Aside: In the French origins or Parkour, they used to say [but in French of course] “…it’s okay, head home, put your feet up, and have a croissant.” As a way of hazing each other into pushing themselves a little harder.)

We had each taken a piece of sidewalk chalk with us. When we were ready to quit (ie, stand up and walk) we planned to write our “excuse” for stopping on the bridge pathway… and then continue on in QM, moving over and beyond our excuse.

I was over the middle of the river, pretty alone, in the chilly October drizzle. And thinking about quitting. And thinking about getting out my chalk… when I crawled—inconceivably! since the pathway is like 12 feet wide—directly over a freshly chalked hashtag… I was so tired I didn’t look up to read, I just stared straight down and read it as I crawled along what had been written…

#
I
D
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D
N
T
E
A
T
T
H
E
C
R
O
I
S
S
A
N
T

It made me laugh. It reminded me that my friends were there too. It reminded me why we were doing the challenge. Thank you Kristen. I hope you read this.

Pointless →

Published February 17, 2023 · All posts on Feb 17 · 7 for Sunday

At first, the inherent unimportance of these pursuits coupled with the grueling commitment required to attain them seem at odds: Why set a target and spend so much effort on something that doesn’t matter? But a good meaningless goal is an act of protest against the self-optimization hamster wheel. It subverts the cult of productivity by sneakily leveraging the tools of productivity.
~ Gloria Liu from, In Praise of Pointless Goals

slip:4utefa2.

Someone recently used the phrase “QM’ing to Valhalla” in a conversation I was having. (I’m pretty sure it’s in a Movers Mindset podcast, but I fear it may have been part of a conversation before we were recording.) Everyone who does the movement thing I love, chuckles at this phrase. There’s a lesson buried deep inside of the culture of effort which you only learn when you really try to QM to Valhalla.

To unpack the joke a bit. First, “QM” is short for quadrupedal movement; Movements where your hands and feet are supporting you (and sometimes, but usually not, your knees.) All QM is hard work, and excellent exercise. QM is great for a workout or a warmup. Second, of course, Valhalla is the hall of Norse mythology where one might end if one died in battle. So to some degree “QM’ing to Valhalla” is also about imagining oneself in some battle with… I dunno. It all seems quite wrong-headed when I try to actually explain it.

So why then, Craig, are you on your hands and feet crawling across the Williamsburg bridge?! Answer: I’m, apparently, trying to QM to Valhalla. When I heard the phrase, it was immediately clear that it doesn’t have to be literally QM. The phrase also applies to other pointless goals of mine. For example, I once tried to do 10,000 repetitions of 5 “simple” activities within one calendar year, and once tried to do something active for 100 straight days.

I can’t say I’ve given up pointless goals, but it feels like I have. Maybe I’ve learned the lesson? Although, if I did learn the lesson, then I should be able to explain it. I’m not sure if the lesson is that Valhalla doesn’t exist, or that you can’t get there solely by hard work.

Quadrupedal Movement →

Published May 2, 2019 · All posts on May 2 · My Journey

This entry is part 71 of 72 in the series My Journey

Quadrupedal Movement (QM) is a diverse collection of movements using both hands and feet on the ground to support one’s weight.

QM is almost always done using just the feet, and not the knees, since our knees are not capable of taking prolonged usage or impact. That said, there are some small-size, low-impact, movements using various surfaces of the knees, lower legs, buttocks, and thighs which integrate well with the usual hands-and-feet-only QM.

There are countless variations of QM. Many variations are physically demanding, but many are drastically easier than the more usual bipedal movements: Using a railing with your hands for balance and support as you ascend stairs, using walking sticks and canes, and “scrambling” on hands and feet up steep slopes, are all common variations of QM.

Start here https://gmb.io/locomotion/

slip:4ugilo1.

…and then take a look at some advanced options, Two Hours and a Slab of Concrete.

Meta: I’m retiring this series, “My Journey.” Over the years, my blog has changed a lot. In the beginning I had a lot of more random things here and I used this series as a way to highlight this aspect of my blog writing. Today, the blog itself is basically a record of my journey.

Knuckle walkers →

Published March 21, 2018 · All posts on Mar 21 · Parkour

Walking on your knuckles is absolutely as odd as walking bipedally, a very peculiar way to get around. It doesn’t make sense, and it’s bothered anthropologists for years. Only chimps and gorillas do it. No one has come with the reason why—until now.
~ from Why aren’t humans ‘knuckle-walkers?’

slip:4upyne5.

Having done quite a bit of walking on all-fours (aka “quadrapedie movement”, QM) I consider myself well-informed on this topic. Here’s my take:

Walking on knuckles sucks, but it is almost far superior to walking on the flat, open hands. Why does it suck? Because we humans are missing the fat pads (check the balls of your feet, and palm-side of your hand knuckles) that the Great Apes have on the back of their knuckles. When I walk on my knuckles in QM — and I do do that — I have to be very careful not to injure my knuckles. But in grass, it is delightfully more comfortable then flat, open hands. On your knuckles, the wrist is neutrally positioned and the wrist muscles are naturally activated, but not overly strained. The upper arm is easily kept inwardly rotated keeping elbows rotated/tucked rearward for a strong shoulder position. Meanwhile the forearm offers a nice range of rotation allowing comfortable hand placement.

Take a few steps on your knuckles and you cannot help but feel like a gorilla. rrr rrr RRR!

Day 99/100 – what else →

Published November 8, 2017 · All posts on Nov 8 · Instaspam

This entry is part 102 of 104 in the series 100 Days of Training (2017)

why? why not?! see you on the other side… #artdudeplacement #skochypstiks

Day 97/100 – ring a’ ding ding →

Published November 6, 2017 · All posts on Nov 6 · Instaspam

This entry is part 100 of 104 in the series 100 Days of Training (2017)

Variation of the 15 minute drill, on rings. Do about 15 seconds of effort every minute, for 15 minutes. Variations: Strict pushups with both hands in the rings; knee pushups both hands in rings; strict pushups with ONE hand on floor; static plank (high and low versions) with both hands in the rings; “clocking” where you move your hands symetically as far from the neutral position; good old pushups to failure on the ground to finish.

Day 85/100 – qm →

Published October 25, 2017 · All posts on Oct 25 · Instaspam

This entry is part 88 of 104 in the series 100 Days of Training (2017)

Taking advantage of the beautiful weather! Lots of easy variations while working on moving mindfully to find “the infinite in the moment”; Noticing the warmth of the sun, the cool breeze, the texture of the court, the weight distribution on various parts of the hands, relaxing…

Day 38/100 – walk, then qm →

Published September 8, 2017 · All posts on Sep 8 · Instaspam

This entry is part 41 of 104 in the series 100 Days of Training (2017)

Strange, there were two people here with string-paddles playing some strange game involving very little movement; and they only used their feet to move– they seemed very odd to me. So I went over on the side I don’t normally use, but I couldn’t stop staring at them.