in 2013 i lost 65 pounds running in Central Park. i lived 50 feet from the botanical gardens entrance at 105th / 5th (Manhattan), had just broken up with my girlfriend (she cheated on me), and wanted a change.

with my Ninja smoothie maker, and sometimes my roommate's $400 Vitamix, i made whey protein chia seed fruit smoothies before banging out an hour of shirtless pain in the Harlem section of the park.

over the next few years i kept running, but put more effort into strength training. after earning my "guns" i switched to tank tops and, while traveling to dozens of countries as a digital nomad began bodyweight exercises, using the high bars at playgrounds from Italy to Argentina to maintain size.

this culminated into the realization that many people in my industry are fat, disgusting developers who probably blame their weight issues on "genetics" and "i'm so important at my job, i need snacks" mentalities. my contribution to this endemic was Fitness for Hackers, a book that had a great start but eventually lost steam after the publisher stopped returning my emails.

for the next couple years i continued lifting, doing the "add 5 lbs to each side" trick to stay challenged at the gym. by the summer of 2021 i was regularly banging out 100 pull-ups per workout, could bench over 300 pounds, and was back to running with my shirt off in Seoul, sometimes even running from the cops.

until i wasn't. somewhere along the way, in the fall of 2021 i got a funny feeling in my left shoulder. i had torn my rotator cuff.

so i cooled off my intensity at the gym during the winter and spring of 2022, eventually taking a full hiatus during my move back to the States in August 2022. i went to the doctor, had an MRI, confirmed some damage, then scheduled a followup for surgery pre-op. it was time to fix this thing once and for all.

but when i walked into Emory's Orthopaedics center to undergo surgery, the receptionist told me to wear a mask. unfortunately for their accounting ledger and my shoulder, wearing a mask is something i will never do again. the suffering resumed.

then i tried something. i bought some calisthenics gear (h/t Adam), started basic bodyweight workouts, and my left shoulder... felt better? i took a few weeks off, and it started feeling worse again. hMm. maybe this is what "rehabilitation" feels like. no surgery, moderate resistance, natural tissue rejuvenation.

meanwhile, our extra garage with all the gear was kind of depressing to look at. it was depressing to be inside of. and anyone who considers their workspace to be a function of productivity can appreciate that your body's workspace follows the same correlation.

which brings us to last weekend. Elman visited the ranch and together we installed a foam floor ($520), weight rack organizer ($110), 55" TV for drills ($268), whiteboard for programming ($39), and a $30 job-site bluetooth speaker for blasting trash rap music. the bars, 2 weight vests, parallettes, and mirror i had already, for a total investment of around $2,467.

to celebrate we banged out a couple workouts, and i'm installing this ritual as a new tradition for all upcoming Kulp Estates guests.