Thoughts from the Man Cave

The Cult THOUGHTS FROM THE MAN CAVE

of Human Powered Movement

Learn how Adam Bratton is challenging us all to keep going

by Mike Savicki | photography by Jon Beyerle

Late last spring, when the COVID-19 needle started moving in the right direction, I busted out of quarantine and hit the adventure trail pretty hard. I rolled to the mountains, blasted to the beaches in both Carolinas, and even tried to beat the seasonally migrating great white sharks up to the Northeast before they began their summer intimidating beach goers and feasting on unsuspecting seals. I put more miles on my vehicle in that short time than I had the entire prior year plus. I’m still shaking sand from my shoes.

But when the immediate energy and excitement of my vaccinated liberation wore off and I settled into my home-based summer routine, I started wondering if my adrenaline-filled couple of months was just a passing fancy—a moment in time that would fade back into the grey routines of my day, week, month, and season. Or longer. Yes, I had a camera roll full of sweet Instagram worthy photos, plus awesome stories to share (I got stuck in the sand on the Outer Banks and came within a few miles of a shark-induced beach closure on Cape Cod), yet somehow, I felt unfulfilled. As June turned to July, I was being pulled in opposing directions by the tug of sliding back to my normal life or going on an all-out Jack Kerouac transcontinental walkabout.

Right around that time I met a guy named Adam Bratton who knows a thing or two about getting active, staying active, challenging yourself, and then moving forward with a new sense of passion, purpose, inner strength, and drive. For nearly a decade Bratton splashed around the USNWC marketing and promoting their very unique kind of healthy lifestyle. His personal business, MJ Bratton, now keeps the outdoors and active lifestyles at its core. And right around the time the world closed down in 2020 due to COVID-19, he founded and ignited a concept called “Human Powered Movement” to facilitate those human powered experiences he knows exist in all of us.

“I’m pretty passionate about getting up, getting active, and getting out there to do something,” Bratton tells me. “It has been in me since I was a kid growing up and playing outside in nowhere Pennsylvania and that energy and lifestyle has only grown from there.”

Case in point? During March 2020, while the world was shutting down and everyone was staying inside, Bratton decided to cycle every street, road, avenue, and cul-de-sac of Huntersville. 600+ miles in a little more than a week. He wanted that challenge to help fill his days. He needed that sense of adventure to fuel his soul.

His action, that challenge, led him to believe that in all of us there exists a similar spark, an energy that we need to learn to harness if we want to live our best lives. So he shared online what he did and tossed out a few challenges, too. Run one mile every hour and see if you can keep the streak going for six, 12, or 24 hours. Use your running or cycling GPS map to create a drawing or piece of art. Get some friends together and run a combined 26.2 mile marathon. Set a vertical gain goal and try to accomplish it by climbing anywhere you want. Do something active every day for one month straight and journal it.

“Everybody has to find what works for them and one challenge, one adventure to one person might mean something different than it might to another,” Bratton, 38, shares. “If I can get you motivated and inspired to get up off your couch and walk the dog, or run a mile, or run a bit longer, or climb a mountain virtually, or just do something active, then I’ll be inspired by you and others will be, too.”

From Charlotte, N.C., to San Antonio, Tex., and beyond, followers began answering his call. The initial stories, the anecdotal feedback, was amazing. And the stories keep coming, too. Bratton’s idea to promote “movement” has become a MOVEMENT.

As Bratton, the facilitator and enabler I now liken to the man behind the curtain in the “Wizard of Oz,” shares, “There is no reason anyone in the world cannot join these challenges. We are all connected by our sense of adventure and our need to move and be active. There’s too much life to live to not be living it.”

So, I’m going to hit the road again. And I’ll be more active locally, too. More adventures, more activities, more experiences fueled by me. Chatting with Bratton convinced me that being active every single day pays both physical and mental dividends. I hope he fuels you, too.

To learn more about the movement, visit humanpoweredmovement.com