Sports.....Its our culture and our drive to compete to be the best. We see some of the greatest athletes in the world. We see heroes like Hulk Hogan, Walter Payton, Barry Bonds, Dan Gable, Otto Arco, Frank Gotch, Babe Ruth ect. These men are the best at what they did/do and how they got there (minus the steriods from a couple of the guys on this list) is no accident and pushed themselves to levels no one can fathom. Their conditioning is without question amazing and unreal but is it the best? Lets face facts athletes in any major sport at the highest level are well trained and can do things average folks can never do. Smack a homerun 500+ Feat, run well over 10,000 yards in a career, Win a gold medal without allowing a single point in a tournament, Slam a 500 pound giant and retire undefeted as a world champion. All those men achieved those goals because in order to achieve those things they have to go through many hours of training but again are they the best conditioned? Truth is their amazing conditioning is due to their sport. The training they go through is through that sport and in it alone.
We all strive to be the best we can be and become great when it calls apon us. I feel the best conditioned athletes are not the ones that are most conditioned for their sport no. I feel the best conditioned athletes are the ones that strive to master many different endeavors. In the early 20th century some athletes in the physical culture world were not only conditioned in their respected field but were conditioned in many other areas. Example would be Otto Arco, he was a hand balancer, wrestler, gymnast, weightlifter and strongman at a bodyweight of no more then 150 pounds at 5'3. To me the greatest athletes are men and women that are the master of multiple sports. Take another example would be the great Jim Thorpe. Arguably the greatest athlete of all-time. He was a great football player, a decathlete in the olympics and if I read correctly he played some baseball. So lets count here he was an athlete in about 12 different sports he perticipated in and nearly excelled in all of them. Thats a defenition of a well conditioned athlete, being able to transfer different movements at will and be incredible at it.
All in all there really is no greatest athlete but the athletes that excel best are the ones that can transfer from sport to sport without letting up and brining 100% a good portion of the time.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
How do you stay motivated?
People have asked me that from time to time, mostly family and friends and I'll give you the same answer I give them and then some for you guys to learn. Its because my passion for training is like a second language that I'm fluent in. It comes natural to me and I never once tell myself to take a day off. A day off leads to 2, then 3, then 6 before you know I'm hardly training at all. A lot of people are unmotivated to train for a plethora of reasons but one main one is time. They always feel they can't exercise because they don't have the time. Well hate to burst your bubble but there are 24 hours in a day so I think its safe to say that in that period of time you can do a minimum of 5 min. worth of exercise.
Its the excuse and the negative attitude people use to think they can't exercise. I use to have that problem too. Being a teen and going to school and at times when I was in the drama club we would have rehearsals until 11 o'clock at night and we'd already be beaten up by then. Exercise back then for me was going to track practice or hitting the iron in weight training.
When I was in high school in my sophomore and junior years, I was on the track team doing the shot put and discus, have practice from 3-5 sometimes 6 everyday, have a small meet every Thursday and the big comps 2 Saturdays a month. That was rugged for me but also I was in the drama class as well before the end of my school day and if we had rehearsals (which was around usually a month or so before the big shows) we'd stay until late at night sometimes so picture this schedule.....remember this includes late in the semester too.....
Mon.-Fri---7:45am-2:45pm (School Day)
Mon.-Fri---3pm-5pm (Track Practice, Or Meet)
Mon.-Fri---6:15pm-11:30pm (Rehearsals in the month before shows)
That was up to almost 16 hours a day at times and yet I still found a way to exercise in that time. Never make excuses and do something. If you're sick then its an exception, get better and get back on the saddle, if you're sore then take it easy and stretch for the day don't overdo it. You can even workout traveling on the road (don't recommend while you're at the wheel driving) but if you're on a plane and are bored, instead of bitching move the ankles around, do deep breathing or better yet do isometrics. Its not easy if you have a hectic schedule but if you throw away the negativity and set excuses aside and just start doing 5min. of exercise and each day add a few sec. to the workout. Before you know it you're having a great workout and you'll have the feeling of accomplishment.
Also another way to stay motivated is to keep your exercises fun and fresh, don't do the same routine twice in the same week and please for Christ sake you don't need to do hours of training to get results (trust me on this) just do a maximum of 20-30min. Marathon workouts are a crock and should really only do one a week really but that's if you're in the mood otherwise don't bother with it. I don't train for more then 45 min. a day and that's spreading it out. I can do a marathon workout if I wanted to but whats the point? Make your training fun, if its sunny out go to a park and move around, play ball or act like a wild animal (don't need to act out the sounds but move like one). Be consistent with yourself and tell yourself that if you don't work out real hard then its no big deal be passive and move smoothly like in tai chi, if you wanna be aggressive then do some kettle bells or high volume squats or push-ups if you can doesn't matter. Work with what you can do. Again I train up to 3 times a day 7 days a week. If I'm not in a good mood then one workout is all i need. If you can't do any reps of an exercise then just hold the positions and your best.
Never fall short of doing your best for you. Train for yourself and train for the love of it. My biggest motivation to train is to train for me, no one else. Make yourself motivated and do whats best for you and make little goals. Like in life the small things can lead to big accomplishments.
Its the excuse and the negative attitude people use to think they can't exercise. I use to have that problem too. Being a teen and going to school and at times when I was in the drama club we would have rehearsals until 11 o'clock at night and we'd already be beaten up by then. Exercise back then for me was going to track practice or hitting the iron in weight training.
When I was in high school in my sophomore and junior years, I was on the track team doing the shot put and discus, have practice from 3-5 sometimes 6 everyday, have a small meet every Thursday and the big comps 2 Saturdays a month. That was rugged for me but also I was in the drama class as well before the end of my school day and if we had rehearsals (which was around usually a month or so before the big shows) we'd stay until late at night sometimes so picture this schedule.....remember this includes late in the semester too.....
Mon.-Fri---7:45am-2:45pm (School Day)
Mon.-Fri---3pm-5pm (Track Practice, Or Meet)
Mon.-Fri---6:15pm-11:30pm (Rehearsals in the month before shows)
That was up to almost 16 hours a day at times and yet I still found a way to exercise in that time. Never make excuses and do something. If you're sick then its an exception, get better and get back on the saddle, if you're sore then take it easy and stretch for the day don't overdo it. You can even workout traveling on the road (don't recommend while you're at the wheel driving) but if you're on a plane and are bored, instead of bitching move the ankles around, do deep breathing or better yet do isometrics. Its not easy if you have a hectic schedule but if you throw away the negativity and set excuses aside and just start doing 5min. of exercise and each day add a few sec. to the workout. Before you know it you're having a great workout and you'll have the feeling of accomplishment.
Also another way to stay motivated is to keep your exercises fun and fresh, don't do the same routine twice in the same week and please for Christ sake you don't need to do hours of training to get results (trust me on this) just do a maximum of 20-30min. Marathon workouts are a crock and should really only do one a week really but that's if you're in the mood otherwise don't bother with it. I don't train for more then 45 min. a day and that's spreading it out. I can do a marathon workout if I wanted to but whats the point? Make your training fun, if its sunny out go to a park and move around, play ball or act like a wild animal (don't need to act out the sounds but move like one). Be consistent with yourself and tell yourself that if you don't work out real hard then its no big deal be passive and move smoothly like in tai chi, if you wanna be aggressive then do some kettle bells or high volume squats or push-ups if you can doesn't matter. Work with what you can do. Again I train up to 3 times a day 7 days a week. If I'm not in a good mood then one workout is all i need. If you can't do any reps of an exercise then just hold the positions and your best.
Never fall short of doing your best for you. Train for yourself and train for the love of it. My biggest motivation to train is to train for me, no one else. Make yourself motivated and do whats best for you and make little goals. Like in life the small things can lead to big accomplishments.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Building Gorilla Strength
If there was one animal in the jungle that should be the king its the Gorilla. Its Strength & Power is beyond most animals and yet its pure vegetarian. Imagine being a 500 pound gorilla and tearing up whoever is attacking you and move with power and ferocious intensity. We may not be able to have the raw power of the gorilla but we can learn to move like one and get one of the best cardio and strength exercises around. Next time you watch Animal Planet and the gorillas are roaming, watch how they move. Now try to imitate it for a while and tell me you're not breathing hard after a min. or 2. I practice this exercise quite often and it gets me winded pretty quick and if you get winded quick that means your hormones jump and muscles are building. Test it out and see what results you get.
http://images.ultracart.com/aff/88F46789C0276A012D59C78437051600/index.html
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