Karl Gotch & Conditioning

             

             It’s important to understand that if you want to the very best in your sport or in your training, you want to be in the best condition as possible. Karl Gotch put this rule to a level not many want to achieve. It doesn't matter if you’re in Wrestling, Football, Baseball, Basketball, Hockey or Soccer for that matter, you can have all the gnarly skills you want but if you can’t last the way you need to, you’re done. A lot of people seem to have this notion that if you just train a little and work on the skills you’ll be fine. Wrong. Conditioning and technique go together like a Horse & Carriage, one without the other is worthless.

            When it comes down to conditioning, there are many ways to do it and like everything else, it takes time and patience and building your mental strength as well. One of the things I admired about Gotch was how he can make cardio look like a firestorm with just a good old deck of cards. I’m sure he might not be the first to come up with this concept but he did make it worth it in gold. Take a deck of cards, shuffle them and get to work. This makes training a little different because it’s never the same workout twice. If you can get through the deck, you’re in pretty decent shape and if you do it twice in the same workout you’re a terror practically on the mat, floor or on the field.

            The cards have a way to test your mind power and see how far you’re willing to push yourself. Yes it takes progression to work up to a full deck but after that it’s more of a mental game than a physical. The more you generate power in your mind; the body will give in and do more. It’s the mind/muscle connection that brings together the most powerful type of training of all.

            Remember about basic exercises? This is no different and your best shot is to stick with the fundamentals as best as possible when it comes to bodyweight…Push-ups, Squats and Bridging. These three alone can be beneficial to your health and strength training because there are many variations of them, some are easy, some are harder than others but once you have them down and you can train hard on them, you have the idea of mastering your own body in a way most will never understand. Like the old man once said “Conditioning is your best hold.”

Getting Back To Basics

           Basic exercises are the true measures of what can be done in fitness whether it’s weights or bodyweight the principles still apply…

Presses

Pulls

Squats

Grip

            It’s important to use these principles with the best intentions because you’ll get the best results using these elements, you can add in supplemental exercises for extra variety but the more consistent you use these four the more you’ll get out of it.

            Sometimes we progress to higher stages of development that we move on without thinking too much of how we got there in the first place. Yes it’s important to progress and advancing yourself to harder types of training but in the end it all comes back to the basics and how it gives us the foundation to bring us higher and higher to where we want to go.

            The single most important ideal for being a great trainee is to not copy someone else’s program but to create your own with the basic principles and there are endless ways of doing them. Doing what works best for you is the journey of finding one’s self and that although you can get ideas on how to do things you’ll want to learn how you can create something on your own that you enjoy and making it challenging for you and you alone.

            There are countless attributes but the best ones stay within the realm of the basic principles and that’s…..

Strength

Stamina

Speed

Agility

Reflex

            All five of these attributes should be planted into your brain at all times not because it’s just a few words but when it comes down to it you’ll need them in whatever you’re doing whether it’s in sports, training for conditioning or whatever. For some who have read, I like saying to have fun and although it’s important to have that, there’s also times to get down to brass tacks and get the job done whether it’s for a specific goal, in competition, in training and in life. Do what you can but never be satisfied, keep moving, keep driving and keep achieving the things you want to do. No matter how tough things are, come back to the basics and use them to bring you back up because they will always be there when you need them. 

Born To Be Wild

            

           Ever since I was little I loved that song. It was one of my first rock songs at a very early age. Rock in the late 60’s was a cultural change in the system throughout the Vietnam War and people wanted to be able to live and be free from the political crap Nixon was throwing and having the country behave like civilized people (yeah sure the hippies loved that and the Black Panthers). Songs like this gave you a reason to be alive and because of it, it became timeless.

            We were born as a race of beings to be strong and fit, conquer our own destiny and live the world the way we choose to. Over the last few decades, that’s become a daydream as people today because of the obesity “epidemic” just throw themselves away, eating terribly, partying like it’s the end of 1999 and just take advantage of the things that are giving to them. It doesn't matter if you’re black, white, yellow, brown, green or blue you are still a human being and there’s still a chance to become healthy again.

            One of the keys to becoming super strong and fit as a fiddle is the ability to open your mind. Have a mindset that you can live forever and feel as if you’re invincible. Now I’m not saying you should test this theory with stupid ideals but when I say feeling invincible, I mean in the sense where you learn to channel your energy. Reality is we can’t live forever like Conner or Duncan McLeod of the Clan McLeod but we can learn to live a lot longer than we are told to be. Hell I don’t care what anyone says I want to be 100 and still walking and talking and moving as best as I can without being in pain as much as possible. Most people who get older feel like it’s going down from there and just living the life of an older person and this starts right around 40-50. What a load of crock.

            To be strong and fit, it takes guts to go out and do something. Want to lift weights at 85, why not? You’re in your 60’s and retired, why not have fun and embrace what you have and do something that will get you over those dumb plateaus. Love what you have achieved in your life but never be satisfied of what you can do more of. I’m nearly 30 years old, some say that I’m still young and vibrant; others say it’s the trend of going downhill and even there are others who just have nothing better to do than be bitter than turning a certain decade starting at 30, for me I haven’t nearly peaked yet and I still have a lot more to achieve that I haven’t begun to touch yet so bring it on.

            Being wild isn't about getting drunk with your buddies or doing stupid shit that you’ll regret later on sooner or later but it’s about adventure, going to different places, finding new people to meet, taking a chance on finding that spark in your life and living it to the fullest that is positive and wholesome to you. Embrace it and live with great vitality and vigor, move freely and believe that there’s more to life than dwelling on past failures, things that you hate and the people you don’t need in your life. Everything happens for a reason and however you choose to do it is your choice. Find something that you love and make it work for you because when we finally reach that time of death, how do you want to go out?