Using Exercise To Heal

Whenever you hear the phrase "no pain, no gain" don't you just want to throw up on the person that said it to you? Unfortunately its been etched into the minds of many people in the fitness world that have this notion that in order to get what you want, you go through some kind of torture and "pleasurable" pain. I'm sorry but if you need pain to get results you're either sadistic or just plain full of brain farts. True exercise is suppose to help heal and build, not be painful and torturous.

For most people, they need to understand that building muscle & training the body in general does take effort but it certainly should never be painful; discomfort is one thing I'll take that but pain is just plain dumb. When I was getting back on my feet, I used exercise to heal my body and built on developing great blood flow into the muscles themselves. Some exercises are very tough and can be crazy to work up to but don't ever believe that pain is going to get you somewhere, it can and its called Misery and i'm not talking the Kathy Bates kind either.

I still to this day train to stay healthy both inside and out, I've gotten back into doing the healing exercises called DVR's (Dynamic Visualized Resistance) which are done by tensing the muscles than moving throughout a range of motion in full fashion. Think of it as if you're driving with the brakes on. This type of training alone can be beneficial in how you energize the body, increase blood flow into the muscles down to the smallest capillaries & developing natural muscular definition. This isn't to build massive muscles like in bodybuilding but they can be used to develop the body's natural musculature and create healing strength and promote healthy flexibility in the shoulders, back, chest, thighs, calves & upper/lower arms. Even the Abs get an amazing workout because of the contraction using an exercise throughout the entire range of motion. No you won't be able to lift massive amounts of weights but because of the control you have to tense & relax the muscles it can certainly help if you're a weightlifter. What it truly does that it helps the muscles and tendons create an expansion of the range of motion in particular movements, basically another version of Muscle Control.

DVR's aren't necessarily new but have been used in various ways throughout the centuries in Yoga, Martial Arts, Bodybuilding & many other ways. The main component is not just to tense the muscles but truly connect through the mind/muscle concept where you think into the muscles. This type of training can be very taxing if you overdo it but with correct tension you can strengthen the body from the inside out. One of things they truly can do is put you in a state of pure blissfulness and mellow you out with pure peacefulness. Give them a shot. Its worth it.

Recover Well

I'm one of those guys who loves intense workouts such as 250 push-ups and 400 squats, lifting heavy for an hour with my boys when I get the chance, do 30 min. Animal Workouts, bend a few spikes in a row, finishers that are pure ass kickers; I love that stuff but I also love the recovery workouts as well. Most never realize how much recovery is just as important as the intense ones themselves. When I do recovery workouts its usually exercises at a lighter intensity and a good portion of the time are what I call Playful Movements; combining the elements of stretching, Animal Flow, Regeneration & Ginastica Natural where its really just messing around and playing but also have it being more meditative and fun.

The body needs to repair itself but that's not going to happen if you kick its ass day in and day out every single day of the week, you're not a pro athlete and even if you were, recovery needs more attention than you'll want to believe. I've worked out among some heavy duty guys and very few I ever say truly did some recovery training. I don't do very much of the "warm up" stretches before my workouts for a number of reasons, one being that a lot of workouts have an automatic stretching element in them so I do get limber and loose as I go throughout the training. Some days however like yesterday I had to take it easy on my shoulders and my legs after a heavy deck of cards workout and muscle control exercises so I did exercises that didn't put a lot of heavy stress on those particular muscles such as bridging exercises, DVR Exercises (Dynamic Visualized Resistance) & the Chest Expander to stretch the shoulders from various angles (awesome tool for those who've had shoulder issues).

Make recovery workouts a part of your regimen regardless of what system you're on. If you can't function at a high level you won't be at your best. Do daily training by being intense less than a few days a week and do recovery workouts on your "off' days and the reason why I put it in quotes was because there's no such thing as a day off, even if it means going for a 30 min. walk/hike or swimming or bicycling or even just to have a field day playing a sport with your buddies. Be active.

Your training is not going to die if you do a recovery day or 2; some people need a week or more because that's just how the body works. It gets to me sometimes when people are so idiotic to think that if they train the same as a pro athlete to get the results they want its going to magically happen. Pro Athletes train hard for a specific purpose and that's for their particular sport. It's not meant for the average person to be going that hard for a period of time; you need recovery, healthy food intake and the right kind of exercise meant for your body type & or leverage. I'm learning this myself but unlike the majority of brain dead people out there I know when its time to back off and do things to get me back to what I want to do. Recover well and do so being mindful and open to the idea that you know what, its ok to not be so intense all the time, its ok to take it easy and do something lighter; you're still doing something and you're keeping yourself consistent. Its not easy by any stretch but with consistency you are creating a life-long element that leads you on the path to a kick ass life well beyond your years.

What Deck Are You Using?

Over the last few days killing it on the deck of cards workout, its gotten me into a rhythm that keeps me interested and keeps me on my toes. The workout goes by fast when you really get into it, it sucks the first time around but once you really hit a stride and your body hits into automatic mode; time just flies by. For the most part I don't like using plain old regular bicycle decks or poker cards that are just generic and boring. I've been using an app on my android that gives me this workout and I can type in the name of an exercise whether I want to do 2 or 4 exercises.

Most decks are pretty dull when you look at them so whether its my app or the decks I do have I make it interesting and shoot for a fun filled deck that keeps me motivated and having a great time kicking ass. My favorite deck to use is my Indiana Jones Playing Cards; nothing is more satisfying and more bad ass than seeing the adventurous archaeologist on the card and telling what's coming next. The beauty about this is you never know what card you'll end up getting since I never do the same workout twice. What deck do you like to use?  

I mainly use this for my bodyweight workouts and later on this summer will use them in my hammer workouts which will be no more than twice a week. Its a great tool to use on the road or just wanting to train in your home. I've done this many times and have hit high numbers from doing this doing 4 exercises to just doing Push-ups & Squats at a total of 250 & 400. It'll get you fitter, leaner, great cardio and muscular endurance training, strength, flexibility, great for speed, fat loss, muscle building & not to mention tons of testosterone building. You need only a couple other things for this and that's a towel & a bottle (gallon most likely) of water. Some workouts range from 20-40 min. Some of my workouts last a little over an hour since I like using as great form as possible and take not laying down and die rests but deep breathing in between cards and get oxygen going.

Old-Time Wrestlers used this workout to get in shape such as Ric Flair, Karl Gotch, Ken Shamrock, Tatsumi Fujinami & other Japanese stars have used this to get in phenomenal condition. You don't need to be a pro wrestler to benefit from this, do the best of your abilities, rest only when needed and do tons of deep breathing, it'll help your cardio immensly. I believe next to animal exercise & sprints the very best cardio there is. You don't need much space to do this. For the time being keep your exercises the majority of push-ups and squats; you can add other exercises too like Burpees, sit-ups, pull-ups, mountain climbers & V-ups but make at least the first two a push-up and a squat. My current exercises are the Hindu Push-up, Tiger Bend Squat (variation of the Hindu Squat taught by John Peterson), Hindu Jumpers & Mountain Climbers; this workout alone is an ass kicker and takes me around 25-35 min. to finish give and take my deep breathing between cards. Want to get really ambitious, finish off the workout with the Front & Back Bridges, its nuts and really for the insane trainees but its fun and really tests your mental game.

Have fun and rock that deck. I'll be rooting for you.