Adventures In Exercise

    In most modern training areas of fitness and health from my point of view there's a lot of dullness. You have magazines telling you these complicated routines, trainers beating each other up trying outwit the other of who the best is, you have people do some of the most atrocious exercises (one legged tricep extension on a bosu ball anyone?) and you have some of these overweight plump bastards with no muscle whatsoever telling you how to lose weight because they have their name "certified." You have these bookworm morons who are so tedious and boring (in my danny mcbride voice) who have no clue how to have a real adventure and spark spontaneous kick ass fun in the gym or outside. Sure I'm all in favor of understanding what an exercise needs to be done technique wise but come on people live a little. Mix shit up, take a risk and put some soul into your exercise. Too many go through the motions and barely if ever smile and laugh.

 
    Beyond the motion of an exercise there are limitless possibilities of making your training into one of the most exciting things ever. Remember when you were a kid and you had this wild imagination and played out what you were thinking and what you wanted to do or be? Why can't you be like that again but with a better understanding of things; it's difficult for many because they have been led to believe that "being wild and adventurous is for children" or we have become so analytical and fearful that we stop taking risks and living life with gusto. Training can be fun, open up your mind, explore your inner adventurer. When you stretch, do you just move and let things get tense or do you think of something wonderful and imagining what it's like to be wickedly flexible and youthful even though at the moment you can't even touch your toes; how about this, when you do a weightlifting exercise do you just see the weight and nothing else or do you picture as if it was an object that is holding down a person and you need to save their life? You want to be a great hand balancer and you know all the moves but you still feel something missing, make a game out of it, walk on your hands a certain distance or try to have something on your feet in the handstand position that you cannot drop or you lose (works great with friends who are also in that field). Test out different ways to make your exercises more exciting and out of nowhere.

 
    I have made the choice to not be put into a position where exercise is boring and that to be really great I need to be tough and get mad. Making a statement shows character and standing up or what you believe in. I firmly believe in safety, technique, pushing your limits and getting results but I also believe in having a blast, making the very best out of what you do and having a kick ass time. Exercise is truly about finding what gives you the best results and achieving them but also using the imagination and exploring other possibilities to make them fun, cooler and feeling like you're living in a dream. I choose to have fun, I may not have six pack abs or 20 inch arms hell I can barely jump high enough to make any real claim yet I embrace my imagination; I pretend that I'm racing the Flash when I do sprints, I make a game out of my animal exercises, I visualize DDP training next to me while I do DDP Yoga and he's kicking my ass but cheering me on at the same time, when I stretch I imagine myself reaching for something instead of my legs or when holding a position I play a game where I'm a statue and people walk across gardens to see a cool display. It's weird and out there but who cares, it's your body your training do something cool with it. Create anything you want.

 
    The next time you start to feel unsatisfied and feel like you're punishing yourself more than being happy, change your mindset, create imaginary scenarios, make the exercise go to a deeper level, change the speed and tempo. When you do push-ups instead of just going up and down like the rest of humanity, picture as if you're drawing the ground with your nose and the only way you can make a kick ass picture is if you're moving in the push-up position, make letters, do numbers or hell do a painting from your favorite artist; think of how much of a workout you'll get from that alone and having to use your muscles differently. Turn your crappy exercises into awesome exercises just by the way you think and move, as long as you don't hurt yourself go for it. You have the power to make your life interesting and as they say you only live once so why not make things fun for you that you enjoy. Bring that inner adventurer out and explore the world on your own terms.

 
    

How Long Should A Workout Last

    There are a variety of ways to exercise and some workouts take a long time, some are very short but what is the best length of time to train quality-wise? Well, some trainers have you work out for a little more than an hour, workouts last less than 20 minutes of pure intensity and there are some really lengthy workouts that last up to 2 hours or more. I go by what is comfortable and what I'm willing to focus on. I have done workouts that lasted as long as an hour and a half but that was usually a nice and easy qi gong workout where I let my body flow with energy and relaxed. On average my workouts last from 10-30 minutes depending on what my mind is set for. When it comes to high intensity training, I personally feel 25 minutes or less is optimal because there is no way in hell unless you're a professional athlete that high of a level of training over an extended period of time can cause injury and burn outs. However with a consideration of DDP Yoga, if a workout is intense but comes down every few minutes or so and you're at a considerable level of fitness, you can go up to 40 minutes or more if you wish.

 
    There is a big difference in the length of workouts and not just how long they are but what the intent is, if you're looking for intense hard nose training, less than 20 minutes is best but if you're looking for more length to increase stamina and moderate to about 65% intensity, 30 minutes to an hour is pretty good. There is no way you can go 100% for an hour straight and not even slightly be burned out, the body needs to slow down at times and be able to breathe well into the next set of exercise. I have been through some really intense training that lasted a little more than 45 minutes and I was cooked for at least 3 days and needed to tone things down to recover. Recovery is important in both short and long workouts. At best three times a week that would be your short and intense, hardcore type workouts like interval type training (sprinting, animal movements, jumping,) then take a day off or 2 to recover and once you're ready, get back on it. Long workouts that last 30 minutes or more can be done everyday but always be aware of how your body reacts, if you had a big workout but can't do much of anything the next day then I suggest you do what I call Recovery Workouts; these are great in helping you repair the muscles and getting you back to your next workout, generally these workouts consist of nothing but dynamic stretching, deep breathing exercises, tension releasers and focusing on your body internally. I work out 7 days a week and have done so for 9 and a half years without getting any major injuries and have learned to listen to my body and if I need a day or more to recover I do qi gong until I feel ready to get intense again.

 
    Whatever workout you want to do, do it for as long or short as you want. Your mind is set on something than do it but remember, focus on what you want to do, pay attention to your body's energy. Make the best out of what you like and love to do. If you want to train for 3 hours do so what's stopping you, if you want to break up your time throughout the day, great. You make the call, listen to your instincts, and be intuitive. Right now I'm focusing on DDP Yoga Workouts that last from 10 min. to an hour straight and that's where my mind is set at, eventually it will change and I will do something different later on. At times during the summer I'll just go swimming and lift some heavy rocks here and there or go for a sprint at a park down the road. Whoever tells you need to do this or that and if you do this you better do it right or the results won't come, your results will come when you focus on what works best for you. Nothing is permanent and even at times people do the same things over and over which is great but like Albert Einstein once said "The definition of insanity I doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Change things up when you feel the need to do what you love and work within your own level.

 
    Short, long whatever the length of workout you do, don't do it to punish yourself, do it because it makes you happy. If you feel forced into training than you need to check your priorities. It's awesome to push yourself but do so at your own pace, you can't always keep up with a trainer and you shouldn't. You have your own body, make it worth your time and effort and challenge yourself to get to the next level, before you know it you'll be in the best shape of your life. Your training is yours, be creative, experiment with different things and find what works best that uses the time and effort you need to get done. Don't make any excuses, I've known people with crazy schedules plus having to raise a family and have responsibilities outside of that plus their job and yet can still train and get the results they wanted because they did what was best for them and made the time to do it. So can you.

 
-Philosophical Fitness: To be the very best at what you want to do, it takes dedication and effort along with a mindset where you are focused and you're willing to go the extra mile even if you fail at times. To be the best lifter you can be, you got to lift and lift with passion and intent. To be the best hand balancer, you got to hold the position or focus on that movement or hold and practice with the best to your abilities and never settle for less. We want to be great at something and it's tough to figure out what that is, to me if you find yourself you have a knack for something, thats the starting point, to be great at it, you need to take it to another level within your own accord. Learn from anyone who is great in that realm and build your foundation to be great at it yourself. No shortcuts, no bullshit, bust your ass and if you want to throw people off, smile.

What Makes YOU So Special

    Do you feel you're more or less important than everyone else? It's a matter of belief within yourself that's important and what is special to you. There are over 6 billion people in the world yet less than a fraction of a fraction of a fraction are "important" people. There's always been a family that has someone who is the black sheep or the most special person within the group and people either praise or criticize that person. Do you feel special because you won a race or beat someone in a match? How are you that much more important than the other person. You're a human being just like the rest of us. You may have less or more important responsibilities and you're aware or not of what's around you but how you feel makes more of a difference than anything else.

 
    Practically everything comes in pairs; the jock and the nerd, the artist and the critic, burgers and fries, the strongman and the weak skinny kid. Being divided or meshed together is part of our daily life. Things will work together, some won't, you'll either be praised or criticized it's going to happen. Working within a divided complexity is a tough thing to really describe or comprehend. Just like a movie where there's the hero and the villain, each have their own story but with the right chemistry they will fight with the best of intentions and we're in awe (Batman & Joker anyone?). Why compare yourself to someone or something else when you are the person that truly matters within your very own soul? Sure we want to feel special when we do something good, heroic, out of nowhere and/or feeling like we need approval. Most of the time we try to do something outside of ourselves instead of truly feeling from within, again we are divided. When you feel something from within that not only takes your breath away but makes you feel stronger and powerful because you looked within yourself, not from others or have others make you feel it was you all along.

 
    What makes you stand out? Are you a pro athlete, average person, a businessman, a significant figure in our time or history? Where do you draw the line? Just because you can shoot a ball, wrestle or lift the heaviest weight, it doesn't make you any less than the guy who can't do all those things. We are different and come in all shapes, sizes, personality but we are also a part of a similar system; we shed the same blood, we have a love/hate towards something or someone, we all have a capability to improve who we are and we have a mind and a body. So why feel the need to think you have a better shot at being better than someone else. Yes we have men and women who have a role but whatever role that is, we tend to make it complicated because who is dominant over who and who takes over what. Whatever you're good or bad at you are a special person in your own right. Now I'm not saying someone who kills or has a corrupt mindset is "Special" but we all need to realize is that being special is not about how many touchdowns you score or how many points you make or even how you generate a ton of money, being special is internal and living that is a privilege to have.

 
    Mind your own thing. Don't be putting someone down because of who they are or what they do. Be yourself, inspire people not for the sake of personal gain but because you have something that is true to you and you make the best out of it. When I say mind your own thing, I mean mind your own way of doing what works best for you. You're not Michael Jordan or the next Bill Gates, those guys are already taken so be special to who you are and whether you get praised or criticized the important thing is you are who you want to be. Create your own story, write your own life chapters and if you end up inspiring someone, awesome if not you're still you at the end of the day.

 
Philosophical Fitness: What could possibly go wrong with your training? You've been injured a few times, maybe even ended up in the hospital (hopefully never had to) so how is it linked? There's stupidity and then there's that mindset where pushing to the limit makes you a better man/woman in the quest to be better than yourself or others. Push past your own limits, not somebody else, you have strength within you no one else has and only you have the power to take it to a level that is greater than when you began in the first place. It's a journey not a competition.

Like Moving Through Clay

    Just got done with a great DDP Yoga workout doing his Red Hot Core and added in some improvised training to spice it up. Feeling awesome and the energy is flowing like a beautiful river. When you feel like you got your ass kicked but feel strong at the end at the same time you know you're doing something right. I love hardcore training at times where you just bust out and go into beast mode but hardcore doesn't always tough and rugged, it also could mean just sweating out a great workout and engaging everything and hardly have to move at all. Depending on the weather you may not always want to go somewhere if you want to get a workout in. It's cold as hell here in Idaho the highest right now is at best 28 degrees. I'm not a winter person, I'm from sunny California god dammit, so in the winter I tend to stay indoors and train but in the summer I'm hardly in the house unless it's way too hot out (gets into the 100's at times) but I'm out swimming, sprinting at the park, being out in nature and climbing a tree or two. However when it comes to certain training, DDP Yoga has a place just about anywhere.

 
    In the old days before steroids, supplements and artificial HGH, athletes built their bodies to the degree where if you wanted to build real muscle you needed real training methods. Some Weight lifted, did gymnastics, wrestled, play ball, did a lot of manual labor and other things of those sorts but often especially in the muscle building world the most common form of building natural muscle mass was the method of Muscle Control. You engaged the muscles to the point where you can flex and relax practically anywhere on the body from the neck to the calves. When you flex the muscle you're building pressure into the blood stream and when you relax it flows. When the tissue breaks down it has to repair itself but yet it doesn't grow back the same way, it has to get bigger in order for it to be useable. Now natural muscle building of this caliber may not make you look like a bloated bodybuilder but it does help create more blood flow, increase the metabolism to burn off fat tissue and naturally structure the body so when that unwanted fat is out, you have built an athletic style physique. In DDP Yoga this applies to many of the exercises in the system because as you move while engaging the muscles, you're building up the heart rate and your breathing becomes erratic. The breathing is the second most important, as you move through the exercises breathe naturally as possible with a good sense of inhaling and exhaling. A lot of people don't realize how their breathing because paying attention to it isn't in their common sense so usually when they hold a posture or go through a movement, they hold the breath which can lead to a series of problems you don't want like inflammation, high blood pressure, migraines and even hernias. Breathe and learn when and how to engage the muscles needed.

 
    In the program as he takes you through the exercises he tells you to adjust according to your body's needs and level of difficulty. Some of the exercises are insanely difficult especially in his Extreme program and even some of the advanced programs leading up to Extreme. Even if you can't keep up that's fine, work within your own level and do the best to your abilities. That's one of the great things about this system, you're not expected to be this elite trainee and there's no pressure on how you want to level up, it is up to you and making it your own. I love that and I love the philosophy behind it because it's better to be your own trainer than to have someone push you when you're not ready. I've seen some trainers that are complete jerks and don't really give a damn about how to progress someone, they push them until they can't take it and push some more. This isn't the fucking army, it's about making the best of your abilities and progressing at a level suited to the individual. I use to feel guilty because I couldn't keep up with some people and thought I wasn't good enough. After realizing that being true to myself and training according to what I want to do, I felt better and I progressed quicker in other systems. When you learn to intuitively engage your muscles into your exercise, you're getting a sense of how to train for you and understanding what works for you.

 
    Anybody can train if they put their mind to it, from the disabled to the elite pro athlete, it takes effort and commitment but there are possibilities. I've gone from being close to death at 14 months and broken legs at 20 to being able to bend spikes, do handstand push-ups and even throw in 1000+ Hindu Squats. Some people have had far more trauma than I ever did and they came back with a vengeance. You can do something if your heart is set on it and you have the drive to go after it. I've been overweight as a teen and at 20 and was skinny before being a teenager and now at 30 at 5'10 250+ pounds I've got enough muscle on me to do what I want to do and do things people close to me have said were impossible to do. You have the power my friend and you always have, question is how do you plan on getting it out and make the best of what you have and go even higher? DDP Yoga can give you tools you never thought existed before and take you to levels of fitness even superior athletes would be impressed by. Make it your own and get your hands on one of the best systems in the world today.

 
Happy Thor's Day everyone, be awesome and go for the BANG!!!!

Why Create Your Own Workout

    There are those who teach a fitness class, have a DVD, follow along seminar training and other ways to have people follow what you do. For most following along someone is all they'll ever do, I do it from time to time but for totally different reasons. To me at first it's just learning what I want to experiment with and what I'm interested in but I draw the line after that because my brain cannot process the idea of not just training but trying to keep up with the other person. Some people can do that and that's fine but you're also missing out building your own style of training that's not just physical but mental as well. This is part of the reason why I do things my own way, I have to build my brain differently because I cannot think or do things the general population does, things have to be broken down to the smallest detail that I can understand and if it's any interest to me than I progress quickly but if it's frustrating for from the very beginning I move at a much slower pace or I quit. I love learning and feeding my knowledge like a sponge but like some others I have a very different process system so I work within ways that are comfortable for me and challenging. Build your brain through movement at your own accord.

 
    It doesn't matter if you a favorite program or a favorite exercise, if something is interesting to you and you want to learn at your own pace than do it. Learn the exercises that seam pleasing to you and challenging enough that gives you the drive to be better because if you just go through stuff you hate, you're not going to make the progress you want. Bruce Lee said it best "do what's useful, discard what doesn't" it is very simple yet most make it more complicated than it has to be. It's understandable to not realize what you may or may not want to learn but something will trigger you and you'll be interested in it or you'll hate it. I have learned hundreds of exercises over the years (17+) and yet only a fraction are the ones I really do that make me happy and interested. Nobody in their right mind would do exercises they completely hate and someone once told "it doesn't get easier." If you want to get the best out your training, find the real exercises that are challenging and interesting to you, here's what I say "Nothing gets easier, but it can get interesting" that's a more positive note and feeling less like a failure and feeling like you're winning a competition against yourself.

 
    Nobody knows what you're really thinking except you. You have different goals, different thought process and you progress differently. In order to get to that optimum level, you have to challenge yourself, not others so when you have built a foundation for what you want to focus on, create something around it that is suited to you. Mix and match your own routine, do challenge workouts that you are willing to do and take your progress to a level that is within your own reach. Nobody can do your goals for you, you can be inspired and influenced but if you want something and it's the best, you have to go and get it yourself. Focus on what's important to you and educate yourself. This is the type of thing I have learned throughout my life in everything I do, even in college most of the classes I took were in fitness and some of the things I did didn't appeal to me so I tweaked them to my liking and I was better at educating myself by learning who I wanted to learn from and use their influence to build my own thing. I do want to get better at becoming certified in certain areas but I've also had some cool experiences training people and learning my own physiology and anatomy.

 
    One athlete I admire that made a living after his athletic career is Diamond Dallas Page of DDP Yoga fame. He has done a hell of a job turning an ancient art into a cardio busting, strength building and conditioning style of training that is fun, interesting and different. A motto of his is that "Make it your own" where you progress at your own level and do the best of your abilities and if you need to rest every now and then do it but keep challenging yourself and push when you're ready to push. I have followed this motto for nearly 10 years before I even heard it from the guy so it appealed to me right away. Learn with the best intentions and create what you want instead of others telling you what to do. Progress at your own pace, find things that are interesting to you and challenge yourself so you can get to that next level. Encourage others instead of putting them down, you have one mind and one body so use them to what works best for you. Study who and what you want to know and learn. Make opportunities for you and create your own destiny because nothing is sweeter than building something that you have done and made an impact on it.

 
Happy Tuesday everyone, hope you all got your shopping done for xmas and had a wonderful holiday weekend. Be awesome my friends.

 
    

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ThanksGiving Fitness

    It's that time of year again where we celebrate the holidays with awesome food, family and bringing joy to those around us. Now I'm not the biggest fan of Thanksgiving but I do believe in celebrating life with the ones you love. Now generally this particular part of the Holidays is about giving thanks and we all have things to be thankful for; however I don't think we need one day to be grateful for something when it should be a choice to be grateful everyday from your own personal ways. Granted people shop their ass off after Thanksgiving and only in America where people trample each other for crazy sales after one day of being thankful. Traditionally from my own choice I train a little more intensely around this time and make the time to test out hard exercises and push a little more on the basics. I'm a big eater as some of you know and this Thanksgiving will have a non-traditional feast that will have me eating like a madman after some crazy training.

 
    Many people have a certain tradition where at Thanksgiving many family members gather around a table, say thanks and grace and chow down but being non-traditional is ok too. I'm traditional in certain areas but having a huge turkey for one dinner is not one of them. This year it'll be just me and my mom and we're going to feast on what we call Thanksgiving Tacos filled with healthy doses of chicken, veggies, sour cream, avocado and tasty tortillas. We don't make these that often, lucky to have at least once every couple months because it can get really messy but when they roll around I'm there man. But the main reason is because I'll eat as many as 10-12 in one sitting. My tradition for when these get made is too fast for 24 hours or more and train hard for the meal ahead. Being non-traditional is weird to some people but to me it's not about being like everybody else or do the same things others do, it's about being unique and doing something that only matters to you. I also hope those that are homeless have something to eat on this day and get to share a meal with their fellow man.

 
    Granted when the holidays come around, so do the pounds however; I do believe that it's all good to indulge every once in a while and just have a blast. Eat whole foods and cut up your meat so it can digest faster. Have fun but be smart. If you plan on doing workouts around this time, don't put in a ton of hours during the day, do a few intense workouts that have you burning calories even while you're eating. One of the best workouts to do is to do Sprints; do up to no more than 10 good bursts for up to 30 seconds or less. If you're at the gym, move some heavy weight around, this jacks up the metabolism and your growth hormones naturally. If you're a bodyweight enthusiast no problem do compound movements that hit multiple muscles such as Push-ups, Squats, Pull-ups, Animal Movements, Jumping whatever gets you breathing hard fast. Drink enough water for your body's needs and get plenty of rest because a big feast can be a workout in itself and can knock you out the moment you're done. When you can crank your metabolism you can still eat your favorite foods and still be burning off fat. I'm not into counting calories but I do my best to eat as healthy as possible but not feel guilty to eat what I like. I'm a big dude and I can eat like crazy when the time is right but I also always make time to train to help keep everything flowing and those short intense workouts help me stay in great shape for when I need to feast.

 
    Not only the holidays are roaming but it's near towards the end of the year. Instead of making resolutions just around New Year's, why not make them earlier ahead of time. Set little goals for yourself and get ahead of the pack because way too many make a resolution at the last second than give up just as soon as it starts. Take your training to another level this holiday season, put in some extra minutes to finish off your normal routine, do a couple intense workouts that hit you everywhere but this doesn't mean destroy your form, be safe and train with an intent and not just so you can look good later and hurt like a bitch too. Even by the smallest fraction of your progress, jump it up a notch and remember to breathe deeply so you can take the oxygen needed. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone, I'm grateful for all of you and I'm blessed to be apart of a new home, have great things to use for training and living in a peaceful neighborhood. Have a blast my friends, be awesome.

Kicking Ass With A Smile

    We always begin something within our mind and what comes next is the physical aspect, utilizing the old term Mind/Muscle Connection. Our body language can be mysterious at times because what you see on the outside is not even close to what's going on in the inside. How you handle yourself mentally will eventually come out in the physical. You can be the nicest person in the room but on the inside you can still be in pain for whatever reason and sometimes bringing out the opposite as a defense mechanism. Me personally I love to laugh and kick back, inside I feel different but often what I feel inside, you'll see it in my physical state as well. Mentally, it's tough to find the exact emotions you use as a controlled way of doing things. Unless you're an actor or have practiced staying the same state whether you have been criticized or not it's not easy being in a lot of pain and try to be a sweet person. However learning the yin and yang of your emotional complexity can help you understand what goes out and what stays in and vise versa.

 
    There is this notion in the fitness world where when you go for a workout three emotions will occur; one is being aggressive and having this mean look like you're about to rip someone's head off, we've all seen it, the second is that emotion of being out of your element and you look like you don't know what the hell you're doing but you try to act like you know and the third is that super focused state of mind both physically and mentally where you go after what you need to do, train your ass off and there is nothing that will stand in your way. There are other emotions you see in the gym or at home when you train but those are the main three I can come up with at the moment and I think some will agree with me. What I believe is everyone aught to train like a bad ass, move like you want to conquer everything around you and the exercises you perform may not always look pretty but you make them count and you have this powerful look like you're staring in the face of your opponent and you are beating him/her with a vengeance.

 
    One very uncommon entity that happens in a training session is how you smile as you train. Funny thing is it throws people off because most of the time you see people get so hyped up and full of adrenaline but when it's over you just want to crawl into a ball and die. When you smile whether it's a happy one, a sarcastic one or even a sadistic one, smiling is a different take on how you train in the beginning the middle and the end of a workout. Adding in the deep breathing element and utilizing the emotional content behind it you're training in a very different way. It's not the same workout anymore and you are finding that your results are different, you see things differently and you are making things interesting. Your focus should still be in play but adding a smile while you're kicking ass just makes you even more unique than the rest of them.

 
    When people go nuts in a workout it's not that crazy look they get when they lift or moving using their own bodyweight, it's that intensity that makes them take it to the next level. There's a difference between going mad and going nuts. When I do my workouts whether it's doing Global Bodyweight Training, Animal Training, DDP YOGA or playing with Sledgehammers I want to cut loose and just throw myself into it, sometimes I yell, other times I'm just so focused I can't feel anything else around me but more often than not I want to find out how to open my version of Pandora's box and just see what the hell comes out. I make stuff up all the time, I don't have specific routines or use any one particular source of training, I'm like Frankenstein; what can I come up that will form this over the top monster of muscle building, flexibility, free moving and hammer smashing strength. It's your mentality that gives you the purpose to go crazy, I've seen guys in the gym go mental on the iron and even seen guys who do crazy bodyweight stunts just floor their routine like he needed to be in the nuthouse but in order to physically show that you're thinking it up first. Think outside the box, mentally use your way around a workout and express your emotions freely and productively. Be awesome everyone and have a kick ass Tuesday.