Training Ideals From The Dragon Ball Saga

In a cartoon, you can exaggerate practically anything from the expressions on people's faces to out of whack storylines and even how someone trains. In real life we may not be as extreme as animation is but we do have ways to push ourselves to the very limits. One thing Goku takes really seriously is how far he's willing to push himself, even those like Vegeta take it to the extreme but the big thing they have in common is making their training get into some unbelievable elements. We may not have a gravity room to do our training but there are ways to be creative in how you push yourself.

Out main hero is very inspiring in how he trains (if you haven't seen it I suggest you take up on it). He uses mainly his Bodyweight and the Enviornment around him. Even in Gravity Training he just powers out his body whether it's 20X Gravity or more than 100X. People give a bad rap about using only your bodyweight but most of those people don't know a damn clue since their dependent on their celery sticks, treadmill running, machine loving lives to make them feel better about themselves. The real training is using your natural surroundings by sprinting, swimming, lifting logs or rocks, push-ups, squats, crawling, jumping and more. You get more in connection with the earth if you train in a more natural setting. If you want to amp up your training using basic bodyweight movements such as pushing, pulling, squatting and ab work; use various resistance stuff like weight vests and ankle/wrist weights to make the load heavier and pushing your body to the next level.

Speaking of resistance type training using only bodyweight; we may not be able to use a Gravity Room to pull us down and make us push harder but we can do certain things like the vests and the weights on our wrists and ankles but there's also levels of speed you can experiment on. Slow down the tempo of certain exercises like push-ups for example, instead of doing the same speed, take it down a notch and go a little slower to really work the stabilizer muscles and utilize your whole body to move, make a count going down and up, slow down so much it takes you a minute up and down; that is brutal. Animal Movements are another outlook to move your body for example instead of the typical bear crawl; move your body in this manner but flex the body as you move not so much isometrically but enough to where you're moving at a slower pace and your whole body feels like it's being pulled down like in the Gravity Room. Be creative and train with intention.

One thing you'll notice about how hard you train is how hungry and sleepy as hell you get after a hard and adventurous session. For me I've trained so hard at times not only do I nap a little after a good solid workout but I need to eat like a beast on a mission. I sometimes bought two big sub sandwiches or had a bowel of cereal with meats, eggs and chicken depending on what i have and top it off with 2 glasses of raw milk. I even get Panda Express and have nearly 2 of the three entree dinners just to satisfy my hunger. Unlike Goku who eats everything in sight when he's hungry, I know when my body has had enough. When you eat plenty of awesome food and sleep well, you will build muscle period. Train like your life depended on it, sort of like how Goku and Krillin from the first Dragon Ball series trained by swimming against sharks, climbed steep mountains, ran carrying milk, busted their ass on manual labor and working their hands on farm fields. You don't need to be that extreme everyday but if you want the best out of making yourself stronger and better looking, train your ass off and eat when you're hungry and sleep when you need to even if its a 30 min. nap during the day to recharge but sleep between a good 6-9 hours depending on how much recovery you need. Live on simple things and not feel like you need some crazy diet that drives people nuts and forces themselves to do.

Spring Chicken Into Summer Magic

 

Spring is a magical time of year where new life is blossoming in nature, love shines throughout the land and the power of movement comes alive. It's time to reclaim your health and your strength by playing with various movements out in the crisp fresh air. Movement is where the true fun begins.

Be mindful to open your mind to new things, types of training you never experienced before; start your journey with movement and play on the grass at the park, playground, near water, in your yard or wherever you decide. Let your imagination blossom and place yourself in the mindset of learning to move. It's not easy at first and some can't always get out and do stuff due to circumstances but even then even in a wheelchair you can use your upper body to move and do something fun and exciting. When you close yourself off, your body goes with it and you won't develop the way you were meant to using the potential you can ascend.

Summer is about warmth, soaking up the sun, going to your favorite beach or pool and just live with gusto and life. Drop the tablet, put your phone on vibrate and feel the connection between yourself and the earth. Sounds hippyish doesn't it? Well maybe a tad but you will gain a more valuable asset in nature by practicing feeling the fresh air, letting that powerful scent of life bloom into your veins and get a hold of your inner being by physically moving your body in various ways; run, walk, climb, lift, crawl, swim and use your body when no one else dares to try and duplicate. Go do some Hand Balancing, dance, roll out the Power Wheel, throw around a steelbell and have a blast doing any or all of it. Train for life, not a temporary pass by just so you can remotely look like a fake supermodel. 

The most important aspect of movement is not to just practice being physical or doing cool moves; hell don't even think about trying to one up your idol, move like you're at peace. Letting the flow flourish out and remove yourself from the crap that may run in your life. Life is too short to feel all the negative B.S. Be at peace with who you are, not what others want you to be. Your life is a gift, nurture it and spring into action while living in the summer of your heart. 

Beautifully Enriched & Powerful

Why should you be condemned to a machine? Hell why really settle for a stationary area to move in? For the most part, many people in fitness rely on or are dependent being in one stationary place like they've confined themselves in a cage. It's understandable being in one position to move and you can a million different things like push-ups, squats, weights and even running in place yet the greatest thing is to be able to move around as much of your environment as possible. Unless harsh weather is a factor, being outside brings new life to your movements. Be able to crawl, jump, swing, climb, swim, balance and sprint. Machines are your jail bars and you will be very limited.

The body was meant to adapt. Unless you're recovering from injuries or are a boobybuilder, isolating the body is a bad idea. Working on one part of the body multiple times overtaxes the joints and ligaments to a degree where the rest of the body has to keep up and when they don't it'll collapse on itself. We have abilities we have yet to realize. The body is the most programmed piece of operative machinery, it can adapt to particular moves, able to withstand quite a bit of punishment and have the ability to take on some amazing tasks. Never limit yourself, find a good of variety of things that will hit you from every angle as possible.

When most start out, they don't realize how fragile they are, sure they can push a little but it's also important to know that building a foundation is a starting point in the journey, not a fork in the road like most people believe. Also when you're starting out, do not ever push past your limits the first time around or go all hardcore, I know it's exciting and you're doing something new but don't make the mistake of pushing it beyond your starting points; otherwise you will get hurt and you could possibly be paying medical bills that you don't want. Let your body adapt to what it's doing and little by little, begin that ascend on the ladder of progression.

Never settle for a one-all-be all system, when you do that, you're isolating yourself from what could really reach your peak potential but it's also important to realize that doing a million things won't get the job done either. Keep things to a minimum as best as possible and if you want to do more things in a single session, mix and match your favorite programs. It isn't rocket science but it won't be easy either, besides in order to gain through progression you can't take the easy route.

When it comes down to it, we are movement, our bodies are our guide to the world and moving through space in various ways teaches us how to journey our spiritual and physical boundaries and where it can take us if we are willing to take steps into places most are too afraid to do. We push ourselves but most of the time in the very wrong way and we end up discouraged, hurt, tied down in our minds and we end up quitting when we are just going down that road. Be playful, develop a skill, challenge the norm and never settle for modern traditions or mainstream ideals; be different and become the greatest version of yourself.

From A Few Minutes To An Hour

You can't always plan what happens out of your control. Timing won't always be on your side so it's important to improvise when you least expect it. Sometimes we have that open window for an hour so we train for that hour. Don't be discouraged because you won't always get the time in to train. People get so worked up at times that they forget that they actually did something instead of nothing. It's one of the reasons why I like training periodically throughout the day where when I have a few minutes i'll do a few exercises to stay in my realm. I normally don't go for more than 30 minutes unless i'm doing qi gong and time passes by without knowing it, it has happened on occasions.

When you feel completely wired up and need a way to chill out, go do what you need to do; hit the gym, go hard on animal movements, do sprints, lift rocks if you have them, practice Hand Balancing whatever you feel is right to get all that energy out of your system. Kids especially could do some crazy training not to push them to the brink of ultra exhaustion but to give them that release so they can focus and be alert in a calming matter. If your energy levels are low and having low-self esteem, fix it any way you can that is productive and positive; its tough being motivated when you're low on energy but you have choices and possibilities.

There are ways to learn on how to stay efficient in your training but at times it can hit you like a bolt of lightning or it may not be enough. If you train too long more than you need to, it can drain you and leave you fatigued & aching everywhere that isn't necessary; however if your training is too short that you're not feeling anything or you don't feel it hitting the spot, the results may not be coming and it won't be enough for your body to get into that hormonal stage. Do what's comfortable for you but do enough to where you feel satisfied, not broken down or feel like things aren't going right.

Value the time you have the opportunity to use. Find your range of time and use it the best way you can. You won't always be able to train at a specific time because time doesn't stop just so you can get a workout in. Make it a habit to say "whatever time I can use, I will make the best of it." Don't expect to able to train every single day for an hour straight unless you're actually in a sport otherwise things pop up that are out of your control. Learn to use the time you have to get what you want out of it.

Odysseus And Fitness

When you devise a fitness program, it's important to also be able to use your brain in order to craft up one. It's not always about picking the number of exercises or how many reps and sets, it's about developing intelligence and strategy for what your goals are. Most programs today are very out of whack and not have any real meaning behind them, it's basically doing highly scientific research but with a neanderthal brain behind the scribbles. Very rare do we see those who have the intelligence and strategic outlook for what gives us the greatest benefit. Just like in the story of the Odyssey, one man uses his brain on a frequent basis in order to achieve his goal.

Odysseus was a master strategist and quite possibly the most famous mortal in Greek Mythology. Like every strategist, he doesn't have a perfect rap sheet; he's made mistakes and it cost him dearly but yet he pulls through and crafts up some of the very best successful attempts in order to achieve his goal whether it was in the Trojan War, Sailing home, defeating a monster or whatever. In fitness, it is important to have a strategy and keeping track of how you progress. We strategize in our own unique way and some of us don't always come through but others have and like the Trojan War veteran it took them many years to get where they are at. Weightlifters spend years getting to a certain weight that could break a world record, gymnasts spend years training before heading for the Olympics and it sometimes takes a number of years for a sports team to win a championship (Boston Red Sox anyone?). If you want to craft a great strategy for the goals you want to achieve, you can't half-ass it or do one big giant set of plans to put on the table, you need to find where you want to go, what are your best options and what you are willing to put in.

No matter what the strategy is or how intelligent you are, you can't expect the outcome all the time if ever. It's an unknown journey using what you have and what you are doing little by little even by the smallest fraction. Odysseus thought it take him a number of weeks, months even to get back home after ten years in the war but yet not everything goes according to plan because it took him nearly another 10 years just to get home to his wife Penelope and his grown up son. He fought hard on everything he did to sail back to his kingdom and come hell or high water he made it back and did it with sheer guts and a powerful will. You may have a plan set for a program that will get you fit in this many weeks or that many months if you stick to it and yet at the end of it you may find yourself disappointed or overwhelmed that it's over you don't know. You can write out whatever you want and stick to your guns and train the way you planned it out but things change. You can't expect the outcome because it hasn't even happened yet and unless you're psychic or or some kind of sorcerer I don't believe anyone can see the future even out of the starting gate. Live the journey.

The one thing a person with good intelligence has in order to strategize his system is to to adapt and be able to improvise when certain things don't go according to plan. You can't rely on the same old habits otherwise you will be using the definition of insanity and that's "doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result." Be bold and take risks because playing it safe and easy doesn't get you higher up in the rankings of your own strategy. Be willing to take things to the next level little by little and you will have something bigger at the end and you'll be a different person because of it. Don't rely on the same old habits, make that little leap up your own mountain. Little by little Odysseus triumphed in the end even though he had obstacles and went through challenges that seemed impossible but he never gave up. He's one character we can all relate to and he's one of those many classic heroes that has pushed his intelligence to the max and although it took him longer than he planned, he still made it home and won back the woman he loves. Take this into consideration the next time you need motivation strategizing a system of your training.