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.