Taking Care Of Yourself

We're all human and we get caught up in certain moments when we train and feel that confident in our abilities that we sometimes forget that we need to also be aware of the consequences that could happen, not by paranoia but by acknowledging that if something does happen we need to back off. Injuries happen, they can come at you at any moment and if it does happen and you don't do anything about it to let it heal, it can bite you in the ass. I have been having low back spasms and aches for a while now and doing movement does help and when the adrenaline is flowing the pain is gone but once it comes off, holy shit.

It finally occurred to me that I need to get strength and mobility back into my back (how redundant huh?) by backing off the intense training I've done lately (500 Hindu Squats, jumping movements, Finishers, long animal playouts) and focus on giving my body time to recover. That's not to say I'm going to stop training completely just means doing other things without taking on such intense formalities. My cardio for a time being will be most likely DDP Yoga which is always awesome, MovNat type training to get mobility going, Gymnastic Abs to really hit the Core Muscles to give my back that specific training through Core Training and more Hanging Exercise to really target the lengthening o my back and strengthening the little muscle along there. Bridging a little more often as well to hit everything and getting that stretch along the spine and oblique area.

That sounds like a lot of training but the thing is, i'm not doing them all at once, do little warmups, than do a solid playout for up to a half hour maybe more max and do little things throughout the day to stay active and sedentary. Some days do DDP Yoga, do bridging exercise at night, Gymnastic Abs on other days, MovNat here and there; it's all about mixing things up and putting your body through recovery training. I will be back doing 500 Hindu Squats, maybe not every single freaking day like I was doing but frequently so I can keep up my conditioning and only do the animal moves up to 4x a week (every other day) for no more than 20 min. Shift stuff around to when you feel ready and you are in the mood for that kind of training that day. I hate to sacrifice what I love to do at times but I want to be at my best every single session and if i'm not in shape that day for it, I'm not going to force it. You learn to compromise with yourself and do something everyday whether it is big or small down to the smallest fraction. If you need to only stretch that day, do so, if you have the energy for 500 Hindu Squats do so, feeling up to doing 20 minutes of intense animal training do so; be intuitive and back off when you need to.

People get so caught up in the moment that they forget that they're body is a tool and not just something to go so hardcore for they don't think of the consequences. It is a machine but it can also breakdown when it's not properly being put to good use. You can push yourself all you want but at the end of the day, you need to take care of it otherwise you can do some serious damage and putting your health at risk. I've heard too many stories of those crazy morons at the gym trying to one-up against others and show off their strength and think they're invincible. I have been training with various intensities for over 12 years without ever taking a day off and not one time ever having to go to the hospital because of training.

It drives me nuts that these crossfit psychopaths with a death wish spend so much time doing the most intense & hardcore form of extreme training. I've watched the latest film on The Fittest Person On Earth about the 2016 Crossfit Games and I have to say as much as I admire the work ethic and the drive they have I also feel sorry for those men and women who get injured on a frequent basis and torturing their bodies to the point where they have this mentality of thinking they can keep this up for years on end which quite frankly makes them age much faster. 75% or higher of those athletes are more than likely to not only have crippling side effects when they reach 50 (possibly 40) because they never took the REAL time to take care of themselves in a healthy manner. Their form on many of those exercises alone are so horrid and disgustingly terrifying to watch it boggles my mind that bones aren't popping out of their skin. I'm not knocking Crossfit in itself not all of it is horrifying, it's when you have some coaches and athletes that push so damn hard to the point where form and common sense becomes negative and you see people puking, passing out, screaming in agony when they tear muscles, rip tendons and other injuries that occur. I'm all for going the distance and seeing what you're capable of that's not what I'm getting at, I just don't see any reason why you go so damn hard you end up in the hospital and having to spend thousands of dollars on surgeries that could've been prevented if you were truly aware of what you're doing. It's not just crossfit, it's other areas too that put people in the crosshairs making them believe they're in the damn navy seals and pushing to limits that shouldn't have to go any further than they have to. Take care of your body.

It is important to realize that you don't need to go to extremes to make yourself fit. I'am stronger now at 33 than I was at 23 and far more conditioned and flexible yet haven't even remotely peaked yet. My goal for the next 10-20 years and beyond is to be as strong, conditioned and flexible as I' am at this very moment and be able to say that even in my twilight years, I can still go and be able to take on kids half my age. When you go to such extremes and not take care of yourself, you can end up crippled faster and you're going to utter these words at 50 if you're still alive "man I use to be able to do that but can't anymore." There shouldn't be a use to, there should be a "still can pull off" mentality. I want to still be able to bridge at 50, 60, 70 years old, still be able to knock out 100 Hindu Squats or more, still be able to do bear crawls and push-ups, still be able to bend spikes and bend steel; all those things can happen. You can do extraordinary things but it's also important to be mindful and have self-awareness and intuition. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!!!!