When Working Out Becomes Playful

Simplicity is the key to all aspects of fitness and Physical Culture but also the concept of Creative Movement opens up a new door to a world where you get to roam free and move your body in a more natural setting. The act of animal movements is nothing new but developing combos and switching from one thing to another in the blink of an eye, puts a new perspective on how you use your imagination.

Hard work is the idea but it's putting that hard work into an art form where it becomes practically effortless and it creates the illusion that it looks easy. This morning, I decided to just roam and move doing various movements switching from one thing to another using the concepts of Vahva Fitness, Animal Flow & Ginastica Natural. Granted I'm no where near the level of the creators of these awesome methods but it's not my job to be better than them, it's my job to be better than yesterday. 

I like to call it Playful Movement which gives the idea that it's something exciting, adventurous and learning things about yourself in the physicality of the moves you come up with. Just a few moves in, I feel stretched out, breathing like a madman and working my brain to control everything I do. It's not easy by any means and it's not to poke at other methods, it's the way to form self expression through the physical. As kids, we create games and pretend what we see, are and do is out of this world and different, venturing into the unknown and doing things you didn't know you were capable of doing. As adults, we lost sight of this because we stopped using our imaginations, we are told what reality is and that we should stop acting childish before we hurt ourselves because adults get hurt much faster as they age right? 

Yes if you had previous injuries and need to adjust that's one thing but to be told you can't be creative or use your imagination because it's a child's thing is pure bullshit. As humans, we were meant to create, we were meant to move and we were meant to imagine incredible things and act on them to become the best version of ourselves. Mickey Mouse didn't appear out of nowhere; he was drawn, made up in the mind of a man but that drawing became iconic, expressive and had CHARACTER. That's the beauty of Playful Movement, you develop a character and make up things that become reality. 

We all have abilities inside of us that we haven't discovered yet and can do things that can change the course of our lives or the lives of others. We have powers beyond our own beliefs and have been locked away because we were told this or that and this or that is how it is and being creative gets us nowhere. I would bet if we let go of the bullshit, this world would be a better place and you have the power to create what you desire and take things to levels others told you were impossible. Our imagination can turn into reality if we fully embrace it's power. 

Playful Movement goes beyond animal exercises and weird looking moves, it's the high rise to Self-Expression and forming patterns that generate strength, flexibility, endurance, coordination, balance, conditioning and all the mental aspects as well. It's like Dancing Gymnastics or Interpretive Dance. You may not be graceful at first or for a period of time, but once you start forming moves that become effortless through practice, you become something more than what you started out as. They say practice makes perfect? No, it's the practice to become effortless. Nothing is ever perfect, but becoming effortless means you have made the effort to make something happen that looks beautiful and incredible to do. If you ever want to see someone that made things look effortless, watch highlights of Bo Jackson.

Get up and move, be creative and be amazingly awesome.  

Suspension Training And Other Fun Stuff

Reflecting on this past week has been a great one. We were going to go up camping a second time around but nature told us otherwise (Fires, Thunder Storms) and better be safe than sorry. Made the time though with just being together, enjoying the sun, sitting in the pool and listening to some great tunes. Wife got some vacation time so we made it as fun as we can make it. Went floating up near the mountains with friends and family, went Huckleberry picking this past Saturday and went down to the lake. Just got to soak up that last bit of summer man.

Throughout the little festivities, I was training on not just Isometrics but also getting into Suspension Training. Got myself a new door anchor (The EverStretch) that could hold up pretty good, attached the Iso Belt and was testing out various exercises doing rows, curls, pushups, slow assisted pullups, one legged squats, knee pull ins and others. It's been a while since I've done Suspension type training, the most recent was testing out pullups with the belt at a park and before that was maybe a couple years. I figured getting into it being inspired by Red Delta Project's Suspension Calisthenics book which is pretty damn awesome BTW. Figured I'd snatch up the rest of the series which you can find on the right side bar on the blog. 

Although I don't have a ton of experience in Suspension Training, it is enjoyable and right now, my main focus is working on technique and balance. Don't need to rep out a ton yet and even then just get into the habit of controlling the body and utilizing tension while doing technique reps. If there was ever any consistent suspension workouts in my time was doing the rings in gymnastics in my mid 20's. Didn't do the Iron Cross or anything, just keeping form and tension while doing pull-ups and worked on improving little by little. With the Iso Belt and door anchor, the basics are where it's at and taking the belt to a park and wrap it around the monkey bars to work on other exercises. When it comes to Isometrics, I want to test my strength in the Hybrid Pull-Up and see what I can do with that. The Hybrid Pull-Up is taking a strap and tightening the cross between the two poles on the pull-up bar and then you pull-up or chin-up until you reach that stopping point on the strap hitting both that Overcoming & Yielding Iso combo.

Training is an adventure and should be something you're excited about. Even taking the most basic exercises and turning them into something fun and interesting is where the ultimate goal should end up. That's what I love about Red Delta Project; it's runner Matt Schifferle, has this amazing attitude and enthusiasm for training that's awe inspiring. No question he's one of the best trainers around today and part of the new generation of Physical Culturists but his positivity is where many are drawn to. He doesn't shame anybody and doesn't go for that "my way or the highway" type of attitude, he's relatable, fun to listen to and utilizes his knowledge in a sense where whether you're a complete beginner or a veteran athlete he gives you a rundown that makes you want to do something no matter how small. His ideas may not be completely brand new but he takes old school exercises and tackles the classic formats of muscle control and balance to develop workouts that although low in skill, create the best versions of muscle building and conditioning training. 

Check him out and his YouTube channel. Be safe, be strong and be amazingly awesome. 

Reached Level 38

Time to celebrate and have an amazingly awesome birthday. A couple workouts here and there, some good food and the best company a man can ask for. This past year has had its ups and downs but you keep breaking down walls and shattering the glass windows that send you into the world of the unknown. Some don't celebrate their birthday, others make the best of what they have and plenty just treat it like any other day. 

Thought I'd get a few poses in to show my progress and although I have ways to go, I'll take what I can get at the moment because that's really all you can do and keep making small improvements. I'm currently at 257 lbs which isn't bad, wanted to be at around 249 but I'll get there, just not today bro. Even in the past couple weeks since I took pics, I do seem to have a smaller waist, definition coming in and keeping the back strong. The bulk of my training has been the Overcoming Isometrics and staying active especially since we went camping and chopping wood was the big factor in staying strong. 

With all the shit going on in the world and guys my age are dying out of nowhere like a lot of athletes and bodybuilders, we still need to keep pushing forward and do our best to look out for one another. I know I've had my fair share of crap with people lately especially one guy that we'll just call Rahul. I confronted him in a lie he said about me and to be honest, it was a dumb move on my part I admit that even though he ended up writing several posts that were so one sided in his favor (which in my opinion is the coward's way instead of coming to me directly) that we both wasted precious time bickering. Overall, it is so freakishly stupid and childish to go after someone whom you'll never see in your lifetime, we both need to just move on and I'll do my thing, he'll do his despite our disagreements. He's got a good business going which he can make improvements on little by little

Every year, there are small hints of wisdom we develop and gain some knowledge on how we proceed throughout the rest of our lives but also reflect on how we can improve ourselves physically, emotionally and mentally. Make each day a little bit better than yesterday, not a ton, just small increments because as each one gets better, it builds up to a huge explosion. 

Birthdays may not be as important to some and others look at it as just another day of still breathing but for me, I take it to heart. Before the age of 2, my parents came close to losing me because of the meningitis. I've had to fight ever since then from speaking to motor skills and brain function, therapy and a whole mess of things. I'm grateful for what I can do even now and I wasn't always alone, I had a great many people to give me inspiration and creative ideas to improve myself. 

Turning 38 is really just a number but in other cases, it makes me appreciate that I'm still here and I still have people in my life that got my back. My birthday wish from all of you, is to take a moment out of your day and just say I love you to somebody. No need to give people a hard time or try to make others feel miserable especially if they're going through things you have no clue about. Three words that can be so powerful, it brightens up a person's day. Just be careful who you say it to but other than that, show some love, some compassion and bask in the glory that you have opportunities to be better little by little even down to the smallest fraction. I'll start, I love you all. Even the haters because despite your obsessions and terrible descriptions, you're a person too and I hope you have an amazingly awesome day.