Let The Outdoors Be Your Friend

    

      It's a whole other connection to your body when you train outdoors. Now granted some of you (like me) live in a state where all 4 seasons occur and in the winter time, it can get pretty damn cold. This is where you learn to adapt and value the awareness of the various conditions that give to the weather. I love to train outside especially in the summer time, it does get super-hot sometimes but that's how you learn your awareness, unless you're working outside, don't be out training in the hundred degree weather for three hours unless you have a shit load of water and breathe with efficiency. The feeling of fresh air sinking into your body that reconnects your roots of those that came before you and the value of getting that Vitamin D which I will get into a bit here.

 
    To really get the connection of exercising outdoors is to do it on nice green grass. The feeling of the earth on your feet when you walk on nice, soft and loving grass. Not a lot of people have that luxury and I understand especially those in California right now where practically brown is the new green so do what's possible, do it on the beach if you want if that's your next option. Grass however gives you that sense of love and connection with the earth and I'm not talking that astro-turf or whatever that stuff is, find real grass even lay in it for a few minutes and your mood begins to change and you don't know why. When I go to parks that have grass, I move in any way I can and let my whole body get the feeling of it and I have a deeper connection than I would if I trained indoors.

 
    Now onto the Vitamin D. The best place to get it is in the sun where it shines on your body, giving you a radiant glow of energy, hormone increase and nourishing the skin. Some people can't take the sun too well like those with pale skin and that's understandable so find vitamins or supplements that give powerful vitamin D complexities. When you're balancing your hormones (not including pregnant women, they can't control that it's just not possible) you're giving your body a gift of building natural strength, metabolism, bone strength, your joints and it helps with recovery. What you eat is important and it's awesome to keep up with your fruits and veggies but eat according to your needs because not everyone can eat the same amount of food and drink the same amount of liquids. I'm a big man over 250 lb. and I can eat quite a bit so if I'm out of my own balance and certain people don't realize that, I become someone I don't want to be so I need to nourish my body the way it's meant for me. Granted fasting is a great way to let the body repair itself and have a great deal of hormones bouncing out of you because you're setting them free; however, you must learn the balance of fasting because if you go too long without being aware of it your body will turn on you so a good 24-36hr fast once a week is great if you want to drop weight but keep up with your liquids.

 
    This is a sensitive subject when it comes being burnt from the sun when you've been in it too long and it's too hot out. I'll go on record and say yes I don't use sunscreen for a lot of reasons and one being it doesn't really do that well for you and the chemicals in that crap can make you burn even worse (sounds like a contradiction). When I was in Lake Tahoe earlier this month, I'd go down to the lake, lay my towel and my shirt & shoes on the dock, climb a few rocks, jump in the water and just swim for as long as I can. Yes I did get a little burnt but only in a couple places as oppose to the whole damn body. I learned valuable lessons when my whole body would be burnt from head to toe so I had to be aware of what my body was getting so instinctively I stayed in the water and this helped a lot. But what if you're outside training without being in water, well; you pour a little water on you from time to time, not a bucket or anything and where very light colored clothing like sky blue shirts or white shorts for example because for the most part, black clothing gives the sun a chance to tell you "don't mess with nature dumbass" and you'll feel it. Some people can handle the sun wearing black clothing but others not so much. Don't get so burnt you start to peel skin, it's not fun, it hurts like hell and you can barely move your body. Be aware of how you use the sun and have it work for you, not against you because the sun does give life but it can also make it a living hell if you're not careful.

 
Happy Thor's Day everyone. Be safe, have fun and be awesome.

Creating A Flow

    This isn't how to build flow using energetic training (Chi Kung) but it helps. What I do want to tell you is, you can create a flow of putting exercises together whatever they may be, could be DDP Yoga, Squat Training, Muscle Control, lifting heavy weight or Farmer's Walk; you can put some of the most intense and even the toughest exercises together and create your own energy by how you move, your breathing and how you bring them together in sequence like a circuit or just resting than moving to the next exercise. It's a practice that develops not only great physical strength but building internal power. Most people believe in order to channel your energy internally you have to do training of that sorts, not always true.

 
    Finding that rhythm for you may not be easy or maybe it will, it's up to you to figure that out. Following someone else's workout is great no question but the other side of that is it doesn't always flow with you because you didn't come up with it, you're just following someone else. Some people don't like me saying that but you know what, I've learned from experience when you build your own workout and it flows for you, it is so much more worthy than just trying to "Keep up" with the other person. I love DDP Yoga it is one of the best systems in conditioning today and combines many elements I'm interested in but as I've said with every other program I like, I learn and study the exercises but I don't feel good about trying to keep up with that person's program when I can just come up with a workout of my own that is just as intense or more and I'm getting greater benefit out of it. "Make it your own" as DDP would say and I have been following that motto for many years nearly a decade actually. Find a rhythm that works for you.

 
    One of the most important aspects of creating your own flowing sequence no matter how intense or the tempo might be is pacing yourself. Most who buy those infomercial crap just want to jump in and not consider the consequences. In reality you are not meant to try to keep up with the people on the DVD, you are meant to build yourself up and keep up with yourself. If you just try to go as fast as they do or anyone for that matter, you're missing out on building your own style and doing your best to flow for you not to see if you're just as good as they are. Nobody is better than the next guy, some have more experience and their bodies can handle greater stress but they're no better than you. You are one person and you need to give yourself a chance to make something out of yourself.

 
    This is my favorite part about the article where I get to tell you about being creative. You can follow along with someone else and just be a mindless sheep or you can break the rules and just make shit up. Let me put it this way; you understand the basics of your program whatever it might be so now, just make up the workout, learn how your body flows through each exercise and follow your intuition about what to do next, follow your instincts, listen to your body and feel in your mind what gives you the most benefit. I rarely ever do the same workout twice in the same week because after doing the same exercises in the same sequence over and over it becomes boring to me real quick. I don't want to feel I'm stuck in this routine, I want to be free to make my own choices and go with how I move and exercises that give the freedom to breathe, stretch and just let my imagination run its course. That's the beauty of just making up your own workout is the use of your imagination and tapping into that power that resides within you and you don't even realize it. Build a flow that creates your own bliss, your own intensity and the only person you should be keeping up with is yourself. No one else has your body and your strength and/or weaknesses so why should you try to keep up with everyone else? Think outside the box and do something out of the norm that only you decide how intense it will be, what the tempo is and making it work for you and nobody else.

 
Have a great weekend everyone. Be awesome and train hard. Next Friday will have me writing my last article for the next few weeks as I will be in California for my 30^th Birthday celebration. You are the most bad ass people I've ever had the pleasure writing for. You all inspire me to do what I love. Keep reading and find the best resources for you or your friends/family.

 
    

Moving With Freedom

           In most exercise programs, you usually see someone in one spot doing a plethora of moves and routines whether it’s running on a treadmill, riding the elliptical, moving weight up and down or whatever it happens in one particular spot. As much as I admire that type of thing for certain programs I feel one should move around in more than one spot. Why stay in one place when you have more room than what you have?

            I get it, not many people want to move around in more than one spot and if you're in prison, being in different places is more of privilege and you have no choice but to be in one spot or the other but on the other hand; if you have a place to move around and the weather is decent you have the freedom to move wherever you want. It’s like playing as if you were a little kid again. Kids run around all over the place, their energy is boundless and can do all sorts of things. As adults we “grow out” of this phase of our lives and become more analytical and focus on not getting hurt rather than just have fun. Stop that and when you exercise, have some fun with it.

            Playing and moving your body is essential to fitness success. Sure if you’re passionate about it and are serious about what you want to do that’s ok too but at the same time it’s important to not take most things so serious. It’s about taking it one step at a time. If you're new to training yes it’s important to start out slowly but also don’t be so serious it becomes stressful, smile and be open to things. I have a mother who is serious about line-dancing and rarely ever really exercises but she makes the line-dancing fun with moves and music that are just crazy to dance to but brings joy to them.

            A personal favorite type of training is moving like a wild animal or mimicking an animal. The reason why is because it gives me freedom to move however I want and it teaches you how to be aware of how you move and which direction you want the body to go to. You can’t stay in one spot with this type of training unless you imagined you’re an animal in a cage. Unleash your Animality, hone the animal that is within you and have fun with it. My Animality is the Ape because for some reason in my mind moving like an Ape is just fun, exciting and deeper as a being than any other animal. I’ll bet you big time that if you practice moving like an animal in the jungle, there will be one that you’ll find the most exciting, the one that just has your mind on more than anything else, that’s the animal you want to bring out and have fun with.

            Be free and put in the effort to move different ways in not feel like you’re in a cage, move around damn it.

Train To Move

           The power of movement is essential to everyday life. In fitness when people think of movement, they think roaming on elipticals, moving weights around, aerobic exercise and other types of stuff. That’s all good in some cases but what I’m talking about by movement is using different functions of the body that keeps you healthy, free and open to channel the body by squatting, running, jumping, climbing, lifting and carrying weight and making the habit to be practical and utilizing every inch of your body to it’s potential. Functional Movement is precise in what brings the body as a whole as you move through various patterns, using as many muscles as possible in any given time.

            When it comes to sitting, we usually bring ourselves to sitting in chairs or our beds sometimes but never take the time to actually squat and sit that way or move in the squat. This exercise can help build the tendons and ligaments in the knees and build strength in those muscles. Jumping has become a meaning to use in sports or in other endeavors but never for any real fun anymore, when was the last time you felt like jumping and playing hopscotch or something? Lifting doesn’t always mean heavy but it means picking up an object of certain weight, moving with the weight by carrying it is pretty fun to do, think of carrying a heavy backpack or picking a 50 pound rock and carrying it a certain distance then tossing it. We all know how running goes, personally I’m not a fan of running but I like to sprint and amp up my body’s metabolism so that’s a form of running.

            Some movements are in awkward positions like moving in an animal type fashion like Bear Crawls, hanging and swinging like an ape or climbing like a gecko, your body was meant to move in all sorts of directions granted how you’re structured and the way your body can operate in a certain movement. Even walking in an awkward terrain or non-flatted areas is moving in an awkward position and changing directions as you go along. When you can move in an awkward position, you’re utilizing other muscles you normally don’t use.

            When you move, you have a greater chance of having a longer, healthier life if you practice enough to where you’re using practical movements, progressing and utilizing your mind at the same time. I love moving around even when I’m out in the snow hitting a tire with my Sledgehammer; I’m giving my body strength and heading towards specific goals of movement. I even love to just move around in the living room, stretching my body out and jumping & crawling just for the fun of it. 

          To understand the fun of movement, look to what Mary Poppins says by “in every job that must be done there’s an element of fun. You find the fun and snap the job’s a game.” This applies the same way as moving in your training, you learn to imagine having fun with what you’re doing and making it more enjoyable instead of feeling like you have to punish yourself. This helps having a longer life by using your imagination and building a happy attitude to what you do and incorporate it to other things in your life.

Discovering What You Love

            

             Fitness is about discovery, finding what drives you to be in shape and live a better life physically, emotionally and spiritually. Some find it and learn to keep it going with changes, new ways to challenge and again learn, others take years and don’t get anywhere because they don’t know what really works and drag themselves along and then there are those that just hate it and let’s leave it at that.

            Being in shape is great don’t get me wrong, you look awesome and can do cool things but it’s important to explore new possibilities. What can you do to challenge yourself and create different goals and setting them? There are people who get in shape just to look like a hot shot and impress others, more power to them for that but that can only go so far, if you look awesome but you’re an asshole what good are you? Find ways to not only stay in shape but have the strength and endurance to back it up. Explore what is out there, moving in different directions, being out of the gym and having to find a way to train. In the gym it’s automatic; there’s weights, machines, mats, cardio stuff all there for you but it’s a closed in space. Now go outside and find how to adapt and move freely with the environment around you, very different huh?

            One of the things I believe in is using your instincts, valuing intuition and sensing how you do things, feel and understand. It’s like the Force in Star Wars; you sense things around you, how you think and using your intuitive powers to find different meanings. If you trust your instincts and follow your energy and understanding it you’ll discover things you never thought before but there’s a dark side to it (just like Star Wars) you have to pay attention or your instincts can betray you. Learn and pay attention to how your body and mind respond to certain things, just because you think them doesn't always make them true. Follow how you respond to things, the more positive they are, the more likely you’ll love doing it but also pay attention to the negative things, if you are in pain or just don’t feel that something’s right, then you need to adjust and find something different.

            Have fun with what you do, keep it interesting and learn to get better at it. Learn to flow with things and do what you can to resist pushing too hard too fast (I've done it and I've paid for it). Have patience and make it a habit to be strong and believe that things will go the way they’re suppose to. The universe works in odd ways but there’s always a way to make it work for you. Learn the attitude, trust in yourself and be joyful to make things in your life happen. 

Born To Be Wild

            

           Ever since I was little I loved that song. It was one of my first rock songs at a very early age. Rock in the late 60’s was a cultural change in the system throughout the Vietnam War and people wanted to be able to live and be free from the political crap Nixon was throwing and having the country behave like civilized people (yeah sure the hippies loved that and the Black Panthers). Songs like this gave you a reason to be alive and because of it, it became timeless.

            We were born as a race of beings to be strong and fit, conquer our own destiny and live the world the way we choose to. Over the last few decades, that’s become a daydream as people today because of the obesity “epidemic” just throw themselves away, eating terribly, partying like it’s the end of 1999 and just take advantage of the things that are giving to them. It doesn't matter if you’re black, white, yellow, brown, green or blue you are still a human being and there’s still a chance to become healthy again.

            One of the keys to becoming super strong and fit as a fiddle is the ability to open your mind. Have a mindset that you can live forever and feel as if you’re invincible. Now I’m not saying you should test this theory with stupid ideals but when I say feeling invincible, I mean in the sense where you learn to channel your energy. Reality is we can’t live forever like Conner or Duncan McLeod of the Clan McLeod but we can learn to live a lot longer than we are told to be. Hell I don’t care what anyone says I want to be 100 and still walking and talking and moving as best as I can without being in pain as much as possible. Most people who get older feel like it’s going down from there and just living the life of an older person and this starts right around 40-50. What a load of crock.

            To be strong and fit, it takes guts to go out and do something. Want to lift weights at 85, why not? You’re in your 60’s and retired, why not have fun and embrace what you have and do something that will get you over those dumb plateaus. Love what you have achieved in your life but never be satisfied of what you can do more of. I’m nearly 30 years old, some say that I’m still young and vibrant; others say it’s the trend of going downhill and even there are others who just have nothing better to do than be bitter than turning a certain decade starting at 30, for me I haven’t nearly peaked yet and I still have a lot more to achieve that I haven’t begun to touch yet so bring it on.

            Being wild isn't about getting drunk with your buddies or doing stupid shit that you’ll regret later on sooner or later but it’s about adventure, going to different places, finding new people to meet, taking a chance on finding that spark in your life and living it to the fullest that is positive and wholesome to you. Embrace it and live with great vitality and vigor, move freely and believe that there’s more to life than dwelling on past failures, things that you hate and the people you don’t need in your life. Everything happens for a reason and however you choose to do it is your choice. Find something that you love and make it work for you because when we finally reach that time of death, how do you want to go out?