Putting The Super In Superhuman

       Becoming beyond the realms of human abilities in fitness isn't as far fetched as most people want to believe. Sure you won’t always be someone who can deadlift 1000 pounds, run 50 miles, do 100 pull-ups or swing a kettlebell 10,000 times but you can however push the very brink of your natural abilities to become something more than yourself. Being superhuman doesn't mean you’re just a physical specimen and do whatever the hell you want; a superhuman has physical gifts using his emotional content to define his spirit and conquer him/herself in their own endeavor.

            To reach certain levels, you must push yourself out of your comfort zone naturally and with reason. Don’t be just jumping into something already advanced and think you won’t be sore or get hurt, that just makes you a moron. Instead focus on the progressive elements of what you’re capable of and little by little keep pushing. Testing your limits are tests of your will power, how far you’re willing to go. There is a bit of a price but it’s worth everything you've put your heart into. Some people go so deep it might end up crippling them, others keep edging and finding what they’re capable of and in doing so learn the value of your mind and body’s strengths and weaknesses.

            To become superhuman is to follow simple and basic rules or you can come up with ones suitable for you but the most basic ones are as follows:

1. Never be satisfied with your training, keep learning.
2. Train hard and smart, use your mind and body as if they’re the same thing.
3. Sleep & Recover, very important in building the body and resting the mind
4. Push yourself progressively, never take a short cut or you’ll end in a way you won’t like
5. Value your true friends in your field for they’re the ones who give you the best advice and keep you motivated either through a conversation or just a few words.

            One of my favorite teachings to become superhuman is to follow your own path. This is one of the toughest things to do and I’ll tell you why; people want to follow someone else because they see how they do things and want to follow along but never go beyond that. I realize some people like to do that P90X or Insanity type programs and I’ll admit it’s better than nothing and if it works for them awesome but they’re missing the big picture. You’re watching the DVDs and you follow along as best as possible and if results come great, however, DVDs tend to wear out or get scratched, stolen, ripped and whatever could happen how will you do your workout? You going to pay another couple hundred bucks to get them new? Think about it.  I have my own opinions about them but let me tell you something, just watching and following along is really only good for techniques and tempos.

            To have life-long results is to follow your own way of doing things, not what someone tells you what you shouldn't or should do. If you learn to do things right for you and your body, you can do them however you want. Self-Reliance is a major key and we all have different needs and our bodies don’t always react to the same ordinary or even extraordinary programs. Be sufficient to who you are and become Superhuman in ways that’s geared towards you. 

Being Sore Doesn’t Mean You Get A Day Off

           Training is apart of life no matter what. It takes guts to keep going day after day, week after week, and year after year but in the end its all how you make it be. People assume because you’re sore you overdid it and you need a break when in reality that’s where the fun begins. You've worked out hard and you wake up the next day and you’re aching what do you do? You can either rest or not do any type of training or you can adjust and focus on something else to train on till you’re fully recovered.

            The late Karl Gotch once said “you must adapt and improvise” and what does he mean by this? From my point of view and personal experiences, you learn to adjust your training by how you feel and how you can switch things around. In this case of being sore, you don’t have to go hardcore but you can change things up like for example…Say you exercised with a deck of cards and all you did was push-ups and squats, you’re very sore the next day from going through that whole deck, instead of moaning and bitching just do a little bit of stretching and work on little exercises throughout the day to keep your blood flowing and keeping the body loose while you recover.

            You can always do something. I've seen a lot of guys in the gym who go all out one day and the next they don’t show up because they’re sore, give me a break. I've also seen other guys who have pushed to their limits and the next day came back looking to do something else to help them recover. Taking a break from your regular routine is a good thing but it doesn't mean you’re out of the woods. Focus on something that keeps you active, ride your bike if you have one, take a nice walk around the neighborhood, do some deep breathing to open up the lungs and work on other muscles and tendons that didn't get worked. Have a little fun with it. Go out and move like a wild animal even if it’s a few steps, juggle kettlebells who knows, make something work for you till you’re ready to go full blast again.

            Recovery is very important, there’s no question about that. Sure you get it that muscles get torn down and need some down time but its also important to stay active, keep on your toes, keep your blood flowing, your body is like a machine and can go more than you can expect. Your body will heal itself and the better shape you’re in; the more you can keep active without being so sore. Keep that in mind and rest if you need to but don’t just lay around like a chump, do something that makes you happy, have fun and get in the habit of improvising your exercise. Be smart, train hard and keep at it. 

How To Deal With Minor Injuries

Anything can happen in a workout especially when it comes to injuries. You can break a bone, sprain an ankle or you can pull muscles. One little minor injury however happens often in the strongman world and at times its common in gymnastics and that’s tearing of the skin. You get a cut or a bruise and you automatically think your training is done. Well hate to burst your bubble but you can still train while you heal but might need to cut back (no pun intended) a bit.

 I went for a personal record this past St Patrick’s Day weekend and ended up having my skin being torn in two different places in my right hand. Now I’ve dealt with this before and have had big time bruises from bending and tearing stuff and I can assure you it’s no picnic but that doesn’t give me an excuse to stop training all together. Taking a little time off from certain training can do you some good but you should also focus on another realm of training.

 When you get a cut or a bruise from a workout its not a laughing matter if you just left it alone. If you want to heal faster you have to treat the wound and if it’s at a point if it’s too severe then you need to see a doctor. Other than that is sure to treat your injuries with ointments and stop training at a hardcore pace and let yourself heal. Healing is just as important as building muscle and from recovery. I stopped some training because my hand is not in the shape to be in but I don’t stop training. I can train my legs more, do qi gong, practice muscle control without gripping my hand as a fist, all sorts of varieties I can do till my hand is back in the shape I want it to be.

 Switching things around for healing purposes can be a great and rewarding experience. Practicing Internal Training is a healing method of training just as it can be used to train the mind and your whole body. As you begin to heal, you’ll notice that as you get stronger, your mind becomes stronger because you’re learning how to handle different things for different situations. We’re all different and do our best not to get injured but it does happen in the most unexpected ways and no matter what the injury is, we should treat it well so when we get back, we can learn certain lessons on how to prevent that ever happening again.

 Some people take it too far and get injured more often then they should be healing. Now a scratch or a bruise is one thing but certain severe problems can arise and it can haunt you and bite you in the ass. Believe me from personal experience, you don’t want that and never push hard when you’re making a recovery. When you’re healing, take some time out of your training and think into your body, learn to electrify your body and practice building strength from inside the body like the organs and tendons. When I got hurt from bending steel and cut my hands, it was not pretty and it looked like it will be a long time before I get back to doing what I love, but in a two day span of using some ointment and very bandaging along with internal training, I’ve seen major improvements in my hands and now it just feels bruised more then a cut but less painful and the healing process is incredible. Now that may not sound true but let’s face it, I’m a terrible liar. Some people don’t heal as quickly as others which is understandable and it takes longer to get back from certain things but if you learned to harness the power of your mind and practice building your body from the inside, that’s where real strength and healing come from and you’ll be surprised how quickly you can heal from doing these kind of practices.

 Some say that the little things can make a huge difference. I believe that with just about anything. Doing big things all the time can lead to a downfall and you won’t know how to develop little goals of challenges. When I learned about the injury Paul Levesque (WWE Legend Triple H) had with his quad tear back in ’01, he said during an interview that if you want to get back into something, you set little goals for yourself. Small goals can create a monster positive outcome not just as a recovery and getting back to something but it’s the journey that makes all the difference to make one big explosion and you’re back stronger, hungrier and more determined then ever.

 Never believe the training is ever over. It’s just taking a break while you learn and experience the type of training you can take on and conquer so when you get back to regular training, you’ll have a new found respect and appreciation of what you can accomplish. It’s not always about pride or ego; it’s about becoming a stronger individual no matter what the obstacle is. I never want to see any one of you guys out there getting hurt but if it does happen to you, do what you can to get back and learn the best and safest ways to do it.

Qi Gong W/ A Purpose

In Martial Arts there are some practices that help you calm down and move in fluid motion with the best of intentions to relieve you of stress and anxiety. There is qi gong, tai chi, yoga, nei gong and deep breathing meditation. With all of these practices I like a certain type of qi gong thats not only meditative but a bit physical to where you stand and hit or move various sections of the body that hits the internal organs and stretches/strengthens the entire body from head to toe. You don't need to practice for many hours to get the great benefits of this type of qi gong. 15-30min. in the morning is all thats needed to wake up and feel like a trillion bux The purpose of this practice is not to get in a real physical workout but to get into the inner parts of the body that helps keep you young and vibrant. I may be 26 and look like i'm still in my late teens but is there anything wrong with that? I want to able to look much younger in my later years and still feel I can conquer the world. Feeling alive every second of the day is one great goal to achieve and I think we all strive the fountain of youth and here is one of the ways to do it.

http://rechargingqigong.com/recharging-qi-gong.html