Showing posts with label minutes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label minutes. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
The Challenge Of Everyday Fitness
One of the most challenging things in life is to do something everyday; in this case exercise. The biggest issue is being burnt out and whether you have time to get what you want done. That's why most trainers and general fitness standards say do this three times a week or that for a day and take a day off and repeat. It's not for everyone and certain people have certain goals and it doesn't always require training everyday. How do I know this, it's because I live this challenge every single day and have been since Aug. 1st, 2005.
The way I look at it and observed my own experiences and others is that people believe to train is to train hard all the time, beat your record the next day or go a little harder the next workout but truth to be told, your body can handle only so much until something either bad happens or an injury occurs (I know it's happened to me on an occasion). I love to bust my ass and just go for the raw beating of a record set or reps but I also feel like chilling out on some days and do what I call "easy" workouts. I put that in quotes because it's not always easy but it's not enough to where I'm not pushing my body but recovering and letting myself take a small break. I've put myself through some of the toughest workouts you can imagine but I also let myself recover by stretching, meditate and healing myself both in and out.
I love training but I will tell you it doesn't get easier. The more days in a row you train, the harder it is to keep going but if you use your imagination and take a few days at times doing only 5 min. of exercise it becomes more fun. Not many people can say they workout and have done so every single day for nearly 9 years in a row. My secret is not always willpower or fighting myself to do something, it's to listen to my body and let my mind guide me. I don't always know what I'll be doing on some days so it could be on a whim and want to do push-ups or hanstands and that's it. Some days (like a lot lately) I do DDP Yoga or I go out for a few sprints 2-3 times during the week and stretch my body on the weekends. It's all about what you want to do. You don't need 30 minutes of exercise everyday and you don't always need to lift all the time; be resourceful and if you need to take a break, do a couple minutes of just standing and meditate it still counts.
The day I took my vow to train everyday without fail was the best decision I've ever made in my life. I didn't tell myself to train for a month straight to start or go a whole year, I just took it one day at a time. Do something different on some days, change the pace a bit, don't worry so much if you can't do the same things everyday, it can get boring so use your brain. It has not just become a thing for me, it's given me strength I never knew I had, it has built my mind to be creative to challenge the norm and create something out of my imagination. I've said this before, when something interesting hits me, I'm like Walt Disney my imagination scorches with burning ideas and how it can help achieve my goals. You have your own goals but do a little something everyday one day at a time even for 30 seconds; it puts a whole new meaning to the words stamina and endurance.
Be awesome everyone and have fun wherever you are.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Hints Of Conditioning From The 60 Min. Men
Back in the old days of Professional Wrestling, if you were
the world champ and you had a main event, it was common for wrestlers to go for
an hour or more draw. Now just being physically gifted is one thing, you also
needed the mentality because wrestling for that long would give the average
person a stroke if not kill them. Men like Lou Thesz, Vern Gagne, Ric Flair,
Ricky Steamboat, Jerry Brisco, Harley Race & the Funks all at certain times
in their careers had what was the called The One Hour Broadways where commonly
if there was running feud, they’d have matches that went to an hour draw or
drew from 2/3 falls. Ric Flair was considered the 60 min. man because he
constantly went that amount of time with whomever he wrestled when he was the
main guy.
Granted,
this was around the early TV era to about the late 80’s, nowadays, hour long
matches are rarely seen, mostly in the indies or every now and then Ring Of
Honor but long before the TV era, matches sometimes lasted more than 2 hours.
One match where Ed “Strangler” Lewis and I believe Joe Stecher went at it for
more than 5 hours. I couldn't sit through a match like that and I’m big on
technical/scientific wrestling. To be prepared for a match of an hour or more
is insane, the conditioning is beyond its peak and you’re mental capacity is
taken to the limit.
To even get
to that point, your training has to be at the top of your priority, even back
when wrestlers fought for real and entertainment wasn't a factor yet except in
the carnies you had to be in the best shape of your life otherwise you’re out
of a job or if you couldn't handle it, your pay was cut short. One of the best
in the game who didn't have the charisma but the physical and mental attributes
to be tireless was the late Karl Gotch. He emphasized the importance of
training your musculature from every possible angle to get the best benefit for
a match or to stay in peak physical condition. Squats, Push-ups, Bridging are
key ingredients but keep in mind the supplemental exercises that become a
factor.
One of my
favorite forms of conditioning is training like an animal in the jungle where
you learn to move in awkward positions, think about it in wrestling (not WWE
crap), you’re going to be in a position that isn’t always natural and might
need to get out of a hold or keep your opponent at bay. Training with basic
elements using multiple muscle groups keeps you in shape for the long haul.
Barbell & Dumbbell Exercises are great for moving weight but they don’t
have that same awkward positioning you have to make say like from lifting Odd Objects or moving with weight on your back.
In India where
wrestling was the sport of all sports, athletes worked in many different
aspects and most likely Physical Culture developed. They used exercises in a
more circular fashion (Hindu Squats, Hindu Push-ups, Clubs & Mace) so they
can get great benefit for when they did Jor (aka Wrestling). Their matches in
tournaments would commonly last an hour or more and the better man was usually
the one in more condition and would end up beating the opponent by a throw or a
pin or even took him by surprise when the other man was exhausted. These guys
were some of the most feared in all aspects of wrestling; the most feared of them
all was the great Gama to a degree that even American Champ Frank Gotch
wouldn't want anything to do with him. Gama’s conditioning is the stuff of
legends and although most of his matches rarely lasted more then a few minutes,
he most likely could go easily in an hour or longer bout if he wanted to, he
was that well conditioned.
You don’t
have to be a wrestler to understand conditioning but it wouldn't hurt to learn
how you can keep your endurance up in other sports say like the Ironman, Basketball,
Football, Gymnastics, even Soccer & Rugby. Every sport has specific
conditioning programs to them but if you want to be the very best, you have to
condition more than the other guy, not to compete against him in a training
session but to keep you as less tired and fatigued as possible. In the UFC,
conditioning is a tool you need more than anything else. You can punch, kick,
slap a hold on or takedown as many times as you can but if you can’t keep it up
in the later duration of the fight, you will get your ass kicked. If you want
to be in serious condition, train like you can go an hour or more without
blinking an eye.
Nobody
knows conditioning more than a wrestler does. He/she has to go through training
that breeds a special kind of athlete, to understand conditioning to the
highest level, turn to a wrestler and they’ll tell you how easy you have it
made. You don’t have to be a wrestler to be in crazy condition but it’s
important to learn the aspects of conditioning from a wrestler that’ll give you
the competitive edge over your sport and training in general. Even if you just
want to get in great shape and high levels of energy, a wrestler can give you
the best tips.
Labels:
60,
60 Min.,
60 Minutes,
Advanced Bridging,
bridging,
Bud Jeffries,
Conditioning,
Gama,
Gotch,
Karl,
Karl Gotch,
Legendary Strength,
minutes,
Push-ups,
Ric Flair,
Ricky Steamboat,
Squats,
Wrestling
Monday, October 1, 2012
In 30 Minutes Or Less
Hate to disappoint you people but the title does not mean
I’m talking about ordering a pizza. I love pizza as much as the next guy but
this is something more important than food. This is about learning to exercise
with the little time you have as possible. Training for 30 minutes isn’t always
about cardio training or doing one 30 minute workout, why not spread those 30 minutes throughout the day.
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