Archive for the ‘Exercise’ Category
26 Things I’ve Learned Through Intense Exercise
This October I’ll celebrate a personal milestone. 15 years ago on my 18th birthday, I started an intense strength training regimen while a freshman at Cornell University. At that time I was training for my Black Belt test in both Tae Kwon Do and Hap Ki Do and I figured a little extra strength and flexibility would help me when it came to that dreaded “break bricks and boards” part of the test. I didn’t know much at the time, just that lifting weights gives you muscle and protein is important for that – but that didn’t stop me from jumping in headfirst and giving it my all.
Over the last 15 years I’ve certainly had ups and downs. I’ve slacked off and felt completely out of shape for months at a time. I’ve also hit my stride many times throughout the years and realized that when I’m exercising regularly, just about everything else in my life comes into serious clarity. I’ve learned that for me, the benefits of strength training (and martial arts) are far more mental than physical. I’d tradeoff any gains in strength, size, or flexibility for the things I list below.
In 1999 I started a list of the things I’ve felt I’ve learned “in the gym” and I’ve been expanding on this list ever since. These are things that I learned as a kid (and as an adult) training in martial arts, and how I’ve since expanded my understanding through intense strength training in a gym environment. Just like other posts in the Exercise category, the things I list below are certainly not limited to the activities I perform. If you’re a dancer, a yoga practitioner, a cyclist, or a volleyball player, chances are a lot of these same lessons can be learned with your activity.
Strength Training 101
Physical conditioning, emotional strength, and mental focus are interrelated and natural precursors to one another. A strong body drives intestinal fortitude and a focused mindset just as a clear, focused mindset can develop a strong body. All three sides of the triangle are a requirement for the kind of focus this blog is all about; it’s hard to achieve self-actualization if you’re missing one of these prerequisites. This counter-balance is often described as mind-body-spirit in various spiritual practices.
It’s clear that training the mind in various ways (NLP, visualization, meditation) can help develop physical skill as much or more than rehearsal of the activity itself. But just as the mind drives the body, the body can drive the mind as well. Confidence and real strength can be derived from physical activity whether it’s through enhanced coordination, a sense of empowerment and control over something, or as an avenue for achieving flow.
Looking at empowerment and control alone, it’s clear that overcoming challenges – small and large – can increase self-esteem and confidence. And having confidence in your abilities in one area can translate to other areas of life, effectively parlaying success in one controlled arena to other potentially less controlled ones. Tony Robbins has his conference attendees walk on fire on day one of a retreat to show them how their limiting beliefs have been holding them back, and once they’ve done something they previously thought was impossible, they’re more open to tackling more personal challenges.
In many ways building muscle has this same effect on people.
4 Steps to Learn Any Physical Activity
Interested in learning a new dance step or knitting pattern? Always wanted to learn how to throw a curveball or how to surf? Learning something physical comes naturally to some people. We all know the type of person who can be shown how to do something quite elaborate and within 3 minutes is doing it themselves. For most of us however, doing something physical may not come naturally or easy even if the motivation is there.
Learning a new physical activity can be hard. You feel clumsy and awkward, you feel like you’re being watched like a hawk, and you consider quitting when you’re not getting it right. But remember: everyone starts where they are, and the best dancer/fighter/runner/juggler (or insert your interest here) was where you are now once in their life. No one is born with near-perfect coordination over their body, it always takes some time to build it.
A number of years ago I did some training at the Straight Blast Gym, one of the best mixed martial arts gyms in the world. Other than being thrown around the mat like a ragdoll by UFC champ Randy Couture (yes, I’m a name dropper), I had the privilege of training with someone who has had a profound impact on the way people train in modern martial arts. His name is Matt Thornton and the steps I’m going to outline are based on his steps for learning a new martial arts movement as covered in his original Functional Jeet Kune Do series. But this is certainly not limited to punching, kicking, or choking – as you’ll likely see, the same steps work just as well for learning just about any physical activity provided you want to do it well and do it “for real” (i.e. you don’t just want to pretend you can pull it off, you actually want to be able to pull it off in a real setting).
7 Tips to Make Exercise a Habit (and Keep It That Way)
Keeping up with regular exercise, just like most good things for you, comes down to building and maintaining habits. It’s not always easy to throw on those sweats and make the trek to the gym or the park when the comfort of your pillow is so much more inviting – especially on a cold morning. But there are ways to make that sweat a little more inviting, possibly even fun!
First, let’s start with: why exercise at all? There are obvious numerous physical benefits to exercise ranging from reduced risk of heart disease & Type II diabetes to more physical strength for everyday activities. These benefits are simply too numerous to list in a single post and should really be common knowledge at this point for anyone over the age of 10. But the hidden benefits to exercise lie not in the body but in the impact to the mind.
