Posts Tagged ‘workout’
Don’t get me wrong, I can work out anywhere. It does seem to take superhuman determination to actually kick it into gear when you are away from home. I have been on 2 short trip over the last 6 days, and I was only motivated to work out 2 nights while I was gone, and neither of these workouts compared in intensity to my normal regimen. When I know I am gone for 3-5 days at a clip and I am going to check a bag I can easily bring weight bands, and maybe even collapsible push up stands, but on the short overnights or 2 dayers I am just taking a carry-on and space is key.
So there is the rub, I am not motivated to work out when I get off a plane. (especially when I have been traveling for 5-8 hrs) If I don’t have even a bit of fitness gear with me I am not motivated to kick it into high gear in my room. (Lots of push ups, sit ups, squats, lunges, etc. Body weight work) And most hotel gyms just plain suck.
When I grab a video and take it with, I am much more motivated to kick it into high gear, but if I don’t have even weight bands as equipment my motivation wains. I know there is a new “traveling workout” video coming from Tony Horton, and I can’t wait for it. But the key thing for me to tackle is finding the energy to move when I feeling the timezone shift. It is so much easier to settle into a good pint of Guinness.
Oh well. It is good to be home where I can train hard, and feel normal.
For all you P90X lovers out there, I have to tell you that Tony Horton out did himself. I received my 1st Tony Horton One on One video a few weeks back, and today I busted it out. HOLY CRAP! This video makes the Plyometrics video seem easy. And if you are doing P90X, you can let out that moan now. OUCH!
I really like the “non produced” feel of the video, and you know Tony was working his ass off when he made it. (He is suffering there with you) This video is exactly how I work without a video. (So, why use the video you ask? Well, it is good motivation. I like to do better than Tony, and 9 out of 10 times I do. [he is still a pull up god, and his balance moves are really hard to beat] And it is easy. I do like to put together my workouts, but with life getting in the way [hey, I have had a hard time blogging I am so busy lately] I am glad I found a ass kicking routine I can just focus on doing. Not having to worry if I overdid a muscle group, or should have picked a different move. Sometimes being instructed is OK, only when that instruction is not working or is just stupid from the get go we need to find an alternative. [See this years election]
Well. I am a fan of Tony Horton, that goes without saying. Because of his videos and my drive to get better I am 36 going on 28. The only complaint I have now that I have done this new video…it hurts. And that isn’t a complaint with the video, it is with me. I need to master it, get better, stronger and take it to yet a new level. Woo Hoo, another hill to climb!
For me the title statement can be applied to all parts of my life, so I am going to really narrow it down to just a few of my fitness experiences.
I think I was pretty fortunate early in my fitness “career.” The summer before I began high school (was 1986 that log ago?) I began doing Mantis Kung Fu, and because of this I met a number of people who “had a clue” about training. The other really memorable thing that happened that summer; I was introduced to Gene Weiss who ran a fitness Club in Euclid, OH. (Talk about sipping from a fire hose, this guy knew his shit! AND NO WISE CRACKS!) So on or around the same time I began to take “getting in shape” seriously, I was able to blend what I was learning about stretching, intent and form from martial arts, with the weight training techniques and exercise plans I was getting at Gene Weiss’s Raquettime. (The first real gym I went to) Who knew that some 20 years later, everything I was taught still would have significant value?
I believe “proper form” is the most important part of all workouts. If you don’t have proper form, when you are training (this applies to much more than weight training), you can hurt yourself or not target muscle groups correctly. Intensity, is nearly as important as form, and if it is lacking you might as well stop before you begin. Intensity is a combination of mental focus, breathing, intent, desire and heart. If you train without intensity you end up not getting the results you want and I find you ultimately lose the desire to keep going. (No progress leads to feeling like what are you are doing is a waste of time) The thing about intensity is that once you learn how to apply it, you can use it in all aspects of your life, not just training.
It is funny how mood affects intensity, but even more so, how upping your intensity will significantly improve your mood. How many times have you not worked out because you felt blah? And how many time have you gotten over the blah hump, made yourself work out, and then felt better for it? (Most times unless you are coming down with the flu or something) Think of focus, intent, desire and heart as lenses, and intensity as the light shining though them. If you want to get the light to burn a hole through paper, you would need to move the lenses to target the beam into a point. Depending on where one lens is stuck on a given try, you have to adjust the others to compensate. The same holds true for the intensity in you.
If you don’t “feel like” working out, you need to motivate yourself to do it. Focus on why you are staying fit, embrace that desire to look good, or feel good, or whatever it is that got you started. Get your heart pumping, and your energy level up, and focus your intent to do better than you did the last time. All of these things will kick up your intensity, and get you motivated, and help you carry though that workout with high energy.
When I work out, I try to keep my intensity way up. And anyone who has ever worked out with me, or near me for that matter, will never tell you otherwise. When I begin working out, I get in my training mindset which is to kick my own ass, and take myself to the limit. (Unless I am doing Sambo and Jud is around, then I like to crack jokes, and talk smack) I am a loud, grunty, face making jackass who says things like “You can do one more you wimp!” and “Do it you wussy!” to himself. And I don’t mean a quite whisper or in my head, but out loud as I am struggling to get that last rep out. This is the kind of weird self motivation that keeps me pushing with everything I have. (I used to get odd looks in those commercial gyms, in hardcore gyms it is more the norm)
What I am trying to say is working out without intensity is like having sex with no passion. It may feel like you are doing something, but in the end you are just going through the motions.
-Rob