Being In The Moment of Movement

Today's training was my typical Monday workout. It's clubwork. it's always clubwork and maybe some sprinting. Today, I hearkened to some fine words while grinding out my reps. Concentrating on the feeling of moving the club, rather than just moving it. I became aware of subtleties that have plagued past workouts where I became frustrated with my lack of skill, and more often than not, blaming the poorly executed rep on too heavy a weight or being too tired. 

Using An Adex Club For Leg Training

 I do perform 'tune up' metcons on my off days. Either doing clubwork Tabatas or 100+ rep schemes that serve 3 purposes. The first is the obvious, to build endurance and burn the fat off my belly. Second reason is to do some opposite direction work from my normal clubwork training. The third and becoming the more important reason, is to practice the movements I do for heavy training days with a lighter weight. If you are a veteran of heavy clubwork, then you know the difference between doing an inside mill with a 15 pound club vs. a 35 pound club. If you aren't, you need to try this shit out! Back to my point - I use my Adex Club set to 15 pounds for my 'off' days. This way, I get the high reps and concentrate on where the club is, how it rotates, and what each part of my arm and body is doing. This changes to me controlling the club rather than letting it hurl itself around me.

 I first took notice of being in the moment of exercise when I read Scott Shetler's Abundant Health article about QiGong and being in the moment of performing a movement in a relaxed state. Concentrate on the flow of energy when doing QiGong or Tai Chi. Chip Conrad also has numerous articles that he's written about enjoying the moment of exercise. Chip says that we shouldn't look at exercise as drudgery, but to study it while actually doing it, to gauge how our body feels and where it is in space. This may sound very 'heady' and almost spiritual, but it opens up the mind's eye to better performance for the next time we attempt that movement. This practice has taught me when I up the weight on my club, I have to process the movement to be sure it's going correctly.

 The gist of the story is to practice movement, especially complex movements. Revert back on your off days to some lighter work and take the time to 'feel' what is going on. You'll surprise yourself when you hit the gym on your regular days and feel the progress in your body. It's the beginning of the difference between being good and being great. Move and enjoy it.

Defining Toughness

 When recently asked what toughness was. I gave it some thought, and what came to mind was an excerpt of Teddy Roosevelt's great speech "Citizenship In A Republic" and it's passage;

 "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." 

 Physical strength can be measured by lifting a weight, by running a race, or swimming a distance. Toughness has to be shown. It is shown when the underdog defeats a champion. It is shown, when, even if one fails, he pulls himself up to rally at it another time. Toughness is the tenacity one attacks a challenge with, not yielding a single drop of sweat until it's laid to rest. 

 Toughness isn't learned. It resides deep within us, and has to be coaxed from one's heart. When you see a man with a shovel and the hole he is charged to dig is large, will his strength determine the speed at which he digs, or will it be his persistence to get that task done? Sure, the strong will have an easier go at it, but it's the toughness of that man, when his strength is all but gone, to get that hole dug. Holding fast to your beliefs is toughness. Facing fears is toughness. Following through on a project is toughness. Adhering to a routine is toughness. Being uncomfortable without complaint is toughness. Effort is toughness.

 In this day of automation and instant gratification, is our toughness being washed away from us? Do we as humans have the guts to participate in the very things that defined the generations before us? Is the toughness that helped us flourish as a species dwindling from our very DNA to the point that future generations will crumble from the weight of world? One would hope not. Challenge yourself, make yourself tougher, the rest of humanity is watching.

Keeping It New

 It seems that for many of us, fitness is a way of life, and it seems, that it has always been our way. Throughout the lay-offs, injuries, and excuses about not having the time, we have begun a hundred beginnings and still persist. Fitness is ingrained in the human DNA. We are born both hunter and gatherer. Nature has given us the natural ability to chase a meal for miles and carry it home, or spend the day bending repetitiously to only have to carry the bounty back to our dwellings. The human body was designed for hard physical work but the advent of industrialization reduced much of that activity. 

 Now a days, we humans seek out ways to be active beyond our jobs. We join gyms and do the prescribed 3 X 10 workout of bench press to get our activity. After some time, that activity becomes rote, boring, and common. We have an inherent desire to try something different but don't know what or, even worse, don't know what will be an acceptable form of exercise to our peers. Try telling your bench press only buddies that you go to yoga class. Tell the ladies in the spinning class that you do 300 front swings with a 16kg kettlebell. The looks and comments that follow will sometimes amaze, keep in mind the fact that kettlebells and yoga are pretty common forms of fitness. Despite the exposure to the mindless comments, some continue to learn new ways to train, to stay strong, and challenge ourselves.

 Our peer groups seem to not invite change, especially when it has to do with the betterment of one of the individuals. Hierarchy is now challenged. The once leader of the bench press group is now trumped by the curious individual's discovery of a new way. Defense mode starts in the form of negativity toward the new activity by berating it. "Yoga is for women." "300 swings with that heavy thing? You'll look like a man." These comments are meant to determine others from joining and sometimes they work. For the most part, the curious individual continues his new found passion and becomes the trail blazer, leaving the others to discover unconventional fitness when it becomes more mainstream. Look at Crossfit, once known as circuit training in its primitive form, had no appeal to us in Junior High School. The reason? No scheduled heavy movements and the added running, so the common conception was it was for girls. Speaking of girls, they were encouraged to 'shape and tone' then. This was tunnel vision of the first degree. Looking back, if anyone had kept on doing circuit training from the '70's until now, they'd be smashing WOD's like crazy today.

 The sum of this article is a slight delve into the realities of discovering a new fitness trend - especially an unconventional one. The world longs for change yet refuses it in the same breath. We have all the proof about fitness, and yet, on it's most exposed level is still it is a cult, a sub-culture lying deep beneath a potato chip and onion dip crusted society that lays on excuses formed by negativity. This conditioning makes it harder for those who have broken through that crust, embraced a form of fitness, yet refuse to see another. Only the brave who will explore other paths, openly regarding all movement as fitness, will truly achieve a life of effortless motion.   

I'm Not Trying To Live Forever

We all have that friend, the one who says, "I'd rather enjoy life than watch what I eat, how much I drink or waste time exercising, because you've got to die from something." 

 Yeah, we'll all die from something that goes without debate, case closed. The response to the above statement is an important question - how will you live the last 20 years of your life? Granted that there are no guarantees especially on your health, we all know that, but what if you could lessen the possibilities of being dependent on the medical industry to keep you alive and moving? What if you could lessen the possibilities of being a burden to your loved ones?

 There is no need to reference the benefits of a sound diet and movement. We were born to move, from our very first hours out of the womb we began to develop motor coordination and it shouldn't stop as we grow older. Our bodies, like our minds need to be stimulated and challenged throughout the course of our lifetimes. 

 I am not going to cite references here, no medical stats, no feely good sugar coated anything. This is full on, hard core stuff that everyone needs to address in their lifetimes. The information is out there. The people to help you are out there. You just need to get off of your ass and begin to do something because the more you sit, the closer you are to being a burden. You'll spend your life's savings, your family's money on medicines and doctors instead of enjoying your retirement. 

 So begin doing something - anything today and let it progress. After all, you have to die from something but try to live a full life until the very end.

I Like To Call It Clubwork

by Don Giafardino

 Unconventional fitness is on the rise and is becoming a big business in the fitness industry. All sorts of equipment and implements are being used to train ourselves for the real world. Instructors using sandbags, wheelbarrows, and sleds are showing up at gyms everywhere and for good reason, after all, who does a bench press movement when not training? This makes perfect sense and one of the oldest, if not the oldest fitness tool ever developed is making a huge come back and it’s the club. You read that right, the club as in that big bat portrayed in comics of cavemen.

 Club training was used by ancient warriors to develop the strength and speed necessary to do battle with sword, spear, and shield. Many of the training movements in clubwork emulate sword strikes, spear throws, and shield swings.  The development of bi-lateral coordination is also a huge benefit. Have you ever tried to throw a ball with your non-dominant hand? Over time clubwork will develop your nervous system and musculature to give you the proper mechanics to use the non-dominant side of your body with a higher degree of proficiency. Think of the warrior who injures his dominant arm and is now able to continue in battle using his other. Also, with this development comes the lessening of injuries which most commonly plague the weaker side of the body such as hip, low back, and shoulder problems.

  Now that you have read this far, it’s time to introduce the club itself. Standard modern clubs are called leverage clubs, power clubs, Indian clubs, and Clubbells®. They are made in various weights starting at 1 pound and going over 80 pounds. Most are now made from metal and some are still produced in wood. Almost all clubs are manufactured in set weights (pounds or kilos) like dumbbells. Before you sneer at the seemingly light weight scale, consider going outdoors with a shovel and holding that shovel straight out at arms length. The average variety garden shovel weighs in at 4 pounds. A 25 pound club generates about 700 foot pounds of torque when swung. Pictured to the     left is a 25 pound Adex Adjustable Exercise Club®, it adjusts to 6 different weight settings. The shape of clubs are basically the same consisting of a muzzle or end, a barrel, handle, and knob. Most exercises are performed by holding the handle with one or both hands though some are done by holding the barrel and handle or just by the knob.                                                            

 Adex Adjustable Exercise Club

 Key rules to remember when beginning clubwork is good posture - chest up, neutral back, shoulders blades pressed downward. Your grip will be determined by the movement such as a straight, full handed grip for heavy swings and presses verses a relaxed thumb and two finger grip for lighter, complex swings involving wrist and elbow articulation. Grip placement on the handle is also a factor in that it changes the leverage weight of the club. Gripping the club near the barrel decreases the force of leverage while gripping further down the handle closer to the knob increases it, so the same weight club can be fine tuned to each user.  Remember to have a clear, open area with plenty of space and height - you are adding almost another 2 feet to your arm length. Also, watch for pets and children.

 Clubwork exercises will add a new dimension to your training whether it is for strength, rehab, or endurance. The exercise are multi-linear, meaning they work muscles throughout a complete range of motion or ROM. Most weight training exercises are single or two planed movements which don’t allow the muscle, tendons, and ligaments to travel their full range. This alone is what makes clubwork an excellent choice as a stand alone training system or as supplemental training to another modality. Clubs are also an awesome tool for pre/rehabbing injuries, especially the shoulders, back, arms, and chest due to the full ROM and traction on the connective tissues.

 When trying clubwork for the first time, don’t be fooled by the weight. A 25 pound dumbbell may seem light but a 25 pound club is serious business. Most men tend to do well with a 15 pounder while most women could use a 10 pound club. These weights prove challenging for basic two hand and some one handed movements. Big two handed moves strengthen the whole body, including the legs. There are many good instructional videos online to learn how to use the clubs but nothing is better than a certified instructor. 

An I, I, I Article

Today's training was my typical Monday workout. It's clubwork. it's always clubwork and maybe some sprinting. Today, I hearkened to some fine words while grinding out my reps. Concentrating on the feeling of moving the club, rather than just moving it. I became aware of subtleties that have plagued past workouts where I became frustrated with my lack of skill, and more often than not, blaming the poorly executed rep on too heavy a weight or being too tired. 

 I do perform 'tune up' metcons on my off days. Either doing clubwork Tabatas or 100+ rep schemes that serve 3 purposes. The first is the obvious, to build endurance and burn the fat off my belly. Second reason is to do some opposite direction work from my normal clubwork training. The third and becoming the more important reason, is topractice the movements I do for heavy training days with a lighter weight. If you are a veteran of heavy clubwork, then you know the difference between doing an inside mill with a 15 pound club vs. a 35 pound club. If you aren't, you need to try this shit out! Back to my point - I use my Adex Club set to 15 pounds for my 'off' days. This way, I get the high reps and concentrate on where the club is, how it rotates, and what each part of my arm and body is doing. This changes to me controlling the club rather than letting it hurl itself around me.

 I first took notice of being in the moment of exercise when I read Scott Shetler's Abundant Health article about QiGong and being in the moment of performing a movement in a relaxed state. Concentrate on the flow of energy when doing QiGong or Tai Chi. Chip Conrad also has numerous articles that he's written about enjoying the moment of exercise. Chip says that we shouldn't look at exercise as drudgery, but to study it while actually doing it, to gauge how our body feels and where it is in space. This may sound very 'heady' and almost spiritual, but it opens up the mind's eye to better performance for the next time we attempt that movement. This practice has taught me when I up the weight on my club, I have to process the movement to be sure it's going correctly.

 The gist of the story is to practice movement, especially complex movements. Revert back on your off days to some lighter work and take the time to 'feel' what is going on. You'll surprise yourself when you hit the gym on your regular days and feel the progress in your body. It's the beginning of the difference between being good and being great. Move and enjoy it.