We all know the importance of working out to ensure adequate health and well being, not to mention the psychological benefits of exercise, there’s plenty of documentation on this.
I recently began training with a friend of a friend who happens to be a Jiu-Jitsu, instructor.
Now, I was not really expecting much from a guy who states that you can’t work out more than 3 times a week and that these workouts should last no more than 45 minutes in the gym. In my head, this was impossible, you NEED to stress your muscles in order for them to grow, what he was proposing was just too little. However, he has a very athletic physique with minimal body fat, so I figured I’d train with him just to see if the whole thing worked.
The first day, I was impressed, he quickly pointed out how my form was all wrong, I had NO idea, doing the exercise in the “Proper form” kept me from using the weight I regularly use, we did Dumbbell Presses (both flat and inclined) combined with Parallel Chin Ups and Seated Rows. At the end of the work out I was DEAD! I could barely breathe; I was sweating like a piece of meat on a barbecue grill. I also had an incredible pump; this was one of the first times in a long while where I felt like a really worked out in every possible sense!
Since then, I’ve been following the man’s advice; I look and feel much stronger as I’ve strengthened my body’s core. I FEEL GREAT!
We should pay more attention to how we exercise; I totally recommend training with a Certified Instructor, heck, if you can afford it, try a Sports Medicine doctor, you can get the most of your time at the gym and get the results you want in a more effective manner.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Fear of Death
I was talking to a friend today and she spoke of her worst fear: “death”. She mentioned how the thought of dying would cripple her with freight; this is, in my view, kind of bizarre, since we are ALL going to die, yes, even you!!! And we don’t have an expiration date either, we can die in the next few hours, it’s a real possibility, maybe not highly likely but still possible.
I told her: “Let’s suppose you were born with an expiration date and you knew you were going to live for 73 years, 6 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 14 hours, 35 minutes and 16 seconds. Would it make sense to spend ALL of this time dreading the inevitable, knowing that the moment of your death is unavoidable? The answer is a resounding HECK NO!! you’re going to want to live those years to the limit, have as many strong emotions as you can, get pleasure from life, not worry about anything, enjoy the little things, the big ones, all of them!! You want to be able to say your life was worth living, that you were happy, made a difference in people’s lives, you were loved, admired and respected and those you left behind are sad, but content knowing you lived life the way it was meant to be lived. This would give you such a great sense of peace and well being, that you will see death for what it is, the natural culmination of one’s existence.”
She was brought about, I guess she was just expecting me to ridicule her for having such a childish fear, but no, it’s natural to be afraid of death, we are programmed to live, we are instinctively prepared to survive, death is the last option in our mind’s and body’s design.
So I asked her: “when you play a game, let’s say basketball, you play to win and sometimes you do others you don’t, either way the game ends. That’s life, a game, win or loose, it ends, so let’s go out there and win it!! Let’s make the best out of this game and WIN, let’s be prosperous and happy, so that once the games DOES end you can quickly look back and say like Sinatra: I did it my way…..
I told her: “Let’s suppose you were born with an expiration date and you knew you were going to live for 73 years, 6 months, 2 weeks, 6 days, 14 hours, 35 minutes and 16 seconds. Would it make sense to spend ALL of this time dreading the inevitable, knowing that the moment of your death is unavoidable? The answer is a resounding HECK NO!! you’re going to want to live those years to the limit, have as many strong emotions as you can, get pleasure from life, not worry about anything, enjoy the little things, the big ones, all of them!! You want to be able to say your life was worth living, that you were happy, made a difference in people’s lives, you were loved, admired and respected and those you left behind are sad, but content knowing you lived life the way it was meant to be lived. This would give you such a great sense of peace and well being, that you will see death for what it is, the natural culmination of one’s existence.”
She was brought about, I guess she was just expecting me to ridicule her for having such a childish fear, but no, it’s natural to be afraid of death, we are programmed to live, we are instinctively prepared to survive, death is the last option in our mind’s and body’s design.
So I asked her: “when you play a game, let’s say basketball, you play to win and sometimes you do others you don’t, either way the game ends. That’s life, a game, win or loose, it ends, so let’s go out there and win it!! Let’s make the best out of this game and WIN, let’s be prosperous and happy, so that once the games DOES end you can quickly look back and say like Sinatra: I did it my way…..
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