It's Holistic

isometrics are good too. I do my arms by holding them out to the side with 5 pound donuts as long as I can. Also just holding your leg straight up in front of you really hurts and builds strength.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kell...I0&irpid=10078


also, when you are doing machines at the gym, do the reps slowly. it works the muscles out more and at the end of your reps, hold the pose or do mini fast ones to tax the muscles.

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Gracey

If you haven't come across Zuzka Light on you tube, she is worth a look. She doesn't do machines at the gym, but what she will do is teach you moves that will not experience on a machine. Most videos are just 5 minutes. She has some on nutrition as well.



One thing I like to do is calisthenics. It helps build the muscles around your bones the most. And don't worry about other guys lifting more than you. There are people at my gym who will press 125 pounds eight times. I will press 65 pounds 100 times. Their muscles look bigger, but they are not as strong. Bulk doesn't mean strength.



http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/how-...nics-body.html

I do chin ups and dips on an assisting machine, with a lot of assisting weight, and I can't hang off a bar for a minute before I drop, so I imagine it'll be a couple of years maybe before I work all my own body weight. I won't be doing what Light calls a 'beginner workout' or anything particularly calisthenic for a while yet, but I'm quite a bit stronger since I began, so on the up and up.

I use the big exercises like squats, deadlifts, barbell presses as well as core and (assisted) bodyweight like dips and chinups for strength building, as these engage the whole body at once, and I use dumbells for more isolated work and for a greater range of motion, and more variety of motion. I'm working it out slowly.

I imagine there will be a time when the weight body building type training will become too mundane and repetitive, and I'll become more interested in flexibility, athleticism and endurance, but for now, it's all about getting the muscle I need to be able to do the full body exercises.

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Gracey

isometrics are good too. I do my arms by holding them out to the side with 5 pound donuts as long as I can. Also just holding your leg straight up in front of you really hurts and builds strength.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kell...I0&irpid=10078


also, when you are doing machines at the gym, do the reps slowly. it works the muscles out more and at the end of your reps, hold the pose or do mini fast ones to tax the muscles.

Sure. I like isometrics and think it's important to be strong at holding still, as well moving heavy weight.

I found a good video on chin ups for beginners.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdtrfXK7bcg

[Sarian]

Originally Posted by sound

Hey you Sarian :)
Yep ... time to get that ball out of its box! says she who hasnt even looked at hers for eons ... I need a motivator ... I've never worked out intentionally ... I trained in classical ballet for years and took my fitness and mobility for granted back then as you do when you are full of youth and vitality lol maybe I will still walk the Camino ... its still on the bucket list .... I just need to know my mum is ok in my absence ...

Hey Sound!

Yeah, I do need to get the ball out. I got it just for helping with my core...then forgot about it, in fact, I forgot about it so badly I bought another LOL...and that one is still in the box too!

I used to be a gymnast in school. I LOVED it and I ran, always ran...I wanted to take ballet too but my mother said no, you can take tap dance but I nixed that. that's awesome you trained in classical ballet!!!

I started running and hiking when I decided to quit smoking figuring i'd gain 10 pounds HA (I gained 40)...even with eating right. .I changed up everything, diet, started eating right and moving...running, walking, exercising, hiking, but my gosh after all these years it's not much easier! When my lungs were clearing out holy cow...I thought I was dying lol...but that's all gone and I don't die climbing the rock stairs at one park...some parks around here due to the gorges made rock stairways which are so nice but if you are out of shape and walking up those...wow...hard to catch your breath. I can do that now but in the beginning, I thought I'd die and wanted to sit and cry like a baby. I got to where I could run up them, but I've fallen out of shape and I walk and sometimes run up them now lol. (actually that's not funny, I'm disgusted in myself haha)

[Gem]

Today is for the shoulders, and it means getting the form right for the barbell overhead press. It seems a lot of people don't do the barbell so much and and are more keen on the dumbells. Lifting a barbell takes form and coordination throughout the body, like, you wouldn't expect an barbell overhead press to use glutes, but it does, to hold the body straight and still from the legs to the back. The whole core is rigid as the weight pushes straight down, right from above, and through the whole body. People use the dumbells sitting on a bench even with a back support or flopping around in some sort of loose standing position, but the bar demands a lot, so don't miss out the barbell exercises. I use the dumbells as well of course, mainly because they allow more variety and wider range of motion, but the bar is like the staple.

[Gem]

Well, I went and worked with shoulders as I intended, and I found out that my left shoulder is not functioning properly. It is far far weaker than my right shoulder. It is very weak indeed. I didn't notice it because I have been compensating for its weakness by engaging my upper trapezius when the shoulder should be doing most of the work, and as a result, there is a lot of tension in the trap area, habitually, every time I lift my arm through the shoulder joint. My right shoulder is OK, quite strong or just as weak as the rest of me, but the left is actually not functioning.

This is actually a terrible imbalance for a lot of exercises. Any motion that incorporates the shoulder, like all the presses, are compromised.

Today I could only use 1kg dumbells, which was like nothing in my right arm, but it was all my left shoulder deltoids could manage.

[sound]

Originally Posted by Sarian

Hey Sound!

Yeah, I do need to get the ball out. I got it just for helping with my core...then forgot about it, in fact, I forgot about it so badly I bought another LOL...and that one is still in the box too!

Dont stress, It'll happen one of these lifetimes haha

Originally Posted by Sarian

I used to be a gymnast in school. I LOVED it and I ran, always ran...

I was ok at cross-country - got a ribbon or two back in the day lol that went down hill when i discovered cigarettes, and would stop for one half way through the race haha ... i gave up smoking a fair while ago now ... one of the more intelligent decisions I have made in my life ... now when i think about smoking again I get anxious and it affects my breathing ... psychosomatic but works as a preventative measure lol ...

Originally Posted by Sarian

I wanted to take ballet too but my mother said no, you can take tap dance but I nixed that. that's awesome you trained in classical ballet!!!

I wasn't a natural, but loved it all the same. It was a good discipline for me while it lasted, and i still attended class till my late teens. My teacher was very alternative for that time, and both she and her husband were also artists, and painted murals throughout their house, and the studio where we danced ...I remember one painting above their fireplace, Lord Shiva i think ... they also had a goat in the back yard, which they would milk, and offer up in our breaks lol ... I can remember many a time listening to it bleating away just outside the window while doing a lesson haha ... I still have contact after all those years actually, and am ever thankful for their inspiration ...

Originally Posted by Sarian

I started running and hiking when I decided to quit smoking figuring i'd gain 10 pounds HA (I gained 40)...even with eating right. .I changed up everything, diet, started eating right and moving...running, walking, exercising, hiking, but my gosh after all these years it's not much easier! When my lungs were clearing out holy cow...I thought I was dying lol...but that's all gone and I don't die climbing the rock stairs at one park...some parks around here due to the gorges made rock stairways which are so nice but if you are out of shape and walking up those...wow...hard to catch your breath. I can do that now but in the beginning, I thought I'd die and wanted to sit and cry like a baby. I got to where I could run up them, but I've fallen out of shape and I walk and sometimes run up them now lol. (actually that's not funny, I'm disgusted in myself haha)

Yeah diet is sooo important isnt it, along with the exercise ... i dont stick to diets and am my own worst enemy because i have enough knowledge to know what is and isn't ok for me, but I get lazy and apathetic unfortunately ...

The terrain around your place sounds wonderful ... you have probably built up your cardiovascular endurance without even realizing it just because it isn't flat ... I can relate to that feeling like the lungs are going to explode ... not so long back I went to visit a place here in Australia called Jenolan Caves ... to explore the caves (under guidance, and in a group) requires lots of climbing up stairs and there is no time for stopping to catch your breath , or to wait for the burning sensation to leave your thighs because there are at least 15/20 people behind you, all setting your pace! Its worth checking out the website ... it certainly tests the stamina but is truly magical!

http://www.bluemts.com.au/info/towns/jenolan-caves/

[Gem]

I lost the plot a bit last week, and took a rest day which wasn't scheduled, and my body was tired, so I tricked my self in the mind with some 'listen to the body' nonsense, which sounds like it should make sense, but in fact, it was lame asp excuse to be a whiny little b...aby. I often refer to the spiritual bulldust clouding up the truth, and this 'listen to the body' was just some spiritual bulldust, really. The lesson is, there are a lot of kinds of thoughts that can distract from ones self honesty and distract from what one is really all about, which is, every moment in every movement as focus.

What I think about is the mind/body connection, and in fact, the body needs to be obedient to the mind, and this notion of listening to the body is something to do with sensing what it needs to do what the mind determines it will do. The body doesn't make the decisions. It might get tired, but it does not make the decisions.

As a result of my self deception 'listen to the body' nonsense, I missed a day's training, which means one part of the body did not do work last week.

Watch your thoughts, because if they are not saying something constructive, but rather, playing clever tricks that end up with saying 'not today', that's not the voice one should allow to guide their life. There is a real voice in there, but it never becomes loud, it's always regular because it remains intent, and is easily drowned out by the one who speaks in negative reactive tones.

Tomorrow begins a new week. It starts with abs/core, and if I want to do two sessions, I'll work the chest after lunch. That sounds like the plan. I need to become a lot more conscious of what I really want, and come to clearly recognise the voice that sounds like a little...

In retrospect, though, I was trying to work out a good schedule, so I'll say it went wrong, but that's just some 'teething problems'. I have worked out a reasonable routine now, so the easiest way for me is simply say, I have a training schedule and just do it - no second thoughts.

[Gem]

I went to work on abs/core, mainly the front abs and obliques, as I have separate day where I work on the back + glutes. I was working for 2.5 hours, so it was a pretty decent effort. I relish the pain! It feels good because the blood is rushing into the muscles and it's a nice warm burn.

My problem area is overall body strength so when I do the large full body compound movements I run out of steam and I have to do short sets of about 8-10 reps. I prefer to do 15 reps and really push through that barrier in the last 3 or 4. I add enough weight so that I burn out and fail or have to really go hard to complete the last set. I like it most when the pain is intense and the muscles are right on failure, then pushing out 2 or 3 more. It's only really working when I have to grunt hahaha.

[Gem]

Today I worked on the chest, which means benchpress and flies basically, but there are different ways of using dumbells and barbells, cables, and machines, along with body exercises such as pushups, and in my case I also include dips.

In my shoulder workout last week I noticed a pronounced weakness on my left, and I knew that would effect my presses. It certainly did. The good thing is, whereas I used to understand my body as weak, by working it part by part, just one part each day, I am learning exactly how it is weak, exactly which muscles are weak, exactly where it's not balanced between left and right, and also about the joints as well.

It's a new sort of body awareness for me. More that just being body aware in the sensations, this work is bringing awareness of healthy body function. I can address weaknesses and make them stronger, as well as balancing the strength disparity between left and right. As I persist I will not only become stronger, but stronger all over, in every muscle and joint.