It's Holistic

[Sarian]

Originally Posted by sound

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


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 ...


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 ...




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/

Hey sound! Hey Gem!

I'll have to check out that link!

As for smoking, been there, done that...(Gem have you quit smoking yet???) I remember that pic Gem had used as his avatar one time with the cig hanging out of his mouth. LOL... I mentioned somewhere that after I quit smoking, I had a terrible craving one day when an ex relative came over and was smoking...I asked for one and enjoyed it for about 1 minute if that when a headache came on fast and furious along with nausea and I puked my guts out. Now when I smell smoke even that same feeling of wanting to barf my guts out comes back and whoaaaaaaaaa! No thank you!

Your memories of dancing and the instructor's house is lovely!

LOL I can totally relate to your experience with all the people behind you! I still get the burning and all. I want to cry lol...when I'm out and I see people coming up behind me, instant dread comes over me hahahaha! I suck it up and run like mad up the hills or stairs to get up and away from them simply because I don't want them to hear my heavy breathing or delay them if I'm in agony LOL! Then I pat myself on the back for a good workout getting swiftly up the stairs or hills. Sometimes I'm going up and someone is going down. I close my mouth so they can't hear me gasping at times hahaha, and then I realize my nostrils are flaring like a wild horse running in an attempt compensate for not doing same out of my mouth..good grief!!! Anyway, your story made me laugh!

Gem, how's your shoulder? Be careful not to tear your rotator cuff or any of those muscles...that pic you included made me feel as though I was taking my muscle practical in A & P class in college again. Sigh.

I have a sciatic nerve issue going on for months now. I'm currently being treated by my acupuncturist for it. It's truly a pain in the you know what. Hahaha..

Slows me down in the morning. Yesterday the acupuncturist, same as 2 weeks ago), hooked up electricity to the needles...it's rather nice, like a nice half hour massage only with electrical currents...but when he takes the needles out and then uses the electrode pads...they do feel good too but I told him to crank it up OMG! (edited by me) it started off like feeling like a cat massage that then turned into a cat fight. He had them on my back, outer thigh and just under my butt cheek too and ooie owie....talk about sensitive (the thigh!). I did a lot of practicing relaxation because I was finding myself tightening up more! Hopefully it will rid me of sciatica like it did carpel tunnel.

Cheers to you both!

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Sarian

Hey sound! Hey Gem!

I'll have to check out that link!

As for smoking, been there, done that...(Gem have you quit smoking yet???) I remember that pic Gem had used as his avatar one time with the cig hanging out of his mouth. LOL... I mentioned somewhere that after I quit smoking, I had a terrible craving one day when an ex relative came over and was smoking...I asked for one and enjoyed it for about 1 minute if that when a headache came on fast and furious along with nausea and I puked my guts out. Now when I smell smoke even that same feeling of wanting to barf my guts out comes back and whoaaaaaaaaa! No thank you!

Your memories of dancing and the instructor's house is lovely!

LOL I can totally relate to your experience with all the people behind you! I still get the burning and all. I want to cry lol...when I'm out and I see people coming up behind me, instant dread comes over me hahahaha! I suck it up and run like mad up the hills or stairs to get up and away from them simply because I don't want them to hear my heavy breathing or delay them if I'm in agony LOL! Then I pat myself on the back for a good workout getting swiftly up the stairs or hills. Sometimes I'm going up and someone is going down. I close my mouth so they can't hear me gasping at times hahaha, and then I realize my nostrils are flaring like a wild horse running in an attempt compensate for not doing same out of my mouth..good grief!!! Anyway, your story made me laugh!

Gem, how's your shoulder? Be careful not to tear your rotator cuff or any of those muscles...that pic you included made me feel as though I was taking my muscle practical in A & P class in college again. Sigh.

I have a sciatic nerve issue going on for months now. I'm currently being treated by my acupuncturist for it. It's truly a pain in the you know what. Hahaha..

Slows me down in the morning. Yesterday the acupuncturist, same as 2 weeks ago), hooked up electricity to the needles...it's rather nice, like a nice half hour massage only with electrical currents...but when he takes the needles out and then uses the electrode pads...they do feel good too but I told him to crank it up OMG! (edited by me) it started off like feeling like a cat massage that then turned into a cat fight. He had them on my back, outer thigh and just under my butt cheek too and ooie owie....talk about sensitive (the thigh!). I did a lot of practicing relaxation because I was finding myself tightening up more! Hopefully it will rid me of sciatica like it did carpel tunnel.

Cheers to you both!

I still like my coffee and cigs, but the cigs aren't healthy and I really should go without. It's my last vice, and who the hell am I if not addicted to something? Maybe I'll be gym junkie ad just need that fix.

Funny post wild horses. I push through the burn till I hardly do the lift, and make a range of animal noises. Sometimes I hear other barn yard critters around me and I'm like, I feel ya, bro.

I talked to a trainer yesterday, telling him my problems with weakness i the squats where I just can't make the body do that motion, and the left shoulder which reduced me to 1kg weights (while the right can do at least 5x that). He said it's a good idea to see a physiotherapist who can recommend specific exercises for body function issues before taking on personal fitness training, and I was like, sounds like too much hassle for too much money, so I'll see how I go.

The nerve issue sounds bad, but acupuncture sounds like fun. I haven't worked in some years, not had a 'real job' for over a decade, so I'm scint, and I don't want to dive into my meagre nest egg to pay for a lot of services. If I was earning the big bucks, ad not on benefits, I'd go the whole hog and really sort it all out with professionals, but as it is, I'll have to muddle through on my own, and be the healthiest bum on the street.

[Gem]

Today I worked on legs, and I made good progress by getting the full motion of squats, which I couldn't do last week. I held a post in front of me and walked my hands up and down it to support the movement, then went on the Smith machine and did squats unassisted. I felt good about that, and it won't be long now before I start adding a bit of weight, and then move off the machine and use the barbell instead. Using barbell means I have to control the weight from moving as well as controlling the rage of motion, so that becomes a full body exercise as I have to hold everything steady and also move through the motion. The legs themselves are OK, and left=right in that department.

[Gem]

Not to mention my awesome butt!

[Gem]

I worked on the back today, and although I still cannot correctly do a deadlift, I was so much improved and almost able to do that whole motion. Squats and deadlift are a bit of an issue, but I keep going as best I can, and before long will be fine. My weight in the rows was increased, as I have good pretty technique in them now, and next time I'll start with 10kg dumbells, and increase from there. Chinups still very weak but I expect to improve, and I'll drop the weight on the assist machine next week (increases the lift of body weight).

I learned more about that little b voice today, because I was actually tired having worked hard for 3 days in a row, and felt sluggish and weak from the get go. The b was saying stuff like, maybe you need a rest day, or, its actually true you need to 'listen to your body' (tricking me into believing the b voice was my body talking), I was so tempted to go with that voice because it's easier, less pain, but I had learned last week, so I was like, "OK 2 more sets of chinups... 1,2,3,4,5,..."

I must admit, I was rooted when I got home, and I had a lie down, and was out like a light.

[Gem]

Shoulders today. Weakness in the left means I only use 1,2 and 3 kg dumbells. The right could do more, but I work according to the left. The negative voice was at me again this morning, trying to get me to dip out, by I was like, 'Time for gym'.

[Sarian]

Went for my morning run at 6...was lazy to get up at 5 or 5:30...Now I'm going to do a work out program. Thanks for being such an inspiration, Gem. ;-)

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Sarian

Went for my morning run at 6...was lazy to get up at 5 or 5:30...Now I'm going to do a work out program. Thanks for being such an inspiration, Gem. ;-)

I did have a secret hope that readers would be inspired to get the body moving, because I started 6 weeks ago with a really low health status, as I explained, to the point where body parts were starting to shut down for good, and I am climbing out from a very low position looking ahead to being very strong as an older guy. I can imagine a decade of doing what I'm doing now will makes me a very strong 60 year old, and a good looking one as well. Without it, I would be deteriorating over the same decade and by 60 be podgy, weak and with failing body parts, probably with high medical bills, and also just miserable.

I mean, working out is like the wonder drug for emotional states as well, and being stagnant and doing a ton of brain work at university was so damn depressing. I really don't like writing academic hogwash, but I figure it is still improving me as a writer in general. Now I'm thinking that I need to find a style which isn't academic exactly, because I get depressed just reading academic papers, and even the thought of reading intellectualised droll fills me with dread. I watch videos on bodybuilding, powerlifting, athletics, flexibility, cardio, motion and strength, and I feel inspired... I work the body=feel good. I work the brain=feel bad.

I am inspired by runners like you, because I can manage maybe 5 minutes jog on a treadmill, but my cardio endurance is practically nil, and flexibility is terrible too. Imagine I used to do martial arts and... so flexible... all lost now, though.

Once I get the strength training properly organised I will start including cardio and flexibility into the routine, as I want all round body strength, fitness, flexibility and aesthetics, as I enter my second half century of life (I'm just about to turn 49).

[Gem]

I went, worked harder, and have developed a stronger mind-muscle connection.

To me it's:

Education: learning the anatomy and which exercises work which parts

Diet: Food is fuel. Ensuring the body has the fuel it needs to work and grow muscle.

Exercise: A routine which has to be kept as a discipline.

The over all virtues are being determined - it will be done. Being truthful and not making up bulldust excuses to slacken off. Being disciplined as knowing it takes work to get good health outcomes. Being mentally prepared as knowing what you are going to do and what it takes to do it. Being focused - leaving the distracting 'voices' at the door and keeping ones mind on the movement while feeling the muscle work. Stay in the moment - always 'know' what you are doing now, and how that feels momentarily, and do not become impatient for a session to be over, or enter vanity wanting quick and easy results - the future is your enemy. Stay on track - stick to it no matter what, because there will be off days when you can't be stuffed, no matter, and there will be good days when the energy runs high. Work through hard times and work with good times. You are the boss, and you determine what will be done.

Live it, for it is a health lifestyle, and a healthy practice will result in healthy outcomes.

That's my philosophy. The Tao of Gym. Hahaha.

[naturesflow]

Originally Posted by Gem

I went, worked harder, and have developed a stronger mind-muscle connection.

To me it's:

Education: learning the anatomy and which exercises work which parts

Diet: Food is fuel. Ensuring the body has the fuel it needs to work and grow muscle.

Exercise: A routine which has to be kept as a discipline.

The over all virtues are being determined - it will be done. Being truthful and not making up bulldust excuses to slacken off. Being disciplined as knowing it takes work to get good health outcomes. Being mentally prepared as knowing what you are going to do and what it takes to do it. Being focused - leaving the distracting 'voices' at the door and keeping ones mind on the movement while feeling the muscle work. Stay in the moment - always 'know' what you are doing now, and how that feels momentarily, and do not become impatient for a session to be over, or enter vanity wanting quick and easy results - the future is your enemy. Stay on track - stick to it no matter what, because there will be off days when you can't be stuffed, no matter, and there will be good days when the energy runs high. Work through hard times and work with good times. You are the boss, and you determine what will be done.

Live it, for it is a health lifestyle, and a healthy practice will result in healthy outcomes.

That's my philosophy. The Tao of Gym. Hahaha.

I hear you. I do.

Discipline yes..I have it in me somewhere, just need to find it.