THE BENEFITS OF YOGA TRAINING

 

A few months ago I encountered a 60-something year old Indian psychotherapist on a flight from Mumbai. This elderly man was impressively vibrant and flexible for his age. In fact, he was capable of performing a full split and he displayed this ability, attributing his extraordinary flexibility to a strict regime of Yoga training.

 

 

Yoga teaches us how to adopt a new lifestyle, which is the key to permanent change. It offers the practitioner what few other physical exercises can: a potent combination of ancient science and self-mastery, tools that facilitate the self-reflection required to discover why one gained weight in the first place, and the ability to literally (as they say in yoga-speak) "let it go."

Where yoga really shines is when it stays true to its origins, as a science that fosters the union of all aspects of being, rallying us to discipline, helping us to slow down mentally, teaching us to distinguish between the urge to eat and the emotional impulses that sometimes drive us to eat, and helping us to discern what we are truly hungry for.

Yoga can be practised from the comfort of your home. All you need are some comfortable clothes and a yoga mat and you are good to go.  It is light on the joints and the chances of injury, if done initially under the guidance of a trained professional – are minimal.

 

 The incredible message you receive with yoga is that it's not about achieving, or losing weight—although most people do. It's about being, which is really just accepting yourself just as you are

SUPER SOLDIER TRAINING

I have long wondered what it would take to build yourself into a super soldier, an individual with superior mental and physical capabilities operating well beyond what is considered humanly possible. A person with immense strength and endurance, supplemented with impressive fighting skills. I have studied the training styles of warrior civilizations whose status as Super soldiers have been respected by their bitter enemies. Civilizations such as the Zulu, Spartans, the Vikings and the Ninja (arguably the best warriors of all).

I have been working on developing the super human endurance and strength of a super soldier whilst retaining superior mental alertness.

 

Stamina

The Supersoldier needs a very high level of stamina to perform at an optimal operational level, as they are constantly on the move and must have an unending supply of energy. A shoulder should be able to march for hours and still retain the strength to deliver a good fight when he confronts his enemy.

 

Stamina can be built in two ways, by rowing and by walking. Rowing exercises in addition to working your heart and lungs, require you to pull with your arms and drive with your feet, thereby building your biceps, trapezius, hip flexors, quadriceps and calves. Try rowing 10,000 meters in 20 minutes, and I can assure you that every muscle in your body and mind will scream for respite within the first 5 minutes.

 

Brisk walking helps you build the cardiovascular and muscular endurance required to build a super soldier constitution.

 

 

 

Strength

 

 

The kind of strength required by a super soldier is not built through conventional bodybuilding. He has to haul heavy equipment for miles, whilst ensuring that it does not impede his combat abilities. His physical strength does not stand alone, it walks side by side with mental toughness.

 

You will be training 4 times per week, focusing on one of the following lifts each day: squat, deadlift, bench press and overhead press (military press or seated Behind the neck press). Other important lifts include barbell rows, pullups, Romanian deadlifts, good mornings, front squats, barbell curls and the close grip bench press. Keep rest periods very short.

 

Becoming a super soldier is not a day's job, you've got to place one foot in front of the other and give 110% ON EACH REP. Within a few weeks, your hard work will manifest in a high performance body.

 

 

 

BUST STOMACH FAT WITH THE PLANK!!!

Culled from fitness bloggers

 

For a long time this has been one of my favorite exercises. It’s one of those that you see someone doing in the gym and you think to yourself, “Yeah that looks pretty easy!” Of course in reality its a lot harder than it looks, but what does it do? Put simply it’s a core exercise designed to improve strength and tone in the stomach and lower back. It’s particularly favored by both serious athletes and newbies alike. Even post-natal moms are often advised to do the plank as static stomach exercises place less aggressive stress on your stomach muscles following child-birth.

 

Performing the Plank

First bend your elbows at 90 degress, forearms on the floor, elbows beneath your shoulders. Your body should be straight like a plank of wood from your head to your feet. This is important. Many newbies will lift their bum up in the air so they look more like a hump-back bridge! This is not a plank. For those who are struggling with the plank then a modified plank with your knees on the floor will make it a lot easier.

 

Whats a Good Time For The Plank?

I’ve always been able to hold the plank for a reasonable while. I remember in my early 30′s being able to hold for 3 minutes. Nowadays I can do about 2 minutes. The plank is an exercise that with practise you can greatly improve your own time. In fact the best way to develop your strength is to do the plank in steps, 30 seconds and then a pause for 10 (or however long you need) and so on.

 

Plank Variations

The great think about the plank is that there are plenty of variations and tweaks you can make to vary things up a little, from one foot off the floor to even one arm off the floor (what I call hitch-hiker planks).

 

The World Record for the Abdominal Plank is 1 hour and 5 minutes…ouch! I wince just thinking about that!

 

If you’ve tried it, how long can you hold the plank for?

Crazy Workouts for Building a Steel Core

"I find that my core is ostensibly the toughest part of my body to firm and shape up!!! It has been a frustrating venture for me as I have had 3 children and it unfortunately shows in the areas of my person that I do not want this to show. I don’t know if I can do it" - Worried mother

Your core is the corset of muscles and connective tissue that encircle and hold the spine in place. If your core is stable, your spine remains upright while your body swivels around it. The core comprises of all the muscles and tendons between your knees and your rib cage, partivularly these 4 muscles—the rectus abdominis muscle (the six pack), the internal and external obliques (those muscles at the sides), and the transversus abdominis. Abdominal muscles have many important functions such as contributing to breathing, they are responsible for the acts of coughing, and sneezing, as well as maintaining posture and speech.

The rectus abdominis can be worked out with the basic crunch, the vertical crunch, the reverse crunch, and the full vertical crunch, and when at a low enough body fat percentage (10-12% for males, 15-18% for females) the individual parts of the muscle become visible; many refer to this visible separation as a six pack. By exercising the internal and external obliques the stomach can be flattened while the waist line can be reduced

Here are some crazy exercises that will help you flatten that stomach and build a solid core within a reasonably short period.

The Fireman Stair Climb

Fill a back pack with books or any heavy objects (the weight should be at least 20kg for this to be really effective). Try to run up and down 10 stairs 6 times within 3 minutes. this will build your core, leg and heart to new highs.

The Mighty Plank

The plank exercise  is a great way to build endurance in both the abs and back, as well as the stabilizer muscles. This move is also great for building strength for pushups, an exercise that requires quite a bit of core strength. You can add some weight on your back to increase difficulty.

How to:

1. Lie face down on mat resting on the forearms, palms flat on the floor.
2. Push off the floor, raising up onto toes and resting on the elbows.
3. Keep your back flat, in a straight line from head to heels.
4. Tilt your pelvis and contract your abdominals to prevent your rear end from sticking up in the air or sagging in the middle.
5. Hold for 20 to 60 seconds, lower and repeat for 3-5 reps.

Good Ol' School Pushups  (need I say more?)

Increase Your Stamina!!!!

Stamina means having the strength and energy to endure an activity, illness or stressful situation for an extended period of time. One complaint I frequently recieve from most people is "I am always tired when I return from work, how do I get the energy to train when I'm already exhausted". 

To be honest, I have the same problem myself. I am usually so exhausted when I return from the office that on most days all I want to do is to eat and sleep; I rarely have the time to even watch TV!!!

Therefore , I decided to do some research on how to improve my stamina for my sake and the sake of my readers. and my results are contained in this short essay.

Physical stamina can be enhanced through high intensity interval training interspersed with low intensity exercise which includes weight training and Cardiovascular exercise. Weight training ehnances your muscular strength and endurance, improving your capacity to perform everyday activities and therefore increasing your physical stamina.  Do a full body weight training and cardio circuit on Mondays and Thursdays. Weight training emhances your muscular strength and endurance, improving your capacity to perform everyday activities and therefore increasing your physical stamina.

For your convenience, you can set up a training space with a flat exercise bench, a pair of light dumbbells, a pair of heavy dumbbells and a step aerobic bench for aerobic sessions. If you can't access these you can improvise with household instruments and equipment.

MIND POWER V STRENGTH: wheres the link?

On my way back from a meeting one day, I saw a poster on the wall depicting a frog holding on to a reed for dear life and bearing the legend "Nothing is impossible for the person that doesnt give up, consistency is the key to success".

As I stood in that hallway pondering the truth of that inscription, I realised that the reason many people fall of the fitness train is inability to maintain consistency.

We often measure ourselves against bodybuilders and athletes, people who spend several hours everyday building their bodies and honing theri ability to perform far beyond the capability of the common man. The key to their success is not only consistency, but an attitude geared at winning.

Many people go to the gym thinking they are really using their mind because they’re using their willpower to whip their bodies into submission. However, what they are really doing is causing more tension as their bodies fight against the confusing, impuslsive and sometimes dangerous commands coming from their minds.

We have to work towards building ourselves from the inside out, When you apply the right kind of energy to the action at hand, then you’ve adapted your mind to work for you rather than against you.

To me it’s like choosing the right tool for the right job. A hammer is not going to work so well on a screw. A screwdriver would be better. A drill would be even better. Sometimes people get so caught up in choosing the right tool that they forget to apply how it even relates to the job at hand. There should be a connection between the activity you perform and the objective you have at hand.

As we go into a new week, strive to meld your mind and body into a harmonious union aimed at reaching untold highs.