Saturday, September 29, 2007

Health and Strength Training Links, 28th September

~ Runner’s High Revisited – “Some scientists claim that endorphins are too large to pass through the blood-brain barrier - and if something can’t get into your brain you can pretty much guarantee it can’t make you high either. So if it’s not endorphins that give you that happy feeling inside after exercise, what is the underlying factor? One possibility is the production of anandamide, a messenger molecule naturally produced in our bodies that plays a role in pain, depression, appetite, memory, and fertility. As reported by CNN, anandamide is known to produce sensations similar to those of THC, which is the psychoactive property in marijuana.”
~ Row Right: Get More Bang for Your Back – “Girls may hate to see you leave, but if you've got a broad back, they'll love to watch you go. (Course it helps if you've got a nice ass, too, but that's a whole 'nother article.) Mike Robertson is here to troubleshoot your rowing.”
~ Tapering for Athletes and Ordinary Exercisers – “Tapering refers to the period just before a major race or game, when an athlete reduces workload to be in peak shape on the day of the competition. Ordinary exercisers can apply this training principle when they plan to enter a local race or charity event.”
~ Bad Carbohydrates Are Not The Enemy – “The latest common wisdom on carbohydrates claims that eating so-called “bad” carbohydrates will make you fat, but University of Virginia professor Glenn Gaesser says, “that's just nonsense.” Eating sandwiches with white bread, or an occasional doughnut, isn't going to kill you, or necessarily even lead to obesity, he said.” It's 80/20 – eat right 80% of the time and 20% of the time that you don't isn't a problem.
~ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptoms Reduced By Dark Chocolate Consumption – “If you suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome you may well find that your symptoms are significantly reduced if you regularly consume dark chocolate - that means chocolate with a high cocoa content and without any milk in it. A pilot study carried out on patients with chronic fatigue syndrome found that their symptoms were alleviated when they consumed dark chocolate, much more so than when they consumed milk chocolate that had brown dye added to it.”
~ Supersets for strength – “Supersets are a popular weight lifting technique among many who are looking to kickstart a stalled weight lifting routine and add more variety into their program. They are a slightly more advanced principle to use so it’s going to be best if you have already have a fairly decent weight lifting background behind you.” It's also a great way to strip fat and get more work done in less time.
~ Dietary quality of popular diets varies: study – “There's no shortage of weight-loss plans for Americans to choose from, but some of the most popular ones fall short in dietary quality, according to a new study.”
~ The Future Of Male Contraception – “For decades, pundits have predicted new contraceptives for men within the next 5 to10 years. Are we really getting any closer? Judging from work presented at the second “Future of Male Contraception” conference, the answer may finally be yes. But will men actually use a new method if researchers make one? Elaine Lissner, director of the nonprofit Male Contraception Information Project, says demand is the least of the problems.”
~ Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Benefit From Meditation Therapy – “A revered contemplative practice for centuries, meditation has recently inspired research into its therapeutic value for everything from anxiety disorders to heart attack prevention. A painful, progressive autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with a high risk of depression – double the risk of the healthy population, by conservative estimates – and various forms of psychological distress.”
~ The Eight Most Fattening Foods of Fall – “As the temperature drops, we start yearning for comfort foods. But beware of their hefty caloric price. A few of autumn's least healthy offerings.”
~ Boost your body image – “Get real about your body.”
~ Preventing liver disease through healthy eating – “Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) refers to a range of conditions from cirrhosis to liver inflammation that can lead to liver disease and death, and afflict individuals who drink little to no alcohol. Why should you care about this? According to some recent research, NAFLD affects nearly one-third of all American adults.”
~ The MH Minute: Great Squat! – “Test your core strength and balance with the single-leg squat.”
~ High-carb diet may help you think faster – “A low-carbohydrate/high-fat diet and a high-carbohydrate/low-fat diet both improve weight loss, enhance mood, and speed thinking, a study shows, but the low-carb diet may offer less benefit in terms of the rate of cognitive processing.” This is a bit misleading – at first the brain is sluggish when using ketones for fuel, but it eventually adapts. I eat less than 50 grams of carbs most days with no brain sluggishness.
~ ISSA Explains How To Protect Yourself Against Fraudulent Supplement Claims – “Although nutritional supplements are viewed as an important component of the International Sport Sciences Association's overall integrated approach to personal training, these products should not be taken without doing the proper research first. The International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) reminds consumers of a few easy rules to remember in order to protect yourself against fraudulent supplement claims.”
~ Why Americans 'Tune Out' Fat Talk – “Despite more information and resources, we're still getting fatter. Why?”
~ Quit counting calories if it doesn't add up – “Good news for anyone who hates number crunching: You don’t need to add or subtract a thing to get slim.”
~ Health Tip: Considering Low-Carb? – “Low-carbohydrate diets are rich in proteins (such as meats) and low in carbohydrates (such as breads and pastas). Because of the limited food choices offered by these plans, some people on a low-carb diet may need to take a multivitamin and a fiber supplement to get needed nutrients, says the American Academy of Family Physicians.”
~ Fried Food Compounds May Harm Heart – “Foods high in compounds called advanced glycation end products (AGEs) – such as hamburgers, french fries and other fatty foods cooked at high temperatures – cause a short-lived but significant dysfunction in blood vessel dilation that can lead to heart disease, a new study suggests.”
~ All Hail Peanut Butter! – ” Calling peanut butter a diet food, with 180 to 210 calories per serving, may seem counter-intuitive. But it has the enviable combination of fiber (2 g per serving) and protein (8 g per serving) that fills you up and keeps you feeling full longer, so you eat less overall. Plus, there's nothing more indulgent than licking peanut butter off a spoon–and indulgence (in moderation) helps dieters fight cravings and stay on track.” And don't forget cashew butter and almond butter, both of which are very good.
~ Skin Deep: Nutrition and Good Skin – “Whether you're a pock-marked adolescent or a 35-year-old who prematurely looks like an old catcher's mitt, the health of your skin is probably important to you. Dr. Alan Logan knows how to use nutrition to fix you up.”
~ BONUS ARTICLE: The Step Construct – “Building your body ain't just physical — you gotta' use some gray matter, and we're not talking about your underwear. Here's a simple mental technique to help you achieve your goals while simultaneously showing up those loser bastards who dared to piss on your ambitions.”
~ ASK LARA: Three yoga poses for runners – “I am a big fan of yoga myself, and that’s because I believe yoga is a great accompaniment to running training. Stretching helps to return your muscles to their normal resting length. And, in my experience, many yoga poses seem to hit just the right spots. The following are just some of my favorites.”
~ Link Discovered Between Hormone Regulating Appetite And Stress – “A hormone system linked to reducing food consumption appears to do so by increasing stress-related behaviors, according to a new study.”
~ “Good” Cholesterol Earns Its Name – “High HDL “good” cholesterol levels may help heart disease patients, even those with very low LDL “bad” cholesterol levels, doctors report.
~ Health Tip: Finding Fiber in Your Diet – “Fiber should be an important part of every diet. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, dietary fiber can help prevent heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, and even some types of cancer.”
~ Ground-breaking study links food additives to hyperactivity in children – “In a landmark study published in The Lancet, commonly used artificial food colorings and the preservative sodium benzoate have been strongly linked to hyperactivity in children, triggering renewed vigor in the decades-long campaign by activists to ban artificial food additives from food marketed to children.”

Friday, September 28, 2007

Saturday 29th September 2007 - Kensington Primary

Time: 7:30am
Equipment: 1x10m rope, 1x20m rope, 1xsledge hammer, 1x16kg KB, 1x20kg KB, 1x5kg medicine ball, 1xskipping rope, 1x10kg plate, 1x20kg plate

Preparation

2 laps - light pace
Light stretch

Heat the Pan
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 squats
10 rounds for time
Compare time to this: PG 12:07, DB & RK 12:20

Sear the Meat
20m rope pull @ 20kg
20 10m whip smash
10 squats @ 10kg (holding plate)
10 KB pushups
10 rounds, continuous - rest only while waiting for next station

Cook Through
4 Stations - 1 in each corner of the oval
Sledge Hammer at the sand pit
Kettlebell (1x16kg & 1x20kg)
Skipping Rope
Medicine Ball
1 Round - 5 minutes each station, 1 minute rest in between
This is all about volume, you can do whatever you want with the equipment but the goal is to use it for the whole 5 minutes continuous, similar to the Girevoy competition style challenges that will be worked into more sessions. Some suggestions would be sledge slamming into the sand, KB swings, cleans or snatches, ball slams or high throws. If you ain't spent after this, I will have to question your commitment!

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Health and STrength Links - 27th Sep

~ A Singular Workout – “If you're a bodybuilder and you've spent your weightlifting life doing sets of 8,10, 12, etc., doing singles will absolutely blow you up. A terrific idea and a terrific program that'll raise you head and shoulders above the competition.” Doing singles is not for beginners.
~ Well: The Missing Ingredients in Organic Cereals – “Organic cereals, free of additives like artificial preservatives and colors, may also lack the added vitamins and minerals found in commercial brands.” Everyone should be taking a good multi-vitamin anyway, so go organic.
~ 10 Great Post-Workout Snacks – “Fuel up post-workout on these tasty snacks.”
~ Genetic Differences Predict Anti Inflammatory Benefits From Nutritional Products – “Interleukin Genetics reported in the journal Nutrition that a botanical supplement reduced inflammation more effectively in individuals with genetic variations that are associated with over expression of inflammation and risk for early heart attacks. This is one of few studies that recruited study subjects who have different genetic patterns and tested how they responded to nutritional products or drugs.”
~ – “Although eating lots of fruits and vegetables is good for your health, doing so will not reduce your risk for colon cancer, a Canadian study finds.” Or….~ Blue, red, and purple fruits and veggies fight cancer: study – “In a press release made available on August 19, a team of researchers at Ohio State University announced that anthocyanins, the compounds that give many blue, purple, and red fruits and vegetables their color are capable of cutting the growth of colon cancer cells both in vitro and in rats by 50%-100%, with certain extracts even destroying up to 20% of the cancer cells while leaving healthy surrounding cells intact.” Hmmmm… apparently not colon cancer?
~ – “Consuming the omega-3 fatty acids present in certain kinds of fish could lower the likelihood of acquiring type 1 diabetes in children who are at risk, a study suggested on Wednesday.” This is the first link I have seen between omega-3 fats and type 1 diabetes.~ Healthy Grocery Shopping without Blowing Your Budget – “Is your grocery bill sometimes enough to raise your blood pressure? Some people think that filling the grocery cart with healthy food will blow the budget at the cash register.”
~ Combining Acetaminophen With Caffeine Might Cause Liver Damage – “If you consume caffeine with acetaminophen (paracetamol) you could be at a higher risk of liver damage, according to researchers from the University of Washington, USA. The report, which appears in Chemical Research in Toxicology, explains that the consumption of large quantities of both caffeine and acetaminophen combined raises the risk of liver damage.” Acetaminophen causes liver damage all on its own and should be pulled from the market.
~ Fighting Obesity by using Hoodia Diet Pills – “Hoodia gordonii is a type of succulent plant that resembles a cactus, and is known to have suppress a person’s appetite and thus help with losing weight. It’s sold in capsule form, and as a liquid or in tea form.”
~ Discovery supports theory of Alzheimer's disease as form of diabetes – “Insulin, it turns out, may be as important for the mind as it is for the body. Research in the last few years has raised the possibility that Alzheimer`s memory loss could be due to a novel third form of diabetes.”

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Rod is in da house

Strength Training and Health Links, 25th September

~ Pre-workouts and muscle gain – “So be sure your pre-workout nutrition is inline with your goals before heading to the gym.”
~ Staggered Ab Training – “Finally, an ab training program that's excuse proof! No more throwing in a couple of pathetic, obligatory crunches at the end of a workout. And the answer was staring you in the face the whole time.”
~ Four Weeks To Gargantuan Growth With German Volume Training – “Bodybuilders have used many creative training techniques to push past halted muscle growth. Many IFBB pro bodybuilders use German Volume Training to get past this sticking point; explanation of GVT and sample program follow!” This is an incredibly high-volume program – should only be done short term and if all other factors are dialed in.
~ The Illusion Of Variety – “Often, it's more important to create the illusion of variety in your training, as opposed to actual variety.” Good points.
~ The Texas Method: Strength Training for Intermediate Lifters – “The Texas Method is the logical next step after the Beginner Strength Training Program II. I’ve followed the Texas Method for several months this year with great success. Here’s how the program works.”
~ Study: Acupuncture Works for Back Pain – “Fake acupuncture works nearly as well as the real thing for low back pain, and either kind performs much better than usual care, German researchers have found….”
~ Blocking Necrosis: Pathway To Cell Death Redefined In Landmark Study – “A new study led by investigators from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine demonstrates that the process of necrosis, long thought to be a chaotic, irreversible pathway to cell death, may actually be triggered as part of a regulated response to stress by a powerful protein, SRP-6, that can potentially halt necrosis in its path.”
~ Calcium better from food – “Calcium-rich foods do much more to strengthen your bones than calcium supplements alone.” Old info, but useful.
~ Lack of sleep may be deadly, research shows – “People who do not get enough sleep are more than twice as likely to die of heart disease, according to a large British study released on Monday.”

Monday, September 24, 2007

wednesday - climb of pain & punishment

DAY 1

Where: Kakoda Trail

Equipment: kettle bells – damon & stef

Sleds: damon & stef

Heavy backpack – damon, stef, Rod & Paul

BUCKET FOR VOMIT - Paul ONLY to bring... :)

Workout:

30mins up and down Kakoda Trail as many times as possible in 30mins. Walking with a heavy back pack on! Everyone to bring their own back pack filled with desired weights!

Workout: TEAMS

Sled Pushing up the path / hill – 25m +

5 x snatches each arm at top +

Push ups on KB x 15 +

KB Windmills x 10 total

Farmer walks back down to partner, whilst other rest

X8 – 10

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Sunday, 23rd September 2007 - City Beach

Time and Place: 3:15PM - Sunday 23rd September 2007 - City Beach

Approximate Total Time 50 minutes

Equipment: Sled, Weights, 20kg & 16kg kettle bells, Sand Bag

Workout Type: Strength and Power Circuit

Workout:

Warm up and stretch

A: Sand Bag Relay (for Time)

Sandbag Zercher hold Sandbag relay on the grass area

Damon and Stef Heavy Bag

Paul and Rod Light Bag

Start at the top of the grass area; hold the bag in front Zercher hold style, down to the bottom, up to the top

10 rounds


B: Sled Drag down/Sled Front Push Up Relay (Not for Time…Within Reason)

Same teams….

Begin with 20kg and drag down to bottom grass area. Place strap on top of weights, front push sled to top of grass area. Next team member go with same weight.

Next team member add another 10kg plate. Keep with this weight for the same distance and continue loading pattern until one of the team members tells you to stop.

C: Relay of Death (on the Beach)

Two Teams Rod and Damon, Stef and Paul

6 rounds each for time (this is a race after all)

1) Harnessed front dragging holding Kettlebells: for 25M

2) Kettlebell Swing (5 Each Arm) drop kettlebells

3) Harnessed front dragging: 25M Back to Start - Release Harness to Team Member

4) Sprint to Kettlebells, Farmer Walk Back to Start

5) Hand kettlebells to next team member

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Homemade Protein Bars

Seems the recipe for these bad-boys has been floating around the internet forever. I whipped up a batch this morning and couldn't help eating the mixture along the way, it's damn tasty!

I got 8 bars out of this batch and let me tell you they are filling! At first I thought they might be a bit crumbly (too much protein powder) but after cooling seem fine.

Simple recipe that can be easily modified with other ingredients depending on your tastes or dietary requirements (nut allergy, gluten content, sugars, protein:carb:fat ratio etc).

Get it inta ya!!





Ingredients:
1 cup of natural peanut butter
8 tablespoons of honey
1.25 cups of protein powder (flavoured is fine, my Max's Hydroxyphase is Mochachino...)
1 cup of oats

Process:
Mix the peanut butter and honey in a bowl, microwave on high for 70-80 seconds (to warm up and makes the mixture runny).

Add the protein powder and oats, mix it all together (best to use your hands if it isn't too hot).

Smooth into a baking tray and leave to cool for 20 minutes before cutting into bars. Wrap the bars in glad wrap or baking paper and store in the fridge.



Monday, September 17, 2007

Jacobs Ladder - Wednesday, 19th September 2007

Date: 19th September 2007, 5:00PM

Location: Jacobs Ladder - Kings Park

Workout Type: Endurance Circuit

Equipment: Sandbags, Chains, Parallettes, Kettlebells

Workout:

Jacobs ladder. 12 times down, 12 times up, non stop, alternating between no weight, chains and sand bags

Aim to do at least 1 heavy bag

Parallettes and kettlebells will be there at the top for extra work (as if you need it......but deep down you know you want to)

Friday, September 14, 2007

Sunday 16th September 2007 - Jacobs Ladder

Time and Place: 3:00PM - Sunday 16th September 2007 - Jacobs Ladder

Approximate Total Time 1 hour 00minutes (Depends on the SMMF)

Equipment:
Olympic Bar, 2 x [20kg, 10kg, 5kg] weights, parrallettes, 20kg & 16kg kettle bells

Workout Type: Strength Circuit

Workout
1: 2 x Jacobs Ladder (note time)

2:Strength Circuit (Stagger Start)
21x Front Squat Push Press +
90m Farmer Carry (up street and back down) @ KB +
21x Parallette Decline Push-up +
15x Front Squat Push Press @ +
90m Farmer Carry @ KB +
15x Parallette Decline Push-up +
9x Front Squat Push Press @ +
90m Farmer Carry @ KB +
9x Parallette Decline Push-up

3: SMMF (note max reps and total time)
Choose an exercise (Damon to Power Barbell Clean, Paul indicated preference is for One Arm KB swing, Rod choose your exercise)
1 rep, down flist flight of Jacobs and up the other side
2 reps, down flist flight of Jacobs and up the other side
3 reps, down flist flight of Jacobs and up the other side
…………Max reps

4: Core
10 Atomic sit ups +
10 Floor Wipers +
Parallette Holds or 1 minute Plank
3 rounds

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Something Like Cardio - Thursday 13th September 2007

I figured that since we weren't doing a mid-week session this week and that the group sessions usually constitute a big part of my cardio component, I would do one this morning at the gym.

Big ups to Damon for the suggestion, this was a ripper.

For time:
Row 500m
15xSumo High-Pull 25kg (37% BW)
5xPull Ups
3 Rounds

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Strength: Your Spiritual Pursuit

Posted on Mar 25th, 2006 by Rob : Philosopher of Strength Rob

Strength, What is it?

What is it and how does it manifest in your life? Or, perhaps more importantly, how, when and where does it NOT show up in your life?

Strength, from my vantage point it is simply the capacity to do and be.

Simple yet profound…we’ll get well into the profound here shortly.

The doing part is fairly straight forward - kind of like a beer commercial.

Rob’s inner dialogue:
“wow, girls…attractive girls, not wearing too much, but acting like scientists at the south pole researching cosmic background radiation…maybe not… but look at all those people smiling, wow they look happy! Oh that was funny, gosh they all are drinking beer, my goodness that girl sure looked like she wanted me…I hope Em didn’t see that and get all jealous and attack the TV again”

But I digress…

Strength in its more conventional sense is the ability to do - or not do as Yoda would say. This is fairly simple.

What I’m really interested in is strength from a more “post conventional” perspective. And this runs us straight into the second half of the equation: being.

Now we’ve got some interesting depth to play with. Yummy!

Being is perhaps the most central pursuit of any authentic spiritual discipline (for you integral freaks out there we’re not talking “legitimate” or “translative” spiritual practices, we’re kicking back and chilling with their authentic transformative and sometimes hidden underbelly - you know the kick ass shit!).

For those of you who don’t classify yourself as an “integral freak,” here’s the rough and dirty.

I’m talking about spiritual practices that are primarily focused on transforming the practitioner. This is the Authentic thread of spiritual practice. Now not all spiritual practice is focused on transformation, this is where the Legitimate thread comes in. Not that there’s anything wrong with non-transformative spiritual practice, it just serves a different function in society and for the individual who benefits from these elements. Follow? … rock on …

So being, why is it of such importance?

It is placed at the core of nearly all of the worlds authentic spiritual practices because this is the true seat of strength.

“Go Rob! Go Rob! Your The Man! You brought this back to strength!! YEA!!! Keep rock’n it out…”
Hey cheerleader beer chick, keep it down, I’m trying to dive into this

And this true seat of strength intimately shows us our own face. Not the face we conventionally identify with but the one that we’ve always known.

Ask yourself this, what resides beyond the very act of your personal perception? I’m talking about your conventional self, your ego, and its moment to moment act of perceiving.

What’s beyond this?

It’s being. It’s like a deep black velvet that envelops and holds everything. It’s the very essence of peace, the truth of immense stillness in which all motion occurs. Tasting this, feeling this within your transcendent body-mind leaves you…. all Donk’d out?

Perhaps that’s not the right expression, but you get the point. Even if you don’t think you do :-)
But anyway, this being thing rocks the kosmic party - literally!

This is where strength really comes from and itself is strength.
Strength to BE. Being is strength.

So let’s talk strength as a spiritual pursuit.
The authentic spiritual traditions and their rich array of practices all aim at going beyond the conventional self… its Rumi’s field beyond thought.

“Yo, Rumi, what’s up dawg?
Oops, Shit… there isn’t any thought out here. Sorry God, I’ll keep quiet. I know I know - detention again.
Well fuck me…”

Anyway, all authentic spiritual practice is aimed at this strength, thus in some crazy sense - spiritual practice is “strength training.”

Now I’m not talking about just lifting weights - although I’m certainly not excluding it either. But literally, all authentic spiritual practice is aimed at expanding one’s identity to embrace and include this transcendent seat of being. It’s focused on training every day your capacity to first connect with and eventually be strength.

Then once you identify with this transcendent “donkey” (yes donkey is a technical spiritual term that is presently undefinable) then the really really good teachers shatter this identification. Yea sounds shitty, but its much worse than any conventional imagination can come up with. Which leads to what you really really don’t want right now - liberation - freedom which you kind of sort of want some of it - but certainly not all of it - hell no!

This is another story though…

For now let’s focus on getting beyond our conventional selves - let’s talk about “hunting the ego” (thanks for the ego hunting term Diana), finding it and then killing it while preserving it’s essential function and beauty as we shift beyond…

Ego, your conventional self, is rooted around one particularly nasty little attachment - ok so a few, but let’s look how they all stem from one. Your ego hates pain. This part of you will do anything and I mean anything to avoid it. Look at planet earth and tell me, what’s off limits? I’m not sure there’s much if anything that’s off limits…

Anyway, because ego hates pain we tend to create 3 almost timeless habitual strategies. First, we try to reject pain. Second we try to grasp onto and perpetuate anything that’s remotely pleasurable - which unfortunately backfires on us, biting us in the ass. Finally we just try to numb out and not feel anything.

Crazy I know, but take a look at your conventional self - your ego - and I’m sure you’ll see these beautifully rich and creative strategies expanding faster than Google’s profits (and Microsoft wants to take them on? Hell you guys can’t even get a new operating system out and you’ve been doing that for decade…sorry but I couldn’t pass up the opp to rip on Microsoft)

What is even more crazy is being, just plain and simple being, resides beneath all of these strategies. Thus if we are unable to move beyond our aversion to pain and these basic strategies from which ego rests upon, that is if we can’t find the strength to shift beyond ego we’ll never really know the divine bliss resting right here in this very moment, and that my friend, that is crazy!

So strength training, what is it?

In its most basic essence its training our capacity to be and then do. It certainly doesn’t happen the other way around.

True strength training is any activity from which we are able to differentiate from our conditioned history - it’s cultivating a new relationship with the present moment. True strength shifts our identity to ever expanding wholes - well beyond our little fragile egos, well beyond the tears of believing with all our known conventional selves and into the tears of radiance streaming from pure empty being.

There’s a sword with two very real edges right here in all our lives. We simply must deal with this.

We need to train. We need to practice. Yet the more we do something the greater our tendency is to fall into a pattern, a habit. When this happens we stop living. That’s not really being alive - that’s just kind of like being on auto pilot.

Instead we trade in our vibrant vitality that can cook and burn your ego until you find the essence and radiance you’ve always been. We trade this in for the safety of some known “me.”

Sounds like a late night infomercial rip off…What do you think?

I think we must collectively find a way to compassionately jolt one another from our fascination with the shadows in the cave.

History tells us one thing in relationship to spiritual practice. Pain, yes pain, is one of the few paths that forces us to wake up to this ever present moment.

In order to strength train, truly strength train, that is to genuinely shift our identity beyond ego and into the vast forest of being most of us need pain.

My buddy Ken commonly cites a study involving meditators who were broken into two groups - one group just meditated, while the other meditated and did strength training (we’re talking lifting weights right now). The results…

Strength training and meditation produced far greater contemplative development than did just the meditation alone.

Yes its a huge plug for cross training in general and certainly integral practices, but why weights?
Why this particular often seen ‘superficial’ practice?

Here’s my take.

Weight training is the most potent form of integral practice when integrated with meditation and a serious intention for growth, development and transformation - and no we’re not just talking about the body here…although we’re not talking about leaving it out either. We’re talking integral development.

But let’s get back to this pain attachment. I don’t know of any other practice that enables you to confront your ego’s conditioned history to pain as safely and consistently and as often as lifting weights.

Ok, well there is one other vehicle - life - but let’s take a look at some of the available options within “life”

If each set is engaged fully, all sorts of strange things happen.

For starters, you’re ego is going to flair up, negotiate, create stories, employ deep seated beliefs and not to mention just generally “check out” for you to both avoid the flame of intensity and the vibrant moment burning to explode throughout your body-mind.

In fact the ego might just resort to pulling on the strings of some early deep seated issues around the body to keep you from doing engaging.

Just avoid - says the ego… we’ll find wholeness some “other” way…

You get to watch this incredible display flair up every few minuets. I don’t know about you but in terms of accelerated meditative development this is far more efficient than just conventional sitting practice alone - whatever tradition you might employ.

Hell, most of us have years of training ourselves to keeping our sitting practice as comfortable as possible… years of training on how to manipulate our experience on the cushion.

Strength training while lifting weights, If the intention to cultivate a new relationship with pain is held and maintained, you’ve got one potent vehicle to cut through and propel you beyond ego.

In the intense vibrations within a set, you can cultivate a new body-mind relationship with pain. A new relationship with the moment.

As you shift into the storm of the ego - instead of buying into the ego’s persuasion - as the weights move up and down rhythmically, you can watch your habitual tendencies - your conditioning to close down from the life that’s radiating in this very moment.

If you stay with your intention - to continue to “go into” the immediacy of the moment, pain transforms itself into your greatest ally, your greatest teacher. Pain turns into vibration, the body-mind dissolves into energy currents and vibrations. Pain turns into pleasure, radiance, joy and ecstasy.

Suddenly there’s an immense stillness within all of this dance.

You’re tasting strength - true strengt

Injury in an Integral Context

What is an injury within the context of an integral practice? And how should you work with injuries within your integral practice?

These questions have come up on several fronts, both in my Pod Integral Strength, questions to me on my Z-mail as well as in my consulting practice.

Let’s take a quick look at injuries, what is the basic nature of an injury?

An injury in the broadest sense of the term is some type of “pathological disorganization” with your body-mind. Now injuries are most often referring to physical problems; however, injuries as I’m framing them here can also refer to an interior “pathological disorganization” as well.

So, injuries within this context includes both the exterior as well as the interior.

Now as far as I can tell, all injuries have a cause, it may be getting hit playing a sport, too much weight for a joint in the weight room, a fall on the mountain slopes, etc. These all tend to result in a physiological injury (which obviously has interior dimensions to it but is largely external - meaning your “body” is what’s “injured.”).

Now we also have emotional assaults, the violation of trust, verbal attacks aimed at you that create pathological disorganization within your interior. What we have now is what’s typically referred to as psychopathology (which has external body based correlates but is largely an interior injury that has corresponding symptoms in your body). Much like the muscles, tendons, bones, etc. get “injured” in falling on the slopes, trust, confidence, and or your sense of self become “injured.”

So we have both external (the body part of the bodymind) pathological disorganization and interior (the mind part of the bodymind) pathological disorganization.

At the root we have some cause that has on some level disrupted our bodymind’s natural (or optimal) organization.

As far as I can tell injuries are simply part of life. So if you’re alive, you’re going to invariably run into injuries. Something is going to knock your bodymind’s organization out of whack.

To answer the question of what is an injury in the context of integral practice let’s take a quick glance of what integral practice is and what it’s central aim is.

Integral practice has two basic functions or two central aims:

1. To awaken. That is to cultivate awareness, consciousness, or what what essentially boils down to awakening to our essential Freedom. Integral practice fundamentally cannot avoid this awakening process. If it does, in my opinion this practice can’t in any genuine way be considered “integral.”

2. Shifting to the second basic function of Integral practice we find this: To embrace. Embrace as I’m using it means to enact, engage, activate, and cultivate manifestation as it arises in our self, culture and in nature. Put simply Integral Practice is committed to the Fullness of manifestation. That’s why we try to “exercise,” “train” or “engage” all of the major parts of ourselves.

Injuries naturally draw our awareness to our bodymind - both our interior and exterior dimensions in each and every injury we sustain along our journeys. Injuries within integral practice is a calling to awaken to what is. Each and every injury along our path is a call to witness what is. When we get injured, whether its to our interior or to our exterior, we get a clear picture of who we are and how we’re organized. This natural movement of our awareness of being injured is a calling to your witness.

Your witness is at its root freedom, it is the seat of your everpresent unflinching impartial awareness that without question, without hesitation holds all that arises moment to moment. It doesn’t matter if you’re heart has been shattered or your spine broken. The witness in its truest seat holds these experiences no differently than the radiant love of your heart nor the fluid open spinal column of a yogi.

So this is the first role of injuries within the context of Integral Practice. Here’s a summary:

WAKE UP!

The second role of an injury within the context of integral Practice is, you guessed it, to helps you embrace more of who you are. That’s to say it is calling you to engage, activate, fill out and enact the larger sphere of who you are in and as manifestation.

This is difficult because the natural response of the ego is to struggle with an injury. Integral Practice includes the ego’s struggle with injuries; however, a strong practice does not mindlessly (that is to say unconsciously) follow this process. The ego’s natural tendency is to withdraw from an injury, to contract around an injury and to fight to get rid of the disturbance.

This is good news/bad news. The good news is that this process in many cases starts the healing process. The bad news is that left to its own devices you’ll end up reinforcing the injury - you’ll often consolidate and solidify the disorganization within your bodymind.

Often times this process does not facilitate you embracing more of who you are, instead you end up avoiding more of who you are. Thus injuries often take on some type of chronic disorganization that becomes normalized and accepted as the “normal” organization of your bodymind.

One process I’ve practiced for years is what I call Working With The Envelope. The first step in this process is to find your “envelope,” which is the boundary in which you start to bump up against your injury. Finding your envelope is an ongoing process; however, you want to push out into your bodymind’s sphere and see just where you’re disorganization begins and where it ends. The closer you look the more fluid this boundary will become.

Once you’ve found this fluid space, the delicate boundary between what is normal and uninjured and what is injured you’ll want to start to work with this boundary. A professional who specializes in your injury is a useful resource to draw from. They can provide conventional norms of what to do and what not to do with regards to exploring around this envelope - the space around your injury.

Your central intention is to work with the injury within the moment. Live with the injury without trying to get rid of anything. With that said, you’re not solidifying your injury into some solid entity separate from yourself. There’s a delicate balance of accepting what is and working with what is, awareness of and embrace of, watching and dancing with your injury.

Ideally what happens is you’re bodymind’s organization starts to integrate the injury into your larger self system. You become more fluid with your injury and over time the envelope that you’re exploring becomes smaller and smaller, meaning your injury is healing more and more.

Now some injuries - interior and exterior - become resolved, healed and normal fully integrated functioning returns. Other injuries are more or less there for the rest of your life. The trauma, disorganization and disruption to your bodymind were lasting and become a part of your thumbprint so to speak. This isn’t to say these injuries aren’t workable or aren’t fluid from moment to moment. This is simply an acknowledgment of your conditioned history, your past. Some “injuries” become part of the more or less permanent landscape of our bodymind.

With these types of injuries, it’s important to acknowledge our egoic desire to struggle with these parts. Acknowledge this rejection of your injury but don’t allow it to be the single guiding intelligence.

Ultimately our injuries are something to be celebrated as beacons to our own awakening as well as sparks to drive us to deeply engage in our lives. Injuries are simply our call to freedom and fullness.

With that said, I hope this fuels a strong, consistent integral practice and the skillful use of your injuries, whatever type they may be.

Peace,
Rob

Access_public
and this site, excellent for information!!!!

http://www.deepsquatter.com/strength/archives/index.htm
check these sites out, something different, the westside barbell site is great for knowledge, go to the article section!


http://www.westside-barbell.com/index.htm

http://www.geocities.com/ltgodfrey/lever.html

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Rod's Program - Kensington - 8th September 2007

Saturday 8 September

Kensington


Workout:
Upper Level:

Format
Set up 2 lanes - 1st person starts with Activity 1 - KB crawl, 2nd person waits (and waits) at 50 metres

Activities
1. KB Bear crawl 25 metres (2nd person picks up bells and retreats 25m to start KB crawl)
2. Lunge 4 paces, press up x 10 - for a total of 25 metres to where sled is waiting
3. Squat with weight 30
4. Sled pull, no harness 50 metres (back to start of KB crawl)
5. Burpies 15

Relax:
1. Hover 4 2 minutes
2. Smoko 1 minute

Repeat x 4
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lower Level:

Format:
All proceed in sequence

Activities:
1. Ring supermans 20
2. Pull ups, bending hip to 90° 20
3. Plyometric jumps 20
4. KB swings 20
5. Tricep dips (legs extended) 20
6. Sit-ups, feet on ground, holding 20kg weight 3 20

Repeat x 6
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Equipment:
1. Sled no harness
2. KBs (2 x 16; 2 x 20)
3. Weights (as required for sleds and sit-ups)
4. Watch - to time hovers
5. Rings

Sunday, September 2, 2007

DAMON & STEF WEIGHTS - WEEK 4 & 5 OF THIS BLOCK

DAY 1

100 x pull ups

100 x push ups

100 x goblet squats

100 x Turkish get ups

Take as much time as you want for rest in between.

Do them as quick as you can.

DAY 2

Workout:
10x One-arm KB Swing + 10x One-arm KB Clean + 10x One-arm KB Jerk @ 35#
10x One-arm KB Swing + 10x One-arm KB Clean + 10x One-arm KB Jerk @ 44#
10x One-arm KB Swing + 10x One-arm KB Clean + 10x One-arm KB Jerk @ 53#

Workout:
Warm up with:
3x10 OHS @ PVC
2x10 OHS @ BB
3x5 Drop Snatch @ BB
3x5 Drop Snatch @ 75#
3x5 Drop Snatch @ 95#
Then:
3 (1x Snatch + 3x OHS complex + 1x Hang Snatch) @ 75#
3 (1x Snatch + 3x OHS complex + 1x Hang Snatch) @ 95#
3 (1x Snatch + 3x OHS complex) @ 115#
Then:
Work up to 1RM Snatch

*Not sure what a drop snatch is, I cant remember, I think its when you are in the snatch position at the top of the movement and then you drop to the bottom, im not sure if you’d come back up again?? So it would look like this: power snatch → drop fast to bottom part of a full snatch, the either one of two options, drop the bar and start again, or squat up with it into an overhead squat, then start again??


DAY 3

Workout:
“Tail Pipe” (normally done as Tag team, this is how to do it as an individual):
Row 250m (roughly 50 seconds), set Interval rest period to last 50 seconds also
KB Rack Hold @ 2x 53# KB (handles must touch) for duration of 250m Row
Three rounds
Then:
BOSU Piston Press +
Burpee
10/1, 9/2, 8/3, 7/4, 6/5, 5/6, 4/7, 3/8, 2/9, 1/10
First round looks like 10x Piston Press + 1x Burpee
Second round looks like 9x Piston Press + 2x Burpee


Workout: “Thirty of Everything”
30m Farmer Carry @ 2x 44# KB +
30m Burpee Broad Jump (aka Flying Burpee) +
30m Farmer Carry @ 2x 53# KB +
30m of 5x Lunge + 5x Push Press @ 2x 30# DBs +
30m Farmer Carry @ 2x 70# KB +
30x Pull-up +
30m Farmer Carry @ 2x 53# KB +
30x Overhead Squat @ 75# +
30m Farmer Carry @ 2x 44# KB +
30m KB Bear Crawl @ 2x 53# +
30m Suitcase Carry @ 1x 106# KB (weak arm) +
30x Ball Slam @ 30# ball +
30m Suitcase Carry @ 1x 106# KB (strong arm) +
30x Box Jump @ 30” box

DAY 4

Workout: "JS"
10x alternate hand switch when hanging from pull up position (weighted) +
5x Front Squat @ 245# +
5x Ball Slams @ 30# +
10x Bench Press @ 215# +

10x clap push ups +
10x Ball Slam @ 25# +
15x Pull-up +
15x Bar Dip +
15x Ball Slam @ 20# ball +
5x Rope Pull w/ 20kg plate on end +
20x Push-up +
20x Whip Smash 10m length, or 20m lenghth

Workout:
Five sets of the following KB complex:
(5x Two-hand KB Clean + 5x KB Rack Squat + 3x KB Jerk) @ 5RM Jerk load
Rest two minutes between sets

Then:
10x Jump Squat w/ DB’s +
30m Farmer Carry +
10x Tuck Jump w/ light weight +
30m OH Carry w/ DB’s +
5x 1-leg jump (5 each leg) +
30m Cross Carry / one hand above / one hand farmer carrry
Three rounds

DAY 5

Workout:
Work up to 1RM Push Press
Then:
10x2 Push Press @ 80-85% 1RM
Rest 1 - 3 min rest between sets
Then:
Front Squat + Box Jump @ 20-24” box:
10/10 @ 55%
8/6 @ 65%
6/6 @ 75%
4/4 @ 85%
1-2/2 @ 90%
Rest 2-3 minutes between sets
First set looks like: 10x Front Squat @ 55% 1RM + 10x Box Jump

Clap Pushups – 5x8 – 10 +
DB Bench Press - 5x6 – resting 1 – 2 mins between sets


DAY 6

Workout:
1
12x Push Press w/ DB’s @ 50% 1RM +
Row 2 minutes (450-500m pace)
Rest 2 minutes
Three rounds
Rest four minutes

2
8x KB Swing (heavy) +
Step-up @ 18” box 2 minutes
Rest 2 minutes
Three rounds
Rest four minutes

3
8x Ring push-up +
4x Get-up @ 26# KB (left side) +
8x Atomic Sit-up +
4x Get-up @ 26# KB (right side)
Three rounds – non stop


Workout:
Deadlift
10x body weight, and 10x body weight from 4” box
5x 120% of BW, and 5x 120% of BW from 4” box
3x 140% of BW, and 3x 140% of BW from 4” box
2x 150% of BW
1x 175% of BW
Then:
10x 1 @ 140% of BW + chain, two minutes rest between sets

Then:
5x Pull ups + 5x Box Jump @ high box
Four rounds

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Wednesday 5th September 2007 - Kings Park (Jacobs)

TIME: 5:15pm

TYPE: Speed, Strength, Endurance, Competitive Teamwork

EQUIPMENT: 2x10kg sandbags, 2x10kg plates, 2x16kg KB, 2x20kg KB, 5kg medicine ball

2 TEAMS: 1 = Stef & Rod; 2 = Damon & Paul

1 person from team 1 and 1 person from team 2 go down and up the ladder with 1x10kg sandbag each
WHILE

the other team member does the following:
  • run backwards up the street, 10 pushups
  • run forwards down the street, 10 decline (using the bench) pushups
  • farmers walk (KB) up the street, 10 KB pushups
  • farmers walk down the street, 10 KB snatches (5 each arm)
  • unweighted squats until team member finishes the ladder if necessary
SWAP SANDBAG BETWEEN TEAM MEMBERS

10 ROUNDS (5 times on the ladder for each person)

*Note: the idea is to finish your ladder run as fast as possible to get a rest while your partner finishes their series (there may be zero rest)

The winning team gets to pick 1 of the below for both teams!
  • 3x Mount Street runs
  • 4x Jacobs (weighted at the winner's discretion)
  • 50x burpies
  • 2 sets of 50x medicine ball partnered situps
  • 5x bear crawl up the street, lunging down
  • 6x ball slams / 10kg sandbag throws up the street
"PAIN IS JUST WEAKNESS LEAVING THE BODY"