The question, which exercise is the best, oftenly arouses. There are proponents of many exercises but generally the choice can be narrowed down to a few basic compound exercises: The clean, the snatch, the squat, the deadlift, the overhead press, either dip or bench press.
But nothing beats the power of a complex. A complex is a continuous compound consisting of a number of exercises that are done consecutively. By doing this, you can combine the advantages of a squat with the benefits of the overhead press by incorporating them both in the exercise complex. I was inspired to do this by my comrade Dominik, who has done a great blog post on his work with complexes. Once again, his source of inspiration is the legend Dan John.
The CrossFit crew also works with complexes and has created a workout of the day (WoD) for this purpose: The Bear.
But there are countless other options how to design a complex. For instance, I tried out a downward ladder complex (starting from 4 repetitions) of clean, push press and front squat with two 16 kg kettlebells
Compare my efforts to Dominik’s training partner Willi. He is doing this exercise with the barbell and from 5 repetitions down (beast ).
I can tell you that this workout brings you to your limits in an extremely short span of time. It is not only the exercise itself that is so exhausting, the grip challenge is even more of a battle. Especially with kettlebells, it’s hard to maintain a firm grip over an extended period of time. Keep in mind that your grip is pre-fatigued with every step down the ladder. I had to fight hard with the grip already at the 3 repetition ladder. Hard to imagine how the 5 repetition downward ladder must feel like – I look forward to trying it!
From what I have experienced, I can wholeheartedly recommend complexes for training. They train the body as one unit and every musle of the body has its share in successfully surviving the workout.
What does it take to become a cognoscente, an expert, a true master?
There are numerous books written about this topic, but still it normally boils down to a few central skills. I have specifically identified four of them:
Determination
Perseverance
Focus
Purpose
Determination
Determination is – in essence – a mind-set that includes the belief that the goal you want to achieve can actually be reached. With determination you bring yourself in vibrational match with the person you will be when you have reached that goal finally. Determination is like the dynamite that blasts away the possible walls and hindrances between you and your goal.
Perseverance
If you never give up and never give in, you will eventually reach your goal. Except for death, nothing can stop you from succeeding if you try hard enough.
Remember this quote by Randy Pausch well:
The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.
Focus
If you are centered on your goal, you can channel all your powers and abilities towards it. Otherwise, you will be occupied with things that are of little importance to the central (higher) goal.
Purpose
Without a sense of purpose, a goal is lifeless and has no soul. Find a purpose in becoming the master you want to become. Think of the meaning you can have to the world by being this person. Find a reason greater than your wish to be this person and you will be dragged by this strong purpose.
Why these four?
These four skills work together synergistic and block each other if a lack of any of them occurs.
A lack of determination will lead to self-doubt and therefore the inability to achieve the goal
A lack of perseverance will let your efforts come to a halt upon every hindrance
A lack of focus will see your powers scattered by the multitude of your thoughts and lesser wishes
A lack of purpose will leave you with the nagging question of why you are doing this and thereby dropping the goal
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In addition to the virtues of a true master, it is important to know the way you have to go in order to become the person you want to be – regardless of what it may be. The way is always the same in its structure – the only thing that differs is how the path unfolds for you. Becoming a persuasive speaker follows the same path as becoming a nurturing mother – but both perspectives unfold a different scenario.
In a step-by-step outline, becoming a master works like this:
Define your area of expertise
Gather experience
Learn from your experiences
Gather more experience
…
Attaining mastery is much like a role-playing game. You are the avatar in your game and the real world is your game environment. You start off with little experience and at a low level. By gathering experience you level up and have skill points to distribute (the learning and reflection of experience). With new skills, you are able to gather new experiences and level up again. These are the first few iterations of a never-ending cycle of experiencing and understanding matters in a ever deeper sense.
The Deming Wheel pictures this cycle of continuous improvement very well: PLAN – DO – CHECK – ACT
The Deming Wheel: PLAN - DO - CHECK - ACT (picture copyright by University of Texas, Austin)
Plan
Lay out what you are about to do and organize it. Good goals should obey the SMART principle:
S: Specific – Always be concrete about what to achieve
M: Measurable – Without measure you cannot evaluate goal achievement
A: Attractive – Attraction makes you want to achieve the goal
R: Realistic – Unrealistic goals are deemed to frustrate you
T: Time – Set deadlines to avoid dragging goals out
Do
This is the most important part. Shut off the analytic mind and just do what you planned on doing. This is where you gather the experience that makes your character level up!
It is of critical importance that you really do what you planned on doing. Without the experience you will gather, your path to mastery stops at this very point!
Check
Check your achievements against your plans. Were you successful in achieving your goals? If so, why were you successful. If not, what went wrong? Document it.
Act
Implement the experiences you have made into the changes for future goals. Learn from what you have experienced and become better the next iteration! Start again with planning it.
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Do you know, what the difference between knowledge and wisdom is? Wisdom is doing it!
These are the words of Socrates, the second main character in the inspiring movie “Peaceful Warrior”. They truly have struck me. If you want to become a master or even anything, there is no way around doing things. Most people like to talk and read about things as well as watching other people’s efforts and commenting them – it is an easy thing to do. But really getting out there and doing what you love to do really lets you stand out of the crowd.
From one of the many people that talk all day long you will gradually become a person that actually walks its way towards success – inevitably
The transition is a hard one and I am working on it myself. This posting should be an indicator that I will – from now on – stop writing so much about things I haven’t achieved myself personally and get out there actually living my life. I will soon report back with thoughts that echo the true voice of human experience.
Follow me on my way to become someone special – like you were intended to be
Fitness and strength coach legend Dan John is someone you should listen to if you are serious about any endeavor in this field. Few people have more knowledge and (more importantly) wisdom about the topic of strength training. A video I have repeatedly stumbled upon is an extract from his DVD, “A Philosohpy of Strength Training” – his take on the tremendously important topic of goal setting.
If you have a goal in life, to live ’til you die, that is a very solid goal.
Dan starts out with a beautiful statement. I want to extend his statement to: “If you have a goal in life, to live ’til you die, only that is a very solid goal.” You want to verbalize this main goal of yours in the first place. This is the most important planning action of your whole life and you will want to invest some serious effort to accomplish it. Remember that if you try to save your time here, you may end up pursuing a then meaningless goal for decades of your life. Do not be foolish – wise men know that their life has a purpose and their journey can only begin after they have discovered it.
Other goals are sub-goals of this one goal (you may call it your ‘life purpose’) and have to be viewed in its perspective. If any sub-goal is not actively contributing to your main goal, you have to dismiss it, or you will stray from your true purpose. Always stay in alignment with it, as hard as it may seem at the moment. Only if you are 100% devoted, the true beauty of your purpose can effortlessly unfold. It does not necessarily take hard work to accomplish staying true to your purpose – what it takes is devotion and faith.
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Dan John also quotes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’s Don Quixote
It’s the road, not the inn.
This is well-known in eastern philosophy. The first association I have with this sentence is a scene in the movie “Peaceful Warrior”, where Dan Millman comes to understand “The journey. The journey is what brings us happiness. Not the destination.”
A goal is a useless one if you are not able to enjoy the journey there. If you have to starve yourself in order to achieve a body composition goal, you will ditch your success in an instant because of the lack of enjoyment you felt on the way there. This is, why most dieters are yo-yoing – bodybuilders just like normal people. If you enjoy the change of diet and grow to like the foods that do your body (composition) good, you will achieve your goal as well. Probably it will take longer, probably not. Fact is that the maintenance of the goal is easy because the steps you took to get there were not forced and did not diminish your well-being.
It’s the road, not the inn. If you are about to pick a goal, make sure that the journey is interesting, inspiring and fills you so up with joy and excitement that you are on the verge of exploding. This truly is living life to its fullest.
I love you Dan John explains that it was ‘not that big of a deal’ standing up there on the podium after winning the contest Nevertheless, all his efforts did not went to waste. The preparation for the contest was the real benefit he gained. And I feel the same. Every time I train it is the great feeling I have by bringing my body to its limits that makes training so genuinely enjoyable and motivating. In whatever way you train, it should arouse a similar feeling in you. If not, your motivation and progression will cease with time. I have experienced this a dozen times – always be ready to reflect the validity of your goals when motivation starts to cease. Find out if this really is for you. The time investment in this clarity is worthwhile.
The question “WHY?” is very powerful. Always ask yourself, why you are doing this. Always ask deeper, why you are doing this. Go deep enough to find out your core motivation for a certain goal. At the time you have found out, you will already know if this goal is of true value or just an outlet for a misled belief (like the urge to impress others).
Other powerful questions to assess the validity of a goal are
Would you want to achieve this, if it was the last thing you could achieve before dying?
Would you want to achieve this, if there was no one out there appreciating it but you?
Would you want to achieve this, even if costed you all your money?
The first question calls upon the urgency of the goal, the second reflects on who you are doing it for and the third asks how great your motivation is (derived from the question: “What do you love so much that you would even pay to be able to do it?”).
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One thing I have never before heard of in the context of goal setting are the words elegance and mastery that Dan John uses.
Two things I think we miss. The first one is elegance, and the other one is mastery.
Indeed, we miss them most often. I believe this is of major importance. There are two misconceptions that are instantly cured by truly devoting oneself to the principles of elegance and mastery:
The urge to understand and excel at everything
The ravenous hunger for new heights in achievement
What elegance and mastery teach us is that it is not of true importance how much you achieve, but rather the way (or style) it is achieved or performed with. Furthermore, these principles teach us that there is no need to know everything when in fact it is impossible to do so anyhow.
Dan John explained it in a wonderful way: Pick out one or two feats of either technique or strength and work on truly mastering them. Limit the range of skills but deepen the expertise. Most people are surprised how many techniques and feats of strength they are able to achieve without training them after they have truly mastered a basic skill.
Mastery is elegance. You cannot call yourself a master unless you are able to perform a skill in such a wonderful style that it unequivocally is considered elegant (and thereby beautiful).
Remember that mastery is never finished. I have high respect for my Aikido teacher’s teacher – the Aikikai chairman Georg Meindl. He repeatedly explains to us how the path of mastery and understanding never is finished. The deeper you delve into a topic, the more complex the facets become. True mastery is a lifetime achievement. Nothing more and nothing less.
Become a master and do not be satisfied with anything less.
equivocate: to be deliberately ambiguous or unclear.
Acting equivocate has increasingly become a major problem in modern society. Every day I can’t help witnessing people who are either unable to express themselves in a clear way or deliberately avoid doing so, out of whatever reason. Communication, by its very meaning, has always had to do with passing something to another entity. Communicating equivocate takes the essence out of the communication: The information shared. Instead, misunderstandings are aroused. And misunderstandings are often the source of conflicts.
I have experienced one major reason why people opt to deliberately blur information clarity: fear.
Probably the most common type of fear associated with unclear communication is the fear of rejection. The probability that your counterpart will disagree with or get hurt by the information you are about to transmit is sufficient to drive people to withhold information in most cases.
The level of information transmitted is directly related to the level of self-acceptance and self-love. The more the person is in touch with itself, the less the damage an undesired answer can deal. A person with a high level of self-worth is hard to hurt – in any case, this person will have realized that any level of interpersonal incongruence has no impact his or her worth and the level of validity of his or her perspective. A person with little self-worth that is out of touch with itself however is easy to hurt. Even small levels of incongruence in interpersonal communication will directly translate in a diminished self-worth and a devastated validity of the person’s perspective.
Translated to real life experiences, the brink of an conflict sparked by incongruence in communication will be experienced much different. Here are a few examples:
A person that is very much in touch with itself will most probably reply: “Okay. We’re out of congruence in this point. I have reasons to believe that my perspective holds true as much as you will have. Could you therefore help me understand why your perspective is correct?” The dominating mind-set here is acceptance of the own perspective and understanding for the other’s perspective. This mind-set is growth-oriented and enables the person to experience new insights. The possibility that he or she might be wrong is none of a threat – cooperation and learning better is the goal of communication.
A person, whose ego is really blown-up, will most probably reply: “I don’t see why your point makes any sense. My perspective has to be closer to truth than yours, because so and so.” Forcing the opponent into congruence is the dominating mind-set for the ego-driven person. In reality, this person also experiences fear – fear of not being right. In order to avoid being wrong, the person is very keen on its own perspective and would never allow the opponent’s perspective to hold true (which would mean defeat). This way, the person keeps itself from learning new insights and while he or she may be able to convince his or her opponent by force, the discussion is ended with a mind-set of conflict and concurrence instead of a mind-set of cooperation. Ego-driven people often become hugely successful in life, from a perspective of monetary or other mundane riches, but often lack true friends and a loving relationship and hence are far from being happy or satisfied.
A person with a lack of self-worth but a pile of knowledge will most probably reply: “But see, my perspective has a point because so and so. Please understand.” The underlying phrase this person communicates is to beg for acceptance and praise. While generally open for other perspectives, this person experiences just too much fear to be able to give in – in the belief that they would lose themselves by doing so. Occasionally, such a person can be confused for a arrogant one because of the persistence of their arguments, even if proved wrong. The opponent to this person is like a life-threatening danger. This type of person is normally very well-educated and intelligent but has a hard time being respected and finding real friends. The pseudo-arrogant outside blocks the revelation of a lovable inside.
A person with a lack of self-worth and mediocre knowledge will most probably reply: “I see, I am wrong here. Sorry for being wrong. Thanks for clarification.” He or she will never defend his or her perspective and willingly give in to whatever criticism comes along. Due to the lack of self-worth, this person will have no faith in the correctness of its own opinion – others always know better is the dominating mind-set. Even if right, these people will have no faith in what they do unless they are encouraged by others – thereby making them dependent on their consent. This person is the archetype of the follower – a person without own opinion that accepts whatever opinion the currently chosen leader has. For this kind of person it is normal to regularly change the leader in search for protection from the former leader as these individuals are easily abused when straying from their former leader’s opinion.
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It only is the first example that has the ability to communicate information just as it is: Acceptance of the own perspective and openness for the other’s. All the others have problems either to accept the other’s opinion, the own opinion or both and therefore are driven to conflict-laden communication and therefore problematic relationships.
From my own experience, the problem with unclear communication has become an epidemic one. I personally see myself as either Type III or Type IV – as a human being that has problems with acceptance of the own opinion and is easily influenced by criticism from others. I know that I am not alone – many people share this problems in an age that is infested with so much information that conflict is almost pre-programmed, regardless of what we do or say. The probability that our own behavior is against someone else’s norm is steadily approaching one with a rising number of people around.
In order to become a human being that is able to safely navigate through these rough times, it is important to achieve a level of self-worth and self-acceptance that enables you to accept your opinion, even when faced with harsh opposition. Interestingly, your opposition can easily transform to an alliance from the moment you at least try to understand their perspective.
For all those who haven’t yet achieved this goal (like myself), the way towards it is the key. There are numerous ways to increase your level of self-acceptance. The easiest to implement in daily life to me is choosing situations where you show self-acceptance in spite of the fact that they require a little bit more than you normally have. This way, you can gradually grow to become more self-confident.
A lot of small steps form a long way. I believe that you can do it If you are already there: Congratulations. You are amongst the souls that this planet is in high need of
Imagine a medieval oriental city. Every day, the bazaar opens up in the morning hours and goods are traded lively. Countless merchants praise their products and try to make the best sales. Countless consumers stroll through the narrow streets in a lookout for a good bargain.
Imagine being one of these merchants. You sell very special goods, in a unique farrago: Your own abilities and qualities. What would it be the staples at your stand consist of? How will you appraise it in order to make the best sale? How are they of quality for the world around you?
Now go out into the real world and be a good merchant and do not sell your goods below their value. Explain your goods to your consumers. Present them in an attractive way. They are highly valuable, after all.
alacrity: a cheerful readiness, willingness, or promptness.
Derived from the Latin word for lively, alacrity is something worth attaining throughout the course of your life. It is the attitude you should have towards your life’s mission, your purpose, your reason to live from day to day.
You should awaken every day with the sparkling motivation to create something great in your life – that surpasses your own imagination. In Japan, the word KAIZEN is colloquially used. It simply means to continually improve yourself – from day to day become a better you. This is synonymous to permanent personal growth – this is why you are here on this planet, after all.
If you haven’t already entered a state wherein you awaken every day with the urge to create the reality of your liking, you have to take certain steps in this direction. They are the following
Learn how to motivate yourself
Find out your deepest core values
Translate your core values into a life mission
Translate your mission into specific goals
Use the power of your motivation to get going this instant – and never stop until you perish
Motivation
Motivation is optional. You will probably never need motivation due to your burning urge to fulfill your life mission anyhow, but for every moment of doubt that overshadows your determination to live your mission, knowing ways to motivate yourself to get going anyway is an enormously empowering insurance. This way, you will always be able to take action towards your the fulfillment of your life mission.
Core Values
Your core values are the values that mean most to you. You have three options to find out, what your core values are
Analyze situations that emotionally hurt you. These situations reveal your core values, as they have become hurt therein.
Imagine situations that truly empower you. These situations also reveal your core values, as they have been empowered therein.
Be silent and introspect. Search for a solitary place and undergo meditation. Tap your core and find our the values that matter most to you
When you have found out all your core values, think about why they are so important to you. This will further reveal the values that stand behind these core values – these are the truly important ones. Write them down.
Your Mission
For every set and combination of core values, there are missions that represent these values in a perfect way. If your core values are excellence, communion, sharing and compassion, you might opt for becoming professor or teacher or you become a therapist representing the same values. Possibilities are endless – your creativity is the limit.
Thoroughly assess the possible missions and for every mission, go into a meditative state and imagine living this mission already. Evaluate the feelings you go through during this imagination and let it be the emphasis for your judgment which mission will be the right one for you.
Remember: Even if your mission is a huge commitment, you are not entitled to follow it for a lifetime. Humans are entities that undergo change, sometimes radically. Our missions have to adapt to these changes. So if you – at any time – feel out of sync with what you do, re-assess your core values and your mission statement thereafter.
Milestones
For every mission, there are milestones you have to achieve what you have dreamed of. Lay out a rough milestone landscape and break down every piece of the way into smaller milestones. The bigger goals have sub-goals and every sub-goal has specific action steps.
While planning out your goals, never lose touch to the greater context. Always keep in mind, why you are doing this and why this is of true importance for you. Cut out everything that is useless in context of your mission.
Get Going
The main reason, why most people fail is that they never got going. It is problematic to perpetuate the planning phase of a mission ad infinitum – rather than planning it out to perfection (which is impossible, with you undergoing constant change), start following your missions and make adjustments on the planning on the fly. Take your time to assess your plans every week but never get hung up planning – proceed working. Without working on your goals, you will never be able to figure out possible problems anyhow.
As mentioned, make good use of your motivational skills to push you further. A good quote to get you through difficult times was done by Calvin Coolidge – it is easily the single best thing I have ever read on the topic of success
Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
Press on and you cannot ever fail. Live alacrity. Be a shining role model for your environment and the whole planet.
efficacious: producing, or capable of producing, a desired effect.
Whenever you pursuit a goal in your life, you have to take steps towards your goal – into the right direction. To take this steps, you will need specific tools that enable you to do so. Not always you are able to walk the way through green grass under bright sunshine – those are the low-level goals, the low-hanging fruits, goals that you will achieve anyhow and that show few opportunities to grow.
To chase high-level goals that require a tremendous amount of growth, the question of how you will make your way is of vital importance. Will you go barefooted or ride the bike? Will you have to cross a river using a boat? How to cross the rapids without getting crushed into the rocks that endanger your life amid the river’s width? While these are metaphors, they easily translate into real-life situations where you have to decide well how you are going to proceed.
Doing a brainstorm on the possible options is highly recommended but this is the easy part – finding out what is possible. The hard part is to evaluate, which way is the one best suited to the situation. To judge the options, ask yourself the following questions:
Is this way congruent with what I truly am?
What will be the long-term ramifications of taking this option?
How much will it cost me financially, physically and mentally to do so?
Imagine being the best you can be, the perfect you: Would you still opt for this solution?
These questions empower you to get into touch with your inner self. They guide you to act authentic and train your vision – thinking about how your choices impact your life and the life of others is of tremendous power when pondering about possible solutions. Sure, murder can clean the way sometimes and it looks like a decent solution from a very short-term perspective but from a long-term perspective, the ramifications of this deed are far too grave to actually consider choosing it
Thinking about what you have to invest includes some risk-management as well. The more you put on the line, the more you can win – and the more you can lose. Still, sometimes a safer bet is still far more rewarding than a risky choice. It all depends on the situation and you have to judge it anew from case to case. Not only the finances are of importance. What good is a tool, if it empowers you financially but devours your physical energy and mental well-being? There are too many financially successful businessmen out there that suffer from burn-out syndrome – do yourself a favor and do not join them.
Finally, the imagination of your perfect self is a vision that enables you to look at problem and solution from an elevated perspective. It strengthens your internal congruence because with every choice congruent with the one of your perfect self you do one step further becoming this person. A promising outlook
Start tomorrow to judge your tools using these questions. Proceed to live a life in congruence with who you really are and want to be.
What comes to mind when pondering about a word like logorrhea (which sounds a lot like diarrhea, as it shares the same Greek word root: ‘rhein’ – to flow – in one case, the words flow, in others… well, you know ) is the excessive flow of words society is confronted with on a daily basis these times. With the invention of interactive media, the amount of information produced (and likewise consumed) has topped every peak known until then – everyone is now broadcasting his or her opinion and the sheer amount of information has already reached an epidemic state. My blog is no exception from the rule – I, too, am merely a single soul broadcasting its message out to the world.
Interactive Media – Gift or Curse?
It would be wrong to label interactive media as a plain bad thing. Prior to interactive media (published by internet services), classical media like television and print media was the only source of information a person could get – and these sources of information always represent an underlying opinion which render them subjective instead of the objective information most individuals are in search for when looking up a topic. While internet content is also far from being objective, the range of information sources and thereby perspectives represented is significantly broader. There is much more information that could potentially be true and overheard voices too have their share in the broadcast – an advantage that is too relevant to be omitted.
Still, the masses of information are a challenge for the consumer. Even if the internet offers the possibility to look for information on-demand, the average internet user has a hard time avoiding push content (meaning content that is offered deliberately, like a host of articles on a webmail page) and limit the consumption to pull content (meaning content that is offered only by demand). By this logic, surfing the web confronts the individual with so much information that it is hard to choose what to read – nearly everyone will have found themselves reading something they weren’t looking for initially by chance – and got hung up in the process.
The second hurdle to take – after selecting the information itself – is to evaluate the quality of content. Since everyone is entitled to publish content without anyone checking validity, the recipient himself is responsible for checking it. In the internet age, it has become vitally important to have a good sense of differentiation. Authors always have an intention when writing an article – they always transport their views with their writing, this is normal human behavior. Consuming media, one always has to think about what intention it follows and have to think over statements that are presented as facts constantly. This requires a log of energy but is the only possible solution not to become lulled in by tricky writers.
As a rule of thumb, always double-check statements that sound too good to be true and watch out for relativity, when it comes to figures, statistics and comparisons.
I will take this Twitter tweet from Steve Pavlina as an example, because I feel that it is representative:
This is a statement and it is true by itself. Still it does not take a few things into consideration
India is amongst the poorest countries of the world. Meat is an expensive food. Most Indians struggle to survive on cheap foods like grains and legumes – meat is just out of consideration.
Considering daily caloric intake, no nation consumes more calories daily than Americans do.
Conclusion: After taking these variables into consideration, the figure would still show that Americans eat more meat than Indians, but the extreme margin would be cut down in magnitude.
This is only one example how figures can be altered to cause a specific effect (in this case, Steve Pavlina, who is a strong raw vegan proponent, wanted to point out the meat consumption madness of the United States) – watch out for figures in future information you absorb!
Is Constant Talking a Sign of Wisdom?
An ancient saying goes like this:
Those who know much talk little. Those who talk all the time know nothing.
In modern society, this holds true oh so much. You will find these people everywhere that simply do not seem to stop talking. They may not notice it, but all they do is constantly boasting their ego in public – by talking to a broad audience about what they have achieved and how they did it without a pause. Most people have done this at some point in their life, but it normally is an acute state, not a chronic one.
People who act like this are normally poor listeners. They are too occupied with themselves and their thoughts to fully perceive what they are told. By this reason, conversations with this kind of person often are unidirectional – as opposed to what conversations should be like: bidirectional, with equal shares in giving and receiving. These people often have the tendency to gather weaker minds than themselves around them – and constantly make them applaud or at least approve what they have to tell. They have little interest in real growth-oriented contacts – too deep is the fog of delusion they are caught in.
At the other end of the scales you will find the people that are widely regarded as wise men or saints. These are the people that rarely talk a lot. Sure, they will tell you about their past experiences in length when asked to do so, but they will never do so deliberately. They will rather listen to what you have to tell them and answer in short but right words – never will you see them using more words than necessary. It is the determination to fully understand the other part of a conversation that drives them to be a excellent company – better listeners are found nowhere. Normally, people tend to grow in this direction when becoming older and slow their pace for effort, but there are numerous young spirits, bursting with energy, that have proven to have this skill as well. Be on the lookout for these individuals – meeting them will probably a life-changing even for you.
Final Thoughts
As a final note, I want to suggest to you that you wield the power of your mind consciously. Choose only information that is of use for you and never take a word for granted. Always investigate on your own before accepting conventional wisdom. If necessary, experiment to discover truth. Be careful with your words. Stop the talk for once and try to listen as openly as possible. Be of excellent service to others. Discover for yourself – the wisdom of silence.
Yesterday we did another CrassFit training session with the following program:
Pre-Fatigue
Focus: Strength + Jump Power
2 rounds of
10 knee tuck jumps
10 whole body jumps (explosive push-ups with the whole body up in the air)
5 explosive pull-ups
5 squat-clean + press (2 x 16 kg kettlebell)
During the pre-fatigue part of the workout we started to realize that it would become a harder workout than we thought Our metabolism was truly fired up by these two rounds – the explosive form of these exercises make them really hard on the body. As a rule of thumb, the metabolic stress is determined by the vertical leap of the movement and its resistance. Squat cleans (with presses) totally destroy the metabolism and if you continue with knee tuck jumps, you are sure to shoot your pulse frequency up into new all-time heights.
Metabolic Conditioning
Focus: Timed Workload (Minute Drills)
60” of
Split jumps
Clap Pushups
Rope pull-ups
Burpees
with approx. 20” rest between exercises
approx. 2′ rest
75” of
Jump squats
Push-ups
Pull-ups
Kettlebell swings 16 kg
with approx. 20” rest between exercises
approx. 2′ rest
90” of
Squats
Puppy push-ups
Body rows
Mountain climbers
With the metabolic conditioning, Peter (who designed the workout) was not 100% correct about the nature of the workout. All of the attendees experienced muscular failure before systemic failure (which is the intention of metabolic conditioning). But not too much of a problem – we did what we could. Initially, we planned the three blocks as 60”, 90” and 120” time under tension blocks but opted to reduce the load as we experienced enormous fatigue after the first block already.
Harald told me between the blocks, that time is relative, after complaining about my level of fatigue. And how relative it is These were amongst the longest seconds I have ever experienced.
Post-Fatigue
Focus: Static Holds
60” static hold of
Body row (arms 90° flexed)
Wall sit (30” 45°, 30” 90° leg flex)
Push up (variable positions)
The static work was the crowning of a tremendously intense workout. The sheer intensity and density of the workouts is the reason that we were unable to do filming this time – so there is no video documentation, I am afraid Apart from the workout intensity, it gets dark earlier and earlier these days so we have to put up with training in darkness in future, I guess. At the time we finished this one (20:00), darkness was embracing us already.
Four madmen. Out in the darkness. Wasted and done.
Darkness will not stop us, for sure. The next workout session is scheduled for next Tuesday, 22nd of September 2009. This time, it’s Dominik‘s turn to design the workout. He already told us that he will take a barbell with him. What diabolic intentions he has on his mind? Stop by here in one week’s time to find out
lucubration: laborious work, study, thought, etc., esp. at night.
Learning deep into the depths of the night is a well-known thing for most of us. It is a hard endeavor, we are tired and try to learn nonetheless. But is it really of any sense to do so?
Science negates this. The ideal time to learn is during day when the brain is able to absorb information – not the night, when it is supposed to regenerate. There are numerous ways to learn ideally but studying longer than one normally is awake is none of them.
The night hours and the sleep have a tremendously important task to accomplish. The brain tissue is regenerated and the information is filed and categorized during sleep – it therefore can be regarded as ‘learning while sleeping’ because this is what the brain literally does. By skipping your healthy sleep you accomplish two things:
You lower your energy level for the next day (because of sleep deprivation)
You deprive the brain of the possibility to store the information you want to memorize
In conclusion, you do exactly what you do not want to achieve. Be aware of this when you set out to study late hours next time
Final note: The ideal time to review the information to learn is directly before going to bed. The brain prioritizes input in inverse chronological order – the last thing you challenged your mind with is of highest priority during the sleeping hours.
Have fun learning – more on learning techniques another time
Simon
).
Nevertheless, all his efforts did not went to waste. The preparation for the contest was the real benefit he gained. And I feel the same. Every time I train it is the great feeling I have by bringing my body to its limits that makes training so genuinely enjoyable and motivating. In whatever way you train, it should arouse a similar feeling in you. If not, your motivation and progression will cease with time. I have experienced this a dozen times – always be ready to reflect the validity of your goals when motivation starts to cease. Find out if this really is for you. The time investment in this clarity is worthwhile.
Apart from the workout intensity, it gets dark earlier and earlier these days so we have to put up with training in darkness in future, I guess. At the time we finished this one (20:00), darkness was embracing us already.