The Things We Do

Did you know that the body adapts to everything we do? Whether we practice bad posture, good movements, poor eating, or positive thinking, everything we do habitually cements itself into our bodies.

Can you believe that if we sit slumped in front of a computer all day almost every day of the week, our body will eventually make it easier and easier to sit that same way? In fact, our bodies will actually start to develop fascia and lay down connective tissues to support our new choice of posture! Our structure will actually change. The opposite is also true. If we practice good posture, our body will develop our structure to support that as well. So, sit up straight!

Even our thoughts can change our physical structure. If we are always worrying or practicing negative thinking, our muscles will grow chronically tight and our posture will eventually draw up or slump. The body will again lay down new connective tissue to support this posture. Not only that, we will always feel tired because our chronically tight muscles will rob us of nutrients because working muscles need energy. Our brain will even change its neurons to facilitate our habitual thinking and virtually make negative thoughts effortless. Our negative thinking will adversely affect our hormones as well. In short, we will stress our body out. And, we will be good at it.

Yes, bad habits are, well, bad... But, just as bad habits can change our bodies, good habits can too. This is deeper than just exercising. Practicing good movements and positive thinking can be more beneficial than even exercise. That is especially true for a person who exercises, but still practices negative thinking, or exercises with bad posture...

The point is, most of the time, the body we have is the body we’ve earned. The cool thing about this is, we can also earn a great body. Practicing simple things like good joint mobility, not worrying, diaphragmatic breathing, and making good food choices can all go a very long way towards having a healthy body and feeling great.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This is the best time of the year, for me that is. Everyone seems so much nicer and more loving in November and December. Nothing like a little Thanksgiving and Christmas to warm the world's heart. Or this country's heart; don't know that the rest of the world does Thanksgiving... Anyway, this time of year is awesome.

Except, I have to work tomorrow. I guess I can be thankful I have a job! I am thankful for that, It allows me to take care of my wonderful family, of whom I am very thankful! Anyway, Have a great Thanksgiving.

Training today:
TGU w/ 24kg: 3/3 -> w/ 32kg: 3/3
Dbl Squat to Press w/ 2 32kgs: 2 x 6 sets
Windmill w/ 32kg: 5/5 x 3 sets
Bottoms Up Clean w/ 32kg: 5/5 x 3 sets
1/2 kneeling press w/ 32kg: 5/5 x 3
Dead Lift w/ 2 32kgs: 10 x 3 sets

That's about it, I was tired after that.

Whoa.

The other day I was listening to Geoff Neupert interview John Brookfield and I was bitten by a bug; a rope bug. I had an itch to work the Tsunami drill from Brookfield's Battling Ropes. If you don't know the Tsunami is where you take a 2" 5O' rope anchored at one end and you try to sustain waves all the way down to the other end of the rope. If you can't picture it, it is a full body explosive drill. And, it is brutal. Anyway, I thought I would also work odd carries to warm up before I tried the Tsunami. So the session looked like this:

Kettlebell Ball carry w/ 32kg: 100 ft
Kettlebell Rack Position carry w/ 32kg: 100 ft L/ 100 ft R
Bottoms Up Kettlebell carry w/ 32kg: 50 ft L / 50 ft R - this was quite a challenge!
I repeated this for 3 rounds
Tsunami drill : 15 seconds x 10 rounds - I had to rest long enough to catch my breath between sets.

End result? I was trashed. What an eye opener. The Tsunami is a killer. I was completely wiped out the rest of the day. Lesson learned? I thought I was easing into it; turns out, not so much.

Will I do this again? Yep, I have got to make this drill easy because if I can, it will take my training to a whole new level.

So I will pepper this into my training every now and then...

The DVD has been selling well. Betsy and I are pleased. Have you gotten yours yet?!

Finally!

The Rapid Results Kettlebell Series, Level 1 DVD is now available! Time Efficient Training for Optimal Results. It only took 3 months to complete, but it is finally ready. Betsy has been a blast to work with, and a slave driver... Always telling me what to do and stuff! Anyway, our first DVD offering is finally here.

If you already know how to use a kettlebell as far as the basic moves, but just don't know to structure your routines in a time efficient manor, this video is for you.

If you want to check it out, go here:

http://www.opt4more.net/Rapid_Results_Kettlebell_Series/RR_DVD.html

Yesterday's training looked like this:

TGU w/ high bridge: 16kg - 5/5
TGU w/ squat: 16kg - 5/5
BU TGU w/ 16kg - 2/2
Double Bottoms up Squats w/ 2 20kgs: 5 x 4 sets
Double Bottoms up Presses w/ 2 20kgs: 5 x 4 sets
2 Hands Anyhow w/ 2 16kgs: 5/5 x 3 sets
Double Bottoms up cleans w/ 2 16kgs: 20, 20, 20
SLDL w/ 16kg: 10/10 x 2 sets

The 2 Hands Anyhow was a throw back! I almost enjoyed it...