Active Concept Training

Who wants to play?!?!

Is that the question we should be asking...instead of who wants to lose weight?  We have more people than ever before exercising.  We have more people than ever before who are overweight an dotherwise unhealthy.  What gives?

The population is growing, so there are more people anyway, this can account for some of those stats we always here.  Otherwise, why aren't people finding it fun to "workout?"  I have a theory...

You ever see a kid "workout?"  Me either.  They play!  Play a lot!  I know we all have said about a kid, "I wish I had his/her enerygy."  Well, we CAN.  Next time you go for a workout, go outside and skip, hop, play imaginary leap frog, hang on to a tree limb and swing, throw a rock, hop on one leg on a line (don't fall into the water!), play with your kid instead of watching them (that works well.)

You know what all of that does, it gives you immediate feedback.  It makes you feel GOOD.  Instead of thinking about how much weight you have to lose, think about how good you felt after playing!  Sure, I like my 3 hour bike rides, but I also like picking up a weight and throwing it somewhere.  I like hanging uipside down.  I like pulling something towards me as slow as I can, just for fun.

Make up a "workout" for yourself.  Have fun with this one, and see how you feel.  Give me some feedback.  I wanna know if you felt better than your 3 sets of 10 workout you've been doing for 3 years, or not?

GO!

As the games have arrived, I would like to challenge each of you.  This is an easy challenge, and a fun one!

Try to create your workout as if you are doing an event at the games...and no you can't do archery every time!!  Maybe once!  Such as instead of chest and back on day one, do a javelin throw or something in the gym that resembles a throw, like throwing a medicine ball 100 times.  Your next workout--a 1 mile run.  Your next workout--a 10 mile bike ride.   Next--the triple jump and long jump.

Mix it up so that your workouts this next week allow you to have fun.  Reap the benefits of your hard work over the last couple of months by having fun, and competing in the Olympic Games...that's what they are here for right?  Dream, follow someone's else's strive, and drive, for a once in a lifetime achievement!

(Above is Shalane Flanagan...our own UNC grad multiple medal hopeful)

As I write this, I am seeing a little girl, maybe 6 yrs old, obviously growing her hair back from some type of cancer treatment.  Let her be your role model...then, pay it forward.  Act like, and be like, a role model for your kids and grandkids.  They look up to whatever you do...or don't do.

GO!

If you have followed me over the years, this link will bring you nothing you haven't heard.  What it does show you is that the movement is real...just like the food we are supposed to eat!

I highly regret missing this event in SCal this past weekend.  Lots of pioneers of the movement were there.  Though, some of the REAL pioneers are no longer with us.  Some folks from the early 1900's, 50's and 70's who told the powers that be that they were wrong--they were the ones we should have listened to before.

Well, now we have another chance!!  Second chances rarely happen on this magnitude.  I hope we all listen now.  Or else we will rely on nothing but fabricated goods, including food, to keep us alive.  I don't want that!

In case someone is not listening...this is NOT the eat nothing but meat diet.  This is eat real food.  Period.  Fat is good for you, as is protein, as are limited carbs (debates will go on forever on this one.)

http://bigthink.com/ideas/39662

Eat some real food!!  Oh, and move like nature intended us too!  Have fun while you are at it!

No mistake, THAT'S how humans are supposed to run.  The more I watch my 3 year old play, the more clear it becomes.  That health and fitness is more than just climbing on a treadmill, or throwing some weights around to look "buff." http://www.activeconcepttraining.com/apps/blog/show/4338627-lotsa-talk-about-running-shoes

My wife brought our son into the gym this morning to play.  Yes, play, in the gym.  He swang on a low bar (he can't quite pull himself up yet) and he bounced on the bosu ball, and jumped for what he thought was "a long way."  He grabbed two dumbells and started pressing them over his head, then wanted to race from one wall to the other.  He finished off by doing some push ups, leg raises, and climbed up the incline bench and stood there--on top of the world!!

Sound like fun to you?  YEAH!!  Me too.  So why do we go through this "routine" all the time?  I know, one must do something similar to see if there is improvement.  Well, true.  If you start off with 20 push ups, at some point in the future, I hope you can do 50.  In the meantime, over the next 2-4 weeks, why don't you just play a little.  Pick a lift and practice it.  Pick a dive-bomber push up, and practice.  Grab a kettlebell, and do some swings before you run, then do some more swings, just for the hell of it.  THEN find a goal, and work towards it over the next 2-3 months.

Me?  I am cycling across the state again this year, for the first time in 5 years!  Oh, and I haven't ridden my bike hardly at all this year!  Time to get crackin!

Have fun with your work out...I mean PLAYTIME!

http://www.activeconcepttraining.com/apps/blog/show/5407468-play-time-

GO!

So, what do you do when you are undergoing chemo treatments?  Simply put, do what you can.  If it's a walk, go for one.  There is a fine line where exercise stimulates growth of good cells, or breaks down those cells.  That line is your call.  This will depend on your level of fitness before symptoms of the cancer hit.  If you did triathlon training, you may not be able to do the same training, but you should strive for doing more than someone going through chemo who rarely exercised.

The rules are very subjective, however the general rule applies to all.  Body movement helps.  Period.  Can't do 100 burpees?  Do 15, and call it a day.  When do you exercise?  When you can.  That first week after treatment if you can't get out of bed, don't.  Afterward, when you have walked around for a day or two, and you are feeling better, it's time to SQUAT!  Or LUNGE!  And PUSH UP!  As much as you feel comfortable doing.  Anything is better than nothing.  My wife can tell you that!!!

I saw this morning a woman walk in the gym with blond hair.  She went into the changing room, changed clothes, and forgot her hair!  In it's place was a bandana.  As she ran on the treadmill I remembered two things.  One:  what a great effort she is putting forth, not only the exercise, but just to walk out of the house.  Two:  as much as I tell people that the treadmill is not the way to become "fit," it just might be for her.

I want to thank this lady for reminding me of that, and I will the next time I see her.

Exercise for a charity.  Pick one...

GO!

Want to see something interesting?  Watch my 2 1/2 year old squat, do push ups, hang from a bar, run...with a bike helmet on.  Oh and wellies too!  Why you ask?  Because he can, and the inhibitions we have as we get older, haven't deterred him yet.  You know what else hasn't hit him?  The fact that working out is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE FUN, right?

Isn't that what you think MOST of the time..."ah, hell, got to go to the gym again."  You say it with disdain and a sense of dispair and "not again."  Why?  When did your workout become so unbearable?  If it is, you probably aren't doing the right stuff.  Don't get me wrong, there are days when I don't have the energy or "want" to workout.  That's when I don't.  I either play, or do some light mobility work, or go through the motions.  Not every day has to be intense and "the best workout I ever had."

What about those days when I need to find inspiration?  I look at my wife and/or son.  I look at them and know two things:  One--if my wife could exercise, she would.  Two--my son HAS FUN when he runs around, lies on the floor, and says "dada, I doing my exercise!!"

(no this is not my son :-)  however he looks close to how my son did the other day)

Where is your inspiration coming from?  If you need some ideas, contact me.

Don't know what to do when you get to the gym?  Contact me.

Bored with your "routine?"  Contact me.

Are you going to whine and complain about every exercise?  Bring it.  I can take it...contact me.

It's playtime.  Put your bike helmet on, along with some rubber boots, and have some fun!

GO!

http://chasingcapacity.com/2010/09/but-mike-boyle-said-the-squat-was-dead/

Brought to you by Andy Deas.  His idea is this, just because you hear a "trainer to the stars" say it's true, doesn't mean it is true for you, or with whom you are training.  Just because a trainer says you should do it this way, doesn't mean you can't do it another way.  There are man ways to skin the cat, right?  That is why there are many modalitites.  What works best for you?  If you don't know, start tinkering.

How many of you have ever wondered if what you read in Muscle and Fiction Mag, or from Shape Mag 1984 December issue was correct?  The answer is simple...yes and no.  Could be or could not be.  What is the general rule regarding YOUR situation when it comes to YOUR fitness and health?  N=1.  Period.

What worked for Hulk Hogan probably won't work for you.  OK, well, maybe the drugs will.  Bad example.  What about Cal Ripken, or Angelina Jolie, or Wilt Chamberlain, or Kelly Slater, or...  First you have to figure out what you want to be.  Then go be it.  How?  By training like the person you want to look like.

Want to look like a slob...train like one.  Want to look like a surfer, go surf.  Want to look like a gymnast, go be one.  Of course, I am not saying to forego the running, biking, resistance training, yoga, etc. that you may find appealing or fun.  I am just saying that if you want to look like X, go train like X.

Above all, don't hurt yourself, and have fun!

GO!

So each generation thinks that theirs was the 'golden age' of play when they were kids.  Are we headed down a bleek path?  If my generation thought that running and jumping and climbing was fun, and every generation before mine thought that as well, where are we headed?  I agree with this article that every generation has it's excuses for not going outside to play, but the technology from here on out is going to promote the decrease in activity, moreso than in any generation before.

http://naturalmessiah.blogspot.com/2010/11/history-of-play.html

The virtual world is slowly starting to outpace the activity in the real world.  We are losing our mobility, losing our connection to the Earth, and losing our minds at an ever earlier age.  You can't tell me that ths disconnect doesn't increase from one generation to the next.  It's happenning.

http://activeconcepttraining.webs.com/apps/blog/show/2588934-play-time-

Play...now before your kids don't want to anymore!

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I think so.

Here is a school system that thinks so too!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/nyregion/30forest.html?_r=2

How many of our kids today know what it takes to hike in the woods, and not get lost, or at the very least, not grab a poisonous plant or snake?

How many of our kids know what the directions are--north, south, east, and west--instead of just turn left or right or down by the old man's house?

How many of our kids have lost touch with going outside with a flashlight and looking at nature in the dark?  The sky at night?

How many of you do your workouts inside ALL THE TIME?

Get your kids, and you, outside!!

GO!

Hi gang!

I just launched my you tube channel.  Once in  a while, check it out for information, exercises, or just a rant about anything fitness, mobility, or mindful conditioning related!

http://www.youtube.com/user/activecontrain

Again, provide feedback anytime you want!

GO!