Get Your Self in Shape!
It is never too early or too late
to improve your fitness! Above all, remember that fitness is not an
all-or-nothing endeavor. Whatever you can do to help your body stay
healthy today will save you hardship later in life.
If you don’t make time for your
health, eventually you will HAVE to make time for your illness.
A NEW/OLD WAY TO LOOK AT EXERCISE
The “modern”
primary school of thought puts body appearance (weight, size and measurements)
as the primary or only goal of exercise. The
“new kid on the block” that is actually the old-world method, puts performance,
ablilty and health as the primary measure and goal of
exercise. This new model sees big
biceps or smaller hips as the fortunate but barely relevant BY-PRODUCT of a
fit, able body. Yoga, martial arts,
Crossfit and the explosion of one-on-one Personal Training are causing an
explosion in the “small gym” business, putting the warehouse gyms on notice
that spandex wearing, steroid, silicone and diet-pill infested Barbie-and-Kens
(who die looking great at 50 from their unhealthy “fitness” lifestyle) are NOT
great models of a "Healthy" lifestyle.
AS Scott Sonnon
(Clubbell founder) states, “Fitness should be a
measure of super-wellness.”
So use exercise to Live Life To It’s Fullest (notice that Live is a verb, not an
adjective!) How stupid does it sound to
say “live life at it’s leanest!” or, “Live life to
it’s most well-defined shoulders!”
The big secret is that the age-old standards of beauty came from the physical expression
of health. Tan skin, strong legs, broad shoulders... all came from being outside, doing meaningful labor and eating good food. Only in the modern world are
we able, through drugs, machines and "suppliments", to attain the semblance
of fitness with only a minimal level of health.
Apart from that, it is much more
fun to focus on DOING things, rather than posing in a mirror looking for where
to “improve” yourself. For example, Olympic gymnasts are so busy working on
their ABILITIES, they NEVER stand in front of a mirror
wondering, "are my biceps defined enough?" The rest of us shouldn't,
either.
So why doesn't the
"Fitness" industry say these things?
because REAL health is not profitable. There is no big profit in meat, eggs, fish
and veggies, clean water, iron weights and hard work. All the BIG money is in processed protein
bars, weight-gainer shakes, fat-burner pills and new "miracle" gadget
machines every six months aimed at people trying freakish methods to attain the
freakish look seen on the cover of this week's Muscle Mag.
Health and fitness doesn’t have to
be so complicated, so expensive or so freakish.
Fitness isn't "easy", (meaning you may actually have to get off the couch) but
it CAN be simple, convenient and cheap.
Here is my basement gym:
This is a "Crossfit"
style gym, meaning that it is based on Olympic Lifting,
Gymnastics and general cross-training theory.
It is well rounded and inexpensive. (compared
to marketed "home gyms") The
"big-payoff" parts of this gym cost around 300 bucks. The bar and weight plates are the heart of
any strength program. A 300 pound set goes for about $125 at any sporting goods
store. Put some weight on it, pick it
up, put it over your head… you WILL get stronger than any machine can make
you! The rack (under $100) is not NEEDED but is handy for heavier
squats, bench press. The dumbbells on the left are only about 50
cents a pound and are BY FAR the most versatile pieces of fitness equipment one
can buy. The mini-parallel bars on the
floor (cost around 15 dollars and took about an hour to make) are for basic
gymnastic moves and holds, handstand-pushups etc. The most "fun" equipment is the set
of homemade gymnast rings in the forefront. (about $15
for the set, including the 12' adjustable straps) They are used for chin-ups,
dips and pushups by adjusting the height from overhead, waist high and just
above the floor as needed. The
instability of the rings does wonders for shoulder-joint and full body
stability and balance.
The few items in this gym will make
anyone stronger, more flexible and more CAPABLE than the thousands of dollars
of machines and circuit-stations at the local warehouse-gym. I have never met anyone who has outgrown
their original 300 pound barbell set. (Update: I take that back. Several of my friends and I are now using over 300 pounds on deadlifts... but on most exercises we are still way below 300)
Here are some great links to places
that have MUCH more info than I could put here!
Crossfit
– Cross Training to the fullest; Great fitness info source!
Dan
John's Lifting and Throwing Page - Excellent articles on training strength
and power for sports.
Clubbells - Weighted clubs,
very holistic approach to fitness as an expression of health
Rogue Fitness - supplier of rubber bumper plates, bars, gymnastic rings etc.