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Five Rings Fitness

• Leading from the Front
  
  I thought I would start to keep some of my personal logs here on the blog so that you folks could see that I am indeed, a human just like you
  
  
  
  as such
  I had a great thanksgiving, there was much beer, meat, sweet potatoes, yams (not candied), squash, pecan and pumpkin pie, whipped cream, green beans (these were from our garden this year and were frozen, still wicked tasty), gravy, rolls and single malt scotch
  
  
  
  there was tearing of phone books
  then came the next 3 days of gorging on leftovers, drinking more beer and eating a lot more of the afore mentioned pies
  
  
  
  so, now its back to the normal day to day
  
  
  
  today's efforts and diet log is as such
  
  
  
  
  
  
  this morning: 1 cup of coffee, 1 cup of yogurt with udo's oil (1 tbsp), fish oil (1 tbsp) and greens mix, mega foods men's 1 daily multi, 1 double shot of espresso with honey
  hit some club work (1lb indian clubs, english style) consisting of 10 repetitions in each direction of the 5 basic movements for a total of 100 reps, and a full body training session of I-Phase Z-Health
  
  
  
  at lunch
  
  
  
  20 reps in each direction of all 5 movements with the 1lb clubs, 10 minutes of kalos sthenos get ups with the 16kg bell, 100 20kg snatches, 20 reps in both directions all 5 movements 1lb clubs, full body training session of I-Phase Z-Health
  this was all done in 45 minutes at a very leisurely pace
  Lunchtime meal
  
  
  
  Mixed herb salad with 1 can of sardines, feta cheese, tomatoes, bragg's amino's, caesar dressing, double shot of espresso with honey
  
  
  
  the day is young
  
  
  
  as I said in the beginning of the post, I will try to keep a daily rundown of my work and nutrition so that you guys can see how easy it really is to stay on top and in good working order
  
  
  
  with a focus on Precision, Progression, and Variety (as Dr Thomas has intimated, though he stipulated it as Progression, Variety and Precision) it keeps the work light and fun and the progress forward constant and measurable
  
  
  
  these pics are for reference, to see what 30 days of my approach to fitness can do to someone
  
  
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  understand, I am already in decent physical condition, so your mileage may vary
  but lets see what I can do in 30 days
  if I can do it
  so can you
  
  
  
  Get Strong, Stay Strong
  and don't let the bastards drag you down
  
  
  
  
  
  Brought to you by the folks at 5 rings fitness, get strong, stay strong.....
  
  
  
• Confused about Breathing? You won't be, after this episode of SOAP
  Breathing, an important and oft overlooked component of fitness and life in general
  people pay lip service to the breath, saying you have to breath one way or another
  behind the shield
  from the belly
  from the diaphragm
  with the pelvic floor
  hold the breath
  relax the breath
  mechanical
  anatomical
  reverse
  power
  
  confused?
  you won't be after this episode of SOAP
  
  SOAP is the acronym I have come up with to describe my philosophy on breath work
  
  Simple
  Optimal
  Active
  Practiced
  
  
  keep it simple
  really what is breathing anyway
  it is a blood gas exhange that takes place in the lungs
  the alveoli absorb an oxygen molecule from the gases we inhale (not all of what we breathe in is o2, FYI:Air is made up of 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen and small quantities of CO2, argon and helium)  O2 moves through the alveoli to the pulmonary capillaries, then oxygenated blood moves into the pulmonary veins which return to the left side of the heart to be pumped to the tissues via red blood cells (which is why we need Iron in our diet and in many cases must supplement to get the Iron we need, most men and women especially, are deficient in Iron)
  From the blood to the tissues and cells, O2 gets carried along and exchanged for Co2 (exhaled)
  this is the baseline explanation of the blood gas exchange that is breathing
  
  lets get simpler
  
  Breathe, with every part of you that can breathe, this means full breaths, complete expansion of the ribs and stomach, all the way down to the bottom of the lungs and full relaxed exhale, forget about whether or not you need abdominal tension to brace or axial lengthening or anything else for now,
  Just focus on the breath
  
  Are you getting a full inhale and exhale on each breath?
  
  want to alkylize the blood?
  breathe
  want to lower your blood pressure?
  breathe
  want to get stronger?
  breathe
  Want to .....
  
  just Breathe....
  
  
  
  Optimal
  
  
  What is the optimal breathing pattern for you?
  what are you doing?
  why are you doing it?
  are you under a load or not
  standing, lying down, bent over, folded up like a card table?
  
  here I may depart from some of my peers, and from the opinions of the fitness mavens and popular folks out there in iron land
  groovy
  this does not bother me...
  
  the optimal breathing pattern
  for YOU
  not me, or the guy on the bus stop bench next to you rocking out to Jethro Tull and eating cheetos out of a baggie,
  
  YOU
  is the breathing pattern that is the most efficient for the given task
  this means, that the Optimal breathing pattern is the one that gets the most oxygen into your cells, with the least amount of effort, and is still consistent with the activity you are participating in
  
  frankly, if you can run a 100 yard dash and not breathe hard, that would be Optimal
  if you can lift your 1 rep max in a deadlift and never grunt
  that is Optimal
  
  I will say that breathing with your neck and trapezius muscles, is not optimal
  breathing with your mouth, not likely the most optimal methodology
  holding your breath, unless you are swimming, is not optimal
  
  So, Bracing
  yep, great, go nuts,
  still have to breathe, and breathing into the deepest part of your lungs will allow for more o2 to be delivered to the cells, which means more atp production, which means more muscular contraction, which means ........
  
  
  Active
  
  don't passively breathe
  be active about it, draw breath in and exhale willfully
  sure
  its a reflex
  still
  practice breathing like every other thing, as a skill
  (more on skill development in a later posting)
  become a master of the breath and you will be aware of your body, which will lead to more fine motor and thus more gross motor skill
  period
  full stop
  
  even Anatomical breathing is an active endeavor after a certain point, as you will start to want to suck air in as though it were going out of style when your hear rate goes up
  (honestly, if you are in a state where you are sucking air in, you may want to rest, this is not efficient, unless you are working on distress or stress reaction management, more on that in a later post)
  
  
  Practiced
  that word again
  yes
  it means exactly what I think it means, that is why I keep using it
  
  Practice different methods of breathing
  like
  a
  skill
  develop breathing
  as
  a
  skill
  
  become a master of your breath
  you would be amazed at how simple other activities can become when you can manage your breath
  
  it is the one reflexive action, the single autonomic nervous system function, that we can exercise a good amount of control over and thereby control of our physical, mental, and emotional state
  
  5 minutes of crocodile breathing can establish the baseline for good breathing while moving
  which will lead to higher quality movement
  which can quickly establish new movement patterns that are more efficient
  which can remove compensatory patterns built up to overcome restrictions caused by poor movement, or guarding reflexes stemming from prior injuries or trauma (even if it was 10 years ago, the residual effect can still be with you)
  which can lead to......
  
  seriously
  5 minutes on your stomach, breathing into your gut and not your chest (accessory breathing, akin to doing tens of thousands of shoulder shrugs every day, sore neck and shoulders? really? you don't say....) can set the stage for some serious strength and mobility work
  
  Breath,
  Posture,
  Strength,
  Speed,
  Stamina
  
  the 5 Rings of Fitness
  
  
  next
  
  Posture
  
  why the spine is the most important component of any physical endeavor
  Brought to you by the folks at 5 rings fitness, get strong, stay strong.....
  
  
  
• The beginning of wisdom is a definition of terms-Socrates
  So first let us define our terms
  
  
  I will be continuing the conversation I began with my last post by first setting the stage for the conversation. 
  
  
  My over arching goal, is to bring health, wellness, mobility, strength and longevity to any that have contact with me. Be that in the real or virtual world.
  
  
  A little history for those that do not know me or are new to my blog
  
  
  I am a 20+ year martial artist, and physical culture proponent, student, and instructor
  I teach the Hardstyle method of Kettlebell lifting (RKC) the Thomas method of Indian Club Swinging, and Jeet Kune Do concepts and Filipino Martial arts as passed on to me by my instructor Sifu Michael O'Melia through his Instructor Guru Dan Inosanto with a direct and unbroken line to Sigung Bruce Lee. As a physical culture, and martial art/sport/science instructor I have a very pragmatic and sometimes jaded view of function and utility.
  
  
  I am not, a doctor
  nutritionist
  chemist
  psychologist
  or anything else that I have not stated that I am
  
  
  Take my wee little column for what it is, my opinions and observations based on my experience
  
  
  Filter what I present through your own experience, and come to your own conclusions
  
  
  Test the veracity of any claims I make and if you feel like correcting me, there is a form to make comments, please use it
  
  
  
  
  Lets talk first about Diet
  
  
  
  
  currently, it seems there is a new version of variable fasting and modified Atkins/Ornish diet, gluten free, casein free, nothing that casts a shadow diet every 15 minutes
  
  
  if they have bought you success, groovy
  
  
  I will state however that my understanding of pain is this-pain is any thing that produces a noxious response in the body
  
  
  since we as humans are evolutionarily wired for survival and not for performance, anything that registers as pain with the cns (central nervous system, the governing body, nothing happens without it) 
  that stimulus will be remembered very clearly and concisely, we may adapt to the stimulus over time, but it will always be a pain signal, we will in fact be adapting to pain
  jumbled?
  
  
  ever talk to someone that comes off the Atkins diet, the person who lost a buttload (literally in some cases) of weight, and when they went back to eating like a normal person they packed the weight back on in short order
  
  
  their body thought they were starving, it went into a state of ketosis, consuming its own tissues to feed the daily caloric needs for survival, and when eating pattern was returned to normal, the cns told the body to pack on the pounds,
   because another famine could be just around the corner and if we survived last time with what we had around our hips thighs and butt, we need more of that 
  
  
  survival
  not performance
  
  
  how bout vegans?
  not enough protein, too much fat, bad skin and poor digestion, uptake of nutrients is deficient
  they look like death warmed over with acne
  great....
  not the diet, its them, and their lack of understanding in how to get the nutrition they need to survive from the diet they have chosen....
  
  
  
  
  do you have a thyroid problem is that why you are fat?
  are you sure
  have you had that confirmed by a doctor?
  or do you really have a fork control problem?
  
  
  some would make the case that what we put in is not as important as how our body uses it
  ok
  
  
  eat dirt, it has calories, how long will you last?
  live on ramen and pop tarts (college right?)
  think your liver will love you for long?
  
  
  can you in fact survive on mc food and live long and hale?
  dunno, I posit that you will live better if you avoid mc anything and stick with food, not mc food
  
  
  there is a clip on youtube of a 4 year old cheeseburger, is that right?
  with obesity, diabetes, cancer of all types, and a host of other horrific stuff going on in our population, I have to wonder
  is it us, or is it the crap that we get sold as being food?
  
  
  can you honestly tell me you get 8 servings of fruits and vegetables every day?
  
  
  
  
  take my challenge, 
  go to your cupboards or fridge, pull anything that has
  high fructose corn syrup, or more than 5 ingredients and set it on one side, 
  then
  gather all the other things in your cupboards and fridge that are considered food on the other side of your kitchen
  
  
  how big are the stacks?
  which one is bigger?
  
  
  are you eating food or a chemical slurry that allows a hamburger to last 4 years without being eaten by pests or decomposing?
  
  
  
  
  here are my dietary guidelines, the ones I follow
  
  
  eat as close to the ground as possible
  eat as fresh as possible
  eat food that is cooked as little as possible
  eat as close to home as possible (food form local farms etc)
  try not to eat anything that came from a box or was wrapped in plastic
  eat more vegetables and fruit than meat
  drink more water than any other beverage, coffee, tea and alcohol in moderation
  eat when I am hungry, stop eating when I am thirsty
  leave the beverages for at least an hour after I have eaten to let my stomach do its thing, but if I need a swig of liquid to get my food down, groovy
  if it comes from a package, keep the ingredients list to under 5 ingredients, less if possible
  if it has a label, be wary
  
  
  give this a shot for 30 days, let me know what you think
  we are just talking diet so far,not exercise, sport, athletics, martial topics, or self defense
  
  
  health is the best self defense
  
  
  
  
  
  
  next up
  breathing
  Brought to you by the folks at 5 rings fitness, get strong, stay strong.....