REWORK; THE ART OF EXPRESSING THE HUMAN BODY

These are two different books, Rework by Jason Fried and The art of expressing the human body by Bruce Lee but they have similar messages only that one is about training and the other is about business. The lessons though, are transferable.  The one similarity in these two books, that stood out for me is the fact that both challenge status quo, and if you know me you know that, that’s my cup of milk (Because I neither like tea nor coffee).  

A couple of lessons from rework that Bruce lee applied and that we should do:

1.  Ignore the real world- the real world is that magical place where everything that’s not ordinary or normal cannot happen. “That would never work in the real world” is an all too common statement. Bruce Lee was able to perform his flying roundhouse kick and his famous thumb&Index finger pushups by ignoring the real world. How many times have you said that  that’s not possible or I can’t do that? Bruce Lee managed to perform 50 1-arm chin-ups without a gym membership and supplements. So  it did happen in his real world. But hold on, before you rush off to try and do that flying round house kick, seek to create your own real world. You want a six pack at the age of 60, create your own real world, you want to carry the 15kg Gas cylinder and you stand at 4ft7inch, create your own real world.

 2.   Small is not just a stepping stone, small is a great destination in itself. And I’m not just saying that because I’m small but well, it helps…. a lot. Bruce Lee was only big because of what he accomplished, but when it came to  stature and muscles he was a very small person. The most important thing to note though is that he did not start by doing finger tip pushups, he worked his way up. Do not be in a hurry to grow or lift a lot more than you can. If whatever small thing  you’re doing is sustainable and it’s working, you don’t have to do or go big. Do small, BUT DO IT VERY WELL.

3.     No time is no excuse. When you want something bad enough, you make the time regardless of your other obligations. The truth is most people just don't want it bad enough. Then they protect their ego with the excuse of time. Don't let yourself off the hook with excuses. It's entirely your responsibility to make it happen. You want to shed off those Kgs, neither slim possible nor Deliberate Fitness can match the power that YOU have. How bad do you want it? Don’t answer that, just show it. Bruce Lee was a martial arts master, a philosopher and accomplished actor & filmmaker, where did he get the time. If you really want to workout, you will. If you’ve been reading these posts and you haven’t started working out then you probably don’t really want it as bad as you’d want us to believe.

4.    Listen to your body. Bruce Lee was able to achieve almost impossible feats with his own body because he would listen to it. He knew when to push and when to hold off.  Jason Fried calls planning - guessing because you have little or no control over what happens around you. I know you have been on that diet for quite some time but if it is not working, it’s time to change. If your workout program says workout and your body is telling you rest, by all means rest. If it’s rest day and you feel you’d like to push your body a little bit, so long as great form is maintained and there’s no pain, just do it. So long as it’s really your body you’re listening to and not excuses, the plans  and programs are not cast in stone. Tweak & improvise whenever it makes sense.

5.    Find something that is At-Home Good. Have you ever bought something that you were convinced it was easy to use, but when you got home it wasn’t as easy.  You felt cheated right? The one thing I admire about Bruce lee is that he embraced calisthenics(Easy exercises that can be done  without equipment) even before calisthenics were cool. The easier it to execute the more you want to do it and the more sustainable it is.

6.    Don’t Copy. The reason I’m talking about Bruce Lee decades after his death is because whatever he did, his style of training had not been done before, ever.  The problem with you doing what has worked for your friend, or sister is that it’s mere copying and has no understanding, and understanding is what produces results. The principle of individuality states that you and I may go through the same workout but we’ll eventually respond differently.

7.    Nobody likes plastic flowers. Find that which you can relate to. Forget the professional, plastic, stiff and boring stuff that the crowd is following.  Embrace those who are not afraid to reveal their flaws & imperfections. The well chiseled abs and perfect body are all awesome but having that as a trainer is not a guarantee that I can help you achieve the same. Although it also doesn’t help if my title says trainer and my body says client..….. Don't be afraid to show your flaws as well. Find that environment that allows you to be. Imperfections are real and people respond to real. It's why we like real flowers that wilt, not perfect plastic ones that never change. Don't worry about how you're supposed to sound and how you're supposed to act. Simplicity is everything. You strip things down and then use what you have. Bruce Lee was all about simplicity, hard work and using only what he had. Feel Free to talk like you really talk and to reveal things that others are unwilling to discuss. Be upfront about your shortcomings. Show the latest version of what you're working on, even if you're not done yet. It's OK if it's not perfect. You might not seem as ideal or a good fit, but you will seem a lot more genuine.

Your Challenge this week is to Express your body the best way you know how to, the above can help provide a head start, but just like Bruce Lee find and define your own path, your own real world. This Week at the YMCA we are in the last week of client appreciation month, Saturday is a big day for Deliberate Fitness, I'll definitely

talk about it  come Monday.

Cheers!

VENTRILOQUISM

VENTRILOQUISM

VENTRILOQUISM

Ventriloquism is the art of speaking without moving your lips. You talk in a such a way that your voice is deemed to be coming from someone else other than you. My favorite ventriloquist Jeff Dunham has mastered this art and uses his very funny dummies/dolls to speak.

So Jeff speaks without moving his lips and his dummies move their lips {without actually speaking} to match his words. He controls the dummies, such that their actions depict his words as accurately as possible.

So can you picture Jeff and his dummies talking? Great, then you'll understand how to target and get rid of stubborn fat{Thighs, Back of the arms & hips for women, and lower abdominals for men} without necessarily doing the now so popular 'Spot Training' - so essentially you'd be speaking without moving your lips.

Spot Training is the idea of training a specific body part {Abs are often the victim} with the aim of reducing it. And to quote Dr. Jade Tate, this is like trying to change a tyre with a pencil; it's impossible. (Sorry waist trainers & 1000 situps/side bends).

So how do you do it? First understand why stubborn fat is stubborn. It is usually the slowest to respond to fat loss.Fat cells have receptors; either be Beta receptors(think burn) or Alpha Receptors(think Anti-burn). Areas with stubborn fat have upto 9x more alpha receptors than other areas. Good news is there are ways to activate more Beta receptors while deactivating alpha receptors. This is done by both Exercise and Nutrition. Again Spot training alone; pencil & tyre situation.

Bad news though, the obvious Eat less and Exercise more actually activates Alpha cells (Please stop Dieting, you're only making stubborn fat more stubborn). It's like fueling less for a long road trip, we both know how that will end. The body just goes into protective mode; reduces metabolism, stores more fat and slows down blood flow.

To burn fat & especially the stubborn kind, you need to increase metabolism to break down the fat cells and increase blood flow to be able to transport this already broken down fats.

SOLUTION: EAT MORE EXERCISE MORE.. Read that again. Who would want to eat more, same question as who would to talk with their lips sealed? Or Alternatively, eat less and exercise less. Again who would want to exercise less? Orthodox right? My thoughts exactly while watching Jeff Dunham.

Eating more and exercising more and eating less and exercising less is the answer to finally getting rid of those 'Bye Bye' hands & the infamous love handles. Talk with your lips shut & target stubborn fat without directly training the specific stubborn fat areas.

Your Challenge for the week: Reevaluate your exercise & eating habits. Make sure they match, MORE & MORE, LESS & LESS. If the Jeff is laughing the dummy is laughing as well, there's no mismatch.

And now you know why I'm always eating......

If it's Monday you know you'll find us at YMCA at Deliberate o'clock, 5.25pm. See you then.

Cheers! 

 

LOOKING FOR MY HOME

LOOKING FOR MY HOME

" I'm looking for my home, somewhere I can take a break, somewhere in the sky. I'm somewhere on the road, this is gonna take a while, looking for my own home." These are the first few lines to the song Looking for my home by Just A Band.

I was watching Slimpossible the other day, and as the contestants told their stories, it was clear as day that all of them were looking for something. Most of them knew that their eating habits were terrible and they knew what training they ought to do but were neither doing it nor following through. So what exactly were they looking for from Slimpossible? They were looking for somewhere to call home, somewhere to belong. All of them felt unappreciated one way or the other, for some it was that family member, for others it was about the bullying, the nasty nicknames, and the list goes on and on and on

So they're all in that show not exactly for weight loss, but what sort of appreciation and noticing and recognition they'll get from the eventual weight loss.

I really feel it's unfair of us to ask them to lose in order to win. For them to get treated properly in a boutique, to shake off the nasty nicknames they first have lose. That's not fair at all. No one should have to fight for what's rightfully theirs. Why? For some they just got pregnant, put on the necessary weight to support the baby, tried everything possible to go back after the baby, but it's just not that simple. It's not a switch, that's switched on & off.

Then soon after the weight gain, appreciation became less and less from the important people in their lives leading them to find their 'Home' in other places e.g food. This is the viscous cycle that will eventually see them end up on National Television, again searching for 'Home'.

This is the wake up call, that we all have collective responsibility to appreciate those that make our lives better. It's not fair that we put so much effort in Celebrating people for not dying for 365 days{Birthdays} while we allow those that make an impact in our lives walk around unappreciated not knowing how important whatever they've done for us is.

We all have the power to stop this viscous cycle, and people will look for where to belong in very many different places. Find out if you've pushed someone that far, simply by taking for granted who they are to you.

It's Client Appreciation month at Deliberate Fitness. It's not that we don't appreciate our clients often, but 3 times in a year we go out of our to say thank you for putting up with the Nairobi Traffic and making it to YMCA 3 evenings a week for 15 weeks, Rain or Shine.

This month, we make them feel like Obama & take them to an 'undisclosed location' for a day. Hint it could be Tafaria Castle, Brown's Cheese Farm or the Karen Blitz Museum.

It's not too late to become our client, you're most welcome.

Challenge of the Week, Make sure you APPRECIATE everyone in your life who has done something{however small} worth saying thank you for. Make them feel like they Belong, like they've already found Home.

Cheers!

Our Soon to be other Home... I can't wait.

WEAR DILIGENCE LIKE A WELL TAILORED SUIT

I've written a lot about, goals, training, healthy eating, taking care of yourself when not working out, being different, hormones, gender specific training among many other things{Refer to previous articles- www.deliberatefitness.blogspot.co.ke}, but none of that matter if diligence is not part of the success equation.

Execution is important, but how do you execute...... diligently.

Diligence is when you pay very close attention to whatever you are doing, doing it with care & persistence.

If you know me or have trained with me before, you know I fuss a lot about the little things. {Fingers/toes pointing forward, back straight, hips low} That's because I'm a sucker for diligence;taking your time to do even the smallest things well.

Get, practice & perfect diligence and success for whichever goal is guaranteed.

If success is as simple as Diligence, how come it still eludes as many people as are in pursuit of it?? Simply because you have to overcome the greatest obstacle ever.... YOUR OWN MIND.

Took me a long time & battle with the mind to master this Chinup, but eventually i got it.

   

-> The mind is the one that tells you to dream & fantasize about your dream body, and you end up doing more of dreaming than the actual working towards that dream body.

-> The mind will give you a false sense of time, " Where you keep telling yourself I have time to train later, or tomorrow or go to Sigiria Karura 'next' Monday.

-> The mind will convince you that any sign of failure means you're not cut out for it and that you should give up, and start on a quest to find something easier, something that you're cut out for.

-> The mind focuses on the worst parts of everything causing you to procrastinate; 'What if I don't like it, what if I don't lose weight, there'll be traffic as usual, it looks like it will rain?'

-> The mind makes you focus on irrelevant mindless work, in an effort to stay 'busy', to answer once & for all why that morning jog(Not a Sprint or a hill/staircase run) is very common. And why treadmills for hours on end have people(read ladies) and the weights are not touched. Yet these people don't report any changes or results.

The Solutions are easy but its your mind YOU REALLY HAVE TO CONVINCE, by starting small & doing everything diligently; Deliberately paying close attention to everything you do. Do actual hard Work instead of just keeping busy, Start today or now, you don't have all year/day, Focus on what could go right, what if they say yes, what if it happens sooner than is expected and Finally fail but get up, keep failing until you get it.

So how do we know you have diligence? The same way we can tell a mango tree from an avocado tree, its fruits.Wear it like a well tailored suit so that we can notice it from a far, produce visible fruits of what you've been doing.

Cheers!