This morning, Master RKC, Geoff Neupert (Author of the highly effective Kettlebell Burn series of programs) sent out a very interesting little email. Well, apologies the email itself was more intriguing than anything. So intriguing that I looked past the annoyance of actually having to cut and paste the url of the blog post—on any other day his emails have clickable links. Anyhow, his post was a short comment on a video from Slate which I posted below:
(Does this guy live in my building? We have the same basic living room… weird!)
The rest of the article is located on Slate.com and I recommend you give it a read (especially if you’re a fan of Franz Kafka!) But a point that I really want to make and which is really evident if you read the Slate article, is that feeling alienated by “gym culture” is nothing new – it was around even in the early 1900s! But it’s no excuse for being unhealthy—these days there are so many new options that you don’t have to “check your identity at the gym door.” (here’s the previous blog post relating to that phrase). I actually bought a copy of the slightly updated original JP Muller workout book because a lot of the moves look VERY similar to some of the qigong warm up exercises I do at home combined joint mobility exercises from kettlebell workouts, and added to some of the jumping around hopping stuff I do between writing articles (those displays of extrme rambunctiousness will probably never make it onto youtube—sorry). I’ll be posting a review of it shortly, though the review backlog over here is reaching epic proportions.
That aside, I love the idea of a little workout to get started from absolute zero that people can do in the privacy of their own home.
The other thing about the article that I liked was the mention of self-acceptance and celebration of the body. This really needs to take hold for most people, and I can say from personal experience that it can be a REAL game changer. Women…Men…. stop hating on your bodies. Right now. If there’s something you don’t like about it – work on improving it, but stop hating it. Respect it like you respect your mind, intelligence, creativity, etc. A pattern I saw over and over with people who had lost the coordination and fitness they had in their youth is that it seemed they had—I know this sounds weird—really lost touch with their own bodies. Many times it seems to happen to people who are so unhappy with their physical reality that they just sort of disconnect. It’s time to reconnect, because when you do that, you can start changing the things you don’t like! Not sure I’m ok with the idea of everyone running around in little loincloths though, we’ll let JP Muller keep that in the 1904 domain.
In OTHER news, you may have heard that Pavel has a new eBook out as of last Friday, HardStyle Abs. It’s fantastic, especially since the material that was familiar was because I had heard it directly from him at an RKC2 Workshop and the BodyWeight Exercise Workshop last year. So unless you were there, you wouldn’t have access to this before now. Not to mention there’s so much more. And no, you don’t really need any specialized equipment for this – yes, the Ab Pavelizer is mentioned, but not required to take full advantage of the info (I gets a mention and some guidelines but is just a small section). It does talk about a LOT of things I love, to include the good old fashioned Hanging Leg Raise. Here’s an especially slow version I did the other night. It’s not required to do them this slow, but I’m always wary of all the videos out there that use so much momentum. What are you trying to train, your midsection, or throwing yourself around with momentum? I’d argue it’s best to progress through the lead up exercises and get everything right. It’s also a TON safer. Other great resources for the hanging leg raise include the original Convict Conditioning book, as well as the ultra-focused Convict Conditioning Manual/DVD Leg Raises: Six Pack From Hell. And yes, I am working on a “six pack from hell” thanks for asking 🙂
Not sure what to do for lunch tomorrow? Try this unusual tuna salad recipe – I just ate it a few minutes ago. The goji berries really add something to it.
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