"Abscence  of evidence is not evidence of absence"

I don't know where this quote originated from, it is a philosphy, a principle of law and science and a statement of rebuttle in argument.
That being said, I believe you can apply the quote to your own daily life.
It makes me think before I speak.
 It helps me keep an open mind.

Love the Gadget!

Gadgets, gimmicks, trends or Fads...whatever you want to call it...

The latest is the Fitbit, or at least its the latest for me. I seen a few people sporting the wrist band and finally curiosity got the best of me, I bought one and have been having great fun with it so far.

At work we have a tendency to stay at our desks when we are in the office and just sit and work till its time to leave. Not good, not at all, the human body was not meant to sit in a chair constantly and I pay for it later with tight muscle and joint problems.

Anyways, a few of us at the office have picked up the little gadget and "friended" each other.

The result has been fantastic. 

We set challenges between us , we encourage each other to go for walks in the river valley during lunch and at the end of the day, you just feel better mentally.

Of course,  I have to give a high five to those kung fu people I have spotted with the wrist bands as well!

so yeah, maybe its a fad and the novelty will wear off but the fact that it gets you off your butt and thinking about your physical condition is great.

So nice work "Fitbit" people!

and Breathe!

Sanshou and the Shaolin Fitness classes.
Two very different classes but with a connection.

One class focuses on sparring and the other on your conditioning.

As a martial artist your conditioning and endurance should be your foundation from which you build your martial arts skills upon.
Imagine if you honed your skill and knowledge to perfection. Knowing every leverage point and placement of footwork to deflect and attack your opponent. Fantastic!
...not so fantastic if you find yourself winded and gasping for breathe in mere minutes of engagement.

Let us not forget about our fitness level, the basic conditioning of our heart, lungs and muscles. The internal workings and health of our body will serve us that much better in our pursuit of physical skill if we look after the basics.

To achieve this, we don't need to join a gym or spend 2hours a day running we simply need some cardio exertion at least 3 times a week to maintain a basic level of conditioning. Utilizing our martial arts as a source is perfect. Ramp up the reps of Forms, speed up a set of kicks, drop down for some push ups and you are on your way!

Don't have time for extra cardio with your focus on kung fu training?...no problem..add the Saturday morning Shaolin fitness class, add the Tuesday evening Sanshou class and make sure you put in 110 percent during your class warm ups... now you are maintaining a level of conditioning not to mention the extra kung fu training embedded in those classes!
and for those ambitious people looking to improve their cardio - add a couple of early morning runs and watch yourself emerge into that finely tuned breathing machine!

Girl talk

The dreaded pull up!

For us ladies this is like climbing Mount Everest!
Typically the female body type is not blessed with the upper body strength that our male counterparts are endowed with....and typically we are blessed with the heavy hips. This again, makes lifting our own body weight a challenge, so whats a girl to do?

First off, know the muscle groups that actually work the pull up...

For me, my weakness was engaging the whole back, I found my arms were strong enough but my back worked as independent muscles, quivering in and out! I was good for about 1 or 1 and a half pull ups. 

Ladies we have to strengthen our backs in my opinion. Watch how you do your push ups as well. The upper back should be fully engaged from the shoulders, scapula, rhomboid area, etc. and down thru your lats. Full back engagement also translates , or it should, into an engaged core. So bottom line, the whole upper body group of muscles are locked together (like Lego pieces) to lift as one unit. The lower body is basically dead weight.

So how do I strengthen my back?

 Tonnes of exercises  out there to choose from but I found this particular dumbbell set, for my weak area, was very focused in strengthening my back for the purpose of pull ups. Use a weight size that challenges you, these tiny weights in the picture wont cut it. (no offence random girl in diagram!).

There are plenty of other weight training exercises for the back and plenty on the Internet to introduce you to them. I just found this one helped me a lot.

This Saturday, I'm going to bring in my pull up assist cable for fun...if you would like to try it let me know!

Happy reps and see you on the mats!

Acupuncture

 My hamstring has been a problem for sometime. I have been stretching and heating and icing and massaging but it never really goes away.
I finally got up enough nerve to try acupuncture!...after the treatment he told me to try a short run on the weekend and see how it feels. I am excited to see if there is a difference, but I can understand now, how the acupunture penetrates into deep tissue, have a feeling I should have tried this much earlier!

Sunrise

                      My photography skills don't do it justice...but pretty cool sunrise this morning!

Work Life Balance

Do you ever wish you could quit your job and someone would pay you to train in the martial arts?

Kinda one of those in the clouds thoughts, like "if I could just win the lottery, everything would be better!"....

We have been short staffed this year and its taking its toll on me. Going to work early, staying late and taking work home just to keep up. As, I sit here typing, I realize no one has been forcing me to take on extra, its my own work ethic and it bothers me to be overloaded and disorganized, however at what sacrifice?
If you are lucky enough to have a career that includes your friends, family and something you love to do, life is good.
I like my job, I have worked hard in my career but it doesn't include my family and it  doesn't   include kung fu!
So, its up to me to make changes, I need to reset the balance and put harmony back in my life.
The reality is , work will have to adjust to me, not the other way around.
Easier said than done , of course!

So long summer...

Fall is coming and it signifies different things to different people. Back to school, back to work, preparing for winter and maybe preparing to leave because of winter!

Summer is definitely my favourite season. I love being outside, love water sports and try to be away as much as work will allow!
I do look forward to getting back into a routine and the sense of accomplishment it brings but I also know , come January, I have had enough of being indoors and enough of the cold miserable weather...so...this year, its time to make an effort to enjoy the many months of snow we seem to be unable to escape and make an effort to enjoy winter as much as summer.
This winter my goal is to get my son involved in skiing and snowboarding and mom is going to take a crack at the snowboarding thing! Should be fun, makes me almost excited for snow...almost!

Fun in the Mud!

Weekend with some Kung Fu friends at Mud Heros in Red Deer...

                                                                         BEFORE...

                                                                            AFTER...

                   and don't forget Sifu Lindstrom..thought we lost him!

2 Boys and a Bike

August long weekend was the Canadian Death Race.
We had 3 relay teams put together between all of us and it was a lot of fun. Many racers from our Silent River kung fu clan along with their friends, family and spouses ( including my spouse who ran). Although I couldn't run this year I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I managed to help out and support where I could  and that turned out to be rewarding in itself.

I hope these two young men don't mind me posting their picture...but I think what they accomplished this last weekend was pretty fantastic!..running several kilometers through the heat and hills battling exhaustion!
I had many pictures but I guess I was a little biased as theses fine folks are regular Shaolin Fitness students and I see them every Saturday, I was especially excited for them!
So great job Boys!...and nice Bike!

Spinning Wheels

Feeling like you got too much on your plate?
Overwhelmed, pulled in different directions and everything and everyone seems to need a piece of you?
We all feel like that from time to time and most of the time we just push through till we get to calmer waters...but what if this seems like it's been going on for a long time with no relief in sight.
Burn out can be the result, straining our relationships, making hasty decisions and simply getting tired and sick.
If your plate feels like it is overloaded, it's time to take stock. I believe taking stock of ourselves everyday is important. I haven't mastered mediation yet but I can appreciate how a few minutes set aside in your day(maybe at the beginning or before you go to sleep) could go along ways to calm the waters no matter of the size of challenges placed before you. I think we all could benefit from thoughtful reflection to really see clearly what are the important tasks in our lives, how to prioritize and how to drop excess baggage from our plates that really hold us back from accomplishing the things that really matter the most.

Thoughts that are going through my head as I get too caught up in the daily "to do" lists that seem to prevent me from breaking free of the"spinning my wheels" feeling...

Field Trip

Vacation time for a week.
Off to Drumheller for our annual Dinosaur visit. My son has not outgrown Dinosaurs and insists we visit the museum as a vacation spot. His passion for dinosaurs and the science of paleontology lights him up. It really becomes a field trip for his parents and he is the guide!
I don't mind really, the museum is full of interesting things and I seem to always find something new to learn, not to mention the kids. Its amazing how kids are so fascinated and excited by something that doesn't exist anymore. The last time I was that excited by something that didn't exist anymore ...was the last payment on my vehicle!

Anyways, glad to have the time away from work,  and ending off the vacation week with Bootcamp!

Day 16 - Frustration Disappointment and Defeat

3 Kms this morning...came home beaten.
I made the decision to withdraw from the Death Race.

This is going to hang in the back of my mind now....

My hamstring pain has not subsided. I'm good for about 2km then it becomes unbearable. I walk for half a kilometer then I can go a little bit more. Massage, Active release, ice, stretching have all been good but it's going to take time...the race is in three weeks.

If it was just me, no problem, I would drag my dying body across the line but there are cut off times to meet and I would feel really crappy if I disqualified the team.

It leaves me wondering why? Why now? Trying to figure out what I did or didn't do.

I didn't injure myself, it just seemed to come on gradually. The Physio guy said sometimes repetitive training will expose injuries, scarred muscles or problem areas that we were not aware of. If that's true then I guess I can look at it as a good thing. My kicks on the left side have always been lacking and maybe this is why, so if I can fix the hamstring/abductor problem, I would be excited about improving those kicks.

I have to say the running has done wonders for my stamina, my sparring,rolling and overall cardio have improved noticeably. I have also enjoyed the alone time running has brought. I don't want to stop.

So , apart from feeling frustrated, having great anxiety over standing down or sucking it up ..not to mention I  have to swallow my pride and publicly announce my failing with embarrassment, the toughest part right now is to overcome the feeling of "doing nothing".  The feeling of defeat is powerful. It makes me want to stop running, actually stop training of any sort and just lay on the couch and feel sorry for myself.

I know that's how I feel today,

I'm hopeful later this week I will get my old mojo back and figure out how to fix this....till then...


Big Thanks to Sifu Darcy Regier for taking my spot!...I plan on being the best water boy/cheerleader ever for you guys!

Day 15

5.5 km after fitness class

Day 14

Short 5 km run thru Chickakoo. Watched the Great White North triathlon athletes run through our neighborhood, some pretty amazing looking people!

Day 13

7.5 km run  River Valley at lunch. 5minutes on foam roller. Funny looks from office coworkers as I sit on cold- pak!...but it feels good!

Day 12.5

Ran on treadmill for an hour. Hamstring isn't 100% yet so opted for something that wouldn't be as taxing on it. Treadmills don't count though!

Day 12

2.5 km run tonite.....
ok , I'm not going to panic, its just a set back.
Luckily my sister is in town who is a massage therapist and a Yoga instructor. She was good enough to work my left hamstring and legs.
Her description:
 your hamstring muscles are like guitar strings and she said right now they are twisted up like a licorice stick. So she spent time working out the twists - yes...it was uncomfortable!
She said, flush out the area twice a day - I looked at her with a puzzled face??.. apparently , if you sit on a cold pack then alternate with a warm pack this moves the blood and helps speed up the repair of torn muscle tissue.
Then she gave me some yoga moves to hold a good stretch in and was adamant about using the foam roller every day  to keep all muscles supple.


She ended with "you know...you are getting older, is all this really necessary at your age?"


...silly sister...

Day 11

4 km run through River Valley at lunch - little concerned about sore hamstring, had to stop:(

Day 10

Little too hot for me to run...pushed out a hard 13km

Motivation

The topic of Motivation came up a little while ago and it seems to be in my thoughts lately.
What is your motivation...what makes you get up and get after the things you want?

When something is new to you its easy, its exciting and challenging and just shear interest is sometimes all you need to get you motivated to work at something.
I think the tough part comes when its not so new, when something becomes frustrating and maybe even boring to you, the motivation becomes sapped.
This is when we usually revert back to old habits, excuses for why we cant get to something and convince ourselves it really wasnt for me anyhow.

Motivation is hard to keep and I find its a moving, changing tool for me constantly.

What I mean is, my motivation source can change over time, it can come from another person, a role model, a mentor ,sometimes its a new goal, measuring progress or even new running shoes,  whatever it is that motivates me or inspires me I have come to realize that I need to change it up on a regular basis to stick to something that starts to get tough or frustrating...that being said.. it is nothing without the discipline to do the work it takes to get there.
In the past a picture of someone who inspired me used to get me to the gym. In the past hanging around people that were already accomplished in their field made me want to study hard to get my Certification.
Kung fu, the motivation came from many sources but mostly from watching others do what I could not....yet.

I always thought of Motivation as the external driver and I always thought of discipline as the internal driver.

With the two concepts hand in hand you could accomplish whatever it was you put your mind to.

Day 9

4.6 km tonite...need to figure out what a when to eat before I run, sometimes I feel like I'm running out of energy and if I eat too much or too soon, feels like a rock is in my stomach...

Day 8

trail run through Chickakoo - 10.5 km

Day 7

HaHa...Sifu A.Regier! ...not a chance! you are doing that up the mountain run,.. if I managed to get up to the top they would have to roll me back down! You are by far the better woman for that:)


...ran 5 km before work this morning...

Day 6

Weekend was too busy...I only squeezed in a 3km run, gong to have to stick to it this week

Day 5

Ran this morning and this evening for a total of 16km - now if I could just do that all at one go!...and a bit more..:)

A Stressed Society?

Are we a society in turmoil? Are the pressures of our busy society producing a level of stress that is breaking the ethics, morals and judgment of the average citizen?

I cant help but bring up all the random shootings in the media. I have almost become desensitized to it, broken heart-ed about it  and tired of it, all at the same time.

Gun control?.., ban the reporting of the event to reduce the copy cat effect?

I don’t have the answer but have a question  that I am sure has crossed everyone’s mind…WHY?...what leads up to  individuals taking innocent random lives before they take their own? What is the mental state and what led up to this state of mind?

I think this is where we need to put our resources. What is the root cause , the common cause, if any. How can we take care of our own, watch for signs of mental distress and extend a compassionate heart to those who are going down the road  of deep despair and hate.

We, as parents, colleagues and friends need to come out of our own busy bubbles and realize our actions have an effect. From raising our children to passing someone on the street. Our actions have a rippling effect.

This might not solve the real issue but our compassion for others may help to relieve the pressure and stress our society seems to increasingly carry.

Day 4

13km around town -sore feet- maybe new socks to go with new shoes!

Day 3

5km of hill running in River Valley at lunch

Day 2

ran around town today-12km, pretty slow. need new shoes!

Day 1

Today is the first day of my 2 month plan to improve my running.
Went to Chickakoo and ran 5km through the trails.
Some steep hills I could only walk up.....MOSQUITOES..they are a great motivator to keep you moving.

Running out of Time!

Oh No!....2 months, that's all I have left, 2 months!

Last year I participated in the Canadian Death Race,(thanks to the inspiration of good people like the Regiers and Krebs).... thought to myself, how hard could it be?
Well, I am no runner and it turned out to be extremely challenging.
Being the stubborn individual I am , I arrogantly thought, OK ...this time I have a whole year to train ....no problem!

So tomorrow is June, where did the time go?

Don't get me wrong, I have been running through the winter but I would call it dabbling, in a controlled  flat surface environment.

When I looked at the calendar this morning, panic hit my chest!

Luckily, I have been getting some coaching advice from a guy at work who runs triathlons and Ironman races. He has some great advice that I have to stick to...

• First off, have a plan and stick to it. Run every second or third day
• your training should be more difficult than your race day
• you will have bad training days(runs) and good training days
• don't let the bad training days derail you from your plan
• don't compare yourself to other runners (even the guys who pass you...twice!), you don't know how long they have been training and everyone starts off the same, they were at your stage once too.
• the training you choose to do should simulate the race type...meaning if its a trail run, run trails, if its down hill runs...run down hill (makes sense but sometimes I miss the obvious!)
• The distance you run should be longer than the distance you have to race
• Dont ignore injury
• stretch!
• measure your progress and track your progress...good days and bad
• don't worry about how many kilometers are ahead of you or how many you have done, think about completing the kilometer you are running and focus on that task alone.
• Relax, don't let anxiety overtake, a race is about the mental game as much as the physical game.

I have run with him a couple times during lunch,.. actually , I ran he did a brisk walk beside me, little embarrassing! anyways, great advice and a great motivator.

I have come to realize this advice is not unlike that of preparing for your Black Belt Grading. Very much applicable!

I can do this!!

Pandamonium

This saturday is Pandamonium! Rain or shine lets kick off summer to a great start!

24 hours of hard work put in by the whole school, for fun, for charities, for the community-fantastic energy!

Oh yeah- Fitness class - be there! If you are up for the challenge!!:)

Take it outside

It was good to see all the neighborhood kids out on the street today. It seems like a long time since that has happened.
I am going to sound like an old person here but where have all the people gone!
Are we so used to spending time indoors during the long winter that we have forgotten about the fresh air?
Are we so plugged in these days that going outside interferes?
Are we just too busy with our list of things to do?

I say take it outside....whatever it is.

Its funny how we complain about today's kids.. plugged in, phones, texting, surfing, gaming and interacting in cyberspace. Apparently oblivious to the weather-good or bad.
But the parents may be no different. Busy on their laptops and phones as well. (I am guilty too)

I think summer might be right around the corner, I for one am looking forward to spending as much time as I can outside. Dragging my kid and his friends out with me!.."but mom...theres nothing to do out here, but mom I'm on level blah blah in Minecraft, but mom I have to feed my virtual fish!

I love it, kicking and screaming we are going to build a fort, plant a garden, ride a  bike and go boating in a lake. All in the 3 dimensional world!

It doesnt take long for the kids to realize how much fun outside is again. I enjoy the walk down the street to drag him back in the house for bedtime! Thats how your childhood should be, only in the house to eat and sleep and give your mom a hug goodnight!

So set the example...do your kung fu outside, cook outside, read outside, work outside ...its just plain good for everyone...

Back burner

It has been a crazy month for me and quite frankly I am glad it is done.
My kung fu practice has been put on the back burner for the month so I could focus on some personal goals.
Well, good news is , I am done and can put practicing kung fu upfront again.


Its not that training had been de-railed it was a matter of switching the tracks and focusing my training elsewhere. Unfortunately trying to keep everything at 100% is impossible, something has to go into "maintain mode" when you try and perfect  or achieve something in particular.


I like to think of it as rotating your priorities, your goals but at the end of it all everything should build or compliment the final output...which is who  you are, and who you are becoming.


So there it is, time to switch the pots from back to front....looking forward to it actually, I have been missing the mat time!

Kick the snooze button

The narrative in this one is really good, I think...

The Hardest Part

I can safely say, at my age, I have years and years of training, working out, sessions in the gym, hi and low moments of physical skill but the hardest part...

Is showing up!

It seems a body at rest wants to stay at rest. Falling off a routine is easy, and whats easier is finding 52 different reasons, why you didn't get up early to workout, why you didn't get off the couch and go to your evening class, why you didn't go in Saturday to pick up a class or spend half an hour in Open training.

Getting up, putting on the runners, grabbing that gym bag.....oh the dread!

I am the worst for this, and I have all sorts of tricks I play on myself to counter the little voice that tells me "I will work extra hard next class I deserve a break today, I will get up early tomorrow and start fresh, I will workout later, I will...I will..."

I find preparation goes a long way. If I pack my gym bag ahead of time , lay things out the night before, tell myself I have to be at class like its an appointment, I don't seem to slip into excuses as easy.
(I also put an alarm clock in the bathroom!..it works!)

I 'm always  glad once I am at class or finish a workout but I always feel worst about myself when I
start down the slippery slope of randomly showing up.

So really, the hardest part is making that routine, that commitment but it all starts first by showing up.

Finding A Religion

I have definitely strayed from my upbringing when it comes to my religion.


My parents are Irish Roman Catholics, actually immigrated in the 60s to Canada, and with that brought their deep faith, traditions and beliefs with them to raise their young family.
  I was raised in a strict catholic home.
No regrets, it definitely has been and is more of a positive influence than a negative.
however, thinking back,  As I grew up, religion seemed like it was more of a punishment at the time .
As a kid, church was boring, giving candy up for Lent seemed pointless, doing the rosary as a family on Sunday nights was torture to us kids and I cant count how many times we were pinched in the church pews by my mother to stop goofing around a pay attention to the Fathers sermon.
Confession was the worst! ...especially when the same priest was coming over for Dinner to the house next Sunday!

As a teenager and young adult I justified not going to Church anymore because of the bad press/reputation the Catholic church was gaining. I could craftily argue with my Mother how it lacked logic and it was nothing more than political platform.  Maybe I was right...but...



I missed the point



You need faith, faith in something, faith in anything, you don't even have to put a name to it or call it a religion.

At some point in our lives we may find ourselves feeling completely alone. Parents pass away, spouses may not always understand and sometimes friendships can feel conditional or you may be the type that finds it incredibly uncomfortable to reach out for help.


Whatever the case, the sense of being completely alone especially during crisis can bring the strongest-willed person to their knees.
I think there is a human gravity and natural attraction to believe in something spiritual that we can source from when our inner strength is tested and tapped out. Something to gives us purpose for, something to set  our lives to a higher standard with, to hold all that is virtuous in the forefront. Something to relieve the fear and anguish of morality.


 ...so where do you turn? What religion is right? what philosophies to follow? Is all religion misleading? Why do we get caught up and argue about the details and miss the bigger message. Why do we fight about our religions?....These are the questions that Centuries have left unanswered, or answered in the individual 's own Faith.


What happens when you don't believe in anything or lost your faith in everything?


I suppose , the  answer is despair waits at the end of that road or maybe complete self-indulgence, which usually doesn't end well either.


As my son gets older, I realize, I need to find my "religion"...for his sake.
 He needs that source of strength and faith when I cant be there to save the day, or help him make the right decisions.





As I spend more time in the Martial Arts, it has become more concrete to me, how the three aspects of body, mind and soul contribute to a well rounded life long pursuit of becoming a Martial Artist and above all at peace as a human being.


What is my religion??...still searching, but I have faith in something...

Built in a Day

Rome was not built in a day, and nor is a Black Belt.

It is natural for people to look forward, look to their next step, want to know what is down the road. When something is laid out before our eyes it is easy to scan it all and anticipate when you can get through it all, plan a finish date.

some thoughts to share...

Short term goals are important for us. It gives us motivation to continue down a longer road, we are able to measure our progress at close range. The sense of accomplishment is more tangible.
What we need to be careful of(and this is my personal experience)  not to get caught up in the quantity of accomplishments but the quality in what you have before you.

I recall as a colored belt how the stripes I acquired on my belt became exciting! How I looked forward to  my Sifu witnessing where I was at with my curriculum. The stripes seemed easy, I was in good shape, the concepts were basic and I could mimic the Instructors demonstrations... then Blue Belt,... things changed.

This is where I had to go back and really understand the mechanics of what I was taught. Understand and practice the intangible concepts as "flow", "chi", "reaction and recovery", "judgement", etc.
If I was only mimicking what I saw my Instructors do, I could not apply these concepts to my skill set learnt thus far.

I had to go back and revisit my fundamentals and truly understand how my body needed to move, how my body feels when in the right stance, how my footwork might be slightly different then my fellow student beside me, why I would defend in such manner and analysis techniques and forms for their purpose.


What I'm getting at,   be patient with yourself, be patient with what seems to be simple techniques and savour the lessons taught. Take time to reflect after each class and look to understand the purpose of the lesson not just memorize. To be methodical in what you do can take longer...but its OK.


Don't look at achieving a  Black Belt as a race with your peers but rather a challenge to make the time spent of value. Time that counts towards building something solid...not having to go back and spend more time fixing what was rushed through the first time.


This of course, is me speaking from experience. Still fixing details that don't quite feel right. Still fixing bad habits from repeating something slightly incorrectly and now its ingrained in the old muscle memory.
You see, there is no end, just marker points. There is no question you should be aiming for that Black Belt marker point and definitely pushing yourself outside your comfort zone to achieve it.

But  quality in a Black Belt is built from the inside out not the outside in.

If you are a white belt, you are the luckiest person in the Universe! You are starting your martial arts journey and you have no bad habits! Keep that in mind as you move up the ranks...try and keep your training exact as you can. Question that which does not feel right, ask yourself the purpose of your movement and keep not only your physical being challenged but your mental game engaged from an early start.


If only my Future self could have lectured my Past self!:)

The Gift of Focus

Over the years of training in kung fu, one skill I have worked on and continue to work on is the skill and ability to focus on whatever it is I wish to perfect.

This is the time of year I feel excited for those who have put so much work into their goals. It all amounts to concentrated minutes in front of their peers, Sifus,  friends and family.
The hours and hours spent practicing come shining through as they focus on the pinnacle moment.

I admire that and I applaud that.

No matter the outcome, whether its absolute perfection or creative improvising, the Focus in the moment is what I admire most.


Good Luck to the I Ho Chuan team but most of all have Fun!

Get a Grip! or 2

Running on a treadmill is different than running on a track.
Running on a track is different than running outdoors.
Running in the summer is different than running in the winter!


took up running lately, or a least I try and imitate those running people. I thought winter was the down time until I found these little guys.. they just strap on the bottom and away I trudge...

When you run on slushy snow , its like running on a sandy beach..well ...with alot of imagination!

How do I train smarter?

This time of year is buzzing...
In the Kwoon everyone is busy reaching goals and polishing their end product. While others are busy setting goals for the up and coming.
I, as well, have some beastly size goals this year and admittedly, probably more than I can handle but, I have committed myself to them so time to train smart.

We all write down on paper what we want to achieve  but I'm a firm believer in measuring progress if you can.
Record  where you are at with your present skills and write down what you would like to achieve by the years end.
Now the tricky part is the path to get me there. Too often I fly out of the gate, tackle everything in three months then find myself exhausted , bored from the repetition, sore every morning from aching muscles and really not quite sure if I have made any progress.


During class yesterday, I had a quick but valuable conversation with some of the Sihings. They reminded me of a couple of key aspects to goal setting. One is frequency and the other was recovery.
If I want to progress I need to practice something with quality and frequently but also allow the body to recover and rebuild so the next time I train the body has adapted and improved its reaction to the physical stress.


Something like this.....

If the body is put into a situation of overload(physical work stress) its capacity to deal with it decreases. During the recovery period(rest time) the body's work capacity increases to a level greater than the original.
The strategy is not to let the recovery time lapse too much, so as to find yourself starting from scratch again. That being said, not to get back at it again too soon where a person is over-training and defeating themselves.

So here I go...
practice what I preach ,right!

Thanks for the quick but valuable chat, Sihings, Chervenka, Csillag and Tymchuk!!