Conditioning Research

So it was a long day at work with a variety of stresses and challenges.  At the end of it I sat back, drank a glass of wine and thought about the day in the context of the rest of my life.  This is what resulted: It is ok to be nice. Alphas are overrated and the true alphas are the good guys. In the nursing home the winner is the guy with the smile,  the alphas burned out long ago or are sitting there alone with no visitors.  Humour, being cheeky, being human is right and can be professional.  I like you.  I want to help.   If you do not see the humour then you are lost. You still need to know your subject. Honesty beats confidence.  Don't talk rubbish with confidence.  The ones who know their stuff will realise that you are empty. You buy from those you like and that includes buying ideas. So be likeable. Nothing is really that important.   Stand back for a minute, think of your best moment then return to your proble...

Back to it now.... I took that photo a couple of days ago, just south of Edinburgh.  It was beautiful. I spent a few days with family and again it puts things in perspective.  All this fitness stuff has to improve your life, your happiness, your health and longevity.   That is so much more than performance. The metric has to be health and happiness.

I've been away for a few days visiting my parents.  My Dad is getting old and quite frail and it is very hard to see him like this.  Most of this year I've spent watching my girlfriend's Dad deteriorate and die. All this puts a lot of things into perspective.  You see what really matters.  Family, faith, health.  We are all going to die.  Some of us are going to get old as well.  Health is important, fitness and function too, but family and friends are high up in the mix too.  We can't forget that.

This raised a smile ( more here ) This is certainly true in the fitness / health world. Especially among the blogs. It made me think of something I read on the Moynihan Institute recently which was riffing on how divorced this subculture is from the rest of the world. The things we obsess about are just off the radar to most people: Are you a member of the fitness glitterati? 05/11/10 Chances are that if you reading this that you are a member of the fitness glitterati. It’s kind of like being a new ager. New agers never admit to being new age or even liking things of a new age nature. Their lives are simply so intertwined with new age mumbo jumbo that they can’t distinguish otherwise. It’s called denial. You most likely fancy yourself as a regular guy that just likes to train and doesn’t want to deal with all the bullshit that goes on in modern day gyms. This may be true but this is the standard prerequisite to becoming a member of the fitness glitterati. I realized that I was in...

This post follows on partly from the last one . I keep getting diverted by novelty. It happened again this week. Thinking back over my training I was starting to realise a few things: I made my best progress in strength and gaining muscle years ago on very basic routines, from Hardgainer magazine . Stiff Leg deadlifts, Dips, Press, Row. Not to failure stuff, but just weekly adding tiny bits of weight. I am getting tired of being sore from exercise. I do not want to be put at risk of injury - I've a demanding job and can't afford to be out of action from training. So Bill DeSimone's ideas will influence my exercise choice and range of motion. I need to do some rehab / posture exercises - TGU, bridging, birddog, plank. I want to be fit for the things I enjoy - Hillwalking and Krav Maga (Krav is fun but for me it is about learning a self defence - I am not bothered about grading, and there are better ways of keeping fit) So I'd decided to get back to something basic....