Contemplative Fitness

Leg day is here…

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DblV86KRMpF/?igsh=YTI4eTZrc3d1cGp0

leg day means business 🐶💪 #lucasthepug #legday #legextension #gym #fitness

We suck at being decent to one-another. We just do…

The Cage Match Of Ugliness… I’m so tired of it — of the ugliness that people demonstrate to one another, all day, every day, which generally occurs when they’re hiding behind the safety of their smartphones.

If you own a dog or go to Costco, you should be doing deadlifts regularly…

Deadlifts With Trap Bar… Stand inside the bar, with your feet slightly wider than hip-width....

One for Judy Bay…

◾Low-back extensions done properly and consistently, will help strengthen, and improve flexibility of the musculature of the lower back.

◾They help stretch, strengthen, and improve flexibility in the hamstrings.

◾They will also strengthen and harden the gluteal muscles.

*Place your feet on the pedestal and extend your body beyond the support pads in an erect posture.

◾Bring arms close together at the chest, parallel to one another, not crossed. This arm position provides the best position for a neutral spinal posture. Hold a small ball, hand weight, or use open hands.

◾Lower your torso slowly (about 6 seconds), bending at the hip joint only, taking caution not to bend or breach the middle spine. The rest of the spine should remain in a rigid alignment with a slight inward curvature through the middle spine.

* Extend the hand forward, stretching away from the body.

◾Lower no further than to a natural stop. At this point you will feel a tight sensation behind the knees where the hamstrings merge to connect behind the knee. This is a normal sensation and is to be expected.

◾Breath in and out naturally while you are lowering yourself to the bottom position.

◾Raise yourself up slowly *(about 4-6 seconds). Lead with the shoulders and upper back as you begin the motion upward.

* Pull the arms back into the chest as you rise.

◾Exhale slowly as you rise until you reach the top of the motion where you began. At this point you will feel a hard contraction in your glutes and in the muscles of the lower back. This is normal and to be expected.

◾Hold the top position for a “2” count, while taking gentle breaths. Repeat the exercise as many times as you are comfortable doing. Two to three sets of 8-12 repetition one to two times per week should provide noticeable improvement in strength and flexibility with in several weeks.

Low-Back Extensions With Stretch Learn more at www.contemplaivefitness.me◾Low-back extensions done...

When I walk into the weight room, and when I begin a strength exercise, I know there will be people who can use more weight at that exercise than me. I also know there will be people who can do more repetitions at the same weight of that movement than I’m able to. But one thing I’m certain of, always, is that nobody in the gym will ever perform a strength exercise with better form than I do. Nobody.

My only goal when I walk into the weight room, is to know that no matter what exercise I’m doing, I’m doing it with better quality, better form, more concentration, and more intensity than anyone else in the room. Simply put, I get more out of each set of my strength movements, and keep any risk to a minimum.

In nearly all aspects of life, concentration matters. In the weight room, it matters a lot more than most people realize. Concentration improves intensity, and intensity improves both strength and hypertrophy.

If you’re not happy with your strength training, adding more weight or trying to do more repetitions at a given weight might not be the answer. Perhaps you should just focus on doing every exercise better — with better form, more concentration, and greater purity. I promise I will take you where you want to go. 

I don’t talk to people in the gym. I don’t look at my phone in the gym. I go there to do the work. The best training partners I’ve ever had, are the clock on the wall, and the focus I put into each set…

rc

Blog time again. Dig it…

The Influence Of Three… When I was 12-years oldI received the book, Pumping Iron — a gift from my mother.

Here’s some simple math for you…

If you choose to burn an extra 100 calories per day, and do so daily for one year, that’s 36,500 calories.

Divide that number by 10, and you’ve got 3650 calories. That’s the approximate number of calories one would burn running a marathon.

So if you simply burn an extra 100 calories per day, and change nothing else about your eating or exercise habits, that’s the equivalent of running 10 marathons a year.

Something to think about, when you doubt that small changes can add up…

rc

Still true…

On Missing A Workout…

I know a lot of people don’t like to miss workouts. I know I don’t. I also know that it can create a great deal of anxiety when one is forced to, or chooses to skip an exercise session. Whether it’s cardio, or weights, I try and be as consistent in never missing a scheduled workout.

Last November 24th, when I was struck by a car riding my bicycle in Buckeye, I would not just miss a workout, but I’d miss roughly the next 120 scheduled workouts. Thats 4-months of skipping workouts — nothing consistent about that.

Once I was able to step back into the gym, I’ve tried hard not to skip a single schedule cardio or strength workout.

Yestetday, I decided to skip a workout in favor of addressing some business concerns and meeting a dental appointment. You know what…? I didn’t lose a bit of strength or an ounce of muscle. Although I like the mental clarity of working out, I survived an entire day off — ooooooooooo… and I was back at it again this morning.

It’s been a busy time in my life these days. I’m going back to work part-time in San Diego so I have a lot of driving to do. I’m trying to get my body back when I’m here in Arizona, which is time-consuming. I’m trying to write more and turn that into at least a part-time career. I’ve recommitted myself to fitness education, something that’s been absent for a few years.

Life doesn’t change if you or I miss a workout or two, and your body doesn’t change — not at all. If it becomes a habit or you’re skipping more than a couple or a few work out a month, that’s a different story. But in the scope of 30 days, if you win 25 of them, you’re way ahead of the game.

Back at it today…

rc