Going out to anyone who might be reading this blog:What is your fitness routine in everyday life?
With this I don't mean the regular trip to the gym once a week. I mean the "home-knit" routines you might have. 1o sit-ups before going to bed, 15 mins of yoga every morning, running to the bus stop... I'd be more than interested to hear what exercises you have come up with. And more importantly, does it work for you and do you have the persistency to keep up with the routine?
Since I seem to be having trouble making it to training now that I work further away, I should probably plan a fitness routine that's fun and easy to do in my home surroundings. I have basic knowledge of working out, but I'd like to find inspirational ideas from you.
I did plan a conditioning day for our fencing school, but for some reason I got only one person enrolling and another one giving a maybe so the event had to be cancelled. I have yet to discover why this was. Was it bad timing, the wrong instructor, a useless subject? I personally would have seen the day useful for all of us, as I planned the exercises so that they'd satisfy everyone dispite one's fitness level. This leads me to another question I'd like to hear answers to:
What is your personal reason for carrying out fitness routines?
Is it because of pressure from society, for looking good, personal well-being, or is it just fun?
In my opinion there is a growing gap between two types of people - those who work through esthetic values and those who sadly have no interest in their health. Take the stereotype idea of a blond young girl. She shops in quantities for clothes, wears them once and chucks them away. She eats salads so she won't gain any excess fat. Some girls smoke because it supposedly makes them thinner. Other girls work out like crazy to look their best. A majority seems to go to the tanning salon all year round. Probably anyone reading this can recognize this type from the people they know, the type that needs to look good no matter what. At the same time, obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart diseases, joint problems, bowel cancer, watching TV and the consumption of junk food is increasing.
Where's the interest in health issues gone, taking care of the body with nutritious food and a fun form of sports? Or is it that the values of our society have changed so much that they change how our bodies are treated and infact interest towards health has remained level?
If you think about the working class 100 years ago, I doubt they had time for leasure sports. And the food they got their hands on was maybe simple, but at least made from pure ingredients. Today, many people are in the modern version of the same setting - long days at the work place, leaving no time or energy for sports. The choices for food are nearly infinite, still often the quickest, and unhealthiest option is chosen. Although, a handful of said busy people fall into the category mentioned in the previous paragraph. They still make the time to look good, as looks sell.
I wrote similar thoughts down after reading Mats-Eric Nilsson's book. But today's views on beauty and health still intrigue me.
Where do you fall on the described line?
3 kommenttia:
I think the main reason the conditioning day did not take wind is because people didn't know about it. Some might have been intimidated by the fitness aspect of it, but I think that if we give it a signup sheet like other weekend seminars, it might get noticed better.
As for my personal routines, I don't really have any besides normal training at the salle. I'm bad at sticking to routines on my own, but a while ago we bought some weighted gym balls (2 kg) that are a lot of fun to play with. They can be used as normal weights, or to increase the strength of your grip, or even to make pushups more fun. I guess for me the fitness aspect is not enough of a reason to exercise, it must also be fun and engaging. This is why I do swordsmanship as opposed to spinning or pilates. If there's no intellectual or even spiritual backdrop to a physical exercise, it must at least be fun.
Hi!
Good post! This is maybe a bit too much in the manliness-side, but I think a fair bit of physical culture is lacking from today's society.
For myself, I don't know, maybe it works up to a point, but I'm never really satisfied.
I try to steer clear from routines, because they are bad for my psyche. I get really nervous if I set up a routine and then fail to follow it. It's better not to have a routine.
On the other hand, I often have these routines of doing something, and when I get utterly bored or find something else, I change the exercise. This is good for multiple reasons, such as:
1) It is more effective to challenge yourself with different exercises than to simply get really good at one - strength, endurance and 'fitness' are not specific attributes to increase, but are more about how the body and the head as well get better in performing an exercise. The more you do an exercise, the better you get at that one exercise. It is not gain in strength per se, it is simply you getting more skilled in the exercise itself.
That said, I do for example the following kind of things:
- Stand on one foot while washing dishes or brushing teeth (not always though)
- stand up and hold on to nothing while riding a tram
- run short distances during the day (to the bus etc.) Depending, I either jog or actually really run.
- Prefer walking to buses and such.
- Sometimes I do a set of 30 hindu-pushups and ten squats in the morning or before staring to work. Sometimes I do 40. Sometimes I can't be bothered. :)
- I do handbalancing a few times every day in new places.
- I try to combine exercises into sets that feel good, target something that I'm having problems with at the moment, and that leave me with a nice and balanced feeling.
- I might lift the kettlebell just for a few minutes every now and then.
- Occasionally I do random breathing exercises like holding breath, laddered breathing while walking etc.
- I have access to a small gym at work, sometimes I go there and just do stuff for a while during the day.
- I punch things and touch things to practice coordination and precision.
- I squat often (not often as I should), waiting for a bus, squat once. While walking, stop and squat. While working, just stand up and squat. Do it whenever possible, make a habit out of it.
- When walking stairs, I always train something. Walk funnily in new ways, like squatted, backwards, spinning around, with one leg straight whatever, or walk two stairs at a time, three at a time etc.
- I roll around on the floor whenever I get a chance - that is my primary form of conditioning, it is the core for everything. The floor is a platform that allows me to stretch, exercise muscles, balance, movement, breathing and whatever I feel like I ned to.
It mostly comes from that kind of stuff. Swordsmanship in itself (the way we do it at the moment in regular training) should be augmented with some form of other training that feels like a good balance to it and allows for new challenges to the body.
The most important thing: something every day!
Some hindu-wrestlers said that one needs to have a set of exercises (like 1000 hindu pushups and squats) and do that every day at the same time. Well, yes, perhaps and it might work... but for an average person that is probably not going to make you happy. To continue what Maria said, generally exercise should be fun, but also it has to be remembered that in order to get results, work needs to be done and sometimes work is _just hard_.
To answer the next question, people are just darn lazy. They need to be educated to appreciate physical training. Most seem like they would rather not do it. Those who train on their own time are sadly few. Again, lack of physical culture.
I would have loved to come to the conditioning thing, but hey - I can't even manage to attend regular training these days. Unless the salle moves to Espoo, I'm "estynyt" most nights :( :(
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