Prison Workout

Wit has stumbled the other day upon this wonderful article about prison workouts and we thought we might just share with all you guys and gals since it reflects the Bodytweaker’s lifestyle, simplicity and down-to-earth, tough workouts in a small environment with little or no resources.

Now, you don’t need to get locked up to do this workout. It works just fine when you don’t have any cash to spend on expensive (and worthless) equipment and gym memberships or you are on a business trip in an hotel room and need your dose of hardcore workout to get the day started.

This is a wonderful addition to our non-equipment workout routine and get fit at home posts.

View this workout

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Running motivation

You know, a person that is motivated 24/7 is a myth. It doesn’t exist. Motivation is a spark that gives us a powerful explosion of will in a given moment to do something, but goes out very quickly. In order to in achieve the results  you have set in your fitness/workouts or any other project in your life you cannot rely just on your motivation. When motivation fades, you gotta have have a few tricks in your sleeve to keep you “running” towards your goal. Here are a few tips you might find useful:

1. Acknowledge the rule of least resistance.
By default, your subconscious-mind, the ruler of your body, is a lazy entity. It follows a simple universal rule that is found in chemistry, physics and other natural phenomena: the path of least resistance. That is, your sub-mind will seek the path of least energy. If it can avoid doing something, you bet it will. It won’t get off its ass in the morning to go jogging. No. It has to be trained over a very long period of time (to build an habit), but until then you must make it do what you will.

2. Ignore your inner dialogue.
Now this one is very important. We all had those inner dialogues when you know you have to do something like to go running in the morning and start looking for excuses: “It’s cold outside you’ll get sick”, “You look awful when running, what will the people say”, “I am too tired today, I went to sleep very late last night. If I go now, I’ll be very tired all day.”, etc., etc., etc. In most cases (like 99%) these statements are false excuses. Even if your inner self was right 1% and you DO get cold after running: the positive build-up of your will is far more valauble than having cold for a day or two.

I have found a solution that works for me like a charm: I just ignore these dialogues. You cannot stop them: at least, in the beginning (when you build an habit they will disappear gradually. But YOU CAN ignore them). Just listen to your inner whining while starting what you have set to do. Mostly, the dialogue will disappear within the first 5 minutes as your sub-conscious realizes that you are un-bribable and cannot be talked out of your goal. This is really amazing. Who would have thought that you are NOT in control of your own body, by default. You have to take the control by power. Power of will by ignoring excuses.

3. Set goals and make them public.
The Runner’s Magazine suggests signing up for a competition regularly and making it public (among your family and friends). It doesn’t matter whether it’s a small or big one. This will kill two rabbits with one stone: First, you will be more motivated to go out and train since you have a definite goal and date to train for. Secondly, your submind will be more cooperative because it does care whothers will say should you flunk the competition after promising (publicly) to participate.

Don’t let anyone, incluiding your inner self, to talk you out of your goals!

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Vitamin D overdose

Too much of good stuff is usually worse than no stuff at all :-) As I said long time ago, balance has to be found in everything you do: be it in sports, sleep patterns or in your diet. It seems that vitamin D is not an exception to this rule.

Recently, high vitamin D dosages of +3,000 IU have been linked to kidney stones and nausea. So by taking too much of it out of the bottle might eventually be counter-productive and even harmfull! The findings are yet to be proven, which won’t happen till the mids of 2010, but you’re better off using your common sense and keeping your “the more the better” philosophy in check. It doesn’t matter whom to blame: the general public ignorance or industry’s abusive disinformation campaigns. You are resonsible for yourself. No one else.

And while the world is getting more and more complicated everyday and you seem to lose track of what is truth and what is a lie, you need just a few simple rules that will always keep you on the safe side. Rule #1:  too much of anything is never good.

This is an absolute rule that applies to anything. Vitamin D is not an exception. Just take a 20 minutes walk in the sun, which will give you some 1,500-2,000 IU of Vitamin D. This way you’ll avoid the bottled supplements and do something for your fitness in the process.

Keep it safe bodytweakers!

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