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| Young Herschel Walker |
Now you might be saying, "But what about rest! Doesn't the body need rest to grow??" To which I say absolutely! You need to sleep and eat properly, and you need to allow your body and your central nervous system to rest between high intensity and max effort sessions. HOWEVER, too many people take this opportunity to say oh, I worked out three times this week, I can sit on my ass and do nothing the rest of the time. This is wrong. Listen to your individual body, but the fact is that the human body is capable of much more then most people will ever discover. Too many times people settle for the bare minimum, and never push themselves to reach their full potential.
Don't believe that bodyweight training and staying active on off days can benefit you? Herschel Walker has been known to do THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of pushups and sit ups every single day. Once one of the best running backs in college football, and a great pro player, he is now trying his hand at professional mixed martial arts even though he's now over 50!
Yohan Blake, who finished with a silver in the Olympics tonight in the men's 100m race only to Usain Bolt is said to do countless pushups and sit ups while watching TV at home. Even Laron Landry, one of the hardest hitters in the NFL has been known to train just hours before games in his hotel room using bodyweight training and a single resistance band.
Now there is no doubt that these guys are freaks of nature. Is basic calisthenics and prehab training on your "off days" going to make you a world-class athlete? Problably not. But can you improve your physique, your athleticism, your strength, and your overall health by utilizing "active rest" as it's often called? Hell yes!
So now that I've banged out this post I'm going to go rip into some more push ups and lever training before I head off to bed. Do the same and I promise you will feel healthier and stronger then ever before when you'd sit on the couch all night staring at the TV. Stay grindin'!
First, Thanks for the shout out.
ReplyDeleteSecond, Excuse any misspellings or bad punctuation is anything I write.
And now to the meat N potatoes...(I was about to fall asleep when all this poped into my head) Just to add to this... the best thing to do along with the good points that are in this article is think of an "off day" (sorry i cring when i think of those words haha) as a Self-Improvment day. Just because you give your body a break doesnt mean you should stop moving in the forward direction. I usually do early morning workouts along with my regular training regamine but on self-improvment days take the extra time to sleep in as long as you feel needed. give your mind and body that extra time to get the rest it deserves. Then when you do start your day, use it to still move towards your goal(s).
1.Stretch. You have been hammering your body all week long and most people dont take the time to stretch out enough through the week so take the time to do it now. It will help your body heal, feel better, become more flexable, and help prevent against injury.
2.Take the time to plan out your next week of training or work. Write it all down so you can still look back on it when you have times during your week when you are stagnant and looking for something to do.
3.Write down your goals in black and white. Whether it is goals towards your training, for your finances, for school, work, or family. Take them from being in your head and imagination and put them on paper. Print them BIG and post them around your room, in the bathroom, in your fridge, on your supplement bottles, and anywhere else you go frequently throughout the day. Then you will have a constant reminder of what you really want to accomplish.
4.Read. Simply read. something, anything. A regular book or even better, an article(s) on new workout programs or techniques. Open your mind to new ways to improve your performance. Sticking to one concept will only get you bored over time and make you start to resent other ways of working out because you have that tunnel vision that your way is the only right way.
5.Call your parents(or someone real important to you). This is very important. With most people in todays world. once you move out and start your life you start losing touch with the ones most important to you. Give yourself an hour in your self improvment day to call them up and just talk. Catch up on what is going on in there lifes and tell them all about yours. This will help you vent about any stress you have been under. And it will make them feel good to get to talk to you. whether you know it or not I am willing to put money on that when your phone number pops up on your mom or dad's phone a smile rolls across there face.
By doing all these things you did technically give your body the day to rest up but still accomplished alot. These things will help you be successful in your persuit of what you want in life and keep you out in front of the pack. So work "Self-improvment Days" into your ruitine when you feel your going to need them.
Awesome my man. This is spot on. Great checklist to go through every day just to make yourself a better man in everyway. Loving your comments brotha they keep me motivated everyday!
ReplyDeleteGlad man. keep up what your doing here. i enjoy reading them and i looked up that elliott hulse dude. pretty good stuff he's got on his page
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