Today's Training

CraigD

I thought I would post a recap of my physical training of the day, at Eric's request! Smile This morning was I did Qi Gong deep breathing exercises, light hamstring stretching and some stance training. I combine my stance training with brushing my teeth...5 minutes in a very deep horse stance while I breathe through my nose and brush the pearly whites, focusing on the power source for the day. I was rushed this morning, so only some shadow boxing before my shower and then out the door to Google.

The afternoon; ...I usually leave the office while the line starts for lunch, and go to the top of the parking garage to practice Kung Fu and Iron Qi Gong training while looking at the Flat Irons and foot hills of the East Range of the Rockies. Today however it was too hot...around 100 degrees...so I went down to the lower level of the garage. It's cooler down there, and has a very tough, stark city feel...which always gets me in a good mood for a fight! Pre garage, I scaled a pipe and did a spin turn in mid air to hang from an I beam in the stairwell. I wasn't warmed up and didn't want to work my slow twitch muscles too much so I only did 15 wide arm pull ups, and the 15 curl pull ups. Then I did a number of high kicks and low stances until I hit the steel railing (doing Iron forearm training while in low stance) hard enough to resonate the entire stairwell! That's when I decided to go down to the parking garage and turn it up a notch.

In the parking garage I did 15 minutes of shadow boxing and high kicking. I was kicking and hitting the concrete wall at 3/4 force and going for cross over, shuffle, stutter, and front shuffle kicks into the concreted pillars. Then I'd shadow box against the raw shadow of the concrete wall, combined with high and medium kicks at full speed. I continued with very hard hip level, thigh level, knee level and shin level kicks against the concrete walls. My goal was to practice the kicking strength that would be enough to crack the femur bone, smash a pelvis, and/or dislocate the hip socket. The lower kicks can cause far easier damage and don't require the strength, but must be as fast as a flash of lightening and below the opponent's gaze to catch them off-guard and unbalanced. I finished with a couple dozen high heel kicks into the concrete, then followed with a number of high wheel kicks into the concrete about 5' 11" - 6' 2" high. One of my last kicks had me rotate the hip sooner than I wanted and I wasn't able to strike the concrete squarely with the ball of my left foot and instead hit it straight on with the point of my foot, smashing my toes into the unforgiving wall. This would have been fine if I had struck the temple, eye socket, ear, jaw hinge, or base of skull of a human, but instead I was kicking the pillar of concrete that supports a portion of the garage. I buckled the toe nail of my big toe instantly and sent quite a nice sharp pain down the joint structure, deep into the small bones of my foot. This made me furious, so I went into an explosive flurry of left and right punches followed by very hard side and spinning side kicks into the concrete, my sweat and snarls accompanying the sound of pounding feet. I decided that the concrete would stand stoically in my presence for as long as I could continue and that I should head back in to the office to clean up, get lunch and continue testing SketchUp. I had a lot of areas to cover before the day was through and the garage would wait for another day.

I smiled broadly ascending the dimly lit stairs, the pain in my toes rising with each step, and as the blood continued to soak into my sock and the sweat burned into my eyes, I emerged from the parking garage forged of fitter metal and ready to reengage a more civil conscience for an afternoon of testing. Pain is a familiar friend that would keep me only slight company today, as it has many times in the past, retelling a truth so raw and undeniable as to be THE truth. Joy; well that will come with the pain of tomorrow.

Cheers,

CraigD

alan wood

Hi Craig D,
Wow, bet that keeps you fit. Hope the foot get better soon.

Mine is just a bit different. Out of bed 6.30am most of the year.

15minutes of deep breathing exercises concentrating on my breathing, maybe 7 breaths a minute. In this state of total relaxation, it’s just amazing the ideas that just come flooding in sometimes.

Stretching exercises given by the chiropractor, plus mirror image exercises to correct posture.

Three sets of 30 press-ups using a gym ball. Three sets of 60 sits up using the gym ball to support my legs.

More stretches.

Great relaxing start to the day and full of ENERGY for the day ahead.

From the days when I needed to say a mantra, I still smile and think of some of the stuff.

‘Aiming to deliver a service second to none’ Yes, I like that one.

'go for it son' Yes, thats another memory that get the energy to a different level.

99% of it is in the mind

cheeers

Alan

sorgesu

okay Craig, I gotta ask. Is there a shower at work and do you have a change of clothes? I don't ski because my nose runs and I don't work out during the day at work because I sweat and therefore would er, um smell not so good after. Showering and fussing with hair is time consuming so another reason not to work out during the day. Have you got that problem licked?

boofredlay

Well I start my day off with a push up... me pushing myself up out of bed.
Then I go into the other room for dead lifts... me lifting my daughter out of her bed still pretending she is asleep.
Then comes the grueling oatmeal stir. Man that stuff can get the forearms ripped in no time.
Then there is the physical and mental training of the car line: when to stop, when to unbuckle, how far to lean over to open the door for my daughter, that one is tough. Too far and the heavy door will spring back and not far enough, well the door will just not open.
And lastly comes the most difficult part of my morning routine, traffic. This one will cause too much stress if not performed properly.

Seriously Craig, when I asked you to spark another discussion here I was thinking you might put up a new recipe or a simple exercise to do at your desk, not how to systematically destroy a parking garage with your body.
Thank you though. I am enjoying this topic, even if I am only contributing comic relief.

Krisidious

makes me tired just thinking about it...

anyone watching that March Diet Show? where they march down the highway to loose weight?

CraigD

LOL! Well today's training was all Qi Gong and speed drills...no heavy kicking.

Alan - I also find that starting the day with breathing exercises sets a very good foundation. And like many things, I agree that they are almost completely in the mind first. Mental imagery is extremely important regardless of what activity.

Susan - What? You wouldn't want to sit in a closed door meeting with a sweaty, bloody person for a few hours? Yes, there is a shower here...which is good. Many folks in this office ride bicycles in the canyons at lunch and they come back pretty sweaty!

Eric - yeah, I guess that's not too helpful, but it is a snapshot of my days. I will look up some more helpful topics and post them when I have time.

This is really only a tiny set of training activities that I do, however it's about all I have time for during the busy work day. I will add to this thread as I get a good routine going...I have a jump rope training routine that is a bit easier for others to adopt, so I'll post that when I get some time.

The main thing I find is to be creative and more naturally. I am not a big fan of machines that limit one's range of motion.

Stay active everyone! ...as they say, use it or lose it! Wink

Cheers,

CraigD