From the Dalai Lama

When you entertain evil thoughts like hostility and hatred, there is no joy in your heart and you are a nuisance to others.  On the other hand, if you develop kindness, patience and understanding, then the whole atmosphere changes.

Barry at Weightlifting Epiphanies has a fantastic post on why he decided to be a weightlifter.  It’s really digs into some topics that strike a cord with me.  Here’s a passage:

Weightlifting appeals to my underlying personality. My parents raised me as a lifelong learner and in the twenty months since I gave up rugby to train with the barbell instead, my inner perspective has, and still, continues to evolve. Weightlifting forces me to look at myself as I really am and how I want to be. Do I want the sublime athleticism of Kolecki? The ruthless efficiency of Kakishvilli? The brute power and showmanship of Dimas? No. I want to be myself. The beauty of this journey is that I am continuously discovering what exactly I want to be, and more importantly, what I am. This differentiation is vital for anyone who seeks to progress, adapt and evolve on any front.

This is the Polish weightlifter Szymon Kołecki

From the great Japanese Haiku poet Basho:

“I hear the unblown flute, In the deep summer shadows, Of the Temple of Suma.”

A new paper in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that women who strength train score higher on cognitive tests.

Older women who did an hour or two of strength training exercises each week had improved cognitive function a year later, scoring higher on tests of the brain processes responsible for planning and executing tasks, a new study has found.

The Women (ages 65 to 75) were all put on a strength training program for a full year.

A year later, the women who did strength training had improved their performance on tests of so-called executive function by 10.9 percent to 12.6 percent, while those assigned to balance and toning exercises experienced a slight deterioration — 0.5 percent. The improvements in the strength training group included an enhanced ability to make decisions, resolve conflicts and focus on subjects without being distracted by competing stimuli.

Notice that the control group still exercised, but only did “toning” and “balance” work and saw a slight deterioration in cognitive function.  This is the kind of stuff you’d do in a Yoga class, or even an aerobics class.  Those things are great (even essential).  But, without a dedicated strength training program, you’re selling yourself short – apparently even your brain!

From the Hagakure, The Book of the Samurai by Yamamoto Tsunetomo:

In one’s life, there are levels in the pursuit of study.  In the lowest level, a person studies but nothing comes of it, and he feels that both he and others are unskillful.  At this point he is worthless.  In the middle level he is still useless but is aware of his own insufficiencies and can also see the insufficiencies of others.  In a higher level he has pride concerning his own ability, rejoices in praise from others, and laments the lack of ability in his fellows.  This man has worth.  In the highest level a man has the look of knowing nothing.

These are the levels in general.  But there is one transcending level, and this is the most excellent of all.  This person is aware of the endlessness of entering deeply into a certain Way and never thinks of himself as having finished.  he truly knows his own insufficiencies and never in his whole life thinks that he has succeeded.  he has no thoughts of pride but with self-abasement knows the Way to the end.  It is said that Master Yagyu once remarked, “I do not know that way to defeat others, but the way to defeat myself.”

Throughout your life advance daily, becoming more skillful than yesterday, more skillful than today.  This is never ending.

BBC Health news reports that the cold sore virus may be linked to an increase in Alzheimer’s risk.  So, be careful who you’re smoochin’ on.

How would you feel if I told you that you could eat anything you want, and still lose weight … so long as you prayed?  I’m not joking.  I’ve now heard everything …

In August 2002, the couple was married and they soon made a decision that would forever change their lives.
Before getting married, a friend introduced Maggie to The Weigh Down Workshop, a faith-based weight loss program, which teaches people to conquer their addiction to food, as well as other substances and vices, by turning to God.

Maggie says she was never consistent or committed enough to stick with the program. But shortly after their wedding, the couple started packing on the pounds and while Andy tried another diet, Maggie gave Weigh Down another try.

“At the end of 2002 and the beginning of 2003, I called Weigh Down and started taking the classes,” says Maggie. “My whole life, I had always wanted somebody to [lose weight] with me. But I knew if I wanted it bad enough, I would have to do it alone.”

She began to lose weight.

“I ate whatever I craved, but only when I was truly hungry and then I ate a lot more slowly, so I could tell when to stop,” Maggie says.

In February 2003, after seeing his wife’s results, Andy stopped counting calories, gave up the low-fat foods and reduced his portion sizes. Fifteen months later, he had lost 257 pounds.

“Once I started this program, it changed my outlook on my entire life. I realized that being happy is a choice. I can either be filled with hate and despair or I can be happy,” says Andy, who realized he no longer needed the anti-depressants.

Don’t get me wrong, the placebo effect is AMAZING, and I’m all for it.  So, if this works for them, great!  In fact, I don’t care if you worship a teddy bear, so long as it causes you to do what you actually have to do:

 “I ate whatever I craved, but only when I was truly hungry and then I ate a lot more slowly, so I could tell when to stop,” Maggie says.

That line is crucial.  “I ONLY ate when i was TRULY hungry … so I could tell when to STOP …”

In other words … she was dieting.  She just didn’t know it.  It wasn’t a massive, kill you kind of diet.  But, it was a diet.  The prayer enabled her to focus on something else, beyond herself, and beyond her own out-of-control appetite.  It’s about behavioral modification.

The mind is a powerful tool.  And it is the NUMBER 1 key to your success in any endeavor in life.  Fat loss, and physique transformation are no different.  So … get to praying, or meditating, or anything else that suits your cultural comfort levels.  Because, honestly, it does work.

It was long believed that after your youth was gone, your brain stopped going through neurogenesis, that is, stopped “getting smarter.”

From NYT:

Conventional wisdom had long held that animal (and human) brains weren’t malleable: after a brief window early in life, the brain could no longer grow or renew itself …

Gage’s mice proved otherwise. Before being euthanized, the animals had been injected with a chemical compound that incorporates itself into actively dividing cells. During autopsy, those cells could be identified by using a dye. Gage and his team presumed they wouldn’t find such cells in the mice’s brain tissue, but to their astonishment, they did. Up until the point of death, the mice were creating fresh neurons. Their brains were regenerating themselves.

All of the mice showed this vivid proof of what’s known as “neurogenesis,” or the creation of new neurons. But the brains of the athletic mice in particular showed many more. These mice, the ones that scampered on running wheels, were producing two to three times as many new neurons as the mice that didn’t exercise.

2 or 3 times!  There’s more:

This spring, neuroscientists at Columbia University in New York City published a study in which a group of men and women, ranging in age from 21 to 45, began working out for one hour four times a week. After 12 weeks, the test subjects, predictably, became more fit. Their VO2 max, the standard measure of how much oxygen a person takes in while exercising, rose significantly.

But something else happened as a result of all those workouts: blood flowed at a much higher volume to a part of the brain responsible for neurogenesis. Functional M.R.I.’s showed that a portion of each person’s hippocampus received almost twice the blood volume as it did before. Scientists suspect that the blood pumping into that part of the brain was helping to produce fresh neurons. …

Those with the biggest increases in VO2 max had the best scores of all.

AKA, the wimpy training you get from those “Globo Gym” trainers isn’t really gonna do you as much good as a solid, and truly tough routine.

Train Hard, Get Smart!

The researchers also found that higher levels of aerobic fitness corresponded to better standardized test scores among a set of Illinois public school students.

PE class is absolutely essential to a thriving student body … but it has to be a class dedicated to actual exercise, not the ridiculous junk that most PE classes are in practice.

Gage, by the way, exercises just about every day, as do most colleagues in his field. Scott Small at Columbia, for instance , likes nothing better than a strenuous game of tennis. “As a neurologist,” he explains, “I constantly get asked at cocktail parties what someone can do to protect their mental functioning. I tell them, ‘Put down that glass and go for a run.’ ”

An Article in Olympic Coach Magazine suggests that grit, or the ability to work hard and consistently over the long haul, is equally (and in some cases more) important than talent for individuals seeking to become successful in their field of interest.

Grit is perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Grit entails working strenuously toward challenges, maintaining both effort and interest over years and years—despite failure, adversity, and even just stalls in progress. The gritty individual approaches achievement as a marathon; his advantage is stamina. Whereas disappointment or boredom signals to others that it is time to change trajectory and cut losses, the gritty individual stays the course.

This seems obvious to anyone who takes seriously the children’s story about the Tortoise and the Hare. We all know that the Tortoise won. And we know why. He didn’t work hard for just one moment and then get lazy. He consistently worked within the bounds of his capacity, never gave up, and always stayed focussed on his goal. The far more naturally talented Hare didn’t have grit, and he lost.

As a trainer, I can tell you that talent doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t use it. Some of my most successful athletes started at the bottom of the talent pool. But, they have a work drive that is staggering.

Check out this “grit” test, and see where you are and where you could improve.

UPDATE:  Turns out the aforementioned “grit” test doesn’t actually give you a result, but simply sends in your info for the study … still interesting though.

Jesse Marunde’s passing was a shock.  And it always is when a young vibrant Elite level Athlete suddenly dies while doing what we all know is good for us: Exercising.

So, what happened to him?  We don’t know yet.  But, here’s an article from the CrossFit Journal about a condition called “Rhabdomyolysis.”  It is …

a breakdown of muscle cell contents that results in the release of muscle fiber contents into the bloodstream.

This is bad.  And the elevated levels of potassium in the system of the victim can stop ones heart (and worse).   Clearly taking anyone beyond their own capacities is a recipe for trouble.

For those of us who are not professional athletes, it’s easy to listen to our minds telling us to slow down or stop.  Our pain threshold is acting like a safety valve.

But, for an elite athlete, listening to the pain telling you to stop is akin to conceding victory.  So, though it is remarkably rare, this may be the reason we tend to see it in athletes.

Always work hard, but only within the bounds of your current capacity.  Hard is a relative word.

The author used the word “mindful” and I will repeat it.  Be Mindful of yourself.  That is the first step towards success an any endeavor.  Fitness is no exception.