Honour the Exercise by Appreciating the Integrity

“Honour the activity– do not pad the activity so that people can enjoy levels of accomplishment greater than they deserve.” – Gray Cook

A lot of people in the gym wear waist belts for support and work-out gloves for that extra grip strength and power. These are forms of padding the activity before we have earned the right to do it. You may be able to do more sets, more repetitions per set, or more explosive lifts, but really your joints and intrinsic tissues are not entirely ready for it. In other words, if you took off your waist belt or gloves can you still do the same amount? But in case there are “question marks” popping up, I will be a bit more specific. I understand that belts are required for competitive lifting sports such as power lifting, but the point is not to allow your body and mind to “rely” on the it; especially at a non-competitive level. So Brace that SPINE and core with enough intra-abdominal pressure as if the belt was never there. Gloves on the other hand prevent blisters which is good but the lack of neuromuscular proprioceptive feedback from the palm of your hand to your brain is a much greater loss. This proprioceptive feedback not only helps your brain learn the exercise properly but it also conditions your ligaments, tendons, and joints, with utmost integrity. Therefore, the next time you do the same exercise it won’t just feel easier because you got used to it but it means your brain already knows that you can do the same amount and more. This is called neuromuscular memory. For example, it won’t make sense if you are able to do 20 push-ups today and not 21 a day or two after right? So increasing even by 1 repetition a day will allow you to reach what you thought you couldn’t reach before!

“Feed your brain properly and it will appreciate your integrity by growing and becoming the internal exercise machine you’ve always wanted.”

~Open Our Minds

Senseful Change

Change is a matter of choice, do it for those you wish.

There will always be people who will judge you very quickly, whether it’s based on your looks, attitude, how you speak, or what you believe in. Understand that whatever these people say are nothing to worry about because unless they’ve gotten to know you it’s all bullshit. These people are probably just ignorant and they have obviously have no credibility to judge you. Therefore, you should ignore what these people say and consider change for only those who have taken their time to understand and appreciate you for who you truly are. Change in this sense is a matter of choice.

This does not apply to all situations but…

~Open Our Minds