I prefer to use simple terms with bodybuilding or training. I do not profess to know exactly how the body works. I have a rough idea, and that is all I need - provided I do not take it upon myself to diagnose a problems. There are people who have trained many years who are paid to work on the body.
The one important thing I want to point out here is - we should become one with our bodies. By this I mean that we need to learn to understand our bodies and read what the body is telling us.
When you open your mind to this kind of thinking, you will realise that your body is talking to you all the time. I can give you a good example. A few years ago I got very sick. I can tell you I knew there was a problem, and a serious problem long before I went to the Doctor. You can read about that at my work website at http://www.basil-mienie.com/about-me.html
I know when I need salt. I know when I am really hungry. I know when I am tired and I know when I am getting sick. Sometimes however, the mind will play a trick on the body. When we are not in tune with the body, the mind will over rule what the body is saying. A good example of this (and it happens to me quite often) - the mind says I am too tired to train. It might be because I have had a taxing day mentally or might even have done a few things manually. When I question myself very carefully and I ask, "is this my body saying I am tired or is this just me being lazy" ?, I find, on most occasions, it is me being lazy. I get changed and start training. Some of these sessions have been the best I have had. Another time I may use willpower. I do not feel like training but the mind says I have to so I go to train, Often its a disaster and I really feel like quitting training. This is only because I trained against my will. My body was saying it wanted a rest and I did not respect that. Do not fall into the trap of thinking your body is tired all the time so that is why you only train once a week. That is rubbish.
We have remarkable bodies that can achieve far more than we give them credit for but it takes effort.
How many times have you planned a holiday and a few days before going you feel you really need this holiday, and you cannot go on another day without it ? Then out of the blue something unexpected happens and you have to cancel or postpone the holiday. It is amazing how quickly you seem to recover and go back to normality.
Treat your body with respect...look after it and it will be a very good friend to you . After all, it is the only one you have. If you neglect it, or abuse it, it will eventually fail. It has to. I do not know of a vehicle that will last if it is not looked after or serviced occasionally. The body is no different. What is more amazing is - it is equivalent to the best sports vehicle around.
If you took a Ferrari and drove it very slowly, eventually it would carbon up in the engine, lose performance, and go quite badly. Take it out...open it up every now and then, and it will perform as it was designed to. However if you put it in first gear and have your foot flat on the accelerator all the time it also will not last very long.
Our bodies perform at there best when they are given a run and opened up on a regular basis. The have this ridiculous ability to gain more energy the more they are used. The fitter you become the more you can do. The harder you train (within reason and common sense) the more you will be able to do.
A really good article!! I was starting to lose myself with my training a bit simply by laziness, thanks for making me re-think it all again!!
Posted by: Michael | July 10, 2010 at 02:49 PM