Ready Steady Go

Life is this long, winding road. Sometimes your transmission feels like it's going to give out when your climbing a steep hill and going through the mountains. Sometimes it feels like your going to slip off the road on some sheet of ice. And sometimes your going down hill with the windows open and breeze going through your hair, music cranked and good company on a long drive.

The thing to carry you through those long drives in stormy weather is to know that rounding the corner somewhere up ahead, the sun will be shining and you'll again see, with your own eyes, how beautiful life is.

I have now made it successfully through one month of training. I kept my promise, the one I made to myself to not give up.

Over the past four months while I was not training or working on music, I had a lot of time to think about restructuring and rebuilding. I have been trying for the life of me to get back to a certain place in life. Through this family crisis I have realized that I need to stop trying to go back and certainly go forward. I was saying forward to myself but I was still living in that old moment which did carry me through, however now it's time for new moments. And greatness happens in small moments. This is one of them.

I learned to train myself over my years studying martial arts with my teacher. It's funny because I spent a great many years training with him and after the 11th I could not go there. Like all of us I was wounded and I needed to go somewhere or some many places to heal those wounds. Everything I learned in that school from that teacher allowed me to do this. It was not as fast as I would have liked it to be, but in truth time heals all wounds and time does take it's time.

Of the most important lessons I learned that I carry with me is that consistency is what makes things happen, persevere - overcome and there really is not difference between one and one hundred.

My training goes like this: 3 days a week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I know your supposed to split it up but this is about consistency and coming up with fail safe methods meaning I stay in that training head for those three days and do not give myself the chance to slip up and miss a day.

1. Know Yourself

I started by knowing I would not be able to get through a 45 minute session after being stagnant and overwhelmed for almost half a year. So when I started I said my goal was to get up to a 45 minute session but I expected myself to do 25 minutes. Week one I did 25 minutes all three days. Week two I made it to 35 and by week three was at 45 minutes. This week I have it the 55 minute mark and will stay there for a while.

2. Don't Waste Time

It is more important to do more in a short span of time then drag your butt and stretch it out over a longer increment of time.

3. Always Warm Up Or You Will Suffer The Consequences

I start with about a ten minute vigorous warm up making sure I've started to sweat and then I do some serious leg stretches for five minutes. I do not want to tear any muscles and now know that, yes, working out before warming up can cause serious injury.

4. Work Out Hard! Give Every Bit Of Yourself And Do Not Cut Corners!

For the next twenty five minutes I am constantly moving and keeping my heart rate up and steady. This entire time is spent on my heavy bag which is 6 feet long and 130 pounds. I start with hand combinations, then leg combinations where I work to keep good form, speed and power. Then I do both hand and leg combinations in patterns for sparring. In between combinations I will drop down and do mountain climbers. Very painful. Go into push up position and start running. This will make you sweat like you've never sweat before.

5. Cool Down Does Not Mean Sit On Your Can

For the next ten minutes I take my gloves off and train using 10 to 15 pound dumbbells. The goal of this is to continue constant movement but with weights. I stand with my feet together, butt tucked and good posture and then go through right and left curls, front raises, chest press type movements and triceps. I do these for three sets. Once this is complete I continue with the dumbbells and go into a fighting stance and slowly practice torquing motions such as uppercuts to the torso. Always work both right and left equally.

After this I have been consistently doing 300 crunches plus a little something something I added this week. First 100, lay on your back and keep your legs at a 90 degree angle, feet flexed. Do not lift any more than your shoulders off the floor and you can support your neck but do not use your hands to lift your neck. This should all come from your abs. Second Hundred stay in the same position but point your toes and let your legs drop into a split stretch. Last 100 at a 45 degree angle with knees up by your chest. In between these sets I have added in keeping my legs straight out and about one or two inches off the floor. I rest my toes on the bottom of the heavy bag and roll it off my feet. I do 25 of those in between sets.

6. Always, Always Stretch And If you Do Not Know Enough Stretches, Google Some New Ones

After this I pull on a hoody so I don't get chilled and stretch using martial arts stretches. I think these are more painful than the workout but a necessary evil.

Let me tell you this one last thing after I've bored you all to death with detailed training information. I feel great. I can still feel the burn from this weeks work out.

Now for month two......