I’m always looking for ways to get into better condition and lately (in the last two years) I’ve been interested in working out using just my body weight for strength training. Along with my love of running that is. The problem with weights? Gym’s are too hard to get to, often too expensive, and I like the keep-it-simple approach, especially when I have a hard time doing something. Weights are like that for me.
So I find this guy online by the name of Matt Furey who has a book and video called Combat Conditioning. His pitch is very good but the marketer in me (and I suspect anyone with a brain) recognizes that he’s a marketer of first order, with copywriting long form being his forte. Automatic distrust. Until I can independently verify his credentials and reputation I won’t fork over my money.
On that topic, most of what I can find online looks suspiciously like more internet marketing, incredibly easy for unscrupulous marketers to do, looking for all the world like someone else, while all the time being the same person. Now, I want to be clear, I AM NOT accusing Matt of this. From what I’ve read so far, I think he is legit. It’s just that I don’t like being duped and since marketing is my trade, I’m probably a little more sensitive to being duped by marketing than most. Then again, no one wants to be the sucker born every minute…
I have a great friend (we’ll call him E) who has spent more time in a gym doing strength training than most and he’s been successful with it. I particularly like that he’s in it for the function and value to his strength and agility (he was also once a practicing martial artist) vs. the typical vanity that many lift weights for.
While I wait for E to reply to me about anything he might know about Matt’s techniques, I went searching for more material. Matt’s pitch is especially compelling to me since he focuses on building functional strength and flexibility. Great things in terms of melting body fat away, converting fat into lean muscle, building strength, staying healthy and for me, improving my golf swing (flexibility and strength are both key in golf and weights training can actually hurt a golf swing). And if you’ve seen me golf, you’d know that I can’t afford for my swing to be any worse.
Ding, a light bulb went off. Online video. Youtube. I thought that maybe with all the user generated content out there, I might get a look at Matt’s three main exercises (he calls them the Royal Court) performed by someone who has tried the exercises. Hindu Squat’s, Hindu Push-ups and Matt’s version of the Bridge. I especially want (and need) the help from the bridge because I have a weak neck/back muscle that goes out far too often (usually when sleeping) and it can immobilize me to some extent for days.
Imagine what I found…
Captain America performing Matt Furey’s Combat Conditioning moves. No kidding. Without further ado, please enjoy.
Because of a send up video made on Youtube, I was able to see the basic moves performed. And with style… Check yourself, they look awfully like the written descriptions you can find of Matt’s exercises on the Internet. Further, I finally tried them out. Here’s what my testing confirmed. The one exercise that I really like to do is push ups. Actually, I hate them, but I like how I feel when I am done with them. Hindu push ups are HARD. The bridge is killer as well. As for Hindu squats? Funny enough, by total coincidence, this is how I’ve always performed my squats. They don’t seem that hard but they do give you a great workout. Do 20 or 50 and see how hard you’re breathing and how much burn you have in your legs and rear end. I can’t speak to long term results but I can see that the exercises are effective. I expect some good things and eagerly await E’s opinion (or yours).
[tags]Combat Conditioning, Matt Furey, Matt Furey Combat Conditioning, The Royal Court, Hindu Squats, Hindu Push ups, The Bridge[/tags]
Julian here, wearing the hat of master of the obvious. It is one of my favorite roles. Here’s the version and subject of this particular slice of obvious that I was just playing in my head.
I was wondering today why I actually run and how I compare the idea of running vs. the actual experience. The actual act of running is at best difficult (physically) and if you’re pushing yourself hard then it can be downright painful. Despite this, when I think of running, it is more often than not a positive association. I think of quiet time, the feeling of satisfaction from accomplishing something, from the real and subjective physical and mental health benefits, and very much, the time to listen to music. Oh and one more important one: ideas usually come clear to me when running or I will find the resolve to take action on something I’m procrastinating about. Powerful stuff indeed.
These are all things that happen when I run. Most of these benefits, or things that I look forward to, are mental. Physically, running is hard. It hurts. Your muscles can burn as can your lungs. There is a period in most every run where everything starts to feel good, as the endorphins are released and you experience a runner’s high. In contrast to this, I have the exercise that I want to do but have a really hard time sticking with – strength training. This is true whether it is actually lifting weights or my more favored calisthenics that include push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, chair lifts, leg lifts, squats, etc. The idea of strength training is unattractive to me in every way. My friend Eric, who is an accomplished lifter had this to say to me once about my difficulty in strength training: “It’s hard and it’s boring – not a great combo. It takes a certain kind of individual to like it” He had a glint in his eye as he said this. No wait, that was a phone call we had so it must have been a note of something in his voice. With strength training I don’t get quiet time, I don’t listen to music (because I’m in the house), I get interrupted by any number of outside stimuli (I can’t multi-task) and I don’t usually have my breakthoughs in thinking, or the stress relief that I get with sustained aerobic activity because of the typical start/rest/start nature of lifting. There’s no continuity. When I really think about the physical work though, in many ways it is easier than running (at least how I strength train). Eric would make this point. I don’t life heavy weight or strength train like a mad man. The pain is over quickly and there is an immediate feeling of greater strength and well being from all that blood pumping into your muscles in response to the tax you’re placing on them. Hell, you can even look better right away because your muscles get pumped up. While I can imagine that a girl might not see this as a win, a guy like me who has ‘always wanted’ to be built it is highly attractive. My point is that the idea of running, despite its actual physical pain is attractive due to all the ideas I have about what it does for me and the greater pleasure that it brings. Versus my strength training which in many ways is easier physically (again my qualifier is that I’m not doing gut busting 250lb bench presses) but mentally is 50 times more daunting.
The difference in what I actually do most of the time is more based on my mental picture of pleasure and pain and it is not directly correlated to my physical reality.
I can see how this plays out in all areas of life. As a procrastinator a task that I put off for a day, month or year because of the idea of it is almost never as bad in reality. I end up, as most people do, asking myself why I didn’t get on with it earlier. I even find myself enjoying some of these tasks or challenges! Do you? Now to be fair there are tasks that we find JUST as unpleasant in reality as the idea of them. Frightfully, some are even worse. But my point is that those are actually pretty rare. The mental anguish we procrastinators put ourselves through is far worse on our mental well being than the reality of avoiding reality for prolonged periods of time.
There it is. Julian, master of the well known and obvious.
Like many ah-hah moments, there is nothing remarkable or new about this one and my mastering of the obvious is only a temporary respite from my normal mode of thinking. Isn’t it? Why do we forget our mental ah-hah’s and return to our normal mode of thinking?
I love to run and rather than succumb to the monotony of the gym I like to run varied routes around my house. My favorite is one I call the ‘Powerline’ which is a 5 mile trek that switches between sidewalk, road running and cross country (that’s the powerline part where my dirt trail follows a huge highway of powerlines connecting two major roads). It’s always a challenge to run here in South Florida in the summer given the heat index that we experience. Even at night it’s really warm – though the absence of the glaring sun is literally the difference between night and day as far as running endurance and difficulty go.
Cooling down. credit: Nigel Holmes
Like any runner, I’ve become pretty familiar with my endurance and energy and I like to monitor the factors that influence the overall quality and difficulty of my run. What’s the biggest influencer? In practical terms, time-of-day, because that’s what drives the temperature and the amount of direct sun I’m running in. What I’m amazed by is JUST how much difference the direct sun and temperature have on my level of exertion and endurance. During the winter where we see temps in the 70′s I can run at a pretty fast clip and reel out a 45 minute run without tremendous strain. I’ve come to adjust my expectations to run around 30 minutes before taking a break during the summer, and then I can usually only take another 10 minute stretch. During the heat of the day in the summer (vs. an early morning run), I’ll find myself really struggling to make even 25 minutes before stopping for a rest. On a percentage basis that’s a huge performance gap.
I came across a recent article in Spirit Magazine, Southwest Airlines in-flight magazine, about a couple of Stanford University researchers who came up with a way to rapidly cool an athletes body down. It’s called CoreControl RTX, for rapid thermal exchange aka ‘the glove’. Two Stanford biologists, H. Craig Heller and Dennis Grahn invented the device a few years ago and have now licensed the technology to a Michigan company called AVACore Technologies, a company that they are both major stakeholders in. The company they formed is charged with making the device commercially viable.
“The device invented by Grahn and his colleague, Stanford biology professor, H. Craig Heller, makes it possible to markedly enhance human physical performance by cooling the body core quickly, in 10 or 20 minutes. This temperature regulation allows athletes to recover from intense training and to increase their strength and endurance without using questionable supplements or anabolic steroids.” — author Heather Millar, Spirit Magazine
coreControl device by AVACore
Professional sports teams like the Oakland Raiders and fellow athletes all over the world are now using AVACore technology to give them an edge.
“Robert Weir, head coach of men’s track and field, gets ready for his strength-training regime by loading hundreds of pounds of weights onto both ends of a bar that rests in brackets at shoulder height. Weir moves under the bar, hoists it across his shoulders and does squats. With each repetition, his knees and hips fold until his thighs are parallel to the ground, then straighten—rep after rep with the equivalent of a baby elephant draped around his shoulders.
Like any athlete, Weir is well acquainted with his normal performance range. Like any athlete, Weir looks for an edge. A few years ago, he was intrigued when he heard about a device—that has been called at various times the RTX, Core Control or simply The Glove—invented by a pair of Stanford biologists. Using the device to lower his core body temperature between sets, he was able to lift 495 pounds in four sets of squats instead of his normal two. He usually does squats only on Mondays, but he decided to try a second series a few days later. That Friday, he was able to increase the weight to 545 pounds. “I was surprised the sets felt so good,” he says, but adds that the real test came the following Monday. Weir, 44, expected to see significant performance degradation due to the extra Friday workout. Not only did he not see the decay, he increased weight with every set. The RTX—for rapid thermal exchange—cooling device “is a very serious piece of equipment,” he says. “At my age, you don’t expect to be setting personal bests during workouts.” He trained with the cooling equipment for the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and placed third in the discus. His oldest competitor was 15 years younger.” — author Eva Ciabattoni, Stanford Magazine
Found a new notch on my belt this morning. This is a good thing. Found out yesterday that by eating a small sized bowl of bran I could get 100% of my fiber intake for the day! Woo hoo!
