Showing posts with label About Me. Show all posts

I had been trying to come up with an exercise routine when I came across a couple of articles on a new website I had found, The Art of Manliness. So based on the fact that I have no exercise equipment of any sort, I pulled from the two articles and created my own routine, which for the past few days I've been running through every morning before jumping in the shower.

Here is the routine (the articles explain each exercise):

• Glute Bridges - 3 sets of 15
• Tin Men - 30 each leg (alternating)
• Piriformis Stretch - 2 sets of 5 (each leg)
• Spine Stretch - 12 reps
• Deep Knee Bends - 3 sets of 10
• Calf Raises - 4 sets of 10
• Leg Raises - 4 sets of 5
• Push-Ups - 3 sets of 10
• Bicycle Crunches - 3 sets of 20

The whole thing takes me about 15 minutes. I only started the routine a few days ago, so I've not noticed any great change yet.

I do want to note three deficiencies in my new routine. First, it's very light on arm and upper body exercises. I don't have a pull-up bar or weights, so I'm not sure yet what I can do to work out the upper half of my body more.

The second problem is that this is not going to increase my flexibility much, especially in my legs. For most people, that would probably be fine, but I also do karate, so I need greater flexibility in my hips in order to do proper kicks. I have recently pulled my hamstring trying to do proper kicks anyways, so I know that my current flexibility is not sufficient to do good kicks. The best stretches I know of for this are partnered wall stretches. You brace yourself against the wall and your partner raises your leg out in the different kicking positions. This allows you to stretch beyond your natural limits while maintaining a proper kicking stance. You can also have your partner compress the leg into the kicking chamber. I just need to find a partner.

The third short coming is that these short exercises are not going to build a lot of endurance. They're not really designed to, but it needs to be said so I know to find something else to do to build aerobic endurance. Like a 2 hour karate class where you don't stop moving. I've been jogging for a while now, and after a few karate classes, I went from huffing and puffing after two miles to just starting to breath hard. It's amazing how much more you can do when somebody else is pushing you.

Now I just need to keep at it every morning and not slack off.

Last night marked my first time back at karate since college. Once again I am studying Butokukan and Aikido. After one class, three things are readily apparent:

1. I am really, really out of shape. I mean really out of shape. After only an hour of floor exercises, my vision was darkening around the edges, I could see stars, my legs were shaking, and I couldn't hold my hands steady. And afterwards, I was unable to do all 20 two-count push ups, nor all 10 full-body crunches. And that's for what sensei called a light class.


2. I actually remembered all the techniques. Not any of the Korean for them(back at UF, we only used Korean for the first year, then switched to Japanese. Not that I remember the Japanese). But I did know the techniques. I even remembered the bit of Aikido we did at the end.


3. I am really bad at them. OK, so while I remembered the basic movements, chambers, and footwork, the execution was just all around sloppy. None of movements were clean and crisp. My body was very disconnected; feet, hips, and hands all moved independent of each other. Nor was I getting full chambers most of the time.

The final assessment is that I have a long way to go. I would not be surprised if it takes the whole semester to get back to where I was before I dropped out four years ago. Still, it is something I want to do, in part to get in better shape (it's much easier with someone pushing me for a whole class), and partly so I have the ability to defend myself even when unarmed.

And if you're interested in the title of the post, go listen to this.

I found an interesting article on hats over at Big Hollywood today. It caught my attention since I do wear a hat, a battered old fedora I've had for many years. I wear it almost everywhere, and it has long since become my trademark. It imparts a sense of style and adventure that is otherwise missing from men's fashion.

I'm somewhat haphazard on the hat etiquette, hats having gone out of style long before I was born. Seems pretty straight forward, and since no one else knows it, it'll be hard for anyone to say I'm wrong.

This hat has reached the point in its life where it only works with casual clothes. It's too weather beaten for anything really formal.