WHAT WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO LEARN ABOUT?

I created a brand new poll on the sidebar to the right, asking what kind of subject you'd most like to learn about. I'm thinking of creating a very detailed and specific "how to" series in the near future, but I'd first like to find out what you, the reader, are most interested about? There are currently four choices available:


1. MARTIAL ARTS
2. WEIGHT LIFTING
3. DIET
4. FLEXIBILITY


I can currently write about any of the four subjects above extensively, but I'd first like to know which one you're most interested in. I'm going to leave that poll active for a month from this writing, so take your time and think it over if you want to. If you also want to request a topic that's currently not on the list, please let me know by leaving a comment below!

HOW TO KEEP YOUR ENERGY LEVELS UP

Ever get down in the dumps and have a terrible energy crash in the middle of the afternoon and wonder why each day is regularly 24 hours long? I mean, how the heck can people stay up that long? There must be a mistake in the design of the universe! Well, instead of complaining about the metaphysical could-have-been’s in your head, why not instead take a look at the physical should-be’s in yourself:

1. QUIT COFFEE

What? Quit coffee? But that’s the only thing that’s actually keeping my energy levels up! Yeah .. about that. Caffeine – heavy drinks can be alright for some people as an easy pick-me-up at the start of the day, but when it wears off, it leaves (at least most people) with a terrible energy crash. Caffeine charges you up for hours on end about a half hour after consuming it, but then leaves you weak and lazy for almost the same amount of time. And, if you’re anything like me, it can cause annoying headaches during this period as well.

I actually bought into the whole “you need coffee to function” for a few years, but then wised up, and noticed that it was actually doing more harm than good. It can supercharge you for a while, but then it leaves you so devastated afterward, plus the fact that it can cause sleeplessness more often than not really doesn’t make a few hours of high energy activity worth it to me. Besides, I found that if you follow the rest of the tips in this article, you’ll wonder why you ever bothered with those overpriced cups of hot liquid in the first place.

Oh, and yes, I realize that not all people get these sorts of reactions from drinking loads of caffeine. Good for them, but they should at least realize that caffeine is truly addicting, and that if they’re drinking too much on a regular basis, it could cause permanent damage to the digestive system. In that sense, I really don’t think coffee is all that worth it.

2. WORK TO ATTAIN A SPECIFIC GOAL

This one is more mental than physical, but, hey, the body can’t function without the mind, right? Ever notice that, despite being incredibly exhausted at the end of the day, when you find something that generally excites you (e.g. a videogame, a new article on your favorite site, your favorite movie, etc), all the exhaustion just melts away? Yup, it’s all in the mind.

Our bodies do become genuinely tired, but sometimes, our minds make more of our current condition than is accurate, and this is easily controllable, with a bit of practice. This is how top level athletes can work harder than most individuals, how they can perform better in actual competition, and why many champions over the years have stated that their games, despite being purely physical to the casual observer, is actually 99% mental.

This is because they have a specific goal in mind that they need to accomplish then and there. When you get home and pick up your favorite videogame, you immediately form a specific goal in your head, whether you’re aware of it or not. “Finish at least one stage before bedtime” or “clock in at least an hour of play before the day’s out” are probably the most common variations. When you click on your favorite’s sites latest articles, your goal is probably to read all of them in that instant.

The same technique can be used in the rest of your life. Most of the time, this downtime occurs during a working environment of some sort, and is usually caused by genuine disinterest. “I’ve been here doing the exact same thing for five hours now. I want out!” All thoughts of efficiency float out of your head and you just slump into your chair.

Instead of forcing yourself to become genuinely interested in work you really don’t like, attempt to at least break your activities down into several steps, and accomplish those steps in a matter of time of your choosing. “Step A should be done in less than half an hour, then step B should be finished within ten minutes …” and so on. Make a game of it and race yourself to the finish line. The added goals and pressure you’ve created should definitely help keep you awake and on your toes.

3. REGULARLY GET ENOUGH SLEEP

No, d’uh, right? Well, sure, but, still, not a lot of people follow this very simple rule of performing your best throughout the day. I make sure to get at least 7.5 hours each night as much as possible, and just so I can have some buffer time for that (since I’m not one of those people who can nod off at the drop of a hat), I actually allot a full 8 hours. It’s a simple goal that I adhere to as much as possible, and it pays off wonderfully.

If I can’t meet that goal, then I have a Plan B to replace it: I make sure that I get at least 6 hours of sleep instead, and allot 6.5 hours of bedtime. Beyond that, I’ll most probably feel sluggish most of the next day, so I try to make that as late as possible.

The reason a lot of people don’t get enough sleep is that they don’t plan for it. Some people can get by with very minimal sleep (something like five hours or less), but most people can’t function regularly like this.

If you have to get up at a certain time, say 6:00 AM, then allot your preferred sleep period (such as my 8 hours), and get to bed before then. Think of it as another deadline to fill, and should you miss it, there will be consequences.

If you’re staying up because of work, it can most probably be put off until tomorrow, if you’re cramming it, then make this the last time, plan out your work habits more efficiently in the future and sleep more regularly. You’ll consistently feel better every single day and you’ll enjoy much reduced stress. Your body will feel better and will thank you for it.

4. EAT RIGHT

Food is your body’s fuel. If you feed it crap, it performs like crap. Therefore, if you feed it overly processed foods and junk most of the time, it’ll run like a lemon most of the time.

Regularly eating a balanced diet is a key component in performing well throughout the day. Athletes have excellent diets in order to perform their best throughout training and competition, and not just so they can stay within their weight limits.

Eat fresh as much as possible, and avoid fast food and vending machine options. Eat whenever you’re hungry, consume plenty of fresh vegetables of all sorts, good protein such as chicken breast, fish, and egg whites, and if you want to satisfy your sweet tooth, pick up your favorite fruit instead of that Snickers bar. Eating healthy will have your tank running in its best possible condition.

5. PERFORM PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES

Yes, exercise can give you a quick energy boost whenever you’re feeling physically down in the dumps. It might sound counterintuitive, but just perform a quick workout, like the simple, but effective, home workout I previously suggested, a quick jog around the area, or pop in your favorite workout DVD and go a few rounds and you could feel right as rain.

If you’re still at work, go outside and walk around for maybe 15 minutes, or until your energy systems pick up. Lots of workers are allowed breaks for the most unhealthiest of habits (e.g. smoking), so it should only be logical that breaks be allowed for some of the healthiest activities around.

Carry a water bottle with you as you go, take in some sun, and enjoy the scenery. Try to go around a path with very little cars going by, to avoid inhaling the pollution. You’re trying to pick up your energy systems and become more healthy, not do the opposite, after all.

It can also help if you substituted short walks like this throughout your working day, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator, parking your car a few blocks away, and so on, so that you can pick up the pace and supercharge your energy systems.

6. TAKE A POWER NAP

I follow all of these techniques regularly and feel great throughout the day all the time. Sometimes, though, you really can’t help it if you feel really down during the day, or if you spent the night finishing a project. In that case, taking a quick power nap, of 15 – 30 minutes length, could really perk you right back up, better than any cup of joe ever could.

If you have your own office, then that will be easier, since you can just tell people not to disturb you for 30 minutes and lie down. You could also try napping with your feet up to increase the circulation throughout your body, making you feel even better.

If you don’t have an office, and your bosses absolute refuse for you take naps on your desk, then you should probably be a bit more creative if you really need to take a nap. Some people drive out to a park or any relaxing, open area during their breaks to nap for half an hour. Just try not to do this anywhere too dangerous, like while standing up during a commute on a train. Napping during bus trips home could also be fulfilling, as long as your confident enough about your security, that is.

These are all the techniques I use to keep my energy levels up, and they have worked splendidly for me over the years. Have any other great techniques that aren’t listed here but work wonders for you? I’d like to hear them!

REQUIREMENTS TO BE PHYSICALLY FIT

Are you exercising all day and night and still feel look and feel like a weak, little kitten? Well, physical activity is definitely an important requirement to being physically fit, but it’s not the only requirement. If you’re constantly exercising but fail to see any noticeable results, then maybe it’s time to look at some other factors in your life:

1. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

The human body is meant to move. It is not meant to just sit or lie around all day and be idle. If it used as such, its internal systems become weaker and weaker over time because of constant disuse. Muscles, bones, and so on become weaker and the body becomes more susceptible to various diseases.

2. PROPER NUTRITION 

Food is the fuel for the human body, and quality definitely counts. The better quality food, the better your body will react to it and the healthier it will become. Attaining a balanced amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fats is key to healthy living. Feed the body junk and it will react accordingly. Attempt to stay from processed foods such as fast food and feed the body ingredients that are as natural as possible. Plenty of vegetables and good quality protein such as chicken breast and fish are what the body needs.

3. ADEQUATE REST AND RELAXATION

I mentioned recently that rest and relaxation are important for total body fitness. The human body naturally gets tired throughout and needs to rest. Too little rest and the body won’t be able to properly recover from the stresses placed upon it. Much of the benefits of various sorts of exercises, such as muscle building, are actually attained during rest periods, so relaxation shouldn’t be taken for granted, and is pretty much as important as the physical activities themselves.

4. GOOD HEALTH PRACTICES

Don’t abuse things that you know you shouldn’t be putting in your body in the first place. Junk food was already mentioned in the second requirement above, but other things such as excessive alcohol should also be carefully guarded against. If you really can’t give up alcoholic drinks for good, try to limit them to once a week or even less. Other things such as smoking and addictive drugs should be banned from the human body completely, as they only serve to severely shorten a person’s lifespan.

5. GOOD MEDICAL AND DENTAL CARE

A lot of people don’t like doing this for some reason, but annual checkups from your doctor and dentist are very real requirements to be physically fit. These professionals are able to pinpoint possible problems that you normally wouldn’t be able to notice by yourself. Your teeth are also still a part of your body, and getting them terribly infected because of complacency can cause various illnesses to spread throughout your systems via cavities and such.

Found what you were looking for? Being physically fit means maintaining good practices throughout your entire life, and not just a single aspect of it. If you’re truly serious in your attempts to become a fitter, healthier human being, then all five of these requirements have to be fully integrated into your lifestyle.

SCENTED CANDLES: RED DOOR REVIEW

Eating right and exercising regularly aren’t the only things required to live a healthy lifestyle. Proper rest and relaxation is also needed in order to ease your body of stress and recover from you workouts. This is what led me to look into the world of scented candles.

Now, I have to be completely honest in that I have very little knowledge on this specific subject. But the little that I have read indicates that scented candles (and other related products) can help you relax quicker and make you more at ease. With that in mind, I decided to try some of them out.

During one of my visits to the TriNoma Mall, I saw this quaint stall in the third floor called “Red Door” that specializes in scented candles. So, fine, I bit the bullet and bought one to try it out. I bought a large one in a container, which is about ten inches tall and has a three inch diameter. I chose the vanilla scent for the simple reason that I like the smell of vanilla. It cost me around Php400, I believe, but the lady said that I could refill the container when it runs out for only around Php200. She also said that if the candle were lit all day and night, that it would last for a solid two weeks.

Anyway, so I tried it out. The first day was pretty lovely. The scent would fill the room and leave me utterly satisfied of my purchase. I wouldn’t leave it on the entire day, though; just the times when I wanted the scent to be present.



The second day onward, though, was a different story. The scent wouldn’t spread anymore. You had to be really close to the candle to smell the fragrance. It was there, sure, but only if you were standing right over it. Even if it was constantly lit much of the day (eg: more than six hours), the scent would still be just mostly absent. Not really what I had in mind.

Also, something rather irritating occurred after a few days. I had previously been using common matches to light the candle. After a few days, the candle had, of course, shrunk down to a certain size. Because of the container, however, I could not reach the wick before the flame traveled up from the match to my fingers! I tell you, when you point a match diagonally downward, the flames will spread upward very, very quickly. Burned fingers are definitely not what I consider relaxing. I wound up having to buy a stove lighter from the Tri Noma for Php200 just so I could continue using the sucker.

So, about a week after my initial purchase, I bought another candle with a stronger scent. The lady recommended their “bamboo” scent for my needs so I got that. It’s supposedly their strongest scent, and a small one (about four inches tall with the same three inch diameter) cost me around Php250. This one, however, didn’t have a container (which was, oddly enough, a plus for me).

So, I try it out. Unfortunately, it was the same story. The second day onward, the scent was barely noticeable unless you stood directly above the candle. Sure, the scent was way stronger, but you still had to stand completely over it to even notice it.

So, two thumbs down for Red Door from me, and, until I can find a very reputable location to buy scented candles in my area, two thumbs down for the whole idea in the meantime.

I’m going to try and explore potpourri next time. My experience with the candles shows me that such products’ scents only spread throughout a very minimal area, but, unlike candles, I can put them wherever I want (in my PC work station, for example), so I’m hoping for better results next time.

Anyone else tried using Red Door products or scented candles from other companies but have had a totally different experience? I’d love to hear about it!

HOW STREET FIGHTER CHANGED MY LIFE

Okay, I just bought Super Street Fighter IV, played a few matches to try it out and am really hyped over it! But, no, I’m not going to review it. I know that I really like to review stuff, but this isn’t a video game blog. What I will do is relate how the Street Fighter franchise relates to my personal views of fitness and well – being.

When I was a kid, I’d play pretty much only one type of video game: fighting. And most of the time, the Street Fighter franchise would, more often than not, fill my video gaming needs. What this instilled in me as a little boy is a sort of idol worship for the characters I played as. My favorite is, and always has been, the Ryu character. I’m not sure what it was about him, outside of the fact that he’s the male poster boy for the franchise and is the favored character of many players out there, but I believe it was because he always seemed the most human to me, and that made me relate to him more. Sure, he throws fireballs and flies vertically through the air, but he didn’t have green skin and fangs, or was bald, had an eye patch and stood nearly seven feet tall.

He was designed as a simple, Japanese fighter wearing a tattered gi of sorts. That’s it. Of course, he didn’t look specifically Japanese. He had a more generic, square – jawed hero look to him. In fact, some might even argue that he looks more Western than Asian in most of the artwork that depicts him. In any case, I knew he was Asian, same as me, and when I looked at him, he didn’t necessarily look Japanese. In a way, I could kind of see myself in his character design and so wanted to be exactly like him growing up.

Of course, he wasn’t my only childhood idol. As a kid, I’d chew up many things in pop culture, including comic books, action movies, anime, and, of course, video games. I liked (still do, actually) Batman, Goku, Bruce Lee, and other characters and celebrities. But I’m not writing about them right now; I’m writing about Street Fighter.

Ryu gave me a particular vision of the future that I wanted to inhabit; a future where I was like him, or at least close enough that I’d personally believe it. Of course, no matter how much I wanted to grow up throwing fireballs and launching dragon punches as a kid, I eventually conceded that I wasn’t going to be able to accomplish that. So, I went for the other aspects of the character. The tattered gi and bare feet were out, since I still wanted to be considered a normal member of society, so what we have left are the martial arts skills and buff physique.

In short, Ryu is a martial artist. He’s not a corrupt boxer, a psycho – powered terrorist, or a green monster. The basic story he’s usually given is that he wanders the world seeking out new challengers so that he can become a better fighter. He’s a martial artist, plain and simple; the original World Warrior. Well, I couldn’t travel the world like he did, but I could adopt his dedication.

As a kid, I tried out karate and taekwondo, and eventually settled on the latter. I trained in it for several years, but never attended any of the tests or whatever it is they’re called, so until now I only have a yellow belt. I grew tired of taekwondo because the instructors I got never really took many of their classes seriously, possibly because we were all very young. So what I did was took all the basics I learned and build upon it by myself. I would (and still do to this day) get any and all books on the martial arts I could get my hands on, read them cover to cover, and move on. I’d do this for videos as well. I started slowly amassing equipment for myself, such as gloves and a heavy bag, that I could use to train. Of course, many of these books also detailed how to become fit enough to perform the movements detailed well and compete in tournaments, so I started on a particular road to fitness.

And so this road has led me to this day. As mentioned in my “About Me” entry on the right side of my blog, most of what I know today about fitness and martial arts is “personal”, meaning self – study. I practice as much of it as I can, of course, and to this, still imagine Ryu performing his special attacks whenever I practice martial arts. But since I took all this so seriously, I am now taking a formal degree in human kinetics, actively writing a blog about all my personal knowledge, and sharing what I know to as many people as I can in order to propagate fitness and better living.

As mentioned, I had many influences throughout childhood that pushed me towards where I am right now, and the Street Fighter series has always been a huge part of it. I know for a fact that everyone has a childhood influence or dream. Something like, “I want to be a superhero” or “I want to be an astronaut”, but eventually gave up on it to become an accountant or a math teacher. Was this because they honestly thought making balance was more exciting than fighting crime or going to outer space or because they just gave up on what they wanted? I know this feeling very well because, until now, I still can’t launch fireballs from my palms, but I still work hard on my martial arts and physical fitness, and help others do the same. My childhood dreams mean a lot to me to this day, and I take them very seriously.


This is what Street Fighter has given me. What have your childhood dreams given you?

Credit goes to Gamefaqs and Gamespot for the many pictures I used in this post.

FIRST POST

Hello to you all,

I have been personally involved in physical fitness for more than ten years to the day. I started in high school when I was only seventeen and wanted to change the way my flabby and unattractive exterior was viewed. Social conditioning, I know, which had vanity and possibly selfishness at its core, but it actually did a lot of good for me.

I started working out at a gym which was only walking distance away. Oddly enough, the gym had opened just three or four months before I seriously made my decision to get in shape. I worked out there pretty much every day, doing basic body building things like babrell biceps curls and machine chess presses. I also became more and more conscious of my diet and substituted fruit for all the junk food I was eating. I have no idea how I did it before but I just quit flat out. Almost like a smoker does cold turkey. Suddenly any and all junk food really did look like their namesake: trash, with flies and all.


After only a year of this, I got down to only 170 – 175 lbs and a 28 – 30 inch waist during my first year in college. And it was all downhill from there. I know, I know, I didn’t give you my starting measurements so I can’t really say how much of an improvement all this was, but I gotta say that I was fat as hell. I was the typical fat kid with glasses back in grade school, and continued on until high school. If I had to take a guess, I weighed around 220 lbs., and had a 38 inch waist back when I started out.

During that first year of reinvention, my confidence soared through the roof. I became more outgoing and I began making more friends. So, yeah, I’m gonna be stereotypical and make my first few posts “success story” articles of sorts, just to let you guys know where I’m coming from.

I have a masters in business but am now studying human kinetics at a major university because this is genuinely what I like doing. I love learning about health and fitness and all related subjects. So now I want to start giving back to others somehow. Seeing as though everyone seems to have his or her own blog these days, I decided this would be the perfect way to somehow give back to everyone else. By showing how physical fitness can aid you in ways you probably never thought of before.

So, yeah, this is my very first blog so I’m sure I’ll be really rough aroudn teh edges starting out. I welcome any and all comments and feedback no matter how brutal they may be! I’ll be adding more and more to this place over the next few days as I come up with news ideas, so stay tuned!