January 16, 2008 by george.

Josh Coutts forwarded this to me. He was reading an article on cardio machines and exercise.

“She also notes that exercising in a hunched-over position can keep you from breathing deeply, and that the improper alignment of your spine can make the workout more jarring to your shoulders and elbows.

Use a natural gait, says Danberg. And “Don’t hold the handrails because it breaks the natural biomechanics of the body. We don’t go through life holding on to something.”

If you need more stability, he says, hold with one hand and move the other arm, alternating periodically.

Saremi also discourages reading while using the cardio machines: “You’re not concentrating and getting a good workout. You’re not monitoring your progress. Exercise has to engage your head. Form is so important.”"

And then Josh C. asked: “Bagua anyone?”

Do you ever think that at some point all the Jane Fonda types, and Billy Blanks types, and Krav Maga types, and yoga types will get together and take up Baguazhang?

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January 16, 2008 by jleeger.

GPP day again.  Of course, go to class tonight.  But in addition, get a good 5 minute GPP workout.

After a good warmup:

Do as many pullup burpees as you can in 5 minutes.

I consider the pullup burpee to be the king of GPP conditioning exercises.  No other exercise challenges as many muscles in as dynamic a pattern.  The only thing that comes close is the rowing  machine, but that gets kind of boring, and a good one costs at least $600.

Alternating the stimulus on GPP conditioning is good.  For instance, one day you would do five sets of 1 minute (as we did on Monday).  The next GPP day, one set of 5 minutes.  The next GPP day, 3 max sets.  That way, your body gets a chance to experience different levels of stress from the same movement pattern.

Similar to how one might train Tiangan perhaps.

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