The Home of Steven Barnes
Author, Teacher, Screenwriter


Thursday, September 14, 2006

In Shape For Jason



I mentioned recently that I’ve redrawn the basic philosophy behind my workouts.  Being in shape for yoga, or silat, or karate, or FlowFit, or Kettlebells, or whatever, is fine, but I find that some particular focus is best, and the most important I can think of is to be a good father to a VERY physically active and coordinated child.  What are the qualities needed to keep up with a three year old?

1) General energy and health
2) General Joint health—(lifting, rolling, jumping, etc.)
3) General muscular strength
4) General coordination (heck, I don’t know what sports he’s going to want to take up! I have to be prepared for a bit of anything.)
5) Emotional calm and centeredness
6) The ability to get excited at a moment’s notice.
7) The ability to rest deeply and sleep fully when opportunity arises.

There’s more, but those are the most basic ones.  To this end, my current external workout plan includes Bikram Yoga, Silat, and mixed Japanese martial arts.  Home preparation for this is a 3X/Week routine.

1) Warrior Wellness (for joint health and warmup).  10 Minutes
2) Silat djurus.  10 Minutes.
3) Kettlebell and/or clubbell. Specifically, start with 5 minutes of  Turkish Get-Ups.  Grueling.  Then I flip a coin—heads, Kettlebell aerobics (swings), tails Clubbell aerobics (Gama Casts).  Protocol: 30-60 seconds of KB or CB, followed by 1-2 minutes of shadowboxing. 15 minutes
4) FlowFit II.  Like solving a Rubik’s Cube with your body.  Brings together all basic elements of fitness and opens a doorway to advanced fitness and sports coordination.  Goal: 15 reps in 15 minutes.  Last Saturday, I did 15 reps in 48 minutes.  I’ve got a long, long way to go.

The above is done three times a week, alternate days.  Other days are rest and recovery (Yoga or Warrior Wellness only)

Seems to be working great. My energy is very high, all basic physical traits are in line.  I can approach my body’s maximum capacity for every aspect of fitness with the possible exception of 1-rep Max. 

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