Don't sleep on Tae-Bo...

Now. Many of you may know Of Billy Blanks. I don't. I mean, aside from watching two of his movies, I really don't know him. They say he's a World Champion. Ok.... My girlfriend and I did a Tae Bo work out today, and despite the tape being about 14 years old, the fact remains... I HAD A BLAST!!! AND I WAS SHOCKED THAT I HAD A BLAST!!! Being NASM certified, the entire workout read like a properly structured cardiovascular training session - which it is - only you don't realize that until AFTER you're drenched in your own sweat... and possibly fecal matter... depending on your fitness level. I think I'm in excellent condition... and i was dripping in sweat by the end of the session, thinking to myself: " Did this B@#$% drug me?!?!?!" But isn't that how life is: the first time something doesn't make sense to us, we tend to blame our girlfriends... who may or may not have drugged us... 99.99 percent of the time, they have drugged us... with their estrogen levels... I digress... It starts with a decent warm up, with lots of dynamic stretches, which I sense are some of the Warm ups that Billy used as he was preparing for his training sessions back in the day. Not a problem, because as I did the warm ups, I learned a thing or two and my wheel started to spin Big Time. Speaking of tiny leotards... My ONLY complaint was the fact that Billy wears a leotard that is about 3 sizes too small, but I suspect that many of the women... and some of the men that watch the program don't mind it, which is ok... BECAUSE ITS AMERICA!!! AND I LOVE IT!!!! The tempo starts slow and gradually builds to a fever pitch, where you're punching and kicking and having so much fun that you don't even realize that you haven't heard your girlfriend for the last 20 minutes... because you knocked her out in the first 5 and you've been trampling her for the last ten minutes... Sorry baby:( I think I challenge myself pretty well during my training sessions... but I found myself digging deep when it came time to throw that last roundhouse kick in a set of 20. Very intense. I was slapped in the face as well, because here I am, this big strong guy... and i'm struggling to through 20 roundhouse kicks in succession. As for the self defense aspect, I wouldn't rely on the combos you're learning as you watch to defend your family: the punches and kicks are mainly for conditioning, and nothing more. Can you modify some of the punches and combos so that you can use them in a fight? Absolutely. But that takes us into the realm of Combat, and sparring with other live individuals in front of you. I love fighting, or Martial Arts, because even though neither one of the combatants in saying a word, there's a silent conversation going on. It's like a hurried negotiation, with tons of time constraints...That's for another post.... I'm gonna put on my Chinese Medicine hat for a moment and express the workout like this: Dynamic warm ups - yang Punches and kicks - yang Cool down - Yin Which reminds me: I've been on my Chinese medicine grind since recently and I have a theory in regards to dropping excess pounds: Yang is expansive and goes outward, like a fire. Maybe a person who has a slow metabolism is more on the Yin side, and therefore has their water and earth element rhythms overactive....? My observations so far: Earth Rhythms tend to be very... fleshy ( read: overweight). Hey, there's nothing wrong with that. Water elements( yin, contracting, shrinking) to be on the slim side, as do Metal and Fire rhythms... Spring rhythms are tight asses.... In Chinese Medical theory, each person vibrates to a particular rhythm, and each rhythm has meridians associated with it, and each rhythm has a tendency to become out of balance and manifest a certain condition ( diabetes, heart problems, asthma, etc) Balance the rhythm and you balance the condition. Anywho... TANGENT!!! Tae Bo works. 3- 5 times a week, depending on your schedule and daily activities. Make sure you drink plenty of water before hand, and make sure that you take a rest when you need it. Like I said before, i'm exceptionally fit and I struggled with certain techniques, but then again, that is telling me that those muscles may have a imbalance, and concurrently, the meridians that feed those muscles may need corrections.... another topic, another post. Have Fun!!! Amir

What going in your mind in between sets can make the difference between awesome gains and No gains

Mind is the builder.. Whats going on in YOUR mind as your resting for the next set? What are you saying to yourself? What kind of mental pictures are you making? Read: are you mentally rehearsing yourself blazing through the set to come? Are you breathing deeply and exhaling powerfully so that you muscles are getting all the oxygen they need to work? (Note: exercise like the squat AUTOMATICALLY cause you to breath deeper... and thus automatically help you burn more fat easier and faster... cool right?) Are you paying attention to how your muscles FEEL vs. looking in the mirror or kissing your bicep because it pumped from the recent set? Are you keeping in mind your fitness goals? The reason I ask you is because when you keep your fitness goals in the front of your mind as you train, you'll have a constant remainder of where you want to be. The mind can be like a wild horse... like a untamed beast.... sometimes you need mental devices to .... keep focused on the outcome. Are you talking to yourself and visualizing the end result of your training session ie you're feeling stronger than when you started? If you're not doing any of these things, or anything similar, then... You're farting in the wind. Amir

How to make a really awesome wish!!!

Genies. They are awesome. how could a genie NOT be awesome: You rub their lamps, and they give you ANYTHING you want.

I myself have not yet encountered a genie... i've been waiting all my life and When that day comes, i'll be ready for his/her ass....

Now: how often do you a watch a movie where some people come across a genie( or evil le-pray-con), they ask for their "hearts desire", and then they get screwed, often times with the genie in the background laughing their asses off with that big ass golden hoop earring? It sucks, right? I would kick that genies' ass and then disrespect their lamp so bad that they would literally want to spend the rest of existence trapped inside it.... Now, it's taken me about thirty years to come up with a foolproof way to get exactly what I want from a genie. I've gone through every wish that I could possibly want granted and examined the result in my mind from as many angles as humanly possible. The worst wishes -and most dangerous - seem to be granted when the wisher is thinking Short Term, meaning that they are wanting a wish granted based on some incident/circumstances they are experiencing at the moment. That's dumb and could possibly get you an anus on your forehead.... You have to remember that life is constantly changing, and we are constantly changing... things will get better if you decide to do something about it... Its just matter of focusing on a better outcome for a situation.... or as Wayne Dyer says, you have to start to... Expect The Best. If you're gonna wish for a change in particular circumstances, then make damn sure its what you want.... Immortality is a common wish. This wish comes about from a fear of death, a fear of the unknown, a fear of life on the other side.... if there is such a thing.... Ok. Thats a waste of a wish and ill tell you why in a moment.... which is now: The dictionary definition of the word means " not subject to death". Now, to wish for immortality, you have to realize that you will continue to live on FOREVER. When the earth is finally swallowed up by the sun - which will happen - your ass is gonna be stuck floating in space with no oxygen.... your lungs bursting and healing, bursting and healing, forever..... you may come to a point where the pain from that becomes as normal as breathing.. which you also can't do in space.... Not to mention that you'll see all your loved ones pass away and you'll have nothing but memories of them... which will become distorted with time... and with a infinite lifespan ( actually, the word life span would not apply, because you can only apply a span to something thats gonna end), you'll become so many different people and see so many things and have lots of sex, with possibly men and women ( hey, you're immortal, so anybody that could have judged you is dust, right?) Also keep in mind that cancer cells are consider immortal, as they have a strange process by which they sustain their life... now, imagine being immortal... but with cancer... forever. So that wish sucks. Whats a better wish? Wish for a perfect body that doesn't get sick and stays string for as long as you live. That way, you can do everything you wanna do and be in perfect health, and then still pass away in peace. Your best bet when making a wish is to wish for abilities/superhuman powers. These are your best bet. With your superhuman powers, you can have whatever you want. So what to wish for? Flight? super human speed? Electricity? Telekinesis? Mind reading/thought control? Time travel? The list is literally endless, and the applications of said abilities are endless, so you can find a way to use your abilities to get what you want, without hurting others. I personally would use all three of my wishes on abilities, because I have everything I need right now and with abilities, i can easily get more of what I want.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO........ You wanna wish for abilities to be safe... or a some kind of magical servant who can do ANYTHING and is totally at your command.... however, wouldn't that be just like a genie? You'd have to sit down and really decide what abilities you want your genie like servant to have.... So in that case... "Bee" careful what you ask for. Amir

For best training results...

Leave the outside world behind... Put on your head phones... and totally allow yourself to get lost in the song your listening to... Focus your vision on the thing around you now... and allow yourself to get totally absorbed in what you're looking at... Tell yourself to focus on what you're doing... tell yourself to totally focus on what's in front of you... tell yourself to focus on the training... Take it one day at a time... Each training session brings you closer and closer to your goals... Just take it one day at time and you'll get results... How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time... and with patience and persistence. What is persistence? Persistance is to keep going, even if you have to take a break, Sincerely, Amir

Change the way you count your reps and you'll breeze through your sets

You may have already discovered this simple trick, but if you haven't, you can start using it now to breeze through your training sessions. We have a habit of counting "up" as we do our reps, or anything that requires us to count for that matter. Ex. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 Now, theres nothing wrong with this way, and in fact, your daily life would be seriously impacted, towards the negative, if you didn't count the way that 99.99 percent of the population counts. Now, if you know a little about hypnosis and how it works, you'll notice that hypnotists use a "countdown" method to help induce the requisite relaxation for communication with their client/patient at the deeper levels of mind, which looks like this: 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 Now... While the two method may appear to be the same thing, they are NOT. And they both have different affects on your nervous system and mind state, believe it or not. You'll notice the difference as you use the 2 different methods as you train. Traditional counting forward/up method tends to make you feel like your going "uphill". The "countdown" method causes you to feel a sense of relaxation and creates in you the sense that you're going "downhill" Now... When you stop and think about it.... it's much easier to roll a boulder down a hill than it is to roll one up a hill, don't you think? If you been training in anything at all for any length of time, then you know how powerfully your state of mind will affect your performance. Now.... taking into consideration what we just talked about, doesn't it make perfect sense to you that when you start to use the Countdown method as you train, then you'll have an easier time with your training, especially if you are counting reps. Don't you find it totally fascinating that a simple change in the way you do things can make a dramatic impact on your performance? I do!!! Sincerely, Amir