and there's some neat effects in it.
You can do anything!
Adriel Yapana
Monday, June 23, 2008
Military Calisthenics: Why And How
Military Calisthenics: Why And How
By Adriel Yapana CPT
In the military calisthenics is the standard form of physical training. The military does not use weight training because this only builds muscle mass without increasing cardiovascular fitness and stamina. They use calisthenics, also known as muscular strength and endurance training.
Endurance is the ability to go on for a long time with some demanding activity. So for example running a marathon requires endurance, but sprinting does not. Clearly for a soldier endurance is much more important than the ability to lift a heavy object one time.
Endurance can be very important in civilian life too. Many men neglect this aspect of fitness training in favor of body building. In fact, even for a body builder, endurance should be developed alongside muscle mass, because it will reduce the risk of heart attacks and other serious problems being caused by the intense stress of body building exercises. Calisthenic exercises are a great way to do this.
Military-style calisthenic exercises do not require a gym or any expensive equipment. You build your strength and endurance by doing this training at home.
The most popular exercises for strength and endurance are push ups, sit ups and pull ups.
Push Ups
Most people know how to do a regular push up. Starting from lying face down with the hands a few inches out from the shoulders, you push the whole body up keeping the back flat until arms are straight and you are supported by hands and toes only, then lower. This type of push up works the chest, shoulders and triceps about equally.
To vary the push up, you can change the position of the hands. Starting with them wider from the shoulders will work the chest muscles harder. Starting with them in under the shoulders will work the triceps and shoulder muscles harder.
Sit Ups
Basic sit up: start lying on your back with the knees bent at a 90 degree angle, and hands locked together under the head. Raise the upper body up into a sitting position, keeping the neck straight. Then go back down. Both raising and lowering the upper body must be done slowly and steadily, with no jerking movements.
The full military version is a double sit up, where the body is raised, then lowered only to the point where the bottom of the shoulder blades touch the ground, then raised again to sitting before going all the way back down.
For an easier version you can hook your feet under a solid object or only raise the body a small way off the ground at first.
Pull Ups
Pull ups are considered the most difficult of the exercises but anybody who is not very overweight can learn to do them by starting out easy.
A full pull up involves gripping a bar above head height with both hands, pulling the body up until the chin is over the bar height, then gently lowering down.
If you cannot do this but have reasonable arm strength, try a negative pull up. Here you stand on something or have a partner lift you so that you start with your chin above the bar, and just lower the body down. Hang from the bar for a count of five before dropping to the ground.
If this is still too difficult, try assisted pull ups using a bar that is only 3-4 feet from the ground. Begin by gripping the bar while sitting under it. Pull up until the chest meets the bar. The feet remain on the ground all of the time to support the body, but try to pull with the arms rather than pushing up with the legs.
These three are the most important strength building exercises. However, you will also find bends, lunges, rowing movements, body twists and leg lifts included in a full military calisthenics program.
Thanks for reading.
Adriel Yapana
By Adriel Yapana CPT
In the military calisthenics is the standard form of physical training. The military does not use weight training because this only builds muscle mass without increasing cardiovascular fitness and stamina. They use calisthenics, also known as muscular strength and endurance training.
Endurance is the ability to go on for a long time with some demanding activity. So for example running a marathon requires endurance, but sprinting does not. Clearly for a soldier endurance is much more important than the ability to lift a heavy object one time.
Endurance can be very important in civilian life too. Many men neglect this aspect of fitness training in favor of body building. In fact, even for a body builder, endurance should be developed alongside muscle mass, because it will reduce the risk of heart attacks and other serious problems being caused by the intense stress of body building exercises. Calisthenic exercises are a great way to do this.
Military-style calisthenic exercises do not require a gym or any expensive equipment. You build your strength and endurance by doing this training at home.
The most popular exercises for strength and endurance are push ups, sit ups and pull ups.
Push Ups
Most people know how to do a regular push up. Starting from lying face down with the hands a few inches out from the shoulders, you push the whole body up keeping the back flat until arms are straight and you are supported by hands and toes only, then lower. This type of push up works the chest, shoulders and triceps about equally.
To vary the push up, you can change the position of the hands. Starting with them wider from the shoulders will work the chest muscles harder. Starting with them in under the shoulders will work the triceps and shoulder muscles harder.
Sit Ups
Basic sit up: start lying on your back with the knees bent at a 90 degree angle, and hands locked together under the head. Raise the upper body up into a sitting position, keeping the neck straight. Then go back down. Both raising and lowering the upper body must be done slowly and steadily, with no jerking movements.
The full military version is a double sit up, where the body is raised, then lowered only to the point where the bottom of the shoulder blades touch the ground, then raised again to sitting before going all the way back down.
For an easier version you can hook your feet under a solid object or only raise the body a small way off the ground at first.
Pull Ups
Pull ups are considered the most difficult of the exercises but anybody who is not very overweight can learn to do them by starting out easy.
A full pull up involves gripping a bar above head height with both hands, pulling the body up until the chin is over the bar height, then gently lowering down.
If you cannot do this but have reasonable arm strength, try a negative pull up. Here you stand on something or have a partner lift you so that you start with your chin above the bar, and just lower the body down. Hang from the bar for a count of five before dropping to the ground.
If this is still too difficult, try assisted pull ups using a bar that is only 3-4 feet from the ground. Begin by gripping the bar while sitting under it. Pull up until the chest meets the bar. The feet remain on the ground all of the time to support the body, but try to pull with the arms rather than pushing up with the legs.
These three are the most important strength building exercises. However, you will also find bends, lunges, rowing movements, body twists and leg lifts included in a full military calisthenics program.
Thanks for reading.
Adriel Yapana
Thursday, June 19, 2008
From 50-Inch Waist to 36...
Did you hear about THIS
I hear about this at the gym while sitting near Tiffany's
juice bar... and heard lots of opinions.
What's yours? What do you think? Feel free to comment here.
Have an amazing day.
Adriel Yapana
I hear about this at the gym while sitting near Tiffany's
juice bar... and heard lots of opinions.
What's yours? What do you think? Feel free to comment here.
Have an amazing day.
Adriel Yapana
Saturday, June 14, 2008
1st "real" skateboard...
This is Adriel Jr. second board, first one was a "tester" now this one we customized...
He's loving every minute of it...
He's loving every minute of it...
Friday, June 13, 2008
Listen Up!
Hey Guys-
Exercisers who listen to music could lose twice as much as those who sweat to silience according to researchers, because music helps you stick to your work outs.
Below are just groovy sounds I like and wanted to share. Not really for working out music.
I heard this song to an intro of a Nissan Murano Commercial and dig it.
Great Northern - Home (I love the intro!)
Slow sounds... this next song I'm passing on to our friend and videographer Hendy who does mainly wedding events. (add this one to your wedding video library)
"Beautiful" by Meshell Ndegeocello
Hendy's work of video art... this is our wedding:)
Exercisers who listen to music could lose twice as much as those who sweat to silience according to researchers, because music helps you stick to your work outs.
Below are just groovy sounds I like and wanted to share. Not really for working out music.
I heard this song to an intro of a Nissan Murano Commercial and dig it.
Great Northern - Home (I love the intro!)
Slow sounds... this next song I'm passing on to our friend and videographer Hendy who does mainly wedding events. (add this one to your wedding video library)
"Beautiful" by Meshell Ndegeocello
Hendy's work of video art... this is our wedding:)
Monday, June 09, 2008
Getting Started With Fitness Training
By Adriel Yapana
One of the hardest parts of any fitness program is getting started.
It is so easy to just sit around doing nothing and it takes some degree of motivation to get started exercising.
Many people find that joining a gym gives them the motivation they need to get started and follow through with regular workouts.
The reality is that most of the people who join gyms never complete their membership.
Gyms actually base their costing on the fact that the majority of people will never use their membership regularly.
Why is this so?
There are many reasons why people don't exercise regularly and that can range from inconvenience to boredom.
When you are deciding what to do to lift your level of fitness it is wise to honestly think about your personality and where your strengths and weaknesses lie.
If you are a person who can motivate yourself then a home gym might be the best solution as it will offer the convenience of allowing you to train whenever you like and you won't need others to motivate you.
If, on the other hand, you find it difficult to motivate yourself then a membership at a gym might be a better solution.
Paying for the membership might be all that is needed to ensure that you will attend classes and often we can get motivated by those around us and challenge ourselves to improve and compete with others in the gym.
Alternatively, you might be a person who prefers to go for a run or a walk rather than lift weights.
No matter what you are capable of doing, there is only one action that you need to take however small that might be initially and that it to get started with some form of fitness training sooner rather than later.
Fitness will add to your overall well-being and the more exercise you do the fitter you will become and the more likely you will be to continue with a fitness program.
There is never a better time to get started than right now.
One of the hardest parts of any fitness program is getting started.
It is so easy to just sit around doing nothing and it takes some degree of motivation to get started exercising.
Many people find that joining a gym gives them the motivation they need to get started and follow through with regular workouts.
The reality is that most of the people who join gyms never complete their membership.
Gyms actually base their costing on the fact that the majority of people will never use their membership regularly.
Why is this so?
There are many reasons why people don't exercise regularly and that can range from inconvenience to boredom.
When you are deciding what to do to lift your level of fitness it is wise to honestly think about your personality and where your strengths and weaknesses lie.
If you are a person who can motivate yourself then a home gym might be the best solution as it will offer the convenience of allowing you to train whenever you like and you won't need others to motivate you.
If, on the other hand, you find it difficult to motivate yourself then a membership at a gym might be a better solution.
Paying for the membership might be all that is needed to ensure that you will attend classes and often we can get motivated by those around us and challenge ourselves to improve and compete with others in the gym.
Alternatively, you might be a person who prefers to go for a run or a walk rather than lift weights.
No matter what you are capable of doing, there is only one action that you need to take however small that might be initially and that it to get started with some form of fitness training sooner rather than later.
Fitness will add to your overall well-being and the more exercise you do the fitter you will become and the more likely you will be to continue with a fitness program.
There is never a better time to get started than right now.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Exercise Anytime and Anywhere
By Adriel Yapana
There is no excuse for not exercising.
An exercise can be as simple as some freestanding squats with no weight done in your office during working hours.
It only takes a few minutes to do the squats but this can be done a few times a day and it will stimulate blood flow and increase your heart rate.
You can also get on the floor and do pushups that will only take a few minutes, but over time will add to your upper body strength.
Various yoga exercises, such as the standing poses can be performed almost anywhere and this will add to your leg strength, posture and balance.
Everyone, no matter how busy they might claim to be, has the time to spare a few minutes throughout the day to do these exercises.
If you believe that you don't have this much time then there is something seriously wrong with the way that you are running your life.
Stretching is something that can also be done almost anywhere, even while you are sitting at your desk.
You can perform these simple exercises while watching television and they are unlikely to disturb anyone else in the room.
It can become quite a fun challenge to find different exercises that you can do throughout the day while at work.
All these exercises will add to a healthier body and help to relieve some of the stress of work.
Get other workmates to join in and for fun challenge them to do more exercises or hold poses for longer than you.
Walk around your workplace at lunchtime and before you start work.
Take a few extra minutes to do some exercise before leaving for home at night.
There are many opportunities throughout the day where you can give your health a boost.
There is no excuse for not exercising.
An exercise can be as simple as some freestanding squats with no weight done in your office during working hours.
It only takes a few minutes to do the squats but this can be done a few times a day and it will stimulate blood flow and increase your heart rate.
You can also get on the floor and do pushups that will only take a few minutes, but over time will add to your upper body strength.
Various yoga exercises, such as the standing poses can be performed almost anywhere and this will add to your leg strength, posture and balance.
Everyone, no matter how busy they might claim to be, has the time to spare a few minutes throughout the day to do these exercises.
If you believe that you don't have this much time then there is something seriously wrong with the way that you are running your life.
Stretching is something that can also be done almost anywhere, even while you are sitting at your desk.
You can perform these simple exercises while watching television and they are unlikely to disturb anyone else in the room.
It can become quite a fun challenge to find different exercises that you can do throughout the day while at work.
All these exercises will add to a healthier body and help to relieve some of the stress of work.
Get other workmates to join in and for fun challenge them to do more exercises or hold poses for longer than you.
Walk around your workplace at lunchtime and before you start work.
Take a few extra minutes to do some exercise before leaving for home at night.
There are many opportunities throughout the day where you can give your health a boost.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Laker Game tonight... Kobe is The Black Mamba...
Here's a pretty cool video
Kobe is The Black Mamba is The Dark Night
KG is The Joker
Lakers vs Celtics mash-up video with the new Batman trailer
Kobe is The Black Mamba is The Dark Night
KG is The Joker
Lakers vs Celtics mash-up video with the new Batman trailer
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Monday, June 02, 2008
This video is
for my son, Adriel Jr.
Getting into the skater sport... practicing the "Allie"
One of his favorite pro skaters...
Getting into the skater sport... practicing the "Allie"
One of his favorite pro skaters...
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