A fitness pet-peeve myth of mine:
THE “HIGH REPETITIONS MAKE YOU LEAN MYTH
This is see in its worst manifestation in women ,usually, at to the gym who are routinely seen doing sets with 20-30+ rep(etitions)s pushing preposterously low weights – like don’t leg press less than your own body weight. What is walking too hard? (I sometimes see guys doing 15ish reps). When I’ve talked to friends who do this they always say something about how they don’t want to get all big and muscle-bound so their high rep method will just give them tone.

This is totally wrong.

Muscles grow when they are stressed and pushed past their limits – when you “make” your body meet the stressful demands you place on it. You certainly can’t do this without breaking a sweat. You should be doing sets between 5-10 reps more or less. Feel the strain of Atlas. No girl is going to get hulky by accident with weights. Nobody will. Building muscle is hard. Do not fight it. It is only good for you. Furthermore, the more muscle you have the more calories your better body burns at idle.

Fat disappears when the sugars/carbs energy in the blood and muscles is depleted and the reserves get tapped. When you cut your fat% (it is a total body thing) and there is an adequate amount of muscles that is no longer obscured by fat you look toned. That’s it. So when anybody does high-rep exercises they are mainly wasting their time because the whole point is to get the muscle thoroughly wrecked. And I love the gym but I do not want to lollygag there without affect.

The only good reason (usually) to use low weights is when you are doing burn-out sets which are when whenever you can’t do another rep of the weight you have set you lower the weight, continue lifting until inability, lowering again, lifting again, lowering, lifting, etc., etc., finally finishing utterly spent. These are very efficient with one’s gym time since a single set can be enough.

A previous post about exercise is here.

[BODY://minerals=structure : protein=strength: carbs=fastenergy/crystal: fats=slowenergy/oils]

Action Figure punches remix from Alex C on Vimeo.

But all of us, whether we train in martial arts or not, do battle daily with some of our worst enemies: depletion of energy, ageing, illness, aches and pains, lack of direction, lack of concentration, stubbornness, laziness, and other ailments and negative proclivities of the human condition. Against these enemies, MMAs can’t hold a candle to TMAs—particularly the internal martial arts. Anyone who doesn’t believe this should watch the movies Requiem for a Heavyweight or The Wrestler. Both are realistic portrayals of the toll that ring combat sports take on the human body and spirit. Or, if you need real-life examples, think of Muhammad Ali, whose Parkinson’s Disease was probably caused by too many blows to the head or Mickey Rourke, star of The Wrestler, disfigured and also the recipient of too many head strikes, forcing him to retire from the ring and return to acting (thank goodness!). Then afterward, watch any YouTube video of traditional martial arts masters in their seventies and eighties who move as if they are decades younger than their calendar ages. To put it another way, the “broken-down pug” is a well-known stereotype for a reason, but how may of us have an image of the “broken-down karateka,” or, even more ludicrous, “the broken-down tai chi chuanist?”

This guy (Morihei Ueshiba – founder of Aikido) is 85!

Here is a video with him using bokken and jo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i27obVRzIPc