Where is the creativity?

[Greg Newton]

I took my twelve year old to the YMCA today to look at getting her swimming lessons. They took me on a tour of the facility and there were two different workout rooms with dozens of cardio and exercise machines. Some of the cardio machines had built in TV and video games to play. There was also a free weight area, kind of, with high tech benches and pulley driven machines. This is a far cry from the late seventies when all a Y would have to offer would be a rusted Universal Machine (remember those?) and a few scattered dumbbells.

I say all this not to put down the fitness industry, but to ask where is the creativity in this? I cut my teeth in black iron weight dungeons. You improvised and you created. Give me a 100 lb barbell set and I can do hundreds of exercises with it. Even now that I don’t use weights, I can buy one of John’s DVD’s or books for less than a month’s gym membership and have more than enough to build a strong, fit, and attractive body. Heck, give me a few feet of space and I’ll do pushups and sit-ups until the cows come home, ala Woody Strode.

Do you think we are missing the point? I know it was a movie, but who remembers Rocky IV with Drago doing the high tech Russian training vs. Rocky training in a barn in Siberia? Do we really need the video games, the acres of cardio, and the expensive high tech machines that look a techno version of a medieval torture device? And, last but not least, are people actually using and benefitting from this stuff? In my opinion if there is no creativity, there is no mind/body connection and there can not be a change.

[gruntbrain]

Greg
I hope you experiment with Rocky 4 inspired rope handles. Unlike machines that force you into fixed motions, your creativity will enable you to do the rope thingy in many productive, challenging ways

[gruntbrain]

I suspect Stallone is not a "Rocky type"; his real life differs from his REEL life

[Nathan]

Like you said,

Our minds should be 100% on our workouts. Not on the noise.

Sorry to ramble.

Tim

Hey Tim,

I agree with what you are saying. We need to concentrate on the work at hand. NOT all of the noise around us. This is just another reason I love Johns methods so much. I can do ALL of my workout in my home and not in a gym with everyone trying to distract you (not that I don't have distractions having three younger brothers and a 4 year old sister. Which can be pretty crazy at times :excruciating: ) Anyway All the best my friend.


---Nathan

[stingray]

I agree I find the noise to distracting. Even when I was doing more running outdoors, I could never understand how some people could run with ipods. You are missing many sights and sounds when tuned into the music. I had some of my best problem solving sessions while out on runs. I would come back from a run with fresh ideas. I was at a fittness center recently and couldn't stand the TV blaring in front of me.

[Andy62]

Today to many people tune out the experiences of life.

[gruntbrain]

Some of life's experiences outta be tuned out even the leotard show at the fitness palaces

[tony84]

I remember at the gym i used to go to, they had a big TV set up in the corner of the free weight room. Whenever football or baseball highlights would come on everyone would stop wat they were doing and huddle around the TV. I agree with you golfnut, i Love doing bodyweight routines because i can do them at home without having to drive to the gym and deal with all the distractions. What really used to confuse me about the gym i went to was the women who would come in and just use the treadmills. Why spend all that money on the membership and the hassel of going to the gym when you can just buy a treadmill. I think a lot of people say, IF i spend the money on a gym membership ill force myself to go, and thats just not what usually happens. Anyone can get a great body useing Johns methods, but so many people out there want to get huge like ronnie coleman, and they will spend years lifting heavy weights and never get close to that unrealistic goal.

Tony

[Greg Newton]

Through all my reading of bodybuilding publications and my years of hapkido training, one thing came out over and over again. Whether it was doing a massive lift, building muscle, or breaking two hanging boards with a spinning kick; it started in the mind with visualization. From Arnold to Paul Anderson I read this, and from Master Gedo Chang I was told this. That is what makes a champion.

I gave the example of how the movie hero Rocky again and again would go back to simple but effective training practices (remember Rocky chasing the chicken?) that gave him the edge to win, but how about the movie Pumping Iron. Remember how primitive Golds gym circa 1976 was compared to todays standards. Yet, that is where Arnold, Zane, Columbo and a host of others trained and built fantastic looking bodies. Ironically, the real Soviet Sports machine that produced champion athletes in all sports were much closer to the primitive conditions Rocky trained under rather the high tech approach of Drago.

So my point is, the more we get away from the simplicity of moving our bodies and the more we depend on high tech equipment, we lose the ability to channel our minds into our workouts. With machines, it is the machine, not us, that is doing the work.

For example, today I was running around the track and I was having a hard time setting a steady pace. That is where the mind came in. The machine is the body channelled by the mind. In my minds eye I visualized the video clip of Charles Atlas running down the beach from the A&E bio. I could see myself running like Charles Atlas and I was able to push on through.

John Peterson one time pointed out to me that the Spartan warriors were the greatest athletes of the ancient world. Their training was legendary and their equipment basic. Their gym was the great outdoors. I don't need an acre of equipment to build a body, increase my fitness, or build strength. All I need is a few feet of ground and my body. Throw in a few simple training devices, such as the Tee's or a jump rope, and I am more than set to go. Anymore, in my opinion, would be a distraction.

[gruntbrain]

Yeah, visualizations along with objective feedback are both invaluable training aids.

[jan]

Hey Greg,

I find this lack of creativity in all aspects of life, but especially in toys. As a child, I used to be a big fan of Lego. At that time, the building blocks were very simple. You really had to use your imagination to build constructions like houses, bridges, airplanes, even little men (and women). Nowadays, you buy a set of Lego with which you can build one, two or maybe three constructions, everything well documented in plans. They look fantastic, but where is the creativity? I find it a pitty that creativity has been taken out of a lot of toys. Isn't playing a means to develop creativity, to make children think and ponder about a problem, instead of making them in-line-running robots?

Jan

[gruntbrain]

Unlock some creativity by making your own Transformetric friendly workout gizmos. Let the fun experiments begin . That said, gizmos can distract you from the basics of hard work

[MikeNY]

Greg as a kid I was told about the Spartans, Ancient Greek Hoplites and the Roman Legions. They were said to literally marched up mountains, do pushups and situps. Use wooden swords to hack and stab a wooden beam set into the ground with a post coming out one side, threw Pilum, Javilins and marched in full armour with weapons and shields. Dad made it sound like Alexander and Ceasar were modern heros. Train as if for war and fight as if in training was thier motto.

Anicent Greek and Roman Gyms had few items, mostly sand to wrestle and box, space to exercise and lots of baths, hot, cold and medium, plus a steam bath.

[gruntbrain]

I gotta believe the ancients did a lot of sparring; a training partner could force you into making some creative moves & would certainly mak sure that you're not just going through the motions