Feeling invincible with vrt training

[bmcel7]

For the past couple weeks I have been focusing on mostly vrt workouts and my energy level and self confidence have shot through the roof. I have been experiencing a youthful energy that I remember having as a kid, but have been lacking as an adult. The only way I can describe t is that I feel invincible. I've noticed that other people have been picking up on the energy too.

Power calisthenics tend to deplete my energy too much, but the vrt movements combined with deep breathing leave me feeling invigorated. The results even appear on my face as a more youthful appearance.

I typically do a full body workout, averaging about 30 min every other day.
My routine is as follows all done vrt style with deep breathing:

Warm up of push-ups, sit-ups and tbs if needed.

Spine flex 20 reps (this is my own invention and is similar to the cat flex of yoga but done while standing)
Chest fly low 8-10 reps
Bent over rows 8-10 reps
chest fly middle 8-10 reps
pull ups 8-10 reps
chest press 8-10 reps
neck dsr's 4 directions 10 reps
standing ab crunch 8-10 reps
side bends 8-10 reps each side
ab vacuum 8-10 reps
deadlift 8-10 reps
Squats 12-20reps (depending on how I feel that day but I usually aim for 20)
calf raises 10-15 reps

Sometimes I will finish with some pushups or the milo dsr.
I will throw in some direct arm work if I have the time and energy, but I feel they get hit pretty hard with the upper body movements.

Thanks and let me know what you think,
Brandon

[Andy62]

I have found that to be absolutely true as I have experienced life through the good times and the bad-through Hell and highwater. When you are using this type of training -it works. The "inner concentration" and "moving meditation" principles of this type of trainng build you from the inside- out. All true personal power comes from within and the application of these principles make it happen - mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. This all fits right in the the "visualization article" that I posted on John's forum. You refer to it as " invincibility"-Alois P. Swoboda referred to it as "supremacy" it is the same thing!

[duff]

Nice workout there, Brandon. I've often been drawn to doing VRT/DVR only workouts, but I have some sort of belief that stops me from just going full-out with VRT only for a few months to test it, even though I've had amazing success with it in the past. I also feel more energized from VRT/DVR/ISOs than power calisthenics, and I totally get what you mean by these exercises dramatically increasing self-confidence.

The experiment I've really been wanting to do is combining VRT/DVR/ISOs for muscular strength and endurance with conscious relaxation of the muscles through something called autogenics:
http://www.guidetopsychology.com/autogen.htm

I've done this once or twice and the results were wild---I felt super strong, yet totally chill and relaxed in my body at the same time. My workouts were too long though---sometimes an hour or more---so I think I stopped because of that. Maybe I'll take this up again in the new year though....

[bmcel7]

I want to thank you Gordon for all of your posts on nerve force and similar topics. I have been inspired by them on many occasions.

Duff, I am familiar with autogenics. I completed the course while still in high school and had great results from its usage. I learned it from a book called Superlearning, which kicked off my fascination with nerve force and mind/body mastery. I have immersed myself in various disciplines such as yoga, qigong, and now transformetrics in pursuit of nerve force and mind/body mastery. Now I believe dvr/vrt/isometrics are the master path to mastering mind and body. Add in autogenic training and the circle is complete.

I still use autogenics occasionally but I do not have the level of control with it that I used to. I think it is time to go through the course again. Thanks for reminding me about them.

Brandon

[MikeNY]

Great thread guys! I've come to love DVR, VRT, Isometrics and Isometric Powerflexing and Brandon great routine. My friend uses the Gym and he now uses his beloved machines using muscle tension and the minimum weight setting! Is getting the same results as when he lifted with weights, his reasoning is the exercise machine enforce proper movement and he uses the lowest setting possible. The other Gym rats know he is using Isometrics and think he is lifting at home.

[Andy62]

Brandon, I know from another post that your do better without using a mirror. Different things work for different people and everybody has to become their own trainer and do what works for them. For those people who are helped by the mirror technique I thought that they would find the following quote by John Peterson from a previous thread helpful. Gordon


"In one of Frank Rudolph Young's books he discussed the 'Mirror Technique'. He based it on the fact that many centuries ago a young Maharajah would exercise DVR style while watching his champion bodyguard/Wrestler perform the same exercises while standing in front of him stripped to the waist. The idea was that the Young Maharajah would see the musculature of his champion at work and that visualizing the champions muscles would work to create his own transformation while he was exercising. Needless to say that technique worked perfectly. Many of the Maharajahs were powerfully developed men."

[duff]

Nice--yea, I've found and experimented with a large number of things in my quest for self-mastery too. I haven't done much with autogenics, just a little here and there, but have done a lot with other body-scanning meditation (specifically the technique of Vipassana). Each technique is a little different though, so I can't say that I've mastered autogenics and still think there is much to be learned here.

What I like about autogenics is that it is direct nervous system control, or rather relaxation. Other meditation techniques are more about letting things be, which is perhaps the ultimate spiritual lesson, but it's definitely nice having the ability to consciously relax or turn on the fight-or-flight sympathetic nervous system at will.

[Andy62]

I experimented with autogenic training in the 1980s when I read in Charles Garfield.s book"Peak Performance" that it had been used by The Soviets to train their cosmonauts. It reminded me of some of the concepts that I had come across in my military training. It worked,but personally I found it inferior to the Conscious Evolution techniques that I later discovered as taught by Alois P. Swoboda. It lacked the principles of "muscle tensing" combined with "inner concentration" that I have found so effective in Swoboda's teachings which are oriented more to strength and physical development. That is just one person's experience and what worked for me, We all have to experiment, evaluate, and combine concepts to see what works for each one of us individually.

[duff]

I agree Andy--we must all experiment ourselves to see what works best for our individual outcomes, personalities, constitution, etc.

[Andy62]

This thread really got me thinking. What is there about this form of exercise that has such a profound effect on the whole individual? I think part of the answer may be pretty obvious and very simple. When you are going through the movements and projecting inward using inner concentration you are training your mind to direct your inner force. I once heard it said that when you are in an emotional state you will really feel it in your "gut". With these exercises you are redirectiing those same emotions from your "gut" to your "head" - the seat of your conscious control. This eventually becomes habitual and as you face different emotionally charged situations they are automatically channelled in the same way even without the conscious tensing and inner concentration. You have reprogrammed your neural pathway.