Right I've sat around on my **** for long enough now, bitching and moaning about things. It's time to put on some AC/DC and get working. Thanks to Ero for a bit of inspiration, I've found myself in a somewhat similar situation to him and if that crisco loving nutter can do something then so can I. Current state of affairs is that I'm unfit, overweight due to meds and dealing with long term illness. I can't recall a point in my life where I have been in such poor shape and it's not staying that way. So here's my thread, I've only a slight idea about what I'm going to do because I need to gauge where I'm at with things so consider this a place holder until have a better idea. So day 1. Make this thread. Right that's a good start I think I'll reward myself with a cookie or three.
protein cookies or bust (srsly, you can make them with protein powder. recipes here: www.proteinpow.com) so what's the tentative next step?
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al12WO5x23w"]Supernatural - Carry On My Wayward Son - YouTube[/ame]
here's some theme music for you, replete with a shirtless bon scott... [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOTMw0o1ELM"]AC-DC - Highway to Hell (Live German TV with Bon Scott - 1979)--Subtitled - YouTube[/ame]
Dean, I'm in the same situation. After 10 weeks of inactivity - in limbo between moving, stuck in a small dingy flat - no gym, no place to even jog the dog, I put on over 3.6 stone and feel utterly fetid. I've put on Simon's skipping vids ( now that I've a house with no neighbors underneath in prep of beginning a new boxing school next week. Lets do this, mate. I wish Youtube had a better audio quality of this one from Steve Marriott (RIP) and friends Another pumpin song to skip and bang to. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZMmV6xXYFw"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZMmV6xXYFw[/ame]
Nearly a year since I did any MA (illness) and about 3 months since I ran due to a messed up IT band. *sighs*. Hopefully going back to capoeira in a couple of weeks. Good luck Dean!
Well yesterday I just did what I thought would be some light suburi (cutting exercises). The idea being both upper and lower body would be used and I'd see just how poor my cardio is. It wasn't pretty. Not only are my shoulders wrecked, by that I mean I had trouble with their strength and endurance, but my legs had problems maintaining kamae for any length of time which to be frank is damn silly.
I've never done any Japanese sword work but I have to chop plenty of wood and brush clearing our land - yeah, it can test your cardio, no doubt about it. Have you put together any concrete plans for rectifying things?
If you don't mind suggestions based on when I went through the same thing: I started by combining static exercises with cardio. For the static exercises, just stand in kamae for as long as you can, then shake it out, and start again, until "as long as you can" is at least five to ten minutes (depending on how strenuous your kamae is). When you get to that point, you'll have a good foundation for moving on to suburi. My preference for cardio was rowing, as that puts a lot of focus on the core muscles that are useful for kenjutsu. The need for equipment is awkward, though (a new work schedule means I've had to give rowing up myself). I've just taken up skipping, and I'm finding it's nicely complementary. Co-ordination is always a benefit, and at least the way I'm doing it I find it puts a nice load on my wrists.
