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remained as if had never stopped working out This proved to me that lifting heavy weights
has benefits that are easily lost while the costs persist Without incessant weightlifting you
lose the mass but still retain all the cellular scarring felt compelled to get this tension from
weightlifting out of my body so developed an alternate way to lift weights
Lift Weights with Optimal Posture
Most people lift heavy weights from a compact position The more you do this the more
ungainly your posture becomes and the more difficult it is to lift from an expansive posture
By exercising with bad postural alignment you will degrade the structures you are trying to
improve When your vertebrae are out of alignment and you strain under heavy weights you
further reinforce the misalignments Like trying to erect a massive building on a poor
foundation it will be lopsided and unstable Thus when your form breaks down make that
your last rep With open expansive properly aligned posture any type of exercise you practice
will be more effective
When most people lift weights that are too heavy they brace and lock up their entire
skeleton holding their spine shoulder girdle and hips in the same invariant position each time
Merely reducing the weight allows you to lift without bracing With less weight you can also
alter and vary your posture with each rep and change the distribution of weight loading
stimulating growth in areas that are usually stiff
Most exercisers perform narrow range repetitions where the muscle lengthens and
contracts only a small amount each repetition This is a surefire way to force muscles into
partial contraction For example my friend does limited range of motion squats with extremely
heavy weight This means that instead of going from standing to touching his butt to his ankles
he instead only moves a few inches during each squat Doing this with stacks of weight plates
has given him huge knots above his knees These knots form a buffer for his end range squat
helping him stop the squat halfway down and reverse the motion But the same knots that help
him come back up in that single exercise limit the general action of his quadriceps in almost all
other activities
have since helped him get rid of these knots by using full range motion massage and
antirigidity You can see that this is much like the above example involving my calves Do you
do anything similar to this If you dont want the knots lower the weight and increase the
range of motion You may have guessed by now that cant avoid making a related comparison
with animals
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
Strength Differences Between Humans and Other Apes
Although chimpanzees are generally lighter than humans they range between and
pounds they are much stronger on average The shaved arms of a female chimp look like a
professional football players arms In captivity chimps are aware of their strength advantage
and are very dangerous because of it They often physically bulldoze humans In the wild they
dont know that they are stronger and can be studied safely at closer quarters Indeed many
scientists think chimps can overpower even the strongest humans long wondered how at only
pounds they could be stronger than bodybuilders believe their disproportionate
strength comes from the way they build their muscles incrementally from all angles
Apes amass upper body strength gradually from a young age tree climbing and knuckle
walking which they do with their arms and legs Using each limb vigorously is an intrinsic part
of getting around They incorporate their entire physique into each smooth integrated
movement rather than wrenching isolated muscles with dumbbells or barbells Since apes build
their muscles naturally rather than lifting heavy weights trigger points and dormant muscles
rarely encumber their movement If we want to become truly strong we have to build strength
incrementally like a chimpanzee Now you and cannot start our childhood over in the trees
But we can start by infusing lightweight exercises with antirigidity
Practice Antirigidity During Exercise
Just as you can combine antirigidity techniques and yoga you can also combine antirigidity
with other workouts including weight training By and large people avoid their trigger points
and areas of frailty when exercising Resist this temptation You want to work out your short
painful muscles tailoring exercises to target these sites specifically To do this exercise slowly
using only light resistance to search for and contract into dormant muscle Alter your joint
configurations until you find a combination that aches or cracks then hold this pattern and
continue to perform repetitions If you dont let the discomfort disturb your breathing pattern
the muscle will surrender and cooperate
want to encourage you to go to your local gym sit on practically every machine on the
floor use a very low weight setting and do between and repetitions trying to work
through the subtle aching and cracking Think of each station in the weight room as a tool you
can use to employ antirigidity from a different angle
Weightlifting Exercise Antilaxity and Antirigidity with Weights
Perform standard weightlifting routines with machines or free weights but do so using very
light weight Employ antilaxity to accustom your body to healthy forces and employ anti
rigidity to bring blood to and mend dormant muscle Maintain proper posture and use
multidirectional movements with complete range of motion Add novel curvature to the
spine every few repetitions Vary between kyphosis and lordosis in your neck and upper
spine for upper body exercises Then vary between these in the lower back for lower body
exercises Use spinal flexion then spinal extension for maximal effect Bend to each side
twist to each side Search actively for aching positions to engage
Chapter Combine Antirigidity with Exercise
IMlustration Suggestions for different joint configurations for antirigidity during light weight bench press
Do a few reps with your neck flexed to each side then with your chin to your chest
with your neck retracted and then with your neck extended backwards It should feel like yoga
with gym equipment Any exercise expert would try to persuade you from turning your neck to
the extreme left when performing a lateral pull down or from adducting your hip and tilting
your pelvis when performing a leg press They would be right if you were lifting between
and of your onerepetition maximum But if you are lifting less than of your max
you should have plenty of room to play with the joint configurations safely
PROGRAM PEACE Self Care Exercises to Reprogram Your Mind and Body
Illustration Examples of different joint configurations for spinal antirigidity during light weight
lateral pulldowns
One important caveat am asking you to vary your spines position as you work out
but only at low intensity and low resistance At high intensity you want to keep your spine
straight This is common knowledge in exercise science Many athletes refer to any bend in any
portion of the spine as a fault or error Indeed you commit a fault any time your spine changes
shape during any weightbearing movement When you lift something heavy off the ground
perform a squat or a pushup your spine should stay neutral the entire time In other words
we should regularly be flexing and extending as many portions of the back as possible
but never when combined with a heavy load or rapid movements
Chapter Combine Antirigidity with Exercise
Ilustration Examples of different joint configurations for antirigidity during light weight tricep push downs
find using antilaxity and antifrailty with weights to be tremendously relaxing Much like yoga
the blood flow and endorphins make my muscles feel heavy and tranquil This is a from my
previous approach to working out
Exercise More Often Not Harder
When mixing antirigidity with weightlifting the objective is to gradually increase the load over
the course of months as your posture improves and your frailty diminishes Slowly building up