Читать книгу Black Belt Fitness for Life - Grandmaster Tae Sun Kang - Страница 10

CHAPTER 2

Jump Start

There are many books out there that advocate weight training and dieting for a short period of time—4, 8, 12 weeks, etc. These books show incredible transformations of the body through before and after pictures. How many people do you know, or can think of, that tried one of these workouts or diets and went through an extreme transformation from overweight to shredded and were able to maintain their new bodies? I’m willing to bet not many. What these books don’t tell you is that extreme workouts and diets don’t work in the long run. To lose that kind of weight in such a short period of time requires extreme physical and mental exertion. Even professional athletes have trouble adjusting from being mostly sedentary during the off-season to getting back into game-day shape. And these are athletes who are still active—retired athletes are a different story! Let’s be honest, it’s not easy maintaining that kind of discipline after completing one of these workout or diet regimes. They’re temporary cures for a permanent situation.

Not only do these extreme workouts and diets not work in the long run, but most of them are based on a short, fixed period of time. If you lost 50 pounds in four weeks, you’ll look fantastic. But your internal organs will not reflect how good you look on the surface. When your body goes through such a drastic change in so little time, it wreaks havoc on your internal organs. It’s not uncommon for people to experience kidney failure from over-consumption of protein in an attempt to bulk up too quickly. Changes to the body have to be done progressively so the internal organs can adjust to the physiological changes.

You know the story of the tortoise and the hare. Slow and steady wins the race. Gradual progress is the key to losing weight, becoming healthier, and maintaining fitness. Can you picture yourself following one of these intense diets or workout programs for the rest of your life? Even the greatest athletes don’t have that kind of discipline. Think of some of your favorite athletes who are now retired. How many of them have been able to maintain the weight they were at when they were active, or even just stay slim? A very small percentage. These athletes have to consume an enormous amount of food daily because they’re working out multiple hours a day. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps reportedly ate 10,000 calories a day while training! That may be an extreme example, but the fact of the matter is once an athlete stops training, the number of calories they burn reduces but their appetite doesn’t. The only way they can keep the weight off is if they continue to train like they did during their professional careers. That’s a very tough thing to do. That’s why my system will work. It’s not designed just for people in their prime, it’s designed for any age group—and it’s something you can do your whole life.

In my 40-plus years of working in the fitness industry and teaching students, I’ve found that one of the problems with exercise is that people dread it. If most people have a choice whether to exercise or not, most will not. It’s not until something happens—like not being able to fit into an old pair of jeans or being told by your doctor that you have high blood pressure or even worse, having a stroke—that they realize exercise is the only option. And by then, exercise becomes a chore. I’ve been exercising all my life, not because I was forced to but because I enjoy it. It’s something I look forward to every day. I can help you feel the same way. It’s never too late. You might think you have a long road ahead but the sooner you get on that road, the shorter it will seem.

The first thing you have to do is be selfish. Now I don’t mean drop everything and do whatever you want and go on a wild shopping spree. I mean be selfish when it comes to exercising and taking care of yourself. Some of you might be thinking, “but I have no time!” Do you really have no time? If the only things you’re doing are working, sleeping, eating and nothing else, seven days a week, then yes, I believe you when you say you have no time. But usually, you can squeeze in the time. It won’t be easy. You might have to make some sacrifices. Maybe you might have to miss some TV time or not go out and socialize one night, or wake up a little earlier or go to sleep later; but I’m certain you can find the time. If you met the person of your dreams and he or she asked you out on a date, would you say you have no time? You’d find a way to make time! You can always make time for something if you really want to. And think about this: the healthier you are, the longer you will live. This is even more of a reason why you should exercise. By finding time to exercise, you’ll create more time to enjoy life.

Another problem people have with exercising is that they’re too self-conscious about other people’s opinions. Or they feel exercising is too difficult. These are great excuses, but if you’re not exercising and keeping healthy, who’s going to do it for you? I tell my students that their safety is their own personal responsibility. It’s the same with your health. If you want to be there for your children, you’re going to have to save yourself first, you have to be selfish. If you’re on an airplane and there’s a sudden loss of cabin pressure, your first instinct might be to put the oxygen masks on your loved ones so you can save them. But how can you help anyone else if you’re starving for oxygen? You have to help yourself first in order to help others. Be selfish.

If you have children, by exercising, you’ll set a good example. Obesity rates are increasing at an alarming rate for kids in America. I’m sure you care tremendously for your children’s health and well-being. And even if you don’t exercise, you will still push your child to exercise and eat right. But you have to look at things from their perspective. Your kids are probably wondering why they should exercise if they don’t see you exercising? If all you did was sit around the house and play video games, but you told your child not to do the same, they’d think you’re a hypocrite. But if you exercise and tell your kids to exercise, they won’t question you. We may not be their heroes, but we are their role models. We have a huge influence on our kids, whether they’d like to admit it or not. And that can go both ways. We can be good role models, or bad ones.

My students tell me one of the biggest factors that stop them from going to the gym is feeling unfit and overweight when everyone else is in great shape. If that’s the case, don’t go to the gym! Maybe the gym is not for you. You have to be able to feel comfortable where you’re exercising. Maybe you’ll feel more comfortable in the privacy of your home. If you’re feeling too self-conscious about what other people think when you’re exercising, just remember what Dr. Seuss said: “Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

If you’re reading this and you don’t have any disabilities, you have to realize how fortunate you are. I’ve discovered something rather interesting in all my years of teaching. The students with the most injuries, the ones who’ve had knee replacements, hip replacements, back pain, arthritis, you name it—these are the students that train the hardest. My teenage students, on the other hand, sometimes display the least effort in their training. I have to remind them over and over how lucky they are. Not only do they have two arms and two legs, but they have their health. I have to tell them there are people out there whose only wish is to be able to participate in the activities that they take for granted. Think about how badly you would want to just go for a walk if you were paralyzed. The desire to walk in that situation would be overwhelming. Think about that the next time you feel like skipping a workout.

Speaking of teenagers, some of you reading this may be well beyond your teenage years. You might even have children who are in their teens! When you see young people in their prime working out, it can be intimidating. You might think that compared to these fit people, you’re at a disadvantage. But you have to remember life is a balance. Everything adds up to a whole. The age of my students range from 3 to 60 plus. Compared to a 5-year-old, the 40-year-old student won’t be nearly as flexible. But compared to the 40-year-old, the 5-year-old’s focus and concentration will only be a fraction of that of the older student. Everything is a balance. What you might lack in physical strength will be compensated for in mental strength.

I’ve seen students in their twenties and in great shape who have never had to deal with any adversities, like a major injury. So when they get injured, they don’t know how to cope. Often they lose their discipline and gain a ton of weight. They might be strong physically, but weak mentally. However, many of my students in their forties and fifties have had knee surgeries or hip surgeries, so they can’t train as intensely as a 20-year-old student. But their determination is so strong. Their bodies might be weak from injuries, but as a consequence their minds become so much stronger. If they’re nursing an injury, instead of training harder, they’ll train smarter.

I also see a lot of my younger students give up very easily. For them, things come easily—especially fitness—so when they hit a roadblock, they want to quit. With my older students, they have a lot more life experience, so they’re more patient and have more perseverance. Never think you’re at a disadvantage just because you start late. The majority of my adult students start in their forties and for a lot of them, it’s their first time exercising seriously. Everything adds up to a whole.

You also have to remember that getting into shape is not a competition. Well, let me clarify. The only competition you’re in is the one with yourself. This is something I tell my students all the time, especially the ones who start Taekwondo later in life. They come in and sometimes see younger beginners who are more flexible than they are. They see these younger students being able to touch their toes in a stretch, or kick higher than them, or punch stronger. They see this and become discouraged. But I tell them that some people, especially the younger ones, are just naturally more flexible. After a year, maybe the younger student’s stretch will improve only by a little. But my older students, when they first joined, maybe they couldn’t even touch their toes without bending their knees. But after a year, they can reach beyond their toes. So even though the younger student might still be more flexible, the older student has made a greater improvement in their stretching.

If one of your friends loses 20 pounds in 20 days, that’s great for your friend, but don’t let that be your motivation to lose weight. I’m sure this is something you must’ve heard from your parents or teachers growing up: “If one of your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?” (What will you do if a friend gained 20 pounds? Are you going to try to match that?)

The temptation is always there to compare ourselves with others; but the problem with this is that too often, we only look at the best parts of someone else’s life, whether it’s the amount of money they have or how beautiful or in shape they are. We read magazines and compare our appearance to that of a model or celebrity. What if that famous person spent years feeling depressed about how he or she looked, and had plastic surgery? Or that model secretly starved herself because she’s unhappy with her body? We don’t compare ourselves with that aspect of their lives.

Life isn’t a contest or a competition, and getting in shape certainly isn’t. If right now you can only reach your knees in a stretch, let that be your starting point, and make it a competition with yourself to reach farther the next month and the month after that. Or if your goal is to eat less, start by eating 100 calories less per day, instead of something drastic like 1,000 calories. Next month, eat 200 calories less per day. Don’t worry about the person next to you progressing faster than you.

Now let’s imagine that you’re the friend that everyone is jealous of because you lost 20 pounds. You’ll feel pretty good about yourself, and you should. It’s hard work losing any amount of weight. But don’t feel too good, don’t feel like you’re better than everyone else. You should never think you’re the best. If you’re climbing a mountain and you get to the peak, where’s the only place left for you to go? Down. We’ve seen it happen to the greatest of champions. They get to the top, become complacent, and lose it all. Even after training in Taekwondo for over 40 years, I still don’t think of myself as the best. Whether it’s being a practitioner of Taekwondo or an instructor, I think of myself not at the peak of the mountain but somewhere near the top. That way, when I look up, I still have a goal to reach for. I never take for granted the skills I’ve acquired over the years but at the same time, I’m not satisfied either. I’m still hungry to improve. So I still keep practicing and thinking of innovative ways to teach my students.

And when I look down, I see how much progress I’ve made. When I think I’ve hit a plateau, I look down and realize that perseverance and an indomitable spirit got me to this stage—and they’ll help me get farther up the mountain.

Like most people, I’m not naturally flexible. As a matter of fact, I have to stretch out regularly in order to maintain my flexibility. But that’s precisely why I can help you become more flexible than ever before.

Yes, maybe someone who is triple jointed might be able to teach you some exercises to become more flexible, just like someone that was born into a lot of money might be able to teach you how to get rich. But I’d much rather learn how to make money from the person that started with nothing, and stretching from the individual that had to work to become flexible.

I believe there are a handful of top athletes who achieved their status through hard training, and some of them can also teach their craft well. But at the same time, I feel that most of them were gifted individuals who got to where they are through the right guidance.

What I’m trying to say is, don’t judge a book by it’s cover. There are trainers and there are athletes—the athletes look super and the trainers look so-so. While the athletes worked hard to look and perform at their best, the trainers are the experts in helping the athletes reach their goals.

In martial arts, one of the main points that’s always stressed is proper respect, especially respect toward your teacher. Too often, we just look at the final product, and don’t pay enough attention to all the dedicated, underlying work. Like after watching a great movie, the audience might comment on how great the acting, the story, or the action was, and then just head out, never waiting to view the credits of the supporting team that made the movie so great.

Imagine that you have to cross a river and there is a bridge to get you to the other side; I want you to think of your teacher/trainer as the bridge that you need to use to get from one point to another, from being out of shape to being in shape. Just because a trainer doesn’t have less than five percent body fat and isn’t chiseled like someone on the cover of a fitness magazine doesn’t mean that this person hasn’t got the knowledge and experience to get you into tip-top shape.

In martial arts, it is very common for the instructor to yell at the students in order to command authority or to discipline students (especially younger ones). This rule is also pretty common practice in many households where children don’t listen. The parents feel that they must raise their voices, or sometimes even their hands, in order to control their kids.

I have a totally different approach to teaching martial arts. I don’t believe that a teacher/trainer has to be on their students’ backs, screaming at them all the time, like those exercise or extreme weight-loss infomercials on TV. I’m sure, if you wanted to, you could have joined the Armed Forces or a military bootcamp class, where a drill sergeant screams continuously at you. So what happens when there’s no one behind you, pushing you to exercise? Everyone chooses how they want to train, but my philosophy of fitness is to exercise for life.

In this book, my eating or training methods might not seem all that rigorous to some of you, but you’re going to be surprised—if you follow my program properly, you will get into the best mental and physical shape of your life!

Our bodies are not made to take too much abuse, especially as we age. We must practice caution when exercising, and even with our eating. Any drastic measures or quick-fix solutions are not the way to go. Exercising and eating properly is a habit you want to engage in every day of your life.

When you last saw yourself in the mirror, were you happy with the way you looked? And right now, are you happy with the way you feel about yourself?

If the answer is no, then what are you going to do about it?

Do you want to continue feeling like this? Aren’t you sick and tired of how you let yourself go, and how you’ve come to this point in your life?

For many people, when they feel that the task is too great, they don’t even bother to attempt it. That’s often the case when it comes to getting into shape. People often feel that they are fighting a losing battle, and admit defeat before the battle even begins.

I’m sure all of you know the progression of a child’s development. In the beginning, they can hardly move or sit up; then they learn to roll, then they start to crawl; then, to everyone’s amazement, they take their first steps.

Tell me what happens next?

They might stumble, they might even fall. But then the child gets back up, makes another attempt at it, because they know that one of these days they’ll be able to do it. Even the child knows that walking feels a lot better than crawling, and there’s no way they’re going back to crawling.

Everyone can do it—it doesn’t begin with huge giant steps, it starts with small ones. But you must have an open-minded, positive attitude. It’s going to be tough, of course. There will definitely be setbacks. You’ll have your bad days, but I can also tell you, you’ll probably have many more good ones.

Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts. But the sooner you get started, the easier the journey will become. Every step you take, regardless of how small they are, will be “giant” steps in the right direction.

Life is constantly changing, whether you like it or not. When you were young, the only thing that mattered to you was yourself. As you matured, you acquired knowledge and developed friendships and intimate relationships. Then came reality, that new job followed by a promotion, or perhaps a new start-up business. While this was happening maybe you developed a serious relationship, which resulted in marriage. Maybe you decided to have a child, then perhaps another one or two. Then came school, and all the activities that your children were involved in. Before you know it, your personal time becomes less and less. When does your time ever come again? “Probably never!” you might say.

You’re right, it could easily be never, if you let it. I talk to so many parents at my martial arts centers, and my usual question to them is, “Why don’t you train with us? You know, this is not just for kids.…” or “Do you exercise regularly?”

Unfortunately, the answer from most of them is the same. “I have no time between kids and work,” “I’m too old for this,” or “I’m way too out of shape for exercise.”

It’s so sad for all of these dedicated parents—for them, their lives are basically over, and the worst thing is that most of them are not even 40 years of age. They think about their childhood and how fun it was. Now all their focus is on their jobs and families—they don’t feature in the equation.

Tell me how ridiculous that is! Not even 40 years old and they’ve already given up. Don’t they understand that they, as parents, are the most important thing to their kids?

As parents, we want the very best for our kids. But what happens if we’re sick, and even worse, if we are no longer there for them? When are we going to realize that our health is more important than our jobs?

I look at life as a constant juggling act. You have to be able to adapt to the constantly changing equation, but at the same time not forget about yourself. Please exercise regularly!