I’m constantly trying to get little exercises in throughout the day when I can. For instance, I often do a stair workout at work, climbing the steps and at certain floors I’ll stop and do pushups or situps or whatever.
This afternoon on my way back from lunch I had to take an escalator so putting my hands on each side of me I held myself up all the way down.
What sorts of things are you guys and girls doing to get in a little exercise from time to time?
Oh this is the kind of stuff I LOVE to do.
Like I do those planche pushup progression excercises several times a day out of nowhere.
‘Box jumps’ on just about anything, tables planters, dividing walls, etc.
Pullups on just about anything I end up walking under that I can reach up or leap up to.
That ‘L shaped’ ab excercise where you hold yourself up with your hands with your torso upright and your legs perpendicular - palms, fingertips or knuckles.
Handstands, cartwheels, handsprings, kipups, etc…
All just whenever, wherever… The extended family thinks I’m sorta weird, but they love me anyways. Whateva, it’s all fun!
Try Virtual Resistance
With “virtual resistance” you can turn almost anything you do into a strength building exercise. If you are picking up a light box pretend it is a heavy box and provide extra resistance by tensing your muscles through the entire range of motion. The same with pulling ropes, lifting chairs or whatever. You will not only build physical strength,but develop mental strength and concentration as well. It’s fun and it works.
On that note, I often do that in the shower - basically tensing up whatever muscles I’m soaping up at the time. Also, I practice a form of ‘cold dousing/tempering’ esp in the winter where, after showering or at the end of my morning workout, I shower with the water as cold as possible while rubbing the cold water all over vigorously and tensing up whatever muscles I’m rubbing over at the time. Do this for about a min or two.
I sometimes walk around work with 2lb leg weights on for the day. Run up any steps I find 3-4 steps at a time, run down 2 steps at a time. Instead of bending down drop into a low 7 star stance, tiger stance or circle entering stance. Use Horse Stance instaed of a chair. Its all god fun and you get some strange looks from people.
I work in a print shop, so when I’m not designing (sitting on my bum at the PC) I’m lugging cases of paper or operating cutters, folders, stitchers…
I get sets of 25 bootstrappers in while waiting for the printer, 50 back of wrist pushups against the wall, a pistol or two when I can.
And my party trick… I can open a wrapped ream of paper by dropping it horizontally at about head height, then striking upward with a mantis hand (splits the wrapper) then grab the ream right in the center with the same hand and the wrapper slides off each side. I can’t get it every time. 
That is an elite kitten with a whip right there.
There is a good book on this, called Dynamic Strength. It is very inexpensive and has many ideas for exercises that do not require any equipment.
Here is the link to amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0865680132/qid=1110300268/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/002-6088725-7700059?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
Pavel says
“Tensing your muscles as if they were handling a world record weight, even if you are lifting your grandma’s broomstick, teaches you to maximize muscular tension. That, as you recall, is what makes you very strong. Such practice in part, explains the feats of strength performed by martial arts masters: breaking bricks, absorbing powerful strikes, etc. Karatekas have performed special exercises called “sanchin” which involve maximum dynamic tension of the muscles for centuries.”
Pavel Tsatsouline “Power To The People” page 13.
I like the way that Ming Yue’s “parlor trick” sounds. Personally, I work in a door shop, so I spend most of my day lifting rather heavy things, whether it’s doors, or lumber. To train my wrist strength, I try to lift anything long (2X4’s, door jambs, etc.) from one end, with one hand, even if it’s something I’ve tried before to lift in this manner and have been unsuccessful. I also lift myself about an inch off the floor with just my arms whenever I’m standing next to my work bench doing nothing, and try to hold myself off the ground for as long as possible. I jog/run everywhere in the warehouse, do inclined push-up when noone’s looking (usually in the storage rooms if I’m bored or without work at a particular moment). Tensing and relaxing my abdominal muscles is something I’ve been trying to do as well. Not as effective as situps, but still good for a small bit of stomach training
<p>When it speciafically comes to martial arts, I’ll usually try to go over my forms or other techniques while I’m building things. I’ve found it helps me to continue to do forms in class while there are other distractions going on around me.
-christopher
I’ll have to get it on video and post it. I tried it this morning and failed, which means 500 sheets of paper to pick up…
What sorts of things are you guys and girls doing to get in a little exercise from time to time?
I do performance breathing daily, while working out and while moving. It was Sonnon’s labeled as perpetual exercise.
I do creative visualization while on the metro subway or bus.
I practice bodyflow or joint aticulation while waiting for appointments and public transportation.
I play tag or hide and seek with my cousins or play their childish games.
I make love. This is probably the best exercise which I can use all of my attritubes that I have learned through the physical and health cultures of martial arts and strength training.
Can you point out a step by step guide to this performance breathing?
As far as additional excercise, I actually don’t have a solid block of time for daily excercise - at most something like 30min in the morning. I’ve ended up having to take breaks from my work and just doing whatever set of excercises I feel like doing for my 5-15min break. I do this every 1-2 hours throughout the day.
When I’m not bound to my work, I play with my 3 kids. Also, check my initial post on this thread for various atypical activities I’ll do just 'cuz I can at the time.
FYuk,
If you are familar with Pavel’s “Power breathing” in PTP, than you can see it is similar in theory with external Shaolin based chi gung breathing or even GoJu Karate Pranayama breathing in with their katas. On the other hand, “Performance breathing” is different than “Power breathing”. In case of danger, “power breathing” is extremely effective! However long term performance can not be maintain for long by this method in my opinion because of the level of great stress and residual tension it can produce on the body. In my view, I dont want to be stiff as a board, but more plastic or “fluid” as a martial artist. Performance breathing is similar to the Wu Tang breathing tradition but there are more sophisticated joint articulation of the head, back, and hips in relation to breathing from the core. Insteading breathing along with movement, you are allowing your movement to be breathe. I believe performance breathing can enhance long term performance and I am constantly amazed how much my own fitness and MA performance has been improved as well as my own clients in the gym. I learned all of this through a RMAX program called “Be Breathe”. I would highly recommend anyone interested in learning performance breathing get Coach Sonnon’s “Be Breathe” DVD http://www.rmax.tv/bebreathed.html. I am sorry I couldnt give you a step by step of performance breathing method because it would take too long to give you all the technical details and it is much better if you see it and hear it from Coach Sonnon himself. I hope I have given you a clearer understanding of the difference between Pavel’s method and Sonnon’s method.
Here are two links on performance breathing by Sonnon which might help:
I do alot of 10-keying (using the little number pad on the right side of the keybord). One day I noticed that my right hand spears, ridge-hand strikes and chops tended to be much stronger than my left. So I started teaching myself to 10-key with my left hand, as well. I haven’t gotten my left hand as built up as my right yet, but it is getting there.
I also run up any fight of stairs I come to. Then, if the railins are on both sides, I will “walk” down them on my hands.
I have access to a cart to run erands and such on property and to plot my bus locations, but I alway walk instead. If I need to get from one end of the garage to the other, I sprint.
When people look at me funny and ask me what in the blazes I’m doing, I tell them I was starting to get drowsy and needed to wake myself up. (This isn’t usually a lie, Working nites will make you drowsy…)
Mike Dayton
In the 1970s Mike Dayton put out a course called “Chi MIndControl” that featured a lot of the same type of exercises mentioned in this thread. To develop the strength to do various bending and breaking feats mentioned in the link below he tensed his muscles through the range of motion and combined it with intense mental concentratation. You can do similar exercises a odd moments during the day.
I noticed on the suggestions of similar books list there were three titles by Loren W. Cristensen. Has anyone read or have anything to say about his/her work?
Especially useful for acting skills. Also makes a good party trick… good as in so annoying someone is bound to take offecnce and try to hit you, then you get to practice your kungfu!
Picking up 500 sheets of paper is good exercise too! Especially if you pretend each one of them is a lump of concrete.
If you get a video of you picking up 500 sheets of paper, please make sure you’re wearing a miniskirt… cos it’s, er, real easy to move in a miniskirt… yeah that’s it…!
As I seem to have dropped a Useless Bomb on this thread, here are a couple of serious answers…
I like the escalator gag too Red. Have you tried
Getting out of your chair:
The Horse Stance Method. Many people practise static horse stance but don’t really try using it moving. Getting out of your chair is a great opportunity! Look at how you normally get out of your chair… normally people put their feet a little back, towards the base of the chair to provide more vertical leverage to stand up. Well instead, try keeping your knees at 90 degrees forming a square with the floor and your back straight, and stand straight up. Make sure you don’t stick your butt out, or lean forward when you stand, and try not to use your hands for extra momentum. Surprisingly difficult to do it with speed and lightly enough to be able to move away from the seat smoothly!
The Cat Leap. From any position, just jump straight up! In fact I usually jump out to the side, cos I’m normally going somewhere or writing something on the board behind me. With practise you can land almost behind the chair. Again, don’t swing your arms. The trick is doing it so smoothly that people don’t notice that they’ve just witnessed a feat of athleticism!
That’s enough chair antics… sounding too much like Huang Kai Vun! :eek:
Tying your shoelaces. Bring your leg up straight and tie it in mid-air.
Wash up in horse stance… don’t use a dishwasher for smalll loads - saves energy and water and gives you exercise! From horse stance you can do stretches to put things on the draining board/in the cupboards… again, when you get round to the big pots at the end, can give you a surprising workout!