WOAH! I have been planning to write a Q3/Q4 blog post for a while, and am now just realizing I didn’t write any entries in Q1 nor Q2! What happened!? I thought I wrote some cool stuff but apparently did nothing..!? Oof, I suppose this will be the one post for 2023!
Insectile strength… might bring to mind the scythe-like arms of a praying mantis… or an ant carrying around an errant sugar cube many times its weight. Or an ant carrying around basically ANYTHING on its back, since ants weigh next to nothing. That’s what I’m talking about here..!
As background research, it seems insects’ physical power is derived from the fact that their bodies are so light, and their muscles (yes insects have striated muscles) are more concentrated if you will. So you have a proportionally stronger muscle that needs to support less weight (no bones, just exoskeleton shell), and on top of that an insects’ body is operating as a force multiplier. e.g. When a nerve impulse signals for a muscle to fire, there are actually multiple muscles which will trigger at once, working together for maximum output. Put all these together and you’ve got quite the powerful force.
I have been trying to loop that concept into a workout routine, for the better part of this year. A focus on building strength/power/flexibility without exercises like weight-lifting and not concentrating on building muscle. Key words being WITHOUT and NOT… I think this is more about what not to do, rather than what to do.
In that spirit, my first and most crucial step has been to simplify things, and not try to do too much. In the past I would aim to exercise 5 days per week. In reality what often happened is that after 3 days of doing some exercise, I would be burnt out, and then fall off the wagon for the whole next week. Pushing too hard actually delayed progress. And so the conclusion I recently reached was to include more rest days… to actually focus on refreshing and recovering… and to use full effort for the ‘on’ days. I now aim to exercise 4 days per week, and have 3 days off.
Here is what I landed on after much deliberation:
Monday – NOTHING. Rest.
Tuesday – Kung fu
Wednesday – Basketball
Thursday – NOTHING. Rest.
Friday – Mix and match (choose 5), boxing type workout [Jog, jump rope, pushups, squats, situps, high knees, mountain climbers, V-ups, roll-ups, planks, crunches, twists, flutters, leg lifts, shadow boxing, ab roller, bear crawl]. AND/OR REVIEW ALL FORMS!!
Saturday – NOTHING. Rest.
Sunday – Kung fu
<—————–FORMS—————–> If I could write this vertically I would, however it represents daily forms practice (M/W/T/Th/F/Sa/Su)
I went through several iterations of the above, and eventually had the light bulb moment that simplicity is key. I moved all the random exercises to Friday for starters, and I then eliminated the ‘Morning’ vs ‘Evening’ sessions. Finally, I committed my intent to practice Forms daily (even on the ‘Do Nothing’ days)… not for a physical workout, rather more of a direct focus on where I need to improve myself. I’m mentally tired of being waaaaay behind on Forms, so I am excited for this new approach. I think I will enjoy this routine, and that both the exercise days and the rest days are something I will look forward to.
Not to go off on a tangent, however I love going to kung fu class, and I also have a great time with my basketball crew. And I also like just sipping way too much coffee on the rest days, not worrying about exercising. That’s what I call balance..!
Getting back to the main topic of insectile strength, that raw power which is all around is in nature… I find it elusive. I would really need to level things up to get there. While I could focus more on internal power and explosive movements, I feel that will take more time and effort than I can currently give. So for now I am simply happy to have made a step in the right direction… eliminating weights… focusing on simple exercises… inching closer towards true energy.
That about wraps it up. Wishing everyone an enjoyable holiday season and Happy 2024!
– zerogravity
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