6 replies to this topic

[TheFountain]

So, with regard to exercise and life in general. There is certainly a point up till which a degree of repetitious movement does benefit you (and some forms of repetition are arguably better than other's, Cycling, etc). 

 

But I would argue that the reason so many of us change up our routine is that somewhere deep down inside on a gut, soul or just purely mind/body level, we all know that the repetition of these exercise is good for us UP TILL A SPECIFIC POINT. And then it is time to engage in 'other' movements our bodies are not so use to.

 

You see this principle applied in body building to 'shock' the muscle (I almost typed "Shock the monkey" haha). When Arnold talks about confusing the muscle so it will burst out of its fibrous little bubble and start bulging. So in body building, although there is repetition involved it is repetition designed to shock the body into growth. 

 

With the rise of UFC star Conor Mcgregor recently, and his incredible knack for predicting the outcome of his fights (Muhammad Ali level predictions, if not beyond that) and then his corresponding talk about movement, and how so many of his opponents are stuck in routines of repetition, it got me reconsidering many of the movements we engage in every day of our lives. 

 

For his most recent victory, a 13 second record breaking knock out of 10 year undefeated featherweight champion and P4P best in the world Jose Aldo, Conor enlisted the help of Iranian movement specialist Ido Portal. 

 

But Conor does not only credit diversity of movement, but the visualizations that lead to them for his great successes in the Octagon.

 

The "Law of Attraction" as some refer to it. 

 

In the past couple of weeks I have begun to implement once or twice a week, a 'beginners' routine of these movements into my overall regimen/game/what ever you wanna call it. 

 

And I must say that with some of these movements I am hitting tiny muscles that make a HUGE difference. Muscles I have never hit before, because specific rotational dynamics are in play. I have to tell you, this definitely adds a 'shock' to the muscle fibers and I am guessing some detoxification effects are occurring since if I do these movements too fast I get slight Nausea (a sign of organ detox etc). 

 

Below are a couple of videos. The first video is the so called beginning regimen. The second is Conor Mcgregor discussing both movement and his visualization of said movements, since visualization is what moves the body via the limbic portion of the brain. 

 

I want to hear back on peoples thoughts and opinions on these. Merry Christmas and all that jazz. Enjoy opening yourself to yet another level of physicality and movement. 

 

 

Conor Mcgregor discusses the Law of Attraction and visualization and how it leads inexorably to his victories in the octagon.

 

[TheFountain]

Any thoughts?

[proileri]

I'd say it depends what you want.

 

I think the basic idea behind 'variation' is simple enough, though. If you want to develop the small muscles in your body, then you need to work those muscles. For sports like wrestling where you use your whole body and have to often push in weird positions, it makes sense to strengthen those smaller muscles and increase flexibility. Other athletes might get a benefit from strengthening the supporting muscles, etc., and for bodybuilders it might make sense to 'attack the muscle from all angles' so they get optimal development in all areas of the muscle. However, you need to fit all this stuff into your existing schedule - no point of doing 20 hours of yoga per week, if you are planning to do a cycling road race.   

 

The second related phenomenon to training is the law of diminishing returns, where you tend to improve more quickly in the beginning, but after a while you get less and less gains for similar amount of work done. In this situation, developing the supporting muscles through variation, etc., might give you some new edge and make you improve a bit faster, especially if the margins are small. But, before that point, you gain more results by focusing in the main areas. So, it becomes a question of 'where can I get the greatest gain in the current situation'.     

 

Personally, I don't believe in simple key phrases like 'surprising the muscle', but it's a different thing if you are constantly evolving your workout towards new goals and finding new ways to improve - while keeping the main goal in mind, of course. If you want to get better at something, you need to push yourself a bit. In that sense, I think the current trend of 'goal-oriented exercise' such as improving your race time / finishing position etc. is a pretty good one, as it keeps you challenging yourself and improving if there's something to work towards.   

Edited by proileri, 05 January 2016 - 10:11 AM.

[TheFountain]

"I'd say it depends what you want."

 

Question, who doesn't want to feel free? Who doesn't want to feel fluid? Who doesn't want to feel unrestricted? 

 

Re: Diminishing returns-

 

I believe that's the entire point of varying your exercise regimen. For the past week i've gotten into bike riding, yoga and movement drills. A couple weeks ago I was hitting the Gym a couple times a week, pushing some weights. 

 

But if perpetually pushing weights is all somebody does I believe that's where the "diminishing returns" factor occurs. Even if you build big, veiny arms, back, legs, etc. There are other diminishing returns that have nothing to do with the appearance of muscle mass. Such as, less flexibility, less mobility and less versatility than if you were diversifying your regimen rather than just muscle building ad infinitum. 

 

And plus variation decreases diminishing returns. Because it leaves your body questioning and going "oh okay, this is fun, I like new things". 

 

That's why Conor Mcgregor is such a successful fighter, not just due to self belief but transferring that self belief into the belief in diversity and variation. A master of movement. 

 

Simply put, repetition is boring. 

 

 

 

[TheFountain]

Additionally, I think varying your routine is best for psychological health also!  Routine is good for a while, but unless it' switched up, you're reaching a cul de sac and boring yourself into repetitive existence. 

[CWF1986]

A lot of what will work best for someone regarding exercise variation vs exercise regularity has to do with with one's personality type.  

 

I feel like this article gives some insight into that so long as you read this with a grain of salt and accept it as a general concept rather than anything scientific as suggested in the article.  

 

https://www.t-nation...type-workouts  

(forgive me mods if posting this against any rule, my only intention is to provide more insight into the subject)

 

 

Some people including myself crave novelty and variation.  Others need to stick with the program and get in, do work, then get out.  But I'm a bit of a stimulus junky and I get bored easily so I use a lot of variation and use very intense training methods like ramping to a balls to the wall top set, speed work, olympic lifts.  Having said that, even someone like me has done pre-written programs which call for doing the same thing day in and day out and have learned a lot from doing it that way.

 

Regardless of what appeals to someone, if a beginner wants to get the most bang for their buck regarding body composition and metabolic health then the best way is to choose a basic movement for each movement pattern and push it hard but not so much that form degrades which means 2-4 reps in the tank and do this for at the very least several months.  After these basic movements in the training sessions, then some smaller movements that can be varied every couple to many weeks.  

 

As far as Conor Mcgregor, he is very fun to watch and listen to.  He is also extremely talented..... but maybe not as talented as many believe.  Dana White is in it first for the money so he's gonna do what he feels he needs to prop up McGregor which means selecting opponents at the very least.  Which leads me to my point.  His methods are not the norm and the more tried and proven methods will work better for most.  Also, he is at a very advanced level.  You have to know the rules before you can bend or break them so learning basics first is essential.

 

From a health and longevity point of view, I think his 'movement training' idea is great and he's not the first successful MMA athlete to incorporate it.  I forget who, but there was a good ground and pound guy who regularly did kung fu kata everyday because he said it taught good movement.  

 

I hope something I've written is relevant to someone who reads it haha.  

[TheFountain]

^^^ Conor's opponent's weren't selected for him. 

 

Alvarez wasn't selected to be the champion when Conor beat him, nor was Aldo selected to be the champion when Conor beat him. 

 

He also beat the current FW champion Max Holloway, slapped him around like a thing on a string for 3 straight rounds. And Holloway is no Joke.

 

The thing is Conor, just like Muhammad Ali, is fallible. But that being said, he's also expressing the extreme side of using visualization to achieve a degree of positivistic outcome. 

 

And it worked WONDERS for him. And it can work WONDERS (more or less) for everyone who applies it.