a long way from dawn at Coleridge Rec!

Although consumerism and globalisation are the increasingly dominating themes in China, a physical culture still pervades most of the country's towns and cities. Rising income levels give more purchasing power to younger people, with money being increasingly spent on items above and beyond what is necessary to just exist, a major difference from the Maoist era when even one's pots and pans would be up for grabs for smelting down to contribute to the greater good.
Exercise parks, a new and still immature presence in the UK, are hubs of social and physical activity which can be found in virtually every neighbourhood in China. The government funding and continued support of these parks means that regardless of financial means, a space for physical activity is still available to all. Big chain gyms, mostly just with good looks and sub-par facilities, are rapidly spreading through China in response to increasing levels of disposable income. Despite this, the humble exercise park still caters to all ages and backgrounds, throughout the year.
These places also are a regular haunting ground of the most unassuming characters, who only on closer inspection are quite remarkable in their own way.
Landing in Shanghai, I went to a park in the heart of the city to try and shake off some heavy jet-lag with some training. Another young Chinese man came from a restaurant across the road in his kitchen clothes, promptly changing into more sporting attire before training Gong Fu drills and techniques for a good hour. After striking his arms against trees, kicking leaves above his head, and shadow-boxing, he changed back into his work clothes and jogged back to his next shift.
In Nanjing I saw an elderly man who was balancing upside down on his head with his legs wrapped around a pole and his arms folded across his chest. I felt obliged to speak to him and approached him to engage in conversation. He uncurled himself and stood up with a beaming face and relentless enthusiasm about whatever it was he was doing. He said he often practiced balancing techniques, able to stand on his head for 20 or 30 minutes at a time, and stand on one leg for literally hours. When I asked how old he was, he replied he was 84. This was after he said that the year before he had cycled all the way down China to Hong Kong to visit his daughter, taking a month in total to get there, just because he felt like it.
Another elderly man in Shanghai was practicing muscle ups on the bar, something pretty remarkable in itself. After talking to his friends, who referred to him as Shifu (master/teacher), I was told that he had recently recovered from a major operation to remove a cancer. He used to practice acrobatics, and since the operation he had lost almost all his strength. Undeterred by his age, he had recently returned to his training, slowly getting his strength back and encouraging all the older residents in the area in their own physical pursuits.
Talking to countless people, the major reason cited for exercise was to be healthy. To maintain health as long as one was capable to, and to enjoy that process with other people. Elderly people who exercise here have a very simple view of it, that it is neseccary and to be enjoyed. They are not overthinking it. Each morning at 5-8am are the same regulars who attend day in day out, hellos exchanged by old friends, and the young man setting down his briefcase and coat to perform a set of dips and pullups before heading to the office. A muscle up, a set of 20 dips or a backflip is not particularly exceptional in this environment. Despite the growing levels of inactivity due to shifts in occupation types, transport, and a number of other reasons, physical culture is part of many people's lives here and is just a part of the daily process.
This particular aspect of China is something that the UK can definitely learn from.
I am back from China on the 15th of February, at which point I will have more regular access to the internet, and youtube and the blog will be accessible, so apologies in advance for any delays in postings between now and then.
The wheels, however, are still very much spinning as the legal aspects of the gym lease are firmed up...

Move!

Happy New Year! The start of a new year and a fresh canvas to make our mark upon!

Now, how awfully predictable that shortly after the Christmas and New Year period a blog about training and fitness will throw up a piece about "smelting down that Xmas pud of a belly!", or something to that effect. However, keeping in line with such tradition, I am going to do just that very thing, albeit brief.

Losing weight, technically, is a straightforward procedure, somewhat obscured by circumstances, subjective experience, the media, etc. That is another issue, the good thing is that if we take away all the things clouding fat loss and just concentrate on the body simply as is, the equation to weight loss becomes clearer, and good job too.

Its essentially the law of thermodynamics. One must expend more energy (calories) than one intakes. If someone is training but still not losing weight, somewhere along the line they are still taking in too much too lose the excess weight. The above equation is true for the overwhelming majority of the population.

Fat and glucose are two of the major energy sources for any activity, even just sitting down doing nothing. As for anyone laying any claim to some sort of "fat burning zone", some mysterious intensity of exercise where fat is most efficiently burned, such notions can be flatly ignored. In fact, the body utilizes fat as an energy source the MOST when it is at rest. So why don't we just do nothing and burn off all the fat? Because unfortunately, doing nothing expends very little energy (calories), and so the above law says that we will not lose weight. However, what IS important, is how many calories you burn, not how much fat as an energy source! And to do this, we simply need to move!

Post-exercise, our metabolism is raised, and as a result, more energy is being 'burned' for hours after training. So after exercise we are burning much more than before we started, and as a result, that fat is being scorched away too.

After spending a year-long dissertation researching all the potential factors as to why the Chinese population is becoming more overweight in recent decades, it all came down to one simple reason. Calories in are increasingly greater than calories expended. There are a plethora of contributing factors to this, but at the heart of it this is all it is, and its all the body knows and responds to.

So at the end of the day, just remember to expend more than you are putting in, and that means moving and eating healthy.

Also, this stuff doesn't have to be boring! Push Training is all about taking exercise back to how it felt when being a kid, like play! Of course, we play hard...

A prime example here is of one high school teacher, Sam, showing how its done. Starting three years ago at 125kg, Sam has now lost 40kg through finding joy in the movement he does. Just compare the top video, of him before, to the one below.





Here is his blog: Sam Books and Thoughts

Peak at 25? Really?

Below is a video of 63 year old Johann Martin from his younger years till now, showing incredible strength, and above all, that age is never a limiting factor. This man is doing things that 99% of people half his age are not even close to achieving, and he doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon. The key to being able to achieve and maintain this kind of ability in anything is consistency, never ceasing to develop one's passion and exploring what you are capable of doing. Consistency, perseverance, and passion are deadly tools and make for an unstoppable character who will not be swayed either way by circumstance or critic. Trained physical abilities and feats are really just a manifestation of the inner traits of the person who has cultivated those talents.

Dartanyon and Leroy

This video always knocks into perspective my own 'issues' of the day and just serves as a very vivid reminder to make the best of everything you have and push for excellence in all areas despite your circumstances.

Words do not do justice for the video so just take the short time required to watch it.