Training the Body and Mind
The Body
Gym
Recently I feel like a 50 year old. I decided to remedy this feeling by starting up at the gym again. So far it seems to be going well. I have managed to go 3 times a week for nearly a month now. So far the only thing working against me is work. Because of the financial peak we work until 19:30 every day. I normally go to bed at like 21:00 – 22:30 so working out after 20:00 is pretty weird for my body.
A thing that I am confused about though is nutrition. What are you suppose to eat before and after working? What are you supposed to eat in general? I checked the net and this topic seems to be the most controversial topic ever. There is so much contradicting information. Some say don’t eat before bed, some say you can eat anything you want before bed, some say eat 5-7 small meals a day, some say eat anything you want just watch calories. Apart from, “Vegetables are good for you” it seems like there isn’t much agreed on.
Anybody know anything about nutrition?
I guess my main aim is to just get a bit muscley, I don’t want to look like the hulk or anything.
Self-defense
I did some Jujitsu back in the day. I wanted to keep at it but unfortunately due to a side business I was running I had to stop.
So, I feel I can probably handle myself to a certain degree. Against someone around my size and unarmed I can probably hold my own. But against an armed or really big assailant, or a group it is a different story.
Initially I wanted to learn kung fu so I could fight like Neo from the matrix but doing research showed that all those flashy moves apparently don’t work in real life situations. So from next month i am going to try out a hand to hand combat system called Krav Maga. Has anybody tried it before? Anybody got insight into martial arts and its effectiveness?
It is not that I am into violence or anything, just with the way the world is now it is always good to be prepared incase the worse happens.
The Mind
Reading
Up until 2 weeks ago I had never read a book from cover to cover in my life. The closest I ever got was Da Vinci Code, I got about 1/3 of the way through before giving up. However, I now boast a record of reading two books in two weeks.
About 5 years ago I bought a book on body language because I was into psychology but never got past the first few pages.
Recently I have started watching a few cool shows about psychology and human behavior (Lie to Me, Criminal Minds) which inspired me to read the book that I bought 5 years ago. I also order a bunch of new psych books. I just finished “What Every BODY is Saying” Joe Navarro.
Books are pretty awesome, has anybody got any recommendations? I probably don’t mind reading anything at this point. The commute to work goes so quick when you read..
Speed Reading
I knew about this a while ago but just never paid it any mind until a few days ago. I don’t know if it is common knowledge or not but I’ll just give you a little insight into what I found out about it.
So, there is a thing called sub vocalization. When you read you actually sound out the words that you are reading in your mind. Doing this means that you limit the amount you can read to how fast you can speak. So this gives you a cap of about 300 words per minute. But apparently you don’t actually need to say the words in your mind to understand what you read.
There are probably a few things you can do to speed up your reading such as using your finger and reading words in groups instead of singly.
If you are interested you can take this test and test your reading speed and comprehension. I got like 260ish and 91% comprehension. Hopefully after practice I can get to 1000 wpm one day 
http://www.readingsoft.com/
Anybody into speed reading? If you take the test let me know what you got 
So why I doing all of this all of a sudden? I don’t really know. I guess I am just bored and looking for some sort of challenge or mind stimulation since I don’t get any from work. I am also doing some research into improving the memory.
Is anybody learning anything cool or picked up any new hobbies recently? Do share I need some things to do!
Nino (55)
Michael Flux (40)
lina (31)
Jamaipanese (26)
Chris B (20)
sixmats (20)
Renee Khan (18)
Rachel (16)
Tokyo Grindhouse CEO (16)
Dutch Donut Girl (15)
May 22nd, 2009 at 11:57 am
well congrats on the self improvement!
I read CONSTANTLY, and can give you a couple really good suggestions if they seem like it would interest you.
try the book “Thank You For Arguing”. It is a really simple book on rhetoric which is the art of persuasive speech. Gives you an introduction into spotting logical fallacies that isn’t anywhere near as complex as other books on logic.
or try “influence” by robert cialdini.
or just get the best one “simpleology” by mark joyner. (Just read the reviews on this and you’ll see, it completely lives up to its name)
May 22nd, 2009 at 12:09 pm
@mr condescending
thank you thank you. Hopefully it lasts more than a few weeks lol.
Thanks for the suggestions, the book on logical fallacies sounds something like I would enjoy. I will check some reviews for simpleology
Question if I may, do you read real or e-books?
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:15 pm
If you are looking for fitness AND practical self defense I would suggest looking at martial arts that are also combat sports. This would include Judo, bjj (Brazilian Jiujitsu), Boxing, Mauy Thai, Mixed Martial Arts, etc.
These arts will push you physically because in order to actually fight you have to be physically fit. Many traditional martial arts do not spar, or only point spar which does not have the same benefits. Moderate to Hard sparing done in the arts listed above not only puts your training to a real test so you no longer have doubts, but requires a lot of physical effort. This keeps you in good shape.
I suggest checking out bullshido.com if you are looking for help on picking a martial art.
For pure fitness I also suggest crossfit.com. The work outs are very intense, but scalable and can be done in under 45 minutes. The gains I have seen are huge.
May 22nd, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Wait wait wait… clip art? :p
May 22nd, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Wooooooo, sweaty crotches!
Really cool that you’re getting into books about the mind, they’re so rewarding. What kind of stuff do you like?
May 22nd, 2009 at 3:46 pm
@Don
Thanks for passing by. I just checked the sites you suggested and they all look really good. Good point you make about attaining physical fitness aswel as learning to fight. Not much point in becoming to best fighter in the world if you can only last 10 seconds
@Michael Flux
ROFL. Meh I couldn’t find anything else and I actually had to do some work.
@Rachel
Yikes your theory on sweaty crotches lol..
I kind of like books on phsycology, behaviour and non-verbal communication. Here is my reading list:
The Definitive Book of Body Language (done)
What everybody is saying (done)
Emotions Revealed: Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and
Emotional Life
What the Face Reveals: Basic and Applied Studies of Spontaneous Expression Using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) (Series in Affective Science)
Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics and Marriage
But I wouldn’t mind reading some cool fiction stuff. What you reading atm? Got any recs
?
May 22nd, 2009 at 4:10 pm
One of my favourite books is ‘Tricks of the Mind’ by Derren Brown, he’s an awesome magician that uses some psychological effects, it covers just about everything but is a really easy read. I chomped through that book within a day. The memory section is an especially interesting and useful read.
I think that’s just about my favourite, but maybe I’m biased as I’m a major fan of his performing. =P
May 22nd, 2009 at 4:19 pm
@Rachel
Oh yeah I know him. Used to watch him on TV. He is British right?
I remember when I went through my phase of wanting to learn magic lol. But I didn’t really put any effort into it.. I will defo check out his book.
Wait hold that thought I just checked his site and it said his book covers the following:
1. the techniques of several mystifying magic tricks
2. Brown’s personal views on religion and atheism.
3. the mix of honesty and trickery that magic demands
4. what goes into his ground-breaking television work
5. the truth behind practices such as the Ouija Board
6. the paranormal industry, exposes a few charlatans and looks at why some of us feel the need to believe in it in the first place…
7. memory techniques, hypnosis and Neurolinguistic Programming
8. how to read clues and spot lies in people’s behaviour
He is covering some sick topics. It should be a good read. If you find any other gems please tell me
Ima buy it from amazon now lol. I could prolly download the PDF for free but E-books suck..
May 22nd, 2009 at 8:14 pm
A very good post. I wish i had the energy to do all that now… I admire you. Keep up with all the body and mind training.
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Haha, he is indeed British! You should have carried on, it’s too fun to swindle people in front of their eyes!
It’s definitely worth it, if you don’t like it then feel free to give me a slap, but I think you will!
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Oh, and thumbs up for being into paper rather than words on a screen.
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:26 pm
The Smith fight kicks so much ass.
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:42 pm
@Nino
Drink redbull!
You can do it yo
@Rachel
So there is no need to fear a virtual back hand hehe
PDFs are blinding lol. I can only read them for so long..
Don’t worry I think based on the contents there probably is no way it can suck
@Badass Geek
Yup one of the sickest fights ever seen. Wouldn’t you love to be able to fight like that?
May 22nd, 2009 at 11:21 pm
You write so well that I am surprised you haven’t read a book from cover to cover. Okay I am throwing out the book ‘Blindness’ I think the writer is Portugese. Anyway, I’m throwing that one out first because I think you will get drawn in right away.
Love to you.
xoxoxo
May 23rd, 2009 at 8:02 am
For multiple opponents, wien chun is probably the best. Actually kung fu is probably better if you master it, but by the time you learn enough you’ll be too old for fighting anyway.
June 8th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
@Renee Khan
Thanks it looks like an interesting book based on the reviews. Ill try get around to it
@John Smith
rofl I need something I can learn in a few months haha. But kung fu would be real c00l
November 1st, 2009 at 7:59 pm
What a facinating blog. I’ve bookmarked it and added your feed to my RSS Reader
June 3rd, 2010 at 6:28 pm
I just ran into your webpage and reading it on my mobile phone. Thank you for the post. (Apple Mobile Device)