Your cart is currently empty!
-
Or metabolic damage … or disease?
-
Via your strength of will!
-
A concept or word which has fallen out of vogue is this notion of “physiology“. Basically, the notion of physiology pertains to anything which has to do with the human body.
It is my personal belief that focus on the human body, and bodily matters might be the most critical thing. A trillion times more important than “work“, “productivity“, etc.
Why? Let us consider that when it comes to well-being and wellness, it all comes down to the human body.
For example, I believe that “mental health“ is a fiction. Instead, mental health is physical health. For example, if your body is unwell, your mind, and your mental faculties will suffer. But the real root cause here is the physical, your human body, not your “mind“. Because once again, the mind simply thinks and reflects what the body is feeling.
Therefore, if you are suffering from some sort of mental afflictions, it seems that 99.99% of importance should be focused on your physical health. This could involve going to the mountains, getting some fresh mountain air and elevation, going on long hikes, getting more direct sun, going to the gym, lifting heavy weights, swimming in the water or the ocean, going in the hot sauna, or even taking an icy cold bath or shower.
Also, this is where I feel the traveling is especially useful, especially traveling to places like Vietnam, southeast Asia. Hanoi, Saigon, even places like Phnom Penh, or Cambodia. Why? When you’re traveling and on the road, you naturally spend more time outdoors, exploring, walking, being out in the direct sun, interacting engaging with new people, pushing yourself outside your comfort zone, etc.
Why the gym?
Something I have discovered, after frequenting many different types of gems, and thinking about this:
Not all gyms are made the same.
For example, if a gym is too small, or too quiet or empty, or there is an owner spying on you through their webcam, or staff who are staring at you too closely, making sure that you don’t “break the rules“, you cannot really truly focus, relax, and do the thing you want to do. Also, now that I’ve been kicked out of a gym before, for lifting too “unorthodox“, sometimes when I am at a smaller gym, I cannot truly focus and zen out, because the thought of getting kicked out is at the back of my head.
Therefore, this is one of the upsides of big anonymous gyms. At a big commercial gym, you can just do whatever the hell you want, and truth be told, nobody really cares. The staff doesn’t really care either. In fact, the best gym to go to is in which the staff aren’t paying too close attention. This gives you more focus and freedom to do whatever you want.
For example, I really like my local Crunch fitness commercial gym, because I can yell really loud, hype myself up, slap myself in the face, walk around barefoot, even roll up my shorts and my shirt, and nobody even bats an eye. But whenever I am on the road and I go to other random gyms, I feel like I need to be more “low-key“, which is bad for me.
Therefore, one of the thoughts:
One of the best ways to naturally boost your testosterone, and your overall enthusiasm and zeal for life is being able to go to the gym, where you get hyper self up, get loud, HYPELIFTING.
Testosterone thoughts
Something that modern-day people do not like to think is that hormones are actually important.
For example, I was very curious and I just searched on Wikipedia “anabolic steroids,” and what I actually learned is that somehow anabolic steroids are naturally boost your testosterone. Therefore, a steroid isn’t just a steroid, instead, we should just better think of steroids like testosterone boosters.
It seems that the reason why anabolic steroids are bad is that it fucks up your heart, your liver, and other hormones. For example, if your body unnaturally over produces testosterone, certainly your testicles will shrink, because your body has a new signal that your body no longer needs to naturally produce its own testosterone. And also let us realize that testosterone is a hormone produced in the testes, a.k.a. your balls.
Barefoot thoughts
“Trust no thought which doesn’t come to you while walking, in the vast outdoors!” – Nietzsche
He in one of Nietzsche’s books, he quotes some monk philosopher who says that he needs to sit in order to think. Nietzsche fights back against the saying by saying –
The true sin against the Holy Spirit is sitting on your ass (butt) [assinus … somerhing]!
Personally speaking, I’ve discovered some of the greatest benefits of going barefoot, especially when weightlifting at the gym. My big inspiration was finding the fact that Hafthor deadlifted 501 kg barefoot!
Why barefoot?
First of all, superior leverages. If you want maximal ground connection, and leverage, and thrust. Even if you were socks, or even a millimeter thick sole, technically you lose a little bit of traction with the floor. Having your body have to even sink into the floor half a millimeter means less pushing off.
Also, pro-cipition — the basic idea that your body, and nerves in your feet hand etc. get a better connection and sense around you.
For example, assuming that nobody accidentally drops a barbell or a dumbbell on your foot, weightlifting barefoot is always best. This applies to deadlift, squat, rack pull, bench press, floor bench press, atlas lift, the ERIC KIM LIFT etc. The only time I’ve discovered issues is when the floor is slippery, here having some sort of grippy floor would make more sense, or maybe even putting chalk on the bottom of your feet?
What is the purpose of having a body anyways?
Why have a body?
I think a lot of people simply want to trend towards basic pleasures, consuming sugar, alcohol, drugs, which artificially boosts their endorphins, etc.
However for me, I see my body as an instrument, a tool, maybe even a weapon in order to do, create and attempt certain things I would like to do.
-
This is actually the funny interesting thing about bodybuilders, they may seem and appear the most dominant, as a consequence of their large muscles, however, when a lot of them are preparing for a contest, and trying to get into competition mode, and the naturally drop their bodyfat to really low proportions, having to low body fat actually lowers your testosterone. This is why a lot of bodybuilders suffer from hormonal imbalances, depression, etc.
-
Also, it seems like a good idea in life is figure out a way in which you can zen out, hype yourself up, and one rep max something … to (naturally) increase your testosterone.
-
For example, bench press… even floor bench press, shoulder press, overhead press etc. Also dumbbell press, floor dumbbell press.
Better to do lifts, throws, carries instead!
150 pound one rep max farmer’s carry.
-
No no no. Don’t be like one of those weirdos who sit in the lotus position, eyes crossed, or Chan strange things. I see that much more interesting active way to do it instead is going to the gym, no headphones on, just walk around, I think, stretch, lift weights, get loud.
Or, going to the hot sauna, close your eyes, just lay down and take a nap.
-
The EK PLATFORM.
-
Maybe?
-
If you live in the suburbs, or almost anywhere in America, it seems that the gym is one of the least bad places to go to kill time, get a quick pump, etc. However, why are there not any more virtuous places for us to go to, in terms of public/ private spaces?
One of my new visions: create some sort of co-working space, which is also part gym and coffee shop, maybe even part daycare.
This is gonna be like fight club; I’m first going to start up places in Los Angeles, and then venture further outwards. Maybe across the globe, or at least within the Americas.
-
For example, experimenting with going to the gym at different times of the day.
-
Maybe going to the gym and working out is truly for the elite and privileged … you shouldn’t “force” anyone to go against their own will.
-
When you can!
-
For example, after attempting or doing a one rep max, this kind of trauma is a positive trauma in our bodies which actually strengthens us. Life without trauma is not a life worth having.
-
Achilles at the shore.
Also for me — pining for the lust of battle at the gym?
-
Just every day, at least once a day, get your ass in to the gym, whatever gym is close and convenient, and just do whatever is possible. Don’t be too married to any one style of lifting, or any one type of lift.
This is why it is bad to be a “powerlifter”, only focusing on the deadlift squat and bench press. Also the downside of being a “bodybuilder“, doing these boring and hateful reps in some sort of pseudoscientific program.
Then I suppose to take away point to real life is this:
Never get married to anyone school of thought, thinker, mode of doing things, heuristics, rules, even soft or hard.
Also,
Never following a routine, or is that way of doing things. Instead, always iterate based on the moment, and be in flux.
-
The word or phrase I’ve always been looking for — a la my friend Jenae.
When people tell you off because you’re “ruining it for other people”— disregard this “fake concern” troll.
-
The natural way — just increase your testosterone?
When my testosterone is high and elevated, everything is naturally “like put on mute, or the volume waaaaay down” (think the Fight Club scene, after Tyler Durden (the nerdy one) becomes more zen after fights).
Greater sleep, less stress, more epic leg-based weight lifting, more meat, cut alcohol and weed.
-
I have zero to no regard for “proper decorum”. This is what I say —
Better to push the extremes of what is right and wrong, and get “in trouble”, or even get kicked out, than to be meek.