Yes you read that correctly, and no, it wasn't sarcasm. Taking time for ones self is rejuvenating and without doing so, you will inevitably burn out, and be of no use to anyone!
In our crazy fast paced lives it seems that we have become 24 hour creatures. Everything is now now now! We hold those who work endlessly in high regard, believing that's what we all should be doing. We have entire cities who have coined phrases like, "The city that never sleeps".
A quick stroll through the Internet will turn up a billion workout memes with things like..."I will win because I'm in the gym for 24 hours a day, 365 days per year". Or..."When you are sleeping I'm training".
This is a completely self destructive outlook on life and will only serve to further destroy life as we know it, (the current state of living in a western culture). Maybe that's a good thing.
We should not be working, slaving, beating ourselves, and then repeating day after day!
So ask yourself, where did this type of thinking come from? In a society built on the back of cheaper, faster, now...I would say look somewhere near the top. In other words, this is something that has been taught to the labor force by greedy bosses and owners trying to squeeze every last drip of productivity out of their workers to increase profits...Eventually this thinking leached it's way into all aspects of life rendering us all robots that literally work from sun up to sun down.
STOP! JUST STOP!!
Some of the smartest, brightest, and happiest individuals in the world spend hours per day doing things like meditating. How in the hell could that be? The powers that be would call this a worthless practice, a waste of time! After all, your just sitting there doing nothing...or are you??
I think by now most of us can agree that you don't grow in the gym, you grow at rest. The same applies to your mind and spirit or life force or whatever you want to call it. Constant stimulation and busyness leads to break down. And that ever present enemy of progress...dare I say it...sleep and relaxation, is the only way to heal from this bombardment.
Do you want to know what all this 24 hour soul churning back breaking work produces? It produces crap like WalMart. How do you think the goods in there are so cheap? Because they where blasted out of a machine at a million miles per hour by some poor bastard probably working 16 hours per day for a couple bucks. And then shipped all over the place while you sleep, because man they gotta sell it cheap and fast to make a buck! And you need a new pair of shoes because you only have 50 pairs right now. Besides, how are we suppose to buy armloads of presents for everyone we know if things aren't so cheap?
Yes it looks as though I've gotten a bit off track with all of this crazy conspiracy ranting however, what I just described, IS what this "work till your dead mindset breeds". It breeds poor quality results in and out of the gym.
Our lives where not meant to be spent working 90% of the time followed by gasping for breath for a few short moments, and then repeating, just so we can buy some cheap garbage we don't need.
Ok, ok, I'll get to my point now.
Facilitating more rest for you!
1. Stop buying things you don't need!
Why? Because if you aren't wasting all of your money of sh!t, then you don't have to work so damn much, which equals more rest for you. Plus now you will have more time to do what you love!
2. Meditate
Meditating calms the body and mind, reduces stress and helps give you a better outlook in general. You don't need a bunch of statistics and pie charts to figure this one out...TRY IT! And if it doesn't work, send me an angry email. I recommend about 20-30 min of meditation right before bed. Believe me you will sleep like a baby! Furthermore, in the interest of time, (because that's what this whole article is about, and who am I not to streamline this bad boy for all of my patient readers) try combining meditation and stretching. I think ill call it "Streditation". Get it?! Its the words stretch and meditation put together! (crickets) Eeeeeeeeeh ok that was dumb. Some yogi out there is probably screaming at his computer right now while reading my article saying, "You cant stretch and meditate at the same time! that's not how you do it"! Yah well that's how I do it, so deal with it bro!
So put on some meditation music and get into some deep stretching for as long as you like!
So put on some meditation music and get into some deep stretching for as long as you like!
3. Stop doing steady state cardio!
Countless studies have shown that steady state cardio (running or biking) is ineffective at burning fat, tears down muscle, doesn't add to your lifting routine, is bad for your joints, and it takes up a lot of time! Do HIIT ( high intensity interval training) for 15 to 20 min instead. Oh man! I just saved you several hours per week with this tip alone! Yay! More time for you to heel, stretch and de-stress!
4. Consider a two or three day split for lifting.
If all of the other awesomeness I have bestowed upon you doesn't have you feeling rejuvenated...(as long as your being honest with yourself and are actually taking your rest seriously) consider lifting weights fewer days per week. I have personally had great success lifting as few as two days per week! That being said a program of two days per week will involve only the most gruesome of exercises, scrapping all the fluff and giving every rep hell! Anything that's not a compound movement goes out the window!
5. Tell your friends to shut up!
This is a HUGE pet peeve of mine...I don't care if it's your lifting partner, the front desk person at the gym you frequent, or just people at the gym in general...Tell them to shut up! The gym is not the place for socialization. If it was, it would look like a party....cuz that's what parties are for, Socializing! When was the last time you went to a party and said, "man who put this squat rack in the middle of our party? Oh well, I guess I'll lean against this and talk to my friends". I guarantee if you do make a habit of this kind of behavior in your gym, there's an angry gorilla staring you down from a corner, that probably wants to kill you for taking up equipment, while he tries to work around you and your buddy who can't seem to shut up and workout.
Yes I went a little crazy there for a second, but it needed to be said, and it does involve our subject matter...Creating more time for you. How? Because if you'd shut up and workout more efficiently your workouts would be FAR shorter. That means much more time for all the above mentioned tips that you have probably been rolling your eyes at saying, "Who has time for all this stretching and quiet soul searching"?! Answer: YOU DO! NOW THAT I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY DE CLUTTERED YOUR SCHEDULE!
Yes I went a little crazy there for a second, but it needed to be said, and it does involve our subject matter...Creating more time for you. How? Because if you'd shut up and workout more efficiently your workouts would be FAR shorter. That means much more time for all the above mentioned tips that you have probably been rolling your eyes at saying, "Who has time for all this stretching and quiet soul searching"?! Answer: YOU DO! NOW THAT I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY DE CLUTTERED YOUR SCHEDULE!
6. Have an outlet
Maybe you should write an angry blog about stuff that pisses you off, while delivering comic relief combined with some exceptional advice....
Oooooh man I'm feeling relaxed and stress free!
I know Steve...I'm some kind of time wizard, magically zapping time back into my readers days...spreading rest and happiness throughout the interwebs!
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