130th Post - Making hard easy

How is this possible? This blog has received the upmost neglect over it's two year existance. This also means I've averaged one blog post every 5-6 days which means I'm actually not a too infrequent blogger - ha!

I've just completed a great workout. I'm feeling a little run down at the moment and have a bit of a cough so was debating whether or not to exercise. I decided to embark on a not too challenging workout:

24kg kettlebell(s):
5 turkish getups each arm (swapping arms between reps for total of 10 reps)
10x10 swings
50m farmers walk

Easy.

Well... what I have started to experiment with is what I have coined "easy hard". That is, attempting to make hard efforts or exercises easy, as opposed to making hard workouts or exercises hard and absolutely opposed to just doing easy workouts - although the goal is to make it easy.

The whole idea behind this is to pick something hard, and try to do it with as little effort as possible.



Einstein said:
"As simple as possible, but no simpler"

I say:
"As easy as possible, but no easier"

Imagine something hard, like running up a certain nemesis hill. When you run this hill, it is hard, and you try hard, because you want to get up it quickly and have a great workout while doing so. Have you ever tried to run up this hill while thinking about expending as little energy as possible?

"Of course I have, I've jogged and walked it before, or ran slower - why would I want to attack it slower?!"

But I didn't say slower, I just said with less effort. Try running this hill like a graceful wildebeest, stay tall, BREATH DEEPLY (into your belly button, not your ineffecient chest). I want you to run this hill just as fast as you normally do, but focus utterly on relaxing as much as possible.

You may find that you get to the top faster, you may find not. I gurantee you will feel more refreshed and charged at the top though, as opposed to feeling exhausted and about to die.

Try this out on your next workout or training session. Even if this means doing bicep curls in the gym.

Oh and on bicep curls, if you have to do them, firstly use dumbells, secondly try out for size closing your eyes when doing the exercise. Hello is that your core?