Eat, Sleep, Work and Play

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We eat, sleep, work and play. Essentially, that's all there is to it. Day after day we perform these functions and by our nature draw a bold sketch of life in black and white with daring lines and rugged figures or paint a grand portrait using vivid colors and graceful sweeps of a fine brush. More often, the unfolding picture we present is an accidental amalgamation of spilled and dripping paint from old buckets and squeezed-out tubes of garish tints mopped up hurriedly with a ragged beach towel.

What we do, how we play and the foods we eat define our lives. These three practices done well and a good night's sleep surely follows; done poorly, and it's nightmares for us.

My quaint pastime is to persuade you to include sufficient exercise and right eating amidst your work and play. I'm reminded by research material I uncover (to aid me in a project on obesity) that we are failing miserably. Nearly seventy percent of adults across our noble country are under-muscled and overweight and in a recent study out of the Berkeley-based Public Health Institute, over thirty percent of California kids are "fat and lazy." They ended the report recommending a major public awareness campaign. I'm all for that. How would that play out with the fast food industry and those conglomerates selling the junk? Not so good, huh? And socially concerned analysts fear that harm will be wrought on society by a sweeping direct approach. Far be it from me to suggest we save society at the risk of hurting its feelings.

Did I step on any toes? These grim statistics, the doctors go on to report, forewarn of heart disease, diabetes and cancer as the teens become the thirty-some. It's the fast food and junk, the TV and video games; it's the lack of public education and awareness; it's the lack of common sense or the discipline to apply it. It's weak and pathetic. So. Tell me, how was your day today? Hot and sticky, isn't it?

There is help for all the unconditioned and overweight sufferers. Since one industry (the fast food industry) contributed so generously to the problem, another industry (the health industry) can at least help fix it. There are fad diets and weight-loss books by the hundreds and commercial weight-loss centers in every mall. Pick and choose according to your preferences and heart's desire. There are gyms if you look and personal trainers to do the job for you. You don't have to walk very far before you come to a health food store with absolutely everything to meet your growing needs. Did you know acupuncture and acupressure have been known to aid in cases of obesity and muscular malfunction? Massage is one of my favorites for all kinds of repair and rejuvenation.

The diets can drive you crazy, especially when they promise the loss of twenty pounds of fat simply by eating parsley and walking the dog. While you're out walking Spike, pick up a copy of your very favorite muscle magazine and skim the pages that detail the ways to build giant, bulging muscles in thirty days. Just think. If you don't want muscles that big it'll only take two weeks. What a deal.

We are at once a wonderful and amazing people. We are our own wonderful audience for the crazy schemes and ideas we invent. As I recall it's my sometime job to inform and assure you of the simple, basic and delightful methods to get in shape. You say, "How does that go again? I forgot." I insist the course is plain and easy, but there is a world of other notions.

I love "volume training" (supersets and high reps) with moderate weight, lots of warm-ups and eventual intensity. This I mix with a powerlifting session for low reps once every three weeks. Give me six well-balanced meals a day with an accent on protein and I'm all smiles. Another guy might say I'm nuts, you need high carbs and High Intensity Training (H.I.T.) if you want to grow and grow. Talk about a musclehead. Jill claims long-duration, low-intensity aerobics raise the metabolism most effectively. Jack says he's been there, done that and High Intensity Interval Training (H.I.I.T.) is twice as productive in half the time.

One truth surfaces with which everyone agrees. We are all different: genes, body chemistry and metabolism, hormones, personality, preferences and predilections, habits, behavior and attitude. What a soup we are and it's all in the family.

Somehow we have taken a basic square and placed it beside a simple circle and now we're all confused. Which is which and what is what? Do you have diet and training-related questions? Do you want answers?

I happen to know of a secret meeting of weird yet stimulating minds where you might find just what you are looking for: Make Believe Guru from the East, Dr. Ken Leistner, meets Imitation Guru from the West, Dave Draper, at the World Gym, 120 Dubois Street in Harvey West Park, Santa Cruz on Saturday, July 14th, 11am.

You can ask them anything; they don't care. Stop by... bring Spike.

Click here for more seminar details

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