Re: Exercise question

[Guest guest]

Generally EOD for specific muscle groups. Folks who lift every day focus on one area one day, another area the next... Suzanne is an expert...and can probably steer you in the right direction.

JR

-----Original Message-----From: Francesca Skelton [mailto:fskelton@...]Sent: Monday, July 22, 2002 7:28 AMsupport groupSubject: [ ] Exercise questionfor all you exercise mavens and weight lifters:I am now lifting moderate weights. I assume NOT lifting every day is thebest strategy? Or just what IS the best way to lift?

[Guest guest]

It's always a balance among many things. I used to be a workout fanatic,

aerobics and weight ligting. CR has brought me down to my knees, and

" forced " me to compromise for only 3 full body weight lifting workouts

per week (less than 40minutes each, 1 set per muscle). Works for me. My

suggestion: try different things and find out what works for you. Keep

in mind that CR gives you the most bang for the buck, so workouts are

minor.

Micky.

Message: 12

Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 08:28:17 -0400

From: Francesca Skelton <fskelton@...>

Subject: Exercise question

for all you exercise mavens and weight lifters:

I am now lifting moderate weights. I assume NOT lifting every day is

the

best strategy? Or just what IS the best way to lift?

[Guest guest]

Francesca:

I wish to give my highest possible recomendation to the work of Pavel

Tsatsouline regarding fitness training generally and weight training

specifically. You may access his work at www.DragonDoor.com. Please

be sure to visit the discussion board and, if you can, follow same

for a while. As with any online discussion board, quality and

quantity of posts varies over time so a short perusal will not do

justice.

Comrade Pavel's ideas are at variance with much of what is

considered " conventional wisdom " in his area. (For example, how often

to train, how many sets, reps, etc...) I think he is a genius.

Notably, his principles include (without by any means being limited

to,) the concept that one can build great strength without bulk and

without any need whatsoever to support the program with increased

caloric intake.

I could go on and on about how powerful an effect these programs have

had on me, but I will leave it at my referral to the web site,

message board and the books and videos available therein or at

Amazon. If you'd like more of my thoughts, please e-mail me at

EDFESQ@...

Best,

Eddie

-- In @y..., Francesca Skelton <fskelton@e...> wrote:

> for all you exercise mavens and weight lifters:

>

> I am now lifting moderate weights. I assume NOT lifting every day

is the

> best strategy? Or just what IS the best way to lift?

[Guest guest]

on 7/23/2002 1:02 PM, EDFESQ at edfesq@... wrote:

> I could go on and on about how powerful an effect these programs have

> had on me, ....

Ed: thanks. I will surely visit the site you recommended. I'm sure I won't

be the only one. Could you just elaborate a little on what effect these

programs have had on you? That would be the best incentive of all to

investigate further...........

[Guest guest]

Ed: I went to the site. It's very confusing there . Very busy site. Which

parts of his work or newsletters are you referring to. Can you boil it down

to the most important stuff and what it did for you in a nutshell?

on 7/23/2002 1:02 PM, EDFESQ at edfesq@... wrote:

> Francesca:

>

> I wish to give my highest possible recomendation to the work of Pavel

> Tsatsouline regarding fitness training generally and weight training

> specifically. You may access his work at www.DragonDoor.com.

[Guest guest]

Dear Francesca and all:

Please excuse that it has taken me awhile to respond to the inquiry

below. In addition to a very tight schedule, I was a bit uncertain

as to how to best answer your question.

I am a fitness enthusiast. I recently came across the term, " GPP " ,

General Physical Preparedness. I like that. (For those interested,

I came across the term at www.intensitymagazine.com. The early

June '02 issues had a series on, are you ready?, hitting a tire with

a sledgehammer as an exercise routine - I am not endorsing this and

it is not part of what I've seen of Pavel's training methods. I just

offer this aside to demonstrate my own attraction to exploring

effective -and novel- methods for attaining and maintaining GPP.)

There was another exercise related post recently where the writer

said that CRON had led him to scaling down his weight training. The

writer also wrote about searching to find, " what works for you. " I

think Pavel's ideas offer an excellent method to train frequently,

feel great all the time, avoid overtraining and burnout, and maintain

a CRON program. Maybe Pavel's programs are for you, maybe not,

(although I can't imagine why they wouldn't be, unless, perhaps, if

you are a bodybuilder - more on that later )I humbly and respectfully

encourage exploration, find what works for you. Nothing is for

everyone. If this helps though, I am honored to be a conduit.

Boil it down to the most important stuff:

This brings me back to my difficulty in answering. Here goes;

Whole body approach, isolation movements avoided.

Rather than say, " Here is a bicep exercise, here is a tricep

exercise, here is a calf raise, here is a... " for every " little part

of the body, Pavel's basic Power to the People Program (what I began

with,) endorses a simple, 2 exercise (dead lift and side press,)

short (2 set of 5 reps) difficult, but not maximal or to failure,

( first set, 5 reps of an approximate weight that would exhaust you

in 10 reps, second set, 90% of first set, that's it,) with a few

minutes rest between sets. In approx. 20 minutes, I have done

a " full body " workout that leaves me feeling energized for the day.

This program should be done frequently, 3 to no more than 5 times per

week.

More important, to me, than the precise specifics of the program,

(especially since Pavel,as I understand him, allows for imprecision

and offers general guidelines to follow that allow the program to

work with your life instead of necessitating that your life be

hammered to fit your workout...One need not experience an " Oh no, I

have to work late, today I'm supposed to work my traps and deltoids,

what will I do, this will totally throw me off for tomorrow's

workout? " kind of thing,) is what he teaches about training the

body. When I say training the body, I mean what you do before you

even touch the weight. For example:

Irradiation: Find a partner. Shake hands. Squeeze your partners

hands as hard as you can ( Please get permission first:] ) Ask your

partner to gauge the pressure you applied. Rest for a minute. Now,

do it again. This time, " claw " the ground with your feet (barefoot

is best,) tighten your butt as if someone was going to kick you in

the rear, TIGHT!, tighten your stomach, as if bracing for a punch,

tighen you lats (muscles on the side of your torso. Tighten

everything. Now, squeeze again. Ask your partner to gauge any

difference in your strength. Let your partner try. I think you'll

both notice a Dramatic difference. When you squeeze your hand, look

at your bicep. Notice it flexing. Notice that your chest joins in

as well.

Lesson: Isolation is a myth. Irradiation is the rule. When you

squeeze your hand, more than just your hand is at work. If you

ignore this, you can only go so far. Take advantage of it, train

it, and you can become stronger and stronger and just plain feel

better and " more connected " all over. Your whole is most certainly,

synergistically greater than the sum of your " parts " . Seeing people

mindlessly pump out reps, say of a bicep dumbell curl, now saddens

me. Taking advantage of irradiation is so powerful. 3 quality reps

will do much more than 3 sets of 10 " go for the burn " reps, etc...

Pavel teaches a breathing method, derived from ancient martial arts,

that fascilitates the total body state that best lends itself to

applying irradiation. In a short time I have become stronger in

every way by applying these methods. I have begun, for the first

time in my life, to be able to do pull ups. My grip strength, (which

I believe is a biomarker,) has improved dramatically. To paraphrase

Pavel, " If you have a better deal, keep your Brooklyn Bridge to

yourself. " Your abs and the all important area that surronds your

internal organs get trained by just this exercise. Just doing the

power breathing is a great exercise, before even lifting a weight.

I have a fear that my enthusiasm and limitations as a writer make

this presentation overwhelming to a weight training newbie. That is

the last thing I want to do. I suggest buying Power to the People,

book and video. Put your toe in the water. Then visit the

www.dragondoor.com discussion site. Get comfortable with initial

confusion. The support exists and this all makes sense. ( Much of

Pavel's stuff is not new. In fact it's quite old, just pushed aside

by the money machine that promotes gimmicky infomercials, drugged

bodybuilding to sell magazines and supplements, etc...) Being

naturally strong and healthy is a beauty of it's own, different than

what you'll see on the aforementioned magazine covers. It does not

require waking up in the middle of the night to make sure you get in

another 2000 calorie protein shake to make sure you get your 6000

calories a day, etc...

My e-mail is edfesq@.... Some of you have written to me. I

will, to the extent time permits, offer as much help as I can.

Is CRON simply, " eat less and make sure it's the best quality food

you can get? " Well, with Power to the People you can start simply

and progress. Remember, find what works for you. For me, 42 y.o.,

background in marathon jogging, karate, aidkio, yoga, swimming,

racewalking, and numerous miscelaneous activities (see

sledgehammer/tire reference above,) I think this is one of the most

positively influential protocols I've found, and there is much more

within the programs for me to explore and develop ( eg; kettlebell

training, flexability, ab routines, etc...)All of Pavel's work

though, seems to interconnect in a completely feel great way. Get

stronger, get more flexible, have better stamina, achieve this in a

way that keeps you fresh...what a deal! BTW, I don't have any

financial affiliation w/ Pavel, Dragondoor, etc.

Francesca, it may have been nuts but, was that " in a nutshell " as you

requested?

Best,

Eddie

In @y..., Francesca Skelton <fskelton@e...> wrote:

> Ed: I went to the site. It's very confusing there . Very busy

site. Which

> parts of his work or newsletters are you referring to. Can you

boil it down

> to the most important stuff and what it did for you in a nutshell?

>

> on 7/23/2002 1:02 PM, EDFESQ at edfesq@y... wrote:

>

> > Francesca:

> >

> > I wish to give my highest possible recomendation to the work of

Pavel

> > Tsatsouline regarding fitness training generally and weight

training

> > specifically. You may access his work at www.DragonDoor.com.

[Guest guest]

Eddie: a hearty thanks for the long detailed response. Yes that was what I

requested. I'll have to explore dragondoor further as per your

recommendations. I'm glad people are asking you (off list) for more info.

Apparently your exercise posts have made an impression. If any of the off

list messages have questions and answers that might be of general interest,

please share with the rest of us.

on 7/27/2002 6:06 AM, EDFESQ at edfesq@... wrote:

> Francesca, it may have been nuts but, was that " in a nutshell " as you

> requested?

>

>

> Best,

>

> Eddie

[Guest guest]

Francesca,

If you want an easy to navigate primer on the dragongoor site, visit

my FAQ page which I set up specifically for newbie's questions. :-)

Vic

__

The Unofficial Dragon Door FAQ - Russian strength training techniques

http://www.holtreman.net/dragondoor.htm

__

>

> > Francesca, it may have been nuts but, was that " in a nutshell " as

you

> > requested?

> >

> >

> > Best,

> >

> > Eddie

[Guest guest]

Ed,

What a great summary of Pavel's irradiation techniques. You didn't

mention his " Russian Kettlebell Challenge " , so I'll touch on it.

For those of you who are not familiar, a kettlebell is a metal sphere

with a curved handle at the top. Traditionally there have been 3

sizes: 36, 53, and 72lb versions. Dragondoor has added 9 and 18lb

versions for women, and an 88lb version for insane people. :-)

Anyway, the concept of kettlebelling is that of " ballistic exercise " ,

where one utilizes the entire body, and weight is transferred from

the lower half to the upper half utilizing exercises like:

Swings: weight swung from between the legs to horizontal with your

shoulders, one or two handed.

Snatches: weight lifted rapidly up along the front of your body and

whipped up to an overhead position.

Clean and Jerks: weight lifted from between the legs up to shoulder

height, and then pressed upward.

What these exercises do is build aerobic capacity while also building

strength, without bulk. The results of these workouts are

transferrable to other sports in adding agility and the ability to

absorb shocks to the body. Great stuff if you're an active person,

and probably one of the best ways to lose fat if that is your goal.

Generally, Pavel recommends alternating kettlebell workouts with

his " Power to the People " workout in 6 week cycles.

I have an extensive FAQ page on my website if you want to learn more,

or you can email me directly at victor_holtreman@... .

I hope this is helpful to the group.

Vic

__

The Unofficial Dragon Door FAQ - Russian strength training explained

http://www.holtreman.net/dragondoor.htm

__

> >

> > > Francesca:

> > >

> > > I wish to give my highest possible recomendation to the work of

> Pavel

> > > Tsatsouline regarding fitness training generally and weight

> training

> > > specifically. You may access his work at www.DragonDoor.com.

[Guest guest]

Dear - Good pain management means not being in enough pain to bring you out of a deep sleep. I split my dosage of medication. I take enough at night to help me sleep which means a few mgs of prednisone, an ibuprofen and plaquenil. I also take ativan for sleep, a bit of darvocet for pain but increase that if I need to. It is rarely that I wake up in pain because I practice good pain management. I dont load myself up with drugs to erase the pain but enough to make it disappear for 8 hours. Get yourself a heating pad and take it to bed with you. It will relax your muscles and you may not be so sore in the morning. I wake up and some days take my medication straight away. To get the medication in your system that much faster have a hot cup of black tea ready and dont eat anything straight away. Let the medication dissipate in your system and the hot liquid will help to deliver it quicker than if you had food with it unless your stomach is a problem. A hot shower eases pain so well. After breakfast take a hot shower or a tub soak with epsom salts. The veins, capillaries, blood vessels all open up during a hot shower and you wont be so stiff. My only exercise ever was a warm pool. Water makes our bodies weightless which means no joint compression. You can stretch after a hot shower too. Try a PACE program sponsored by the arthritis foundation in your area. Talk to your doctor about BID medication. That is a split dosage. More during the AM if you need it or more in the PM. You have to find what level you are comfortable with painwise. I hope that helps. Yours, Deborah (expecting snow thursday)

On 4/9/07, <littlerockfae@...> wrote:

Hi everyone - I have not posted in a long time. I have RA - justdiagnosed about six months ago, but suffered with it for a long time.Anyway, it affects my knees, ankles, toes, elbows, shoulders, neck,fingers and hand especially bad. In the morning when I wake up, I

find moving around to be horrible. I am stiff and in a great deal ofpain and discomfort. I try to immediately take my various medications- predisone and embril (spelling?) as well as pain meds, etc. Thosetake a while to work - in the meantime - it really hurts to move about.

Here is my question - I am considering taking stretching classes. Hasanyone here had luck with exercise programs to keep the muscleslimber. I hate having such a " disability " for want of a better term.

It takes me so long to get going in the morning because of it.Thanks,

[Guest guest]

fyi - instead of heating pad i found the best thing is an electric blanket - we havea king bed but got just a twin electric blanket for myself and i love it - it helps you go to sleep so much quicker -your whole body warms up - i cant sleep without it it sure relaxes you and relieves the pain

----- Original Message -----

From: Deborah Bargad

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2007 3:35 AM

Subject: Re: Exercise Question

Dear - Good pain management means not being in enough pain to bring you out of a deep sleep. I split my dosage of medication. I take enough at night to help me sleep which means a few mgs of prednisone, an ibuprofen and plaquenil. I also take ativan for sleep, a bit of darvocet for pain but increase that if I need to. It is rarely that I wake up in pain because I practice good pain management. I dont load myself up with drugs to erase the pain but enough to make it disappear for 8 hours. Get yourself a heating pad and take it to bed with you. It will relax your muscles and you may not be so sore in the morning. I wake up and some days take my medication straight away. To get the medication in your system that much faster have a hot cup of black tea ready and dont eat anything straight away. Let the medication dissipate in your system and the hot liquid will help to deliver it quicker than if you had food with it unless your stomach is a problem. A hot shower eases pain so well. After breakfast take a hot shower or a tub soak with epsom salts. The veins, capillaries, blood vessels all open up during a hot shower and you wont be so stiff. My only exercise ever was a warm pool. Water makes our bodies weightless which means no joint compression. You can stretch after a hot shower too. Try a PACE program sponsored by the arthritis foundation in your area. Talk to your doctor about BID medication. That is a split dosage. More during the AM if you need it or more in the PM. You have to find what level you are comfortable with painwise. I hope that helps. Yours, Deborah (expecting snow thursday)

On 4/9/07, <littlerockfae > wrote:

Hi everyone - I have not posted in a long time. I have RA - justdiagnosed about six months ago, but suffered with it for a long time.Anyway, it affects my knees, ankles, toes, elbows, shoulders, neck,fingers and hand especially bad. In the morning when I wake up, I find moving around to be horrible. I am stiff and in a great deal ofpain and discomfort. I try to immediately take my various medications- predisone and embril (spelling?) as well as pain meds, etc. Thosetake a while to work - in the meantime - it really hurts to move about. Here is my question - I am considering taking stretching classes. Hasanyone here had luck with exercise programs to keep the muscleslimber. I hate having such a "disability" for want of a better term. It takes me so long to get going in the morning because of it.Thanks,