Learn To Have Patience

For without it life could be made more painful than it truly needs to be...

"Let us train our minds to desire what the situation demands. "

~ Seneca

In life there will be many times and situations where things just aren't moving fast enough for us and there's nothing we can do about it. This is simply an inescapable part of our existence here on Earth.


SUCCESS COMES IN STAGES

Getting upset or trying to rush things when they shouldn't be is often a fruitless exercise of frustration. Not everything is going to move at our pace. We need to condition ourselves to appreciate each step of the process.

You really do have to crawl before you can walk. And baby steps are progress too. It's how confidence and skill are developed first before moving on to bigger things. We don't try to rush a baby when they're learning to walk because we know it will take however long it will take and that's just that.

But how quickly we forget this critical lesson that comes early in life. Baby's don't give up when their efforts fail to bring fast results. Their parents don't either. Yet there are areas we think we have the power to speed things up and get mad when it doesn't go like we'd hoped it would.

Remember the fruit is the last part to develop on a plant or tree. The tiny seeds must first germinate. Then roots form as a stem begins to grow. Then leaves appear as the stem turns to branches. All while the roots are getting stronger and longer under the ground where no one can see them, and the tree or plant grows taller.

It is not until everything is just right and have fallen into place do the flowers form, get pollinated and bring forth fruit. This is the sweet reward for the patient planter who has learned to nurture while growth takes place. His patience pays off in a bountiful harvest. Life is no different.

If the fruit forms too soon, the branches are unable to bear its weight and collapse. The fruit becomes bruised or lost completely. There's a reason the internal programming sequence doesn't try to bear fruit until the time is right. And neither should you.

So be patient and let things take the time they must, even if to you it doesn't all make sense on the surface. Trying to rush things often doesn't end well.

BRACE YOURSELF -- TO GET YOUR GOALS

"Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second." ~ William James

By A.F. James MacArthur Ph.A.L.

EVERYBODY wants to get in shape for the new year. Tis the season!

For the next few weeks gyms from coast to coast will resemble mosh pits at a rock concert. Wall to wall bodies.

But statistics tell us out of the nearly 50% of you who set the ill-defined goals of "losing weight" or "getting in shape," the overwhelming majority will give up long before getting there.

One of the reasons we slack off on fitness routines, especially as we get older, are aches and pains in different places on our body. Live long enough, stuff starts hurting. But this is true whether we're active or sedentary. So if we're gonna hurt anyhow, might as well get the rewards that come with an active lifestyle.


LEARN FROM THE PROS

The author wearing his "combat sleeve,"
providing compression for an elbow injury.

Knee braces, ankle wraps, shoulder sleeves and lifting belts are just some of the more common support devices used to stay in the game.

With proper care and the right gear it's possible to work through or work around all kinds of pain, sprains and discomfort. Before you decide to sit out a workout, talk to an experienced training and or medical professional to see if a simple brace or wrap along with a modified routine can help keep you in the saddle.

Losing momentum is one of the most sure paths to falling off. You don't want that.

Except in the most extreme cases of serious injury, there are usually ways to keep going. Again, with proper guidance of course. But you have to resolve in your mind your desire to go for it!
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Physical culturist and former multisport athlete, James MacArthur, has trained for, competed in, practiced and even failed at more sports and physical endeavours than a crossfitter on crack! And has the x-rays to prove it. Currently no longer involved in competition, a lifelong fan of being fit, MacArthur guides, instructs and motivates select few individuals seeking to make the most of their natural talent and abilities.

Get Help If You Must, But Get It Done

Squatting is one of my favorite lifts. Few movements engage your entire body and builds strength the way this pilar of the big three will. In my peak I was doing around 500 pounds with ease. But I always needed some kind of "help."

Without some sort of knee support or wrap, I can barely get past my warm up sets without my knees feeling they're just going to buckle and collapse under the weight.

Besides the usual wear and tear of decades of pumping iron, competitive running, both track and distance, and just being a big guy, my knees have really taken a beating. I was shot in my knee, by and unknown gunman, basically a sniper.

I've also suffered numerous injuries to the area, many of them unrelated to sports or competition. But I press on anyhow. For me life isn't about giving up or making excuses.

Despite my having to use braces and wraps, I've still gained a ton of fitness and strengh from doing this exercise. In fact, you'll find nearly 99% of the highest level, world class weightifters use some sort of knee support when squatting.

Life Is Like Lifting

There are many things in life that we need to do, that we'll grow from doing, but often shy away from because it seems too difficult. Or something about our condition or circumstance makes it seem like we'll just never be good at it.

It could be a certain course or class. Maybe taking on new challenges at work. But we shy away and avoid it.

Sometimes we hesitate too long before seeking assistance. Asking for help is so often associated with being weak or less than whole. That simply isn't true. It's better to get something done, even if you need some kind of help, be it coaching, mentoring or guidance, than to not get it done at all.

It is virtually impossible to attain your full potential as a person, as a human being, without getting assistance along the way. So don't be afraid, don't hesitate to get help when going after what you want, when seeking what you need. Go get it done!

And at some point you'll be given the opportunity to be someone else's help. Do the righeous thing, pay it forward, keep your cycle going and give back. After all, in this life, the more you give it's the more you'll get.

x

On Life And Lifting

We're never gonna be what we used to be, but each day we have an opportunity to become something we've never been.

When I first started lifting more years ago than I care to admit here, I had all these big goals and aspirations of what I was gonna get out of lifting. Now decades later I look back through the years and see some it I've achieved, a lot of it I haven't.

My workouts have changed greatly through the years.

When I was young asthetics held a much more prominent place in my motivation than it does now. I mean, who doesn't want to look good right?

But as I've gotten older and have had to deal with natural age related changes in my physical appearance, from thinning and graying hair and other things I rather not talk about, I realized how I look may change more quicker than I can control.

Whereas in the strength department, I'm still basically off the charts, and I've learned I can hold onto that, even increasing and improving it, much more than I can my ruggedly handsome good looks. 

I want to be able to look at heavy stuff, whether weights or real world objects, command it to move and with my might and my muscles, make it move -- without blowing my back out.

Today for the first time in a year I deadlifted in the high 400 pound range and didn't feel like I  was going to die. I also curled 60 pound dumbbells with ease.

Once I was strong, well balanced, a muscular young man. Now I'm middle aged, hanging on to what I got, and looking forward to making the most of what's lays ahead in life.

Today I lift to live. For the long haul. A life of strength and health is what's most important. All else is secondary.